#this show is crazier than i've thought

[kisa-ownworld]

(Part 1) This took me a while to do but I"VE FINALLY DID IT!!!! YAHOO!!!!!

So this is my first impression of Prince of Tennis/Tenipuri characters, starting with the Seigaku team. For now, I've only watch playthroughs of Gakupuri and saw a bunch of clips from the show. (maybe i'll check out the series in the future) I've ended up really enjoying the characters which lead me to making these powerpoints just talking about them.

I've also discovered that u can draw in powerpoint so i decided to try it out and have some fun with it, Hope the doodles makes the slides more fun-looking!

(Part 2)

[im-sleepdeprived]

Crazier • Pt. 3

pairing: mcu!peter parker x reader

a/n: ITS FINALLY HERE omg I loved writing this series so much i had a blast. thank you for everyone who was asking me about part 3 because it felt amazing knowing you enjoyed it as much as me😭💕💕 i hope you enjoy !! (beware, she is long)

warnings: some angst thrown in here and there, fluff (later), mentions of breakups, mentions of cheating, very very brief mention of suicide ( someone mentions and old author who offed themselves), me not knowing anything about theater (I apologize in advance), glitter

read part 1 here & part 2 , masterlist

"And when we got the chair, Brad made me sit in it and he pushed me around the whole school!" You were telling Spider-Man about your day, and as always, he listened politely, only chiming every now and then. 

"Wow, you and this Brad guy sure did a lot together today, huh?" He said, and even with the voice changer, you could tell he sounded a bit off. "I mean yeah! He's a great guy, way cooler than I originally thought.” You told him, making him grind his teeth hard, not that you saw that. 

"Actually I'm a little upset that the play is about to come to an end." Your voice gets a little softer as you confess what's been on your mind today. "The rehearsals have been a blast, and the people are amazing and it's been such a good distraction from everything. I'm really sad to see it go," you looked down at your hands. 

Peter took one look at your expression and knew there was something else you weren't telling him. "Well what kinds of things do you need a distraction from?" he asked carefully.

"Um," you looked anywhere but at him, "well, my parents have been fighting a lot lately and it's just been really hard to be around the house, everything's so tense."

His lips parted but nothing came out. He knew about your parents, of course, whenever things got bad you'd always run over to his place to hang out. But now you couldn't do that anymore, so you were just looking for any way to avoid coming home for as long as you could. 

"And of course, there's that whole breakup." you continued. "But I've been pretty good at ignoring that so far, and I think that's just the way I'll keep going." You drummed your fingers on your thigh as you stared into nothing.

"Do you really think that's the best way to go about it?" He asked hesitantly. "Maybe you shouldn't just completely ignore something like that."

You gave him a questioning look, "And why wouldn't I want to forget about it? Isn't that what you're supposed to do eventually after a breakup?"

"Yeah, eventually," he repeated, "but wasn't that relationship a big part of you? Ignoring everything isn't gonna make all your feelings go away. You have to face your emotions, embrace them, and go through the motions before moving on."

He hated that you seemed to be fine all of a sudden. That you were getting so close with this Brad guy all of a sudden. It might've been selfish, but Peter didn't wanna see you moving on just yet, he still had a tiny hope in the back of his brain that you might take him back if he waited till just the right time. But the more you kept talking, the more that tiny hope diminished. 

You snorted, "Ok Dr. Spider-Man, I'm not sure a guy running around New York in a bright onesie is qualified to give out relationship advice, but you do you.”

He couldn't help but let out a laugh. "I'll let you know I give out great relationship advice and I'm not wearing a onesie," he huffed. "It's a super suit."

That just made you laugh harder, "Yeah, sure, whatever dude."

"So you and your team won?" he asked. He wasn't about to waste the only time in the day when he got to speak with you being jealous. He was gonna keep this conversation going. Try his best to give you what he never could as Peter. 

"Yes!" you beamed. "Oh and look," you scrambled around looking for the crown you had received after you won. You had brought it up with you just so you could show him. 

You put it on and straightened your posture, "We were rewarded with these fabulous crowns.”

Spider-Man let out a loud laugh. "Wow, you look like true royalty."

"Don't I?" you grinned. "I always wanted to be a princess when I grew up, so this is very fitting for me." You tapped the crown lightly and grinned at him.

Peter was sure he was grinning like a lovesick idiot. He remembered you telling him this, your crazy childhood dream during one of your late-night talks. He truly believed that if anyone in this whole world were some kind of royalty, it would be you.

“Just like Rapunzel.” He murmured. Your head perked up at that. “Oh my god,” you rush, “YES! Holy shit! She was my absolute favorite as a kid, how'd you know that?”

He fumbles a little but quickly finds himself. “You were humming ‘I See The Light’ a couple days ago. It was an educated guess.” You can hear the grin in his voice. “Glad to know I got it right though.”

You laughed a little and settled back down. “Dude, I'm not kidding. I used to eat yellow flowers as a kid 'cause I thought they’d give me magic hair.”

At that, Peter loses his mind. He’s cracking up and you're joining in beside him. This, he thinks to himself. This is what he’s been missing. This is how things should be. He can't help himself, the words are leaving his mouth before he can even gather his thoughts.

“So what about your ex? How’ve things been going with him?” Nice going dumbass. She's never gonna wanna talk with you again if you keep mentioning her ex-boyfriend.

You looked at him weirdly and started twisting the ring on your finger. “Why do you wanna know?”

“I-just I…” he scratched the back of his neck, “Well actually, I'm going through a breakup too, right now, and I guess…I don't know, hearing you talk about it, about him, makes me feel less alone.”

Peter Parker feels like shit. He feels like a total asshole. And yet, he doesn't feel bad enough to stop, to come clean. Not yet at least. He tried making himself feel better by thinking, ‘Well it's not a lie. I am going through a breakup. She just doesn't know with who.’

You stared up at him, shocked. He never shared anything about himself. Not a thing. You two joked back and forth but you were usually the one sharing personal issues (or triumphs, like today). You start to wonder what his personal life looks like. He can't be that much older than you from what you can tell by his sense of humor and some of his references. This man, no, boy, who spends practically all his time running around one of the most popular cities in the world, saving lives and changing them, is going through a breakup. And he’s currently sitting on a rooftop with you and talking about it.

You blew out a long breath. “If Spider-Man can’t find love, none of us stand a chance.”

He let out a soft laugh at that. “Ah, I wouldn't say that. I definitely have my fair share of flaws. And then some.”

You shake your head, “I'm sure the good outweighs the bad. I mean, come on,” you gestured towards him.

He laughed again. “So tell me, you still see him every day, right?

You nodded, deciding that if this made him feel less alone, you could do this. 

“Is it hard?”

You shrugged, “Honestly, I have no idea. I’ve been avoiding him like the plague. I’ve only run into him once and it was when me and another friend went to grab ice cream at our old hangout spot. I couldn’t look at him. I haven’t spoken to him since everything and I don’t really want to. Not anytime soon.”

He sighed. Of course, you didn’t wanna speak to him as Peter. He’d totally fucked you over, he’s lucky he found any kind of loophole at all because he really doesn’t think he can handle not speaking completely. 

“How do you think he feels?” He has no clue where the question came from but now that he’s asked, he can’t help the curiosity bubbling in him.

You run a hand through your hair and sigh, “I have no idea. One second he’s avoiding eye contact in the school hallway and the next, he’s staring daggers at me in an ice cream shop. He’s weird.”

Spider-Man chuckled lightly, “Yeah, he sounds like he is.”

“Do you see your ex a lot?” You hope he doesn’t see it as prying, you just want to see how similar your situations are. 

“Yeah, actually, I do.” He nods but says nothing else. 

“Is it hard?” You ask softly. 

He nods again, keeping his eyes low. “Crazy hard. Especially when I know everything is my fault.”

“Do you think she’d ever forgive you?” He only shrugged. “Do you want her to forgive you?”

He looks up at you, “Would you ever forgive your ex? After whatever it is that he did, I mean.”

You took a moment to think. “I don’t know. I think it’s different. I mean, I don’t know what happened between you guys, but I think with Peter and I, I think he was starting to lose interest.”

He can feel his heart drop. “What? Why would you say that?”

“Yeah,” you continued, not taking notice of the spider slightly freaking out beside you, “he just stopped caring. Stopped showing up, and stopped listening. If I didn’t know any better I’d actually think he’d cheated on me.”

“No way! I mean-,” he cleared his throat a little, trying not to sound as anxious as he felt, “Do you… do you actually that he did? Cheated, I mean. Do you seriously think he cheated on you?”

Please say no, please say no, please say-

“No, of course not,” you told him honestly. “Peter’s a lot of things, but he’s not a cheater. I’d accuse him of that.” You paused for a moment. “But there was something…I don’t know what. There was something he wasn’t telling me.”

He let out a breath of relief. Thank god, he doesn’t think he could’ve handled knowing you thought of him that way. And it’s true, he would’ve never stooped so low. As for the ‘something’…

“Say he were to show up, right now, knocking on your door. Begging to have you back and swearing that he’s changed. Would it work?” He asked half serious and half joking.

You laughed a little, “No, but it’d probably piss off my parents.”

He grinned beside you, his mask shifting slightly at the movement. “Aw come on. Not one for big romantic gestures?” He nudged your shoulder a little.

You smiled but your expression fell as you thought about his words some more. “No, I’m just not one for empty promises. Which is all he had to give me after a while. He used to be amazing, he used to be the perfect boyfriend. The Peter I knew disappeared and I wasn’t a fan of the one who replaced him.”

You look up at him and grin. “If there’s any chance of anything being repaired between us. Even a friendship. He’s gonna need to get his shit together.”

“So he cheated on her, which fueled her depression, and ultimately led to her suicide. And that wasn’t enough so he burned her most of her work, and profited off of the rest of it after she died!”

This is what your mornings looked like lately. Hanging out with MJ so much had been…interesting to say the least. There was always something you could learn from her. Currently, she was telling you all about some ancient female author’s shitty husband as you waited beside her locker while she grabbed everything she’d need for her next class. 

“Every article online about it says ‘allegedly’ but fuck that. It’s totally the truth,” She finished. 

“God. That sounds awful,” you grimaced. “Whatever happened to him? Didn’t they have kids?”

“Oh, he married someone, won a ton of awards everyone loved him. And yes, a son, who also dies by suicide, and a daughter. I'm pretty sure she writes kids' books now.”

You sucked in a breath. “Holy shit. And where did you learn all this?”

She shrugged. “I read a lot.”

“Right,” you nod, unable to completely shake off the grossness that story left you feeling. “So,” you started, hoping to change the subject. “What do you have next again?”

“Biology. But I think we have a sub today, so that’ll be fun.” She slammed her locker shut, leaned on it slightly, and turned toward you. “What about you?”

You shook your head at her, “Free period. I was gonna catch up on my reading for AP Lit. Hey,” you wondered aloud, “is it that sub that marks people tardy even if they’re a second late? I can’t stand him.”

She sprung up. “Shit. Shit. Fuck,” she rushed out. “It is. And I can’t get another tardy otherwise I get detention. Again. And my parents would kill me.”

You nodded, completely understanding. “Okay. Well, I’m just gonna go grab my stuff and head to the library. See you later!”

“Bye Y/N/N!” She yelled over her shoulder, already halfway down the hall. 

You laughed lightly before heading to your own locker. You opened it and grabbed your bag when you felt a tap on your shoulder. 

You slam your locker shut and turn around, only to come face to face with Brad. “Hey, Brad!” You grinned. 

You’d never really noticed Brad before. You never had anything against him, you both just ran in different crowds. Even after you both started working on the play, you were friendly with each other but it never went past a simple smile, wave, or quick ‘hello’. But in light of recent events, you were really starting to think of him as a friend.

“Hey.” He smiled right back. “Saw you here and thought I’d just stop by and ask how you’ve been.”

You gave him a closed-lip smile as you leaned back against the lockers. “That’s sweet. I’ve been okay, long morning though. What about you?”

He nodded. “Same. Stayed up pretty late last night going over my lines.”

“Really? Don’t really think you need that. I’ve seen you at rehearsals, you’re a natural Brad.”

“Yeah? You think?” He grinned wide at your compliment and ran a hand over his hair. “I’ve got ‘em memorized and all, but I just wanna make sure I know them, y’know?”

You nodded. He wants to make sure his delivery is as good as his memory. That’s another thing you didn’t expect from Brad Davis. His passion for theater. 

“Well like I said, I’ve seen you at rehearsals and I mean it when I say I think you’re fine. More than fine actually. So don’t stress yourself out Davis, you’re gonna be amazing.”

He beamed at you like a child. “Thank you Y/N, seriously. You don’t know how much that means.”

You smiled right back at him. “Anytime.”

It was quiet between you two for a bit, and you didn’t really know what to say. You were about to ask if he had a class he needed to get to when, suddenly, he took a few steps closer to you. 

That automatically took any words that might’ve been on your tongue and threw them in the dumpster behind the school. 

“There’s um, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you, actually.” His voice is softer but, you hear every word and you can almost feel his breath on your face. 

“Oh?” Your voice matches his volume. This can't be happening. He knows you just broke up with Peter. He’s gotta be kidding. Or maybe, he’s about to ask something about the play. Yes, you think, he’s got a question about the play and he’s come to ask me, obviously, because I’m the director. 

The halls are quiet now, everyone else is in class, at the library, or something. It's just you and Brad, standing so close you could count his lashes. 

Just you and Brad. Brad, who won’t stop staring into your eyes for some reason, so you’re just left standing there….you and Brad.

And Peter. 

The sound of squeaky sneakers running down the hall seems to break him out of whatever trance he was held in and he steps back a bit, almost causing you to let out an audible sigh of relief. God, you could just kiss the person who decided to unintentionally interrupt whatever moment was just happening between you two. 

Or not. 

Because when you both turned to see who it was, your heart fell. Peter Parker is standing there, backpack hanging off his elbow, binder bursting with loose papers in hand, and staring at you like a deer caught in headlights. 

For a second, none of you say anything. Brad’s looking confused, staring at Peter. Peter is looking at you, then at Brad, then at you again. And you, well, you’re just wishing the school hallway would split in half and swallow you whole. You’ve run through a few different scenarios in your head, and falling into the earth’s core sounds the most appealing. 

Then Peter moves closer, clearing his throat as he approaches the both of you. “Hey guys, how’ve you been?” He asked. 

Neither you nor Brad replied. 

“Right. Hey man,” he turned to face Brad, his face suddenly serious, “don’t you drive a black BMW? Red rims, red interior?”

“Um, yeah, I do,” Brad answered skeptically. 

Peter blew out a long breath. “Think you might be in trouble dude. I just heard the principal saying he was gonna get it towed, something about you parking wrong.”

“What?!” Brad’s whole demeanor changed on a dime and you almost felt sorry for him. 

Peter held up both his hands. “I’m serious man, that’s what I heard. But don’t ask me,” he pointed to the hall behind him, “go ask Mr. Morita.” 

Brad stared at you for a moment before walking off, mumbling something about ‘another fucking ticket’ as you watched him leave. You almost grabbed his arm like a child, almost asked him to stay, just so you wouldn’t be alone with Peter. 

You swallowed. Brad had finally turned the corner, leaving him officially out of your eyesight and leaving you standing alone with your ex. It’s funny really, how you went from talking about suicidal classic authors with your friend a few minutes ago, to this. 

Yup, the Earth’s core sounds amazing right now.

For all the words he had to say when Brad was here, Peter was awfully silent now, doing that weird stare thing he did in the ice cream shop the other day. But there was no Ned to play polite this time, and no MJ to hold on a leash so she doesn’t bite. It was just you and him. 

And you had no problem running. 

You turned so quick, it took him a second to register the movement, and by the time he did, you were halfway down the hall. He ran after you. 

“Y/N, wait. Please.” He reached out a hand to place on your shoulder. You jerked away, his hand barely brushing your cardigan. 

You’re both standing in the hallway, and you’re still avoiding his eyes when you say, “We’re not doing this.” You shook your head and ran off, leaving a somber-eyed Peter in your wake.

There was no parking violation. Peter lied. But he had to. 

He’d gotten caught up doing some last-minute homework in the library. Spider-Man duties were keeping him busy lately because when he wasn’t fighting crime on the streets of Queens, he was spending time with you. 

He knows it isn’t right, he knows it isn’t fair, but god if it doesn’t feel good. He loves spending time with you and he hates that he can’t do it more often, hates even more that it’s his fault. And he damn sure wasn’t going to cut your meetups short because he had a few math questions waiting to be answered. 

So on his way back, the halls were empty when he suddenly heard a very familiar voice. You. 

But you were with someone. Brad. The thought made him roll his eyes. 

You were currently going off about how great Brad was doing so far in his role in the play you were managing. Stupid Brad, Peter was sure the only reason anything was going right in the planning of the show was because of you, you were the best person they could’ve picked for the job and all Brad had to do was say a few lines. You were the one who dealt with everything else. Brad should’ve been praising you, not the other way around.

He’d heard Brad’s response to your compliments and almost rolled his eyes again until he heard your response. Of course, you were being an absolute sweetheart. You probably had no clue what words like that meant coming for someone like you. You were probably oblivious to your effect on people, as you were probably oblivious to Brad’s true feelings about you.

You both went quiet for a moment, leaving Peter to wonder what happened when he heard Brad’s voice again. 

“There’s um, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you, actually.”

No. 

No, no, no, no. No. 

If he were totally honest with himself, he knew it was coming. Especially after you told him about your little scavenger hunt around the school, and how well you got along with him, how kind he was being towards you. Brad didn’t just randomly see you in the hall and decide to say ‘hey’. He had class. Peter knew because he was supposed to be in that exact class right now.

He could handle another detention. 

Before he even knew it, he was running down the halls. He had no idea what he was going to do, even less what he was going to say but none of that mattered at the moment. He just had to make sure this didn’t go any further. There was no way he could stand by and listen to you agree to go out with some other guy. 

And then he was standing there, you’d both seen him, and it was too late to turn back. He stared for a minute, noticing how close Brad was standing next to you. His gaze flickered between you and him and all he could think was how wrong it would be for you to end up with someone like Brad. Stupid, stupid Brad, who hung out with all the stupid jocks, and threw those stupid house parties all the time. Who only talked about his stupid car, and what model it was-

An Idea popped into his head. 

He couldn’t help it. Bro Peter stepped out and dealt with Brad, knowing the one thing that would completely get rid of him at the moment. He wasn’t thinking about the consequences. 

As he’d suspected Brad left with almost no hesitation, Peter almost doubling over with how quickly he fell for it. 

And then, he was left with you, and every ounce of confidence, every word in his lifelong vocabulary, crumbled. It never ceased to amaze him how easily you could completely undo him. He was an avenger, for crying out loud, he had literally saved New York and, he didn’t want to sound cocky but, the world. He had faced villains, of all sorts, so despicable, it’s a wonder he’s alive at all. But he did it. 

But you…. He’s never felt like this before. So nervous, anxious, and scared to mess something up when all he wants is to fix it. In the superhero world, stunned silence isn’t an option. One moment of hesitation and everything could go to shit. But now, he’s not sure what the best course of action is. He’s not sure if speaking to you will make things worse, or better. If saying anything at all will give him more of a fighting chance. Was there even any chance of a fighting chance?

He didn’t miss how you hadn’t said a word and all he could think was ‘Please talk! Say something! Give me a hint for what I’m supposed to say!”

He was just stuck in place, staring directly at your face taking in your expression. You wouldn’t meet his eyes and there was no stopping the pang of guilt in his gut. You looked skittish, and it should’ve been no surprise to him when you turned to take off but it still took him a second to shake off that moment. 

Just a second though, because soon he was running right after you. He wasn’t going to let you off so easy this time. 

He’d called for you to stop, reaching his hand for your shoulder in hopes of getting you to listen. The way you jerk back as if his touch might burn you snaps something in him. 

And there they are, your first words to him (Peter him) since the breakup:

“We’re not doing this.”

And you’re already moving away again, already slipping away from him again while his hand hangs in the air. He almost touched you. Maybe it was better that he didn’t because he thought he might’ve never let go. 

He’s not sure if you meant what you told him as Spider-Man. Maybe it was just another one of your jokes. But he’s not ready to give up hope yet. He’ll give you time if that's what you need, he’s just scared of who else might try to make their move during that time. 

For now, he’s just gonna work on getting his shit together. 

And that starts with going to class, and getting his work turned in.

There’s a buzz in the air when you enter the auditorium the next day, that can only be described as highly-caffeinated-extremely-enthusiastic-high-school-theater-kids. You were all feeling the anticipation of your work these past few weeks being shared with all your friends and family. 

You were walking around checking up on the last-minute touchups. You walked up on stage and stopped in your tracks. “Oh my god,” your hand flies up to your mouth, “you guys! This is beautiful!”

The set group (Noah, Lacy, and Jack) all grinned up at you. They all had some form of paint on them. Lacy adorned a pair of overalls that consisted of black and navy blue splatters going up and down the front of her. Jack’s T-shirt looked as if it were being used as a rag for his hands, so there were so many colors intertwining with each other, that you couldn’t pick out a single one. Noah was the messiest of the group, this specific set being mostly his responsibility. The knees of his jeans were stained black, but it didn’t end there. He looked like a tornado of night, with all sorts of shades clinging to any visible part of him. Blues, blacks, indigos, you name it. And they were all gleaming with pride. 

“Hey Y/N,” Noah beamed at you. “We just finished the last backdrop.”

Behind them all was the backdrop which would be used for the last scene of the play. Lexi and Brad (or Stephanie and Gabriel, per the script) would stand in front of it and finally declare their love for one another, commencing their forever after with a passionate kiss. 

You knew it was supposed to be a night sky, but what you hadn’t known was how well of a job they would do. 

You let out a breathless laugh. “I can see that. It's stunning you guys, truly.” Although Midtown High was a school that specialized in the education of science and technology, the students here were extremely in touch with their creative sides as well. And that fact had never been more obvious to you than in that moment. 

“There's still one more finishing touch, and then it’ll be perfect.” Lacy grinned at you before running backstage. 

You were staring at where she'd just been, a furrow in your brows, when Jack nudged you lightly, “Oh, this is what she’s been waiting for since we started.”

Lacy came back, almost tripping over herself with how fast she was running. She held up a jar that sparkled in the auditorium lights as she moved it around, “Glitter!”

You grinned and clapped your hands together, “Oh I’m so happy I get to be here for this.”

Noah and Jack stood to the side while you and Lacy approached the large backdrop from the side. She made quick work of unscrewing the top and setting it beside her. She leaned over slightly and tilted the jar a tad before sprinkling it over the spacious work of art. 

If sprinkling glitter were a profession, Lacy would be a pro. 

You quickly figured out why she was so excited about this step, and it wasn’t just the glitter. Adding the glitter gave the scene more life. It made it look as if it were real, and you were looking at a sky bursting with sparkling stars.

 After getting the area in front of her, she turns to you, holding out the jar. “Here! Give it a go.”

You stared a her a bit before quickly shaking your head, “Lace, I never thought someone could be good at sprinkling glitter, yet here I am. You were like a freaking fairy! I’d totally ruin it, and I can’t do that to you guys.”

You held your hands up and started backing away slowly. You could hear Jack and Noah laughing behind you. 

Lacy just rolled her eyes with a smile stuck on her face. “Nonsense, Y/N, you’re a pro at everything you do,” she lowered her voice a little, “like that scavenger hunt?”

You gave her a look before turning around to make sure Mrs. Lightbody was nowhere around. “None of that,” you hiss, “that was a one-time thing! And it was a group effort!”

“Oh come on,” Noah this time. “We all know you had the hardest list of the bunch. Seriously Y/N, if Brad hadn’t shown me the list, I never would’ve believed that you did all that.”

Jack nodded. “Honestly, me and Lace wrote that as a little joke, like, ‘Hey, what if we were really wild with this? What would we do?’ And you came and proved us all wrong.”

Lacy hummed her agreement, “What they said, exactly. And this is just a bit of glitter. No big deal!” She grabbed your arm and pulled you towards her. 

You laughed lightly, feeling yourself grow a little flustered under their praises. You grabbed the jar of glitter from Lacy and went to work, being extra careful so you don’t ruin all their hard work.

“This is good glitter,” you say softly, completely concentrated on the task at hand. 

“Oh my gosh! I know right!” Lacy practically squeals her response. You laughed but could hear Noah groaning behind you. You finish with the glitter, screwing it shut before turning back to face him. 

“There’s no such thing as ‘good glitter’,” He did air quotes on that last part, sounding extremely frustrated and something told you this wasn’t the first time they had this conversation.

“Yes, there is! She just said so!” Lacy was standing her ground. Suddenly, she turned towards you, “Y’know who can settle this? Lexi. Go find her Y/N, take the glitter, and ask her what she thinks. She’s gonna agree with me, I can already feel it.”

You held in a laugh. “Sure thing Lace.” You turn to go find your other friend and as you're walking away you can still hear them arguing, Noah not convinced that glitter could be good or bad. It’s just glitter. 

You walked around the auditorium looking for Lexi and failing to find her. You started asking around, feeling sure that someone had to have seen her. You knew she was here, having seen her enter at the start of rehearsals. Walking around the front of the auditorium, peering down aisles, you were about to go check backstage when you heard a Brad Davis.

Now you’re not sure why, you didn’t do anything wrong after all, but a panic settled in you. Next thing you knew, you jumped into one of the aisles and crouched down. 

He was walking up the main row between the chairs, script in hand, talking to someone beside him who you couldn’t see. They were moving closer to you. Shit. 

In a rush, you start crawling, crawling, down to the opposite side of the aisle they were approaching. You were almost out, but you accidentally pulled down one of the chairs that are built to automatically flip up. Not a loud noise, but loud enough. You wince but don’t stop until you're sitting against the side of the row of chairs, out of their sight. 

You could hear the chatter stop and the footsteps slow. You sucked in your breath and folded in on yourself even more. You were already coming up with a cover for yourself. 

‘Oh, hey Brad. Yeah, I’m on the floor. Not avoiding you or anything, just….decided to see what the view of the stage would be like from here. Not good!’

It sucked and you really hoped you wouldn’t have to use it.

It seemed as though your luck for the day hadn’t expired because you heard them mumble amongst themselves and move on. After a few moments, You let out a sigh of relief and started crawling down towards the stage. You weren’t risking getting seen just yet.

You were starting to like Brad, you really were! But after recent events you had started to think the interest he’d taken in you wasn’t the same as the platonic one you’d taken in him. And you were bad at confrontation or being put on the spot. Obviously.

Plus you figured he’d want to talk about that weird moment with Peter in the hall the day before and you’d rather pretend that didn’t happen at all. Even you didn’t know what that was. 

Moving slowly, you kept your head down, trying to reach the stage so you could just bolt behind the curtains. Suddenly, a pair of pointed-toe black flats came into your view. You paused and slowly looked up. In front of you stood Ms. Lightbody. 

“Hi.” You said meekly. She looked down at you with a furrow in her brows, “Hello Miss Y/L/N. May I ask what you’re doing?”

You fumbled for a moment but finally found yourself. Clearing your throat, you stood up and dusted yourself off. “I dropped an earring.”

Way better than that other bullshit you were thinking of. 

She stared at both your ears, which adorned a pair of earrings you never took off. “Oh?”

“I’ve already put it back in,” you explained to her lamely. She gazed somewhere behind you and you followed her stare. Brad and his friend were still walking up and down the main row, lost in some conversation. You gulped, if she had seen you earlier, it would’ve been fairly obvious to her the real reason behind your little floor exploration. And that was just embarrassing. 

She hummed in response, “I see.” Her voice carried some tone of understanding and you felt yourself run hot with embarrassment under her gaze. 

“Did you need something, Miss?” You rushed out quickly, hoping to change the subject. 

“Yes,” she focused her gaze on you now, and if you didn’t know any better, you’d say there was a sprinkle of amusement in her eyes. 

Ms. Lightbody was a newer addition to Midtown’s staff. She came in to replace the school’s previous drama teacher, and she also subbed at times. Most of the student body disliked her, thinking her short-tempered and strict but you knew that was far from the truth. It seemed this play helped you better understand your peers and superiors alike. She was an amazing teacher and, contrary to popular belief, she wasn’t an impatient maniac who didn’t have the skill set to teach. She was always willing to help someone who didn’t understand, but what she didn’t tolerate was purposeful incompetence.  

“Lexi is in one of the rooms backstage, I need you to go find her and tell her there’s one more scene we need to rehearse.” She paused and looked behind you again. “And I suggest you get to that soon because I think your friend, Mr. Davis, has spotted you.”

You blanched, unsure whether to dwell on the fact that she knew, or that Brad had spotted you. You turn slightly only to see Brad already looking towards you. 

You quickly snapped your head towards the lady in front of you again. “On it!” You told her, not waiting for a response before shooting up the stage and behind the curtain. 

You could’ve sworn you heard her laugh. 

You were backstage looking for Lexi. It wasn’t like her to stay tucked away like this, since rehearsals had started she was always ready for anything, talking things over with the other cast members, ready for criticism but rarely needing it. There was probably no one on the cast who was as excited as her. 

“Lex, you here?” You whispered softly. Behind the stage was empty and dark. You walked around carefully, trying not to accidentally trip on anything of the string or left-out equipment. All of this was going to need to be changed before tomorrow evening. 

Suddenly, so quiet you could barely hear it, was a shuffling noise. You looked around for some switch, finding it on the wall to your left. You switched it on and the action earned you a hiss from someone a little further in the room. 

You turned quickly, finding Lexi sitting at one of the small makeup desks, hands coming up to cover her face as if she were some vampire. 

That worried you. 

You rushed to her, placing a soft hand on her shoulder. “Lex,” your tone was quiet so as not to disturb her anymore. “What’s wrong? Are you sick?”

She looked up at you, hair disheveled, face a little pale, and eyes tired. “No, no I’m fine.” She shook her head but you weren’t convinced. 

You moved to sit at the desk next to her. “Okay,” you said softly, “then why are you sitting back here?”

She sighed a little. “I’ve just had a small headache since lunch. But I’ll be okay really. 

Your frown only deepens. “Did you eat today? Drink water?”

She nodded then rubbed her temples a little, shutting her eyes as she did so. “It’s probably my fault, I didn’t sleep well last night and I’m just tired.”

Her eyes snapped open and she looked more alert now. She clasped her hands together and smiled at you. “So wake me up Y/N/N. Tell me something interesting.”

Skeptically, you eyed her up and down. “Are you sure that's all? Should I take you to see the nurse?”

She shook her head again, her hair flying around her face as she did so. “No. I’m actually feeling better already, talking to you. I think the smell of Noah’s Axe Body Spray was just really setting everything off.” She gestured her hands around herself. 

You laughed, glad to see her acting like herself again. “But seriously,” she said, putting a hand on your knee. “Talk to me, it’s waking me up. How was your day?”

You let out a breath and leaned back in the chair, looking up to the ceiling. “Brad asked me out.”

She gasped so loud, you started up in your seat. “Shut up. Shut up!”

Smiling, you shook your head. “Well not yet. But I know it’s coming, you know what I mean? He keeps trying to get me alone, and he gets really close and starts staring into my eyes and everything. But he keeps getting interrupted.”

She gasped again, softer this time, and held her hand to her chest. “Oh my god. That’s so cute! Are you gonna say yes?”

You stilled for a moment. Were you going to say yes? You’d figured out what was most likely coming your way, but you hadn’t really thought of how to handle it. You couldn’t crawl across floors to avoid him forever. That would make graduation very awkward. 

And at the same time, you didn’t want to reject him. Brad was sweet, maybe not the type of person you usually went for, but he had his own things. Maybe you needed something new, something different. 

But something in your gut was telling you maybe you shouldn’t go out with someone who made you panic-crawl on the floor just to avoid having a conversation with them. 

Not to mention, you just weren’t interested in him like that. At all.

Lexi was going on about something or other, seemingly fine at the moment. “I totally knew he was into you. I mean, that whole picking you up in the library thing?” She shook her head. “Not just a platonic thing.”

You laughed loudly and stood up. You held out a hand for her to take. “Come on Lex, everyone’s looking for their star.”

She took your hand and stood. “I bet they are, I’ll have to apologize for hogging you from them.”

You laughed again and started pushing her towards the front stage. “Oh! I almost forgot to tell you! We’re playing with glitter!”

The rest of the day went by smoothly. You, Lexi, and Lacy applied the finishing touches to the backdrop. As Lacy had guessed, Lexi agreed with her. Lacy went on about all the qualities the perfect glitter should consist of; ‘catches the light, soft, and dustable.’

You were sure that last one wasn’t even a word but Noah gave in eventually and let the girls have their win. But that wasn’t enough for the three of you. Not wanting to put the glitter away just yet, you started sprinkling it on each other. 

Word spread across the auditorium like wildfire, and soon, a line started forming on the stage to get glitter sprinkled on you, boys and girls alike. Ms. Lightbody shut that down quick.

You stuck to avoiding Brad for the rest of the day. It wasn’t hard, you were both busy, him being one of the leads and you helping with a little bit of everything and making sure everyone stayed in order (with the exception of the glitter fiasco). 

At the end, Ms. Lightbody had gathered you all around to talk about how tomorrow was going to go. She went over the basics, what time the show was going to start, and what time you all had to be there. It was things you all already knew but it was good to go over. In the end, you thought she looked a little sad, and apparently, you weren’t the only one because someone else pointed it out. That made everyone jump and you all pulled her into a group hug. This little group had become like a crazy family and you were forever grateful you had a chance to be part of it. 

You left quickly after that, wanting to get out before Brad offered to walk you home or something. You said bye to your friends, taking extra time with Lexi. She had been more reserved after you two talked, not as tired as you’d found her backstage, but still not quite herself. You told her to get lots of sleep tonight. She was needed tomorrow

Now, you were sitting on the rooftop ledge, kicking your feet as Spider-Man sat next to you.

“Are you excited?” He asked. 

You nodded, smiling. “Very. We’ve all been working really hard for this. And you should see how great a job everyone has done. I can’t wait to see it all put together finally.”

“I’m sure you’ve done a great job,” he nods. “I really wish I could be there. You’re gonna need to take some videos for me. Show me afterward.”

You grinned wide. “Seriously? You’d wanna see?”

“Heck yea I wanna see,” he said, voice serious.

“Okay.” You nodded. “I’ll take plenty of videos, don’t worry.”

“Thank you.” He said, raising a hand a ruffling your hair. You laughed and slapped his hand away. He stared at you a little before asking, “What’s in your hair?

You grinned wide. “Glitter.”

He shook his head, laughing. “I don’t even wanna know.” You giggled beside him. 

 “Are your friends going to be there?” He asked.

“Um,” you say, still smiling. “Yeah, I think so. They said they will, and I think it’ll be fun.” MJ had told you she was definitely going to be there, she couldn’t wait to make fun of the kids in the play, she’d already bought her ticket. Ned said he wanted to see it as well, and Peter…well, after recent events you couldn’t think of any reason he’d be there. He probably wouldn’t be able to find the time in his busy schedule, even if you two were still together. So it was better like this. 

“What about your parents? Are they gonna try to make it?”

A beat passed before you replied. “No,” you shook your head. “I don’t think they’re gonna be there.”

He was quiet for a moment, not sure what to say. He almost regretted asking. 

“But it’s okay,” you said, your voice so soft, it took everything in him not to reach over and pull you into his arms. “I wasn’t expecting them to anyway. I have my friends, that’s enough.” You cleared your throat and wrapped your arms around yourself. 

He watched you for a bit and it hit him then, just how strong you were. How much you had on your plate at the moment. How little you let it show. 

Your parents were basically roommates to you, you barely saw them, they were just there. The play you were managing? While everyone else had one job, one task they needed to focus on and get done, you were involved in everything. He remembered you mentioned to him a few weeks ago something about your phone blowing up since planning started. He never thought much of it then. 

The more he thought about it, the more he realized you were always doing this. When it wasn’t the play it was something with your family, or tutoring other kids at school. And on top of all of that, you were always available for your friends whenever they needed you, and your grades never slipped. Your essays and tests were used by your teachers as examples. He always knew, but not really. It was painfully obvious right now. And it was even more obvious to him that he never helped. He should’ve helped make things easier for you, because he loves you, because he cares for you. But all he did was add to your plate. The thought made him feel sick. 

“I’m so sorry,” Even through his voice-changer you could hear the sincerity, the despair in his voice. Your brows furrowed. 

“You don’t need to apologize, it’s not that big of a deal. I swear,” you told him sincerely. 

He nodded but the movement almost looked forced. “How have you been?”

You paused. “Good,” you nodded, as if confirming your own statement. “Busy, but good.”

“Have you taken a moment to breathe recently? Just relax yourself for a few seconds?”

You were taken aback by his question. No one had ever asked you that. “I- I don’t think so,” you replied quietly. 

“Alright, that’s okay, we can do that together. Here,” he held out both his hands, palms up. “put your hands in mine.”

You followed his lead and placed your hands in his. The material of his suit felt smooth, but thicker than it looked, and you were surprised to see how well your hands fit together. 

“Close your eyes.” He said, and you saw the whites of his mask flicker shut. You followed his lead. 

“Great. Now big breath, through your mouth.” You sucked in a handful of air, the sound ringing out like a quick gasp. 

His hands gave yours a gentle squeeze. “No,” he said, voice soft. You felt your face heat up and you tried again, this time slowly letting the air enter and fill your lungs.

“Now out through the nose.”

You let the air leave you, not even realizing how tense you were until you felt yourself relax. Your eyes fluttered open and you found him already staring at you. His thumbs had started gently caressing your hands and you found you didn’t mind at all.

“A few more times.” He told you, and you nodded at him. You closed your eyes again and repeated your actions from before, more sure of yourself this time.

When you had finished, you opened your eyes again. His eyes were still open and you thought his mask shifted into something like a grin.

“Better?” He asked you, and you smiled, nodding your head. It was crazy to you to think about how over these past few days, that very mask had turned into a comforting sight for you. You really thought of New York’s Spider-Man as a friend. And you hoped he felt the same.

You nodded again, unable to take your eyes off of him. You weren’t even aware you were still holding hands until he removed his from yours. You almost protested, your hands suddenly feeling colder than they ever have. 

But then he brought his hands up to cup each side of your face. 

Oh. 

You were sure you were melting. You couldn’t remember the last time you felt like this, and you couldn’t even see his face! You wished he’d just rip it off, you wouldn’t care who was underneath. 

He brought his face closer and leaned his forehead against yours. Your eyes fluttered shut. You stayed that way for a minute, both of you just enjoying the moment before you decided to speak. 

“Take it off.” You whispered. 

“What?” He asked, his voice matching your volume. You had opened your eyes and you were looking at him now. You could clearly see the eyes of his mask were still closed and you fought off a smile. 

You brought up your hand to his face and traced his jawline. You could feel his jaw flex underneath your fingers and you could’ve sworn you heard him gulp. 

“Take it off.” You repeated, your thumbs now caressing his cheekbones. 

His eyes flew open and he leaned back. “No,” he shook his head, moving even further from where you two were seated next to each other. 

Your brows shot up at his sudden change of demeanor. You wished you hadn’t said anything. “Ok,” you said, voice quiet. “You don’t have to. I’m sorry, I didn’t know. I was just- ugh I’m so sorry.”

“No!” He repeated. “Don’t apologize I- you did nothing wrong.”

But the way he was acting was making you feel otherwise.

“I have to go. Good luck tomorrow.” He said, stood up, flung out his wrist, and started swinging through the buildings faster than you could blink. 

Fuck. 

You were a wreck. 

Everyone was running all over the place, orders being shouted across the entire backstage. Some people seemed to have invited their friends to hang out backstage (which was not allowed). Every corner was packed. And you were in the middle of it all. 

“Y/N!” Ms. Lightbody called for you from across the swarm of bodies. You made your way through everyone, not stopping until you were standing in from of her. She placed a hand on your shoulder and steered you until you were both standing in a corner, as far away from the others as you could get. 

“Miss Walker isn’t here, and it’s starting to become a problem.” She told you, voice serious.

You blanched. “Lexi isn’t here yet?!”

She shushed you. “I don’t want to start a commotion. Things are barely going smoothly as is, and this will not make it better. Everyone will start worrying if they find out their lead hasn’t arrived, and we cannot have that.”

You nodded at her, mind racing. “What do we do?”

She sighed, “For now? Wait and hope for the best, there’s still a bit more time.”

You nodded again and she took a second to look around the room. “What is all this? Half these kids have no business here!” She turned towards you again. “I'm going to try to reach Miss Walker’s mother, deal with all these children Y/N, please. I want them gone by the time I get back.”

She turned to leave before she remembered something that had her turning right back, “You have Miss Walker’s contact information, correct?” You nodded at her again. “Great. Try to get ahold of her, will you? The sooner we figure this out the better.”

“Sure thing Ms. Lightbody.” You told her, waving her off, your voice sounding a hundred times more confident than you felt. 

You watched her walk out the back door to make her phone call, and you paused for a moment, unsure what to do first. You turned and pulled out your phone. Heading for the door Ms. Lightbody just walked out of, you pulled up your message thread with Lexi.

girl WRU !!!

you were needed like 30 mins ago !!!! 

get here-

You bumped into someone, your phone flying out of your hand before you could send that last one. You would’ve been sent flying backward if the person hadn’t gripped your waist tight to keep you steady.

“Woah, careful.”

You’d know that voice anywhere. Peter. 

“Parker,” you said, backing away quickly. “What are you doing here?” And you don’t mean for it to come out as harsh as it did but…there’s just a lot on your plate right now. 

And it seems he can tell. He bent over to grab your phone, placing it back in your hands. “The lady at the office saw me walking by and asked me to drop these off.” He waved a big bag you hadn’t noticed in his other hand. 

You reached for it, saying, “Oh my god, perfect.” At the same time, he asked, “Are you okay?”

You completely ignored him, taking the bag from his hands. Turning around, you caught Jack walking by at just the right moment. “Jack! Here,” you called him over, “Those supplies you guys were asking for.”

“Sweet, thanks Y/N/N!” He said, leaning in to give you a quick hug. You smile but then quickly shove him away, “Thank J, but you really need to go finish. Like, right now.”

He straightened his posture and saluted you. “Ma’am yes ma’am!” He said, then he turned to Peter, who had been watching the whole exchange, “Sup Parker.” He sent a little head nod towards him, as he started walking away. 

Peter returned it, brows slightly furrowed as he looked between the two of you, “Hey man.” 

You started walking around, trying to count up how many people there were who weren’t a part of the cast or crew. 

One, two, three-

You felt a hand placed on your shoulder and you turned quickly, only to see Peter still hasn’t left. 

You looked at him in disbelief. The nerve of this guy. There’s no way he seriously thinks you’re going to talk about the two of you right now, is there?

“How are you?” He asks again and you’ve never found someone dumber than you did right now. 

“Hello?! Things aren’t going too hot in case you can’t tell, and you aren’t exactly helping right now!”

He nodded, “Okay. What can I do to help?”

You scoffed. “I don’t know, leave. It’s so crowded in here and I have to get all these extra people out. Shit,” you smacked your forehead. “I forgot I have to find Lexi. Fuck! And I have to-.”

“Y/N!” Someone shouted your name for the umpteenth time that night. You turned and met Vanessa, one of the people in charge of makeup. 

“We’re out of setting powder.”

“What?!”

She winces. “I know, I’m so sorry. We thought we had enough but then some of the boys were playing and knocked over-,”

You waved her off, not wanting to hear the rest of it. “Okay, okay. Do none of the other girls have any extra? Is no one willing to lend you some?”

She shook her head. “No! I already asked. I don’t know what to do.”

“I’ll get you some.” Peter stepped in. “Just send me a picture of what it looks like and I’ll be back in ten minutes tops.”

Vanessa gasped, “Dude. You’re a lifesaver. Y/N,” she met your eyes, “your boyfriend is a lifesaver!”

“Oh he’s not-,” you started, but she was already walking away. You turned towards Peter, the disbelief on your face getting stronger every time you looked at him today. 

You started shaking your head, “What on earth are you doing Parker?”

“Helping you.” He said as if it were the easiest thing on earth. He wondered if you were making a conscious effort not to say his first name. 

Your head wouldn’t stop shaking left and right. “What? What do you- I don’t-,”

He cut you off, “And I’m gonna get rid of all the people who don’t belong here too.” He looked around the room before looking down at you. “You, just…take care of yourself Y/N. Don’t stress too much, it’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure you even have the time?”

Shit. 

His face fell and you immediately felt guilt seep into your bones. 

“Peter I’m so-,” 

He cut you off again, his voice quieter this time. “No, that was..that was fair. But I mean it.” He raised his voice, sounding more sure now. “I’m going to help you out.”

He stepped away from you suddenly, leaving you standing with your mouth agape. He walked to the end of the room, stopping right before the door. “Alright, everyone! Listen up,” He clapped his hands together, his voice booming around the room. Everyone quieted down to hear him.

“Unless you had some part in putting all this together, I’m going to need you to follow me out right now. Let everyone do their thing, we don’t need to bother them any more than we already have.”

Everyone was still for a second.

“And,” he continued, “Ms. Lightbody gave me permission to start handing out detentions.”

That got everyone moving. Your brows furrowed as a sea of students started moving through the room and out the door. Ms. Lightbody did no such thing. 

Peter stood to the side, holding the door open. It had come down to the last few people and Peter held back a boy. “You,” he told him, “I’m gonna need you to stay outside this door and make sure no one enters unless they’re part of the cast or crew. We can’t have that happening again.”

“Oh shit. Like a bouncer?” The kid asked eagerly.

Peter stared for a bit before he nodded. “Yeah man, exactly. And listen,” he pointed at you, “if you’re not sure, you ask her, alright?”

The boy turned towards you and you offered him a smile. “Damn! She’s smokin’!” He exclaimed. If you weren’t so busy, you might’ve blushed.

Peter narrowed his eyes, and it seemed like he was considering something before he quickly shook his head. He grabbed the boy by the shoulder and placed him on the outside of the door. 

“Vanessa!” He shouted. “Send me a picture of the powder, I’m going right now.”

“Already sent Pete, thanks!” She shouted back, giving him a thumbs up from where she was standing by the makeup chairs. 

Pete? Why would she call him Pete? She doesn’t know him like that. I used to call him Pete-

You stopped your train of thought. You could not afford to think like that right now.

“Perfect.” He said, he made to move away but his eyes met yours and he froze. “I’m gonna…” he trailed off, feet stuck to the ground as his thumb pointed to the door. 

“Of course,” you nodded quickly. “And Peter,” you stop him before he turns to go, “thank you. So much.” You hoped your voice carried the sincerity you felt.

He smiled at you softly, “Anything for you Y/N/N.”

This time, you did blush. You turned away before he could see you and placed a palm on your forehead. 

“Wow,” a voice said from beside you. Brad. “Didn’t know Parker had that in him.”

“Yeah,” you whispered, “me either.”

“Hey, where’s Lexi?” Someone in the room asked. You felt your heart drop. Lexi. You’d completely forgotten about her after that whole thing with Peter. 

You had a show that needed to start in less than an hour and your star still hadn’t shown up. 

You pulled out your phone again, pulling up her contact. You were about to hit the ‘call’ button but right then, Ms. Lightbody walked in. 

She was holding her phone to her ear, and she was staring straight at you, her face full of dread.

“Lexi can’t make it. She’s got some type of flu, she can’t get out of bed. I am on the phone with her mother right now.”

Your jaw dropped. Chatter broke out everywhere. The kids were panicking, wondering what to do now, now that the lead of the whole show wasn’t going to be here.

Fuck. You should’ve known, yesterday when you saw her. But you were stupid enough to believe it was just lack of sleep. You should’ve figured it out faster so you could’ve planned something. Stupid, stupid, stupid-

“Miss Y/L/N.” You looked up when you heard your name. “She’s asking to speak to you.” Ms. Lightbody holds her phone out for you to take. 

Your eyes widen, “Me?”

She nodded, hand still outstretched toward you. You swallowed and walked your way toward her. You reached for the phone and held it to your ear. The chatter around the room stopped, everyone straining to hear what was going to happen next.

“Hello?”

“It wasn’t the Axe Body Spray.”

You barked out a laugh at the unexpected joke. “Lex! Be serious, what happened.”

“I got sick when I got home from rehearsal yesterday, I’ve been asleep since.” It was then that you heard how different her voice sounded. Nasally and broken, like she’d swallowed a lawn mower. 

“My mom’s only woken me up about twice to drink some medicine,” she continued, breaking into a fit of coughing at the end of her sentence. Yeah, maybe it was a good thing she didn’t come.

“Lex,” you repeated, sounding more desperate this time, “what’re we gonna do?”

“Wait,” someone in the room with you starts, “what about her understudy?”

“There is no understudy, dumbass!” Someone quipped right back. 

“You,” Lexi said. 

“Huh?” You replied. 

“You, Y/N.” She repeated. “You need to do it. You need to play Stephanie. No one else could do it. You know all the lines. You know the whole play.”

You paled. “Be so fucking for real with me right now Lexi Walker.”

“I am.” She said seriously. Or, as seriously as she could sound when she had to cough after every other word she spoke.

People were leaning in now, trying to hear what was going on between the two of you. You ignored them, “Lex, there’s no way. You know I can’t do that.”

“Oh my god!” Someone shouted. Lacy. “Y/N! Y/N can do it!”

You shook your head quickly. “No! I can’t!” You replied to her, the phone still pressed to your ear.

“You have to, Y/N, please, for me. You know how much this means to me. You’re the only person I trust,” Lexi begged

There are shouts from your cast-mates now, encouraging you to take the role when that was the last thing you wanted to do.

“Lex, babe,” you tried to reason, “I didn’t rehearse as much as you did! I don’t know it like you.”

“No,” she agreed, “you know it better. All that time you spent, going over every detail of the set, the costumes, the script. It was for this. Now please, you know you can do it.”

You paused. You didn’t want to, but it was really looking like you had no choice. You looked around at everyone in the room, they all worked so hard, hell, you worked so hard to make this happen. You weren’t gonna let it all be for nothing.

You rubbed your temple with one hand, the other holding the phone up to your ear. “Do you guys really think I can do it?” You looked around at everyone, hoping they’d answer honestly.

A chorus of agreement rang out from the group but Ms. Lightbody stepped in. “Miss Y/L/N,” she started, “I know none of this has been ideal. And I know we’re asking a lot. You didn’t come in today expecting to step onto that stage, but right now, that’s what we need. And I think we would all appreciate your help in these unexpected circumstances.”

You stared at her for a moment. You always wondered why she spoke so formally all the time, maybe one day you’ll ask her.

“Sure, I’m down.” You shrugged and everyone started cheering. 

“Oh good,” Lexi sighed, “cause I need to go throw up right now, so bye. Tell everyone to take lots of photos and videos for me please!”

You winced. “We will Lex, you just work on feeling better. Now go, I love you.”

“Love you too babe.” She replied before hanging up quickly. 

“Alright,” Ms. Lightbody started pushing you to the makeup chairs. “Have a seat Y/N. Girls,” she turned toward the makeup crew. “Get started on her, afterward, take her to hair and then, get her into her costume.”

They all chorused an agreement and started fussing over you. You were one of the last people to get ready, everyone one else having already had their turn. 

With so many people working on you, your makeup was done in no time. Soon, only Vanessa was left and she was powdering your face.

“Peter came back?” You asked her once you realized what she was holding in her hands. 

She nodded. “Yeah, a few minutes ago, but he didn’t come in, left the stuff with the dude outside the door who’s calling himself our ‘bouncer’.”

You nodded, “Oh okay.”

“You’ve got a great boyfriend Y/N, seriously. Not many guys I know would help out like that, no matter…”

You zoned out while she was doing the finishing touches on your face. Not many guys you know either, Peter included. Or at least, the Peter you’d come to find yourself in a relationship with. The old Peter, however, would’ve done anything for you, and you for him. You got a glimpse of him earlier tonight and you wondered what it was that triggered that. 

The few moments of silence gave you time to go over everything that's been happening recently in your head. You’ve had a hectic past few weeks, but especially this last week. With the last few rehearsals, everything with Peter, everything with Spider-Man. Oh…

And then there was him…

There was a moment yesterday. You tried to gaslight yourself into thinking you imagined it but you didn’t. It was real. Until you ruined it.

You’d gone to bed late last night, staying on the roof even after he’d left in case he decided to come back so you could apologize again. You’d felt downright terrible all night. And this morning. 

It was none of your business to ask him to take off his mask. Who the hell did you think you were? There might’ve been something before but there was no way…not after the way he reacted last night. You’d pissed him off. And now you’d lost another friend.

“There you go!” Vanessa said, pulling back from your face and grinning. She held up a mirror for you to take a look. “What do you think? I think it matches Stephanie’s description pretty well, no?”

You gasped, “Oh my god Vanessa, this is exactly how I pictured her! When all this is over you have to teach me how to do my eyeliner like this.”

“Deal.” She grinned.

Suddenly, Ms. Lightbody walked by. “Who is that child standing outside the door?” She asked. Vanessa shot you a look and you subtly shook your head at her, and at anyone who turned towards you. 

No one answered her. “He asked me for my ID?!” You choked back a laugh. “He doesn’t even go here!” She continued. Everyone successfully avoided her, playing busy with whatever task they had in front of them. Vanessa kept brushing over your face with a clean brush while you both fought back smiles.

“Y/N!” Ms. Lightbody called. You shot out of your chair and approached her. “Yes ma’am?”

“Is your makeup all done?” You nodded while she examined your face. “Very well, head over to hair, we need everyone ready soon! Curtain opens in 15!”

That last one was directed at everybody and you could feel the shift in the atmosphere. If everyone wasn’t working before, they were now. 

You headed over to hair and let one of the people there pin it up for you. After that, you were held into your costume, your friends pulling on layer after layer before finally, you were completely ready. 

You looked in the mirror. “I look I came out a Jane Austen novel,” you murmured. 

Lacy, who stood beside you, laughed. “And it suits you! You look beautiful Y/N, stunningly classic. Very vintage.” She nodded in approval. 

You turned towards her and smiled, “Thank you, Lace.” You sucked in a breath and ran your hand down the hem of your costume. “I’m nervous,” you admitted shyly. 

“Don’t be,” she replied, voice soft. “Hey, if you could pull off that scavenger hunt, this should be a piece of cake.” She smirked wickedly at you. 

You laughed, “Actually, you’re right.”

“I always am.” she shrugged

“SHOWTIME EVERYONE, GET IN YOUR PLACES!” Ms. Lightbody’s voice boomed across the whole backstage. 

You both looked at each other. “Break a leg.” She grinned at you. 

You grinned right back. You could handle this. 

The anxiety from before had mostly worn off. Now, all you felt were nervous jitters and even a little excitement. Everyone was right, you knew everything about this play like the back of your hand, and you were looking forward to being out there with people you’d come to think of as friends. 

You got into place, standing beside Brad and some of your other cast-mates who were going to be in this first scene with you.

“Hey,” he said, voice low and he looked down at you with a large smile on his face. 

“Hi,” you replied, smiling right back. 

“Don’t think I got the chance to tell you, but I’m really happy you’re doing this.”

“Yeah, I think I am too.”

“Curtain warmers on?” Ms. Lightbody spoke into a little headset. “Perfect. And…action!”

The lights blinded you for a second, once the curtain opened, and you had to stop yourself from turning your face away. In the beat you had before the scene came to life, you chanced a glance at the crowd. You really wished you hadn’t. 

Peter Parker was sitting front row. 

As quickly as you looked, you averted your gaze, but not before you noticed a few things. Beside him sat Ned, and in the row behind them, right behind Ned’s chair, sat MJ. And all three of them had their mouths hanging open. You had to fight down the heat threatening to rise to your face. 

You never told them, hell, you didn’t even know. What were they gonna think? There was no way you could pull this off, you were all fooling yourselves, everyone was wrong and-

The first line was delivered, and it all came to life. 

You were panting, running backstage. There was a small intermission at the moment, and you had just changed your outfit, from the simple gown you were adorning, to a bigger one. This one was more detailed and more eye-catching. It was supposed to be special because it was meant for the last scene of the whole play. The confession. Your kiss with Brad.

In the heat of the moment, you’d forgotten that specific detail. And as you sat down in the makeup chair again and one of the girls reapplied your lipstick, it was all you could think about. 

You had to kiss Brad. And Peter would be sitting front row watching the whole thing. 

That shouldn’t matter. First of all, it was all part of an act. Even if you were still with Peter, (which you weren’t. You had to keep reminding yourself of that little detail) it wouldn’t have mattered because you were doing it for the play. A play you weren’t even planning on being a part of, acting-wise, of course. 

And then there was Spider-Man. If there was anyone you had to be kissing right now, you wished it was him. But there was no chance of that happening after last night. You wondered how he was feeling right now. He’d probably tell you to relax and stop stressing yourself out. 

The thought made you take in a breath through your mouth, and slowly exhale from your nose. Just like he’d taught you. You felt yourself relax and, not for the first time that night, you decided that you needed to just get through tonight. And then you could worry about everything else. 

The girl helping you with your makeup (you didn’t recognize her, but appreciated the help nonetheless) pulled away and smiled. “Alright, I think you’re good to go.” 

“Thank you.” You smiled back and stood from your chair.

Ms. Lightbody approached you, placing a hand on your shoulder, “Come on, Miss Y/L/N. We need to get you in place.”

You nodded as she led you to the wing on the side of the stage, the curtains were still down, and by the time they opened again, you would be standing on the makeshift balcony (built by the props team), soon to be joined by Brad. 

You went to approach the steps of the balcony when you felt her hold you back.

“I wanted to thank you again Y/N. I know we were all planning on Miss Walker doing all this but honestly…I couldn’t be prouder.”

Your heart warmed at her confession. You were upset you didn’t get to see Lexi shine like you’d been planning but you hoped you’d do her proud. You were glad to know you did Ms. Lightbody proud. 

Without saying a word, you throw your arms around her in a warm embrace. She quickly reciprocated. 

“I know we’ve all given you a hard time these past few weeks, and we don’t say it enough but we appreciate you. All of us.”

You both pulled back and her eyes were full of emotion. “Thank you Y/N, truly. Now go, I’ll get Mr. Davis ready.”

You nodded and stepped onto the set, positioning yourself at the end of the balcony. The balcony protruded from the side of the stage and covered a quarter of it. The backdrop you’d been appreciating just yesterday now stood to your side. You saw parts of it glitter from the light leaking in from backstage and you stifled a laugh.

Soon, the curtain opened. You’d grown used to the lights by now, welcoming their glow over your face. You gripped the railing and played broken-hearted, right now, Stephanie and Gabriel had just had a falling out during a ball and you had run out onto the balcony to get some air. 

“Stephanie.” Brad approached behind you, and you turned around in fake shock.

The hardest part about acting, you’d come to find, was keeping a serious face and not laughing at yourself or your partner.

“Leave me be, Gabriel.” You waved a hand at him, turning away. 

He caught your arm and held it gently between the two of you, standing so close, you were trapped between the railing and him.

“I can’t,” he said, his voice strangled. He looked down at you, face so pained, you almost believed him. 

And so it began, the two of you going back and forth, delivering your lines, monologues about your feelings for each other, and how nothing in the world mattered except holding the other person, even for a moment. 

Brad was finishing up, he was pacing back and forth in front of you while you listened intently.

“…And all this, because I love you.” He stopped in front of you now, hands coming up to cup your face. You did your best to get your expression to convey the love you (or Stephanie) were supposed to be feeling and then it happened. 

Brad leaned, crashing his lips onto yours. You throw your arms around him, meeting him just as eagerly, and tried your best not to think about all the people currently watching suck each other’s faces off. One of his hands traveled down to your waist while the other moved from your cheek to hold the back of your head as he dipped you. Cheers broke out across the crowd. 

You two stayed locked together like that for a few moments as the curtains closed, and then you broke apart. You were both panting, faces flushed, but you didn’t have time to think about what just happened. You and Brad had started moving off the balcony and onto the actual stage itself, the other members of the cast and crew joining you to take the final bow. 

You all lined up across the stage, hands interlocked. With you and Brad in the middle, the curtains opened. You could still hear the applause before, but now, it got even louder and you couldn’t help the big smile that overtook your face. People were whistling, and clapping, someone was even throwing roses. You all took a bow together, and rose together, throwing your interlocked hands in the air. 

Your body was buzzing with adrenaline. It was over, you’d actually done it. You could see Ms. Lightbody standing to the side, gleaming with pride at you all. 

Soon, you all let go of each other and started embracing and exchanging congratulations. Brad turned toward you and pulled you into a tight hug, lifting you up a little. You laughed, holding onto him just as tight. The applause seemed never-ending, even as you all started walking off stage. 

Now backstage, there was a buzz in the air. Not the same as a couple hours ago, which had been anxiety and nerves. This was triumph, pride, and adrenaline. 

“Alright everyone,” Ms. Lightbody approached the center of the room once everyone had reconvened. “We’ve finally finished. And it was a hit.”

That caused everyone to start whooping and shouting. She rolled her eyes but even she couldn’t hide the smile creeping onto her face. 

She held up a hand, “Okay. I just wanted to let you all know, how proud I am of each and every single one of you. You all worked so hard to make this happen and you worked through every problem that came your way.” She gave you a pointed look and the cheers started up again. 

You hid your face in your hands as your friends pulled you into side hugs. “And I just wanted to say,” she continued. “We’ve all had a long night. Leave the cleaning for another day, everyone, go celebrate!”

She waved her hands and everyone started cheering again, moving as one to the back door to meet up with their friends and family. 

As soon as you entered the hall you were bombarded by thanks and praises from your friends. You thanked them and threw their compliments right back at them, saying that this whole thing was a group effort. 

You were flying from one group to another, everyone shouting your name. You were currently with Noah, Jack, and Lacy, telling them how good a job they did on the sets when you heard your name being shouted out again.

You turned around and saw MJ. Grinning, you excused yourself from the group and charged at her, pulling her into a hug without giving her any time to protest. To your surprise, she pulled you in just as tight. 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” She mumbled into your hair. 

“Oh my god,” you started, “MJ it was insane. It all happened so fast, that Lexi got sick, so she didn’t show up! And I knew all the lines and stuff so I had to step in cause no one thought of casting an understudy and-,”

You pulled back from the hug but kept your hands on her shoulders. “Oh my god, what did you think? Was it bad? You can tell me -,”

“No! No way, holy shit Y/N, it was so good!” 

“Seriously?” you smiled at her. “What happened to the whole ‘school productions are so cringe’ mindset?”

“That was before her best friend was starring in one,” said Ned. You hadn’t realized he was standing beside you two, with Peter beside him.

“Don’t worry, Y/N,” He continued. “The show was amazing. And you popping up on stage was a fun surprise.”

You grinned at him. “Thank you, Ned! I’m so happy you all made it.” You looked at Peter and offered him a small smile. He’d really helped you out today, and the fact that he’d made it to the actual show, and stuck it out till the end, meant a lot as well. 

“Oh of course we made it!” Ned cut it, putting your attention back on him. “Petey here wouldn’t shut up about it. Went out and bought you flowers and everything.”

Your mouth fell open at his words, and for the first time, you noticed the large bouquet in Peter’s arms. You saw Peter nudge his friend hard and Ned winced before his face lit up in understanding. He grabbed MJ by the hand (which she quickly yanked back from him) and said, “Ok, well we’re gonna go talk to someone else. Congrats Y/N!” But you didn’t have a chance to reply before he was scurrying off, MJ with him. 

You stared at them for a bit before turning all your attention to Peter. He cleared his throat before saying, “Hey.”

“Hi.”

“These are for you,” he said, holding out the bouquet of fresh flowers. You accepted them from him and brought them up to your nose, taking in a whiff of the sweet scent. 

“My favorite.” You whispered, fingers lightly tracing the petals. 

He nodded. “Yeah, um, I saw them and I thought you might like them. Especially with everything, you know,” he gestured vaguely, “thought you’d like some flowers.”

Your heart warmed at the thought that he saw your favorite flowers while he was out and thought of you. “Thank you, really. But you didn’t have to do that.”

“I wanted to.” He admitted. 

You looked around, unable to meet his eyes. You focused on the floor, “Well thanks Parker, that was really sweet of you.”

He sighed, “Y/N please, I don’t want to-,”

But he got cut off by someone shouting your name. “Y/N!” Brad approaches you two. He looked Peter up and down before turning to you, “Hey, so the whole cast and stuff is going out for ice cream in our costumes, thought it’d be fun. Wanna join?”

Your face lit up, “Of course!” 

He grinned right back at you. “Great. Come on, they’re leaving now.

You turned towards Peter, whose expression looked harder than before. “Listen, thank you so much for your help today, it means a lot. And thank you for the flowers.”

He nodded but his attention was on Brad. He finally turned toward you, his expression notably softening, “Like I said before, anything for you Y/N/N.”

You stayed there for a bit, caught in his eyes, unable to look away. It isn’t until Brad places a hand on your shoulder that you realize you’ve been staring.

“Ready to go?” He asked. You nodded and turned to leave. As you were walking out the door, you turned to look over your shoulder. You weren’t even sure why, but as you did, you caught Peter already staring. You sent him a little wave and he returned it before turning and walking away himself, shoving his hands in his pockets. 

You walked to the ice cream shop with the others, still holding your flowers. And after everything that happened today, all you could think about was Peter. 

You had a blast. The ice cream shop was packed with a bunch of high school kids in old-timesy clothing, laughing and joking with each other. 

Brad had paid for your ice cream, despite your multiple refusals, claiming that they all owed you for stepping in and saving their asses.

“Consider it a thank you for that great kiss earlier.” He winked before walking off. 

That had gotten you to shut up. 

You all sat at tables surrounding each other, even pushing some together. You ate your ice cream in peace, joining the conversation every now and then to make a joke. 

Someone had gotten Lexi on the phone and you all said hello. She congratulated you and you thanked her, letting her know you thought it should’ve been her on that stage instead. She made some joke about ‘if you wanted the whole front row to be covered in vomit, then I totally should’ve been there, you’re right.’ And you all laughed.  

You had noticed Jack and Lacy moved to their own spot across the store. They were laughing together with Jack’s arm around her cocooning them from the world. It seemed they had finally gotten together and you couldn’t be more happy for them.

For some reason, the only thing on your mind was Spider-Man. It was silly but all you could think about was finding a way to make things right with him. It sucked that you had no way to reach him, but you’d decided to wait on the roof tonight, hoping he’d see you while swinging and stop by. Even if he left right after you apologized, you wouldn’t mind. You just wanted to see him. 

You realized how late it was getting, and that it was usually now when you met up with him. So you'd asked Martha, (her mom helped with costumes, but she worked on the props) for a ride back since she had a car and lived in an apartment building near yours. 

She quickly agreed, claiming she was ready to go too, but she had to walk back to the school to grab her car. 

So you’d waited, but you couldn’t fight off your anxiety. Your leg kept bouncing up and down. You stayed like that for a while before Brad put a hand on your knee, stopping the action.

“You alright,” he asked, some sort of half-smile on his face. You looked at him then and thought, I can see why people like you Brad. He was kind, he was funny, he was fairly handsome, pretty popular too. And yet all you could think about was heading back home and waiting for someone you didn’t even really know. 

You nodded, “Yeah, I’m just waiting for Martha to pull up.”

“I could walk you home if you wanted.” He offered. 

You smiled but shook your head, “No, but thank you, I’m kind of in a rush.”

“Everything alright?”

“Everything’s fine.” You assured him. “Just…tired.”

“Yeah,” he nodded at you. “I get that. But hey.”

You looked up at him expectantly. 

“Before you go there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you.”

Your eyes shot open. “Oh?” You said, and it felt oddly reminiscent of that moment the two of you shared in the hall. 

“Yeah. Would you wanna go out with me sometime?”

“Like a date?” You blurted out. Like an idiot, you thought. You knew it was coming and yet you’re acting like he just told you he was Taylor Swift. 

He smiled at you and nodded, “Yeah, like a date.”

Oh Martha, where are you?

You were silent for a few seconds before you cleared your throat. There was no crawling away this time, no Peter running to interrupt. You had to face this. 

“I really like you Brad but…I can’t out with you.”

His expression fell a little, but he didn’t look surprised. “It’s Parker, isn’t it?”

You were taken aback. “Huh?”

He nodded his head towards and flowers lying in your lap, “Parker. I saw you two today. When he was helping before the show, that was all for you. He sat front row before he even knew you were going to be on that stage.”

You blew out a breath and ran a hand through your hair, which you’d taken out of its updo. “I don’t know.” You told him honestly. “I don’t know and that’s the problem. Things are still really weird between me and him, and going out with you? That wouldn’t be fair to me or you.” And the other person you couldn’t wait to see.

He nodded again, understanding coating his features. “I get that, but hey,” he smiled at you, “we’re still friends right?”

You grinned wide, relief flowing through you. The last thing you’d wanted to do was hurt his feelings and you were so glad he was taking this so well. 

“Of course we are,” you replied honestly. Right then, your phone started ringing and you stood up to answer. Martha was outside waiting for you.

You walked back to your table, saying your goodbyes to everyone. You were pulled into hugs and thanked a few more times. You really wanted to take your time but you couldn’t stop the part of you that wanted to rush home and sprint onto the rooftop. 

As soon as you were out the door you were sprinting to the car. You spent the whole ride anxiously fiddling with the bouquet of flowers from Peter. 

You barely thanked her as you stepped out the door, closing it and waving goodbye as she pulled away. 

You rushed straight up the stairs, wasting no minute. You felt hopeful, for the first time in a long time. You were going to make sure he knew you were sorry, make sure the two of you remained friends. 

You stepped onto the roof, the wind blowing around you. Only then did you realize you were still in your costume. That didn’t matter though, you didn’t want to risk going down to change. And you were sure that if he did stop by tonight, he would love to hear about the crazy day you had. 

You stepped close to the ledge, setting the bouquet down by your feet and you leaned over slightly, trying to catch a glimpse of the hero you’d come to think of as a friend. 

A weird sense of familiarity washed over you, and you realized, this was exactly what you’d been doing a few hours ago. Standing on that makeshift balcony, waiting for your lover to come so you could make amends. Except, this wasn’t a fake balcony, and there was no way you and Spider-Man were lovers, barely friends at best. But still, there was something familiar there.

You waited. And waited. Just when you were starting to give up hope, you heard the small thwip you’d come to realize signaled his arrival. Soon after, you heard a pair of feet land in the middle of your rooftop. 

You turned toward him, heart racing. For a moment neither of you said anything, just stared at each other, but you quickly decided you needed to get your words out before he left again like last night.

“I am so sorry. I’ve been so worried since last night that I upset you and I can't stand it, please would you-,”

Oh….oh.

Before you could even inhale to get your next word out, he was walking towards you, ripping his mask off, gripping your face, and pulling you into a deep kiss.

You didn’t even get to see him but that was the last thought on your mind. He was kissing you. And it was perfect. Your hands flew up to his hair, and you tugged slightly, making him kiss you even harder.

His mouth moved against yours like he’d been waiting his whole life to do this, and couldn’t believe he finally got the chance. You met him just as eagerly, for each kiss, trying to memorize the feeling of his lips on yours.

Something about this, all of it, felt so, so familiar. But every time you made to pull away, his lips chased yours and you couldn’t help but give in. 

Soon enough you both pulled away to catch your breaths, eyes still shut as you leaned into each other, foreheads touching. You enjoyed the moment for a bit, and then you opened your eyes, about to make a joke about how that was an interesting way to accept an apology.

You gasped out loud, hands flying up to cover your mouth as you stumbled backward. 

“Oh my god,” you whispered. “Oh my god.”

“Y/N/N, I’m so sorry,” he says. Peter says. Because it’s Peter standing in front of you right now and he didn’t seem to be the least bit taken aback by your reaction.

You’re unsure what to say to him, your head is reeling and you can't breathe. 

“Oh my god,” you repeated, your voice barely a breath. 

“Y/N, please, please let me explain.” He stepped toward you and reached out a hand. 

You shook your head so quick, that you thought you might give yourself whiplash. “No. This,” you pointed at him, “is so sick, Peter.” Your voice broke at the end and you tried to fight back the tears that were already burning in your eyes. 

His eyes widened. “Y/N I promise you, it’s not what you think-,”

“What do you think I think Peter?” You asked him, voice full of exasperation. “Because I think, you lied to me. I think, you played me for a fool. I think, you’re sick and twisted for sitting here with me every night and playing friends with me. Asking me about my day, pretending to care. Fuck, asking me about my ex. Continuously,

“I think,” you continued, tears flowing freely now, voice shaky and weak, but still conveying your anger. “I think you got me to trust you, again. Just so you could stomp all over every bit of me, again!”

“It’s not like that Y/N, it was never like that. Please, believe me, sweetheart. Please don’t cry.” He begged, looking like it was taking every muscle in his body to hold himself back from pulling you in again. 

“Why should I believe you?” You snapped at him. It was hard for him to believe that, just a minute ago, he was holding you again. Kissing you like nothing else in the world mattered. He’d give anything to have that back.

“Because every moment we had out here was real! Every concern, every question. I was never playing pretend, I just, ugh!” He groaned out loud, dropping his head in his hands, and tugging his hair tightly before looking up at you again. “I fucked up Y/N,” his voice is watery, and because you can’t undo the time you spent together, as Peter and as Spider-Man, you can’t help the strong impulses you feel to hold him tight. But you stand your ground and wait for him to continue.

“First when I didn’t tell you about this,” he said gesturing towards his suit. “Which has its own reasons. And then again, when I bailed on you all those times, which was because of this. And again when I let you walk away from me that night at school. I should’ve fought for you, I should’ve shown up more, I should’ve shown up every time and never given you any reason to not trust me,

“But I didn’t. And you called things off… And at that moment, all I could think was you, walking down the streets of New York, crying, and distracted.” He shuddered and your heart fell. You’d never thought of it like that. “You don’t know the things I’ve seen,” he said, looking up at you, eyes red and face flushed. 

“So I thought I’d just walk you home, make sure you got there safely, and then I’d start staying away. But it was you,” his voice broke. “And you were so upset and all I could think was that it’s my fault and I hated myself. So when you invited me to hang out on the roof with you, I thought I’d show up, try to cheer you up a little,

“And you made me tea, that night,” he laughed softly. “I don’t think you even realized, but you made it the way I always drink my tea. My favorite.” Your mouth fell open a little when you realized you had, in fact, made his favorite tea that night. He’d told you during a late-night conversation before you two had started dating, and ever since, it was the only tea you drank. 

“So I had to stay,” he continued. “And then we started talking, and you were joking, and telling me things I had no idea about. And I never wanted to leave,” he admitted softly. 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” You asked him, pointing at his mask on the floor, voice raspy from the tears still clogged in your throat. “When we were still together? I’ll bet that's why you were always bailing, isn’t it?”

He looked down and nodded. “It is. Or was. I wanted to,” he looked up at you suddenly, his face so sincere, that you could feel the desperation in his next words. “God Y/N, you have no idea how many times I almost did. But I stopped myself every time because the risks of you knowing were too high.”

“Risks?” You asked confused.

He nodded, “I’ve met a lot of people. Bad people. And if the one catches wind of this, of you? If someone ever tried something, I’d never forgive myself.” He looked away shaking his head.

“So no one knows?”

He shook his head again. “Only Ned and May.”

“Ned knows?” You knew they were best friends, but really?

“It's not like that, no.” He waved his hand. “He found out by accident. He was waiting in my room one day, and I crawled in through the window ‘cause I didn’t see him.”

You huff out a breath from your nose. That was so Peter. You’d bet money that May found out in some similar situation.

“Wait,” you started, “if we went through all of that, and you still didn’t tell me, why tell me now?”

“Because I can’t stand to be away from you any longer.” His voice sounded broken, like he’d been dying to get that off his chest.

He stepped closer again, and you didn’t push him away this time, much to his surprise. He doesn’t stop until he’s standing right in front of you.

“I’ll protect you from anything or anyone that may come your way. I’d do anything for you sweetheart,” he repeated his words from earlier and you felt something grow in your chest. One of his hands came up to cup your cheek, the other, moving to your waist. Your hands rose up to lay on his chest. 

“God, you have no idea how much it was killing me to sit beside you all those nights and not be able to touch you.” He whispered, staring straight into your eyes. 

You met his gaze. You believed him, every word. You’d known Peter for years, you knew when he was lying to you, which was part of why you broke up with him. You knew he was lying to you, or holding something back from you, you just didn’t know what. But you still had a few more questions. 

“Last night. Why did you run off? Why didn’t you just tell me then?”

“Because I was a coward,” he admitted, expression sad. “I was enjoying it all too much, I wasn’t ready to ruin it yet. I still couldn’t believe I found a way to still talk to you, and you were asking to see me,” he blew out a breath.

Yeah, obviously that didn’t initially start well. 

You nodded. “And when you kept asking me about you. About my ex and how I felt about him, why?” That part still had you confused

He looked up, closing his eyes, “I won’t lie to you sweetheart, that was just me being a dumbass. That was complete selfishness and…,”

He trailed off. “And what?” You questioned him. There was some unspoken thing you two were doing right now, that you could ask anything, and he’d answered honestly. It was the least he could do. 

“And jealously,” he finished quietly, looking down at the ground.

“Jealousy?” You repeated, still confused. “But who would you be jealous of…oh.”

And it was then that you realized how you’d talked about Brad to Spider-Man (before you knew who he was of course), and how, right after, when he’d asked about Peter, you’d said something about just trying to forget the whole thing. You had to hold back a laugh when you remembered all that. Poor guy must’ve been going insane. 

He nodded. “You kept talking about that Brad guy and talking about trying to get over me. And I hated that you seemed to be getting over me so quick. Like I said, completely selfish. I'm sorry.”

“No,” you shook your head, “that makes sense actually. But seriously Peter..” You trailed off, shaking your head again.

Worry crept onto his features, “I know I messed up Y/N/N, big time, but I’m willing to do anything-,”

“You really thought I was into Brad?” You asked, wrinkling your nose up at him. 

He let out a breath of relief, before laughing a little. God, he was so happy you were joking with him. 

He leaned down and pressed his forehead against yours, “I’m sorry sweetheart.”

“You’re forgiven,” you told him, the sincerity in your tone impossible to miss, and he knew you were talking about more than the crazy jealousy. 

He looked down into your eyes, his gaze so intense you almost went to look away. “I’m the luckiest man alive,” he whispered, his voice so low, you wondered if he even meant to say it out loud.

His eyes flickered down to your lips, and you took that as your cue. You leaned in, closing the gap between you. He kissed you back instantly. It was softer than the one earlier, but way more meaningful. Every press of his lips on yours felt like repairing something. Mending whatever it was that had broken between the two of you.

You pulled away first because you knew he wouldn’t, but he didn’t let you get far. He started planting kisses all over your face.

"Have I told you," Kiss. "How beautiful," Kiss. "I think you look tonight? And every night."

You laughed, face heating up at his compliments. "Thank you, Petey."

"I love it when you call me that." He said, grinning like a lovesick idiot. He leaned in and kissed your cheek one more time before he pulled away again. 

"I didn't like it." He said, a frown on his face.

"Didn't like what babe?" You asked, tilting your head up at him while your fingers played with the hair at the nape of his neck.

He let out a sigh, "The breakup. Being broken up. Not talking to you, as me, I mean. Not as Spider-Man. And I sure as hell didn't like seeing some other guy make out with my girl in front of everyone."

You laughed and you felt butterflies erupt in your stomach when he called you his girl. "Well don't worry," you told him, moving your hands to cup his face. "We're not doing that again, not if we can help it."

You leaned in and gave him a quick peck on the lips, before pulling away, which made him whine. 

 He moved his hands to your shoulder as he buried his face in your neck, breathing in your scent. 

“You drive me crazy, sweetheart.” He said, voice muffled by your skin. 

You giggled, “You drive me crazier, Peter Parker.”

‘crazier’ taglist: @coralineyouareinterribledanger @666yourmomdotcom

[southerngothicchic]

Promises in the Dark

18+

Your eyes linger on the dingy neon lettering that read 'Prairie Inn,' on the faded sign. The equally dingy 'Vacancy' right below it seemed extra depressing tonight, just taunting you with the false prospect of actually having guests check in. You didn't know why you had to sit perched behind the dusty front desk, surrounded by so much wood paneling every night, when it would all prove to be done in vain.

You tried to convince your parents to sell the place and move away, to literally anywhere else, other than middle of nowhere North Dakota. They always refused, since it was a family business and they wanted it to stay 'in the family.'

Despite what they envisioned, this wasn't how your future was going to play out. Once you had enough saved up, you were getting out and possibly not looking back, at least not for a while.

Other than them, you didn't really have anything keeping you here...unless you counted a certain sheriff's deputy that had a crush on you.

You knew you never should've humored him, but you could only resist his dreamy brown eyes for so long.

You'd drag him into the back office for heated make outs, with him whining how you should just open up one of the rooms so you could have some real fun. You told him no, several times, out of some looming fear that you'd get caught. Which, he always tried to persuade you otherwise, but you didn't waver.

That was, until tonight.

You sit, with a huff, behind the front desk, already over everything while your shift had just started. You then pull your phone from your back pocket and begin endlessly scrolling.

For such a mind-numbing activity, it did make the time pass quicker, as it was soon 11 P.M.

You know he should be here soon, as he always stops by during his patrols of the area. Antipation courses through you as you've missed him more than you thought you would. You find yourself actually missing that stupid vape that seemed to be attached to his hand. He's so irritatingly cute, sometimes you couldn't stand it.

You turn your attention back to your phone, getting lost in scrolling once again, when you hear the ancient door creak open and the footfalls from heavy boots. You glance up to see him blow a cloud of vapor in front of him, as he approaches you. You roll your eyes, not wanting him to see how much you missed him.

"Evenin' gorgeous," he greets, leaning against the desk. "How's your night been?"

"Oh, you know, another thrilling night at the Bates Motel," you snark, gesturing to your surroundings.

You each share a laugh, as he nervously shifts his gaze from yours.

"I have to say, I don't like you being here all alone," he begins, "there's a lot of bad people out there that could take advantage of a pretty thing like you."

"So you tell me, literally every time I see you," you dismiss, with another laugh. "I think if some horrible thing was meant to happen to me, it would've by now."

"Hard to say, the world's just gettin' worse and people are gettin' crazier," he counters, "who knows what could happen on any given night."

"Are you trying to scare me, Tillman?"

He bristles at you using his last name.

"Just stating what could happen is all," he defends, glancing at you with those eyes.

"Well, I really shouldn't have anything to worry about because you'll be here to protect me, right?"

He smirks while you playfully bat your eyes at him.

"That's right, honey, nothing's gonna happen to you with me here," he says proudly.

"I'm so lucky to have such a big, strong man looking out for me," you then tease, knowing it really gets him going.

It's his turn to roll his eyes, before he leans closer to you.

"Make fun all you want, but I'm gonna show you just how big and strong I am," he breathes, his voice low.

"Oh really?"

He nods. "Now, c'mere, I've been dying to kiss ya all day."

He reaches for you and places his hand on the back of your neck, pulling you to him.

You let him, as you've been wanting the same thing.

His lips are surprisingly soft as he kisses you slowly. The tiniest moan escapes his lips when you deepen the kiss. The chill of the night is soon forgotten as he's consumed with the warmth radiating from you.

"I knew you missed me," he whispers, as he nose presses against your cheek.

"I did," you breathe, ghosting your lips over his.

"You wanna get us one of those rooms tonight, honey?"

"Gator..." you whine.

"Please, honey? Just think how good I can make you feel..." he continues, as he presses kisses to your cheek.

His kisses are dangerous, as you're considering giving in.

"You're the worst," you say, after breaking the kiss and pulling away.

His smirk returns as he watches you take the master room key out of a drawer. You slide it into one of your back pockets, followed by slipping your phone in the other.

"Lets go, loverboy," you say, as you take his hand and lead him out of the office.

You forget how cold it was as you hurry out into the night. Gator quickly pulls you to him, trying to shield you from the bitter wind. You each walk through the half melted snow, to the nicest room in the motel.

A half faded, gold 5 marks the door as you slide the key card in the lock. It clicks open and you eagerly pull him inside, wanting to get out the cold.

The room itself is almost as cold and dark when you feel him press your back against the door. His lips are on yours again, this time kissing you hungrily. You wrap your arms around his neck, pulling him even closer.

"I knew you wanted this too," he breathes, as his lips move to your neck. "Fuck, I've wanted you for so long, baby."

You just whimper at his words as you feel his teeth scrape against your skin. He plans on leaving a sizable hickey, so everyone will know you're his.

Your hands are already clawing at his bulky vest, the feeling of him suckling on your skin almost too much.

"Tell me you want me, too," he then breathily commands, with his eyes meeting yours.

"I want you," you breathe, gazing at him helplessly.

With that, he lifts you up, into his arms and carries you to the bed. He gently lays you down before beginning to take off his clothes.

The faint light from the neon sign shines through the thin curtain, illuminating him as you watch him undress. His movements entrance you, until he reminds you that you should be taking off your clothes as well.

Blushing, you quickly pull your sweater over your head, revealing a black bra. You then lean over to take off your boots, before emptying your pockets, on the nearby nightstand. You slide your jeans down your legs then discard them, on the floor.

You lay back against the pillows, waiting for him to pounce.

He stands, just in his boxers, as he looks at you.

"So pretty..." he breathes, taking them off and climbing onto the bed.

He presses his lips to your ankle, then alternates between each leg, as he kisses his way up to your thighs. He smiles as you writhe underneath him.

The sensual way he's kissing you is a welcome surprise. Knowing that he possesses such tenderness makes you weak.

You whimper as he nips at your thighs, unable to keep from squirming. He then presses his mouth to your panties, pressing his tongue against the fabric.

"I bet you taste just as good as you smell," he says, looking up at you.

You throw your head back against the pillow, before he rips your panties from your body.

He wastes no time tasting you, as his tongue laps at you, feverishly. Your hands are immediately grasping and pulling at his slicked back hair, while moaning his name.

"You taste so fuckin' good, baby, better than I dreamed," he pants, as he devours you.

You close your eyes, as your legs begin to tremble, only for them to reopen as you whine when he pulls away.

He slithers up your body and hovers his face over yours.

"What's the matter, baby?" He asks, his voice dripping with condescension. "Do you need more?"

You let out a frustrated sigh, before pulling him into a kiss. He smiles before licking his way into your mouth, wanting you to taste yourself. The kiss becomes messier as your desire intensifies.

"You don't know how many nights I've dreamed about this..." he breathes. "And how you were dripping on my tongue..."

He pauses to kiss you again, with his tongue easily parting your lips. A low moan rumbles from his throat, before he continues, "You're the perfect girl, and you deserve to be fucked like one."

You actually gasp, against his lips, while he grins. He glances down as you instinctively spread your legs. You each moan as he eases himself inside you.

"Gator, I-its-" you breathe, arching your back.

"You can take it, honey, I know ya can," he assures, as he pushes all the way in.

You dramatically exhale when you feel his hips against yours.

"Fuck, you're so tight..." he grunts, "don't know how long I'm gonna last."

You move your hips, urging him to move, as your hands grip his shoulders.

"I'll just fuck ya nice and slow," he says, pulling halfway out, before sinking back in.

You're already back to moaning his name, which he can't get enough of.

"How's that, baby? Good?" He asks, loving how you're already this blissed out.

"So good, don't stop..." you answer, as he leans in for a kiss.

He moans into it when he feels you wrap your legs around his waist.

"You've wanted this as much as I have, huh?" He adds, with his lips trailing kisses down your neck.

"Y-Yes, oh God..." you sigh, as he fucks you deeper.

"I can tell from how you're squeezin' me, fuck..." he breathes, fully burying his face in your neck. "I wanna fuck you all the time, after this...you're mine now...all mine."

"Gator..." you whine, meant to be a form of protest, but too lost in pleasure.

"Say it," he commands, before biting the top of your shoulder.

"I'm yours!" You then yelp, your nails clawing at his back.

"Promise me..." he breathes, as he pushes your bra strap down, his lips mouthing along your skin. "Promise me that you'll always be mine..."

Your mind is almost too hazy to comprehend what he's saying, too far gone to form words. All you can really do is whimper as he places wet kisses across the top of your breast.

"Don't go all quiet on me now. I thought you liked me..." he says, looking up at you.

"I do-"

"Don't ya want to be with me?" He asks, kissing his way up your neck.

You whine his name again as he sighs.

"That's not a real answer, honey," he scolds, nuzzling his nose against your jaw.

"Yes, I want to be with you," you reply, exasperation evident in your voice.

He smiles, his eyes meeting yours, even in the darkened room.

"Then ya better fuckin' scream for me," he whispers, before roughly thrusting into you.

His abrupt change of pace makes you gasp and cling to him even tighter as he presses a sloppy kiss to your lips.

Sweat drips from his forehead onto your lips, when he pulls away. He watches as you then swipe your tongue across your lip, before smiling. He moans and fucks into you even harder, making you finally come undone around him.

His hips stutter, for a moment, as you cry his name, with your nails digging into his skin.

"Fuck...you're so beautiful baby...I'm gonna-"

A loud, obnoxious moan reverberates through him as he spills inside you. You're both moaning as he fills you so full, you can feel some of it seeping out.

He collapses onto you, engulfing your body with his. He's panting, harder than before while you lightly scratch his back.

"Holy shit..." he breathes, raising his head to meet your gaze.

You then pull him into a kiss, not wanting him to say something stupid and ruin the moment.

He eagerly reciprocates your kiss and you just lazily make out. He does eventually pull away and say, "I meant everything I said, I want you to be my girlfriend."

"We shouldn't, though. What about your dad-?"

"I don't care about what he thinks," he replies, his hand cupping your cheek. "I just know I wanna be with you. Like, show you off around town and take you on dates and stuff."

You smile. "I guess being your girlfriend wouldn't be so bad..."

"I'll be the best boyfriend you've ever had," he grins, "and you already know that the sex will be good."

"True," you laugh.

He kisses you again before you say, "I hate to do this, but I need to get back to the office."

"Its ok, I should go, too," he replies, giving you one last kiss before sitting up.

You both have dumb smiles on your lips as you redress. He slips his hand into yours as you walk to his patrol car. He pulls you into a tight hug, as he feels you shivering.

"I don't wanna leave you," he pouts, as you pull away to look at him.

"Why don't you come back in a few hours and we go get breakfast?"

A smile instantly forms on his lips.

"Ok, so like a date, then?"

"Yes, like a date," you say, playfully rolling your eyes, before smiling in return.

"See ya later," he breathes, pulling you back to him for a lingering kiss.

"See ya," you echo, against his lips.

You watch, still with a smile, as he leaves the desolate parking lot, before hurrying back inside the motel office.

You resume your place behind the desk, this time with a dreamy look in your eyes. You check your phone, and relief washes over you as there's no missed calls or concerned texts from your parents. You sigh, leaning back in the equally ancient chair, unashamedly excited for breakfast with your boyfriend.

[wagconts]

𝗠𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗮 𝘅 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿! 𝗙𝗲𝗺!

𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆 :: One Day with You and Medina

𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 :: no warnings.

𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁 :: 0.590k

𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 :: English isn't my first language; I write my stories in my native language and translate them with the help of translators. So, if anything's confusing, I'm sorry! Sometimes it might be a local slang.

─ Such a bummer, huh? ─ Gabriel walked up to me.

─ About what exactly?

─ You won't get to see the show I was gonna put on today. ─ he said with a smirk.

Unfortunately, the surf competition got postponed because of the wave conditions. They let us know at the last minute, though. All the surfers were ready, including Medina, and even the news crews were there.

─ Seriously, you're so not full of yourself, are you?

Medina and I have known each other for ages. After I finished my journalism degree, I chose to work in areas related to the sea, like surfing and sailing. I've always been a beach lover, so it was the perfect fit.

Our "relationship" has always been like this—full of teasing and banter. Scooby, one of Medina's good friends, who also became my friend for a while, says that deep down, we love each other.

─ I can't believe it, got all dressed up for nothing. ─ he said, sticking his board in the sand and sitting down next to me.

─ Things don't always go our way. You were all confident and '𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦.

─ You're ridiculous! You were supposed to have my back," he laughed.

─ Who says I'm not? I just keep quiet so I don't inflate your ego.

─ You could use this time to try surfing. ─ he said, looking at me.

─ Are you nuts? The competition got postponed because of the waves, and you wanna go surf!

─ They postponed it, not me. I'd be out there catching waves right now. ─ he said, pointing to the forming waves.

─ Go ahead, I'm good right here.

─ You don't know how to live a little. I'm sure if Pedro were here, you'd go.

─ No way! Pedro's even crazier than you. ─ I said.

─ Alright then, 𝘫𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵, I'll go change and be back to drag you into the ocean. ─ he said, kissing my forehead before grabbing his board and heading to the locker rooms.

[ .... ]

─ How nice! Great friends you are. ─ Scooby said as we sat at the same table for lunch.

─ Here we go. ─ Medina said, rolling his eyes.

─ They went for a swim and caught a wave without inviting me ─ Pedro said, feigning drama. ─ I thought you guys cared about me.

─ Sorry, dude! ─ I said. ─ We had no idea where you were.

─ And we wanted some alone time, but with you around, it's impossible.

─ Gabriel! ─ I scolded him, and he laughed.

─ On top of that, you're dating and didn't tell me! ─ Pedro continued.

─ He's lying; we just went surfing, nothing more!

─ 𝘏𝘶𝘮𝘮, sure ─ Medina muttered under his breath.

[ .... ]

─ Is Greece's economy that bad? ─ Medina barged into my room while I was putting on makeup for dinner. ─ Because this Greek goddess escaped to be near me.

─ What a lame pickup line, Gabriel ─ I shot back, unimpressed. ─ You used to be better at these.

─ Of course I used to be better; I've used up all my best lines, and you still don't care ─ he said, making me laugh.

─ Keep trying, maybe one day, huh? ─ I blew him a kiss, and he pretended to catch it mid-air.

[lol-jackles]

Did you ever been to a SPN convention? And how was it?

Yes, twice. IMO, boring except for Jared, Jensen, Mark Sheppard, and Timothy Omundson. It’s an one-show convention so there’s less variety in the crowd and costumes, and the vendor room is small.

Fan-videos don't get across on how well Jared and Jensen work with each other during their panel; they're totally in sync and can basically read each other’s mind, it’s something you have to see live.

Me and my girlfriend went to our first SPN con in 2016. We’re the type of people that only need to experience something once, then we’re done.   Or so I thought. I end up going to a SPN con a second time in 2017 for the Sunday panel.  Readers, if you saw five biker-looking old farts at your convention, I was the good looking one.  They enjoyed the J2 panel very much and even shouted “Supernatural forever!” when a fan asked when they thought SPN would end.

Now that I write this, in retrospect this was around the timeline that I've speculated was when CBS approached Jared with an offer of a holding deal (X) and why Jensen pitched his Dean-led Supernatural at Comic Con (X). Remember kids, the official story that Jared and Jensen put out was they decided in 2017/18 during season 13 to give SPN "two more seasons". 

R.E.M song: that’s me in the corner yelling bullshit

Anyways, it was always crazy to me that SPN has its own convention over 3-day weekend.  Even crazier that they attempted a “spin off” SPN convention featuring just their supporting and one-off guest actors.  But that goes to show what a merchandise goldmine SPN was.

In all conventions I go to, I like to hang out in vendor rooms to chat up the vendors and get good stories out of them.  Occasionally actors will pop in and out unexpectedly and it was the same at SPN cons; Jensen looked like an athletic jock and Jared looked like a bean pole hipster.  IMO Jared looks better IRL than on screen because he’s less photogenic than Jensen whose face is more light friendly. 

[sporesgalaxy]

PLS.. share thoughts on zoro n sanji relationship........ i dont ship them but they are so. SOOOOO.

THEY MAKE ME CRAZZYYYYY. and honestly the way their dynamic make me insane doesnt even HAVE to be read as romantic. But i feel so much crazier when i see them shipped and its not even capitalizing on all the shit theyve got going on.

So anyways here's my Zoro and Sanji retrospective I spent several hours on I guess. As if it's my fault.

▪︎

When Zoro and Sanji meet, Sanji has given up on his dream to see the All-Blue in favor of supporting Zeff.

Zoro is still throwing himself at his dream to be the greatest swordsman with all his might, and nearly dies to Mihawk for it.

Initially, from Sanji's outside perspective, it seems like a waste of precious life.

Zoro promising never to disappoint Luffy when he's on death's door clearly makes Sanji reconsider, though.

•••

The next time Sanji and Zoro really interact after Zoro's defeat is when they go after Nami at Arlong Park.

And the first thing Sanji learns about Zoro is.......that he's willing to hit girls!

To Sanji, Zoro seems like he's willing to turn on someone-- and worse, willing to hurt a girl-- just because he's angry for an apparent betrayal that no one has any concrete proof of yet. What a jerk! Surely that earned him the dig Sanji makes about his loss to Mihawk.

Unbeknownst to Sanji, however, Zoro has already bet his life on Nami's friendship being genuine by almost drowning himself.

Zoro doesn't want to bother explaining this to some stupid new guy who's willing to side with a stranger purely on the basis of her gender. Clearly, Sanji doesn't understand ANYTHING about this crew, and should just stay out of things.

And so their initial mutual dislike is born!!!

They tend to bicker a lot after this, but I think the next time Sanji brings up Mihawk is in Alabasta.

Once again, Sanji is hitting below the belt because he's convinced Zoro's done something nigh-unforgivable: doubting Luffy. It's a reminder that their rivalry at this point is still built on genuinely misjudging each others' character.

Now at this point I've run out of my 100 daily shounen jump chapters so I can't find for you the PRECISE moment thet are mutually like "yeah ok fine you're a DECENT guy I GUESS" in Alabasta but I think it's the clock tower maybe? The point is that the whole crew has to work together VERY HARD to defeat Crocodile and it shows Sanji and Zoro that they can count on each other to support the crew, at least.

Their improved relationship is apparent in one of my fave downtime scenes so far: Sky Island jungle dinner :)

I...don't think we've seen Sanji ask for help cooking before this point?? Much less from Zoro. So I fucking love that. And Zoro goes along with it, even though he complains!!!!! It shows perfectly how they now trust each other to help take care of the crew.

Another one if my fave examples of them counting on each other in a kind of funny way is when they're fighting Zombie Oars.

Zoro pushes Sanji's buttons on purpose to get him to go along with it, and it works. But it also shows that Zoro was counting on him to give him a boost! The middle panel could even imply Zoro jumped before Sanji agreed to anything, which really proves how much they're willing to couny on each other now.

Which of course brings us to the conclusion of Thriller Bark and a WILD curveball in their relationship: thes self-sacrificial x2 combo.

What Sanji does here floored me. At this point not only does he trust Zoro as a part of the crew, but he considers Zoro a more irreplacable member of the crew than himself.

And Zoro refuses to let him.

Now, we know from his initial fight with Mihawk that Zoro being willing to kill himself doesn't mean he considers his life unimportant. Zoro and Luffy are both unafraid of death, because they have to be willing to die to even have a ghost of a chance of achieving their dreams.

That's why Zoro chooses to take on Luffy's pain and why he is able to survive it.

Zoro's sacrifice obviously means a lot to Sanji. When Zoro refuses to acknowledge his sacrifice, Sanji goes along with that and covers for him.

And of course he understands. The pain Sanji mentions here that Zoro is trying to spare Luffy from is the exact same pain that lead Sanji to give up on his dream of finding the All-Blue in favor of trying to repay his life debt to Zeff. Sanji wouldn't wish the guilt he feels for Zeff's leg on anybody.

Sanji shows a lot of concern for Zoro after this point up until the time skip!! He calls Zoro a hero to Brook, and tries to help Zoro deal with his excess injuries without drawing attention to them. Zoro is of course surly about it, because he's frustrated by his own limits. He got a taste of what Luffy goes through and it just made him more desperate to become strong enough to lighten Luffy's load.

I find their sort-of reset after the timeskip hilarious.

Sanji was already feeling deeply insecure when he got sent to the island of question your gender and sexuality-- things Sanji clearly considers very important to his identity. Since he can't bear to question himself, he relies on reacting combatively to things that challenge his masculinity. Kicking them, mostly. I'm sure he picked that up from Zeff.

Meanwhile, Zoro is THE most traditionally Masculine member of the crew besides Sanji by a long shot (Franky is in 3rd place as a self-professed freak with blue hair and pronouns who refuses to wear pants). Zoro is buffer than Sanji. And seemingly more stoic than Sanji. And Zoro has cool scars and uses three swords and his muscles are bigger and half the time he's not even wearing a shirt.

This masculinity contest between them was present before the timeskip too, but it's really the only good explanation for the extremeness of Sanji's sour attitude the moment he lays eyes on post-timeskip Zoro and remarks, aloud, "He's back. Like I really care..." after how much appreciation Sanji showed for Zoro's sacrifice before the timeskip.

Sanji WOULD be annoyed at his crewmate's seemingly effortless, unshakeable masculinity after two years of doggedly avoiding non-consensual crossdressing and constantly fighting for his life to outrun gay thoughts.

Zoro's side of things so far post-timeskip seems a bit less wound-up than Sanji. Zoro never takes an insult sitting down, and also just enjoys making snide remarks, so if Sanji's going to argue with him there's no reason for Zoro not to argue back.

This is why I am a gay Zoro truther, even if that gayness has nothing to do with anyone on the crew. Because its fucking hilarious if Sanji is one-sidedly trying to out-hetero-masculinity a literal gay man.

[fresh-tomatogogi]

Was scrolling through your art and I found incest (Scout and Spy) and beastiality (Spy with a dog as far as I can find). You have nice art, your understanding of anatomy is amazing! But this is disgusting. You are disgusting.

Im sorry to show this behavior to everyone. except this anonymous person😅

Are you the same person as Ask down there? I don't know what your intentions are but I'm quite excited for you now.

It's funny because I know the disgust you felt. Let me give you an example.

I also feel hatred and resentment towards the director every time I watch a movie with a great production of disgusting and terrible content by my standards. I feel offended by the fact that I felt great when I saw the work of "Such a person" and that I feel like I am associated with "such a person." So to prove that I am different from "such a person," I despise and criticize him, but at the same time I look up his work. Of course, I don't directly inform others of the blame or in a public place like you do. I know the least amount of manners.

It's a recognition error created by equating fiction with creators (like an audience attacking an actor who plays a villain on stage). It's very complex in this case, and I'm not trying to talk about this now, so let's move on.

Anyway, as you know, we call this denial. I understand your anger. And I've become a disgusting director who makes you experience denials, right? Haha, this is a lot of fun. It means that I've created something so influential that I can leave some confusion and appreciation for others regardless of my will and purpose. But at the same time, I'm disappointed that many people, including myself, are more easily affected by others than I thought and can't stand the small stimulus of being different from them (different from themselves = change = stress)

As a side note, to me, it's kind of a compliment to say that it's disgusting. The disgusting paintings you've seen are pornographic paintings of the pain and fetishized trauma I was experiencing at the time of painting through exaggerations and metaphors.

In fact, such extreme paintings are more like luminescence to endure pain than drawing. By drawing violence, I seem to calm myself down by creating the illusion that I can control the situation.

Like everyone else, the work includes the creator's experience! The picture of a spy being raped by a dog!! What happened to me at the time!! If I say this, people will tell me not to spoil other people's feelings by talking about personal details. Haha, they're right and i agree but what if my whole life is something that I shouldn't say? it makes me more and more crazier. It's only in pictures that I'm honest with metaphors. Anyway, you're right that you saw the painting properly, and this is proof that my expression was successful.

But where did you learn to hold on to anyone and swear first just because you are a squeamish person?

Is that your level of awareness? Or kind of racism? Because when I see a crowd like you, the overwhelming majority of people being blamed are Asian. And it's always the English-speaking Otaku who are making a fuss and agitating. Not all English-speaking people are like this. That's what my 5years-experience was like. Most of the Asian tf2 fans I subscribe to are called proshippers by English tf2 otaku and have been subjected to various insults, threats and bullying, including myself.

Among them, it was easy to see words telling them to kill themselves and wanting to kill them. Why are they so easily stimulated and ostracized? What is so terrifying? Or is it just for self-explanation?

This is also worth considering why. I'm guessing it's the cultural difference between the view that separates fiction from reality, but isn't racism from ignorance correct if it's really because of this difference? Wait, if the assumption is correct that the view that separates reality from fiction is weak, it means that they actually behave this way, do you behave this way in your social life?

If you're mental so unstable that you can't distinguish between fictional stories and reality and actually attack people like this, it's you who needs help.

Of course, in order to increase simple jealousy or the desire for moral superiority and the sense of belonging of the group they believe they belong to, there have been many cases of bullying those they perceive as relatively weak, so this should also be considered. In particular, people who lead or respond to this instigation seem to spend a considerable amount of time on the Internet fan community and find a lot of belonging and emotional comfort there.

Oh... I also want to write about 'proship', but I'm getting lazy. To sum up my opinion on proship, if you like TF2, everyone is "problematic".

They're mainly saying, "This is unethical, or Rape/incest is actually happening, so you shouldn't draw it porn because it stimulates the trauma of the actual victims... blah blah" Whata nonsense. Do they realize that I'm included in what they call the "actual victim"? Of course they can't. (+but i hate to be called victim. idk why🤪)

Those words are just meager, annoying excuses that they brought to justify violence against their opponents, because they just want to show disgust to people who like what they don't like.

We likes a game called Tf2 that was made to make war and violence and the valuelessness of personality (like zombies) comfortable and enjoyable. For them, war and violence and gore aren't real? not a problematic things?? This game is so that violence can be safely enjoyed in a safe place that the horrors have been purified and well hidden as being silly. fucking gross and j love it yum.

when I once explained Tf2 to a friend who was not interested in subculture like games, comics at all. she told to me that how they could make this things into a game, a caricature of War is so horrible.

Now can you understanding?? We don't deserve anyone. So Let's just shut up and enjoy the confusion and shame of self-reflection and contradiction. If you hate someone for some reason so you can't standing? Just shut up and block quietly or go outside and drink beer with your firends. What qualification do you have to control other people's delusions and hallucinations??

And did I force you to look at my paintings with guns and threats? I don't even know who you are. Don't hide in anonymity lol. ahh It's funny that you find my paintings on your own and get scared by yourself and whine at me like a 5 years old child. Anyway, someday you will enjoy these paintings when physical pain and trauma turn into fetish. Waitaminute, if you scrolled my arts, you would know right away that I am Korean. Why do you send an ask in English? Don't you know the existence of a translator? yeah You have zero manners.

Now done!!! Ofc I'm not saying everything I say is right., but it doesn't matter. I didn't write this to talk to you! It's just a one-sided shower of thoughts! like thoughts vomiting🤮. As you started first aeeheeee Actually your timing wasn't good. Normally, I just ignore people like you but My psychosis these days were really Bad and exploding due to personal happens. but thanks to your coming, I was able to divert my mind for a second! Thank you for the opportunity to pooping on you! I feel refreshed!👍👍👍

[aishangotome]

Elbert Greetia: Blind Love Ending Chapter 25

Blind Love Chapter 24 Premium Story

♡———♡

If life were a fairy tale, it would be easy to find happiness.

A sinful and ugly monster is awakened by true love, becomes a handsome prince, and finds happiness.

But reality is more cruel than fairy tales that speak of such beauty as a condition for happiness.

--The chatter of people dances on the polished marble.

Bernard Trading Company's malicious "customers." The Queen has ordered their conviction, and I, along with several members of the Crown, have infiltrated a certain ball.

(This is...my last mission as a "one-month Fairytale Keeper".)

Alfons: This crowd reminds me of a while ago. When El wanted the "painting of the sea".

Kate: It feels like it was a long time ago.

Elbert: ...Yeah.

Alfons looked around the venue and yawned rudely.

Alfons: Ugh... Well-behaved parties are so boring.

Alfons: I wish the target would just show up.

Elbert: Roger is searching through all the sounds in the venue. I'm sure he'll find him soon.

Alfons: Roger, can you hear me? Find him quickly. I'm dying of boredom.

Kate: Won't that interfere with the search?

Alfons: Yes, it will.

Elbert: Don't you want him to be found quickly...?

Alfons: The ability to enjoy contradictions is what makes us human, isn't it?

Alfons: That guy can shut out sounds when he doesn't want to hear them, so he won't hear me anyway.

Alfons: I'm going to go get a drink somewhere.

Alfons: William is here for the mission, so I shouldn't be needed unless something major happens.

Alfons: If you need me, call me.

Elbert: Yeah, I got it. ...Have fun.

Alfons: Absolutely! I live to have fun.

Alfons turned around and disappeared into the crowd like a phantom.

Kate: Hehe... He's the same as always.

Elbert: ...I've been saved many times by that side of Al.

Elbert: If it weren't for Al... I might have been even crazier before I met you.

Elbert: Speaking of which... I remembered something I forgot to tell you.

Kate: What is it?

Elbert: Al was saying... about the day we got the painting of the sea.

Elbert: ...Thank you for trying to protect me.

Lord Elbert gently wrapped his arms around my waist.

Kate: Protect...? Ah, that time--

*flashback*

Kate: Lord Elbert. It seems the host hasn't arrived yet... Would you like to step outside for a bit?

Elbert: ...Kate.

Kate: Ah, well... Your face is a little pale, so I thought some fresh air might do you good.

*flashback over*

The feeling of not being able to bear seeing Lord Elbert's face turn pale came back to me.

(But...after that)

*flashback*

Elbert: ...Stop it.

Elbert: Stop touching her, stop criticizing her...

*flashback over*

Kate: ...Lord Elbert, you protected me that day too.

I didn't know anything about his past, his sins, but from that moment on, I knew his kindness.

Kate: Thank you.

Elbert: Mm...

The eyes of the people around us continued to observe Lord Elbert without hesitation, and the whispers that occasionally reached my ears criticized him as if he were a piece of art, but Lord Elbert's face did not pale, and he smiled gently at me.

Elbert: I won't let you make a sad face like that anymore.

Just then, a familiar loud voice suddenly came flying.

Elderly Man: Well, I saw you from afar and thought it couldn't be, but Elbert, it's good to see you again.

White Haired Lady: My, my! You've become even more beautiful!

I turned around at the familiar voices and saw the gentlemen who had been at the previous party.

(...These people)

I was just remembering the time I met them, and I reflexively became wary.

Elbert: ...Hello.

But Lord Elbert greeted them with his usual calmness.

(Lord Elbert...?)

Lord Elbert stepped forward, as if to shield me.

The glance we exchanged for a moment spoke to me.

(..."It's okay.")

Elderly Gentleman: Come now. Don't stand so far apart, let me see your face more closely.

The elderly gentleman reached out his hand without hesitation and strode towards Lord Elbert.

But before his fingertips could touch him, Lord Elbert spoke clearly.

Elbert: ...Stop it.

It was the same cold, resolute rejection he had given me that day to protect me.

Elbert: Stop touching me like that.

Elderly Gentleman: Wha...?

White Haired Lady: Wh-what do you mean, Elbert?

Elbert: ...Exactly what I said.

Elbert: After my father's death... I was taken care of by you.

Elbert: I want to repay my debt of gratitude properly,

Elbert: But... The only person who can touch me freely now is her.

He gently wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me closer.

The gentlemen stood there stunned, as if they had been bitten deeply by a beast they thought had no teeth.

Elbert: ...Let's go, Kate.

Lord Elbert was about to leave the scene when he suddenly remembered something and turned around.

Elbert: Ah, I should probably tell you this beforehand.

Elbert: If you try to harm her, no matter how much gratitude I owe you,

Elbert: I won't show any mercy... Just remember that.

Elbert: If possible... I hope we can avoid such a thing.

The two men, sensing the unease in Lord Elbert's gentle smile, left the scene quietly without saying a word.

Kate: Lord Elbert...

Lord Elbert had properly rejected those who would hurt him.

Joy burst in my chest.

When I looked up, Lord Elbert was smiling a little shyly.

Elbert: Did I manage not to make you sad?

--CHOICES--

I should have said something too

Yes, of course you did

You were great

---------------

Kate: ...Yes.

Kate: Yes, of course...!

Elbert: ...Good.

Elbert: ...I wonder if I went a little too far.

Kate: I don't think so at all.

For Lord Elbert to say that was going too far, he must have never blamed or insulted anyone before.

The change in Lord Elbert, who has become stronger, and his unchanging kindness are both so dear to me that it hurts my chest.

Elbert: ...! Kate.

As if he suddenly noticed something, Lord Elbert hugged me, covering me up.

Kate: Lord Elbert...!?

(W-with all these people watching...)

Elbert: ...No, with so many people watching...

Kate: N-no, what do you mean?

Elbert: You... You had a very cute look on your face just now.

Elbert: I don't want to show it to anyone else.

Kate: ...?

Elbert: ...I want to gouge out the eyes of everyone who was looking at you.

Kate: ...

Elbert: The person who was looking at you as we were coming here,

Elbert: And the person who was pretending to drink champagne but was sneaking glances at you.

Kate: Was there someone like that...?

Elbert: ...There was.

He hugged me tightly, pressing me close to the point of discomfort.

(He's jealous of even the slightest glance that I wouldn't even notice...)

Lord Elbert is almost scentless, but I recently learned that when he clings to me so closely that his body heat transfers, he has a faint sweet scent.

His desires are deep, his obsessions are dark and dangerous.

But I loved all of it.

Roger: What are you two lovebirds doing during a mission?

Elbert: ...!

Kate: Roger...!

I hurriedly pulled away from Lord Elbert.

Roger: Sorry, but this is work.

Roger: Target confirmed. Moving to a deserted hallway. Now's your chance.

Today's target is a high-ranking nobleman who used to assault the daughters of other nobles. As a valued customer of Bernard Trading Company, he would have beautiful women kidnapped and assaulted.

I remember feeling sick just imagining it when I heard the story.

Roger: I'll go inform Will. Make sure the target doesn't come back to the venue.

Elbert: ...Yeah, I got it.

Lord Elbert nodded quietly, and Roger disappeared into the crowd.

Kate: I'll go with you.

Elbert: Yeah... I can't leave you in this venue.

Elbert: I'll protect you from the sad sights... Come with me.

-

As I walked down the hallway, hand in hand with him, I kept thinking.

The reason Lord Elbert continues to stay with Crown.

He said he joined Crown to obtain something beautiful to atone for his sins.

But even now, after letting go of his atonement, he remains in this organization, in this darkness.

(That must be because--)

Elbert: ...Kate.

Elbert: Stay back a little.

At the end of the hallway, there was a figure.

The moonlight cast a black shadow.

Elbert: ...Good evening.

Man: ...!

It was instantaneous.

Without hesitation, Lord Elbert's toe stepped on the shadow, and the man's body staggered, unable to turn around.

William: --Kate.

Kate: William...

The King of Righteousness, who had appeared out of nowhere, seemed to grasp the situation and turned his gaze towards Lord Elbert.

William: Ah... Tonight, El's "evil" is even more beautiful.

Without immediately approaching, William looked at Lord Elbert with a cheerful expression.

William: Speaking of which--

William: Tonight's target seems to have had an unusual obsession with young ladies with blue eyes and blonde hair.

(Eh...?)

Man: Ugh... Ugh... What is this...?

At that moment, the man, who had turned around with unsteady steps, opened his eyes in astonishment.

Those eyes, even in the darkness, were clearly recognizable--ocean blue.

Man: Cecilia...?

Elbert: ...

Lord Elbert turned his back on the man without answering the question.

Elbert: ...Will, I'll leave the rest to you.

William: Yeah, leave it to me.

Elbert: Let's go, Kate.

(...Just now, the name he called was,)

(Lord Elbert's--)

The man who once assaulted noble daughters.

An abnormal obsession with golden hair and blue eyes.

(Perhaps...)

I started to think, but stopped.

There was no point in searching for the truth.

Lord Elbert was no longer bound by the past.

Man: Wh-what are you doing, stop it, stop--

Lord Elbert's hand gently covered my ears.

Elbert: You don't need to hear this.

Elbert: You don't need to see it.

Elbert: Sad memories can easily... kill people.

(...That must be)

(The reason you stay in this darkness.)

To prevent even a single sad event, like the one that happened to Lord Elbert when he was young, that would leave an unfillable hole in someone's heart.

(If you continue to resist sadness in the darkness like that,)

(I want to stay by your side... always.)

Even if it leads us to the bottom of the endless darkness.

A certain man was condemned by Crown, who "fights evil with evil".

From now on, there will never be another victim of the man's evil hand.

The truth that will be revealed tonight was enough for both Lord Elbert and me.

-

--If life were a fairy tale, it would be easy to find happiness.

A sinful and ugly monster is awakened by true love, becomes a handsome prince, and finds happiness.

But reality is more cruel than fairy tales that speak of such beauty as a condition for happiness.

Sin remains sin.

When a monster looks in the mirror, the reflection is still a monster.

But even with sin, surely--.

-

Victor: It's been a month since you came here. Time flies, doesn't it?

Kate: Yes, it really does.

One month after the promise, the last night.

Just like the first night I met them, I was facing Victor.

The report I wrote about Lord Elbert was submitted to Victor a few days ago.

Victor: You certainly kept your promise.

Victor: From now on, I want you to choose by your own free will.

Victor: The life you want.

Kate: Yes, Victor. I--

Kate: I want to stay in this castle and be by Lord Elbert's side.

Victor: Can you tell me why?

Kate: ...Because I want him to smile.

Kate: Lord Elbert... and someone somewhere in this country.

Unexpectedly, Daisy's smile came to my mind, and my chest ached painfully again.

Kate: My power is small... and I will probably make many mistakes.

Kate: But if I'm with Lord Elbert, I think I can handle anything.

After hearing my answer, Victor smiled brightly.

Victor: Thank you for telling me.

Victor: It's a very kind and wonderful choice, just like you.

Victor: If you choose to live in this darkness with him...

Victor: I welcome you, Kate.

Victor: Welcome to the world of the dark night.

-

Elbert: ... Aren't you cold?

Kate: I'm fine. If we stay close like this, we'll be warm even if the wind blows.

Elbert: ...Then, let's get closer.

Kate: Wow...

We walk hand in hand along the shallows of the early morning, slowly opening up, and talk about random things.

Occasionally leaving the castle and cuddling up on this beach is a blissful time for me.

(...I'm sure it is for Elbert too.)

I can tell by his expression.

A place where we can gaze at each other without being disturbed by anyone.

That kind of place is Elbert's favorite.

Elbert: Speaking of which... I think I'll get rid of everything in my room someday.

Kate: .....!

Kate: Then I can add a lot of things for you.

Elbert: .............

Kate: What kind of things would make you feel more comfortable...

I remember the seashell I picked up before, so small, being put in a fine box and still cherished.

(...It might be fun when that big box is full.)

Kate: Ah...

Elbert: ...What's wrong?

I just found a small, faintly glowing seashell at my feet.

When I squat down and pick it up, the shell that looked white shines in rainbow colors.

Kate: This is very beautiful, Lord Elbert.

I try to hold it out while squatting.

Kate: What do you think, Lord Elbert?

Elbert: ...Yeah.

Elbert: I think it's very beautiful.

Kate: ...Hehe.

I'm happy to get an answer other than "I don't know," and when I smile, Elbert suddenly looks serious and squats down next to me.

Elbert: You still... seem happiest when you smile because of someone else.

Kate: Huh...? Wow--

The moment I let out a small voice in surprise, I was hugged...

I lost my balance and fell into the shallows with him.

The chilly seawater gently wets our bodies.

Kate: Lord Elbert...mmm...

Before I could close my eyes, our lips touched.

Lord Elbert takes my lips as if to quench his thirst, and as he seeks me with an almost painful intensity, my confusion fades away, leaving only a growing affection in my heart.

Kate: Mmm...Mm...

Even though I knew Lord Elbert would get wet, I couldn't help but wrap my arms around his neck.

The more I felt his heat, the louder my heartbeat became, and the sound of the waves faded away.

In between our drowning kisses, Lord Elbert whispered, as if revealing a secret.

Elbert: I'm sorry... Right now, I want your kiss.

Elbert: I want it, I want it so badly.

Elbert: Ever since we met... Every time you smile happily,

Elbert: I'm... My eyes are captivated, my heart is stolen. It scares me how much.

Elbert: If this continues... I might even want your life next.

Elbert: Holding you tight in my arms, making it so you can only see me.

Elbert: Whispering in your ear so you can only hear my voice.

Kate: ... El...

Elbert: Your body temperature, your gaze, your voice, all of it... even though I have it all to myself.

Elbert: It's still... still... not enough.

Elbert: I want you... all of you.

Our lips meet again, stealing my breath away.

The water that wets my skin, the sound of water that reaches my ears, kisses so intense I can't even breathe--

It's like I'm drowning in his desire.

(Why is it... I'm happy, yet...)

(It's painful, and I feel like crying.)

Elbert's curse, its nature is "greed."

Once directed towards the most beautiful thing in this world to atone for his sins, that desire is now all focused on me.

He wants all of me, to make me happy.

Kate: I want to give you everything too.

Kate: But... just like your heart and body belong only to you.

Kate: My heart and body can't completely belong to you.

Elbert: ... I know.

Elbert: Even if these lips stop breathing... and you can't go anywhere.

Elbert: I will surely want to see "you," to make you smile, and it will become unbearable.

"Unsatisfied and gaining nothing" -- that ending will surely come.

Because it's impossible for a person to truly possess another person completely.

Kate: Even so...

Kate: Even if being by your side continues to torment you.

Kate: ...Can I still be with you?

When I confessed everything honestly, Elbert embraced me without hesitation.

With a smile far, far more beautiful than a bisque doll.

Elbert: It's okay... even if I can never truly possess you.

Elbert: I want to eternally seek you, struggle, suffer, and die.

Elbert: ...That is my happiness.

Even with the burden of sin, the two of us can find happiness.

Even if we get hurt, even if we hurt each other--

As long as we're together on this beach, I'm sure.

FIN

.

.

.

.

.

Blind Love: Epilogue

If you’d like to support my translations, feel free to buy me a coffee here! :)

[merrybloomwrites]

You Can Start a Family (Chapter 8)

Summary: Y/N enjoys the first two nights at Wembley before her grief makes a reappearance. Luckily she has people there to help her.

Previous Chapters: One ; Two ; Three ; Four ; Five ; Six ; Seven

CW: Mentions of past family death, panic attacks, nightmares

AN: I've had this chapter planned since the day of Wembley Night 2. I was driving home from work thinking that I wanted another angsty chapter with Mitch and Sarah comforting Y/N, but wasn't sure what the trigger would be. Then I saw a Tik Tok of a moment between Anne and Gemma being adorable at the concert and literally said "Yup, that'll do"

Also I randomly drop Brad in without introducing him so if you don't know about Brad he's Harry's personal trainer who has been at, like, every show for months now and seems to be personal security as well sometimes

Okay, on with the chapter!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Monday is busy, starting with the early flight to London followed by a full day of prep for a week of shows at Wembley. Everyone’s exhausted by the time they get back to the hotel that night and you, Sarah, and Mitch climb into bed almost immediately. You talk quietly for a little while before falling asleep.

You all sleep in late the next morning, which is wonderful, but means that once you do get up you only have enough time to shower and eat quickly before you have to head over to the stadium.

It’s an incredibly exciting day, and the energy is even crazier than Slane had been. You meet Harry’s mother, Anne, and his sister, Gemma, who are both so lovely and welcoming to you.

Madi is the first opener for the evening, and she does a wonderful job. You hadn’t listened to much of her music before, but you’re mesmerized by her voice.

Once she’s done the band all goes backstage to get ready. You stay outside and watch Wet Leg’s set, and once Harry is on stage Brad comes to find you.

He invites you to hang with him for the night and you accept, walking through different parts of the crowd throughout the show. He’s seen it dozens of times by now and points out some small details you hadn’t noticed before.

It’s another fantastic concert experience and you are buzzing with energy when you meet Mitch and Sarah backstage. They quickly change and you all load up to head back to the hotel.

You’re finally able to engage in some post-show fun with Mitch and Sarah, and you all end the night completely satisfied.

The three of you spend time in the city the next morning, Sarah showing you some of her favorite places before you all grab a bite to eat and once again head to Wembley for Night 2. You explore the empty stadium, running through the seats and checking the view from all over.

Shortly before the gates open you head backstage and hang with the band. You watch Elin and Ariza’s set and can’t help but sing along to your favorite songs and smile at their wonderful stage presence.

You end up staying in an open area near the stage for the rest of the night and are joined by more people by the end of the show. It’s nearly over when you look to your side and see Harry’s whole family next to you. You watch as Anne wraps her arms around her daughter, pulling her in tight and gently running her hands up and down Gemma’s arms.

Tears immediately start to spring to your eyes. Grief is strange, and you thought you had a pretty good handle on it, but some days are worse than others and your emotions can be easily triggered.

Anniversaries are especially hard, and you’ve been so busy that you hadn’t even realized what the date was, but watching the mother daughter duo next to you reminded you that the next day would be the anniversary of the accident that killed your mother and sister.

You keep a hold on your emotions and walk backstage before the show ends. You just need a minute to yourself to breathe. By the time the concert is over and everyone else is flooding backstage, you’ve choked back your tears and put a smile on your face.

As soon as Mitch and Sarah see you, they know something is wrong, but don’t push you at that moment. They can tell that you don’t want to talk about whatever it is and respect that, but they keep a close eye, Sarah sticking next to you.

You end up between Mitch and Sarah in the last row of the van back to the hotel, and you look through social media to distract yourself during the ride. You’re scrolling through Tik Tok and see a video of the moment between Anne and Gemma that originally set you off, and you can’t believe how quickly it was posted and made its way onto your for you page.

You stare at the muted video, not realizing you’re watching it on a loop, as you’re lost in the thoughts of your family. Mitch and Sarah glance at your phone and see the video that’s playing. Even though you’re not in it, they know you were standing in that area and likely watched it happen in real time. They share a look over you and know they’re on the same page, that your mood definitely has something to do with you watching this interaction.

Once back at the hotel, you quickly get changed and burrow into bed. Mitch and Sarah, still in their outfits from the day, sit next to you. They’re quiet for a few minutes, but soon Sarah slowly pulls the covers off your face.

“What’s wrong love?” she asks, hoping you’ll let them in. You just stare at her for a bit before sitting up and taking a deep breath, deciding to tell them everything. You drop your eyes to look at where your fingers are picking at the sheets, and quietly say, “Tomorrow is the anniversary of the day my mom and sister died. And then Harry’s whole family was there supporting him and like, I’ll never have that. No matter what I accomplish, I won’t have my parents there. And Anne was so sweet with Gemma, and I remember moments like that with my mom and I’ll never have that with her again and I just, I miss them all so much-” Your words are cut off when the tears you’ve been holding back finally start to fall.

Mitch pulls you onto his lap, tucking you close to him and rocking you back and forth. Sarah’s hands are rubbing your back. They’re both quiet, not sure what to say to help you in that moment.

You start to think back to that day, the phone call from the police telling you what happened, your best friend driving you back home while you call and break the news to your aunts and uncles and family friends. You’re so lost in these memories that you don’t hear the knock on the hotel room door or notice the moment Sarah gets up to see who it is.

Mitch continues to comfort and hold you as Sarah cracks the door open.

“Hey, Harry,” she says quietly through the small opening. “What’s up?”

“Mitch borrowed my phone charger earlier and I can’t find my backup. Any chance you could grab it for me?”

“Yea of course, just give me a second.” Sarah walks back in and grabs Mitch’s bag, digging through and quickly finding the charger.

She walks back and reopens the door, handing it over. She wants to get back to you but takes a moment to politely say good night to Harry. In that time, you notice she’s missing, and start to panic. You’ve been so absorbed thinking about losing the people you care about most, that when you realize Sarah isn’t next to you your brain starts to think the worst.

You begin to say her name so quietly that Mitch can’t make out what you’re saying at first. Your cries of her name get louder, and you break free from Mitch’s hold, looking around the room for her in a blind panic. The layout of the room means that the door isn’t visible from the bed, and when you can’t immediately see her, your heart rate increases, and your panic starts to grow.

Sarah hears your shouts and closes the door in Harry’s face to run back to you. He’s left in the hallway, confused and concerned, but he understands that whatever is going on is a private moment and heads back to his room, hoping that you’re okay.

As soon as you see Sarah you run to her, launching yourself into her arms and wrapping your limbs around her. She stands there holding you, swaying side to side.

“I thought you were gone,” you cry.

“I’m here, baby, I’m here. I’m not going anywhere, I promise,” she says.

“You can’t know that! Bad things happen. All the time. And people die. I can’t- I can’t do that again. You can’t die!” Mitch moves to wrap his arms tight around you and Sarah and they feel their hearts breaking at your pain.

“You’re right,” Mitch says quietly. “We can’t promise that nothing will happen. But we’ll always do everything we can to keep safe, and healthy, and be by your side as long as possible.”

You lift up your head and look at him, eyes swimming with more tears, and you reach out your arms to him. Sarah passes you over to Mitch and you once again wrap your legs and arms around him so he can hold you close. He begins to sway as Sarah had been, hoping the gentle motion would help to soothe you as it would a little one. After a few minutes of this movement mixed with quiet reassurances you finally start to calm down a little. You’re still upset but you’re no longer panicking.

Sarah brings over tissues and wipes away your tears and snot, her gentle touches so full of care and compassion that you almost begin to cry again. When that doesn’t happen you figure you’ve dried yourself out and all that’s left are tiny sniffles.

Mitch continues rocking you, singing softly, and your eyes grow heavy. Eventually you fall asleep, and he transfers you to the bed. He continues to hold you, only letting go once Sarah has finished changing and lays on your other side, immediately pulling you close to her. Mitch rushes through getting ready and quickly lays back down after checking the door is locked and flipping the lights off.

It's unfortunately a restless night, and you find yourself woken by nightmares more than once. The first is one you’ve had numerous times in the past, where you watch the accident that killed your mom and sister. It’s not a real memory, since you obviously weren’t there, but between the medical reports and everything you learned during the trial of the driver that killed them, you had pieced together enough of what happened to build a terrifying mental picture of the event.

You have two more bad dreams that you can’t quite follow. Nothing makes sense but they’re somehow ominous and leave you with a sense of dread.

Shortly before 9 A.M. you have another nightmare, this one as clear as the first. It’s almost exactly the same as the first, but instead of your mother and sister in the car, it’s Mitch and Sarah. You again wake up completely paralyzed, never one to move around or make noise in your sleep, even during terrible dreams. You’ve managed not to wake the other two up so far, and you’re happy that you haven’t disturbed their sleep, but this time you need to.

Even though they’re both next to you in bed and you can see them breathing, you need to make sure they’re okay. You’re trying to hold back another impending panic attack, but you know you won’t be able to unless Mitch and Sarah reassure you that you’re all safe.

You lay a hand on each of their arms, gently shaking them. You try to say their names, but your breaths are already coming in gasps, and you can’t get the words out. It only takes a few seconds for them to wake up and immediately be on alert, trying to figure out what happened.

“Love, what is it, can you talk to me?” Sarah asks. You shake your head no, still not able to speak.

“Okay, that’s okay, let’s just breathe, alright? Here,” she lifts your hand and places it on her chest. “Just follow my breaths, okay?” You try to do so. It takes some time, but finally you calm down. You slump against her, almost more exhausted now than when you went to sleep the night before.

Sarah continues to hold you, singing quietly as she had noticed Mitch’s singing the previous night had helped you. You suddenly say, “It was a nightmare.”

“What was that baby?” she asks, as you had been mumbling into you shoulder.

You lift up your head and meet her eyes and say more clearly, “I had a nightmare. Actually, I had a few last night. I have a recurring one about the accident but this time it was you guys who were killed. It was so vivid; I feel like I lost you both even though you’re right here with me.”

“We are here, love. We’re together, and we’re safe.”

“We’re safe. You’re both safe, and here with me,” you repeat, hoping the message gets through to your brain.

“Exactly. We’re in bed, in a hotel, in London,” Mitch adds, letting you hear his voice and helping to ground you to your current reality, not the reality of your nightmare.

You nod to show you understand, that you know where you are. You're much calmer now and you all lapse into a comfortable silence. After awhile your stomach starts to growl.

“I’m going to run downstairs and grab some breakfast to bring back here, is that ok with everyone?” Mitch asks. You nod, understanding that he’s really asking if you’ll be alright if he leaves the room or if you’ll panic again. You know you’ll be fine now. You’re feeling more centered than you have in the past 12 hours, all due to the ways they’ve found to comfort you and remind you of what’s real and what isn’t.

He leaves and you decide to take a shower. Sarah sits in the bathroom, telling you stories about growing up in England. Even though you feel better now, you’re still grateful for her company. Focusing on her voice means your mind doesn’t have a chance to wander to darker thoughts.

Meanwhile Mitch is in the lobby where he bumps into Harry. After greeting each other Harry can’t hold back any longer and asks, “Is Y/N okay? She seemed really upset last night when I came to grab my charger.”

Mitch takes a deep breath, then takes a sip of his coffee, buying time to decide how much to share. “She’s just been through a lot. She’s lost a lot of people and sometimes the grief hits her.” He figures that’s a safe answer, explaining enough without giving too many personal details.

Harry nods and then says, “I know you and Sarah have to rehearse this afternoon for tomorrow's show, I could keep Y/N company if she wants.”

“I’ll ask her, not sure what she’ll be up for today.”

“Yea, of course, whatever she wants is fine with me.”

“Thanks man. I’ll talk to her and let you know.”

“Okay, sounds good. I’ll see you later then.” With that Harry puts on his headphones and heads out for a run, and Mitch loads up a tray with food to bring back to his girls.

You’ve finished showering by the time Mitch gets back and the three of you dig into your breakfast.

“So, I saw Harry while I was down there.”

“Oh?” Sarah asks. “What was he up to?”

“Getting ready to go for a run I guess. He was asking about Y/N. I didn’t realize it was him at the door last night.”

“Yea he stopped by for a second-” Sarah cuts herself off. “Oh my gosh, I totally slammed the door in his face. I didn’t even realize I did that, I just needed to get back to Y/N.”

“If it makes you feel better, I don’t think he’s upset about that. He was just concerned about Y/N.”

“What did you tell him?” You ask. You can’t imagine the scene he witnessed last night. You don’t exactly remember everything, but you know you were crying and panicking so it must have been a lot to see.

“I just mentioned that you’d lost people in the past and the grief hit you last night. I hope that’s okay.”

“Yea, that’s fine, I don’t mind him knowing.”

“He also invited you to hang out with him today while Sarah and I are rehearsing. I wasn’t sure what you’d be up for, so I said we’d get back to him. If you want to come with us or stay here that’s fine too.”

“No, I think a distraction is probably best for me today. Hanging out with Harry could be fun.”

“Okay, I’ll let him know.”

The rest of the morning passes with lighter conversation, and by early afternoon you’re all heading out. After making sure you’re set with Harry, Mitch and Sarah head out.

It’s awkward for a moment, as you haven’t spent any one-on-one time with Harry before, and you’re somewhat relieved when Brad walks over and you realize he’ll be joining you two as security.

Harry leads you to some quieter areas of the city, where he somehow goes unnoticed. You’re fascinated by everything he shows you and love getting to learn the history. By mid-afternoon everyone is starting to feel a bit hungry, so you grab a bite to eat and go to a nearby park. You and Harry sit beneath one of the trees while Brad goes to a bench nearby. He’s close enough to keep an eye on everything but far enough to not hear any conversation.

“So uhm, Mitch kind of told me what’s going on, but I just wanted to ask, are you alright? You just- you seemed really upset last night.”

“Yea honestly last night was a bit rough. But I’m okay. I think he kept his explanation pretty vague right?”

“Just that you’d lost some people.”

“That’s kind of an understatement. Two of my grandparents passed away when I was young. Then my dad died when I was in high school, my mom and my sister were killed in an accident when I was in college, and my other grandparents died a bit after that. And today is the anniversary of my mom and sister dying so it kind of set me off.”

You’re both silent for a moment before you say, “Sorry, that was kind of a lot. Sometimes it’s just easier to throw all the information out there at once.”

“No, don’t apologize I’m just. Y/N, I had no idea. I’m so sorry you went through all of that.”

“Things kind of sucked for a while. Years really. But honestly, I’m doing much better now. I have Mitch and Sarah, and I’m close with the family I nanny for. Some days are just harder than others. Sometimes a lot harder.”

“You’ve got me now too, alright? Anything you need, I’m here for you.”

You smile at him, quietly thanking him before you both turn back to your food. It’s a beautiful afternoon and though your day started off pretty awful, the people around you had turned it around completely.

If you had been home, you probably would’ve been wallowing, unable to get out of bed. That’s how these days normally went. But instead, you’re walking through the quiet outskirts of London with Harry Styles, smiling, and sharing happy stories.

After a couple more stops you make your way back to the hotel. Harry walks you to the room and you find that Mitch and Sarah had gotten back shortly before you.

They invite Harry in and the four of you hang out for a while. You order food in and watch a couple of movies. It was easy to tell that everyone was pretty drained and just wanted to relax.

At one point the movie becomes background noise after you convinced everyone to share old tour stories. You’re especially interested in Live on Tour since you hadn’t been able to go to any of those shows.

They get lost in the memories, excitedly talking over each other every time they remember something else that had happened. Everyone has made themselves very comfortable at this point, Mitch and Harry on the couch while you and Sarah are on the bed. As you listen to the stories you subconsciously shift closer to her a little at a time until you’re completely resting against her.

Your previous sleepless night catches up to you, and you find it hard to keep your eyes open. Sarah notices and quietly asks, “Would you like us to wrap up here so you can sleep?”

 “No,” you reply. “I like hearing everyone. It’s comforting. I know I’m not alone.”

“Okay, love.” She holds you close, running her fingers soothingly through your hair, and you fall asleep listening to the gentle conversation around you.

It’s not much later that Harry decides to head back to his room for the night. While he’s getting ready for bed he reflects on the day. He thought that spending more time with you would answer the questions he had about your relationship with Mitch and Sarah, but he’s only more lost. He decides that if there’s something going on then the group will share when they’re ready.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AN: Thanks you so much for reading! If you have any thoughts (good, bad, you found a typo) let me know!

Taglist: @akkatz @pandeebearstyles @walkingintheheartbreaksatellite @theekyliepage @numafarawayglxy @booberry019-blog @hillzrry @ssareidbby @gem1712 @acesofspadess @houseofdilfs @shaquille-0atmeal-1 @kissitnhekitchen

[ech0edstarzz]

✩ . Main Trio Headcanons . ✩

Contents : what would the main trio be like if they liked m!reader when he is very aggressive, loud, harsh, energetic and impulsive who goes to Kyoto High.

Characters : Yuji, Megumi, Nobara

✦ . Yuji Itadori . ✦

• Yuji at first did not like you, after all you did try to kill him. But soon after Todo and him became friends he was convinced to give you a chance.

• It took a while for him to get used to your energy, it was even crazier than todo's sometimes. But finally he warmed up, finally talking and sparring with you more.

• At first he denied every little hint of liking you, only thinking it was a friendly emotion but soon it got too much to handle for him.

• Once he finally figured things out, he would be more physical with hugs and fist bumps all the time. Getting flushed when he watched you fight with Todo, not even caring about your gender one bit.

• Yuji would ask several questions about you, to Todo and the others. Wanting to find out everything you liked and things you wanted.

• He is a big gift giver, buying you so much for you to use or just have to calm you down. Yuji would smile so brightly seeing you using the things, just happy to see you all smiley and perfect.

• The way he confessed was totally on accident, he wasn't even trying to when it slipped past his mind and just said it.

𖤓 . Megumi Fushiguro . 𖤓

• Overall Megumi would tend to ignore you, already dealing with Yuji all the time. Anytime the 2 schools would work together, it coincidentally would be you, Yuji, Nobara and Megumi.

• When he developed feelings, he outwardly never expressed them. Only slipping small smiles when you would mess with Yuji, enjoying how you would look like you were having fun.

• Secretly he would slip small gifts to you or little good lucks under his breath but never let the other 2 hear it because he knew they would tease.

• He never understood how he went from being annoyed with your very loud and aggressive self to enjoying your company and letting you even touch him.

• The way he confessed was a very simple "I like you" and some flowers, a bright blush on his face as he avoided eye contact with you.

✿ . Nobara Kugisaki . ✿

• Nobara acted similar to when she was with Yuji, acting as if she didn't care but definitely did. She would tease and sometimes get annoyed with how much you would yell and bicker with others.

• Her feelings produced when she watched you fight a curse, seeing how you looked so determined to save someone. "Maybe he isn't so bad" she would repeat in her mind over and over.

• Nobara's love language is definitely words of affirmations, complimenting things that you wore or how you had a nice smile. She would sometimes still think you were annoying, but that never ruined her thoughts of liking you.

• Sometimes she would show off her skills to you, wanting to show you that she was stronger than people thought. Even though you would then show off, competing with her continually.

!! Spoiler hc !!

• When Nobara had been killed in Shibuya, she had thought of you as well before she finally took her last breath. Never getting to tell you how she felt.

Requested by @godjustkys ! I hope you enjoyed this :) it's been a while since I've done hcs

[whoishotteranimepolls]

Poll analysis part 3

Well I haven't done one of these in a while because I've been focusing on the nicknames and funny tags post But we are definitely due for another one because I've definitely noticed a change and behavior. Plus we've had a lot more and fandoms requested so that might be a contributing factor.

Let's start with the unhinged trio. Think we're due for a lineup change there. It used to be JJK, Black Butler and Dorohedoro. However the latter two only go crazy over a certain character.

Jujutsu Kaisen definitely still deserves its spot There's a reason I picked them to be the first fandom to get a Nicknames and funny tags post in fact they need an update Desperately because you guys are still up to your same old unhinged antics. I've just been busy with other fandoms (one piece) that say even more outrageous crap in the comments

Now One Piece I think you guys took that nickname and funny tag post as a challenge to be as unhinged and creative with your tags as possible because every time I think you all can't possibly get any worse. Someone puts a tag that's even crazier and now I have to update that post with more tags and new characters again.

Now the third spot of the unhinged trio should probably go to Trigun because you guys can't stop talking about Wolfwood's slutty Catholic titties and Vash's snatched little slutty waist. Plus someone has sent a match up request of their weapons no less than three times even though the rules plainly state no weapons so I think we definitely qualify for unhedged trio territory.

My Hero Academia You guys only showed up for the bunny girl and I get it. She's hot. Or to crap on endeavor, that's about it.

Attack on Titan. I finally have found proof of life. The fandom might be in a coma, but at least there's a pulse I thought that fandom was dead but someone or group of people is sending in quite a few requests for that fandom.

And now on to Naruto my problem child fandom. I am not kidding You're the fandom that refuses us to send in photos, but will throw a tantrum if it's not the photo from the correct era of the anime even though I have no clue what you're talking about. Normally when people don't like the photo with any other fandom a dozen better photos of the character will randomly appear in my inbox. Not with the Naruto fandom. I get 10 hate messages saying it's from the wrong era of the anime and I should know that. But does anyone send me a better photo from the correct era of the anime? No. Well actually that's not entirely true the a few times this fandom has sent in replacement photos it's from when in the anime I know the characters are still 14 I've done way too much research into when in canon characters turn 16 and what particular character design/outfit marks that in the timeline for this particular show because of how much I feel like I can't trust this particular fandom as a whole to follow rules. So, remember people I can't read your mind and you are the only fandom that wants to throw a fit over photos like this. Plus the few times I have tried to address the issues with the photos and try to fix the problem you guys want to get combative and very aggressive in the comments. Plus I swear you all are allergic to rules because at least 70% to 80% of requests relating to your fandom have some sort of issue. Whether it's trying to bend the rules or just outright breaking them to massive formatting problems. No other fandom causes me this many headaches. So please for the sake of my sanity do better

Sorry about that. I needed to rant about my problem child fandom maybe now they will start behaving.

When it comes to formatting there is a group of about three people that made requests either everyday or every 2 to 3 days and it was the max amount of request/matchups they could do in a single day according to the rules. They did this the entire time the box was open so they had their formatting down to a science. So basically any fandom that these people requested a lot of had really good track records for formatting and not trying to blatantly break the rules. So One Piece, JoJo's, Attack on Titan and Avatar/Korra all have very good track records right now

But with most fandoms they do a pretty good job of following the rules. No one is as bad as Naruto. Now there are some common issues and major incidents I've had so I'll go ahead and list them below

The common issues are just forgetting to put the name of the show or spelling, but Google can normally figure that out so that's not a major problem or people submitting a character that is video game only and not part of the anime adaptation. Persona, pokémon and Tekken are The worst offenders when it comes to this. Other major issues that come up frequently are with character ages? But it's normally with characters that look like they're adults. So I really don't hold that against people. I'm just guessing that people didn't realize they're actually teenagers but hopefully that will not be as much of a problem but since I dropped the age down to 16.

Now recent issues I've had to address were formatting issues where it was bad enough that I couldn't make it out due to dyslexia. Trigun has tried to submit weapons no less than three times even though that is blatantly against the rules. Like I mentioned earlier Naruto likes to submit photos from when the characters are 12 to 14 that doesn't fit the rules especially when photos are available from the correct age range that do follow the rules. So those are the ones I use no matter how many times they throw temper tantrums. Dungeon Meshi has submitted a 14-year-old and Soul Eater submitted a 13-year-old and said they were 16 in the request. So they lied. Luckily someone told me so I was able to delete those polls quite quickly, but now I can't trust anyone. So if you ever wonder why it takes so long for me to empty out the request box this is why

Oh but good news, no one has submitted a request since I've closed the box I basically consider that a miracle because the last two times there have been people that have not cared that the box is closed. So let's keep it that way please. I don't mind questions, just no requests. The box is closed I still have like 150 more individual messages that have multiple poll requests on them to get through before I open it again

Well that's going to be all for this post again. And I hope at least someone found this entertaining or informative or at least something. There will probably be another one of these in the future

[sea-of-dust]

So you're not gonna give me any?

Sin, Giovanna, Bridget, Happy Chaos

Summary: You made food for yourself, not expecting them to want any.

Notes: Thought I didn't play Guilty Gear, did ya 😼. I have you know I've been stalking that game for bedman so I can go back to my fighting game addiction. (ignore the x reader hastag I beg of you)

Warnings: Suggestive humor, swearing, fought Bridget more times than I read her lore forgive me-

Mostly platonic

Gender Neutral Reader

You do this to him of all people? You got some guts I'll give you that. Casually flipping burgers that dude smells them miles away I shit you not.

"Sol you mind if we go home early?" "We're in the middle of a bounty." "There's burgers being made..." "..."

You were pretty much done then your door almost goes flying off its hinges. "YOU MADE ANY FOR ME-" He comes into your house out of breath seeing two burgers. Naturally he presumes ones for him. "Oh...I thought you already ate" he looked at you like you said the most offensive thing to ever hit gods green earth.

You lift your plate and go to your living room proceeding with your day as if nothing had just happened while he's still there stunned.

First tactic! Sneaking it away! Leaning over you, he tries to reach over frightened when you grab his arm or push his hand back. You held his hand one of those times. You paused the show you were watching and turned to him. "Please?" The puppy dog eyes are out now. You didn't give him an answer, turning back around you, trying to hold back a laugh.

Time for tactic two! A trade. He hops over your couch leans over to you. "Hey... Hey! I'll tell you anything you wanna know. " "Like what? " he blushes before whispering in your ear. "Like how babies are made" you gave him the most narly side eye. "I already know" a long silence. "HUH?!" he jumps back in surprise, "so you know they come outta your eye?!" You turn to him fully with a slow, confused turn "So wouldn't that mean... you have a kid?" Now he's confused "no?" "so you got an abortion." "..." No burgers were obtained. You just laughed at him.

His last tactic, the most effective one, distraction! "Hey, look at this!" He shows you something on his phone. "Yea, that is pretty wild," as he reaches you push them away. "You know what's crazier?" You put your hand below his chin. "What-" Your smile widens. You lean closer to him he leans in progressively, getting more flustered. "Ho" "AH" ya breathed in his face. Lemme tell you burgers are good until you gotta smell ya breath afterward.

So far, all he got from you was teasing and burger breath to the face. Hes heartbroken . He knows this is how you like to tease him but like...really? With burgers? Certain kinda evil to do that.

As tries to get up, you stop him. "You can have it," you hand him the plate. He looks at you, his eyes sparking. "Really?" "Yea, never intended to finish it anyway." "So you did make one for me!" "Maybe I did." You smile to yourself, looking back at your show as he you hear him quite litterally tear the poor thing up.

"Thank you y/n!" He hugs you rubbing your cheek agenst his. "Eh! burger breath burger breath!" "What? Can't handle a taste of your own medicine?" You try to wiggle out of his embrace. "I'll repay you next time!" "You know how to cook?" You stop to look at him "Yea! Sugar water!" "....what"

Sleep with one eye open she's taking the other one.

She's not as angry as you think, but she is kinda internally upset.

You two casually sitting on the rooftop that she usually hung out on. You were both sitting together when you opened up a box of snacks eating them while looking off into space.

She looked at you baffled, chuckling a bit. "Any for me?" "Huh? I thought you ate" "....nope~" She opens her mouth expectingly "it's past your lunch break tho..." "I gave my food to Rei..." you look up at Rei the spirit agreeing with her.

"Alright I guess I could give you some" Both of them look up excitedly as you pull out one of the snacks. Giovanna slightly getting ontop of you.

"Feed it to me" "😨" Even Rei looks over at her confused before going back to snacks. "Think your getting too comfortable around me" "isn't that a good thing~" She leaves her mouth open leaning closer you placing one of the snacks in her mouth then Reis.

This went on for a while you had to open a few more. Your starting to think she isn't hungry but just messing with you so you stop feeding her. She didn't really care at first...no she does. "Could have just old me you didn't wanna share" "oh thank god"

Thinking you can go back to eating normally, you look back into the sky. The only thing you see is a cloud formation before Gio moves in front of you, her eyes squinted. "Just one?" "Wdym just one?!" "Gimmie another." "How much did you really give Rei?!?" You gave her two. She ate both of them Rei looking at her offended opens its mouth, you oblige. Your praying for someone to save you at this point. Praying for Leo to come outta nowhere and use his depression rizz on her.

You gave her the whole box as a peace treaty and pulled out your phone texting Leo. "Bro, get up to the roof. I think she might eat me next" "what happened-" "she ate all my food again..." "sigh...I'll be there" As you put your Phone away Reis staring into your soul with a second box that you had in your bag. "nooo" you whisper trying to make sure Gio dosent hear you. "Oh so you had another~" "AHHHHHH" as soon as your savior gets there its too late she's eaten your lunch only leaving two pieces behind for you. Least she's too busy fawning over him to bother you now

"It's that guy I was talking about!" She looks over at Rei your food still all over her mouth. "....do we take him home" Rei looks at her and nods "but last time you said knock him out why am I listening to you" she shakes her head. "Sorry dude" you text Leo before leaving the roof. "Worry for what?" He could barely finish the text before you heard something hit the ground along with really bad and sarcastic sounding flirting.

How could you do that to someone so cute!! Was mostly likely what was going on in her brain. Soft pancakes cooked to perfection and stacked so neatly the local Dennys would hire you in an instant.

She tries to reach her hand on to one of the stacks when you put it down with a gentle push. "Whatcha doing" "trying to have a pancake" "that's for my job tho-" "as a Dennys fry cook-" "no there giving out a promotion to the person who cooks the best" "oooo"

Slightly caring about that she tries not to take one but just the scent of the batter slowly cooking to perfection she's fighting alot of urges to just take one and run. Too bad you always notice...

"Bridget, there isn't enough to make extra dont." "You filled like 2 plates already ones to the ceiling!" "Good that's almost the department" "what if I apply to your job" "you would quit because it wasnt as fun as bounty hunting or they didnt allow Rodger in office" you know her too well...but do you know Roger!!

You indeed also knew Roger well. You sat him up like an elf on a shelf way too high for her to reach even when climbing something. Only reason you could get up there was cause you weren't afraid to jump high while looking werid-her words

Now, while also trying to snag a cake, she's whinging over Roger. You had to grab her out of the way of hot butter flying out. Casually flipping pancakes while holding her waist... you're a little too casual with this. She's also very used to grabbing you tightly. "Told you not to get in the way. You alright?" "....im..." a short silence after you let her go to flip over the pancakes before checking her. "IM TOO CUTE TO BE GRABBED THAT WAY!" "Pardon-" "No one should fling around a cute girl like that!" She flales her arms around. This is an inside joke between you two at this point, you fluster her and she becomes a child, it's like the air balloon that's labeled her brain finally landed.

"Your right I'm too attractive to fling around girls like that" you smirk "not funny!" She looks angry before you both burst out laughing. "Heh....you'll never get over that cute thing" you sigh checking on the pancakes. "You flustered me that isn't fair cheep shot" "oh please that was the first time that happened. 'I'm too cute to be carried!'" "AH" she covers her face when you mention that.

You were almost done shoving the pancakes into plastic containers, and you bring out the fruits and begin to decorate them. She's watching in total awe. The way all of them were perfectly placed made her even more hungry than before. As soon as she tries to grab one you grab her wrist a little too fast. You were like halfway across a table how did you get here so quick?!

"How about this... you go to my room wait there...and when I call you you'll come down" she was going to give you the good ol puppy eyes when she saw just how scary you looked. Your eyes void of purity, she's pretty sure she could see your eye bags getting darker. She walked upstairs as you grabbed Roger with the same scary face and watched him run up the stairs to her. You got back to packing and began to cook for a final time.

"BRIDGET!" You call out to her. "Yea wha- WOAH-" she spots a pancake stack on the table. Neatly decorated with light syrup and frosting. "This this is all for -" she looks at you excitedly. "It's for you," you nod tired. Roger looks up at you expectingly as you present him a smaller batch. You get something for them to drink and place it down, but Bridget still looks up at you. "What's up?" "..." You fold your arms before realizing what she wants. You peel a bannana to halfway and attaching eyes to the part that still had a peel while cutting off the unpeeled parts, giving it to Roger. "It's nannerpus!" You calmly exclaim, placing the banana on Bridget's pancakes neatly. She begins to eat, avoiding nanerpus on her pancakes, smiling widely. You smile at her and Rodgers satificastion and sit down on the couch, exhausted falling asleep right then and there. You feel a blanket come over your figure as you drift off as well as a pat on the head. "Sleep well k? You did alot" Bridget whispers.

Sleep with both eyes open

Wdym you're cooking and nones for him? Smelling up the damn house and expecting him not to want. WDYM, IT'S NOT HIS HOUSE TU CASA ES MI CASA-

Horid Spanish and jokes aside, he's looking over your shoulder the entire time. He's so excited he's like a toddler. "Watchu doin-" "making something that's not for you~" "but this is usually the time we eat lunch" "wdym we you don't even live here- watch out" casually moving him out the way. "And put a shirt on I bought you an oversized one." "Oh but I thought I don't live here" "you don't"

The guys pretty inlove with pissing you off. An entertaining reaction from such a reserved human...oh he's gonna keep doing this. He's gonna keep doing this till he gets bored...witch is great because guess who he's going to when bored!

He's like a blue shark gummy growing the sentience of a toddler...no he is one...too bad the shark gummies basically God too. "Hey so uh" he comes back into the kitchen one of your shirts on "I placed in IN AN ODVIOUS SPOT this time and you WO" thw foods casually exploding in front of you. "HOW THE HELL DID THAT EVEN HAPPEN? Swear i thought i did it righ this time..." "Does that mean we can make ice cream sandwiches now?" "...istg"

Why is he so...giddy? Forced to pull out the ice cream tubes, he also personally watched you buy for this exact momment, you make the ice cream into spheres while side eyeing him. "Get the cookies." "The frosted sugar cookies?" "...the ones in the fridge." "Alright, alright." Lord, save you. I-no left you with him for two seconds. Now he's more attached to you than the random gem on the floor he found.

You were finally done placing them into the cookies, gave one to him, and sat down. Peacefully... "So what came first the chicken or the egg the answer is the enigma" "OH MY FUCKING GOD"

You cover your ears, but he just gets closer and closer with more monologs. "We're just cowboy outlaws on this wild west" "I'm going to kick you in the face"

He goes infront of your face with a wide smile. Meaning what you say you kicked em in the face. "Woh ho ho. It seems the outlaw wants to be remembered instead of living to tell the tale~" "you wouldn't kill me" "what makes you so sure?" "Then you'd have no one to piss off daily after sol badguy left the world" "..." You caught him finally getting him to be quiet.

You use this time to walk upstairs and locking the door and going under the covers. "Finally freedom..." You smile to yourself. "That guy's so annoying..." "I know right!" "..." You turn to see the jolly blue man staring at you at the edge of your bed his head joining you under the covers "...."

[going-to-ikea-for-the-fries]

To hold others accountable, you yourself created a witch hunt. People lie on the internet all the time for personal funnsies and you don't have any reason to believe me. Eventhough you showed that you have a thing to just take one's word at face value. Anyways. I have CPTSD and have BPD. I went ballistic a bunch of years ago(before I was diagnosed, in therapy or medicated. Not an excuse. Just explanation). And I split and posted how everyone would be better off without me and then deleted my account. I created a new one a bunch of days later and I will never know that high I got from blogs and people scrambeling in the search of me and feeling guilty. It takes a special kind of evil (and I lump myself in there) to pretend that. And the whole timeline is just very sus. The defensive of the other block is not a good look either. Just food for thought. I belive there is someone playing with good people for whatever reason. Crazier things have happened on Tumblr.

I know that I created a witch hunt on accident as well, even though it wasn't my intention either. Hypocritical of me, I know, and you're welcome to be mad at me for it, I not only welcome it but know it's fair.

I've seen things like this happen not just on tumblr but other communities as well. It's not my first time on the internet, believe it or not. It's easy to get caught up in either blind belief or blind skepticism.

Call me gullible if you wish, or easy to manipulate, or naive or an optimist or what have you if you wish (not you specifically, just in general).

It's a whole 'boy cried wolf' situation. 'Say a lie often enough, people will stop believing you and just brand you a liar.'

But I'd rather believe this and get played with every single time, than to risk letting myself become a skeptic/cynic and one day actually/inequivocally lose someone for good because I didn't believe it. /gen

So I'm gonna take sheheal's word for it on this one even if it comes back to bite me.

I never wanna become that calloused.

[focsle]

You've expressed this sentiment before, so I'm not sure how to start this ask. I've been catching up on Mr. Havilland (he's my age! As are many of the other whalers whose journals you read) and it made me think of that post of yours, on how whalers would write down the names of other deceased whalers, even those they never sailed with, just so they wouldn't be completely forgotten, and a lot of what you do feels like that. I know some of them didn't want their journals read, and you didn't publish them and I think that was a good idea, but it's so crazy to go around thinking about some lad from 18xx doing this or that and then just disappearing, god knows what happened to him, and more than a century later here we are, on other continents, living a completely different life, thinking about them. And crazier still when they're your age and you can understand why they signed up (the ones that do it for vague reasons at least. I also know that I wouldn't have done it had I had the chance but I get it). I don't give much stock to being remembered by history, but so many of these lads worried about whether their families remembered them or cared enough to, and I don't think they would have minded to know that some people, somewhere, would listen to them talk about their day to day nuisances and their more serious troubles, wishing them the safest and most successful voyage even though they know it has all already happened

That’s partly why I feel compelled to read their journals and share them, because it’s me giving a personal acknowledgement to an ordinary lad that his life happened and I see it. I tend to feel that need much more strongly with the ones who died quite young either at sea or ashore, like Buel, Boodry, or potentially Haviland, rather than the ones who ultimately settle down comfortably with families and/or security like Abbe, Newman, or Langdon…because I feel like they maybe had less people in their life to acknowledge that existence (or just…less time in their life to BE acknowledged). It’s why I sometimes feel like they’re MY family or friends because I develop this investment in their well being even though they’ve all been dead and gone for quite sometime.

It can also be sometimes hard—even when making a point to humanize history—to fully acknowledge that these were people for better or for worse. Like, it’s one thing to look at a census record and see that someone is in their teens or early 20s and hypothesize what their life might be like or what they might be thinking about. Same goes for the cautioning against not putting a modern personal lens onto the attitudes and actions of people in the past which, while important to keep in mind and is something I agree with, I sometimes think that attitude swings too far into itself and leads to people considering people from the past as completely alien to us. I think, when viewing history from an academic OR a nostalgic lens it can sometimes get too easy to reduce someone’s life down into themes and trends for a specific aim and forget that…that’s just a whole person!

And then you get hundreds of pages of their own words and really see that so many of them were worried about the same things that 20-somethings worry about today. They worry about not being married yet when all their other friends ashore are, and other such life milestones they feel they’re falling behind on, they worry about their girlfriend breaking up with them because they’re gone for too long and she finds someone else, they worry about what they’re doing with their life, and they worry about having nothing to show for it. A 23 year old riddled with anxiety about their future and sense of worth spans across time, it seems. And then all the other little human bits I share from them ranging from the books they’re reading and what they thought of them, to the little jokes they’re making and pranks they’re playing on each other, to getting woken up in the middle of sexy dreams and being put off about it, to being freaked out about cockroaches, to thinking the moon looks pretty, to grumbling about having to do their laundry, or only getting 2 hours of sleep and having to power through it.

[ga-yuu]

Ibuki Sequel Spoilers!

The story just gets crazier!

We finally get to know what Kharin was talking about, when she said 'Ibuki, next time, I'll show you what real family looks like.' She wasn't kidding. Kharin....forget whatever I said about her being "Oh maybe she exchanged Ibuki with another child because she wanted to protect her own son...blah blah". Kharin is a crazy bitch. Maybe even crazier than Ibuki.

So our japanese avengers, had to go to Kyoto because there is a news that a weird drug is being circulated among the nobles. The drug is Opium and it is not something one can get in the human world according to Sueharu. It's a drug created in the demon world that is exported to the human world. Everyone knew that Kharin was the one behind it.

In Kyoto, Yoshino sees a nightmare, where she sees an entity taking Ibuki away from her. She wakes up and goes to the garden for some fresh air. Before she can go back to her room, she hears someone calling her. She looks back and sees a kid that looks just like Ibuki in his child form. The kid asked her to open the gate so that they can go out together. Yoshino walked towards the gate but before she can open it, she gets a bad feeling. She started to question, why Ibuki can't open the gate himself? She doesn't open the gate and steps back. She was right because the kid that looked like Ibuki, wasn't actually Ibuki. It was some kind of demonic entity and in a demonic voice it started saying "Open it Open it open it..."

Akihito, Yasuchika and Ibuki came right in time to protect Yoshino. Yasuchika had put a spell around the house and it was smart that Yoshino didn't open the gate. Ibuki takes his great sword to attack the kid but the kid dodges and comes under the moon light revealing his beautiful face. The kid, who looks just like Ibuki (in child form), smiles innocently. It started talking in broken Japanese saying 'I'm onii...I'm also onii...."

Soon, Kurama, Morinaga and Yoichi all joined them. At first they all thought that the kid was Ibuki's illegitimate son. Then Akihito asked if Ibuki had any siblings that died at a young age. Ibuki shakes his head and tells that the kid doesn't smell like him or Kharin.

Soon Kharin shows up and the kid runs towards her calling her 'mother'. Kharin also looked lovingly at the kid and stroked his head as if he were a puppy. Then Kharin starts to reveal some of the craziest things, I've ever heard. The child is well.......a changeling. The human child that she replaced Ibuki with. Everyone was shocked. Then Ibuki asked, how did a human baby survive in a demon world for this long? Because the atmosphere in the demon world is not suitable for a human to live in. Kharin says that the kid didn't survive. After replacing Ibuki with the human baby, Kharin played with it by injecting her powers little by little to see if it could change into something monster-like. But the child couldn't survive in the gloomy atmosphere of the Otherworld and her powers, so the baby died and melted into a mush. Then she left it like that because she can't play with a mush, right?

After she became the necromancer for the trials, she was able to recreate the human baby with the mush and made it an exact copy of Ibuki and now, that's what we're looking at right now.

The kid hiding behind Kharin looked at Ibuki and smiled.

Kid: "I am Onii.....Ibuki also Onii.....Ibuki is Ibuki......I am I......"

Ibuki: "................."

Ibuki: "Fuki. You're Fuki."

Fuki: "Okay. I am Fuki....Fuki, the Onii...."

[burstingsunrise]

prithee, dear molly, may i request a luke monologue on the subject of your choice

so polite and proper! <3 omg ok what luke subject do i want to tackle when there are so many worth monologuing about?

maybe this would be a good opportunity to talk a little bit about luke tour and the specific brand of luke that he embodies at his solo shows.

because i think it's really interesting - he has his 5sos stage persona which we are very familiar with, still him but really amplifying specific parts of him for the drama. but when he's doing solo shows he still has that charisma and showmanship and general vibe, but it's like...toned down a bit and more heavily mixed with offstage luke.

with solo luke, the whole "sexy sad" thing really comes through during the actual performances of his songs - there's still a level of sluttiness happening but it's wrapped up in the specific emotions of the songs moreso than something he's playing up for an audience, if that makes sense.

the in between banter is a little different too, less broad and showy and more specific to him. it's little things, like the way you can tell he's thought ahead about what he's going to say for each city, but when he talks about those things, it's not rehearsed, it's just the way it naturally comes out of him.

the way no matter how many times he talks about how incredible it is to play these songs for people he's genuinely emotional about it every single time.

the way he can indulge himself a little bc he has more time, and that leads to more specific insights into his mind in the moment bc he has the space to just ramble a bit and see where it takes him.

but mostly it's the way he's a little bit softer overall, a little more vulnerable without the rest of the band to play off, and there's something really special about getting to see that.

and don't think you're getting out of here without hearing about dayquil luke! that was even crazier because it was a lot of offstage luke seeping in, but the version of him that's feeling really comfortable and silly rather than the more introverted and awkwardly charming one. it was the most purely luke-ish i've ever seen him on stage, all the luke things about him coming out (mostly) unselfconsciously, and i will never recover.

thank u to anyone who's made it this far for indulging me. here's some dc armpit and ass for your trouble <3