#this song came on while i was dressing her up and it rebooted my brain for a sec

[keekity]

rainn, rainn, go away, that's what all my haters say

[theonethatyaks93]

Animaniacs S3 Episodes 1 and 2 Opinions

Spoiler Warning: This review will go into spoilers for the first 2 episodes of season 3. Proceed at your own risk

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OMG!! It's finally here! Season 3 is finally here! After waiting one year, three months, and eleven days, we finally get to see the grand return of the Warners and Pinky and The Brain for all new adventures! I watched the first two episodes of this season, and boy, it was a doozy! Anyways, here are my opinions of these two episodes.

Episode 1: Honestly this was a mixed bag overall. The Warner segments were only okay while the Pinky and The Brain segment was great. Honestly, "Season 3 and WB" was kind of slowly paced and boring. The segment from the 2nd season that came before this was also pretty slow and boring. The Warners felt like background characters and the drama felt forced. I'll give them points for giving Nora Rita Norita a bigger personality and there were some clever movie parodies, but it felt slow. There were also some gross-out jokes that were super weird. There weren't many laughs to be found here, also. "How To: Friendship" was a nice follow-up to the previous segment. While I don't think it was as good as the first Pinky's How To, it still managed to be a funny and engaging watch. I feel like that this season is going to focus more on Pinky, since he basically had more screen time than Brain in these first two episodes. Pinky was very funny and I love how much he cares for Brain. His apology song to Brain was hilarious (and Pinky surprisingly has better editing skills than me!) Pinky playing around with Brain using the filters was cute and him moving his hand to pat Brain on the head when he was frustrated was just freaking adorable. I also liked the ending when Brain compliments Pinky for essentially saving him from an explosion. Also, this is the episode where Pinky makes a macaroni photo of him kissing Brain!!! And Brain keeps the picture even after tearing it away!! This was probably the cutest segment from the reboot and I was squealing like a little girl the entire time! There have already been more Brinky moments in these first two episodes than in the entire first season! I can't wait for more!

Episode 2: This was a slight improvement over the first episode but not by too much. "Soda-Pressed" was kind of interesting and Dot did have her shining moments. But all that character growth just goes down the drain at the end. The song in this episode was only okay, and I'm more excited for other songs to come later on. It was very slowly paced and only had a few decent laughs. This was an okay experience. "A Starbox is Born" is probably the best Starbox and Cindy segment but that's not saying much. There were some cute moments and the animation was beautiful but that's about it. I also got a laugh out of this segment so I consider that a win. It still had some slow pacing, but it thankfully didn't run on for too long. "Royal Flush" was a pretty good segment. There was some clever satire, good jokes, and a surprise song that I really enjoyed. I thought that this episode would be focused more on the poker game that Brain was in, but it was more focused on Pinky and his feelings. Pinky looked stunning in that dress and I liked the bond he formed with the Meagan Markle parody. The song they sang was a spoof of "A Whole New World" and it reminded me of the song from "Pinky's Dream House" (An episode of Pinky, Elmyra, and The Brain). This song was really good and I enjoyed it a lot. Also, Pinky is not straight! He literally envisions Brain in the stars during the parody of a romantic song when the Meagan Markle character was singing about her husband-to-be. Pinky is clearly enamored with his friend, and Brain hopefully will recuperate these feelings. I think the writers are hinting at a little something here! Anyways, I really enjoyed this segment, though it went in a different direction than I had thought. (Also, when the horse appears in the stable at the beginning, did anyone get nervous and think Phar Fignewton was back from the bin of dead Animaniacs characters? I sure did!)

Anyways, I think that the Pinky and The Brain segments are very strong, while the Warner segments were just okay. I still have eight episodes to watch, so maybe my opinions will change for the better or for the worse.

[ilovethetalkingclock]

A Not-Sew-Magical Sequel (LALALOOPSY CREEPYPASTA)

(WARNING: THE FOLLOWING CONTAINS CONTENT LIKE LANGUAGE, GORE, DEATH, PARASITES, DROWNING AND DARK COMEDY. IF YOU GET SCARED BY THIS, DON'T YELL AT ME FOR IT. YOU CHOSE TO READ IT.) 

(story under the cut, based on a dream I had)

(don’t worry, it’s not a screamer, i’d never do that.)

No matter how many years passed and will pass, I liked and will still like Lalaloopsy. All the characters and concepts were and still are very interesting (though Jewel was always my least favorite) and the couple episodes I saw of both the original show and the reboot of Netflix were cute and in the case of the reboot actually very emotional. I also watched all the movies and while a majority of them were slightly flawed one way or another, that didn’t stop them from being good. Hearing the toys being discontinued and the Netflix show canceled indeed made my heart sink.

But that’s not all what I wanted to talk about. Onto Lala-Oopsies.

If you don’t recall, Lala-Oopsies was a spinoff line. As the name suggested, the characters were in mixed rainbow colors and body proportions that deviated from the usual Lalaloopsy dolls, looking like, in my own words, mutants. They came as princess/ballerina hybrids and mermaids, with the ‘Littles’ (which in the original Lalaloopsy line, were the younger sisters) as fairies. They had one movie, “Lala-Oopsies: A Sew Magical Tale”. It was like all the others, cute, a bit funny, and a simple Lalaloopsy adventure with the Lala-Oopsies.

What I never knew was that they were apparently planning on a sequel.

I was at a garage sale of sorts (i know, very cliche) when I found a blank DVD case. Here’s what it read:

“LALA-OOPSIES-SEQUEL(UNFINISHED)”

“Is this a joke?”

“Oh, that!” The owner of the sale noticed me and casually went on “I worked at MGA Entertainment… they were making a sequel to the Lala-Oopsies movie… some guy decided to make that, apparently as a joke, and he was fired as it had quite a bit of… crazy stuff. We decided to cancel it altogether as we didn’t have any other ideas... We were handed copies of it from the guy who made it before he was fired. The footage is all there. There’s a lot more stuff that happened after that, but I don’t really wanna go into full detail. If you wanna know completely, it’s worth only a dollar. Not somethin’ I’d wanna watch again.”

Out of morbid curiosity, I agreed to buy the thing.

So I went home, made sure to get my DVD player on, and opened the case. There were two discs. One that read “MOVIE” and another that just had random scribbles on it. I tried to make out if the second one actually said anything, but I couldn’t read it for shit. I got out the one that read “MOVIE”, making sure it was the film itself, and placed it in.

Hoo boy, I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

There was no menu or trailers, though that was kinda expected considering it was unfinished. It just went straight to the movie.

It all looked official one way or another. Some scenes were fully animated, others were simple animatics, others were in between. But I’ll just say before we get on that it was not at all the usual Lalaloopsy fare. There was no sign of anyone’s pets at all throughout the whole movie.  There wasn’t any music, like, at all, and that just made it a bit more unsettling.

Well, most of it wasn’t. It started off like your usual Lalaloopsy movie. Bea was walking down a path and singing a song about math to herself. A rather bad one, if you ask me. So bad, I have easily forgot about it. While walking, she finds the door that leads to Lala-Oopsies Land.

As the first movie took place in mostly a story that Bea was reading, she is surprised that apparently Lala-Oopsies are true. She leaves to find her friends, the rest of the Original 8 to be exact, and tell her all about it. This exchange from the conversation is what mainly caught me off guard.

Jewel: “So you just managed to find something from a story you read once in reality? I don’t believe it one bit.”

Spot: “Jewel. This is felting BEA SPELLS-A-LOT we’re talking about. The brains? The genius? The nerd? The know-it-all? She doesn’t seem to be making it up.”

Was felt their way of saying fuck? That was not in the other Lalaloopsy stuff I knew, as it was aimed at young children. I figured that was at least one of the reasons it was never finished. I decided to keep watching to find more reasons.

The Lalaloopsies were at the door to Lala-Oopsies Land, and as she didn’t believe it before as shown by the previous exchange I wrote about, Jewel was understandably dumbfounded. “Felt me, there really is a Lala-Oopsies Land…”

So of course they all opened the door and entered. Only as it turned out Lala-Oopsies land… wasn’t exactly as the story told.

The skies were orange like the original, but were more of a sickly shade of it. The ground was grey, rotted, and corpse-like. The mushroom ‘trees’ looked much more like actual fungi, and the strawberry-milk rivers and seas looked spoiled and curdled, and I could even make out a skeleton (presumably of a drowned Oopsie) in them. Bea probably put it best.

“Well… it seems the book apparently romanticized a couple details…”

The group decided to venture in and explore anyway. I couldn’t help but bring up the fact that a couple of them coughed quite a bit when they went in. Okay, scratch that, they were coughing violently, like they just inhaled smoke.

Pillow: “Felting seamstress, this place is polluted.”

As they were walking through, some sort of large insectoid jumped right on Peanut’s face Alien-style. Now I could really see why this movie didn’t make it. Obviously, everyone was panicking at the sight and trying to get the bug off. It wasn’t until like half a minute that Bea managed to find a stick on the ground and strongly swatted the insect away from Peanut’s face, though it seemed she also hit the face from this dialogue...

Peanut: “TRY AVOIDING THE FACE YOU IDIOTIC FELTING STITCH.”

...and stabbed the insect multiple times, pink-ish blood spraying from the body, gore getting everywhere. The other seven were so disgusted that Crumbs vomited right on-screen from the sight. Organs were coming out of the creature as Bea stabbed, and as I looked close enough the organs seemed rather human-like. That was pretty weird as the insect didn’t look human at all. 

Well at least I found another reason for this movie’s rejection.

Before Bea turned the monster into an unrecognizable bloodied mush, I could make the colors of the insect to be that of the Lala-Oopsies fairy Lilac, hot pink and sky blue. Nah, I’m pretty sure it was just a coincidence. And yet…

Oh, that reminds me of another scene that happened later on.

The eight were venturing on into the islands riding on some sort of old rusted boat they found, and then suddenly some sort of sea serpent or something like that i dunno with the same color scheme as the mermaid Water Lily rose from the rotted strawberry milk oceans. Bea tried to row the boat away, but the monster attacked and even picked Jewel up and devoured her. There wasn’t any doll stuffing or anything cute like that. Jewel’s remains actually spurted crimson blood and human entrails as she was being chomped down on and eventually swallowed. Screaming as if the actress herself was getting violently disemboweled.

I can still hear her agonized screams as I write this, so that’s pretty annoying. 

Pillow’s reaction perfectly described mine.

“HOLY FELTING SILK.”

My god... how the heck was a doll said to be sewn from a dress able to have human blood and guts?! Then again, it was a cartoon… a rather gory one if ya ask me.

In all honesty though, Jewel’s death was horrific yet satisfying for me. I never liked her the slightest.

During the attack, Mittens and Spot fell into the strawberry milk ocean as the boat was destroyed. It didn’t show the rest of what happened to them so I can safely assume they were either eaten or drowned. Or both.

So the ones left were Crumbs, Peanut, Dot, Pillow, and Bea.

They latched onto the boat’s remains as they headed to a large island.

The island’s inhabitants were all the princess ballerinas, both in the first movie and toy-exclusive, mutated to grotesque proportions, their hair all mussy and in tangles. Most of the princess’s faces were obscured by their hair, but the ones I was able to see were distorted in such a way I can’t really describe that well, though I’ll admit they looked pretty damn cool. Oh, their clothes were also a wreck too so yeah.

Crumbs became an idiot and decided to go up close to one (can’t remember which, i think it was Saffron?) to try and approach it friendly enough.

Saffron, like a wild animal, lunged at Crumbs and proceeded to violently rip her to shreds, and sure enough it was just as gruesome as Jewel’s death.

I remember just thinking to myself, “what the hell was this person on when making this?”

And yes, the remaining girls were horrified by that too and ran from the princesses as fast as they could.

Remember the scene I mentioned earlier with Peanut apparently getting attacked by that bug? Welp, they didn’t forget about that. Peanut immediately fell over, having a rather violent fit as she struggled for breath, her skin deteriorating as multi-colored insect larva ate their way out of her everywhere, some even lunging out like the chestbursters in Alien. (yes I know I already made that comparison before but still) They then proceeded to lunge at Pillow and devour her alive as she could only scream and the final two, Bea and Dot, could only watch.

As Pillow was honestly one of my most favorite Lalaloopsy, I just felt awful watching that.

Another princess, Anise, which I recognized full and clear with her pink and blue coloring, approached what remained of Pillow and grabbed some of the larvae, putting it in her mouth and devouring it, as her mouth was coated in a rainbow goo like that one My Little Pony episode with the zombies. 

I would say it was disgusting, but a mutant doll eating a worm was the least of my worries. 

She managed to speak words, which was strange because the princesses here were, again, mostly animalistic. Her voice was rather gravely, only vaguely sounding like the original.

“WHAT WERE YOU THINKING COMING TO A PLACE LIKE THIS?”

Okay, they weren’t even trying with that line.

Anise proceeded to grab Bea and beat her, but thankfully Bea was able to kick Anise right in the face, knocking her out before the grotesquely mutated princess could finish the job. Dot swiftly took Bea’s hand. Struggling to get up at first, the badly bruised Bea managed to get on her feet and run as Anise came to.

As they ran, Bea and Dot finally found the door where they came in. It tugged my heartstrings seeing the two tearfully look back, apparently reminiscing their friends, before leaving Lala-Oopsies Land for good.

It then cut to Bea in bed, very ill. She was apparently covered in radiation tumors and her hair was almost gone. Apparently the island was highly radioactive. Dot was next to her bed in tears, as Bea weakly said her final words.

“I’m sorry, Dot… sorry… for everything...”

Violently coughing blood, Bea finally kicked the bucket as Dot sobbed hysterically. The movie cut to black and ended there with, surprise-surprise, no credits whatsoever.

All I thought of was “How the hell did Bea get sick from radiation poisoning but Dot didn’t?”

So anyway I took the movie disc out and put in the one with all the scribbles.

It was a compilation of recorded clips, all of them surprisingly in the MGA Entertainment headquarters itself I presume.

One clip I remember was a Lala-Oopsies Princess Anise doll flying, chasing a random employee as said employee was in a panic. Yea it was a weird one.

Another consisted of another employee testing out a Princess Juniper doll. As they were squishing the head, (the Lala-Oopsies dolls had squishy foam heads) the doll suddenly started to bleed violently. Not gonna lie, I laughed at what the employee said.

“GOD DAMN IT GARY WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT MAKING THE DOLLS BLEED.”

Last one I remember was two employees talking to each other. One of them asked the other,

“What exactly was your motivation in making this weird-ass movie?”

The other employee just responded in a weird reverse demonic gibberish I didn’t have time to translate. The first employee’s only response was a flat “what”. Exactly my reaction too. I decided that was enough and took out that disc and put it away.

Where’s the case now?

In one of my shelves. I’m keeping it. I just think it’s pretty unique in a way.

Not like it’s cursed or anything.

The End

[angryteapot]

You Make My Dreams

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Barista!Reader

Summary:  It’s funny how simple changes, often the ones given little to no thought, could change the course of a person’s life. Change leads to new dreams. 

Warnings: Cursing, slight abuse mentioned in passing, and Steve getting injured ofc, and probably way too many gifs, but hey it’s a lot of text.

Word Count: 5194

A/N: Written for @tilltheendwilliwrite ’s 6K challenge. Congrats again, babe! Song Prompt: You Make My Dreams by Daryl Hall and John Oates . Lyrics italicized and indented. 

It’s funny how simple changes, often the ones given little to no thought, could change the course of a person’s life. Take Steve Rogers, for example. Steve was out for his morning run per usual, taking one of his three established routes in the city. Tony would have said being predictable was a security disaster in the making, but Steve paid him no mind, he was Captain-freakin’-America and could take out any threat.

Aside from that, Steve normally ran the trails around the compound; he was only in the city this week because he and Bucky wanted to hang out away from the compound. Steve still had his apartment in the city, that was where he spent his days off, away from his mantle as the Captain as he roamed the city and sketched.

When it came to his quiet time away from the Avenging life, Steve liked his routines, predictable though they may have been. Other than the persistent fans he dodged on his runs, there wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle.

This particular day, however, there was something waiting for Steve that he couldn’t fix with his fighting skills - a roadblock and detour sign. Normally when Steve encountered road construction, it was only the road itself that was blocked off, the fenced sidewalks were still free to walk.

But oh no, not today, no siree. Today everything was blocked off. His usual path was obstructed, his run was ruined. Had it been mentioned that Steve had a flair for the dramatics?

Sighing and turning in slow circles, Steve pulls up a mental map of the surrounding streets, and chose a new route that would eventually merge with his familiar path. A little miffed at this new change, Steve started jogging, cataloging the new surroundings as he passed them by.

Unfortunately for him, he miscalculated the distance and was growing thirsty by the time he reached a quaint park, the halfway mark towards his destination. Panting slightly as he looked around, Steve saw a little trailer parked on the sidewalk at the edge of the park, the hand-scripted sign broadcasting it as ‘Just the Sip,’ whatever that meant. He felt like it was an innuendo for something.

The scent of a savory brew was wafting from there, it seemed like the best bet for his parched throat; if he was lucky they would also have bottled water.

Walking up to the window of the little trailer, he could hear muffled cursing and banging, there was no one visible in the space.

“Hello?” He tentatively called out a greeting, unsure of what he was even doing. He should’ve just kept running, hydration be damned.

“Oh! Hi!” A woman popped up suddenly,  nearly making Steve reach reflexively for a shield that wasn’t there. The woman’s hair was a mess, strands falling from her messy bun and cascading down her face, her apron askew and a smudge of something on her cheek. “Sorry about that, one of the machines was giving me a bit of trouble. How can I help you?”

Steve merely blinked.

“Captain Rogers, are you alright?”

The sound of his name seemed to reboot his brain.

He cleared his throat before responding with a sheepish smile, “Yes, I’m fine. And you can call me Steve.”

The woman smiled brightly, eyes crinkling at the edges. “Well Steve, I’m Y/N, and it’s a pleasure to meet you. What brings you here around these parts?”

Now that Steve knew the woman’s - your - name, he figured he should probably be a proper gentleman and stop being a speechless idiot.

“Well Y/N, I gotta tell ya, I really don’t know what happened with my morning. A roadblock, a miscalculation, and some dehydration led me to this place.”

Steve looked around the park, smiling as he took notice of the quaint charm of the surrounding area.

“Can’t say I’m too mad about it, not when I discovered a little pocket place like this one. Seems a little…”

Steve trailed off, unsure of a description that would fit how he was feeling about this place.

You huffed a breath to clear some strands of hair from your face, leaning on your elbows as you looked out at the park with a soft smile.

“Yeah, I know what you mean. Seem a little out of place, out of time - like we’ve stumbled into a secret garden in a pocket universe.”

Steve looked at you in awe and chuckled, amazed that you described exactly how this place made him feel. “You’re sure somethin’, you know that Y/N?”

You clapped your hands together and stood up, “Yep, so I’ve been told! Now, you mentioned some dehydration? Can’t have Captain America keeling over like an old man, now can we? What can I get ya?”

Your taunting and playful smirk surprised Steve. He was used to people treating him as someone untouchable, someone you shouldn’t speak to, much less poke fun at. You treated him like an old friend despite just meeting him, and he had to say that the change of pace was nice, it made him feel normal.

“I am an old man, but far from keeling over. I didn’t bring my bifocals to read the menu, what would you recommend?’

You laughed and looked at him dryly, “Oh Steve, we’re gonna have to work on your old man sense of humor, it’s atrocious. Now, what’re you looking for? I’ve got coffee, specialty drinks, tea, bubble tea, cold brews, juice, soda, and plain ol’ water.”

“Wow, big selection. I don’t really have time to stay and properly taste any drink, I’ve got plans with my best friend. How about just water this time, and next time you can recommend me a drink to sit and enjoy?”

“Ah, I do appreciate a star spangled man with a plan," you sing-songed the old tune. "Bottled water, comin’ right up, Cap.”

Your playful wink and reference to his ‘dancing monkey’ days had him grumbling as he fumbled for a few dollars to pay.

You turned back to him and held out the water bottle saying, “Eh, don’t worry about it, water’s just a dollar. Consider it a gift for letting me poke fun at you.”

Steve smiled gratefully, grabbing the water from your outstretched hand.

“Thanks for the water. Have a drink recommendation ready, I’ll be seeing you soon Y/N,” Steve did a lazy two-finger salute and jogged off with a smile.

You shook your head and chuckled, who knew Captain America was such a laid-back dork? No, not the Captain - Steve Rogers. Two different personalities, one a stoic no-nonsense hero, the other a charming goofball from Brooklyn.

Sighing and rolling up your sleeves, you dove back in to fix the machine that was previously giving you trouble. Humming while working, your thoughts lingered on a certain bright smile. You really did hope that he would come back like he promised.

* * *

For the rest of his run Steve’s thoughts lingered on your sweet smile and teasing laugh, the way your nose would scrunch up, and how the laugh lines around your eyes would appear when you squinted in laughter.

Oh boy, he was definitely in trouble if you were already taking over his thoughts after only one encounter.  

He finished his run and returned to his and Bucky’s apartment, hopping in for a quick shower before Bucky came back from the market. He got out and got dressed, dark jeans and a grey crew-neck muscle shirt, opting to remain barefoot until it was time to leave.

He made himself a cup of coffee, slowly nursing it as he picked up his book, and continued reading from where he last left off.

Keys jingled, the doorknob to the apartment ratted, and Bucky was suddenly through the door with an armful of grocery bags.

“Hey punk, mind closing the door for me? I’m gonna put the food away.”

Steve acquiesced, dog-earing the current page in his book. After closing and locking the door, he went to help his friend put away the alarming amount of groceries.

“You know we’re only here for another day or so, right? This is a bit excessive, even for us.”

Bucky sent a nonplussed look towards Steve. “With as much running as you’ll likely be doing, I figured you could use the fuel. Now who’s the dame?”

Steve should probably be surprised, but nothing got past Bucky. “How did you even…? Nevermind. Her name is Y/N. She owns a little coffee trailer at some neighborhood park. She’s feisty, I think you’d like her.”

Bucky shook his head and smiled knowingly. They continued putting away the groceries, Steve all the while picking at the fruit and stuffing his mouth as he continued talking about his encounter with the pretty barista.

Perishables put away, they worked in tandem to cook up brunch, finally sitting down at the island with their coffee and fruit-adorned french toast. They ate in silence, Steve reading his book, and Bucky reading the day’s newspaper.

After a moment of silence there was a hesitant, “Hey Buck, what does ‘Just the Sip’ mean?”

Bucky choked on his drink of coffee, nearly spewing it across the island. He coughed and pounded on his chest, settling into a hearty laugh now that his airways were clear.

“Oh my god. Is that the name of her business? I love her already, Stevie you have my permission to marry her.”

Steve blushed - this did not bode well.

“So…. you gonna keep laughing, or are ya going to tell me what it means?”

Bucky smiled and shook his head, “Nah punk, I’m gonna keep laughing. As a matter of fact, I’ve gotta meet this girl. Forget the plans, we’re going to that park and having a nice cup of coffee while I get to know her.”

Steve cursed under his breath - this definitely did not bode well.

* * *

“‘Just the Sip,’ huh? Figured you’d leave the explaining to me?”

You were sitting at one of the little tables outside your coffee trailer, reading your book and sipping at a chai latte. At the sound of the familiar voice, you abandoned your book and sprung up from your chair with a smile.

“James! Where’ve you been, I haven’t seen you in ages!”

You jumped into Bucky’s embrace, laughing as he hugged you tight and swung you around.

He set you down and chided, “Doll, I told you to call me Bucky. Why do you insist on being a pain in my ass?”

“Because everyone treats you like glass, and someone’s gotta keep you on your toes. Besides, I like pissing you off; it’s fun.” Your sass didn’t go unappreciated by the super soldier.

“Wait you know each other?”

Oops, busted. You turn towards a glum-looking Steve, wiggling your fingers at him in a wave.

“Back so soon, Captain? I have that drink recommendation if you’re ready for it,” your knowing smile is telling.

“Okay but - ”

“I’ll explain over your drinks. The usual, James?”

“Yes please darlin’.”

“Have a seat boys, I’ll be right out with them!”

They sat down and Steve gave his best friend an incredulous, wounded look. “Are you two, y’know...?”

“Don’t be stupid, Stevie,” Bucky’s teasing tone turned serious with his next words. “When uh, after I came back from Wakanda, I was still a little broken, ya know. My life consisted of you, and, after Thanos, Sam. You two were the only ones I had, but I still felt off, like everyone was treatin’ me with kid gloves, even you. Sam was the only one who didn’t take any of my shit, and it made me feel… normal.”

“Bucky, ya could’ve told me - ”

“No, it’s okay Stevie, you were stretched too thin, I know you were trying your best. One day when you were on a mission, Sam brought me to the city and we went a few places, explored a little bit. We even went to the V.A. for a bit. But even there, I felt like I didn’t belong. I told Sam I needed some alone time, and he understood. He was actually the one that told me about this place. He said there was somethin’ about it that just made the weight of the world seem like a lighter load, and he was right. I found my way here and was sitting for a while, until people started stopping and staring. They were whispering things, but y’know we can hear everything with the serum…”

You suddenly were at the table with their drinks, and you set them down, placing a soothing hand on Bucky’s arm. Steve noticed you were touching his left arm, and he marveled at the fact that Bucky didn’t so much as flinch. He instead was looking up at you and smiling softly.

“They were assholes, they had no right.” Your voice was fierce with protectiveness, and Steve was happy knowing that Bucky had good friends outside of the compound, even if he was a little miffed that he had never even known about it.

“Yeah, Y/N was here that day, and she marched out of her trailer, sleeves rolled up and hair a mess like always.” You smacked Bucky upside the head and he laughed before continuing, “She started yelling at them, saying they should be ashamed of themselves for treating a national hero like that. It was the first time I had been called a hero, and it hit me hard. Everyone sees me as the Winter Soldier, only remembering the crimes I committed, but not Y/N. After the people had scuttled off, she came to sit next to me and brought me a drink, just started talking like we were old friends.”

You were sitting between them now, nursing your own drink, as you listened to Bucky talk.

“You are a hero.” You turned to Steve and continued the story as Bucky sat back and drank down  his bubble tea.

“He was having trouble adjusting, and he came to me for escape.” You shrugged and said this as if it was no big deal. “I treated him like any normal person should be treated, and we became fast friends. Soon enough everyone around here saw that he was harmless, and this became his safe haven.”

Bucky side-eyed you. “Well, I wouldn’t say harmless.”

Your eyes widened and you turned to Steve excitedly. “Oh shit yeah, I forgot! There was this one regular, well he’s not anymore, but he became a bit aggressive in his advances. One time James was here when the guy decided to get a little fresh, and let’s just say that the guy no longer comes within five miles of here.”

Bucky smirked at Steve’s expression.

The conversation between you three flowed from there, and you would occasionally excuse yourself to help a customer, always coming back with different drinks for them too. Steve was convinced that he had tried at least half the menu in that one afternoon. He was suddenly grateful for his super soldier bladder.

The day wore on and you eventually packed up shop, locking everything down. Steve had intended on bidding you a good night after that, but you and Bucky had given him a strange look and laughed.

“C’mon Steve, dinner at Antoine’s is a tradition when James comes to visit me.”

Upon arriving at the little sandwich shop, the owner greeted you warmly and started preparing food for you and the boys.

Steve was a little apprehensive as you guided him to a table and sat without even ordering.

“Um, Y/N, we didn’t order. How does he know what to make?”

You and Bucky explained at the same time that Tony was always right when it came to food.

Steve remained skeptical until the food came, and after that he completely agreed with the both of you, the food was amazing.

* * *

Over the next two and a half years, Bucky and Steve had become staples in your life, the three of you forming a routine that you settled into with ease.

Sometimes Steve would come by himself, and would stay for days on end, becoming even more smitten with you by the hour. Sometimes Bucky would come by himself when Steve was away on mission, and he would take your mind off worrying about his best friend’s safety.

A lot of times, both of them came together and the three of you would spend hours or even days hanging out at your apartment when you weren’t working.

* * *

One night, you were woken up at some cursed hour by a persistent knocking at your door. You cautiously opened it to reveal Bucky holding up a bleeding, unconscious Steve. Now wide awake, you ushered them in and directed Bucky to the guest room.

“What happened?” You whispered in a hushed, anxious tone.

Bucky gingerly laid Steve on the bed and lowered himself into the plush chair beside the bed.

“Stealth mission gone wrong. Don’t worry, I already patched him up, he just needs to rest up and let the serum do its work now. Sorry about this, but I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer, and your place was closer than the compound. Quinjet is on the roof, by the way.”

Bucky’s voice trailed off as he succumbed to sleep.

You shook your head at your the two idiots, and went to the closet to retrieve their duffle bags. They had spent the night often, so they had eventually just brought duffle bags with clothes and toiletries to leave there. Likewise, you had a similar duffle bag stashed at their place.

Fishing out their sleep clothes from the bags, you quietly crept over to where Bucky was snoring away. Trying not to wake him, you started pulling his numerous knives from their sheathes, setting them on the nightstand. You had successfully removed most of them, and wow he must have been exhausted if he hadn’t snapped awake by now.

As you were removing the last knife, your wrists were pinned in a painful position as Bucky shot up reflexively.

You hissed in pain, “James, it’s just me, can you please let me go?”

Bucky’s glazed eyes suddenly cleared, and he apologized profusely as he released your wrists and checked them with gentle fingers. “Doll, I’ve told you before not to do that. It’s dangerous. Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m okay. I’m sorry, I was just trying to make you more comfortable. Now that you’re up though, can you change Steve into the sleep clothes I left there? Your own clothes are beside his, come get me when you’re both decent.”

You padded into the kitchen and busied yourself with making a cup of tea. If you didn’t keep occupied, you’d fall asleep where you stood. Halfway through your tea, Bucky stumbled through the bedroom door in his pajamas and whispered, “Okay, all decent now.”

“Good. You can take my bed, I’ll stay with Steve and keep an eye on him.”

“Doll, no, I can’t let you do that. He’ll be fine, and I can sleep on the couch.”

You eyed your four foot couch and then sent the beefy super soldier a pointed glance.

“Yeah yeah, okay, you’ve made your point. But seriously, Y/N, he’ll be fine.”

“You know how I worry, James. I’ll just set an alarm for every two hours to check on him, and sleep on the chair.”

“Y/N, no I can’t le- ”

Your tone allowed no arguments, “James. I’ll be fine. I’ve done it before for your dumb ass, now it’s Steve’s turn to endure my mother hen nature. Go to my bed and sleep. You’re exhausted, and I don’t have the strength to pick you up from the floor if you pass out. I’ll be fine on the chair, you know I’ve fallen asleep there before when you came to me injured.”

Bucky relented and grumbled his way to your room, and you finished your tea until you heard Bucky’s snores.

Stumbling your way to the guest room, you checked on Steve’s breathing and his healing wounds. Setting the timer on your phone to two hours, you curled up on the chair with a blanket and sank into a restless sleep.

Despite the soft melody of your timer, you jolted you awake from your fitful slumber, standing up and stretching your aching body. You must have shifted into an awkward position to end up this sore.

You checked Steve’s breathing, his temperature, and changed the bandage on his seeping wounds, before turning back to the chair. You body ached even more just looking at it. Your last fuck flew out the door as you turned back to the bed and Steve, eyeing the ample room on the comfortable mattress. Yep, that’ll do nicely.

Steve was passed out, and your body was rejecting the thought of the chair, so you sank into the mattress with a pleased sigh. Despite Steve’s large frame, the bed was big, and you had more than enough room to lay down. Setting the timer for another two hours, you pulled the blanket over yourself and immediately fell asleep.

The timer went off, and this time it took you a little longer to wake up, because you were more relaxed. Getting up and repeating the process of checking on Steve, you blearily hit a button on your phone and fell asleep once more. Unfortunately, the button you thought you hit was meaningless, and the timer was left unset.

~ Several Hours Later ~

Steve was sure he had died and gone to heaven. The last thing he remembered, once again being reckless and self-sacrificing, was being stabbed multiple times, blacking out, then being dragged onto the Quinjet by a cursing Bucky. So when he awoke to the sight and bliss of you curled up next to him? Yeah, no need convincing him that this was heaven and not real life. He smiled and pulled your sleeping form closer, burying his nose in your hair as he held you gently.

A few minutes passed of this blissful cuddling, and then the door swung open open.

“Hey punk, good to see you’re still alive and - oh…” Bucky’s voice penetrated the silence, bursting Steve’s heavenly bubble, and startling you awake.

“‘M awake, ‘m awake. Mmm nooo ‘m not. Too warm ‘n comfy. Wake me when there’s breakf-” Your sleepy mumbling trailed off as you snuggled closer to a blushing Steve.

“Shaddup, asshole,” Steve whispered at a grinning Bucky as he settled in closer to you.

“Thought you’d died and gone to heaven when you woke up with her?” Bucky’s teasing hushed tone and sparkling eyes had Steve blushing once more.

Steve’s muttered ‘yes’ was telling in itself - he was utterly and irrevocably in love with you, and you had no idea.

* * *  

What I've got's full stock of thoughts and dreams that scatter

You pull them all together

And how, I can't explain

The melody in his head seemed to dance itself into a physical manifestation, warm and bright as it weaved its way into the air around him, transforming the drab cityscape into an explosion of color.

Everywhere he went, the song followed him, seeming to saturate the very molecules around him. After that night when you had kept watch over him and he had awoken to you next to him, Steve just fell a little harder for you with each passing day. Sometimes he thought you returned the sentiment, but other times you seemed oblivious.

Bucky, and even Sam, called you both clueless idiots. Steve decided that today was the day he would finally ask you out on a proper date. Instead of going on his usual run, he dressed nicely in black fitted jeans and his favorite cobalt button-up, slapping on some cologne as he headed out to the park where your coffee trailer was set up.

~ Meanwhile ~

“Hey asshole!” You took aim with your rubber band gun and pull the trigger, pumping your fist in victory as the douche yelped at the sudden sting on the back of his neck. “What the -”

Some cries for help had brought you out of your coffee trailer, wielding your rubber band gun for good measure, and you had seen a large man grab a woman by the wrist, his sweet talk turning aggressive. Everyone else in the park had scurried away and hadn’t bothered to help, and that pissed you off.

“Leave her alone, she’s made it clear that your attention is unwanted.” The woman looked towards you gratefully, her still-fearful eyes going between you and the man that was gripping her arm.

“Oh yeah? And what the hell’re you gonna do about it?” The stupid meathead looked smug as he said this, as if he thought you, the sweet-looking barista, couldn’t take him.

You smirked and rolled up your sleeves, stalking towards them with a wicked glint in your eye. “You wanna find out, tough guy?”

You voice was taunting and steely, your sweet face morphing into an expression of anger with a cheshire grin. Your gait, for lack of a better description, resembled the Winter Soldier’s Murder Strut™. Your harmless appearance suddenly turned very intimidating.

“Whoa lady, take it easy, I was only -” The guy released the woman’s arm, raising his own hands in an ‘I don’t want any trouble’ gesture.

“Leave,” you spat out and glared until the guy turned and stuffed his hands in his pocket, looking embarrassed as he power-walked away.

Your dominating posture relaxed, and your gentle demeanor returned as you gently guided the woman to sit at a table, getting her some tea as you tried to calm her down.

She shakily thanked you and sipped at her tea, you waved her dollars away when she tried to pay, as you gently took her phone and called the contact that was labeled ‘sister.’ The sister was frantic as you recounted the story, and assured you she’d come get the poor woman, all the while thanking you profusely for stopping the man.

Not five minutes later of you consoling the poor woman, Steve came walking up with his hands in his pocket, his sunny grin suddenly faltering as he noticed the shaken woman next to you.

“Excuse me miss, are you alright?” Steve’s gentle voice had the woman looking up, tears escaping her eyes again as she looked past him to a woman calling her name. She ran to the other woman, her sister you presumed, and the two hugged tightly. You smiled gently when they both walked back over to thank you again.

Once they left, Steve looked at you in bewilderment, eyebrows raised, silently asking ‘what the hell was that?’

You sighed and held up a finger, gesturing for him to sit, as you made your signature drink for the both of you. Of all the drinks you had made Steve try, your spiced apple pie latte had remained his favorite.

A few minutes later and you were sitting next to Steve, telling him the story of what had just happened. His eyebrows were drawn deeply together, a frown marring his handsome face, and he let out several small subconscious growls as you told him of the vile man.

Steve must’ve been very angry because the next thing you knew, the lid to his cup had popped off, hot liquid splashing over the both of you. Your shock gave way to amusement, then to loud laughter as Steve’s face took on a sheepish expression.

“Sorry Y/N, I -” Steve’s grimace deepened as the hot drink soaked through his jeans.

“Dude, you were really so angry that you gripped the cup too tight? Oh sweet baby bagels, I’ve never seen coffee literally explode from anger!” Laughter overtook you once more at Steve’s glum face.

After he cleaned up the mess and you made him another drink, Steve had started to laugh at himself. “Yeah, I guess that wasn’t my finest moment. I was kind of… imagining it was the guy’s neck. What kind of animal would assault a la-”

You put a gentle hand on his arm, bringing him out of what was sure to be an irate, but righteous, rant on modern scumbags. “It’s okay, Steve, I took care of it.”

He suddenly laughed, “I would have loved to see you put him in his place! What were you gonna do to him, anyway?”

“Eh, I dunno, they usually scamper off before it gets that far. Just the sight of an angry woman, rolling up her sleeves and stalking towards them, is enough to send them running.” You wave flippantly at his obvious concern. You had been taught self defense from a young age, you certainly knew how to handle yourself if it had come to a fight.

Steve’s eyes twinkled in amusement, a brief flash of sadness passing through the blue depths - you reminded him so much of Peggy. She would’ve liked you, he thought, sweet and compassionate but feisty and not afraid to fight for those less capable.

“While I’m not happy you put yourself in danger, I’m glad you were there to help that woman. I can’t believe everyone else just ignored what was going on.

“I don’t like bullies,” you said with a sweet smirk, a mischievous look in your eyes as you stood and straightened your apron.

You make my dreams come true

“Hey, Y/N?” Steve stood up with you and decided it was finally time to let you know how he felt.

“Yeah, Rogers?” You looked at him sweetly with a crooked smile.

“I, uh…” No, no, nope, he couldn’t do this. “I’m really glad you’re my friend.”

You internally rolled your eyes - this man was indeed the leading authority on waiting too long.

“You’re an idiot.” You grabbed his face and pulled it level with your own, kissing him soundly before you could lose your nerve.

“Mph!” Steve was caught by surprise but soon melted into the kiss, wrapping one arm around your waist to pull you closer, the other winding its way into your soft hair.

You both pulled apart, eyes closed and foreheads touching, relishing in this long-awaited moment.

“Yeah, yep, that was… wow. That was a comprehensive message, received loud and clear.”

Your bright laugh brought a smile to his face. “About damn time, Rogers. Now let me text Bucky and Sam, I wanna know who won the bet.”

“Bet? What bet?!” Steve trailed after you, grumbling that he was going to kill his two meddling best friends.

* * *

Life continued, your business grew, your relationship with Steve progressed, and everything was good. Even Bucky and Sam finally found happiness with feisty dames of their own.

Family, stability… the guy who wanted that went into the ice over 75 years ago, and someone else came out. That dream of the simple life was dead, but that was okay, because Steve Rogers had a new dream.

Life with you wasn’t simple - the world was messy and definitely unstable, you were unpredictable and kept him on his toes, but you were the ray of sunshine peeking through the dark clouds of his every-changing life, and Steve wouldn’t have it any other way.

For those of you interested, here’s the (vague) Apple Pie Latte recipe!

Apple pie chai blend tea with apples and gingerbread spice, mix that with a good amount of milk, espresso, some honey, and voila!

[newwavestarchild]

So, I realized as I got out of the shower during a break when I was writing this that I may have been subconsciously inspired to write this by my love of the One Direction song “Olivia.” The tone of this story is very different from the song, but the theme is remarkably similar.

Falling in love with Olivia Nevrakis was never supposed to happen. Everything was supposed to be simple when Maxwell brought you to Cordonia. You would woo Prince Liam, he’d choose you as his fiancé, and you’d bring honor and prestige to House Beaumont. At first everything was going perfectly; Liam was wonderful, and he obviously preferred you over his other suitors. You didn’t even really like Olivia much back then. She was terrible to you and Hana and almost ruined your chances with Liam before the social season even began with that lie about the king’s shoe. Fortunately, you had the good sense not to listen to her and from there almost everything went perfectly. You were crowned apple queen, you won the boat race, Liam even told you on the night of his coronation that he was going to propose. Of course, then the story about you and Tariq dropped and everything went off the rails.

Not only were you now faced with the challenge of clearing your name, you’d also gotten your first ever glimpse of who Olivia might be underneath all of the insults and sarcasm. Learning things about her proved to be intoxicating and from then on it was as though you couldn’t possibly know enough about her. You were worried you’d never get the chance to learn more about her with her being blackmailed and everything, but then she showed up on the train as hellbent on finding answers as you were. Your heart fluttered at the realization that she wanted to work with you, but at the time you had no idea why.

Olivia proved to be like an addiction to you. A little bit of time spent with her exchanging whatever information you had gathered about who had done this to both of you left you with a deep-seated craving, no, a need, to see her again. Even then you still didn’t realize that what you were feeling was love. You just assumed that you really wanted her to be your friend. After all, she was hands down the coolest person you’d met since coming to Cordonia. The rest of your friends were great, and you loved them dearly, but they weren’t cool. She would make fun of Drake when he got too broody and it was super fun to have the support. Being the only person teasing him got exhausting after a while. It wasn’t until your name was cleared that the realization finally came to you.

Liam had invited you to go out with him that evening, just you and him. You assumed he just wanted to celebrate your newfound freedom, and he wanted it to be just the two of you because he’d missed you throughout the engagement tour. Madeleine had kept him on a tight leash after all so the two of you really hadn’t gotten to see much of each other. He’d offered to sneak off with you plenty of times, but the last thing you wanted to do was run the risk of causing another scandal about you being the ‘other woman’. You hadn’t realized at the time why he kept inviting you out. So, you told Maxwell who told Bertrand and then the two of them began losing their minds about getting you dressed properly and practicing your etiquette. You were beyond confused, but you went along with it. Then Liam took you to the Statue of Liberty and you were finally able to piece together where things were going.

When Liam brought out that ring and asked you to marry him it was as though time stood still, and not in the magical way you always thought it would. No, this was like your brain had malfunctioned and the universe had paused time while you rebooted. All you could think about was Olivia. How you wished it was her standing in front of you instead. How much she would hate you if you said yes for trapping Liam into a loveless marriage. How much she would hate you for breaking his heart by saying no. All at once you were hit by the crushing realization that not only were you in love with Olivia, but that you were about to hurt her, Liam, Maxwell, and Bertrand all with one decision. When you figured out that there was no way for this situation to end well you decided that the least you could do was be honest.

As time surged back into motion around you, you told Liam that you couldn’t marry him because you were in love with someone else. When he asked you who in that clearly broken tone you were barely able to choke out her name before dissolving into full-blown sobs. Before you knew it Liam, kind, sweet, in love with you Liam, was holding you tightly as both of your worlds fell apart piece by piece. Once you had finally calmed down enough to speak clearly you made him promise not to tell her that you were in love with her. You explained that you knew for a fact that she was in love with someone else. You didn’t tell him who though, you couldn’t betray her like that. He was remarkably understanding and supportive for someone whose heart had just been broken and you were stricken again by how good of a man Liam truly was. It made you wish you loved him instead, but no amount of wishing would change the way you felt.

The next morning you filled Maxwell and Bertrand in on everything that happened, fully expecting the latter to lose his mind over the fact that you had just ruined everything you’d all been working for. He didn’t though. He just gave you a sympathetic pat on the shoulder before walking out of the room, presumably to go mope about his own relationship problems. Later, Olivia confronted you about rejecting Liam’s proposal on the train. You winced when she brought it up, but you made no effort to deny or explain. You merely told her that she was right, that you had said no, without looking up from the table in front of you. She tried to press for more information, but a scolding from Liam put a stop to that. You tried your hardest to avoid her after that, but the impending homecoming celebration and her newfound position as a member of your friend group made it hard. When you all went drinking to celebrate clearing your name, she finally put into words what you already knew, she was angry with you for breaking Liam’s heart. Fortunately, however, she was trying not to be. It was a small victory, but it meant the world to you.

Then assassins showed up at the homecoming celebration and everything fell apart even more than it had before. It was hands down the most terrifying thing that had ever happened to you. Drake got shot taking a bullet that was meant for you, Liam had to physically fight off his own assassins, and you got separated from everyone else until things had been handled. You’d had no idea what had happened to Hana, Maxwell, Bertrand, Savannah, Bartie, or Olivia and it shook you to your core that you might never see any of them again. Once the assassins had been taken care of and you finally got to see for yourself that all of your friends had made it through alive and well you found yourself thinking how hard it might’ve been if you had lost everyone. Which led to wondering what it must’ve been like for Olivia during those years before Liam found her. How lonely she must’ve been. How empty she must’ve felt. A part of you wanted to seek her out and tell her how you felt, how she would never have to worry about losing you, or being alone again, but a bigger part of you was terrified that if you did so she’d banish you from her life herself. So, you avoided her instead to make sure that you didn’t accidentally let anything slip. A task that was made immensely more difficult by the fact that you were both having to stay in the castle along with all of the other guests while the security breach was being investigated. Unfortunately, Olivia picked up on this and decided to confront you about it a week into your plan.

“You know, for someone who was so desperate to be my friend you certainly got tired of it quickly.” she said, sneaking up behind you in the hallway you’d been walking through on the way to your room.

“Olivia!” you replied with a gasp.

“Good, so you do remember I exist. Now do you want to fill me in on why you’ve been avoiding me?” she asked, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow.

“I haven’t been avoiding you.” you replied, crossing your own arms.

“Oh no? Then what have you been up to?”

“I… I’ve been busy.”

“I’m sure you have. With how you look avoiding me must take a lot of energy.”

“I just said I haven’t been avoiding you.”

“And I just called bullshit. Now I’d like some answers.”

“I don’t know what to tell you Olivia.”

“Just tell me why you’ve been avoiding me! How much clearer could I possibly be?”

“Olivia please-“

“No! You don’t get to go around roping me into friendship or whatever just to turn around and abandon me! You will give me answers and you will give them to me now!”

“Alright, fine. I have been avoiding you. I’ve been avoiding you because being around you hurts me more than anything else ever has. Because I’m in love with you and I know you don’t love me back. I know you love Liam and I know you’re mad at me for breaking his heart and I never wanted you to find out about any of this because I didn’t want you to feel pressured to reciprocate or to abandon me because I’ve crossed some unspoken line by feeling this way. So, I decided to avoid you until these feelings went away or I learned how to cope with them. Now you know. I hope you’re happy.”

You heard her call your name as you stormed off towards your room, but you didn’t stop to hear whatever she might’ve had to say. You could feel tears threatening to fall and the last thing you wanted after that little outburst was for her to see you cry. You felt as though you’d been humiliated enough for one day. You’d hoped going to your room would have meant that you’d be left alone, but Bertrand was waiting for you in front of your door. Despite the fact that he normally had the emotional sensitivity of a rock the moment he got a good look at you he opened his arms to give you a hug. He didn’t say anything as you cried into his shoulder, he just maneuvered the two of you into your room and shut the door behind you. He held you until you calmed down and promised before he left that he’d send Maxwell by later to check on you. In the meantime, you decided to take a nap. You were woken up some time later by three firm knocks on your door. You got up and opened it expecting Maxwell only to be greeted with the sight of Olivia instead. You knew her well enough by now to know that she wouldn’t leave until she said what she wanted to say. So, you moved aside with a resigned sigh to let her in.

“I don’t do this often so don’t get used to it, but I’m sorry for pushing you earlier. That must’ve been really hard to tell me, and you definitely shouldn’t have been forced to. Based on how quickly you ran away earlier I assume you know I don’t feel the same way. Before you freak out on me again though I want you to understand what that means. I don’t fall in love easily. Liam is the only person I’ve ever been in love with and I’ve known him effectively my entire life. I haven’t even known you for a year. There are so many things I don’t know about you and there are even more things that you don’t know about me. So no, I don’t love you yet, but after having some time to think about it I’ve realized that I think I could, someday. You and I are incredibly different, but I think that’s why we work together. We balance each other out and inspire each other to be better. I think I’d like to see where this relationship could go. Provided of course that you understand I’m not promising anything.” she said.

“I’d like that, and I completely understand if you never return my feelings. Honestly I’m just relieved you still want me to be a part of your life.” you replied.

“Of course, I still want you as a part of my life you big sad sack. I don’t let people into my life lightly, you’re stuck with me forever now.” she said, rolling her eyes.

“I’m glad to hear that.” you said with a smile.

“Yeah, well, whatever.” she said with a rare genuine smile of her own.

On that note she left the room and for the first time in a long time you felt like you could breathe. You had no delusions that any of this was going to be easy, but at least now you knew it was possible. Besides, once Olivia sets her mind on something she never gives up without a fight. And if there was anyone on earth that you would fight to the death for it was Olivia Nevrakis.

[davidcarner]

The Kiss Ch 8, The Cover

A/N: We've kinda built to this, haven't we? May not be a lot of "cannon" in this, I think most of you are okay with that. Because Cas really wanted it, I decided to do it before several others, I give you The Kiss, Ch 8, The Cover

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck, but after this Sarah might!

She didn't know when she had been more nervous. They had danced around this for days, there were always excuses, but they were past the point of excuses, she was past the point of no return, well, not yet, but she hoped to be soon. That brought a grin to her face. She was trying to be calm, but it was like the world was plotting against her. It had all started this morning, when Chuck had pulled her into the supply closet saying they needed to talk. She knew exactly what he wanted to talk about, and she wanted to, she really wanted to, but she had a problem with words sometimes, so she decided to show him exactly how she felt. When Casey opened the door ten minutes later, Chuck's hair was a mess, they were still clothed, but buttons had been opened and Casey was muttering about "brain bleach." He had tried to talk to her all throughout the day but they had been just busy enough and the double date had saved her, kinda. They had to agree on what to say to Devon and Ellie, and they agreed, both blushing a bit that Sarah had just been there for him last night. She didn't like it, but it was the truth, and Chuck was better when he could tell Devon and Ellie the truth. However, the spy in her became worried when Devon mentioned how things were so quiet in Chuck's corner of the world, Sarah became concerned. When he tried to give Chuck a pep talk about getting back on the bike, Sarah almost choked.

Ellie returned, assuaging Chuck's worries, and Devon and Ellie headed to bed, just leaving Chuck and Sarah. She wasn't sure what to do. As a spy, she knew what had to happen, she had to protect their cover, but what she wanted, there was no cover involved… What was wrong with her? She had blurted it out a few days ago, but now, now she couldn't bring it up.

"Sarah, I really need to talk to you about something," Chuck said, pulling her out of her thoughts. "It's spy related." She felt a little more comfortable. "And, not," he added. This whole thing was getting complicated. He took a deep breath. "This woman, Lou, got sent in from the Buy More today, because they couldn't fix her phone." She got a look on her face that made him grin. "I know, right? But she was kinda flirting, and I need you to know I'm not interested, but with our covers and our real life, I don't want to say the wrong thing."

"What do you mean?" she asked, fighting jealousy that she didn't know existed.

"Is it okay if I tell her I have a girlfriend?" Chuck asked. "You, of course, because you are my cover girlfriend." She walked up to him and took the coffee out of his hands and placed it on the table. She took his hands in hers, finding the strength to say what she needed to say.

"I think of you as my actual boyfriend," she said. Chuck grinned at her.

"Really?" he asked, his nose scrunching up his smile was so big. She had an amused smile on her face as she nodded. "Sarah Walker thinks of me as her boyfriend, not just a cover boyfriend, but as an actual real life boyfriend."

"Easy, Chuck," she said with a grin. "Casey will be here in a minute yelling about lady feelings." He hugged her.

"So I can drop the cover part?" he asked.

"Mhm," she hummed into his ear. She pulled away from him and looked at him, there was something else on his face.

"Speaking of cover, the uh, the, er, other night," he stammered.

"I was being sarcastic," she blurted out. She took a deep breath and spoke softly. "When THAT happens, it won't be for the cover." He stared at her.

"Oh," he said. "I, uh, see." He was turning a shade of red that she wasn't sure was on the color charts. "Uh,"

"We can talk about that tomorrow, get some sleep," she said, kissing one of his cheeks while caressing the other. She winked at him, walked to the door, looked back, and saw him standing there, brain attempting, but failing to reboot. She walked out and headed to her apartment, quite pleased with herself.

}o{

"Hi, Lou," Chuck said as she entered the shop the next morning. She looked extremely worried, and Chuck, being Chuck wanted to end her worries. "Don't worry, it's good as new-ish."

"Is this Lou?" he heard a voice ask, and Sarah came out of the back, and Chuck's eyeballs about burst out of his head. She was wearing a shoulderless white dress and a pair of glasses. Chuck swallowed, and just stared at her. "Hi, I'm Sarah, Chuck's girlfriend," she said, walking over and shaking Lou's hand during the introduction. "He was really worried about getting your phone fixed, you have all your recipes on there?"

"Yeah," Lou said, sighing in relief. Lou looked at Chuck, and shook her head. "Should have known one as good as him was taken." Sarah smiled at her.

"I'm lucky, I know," Sarah said, honestly. Chuck had an idiotic grin on his face.

"You two should come by my store sometime, I'll treat you to a special sandwich, for saving my ass," Lou said. "I'm gonna go," she said, as she looked back at Chuck who still hadn't manage to pull his eyes off of Sarah. "Take care of him," and with that she left.

"Oh, I plan on it," she said. An alarm went off on Chuck's phone. "Chuck, CHUCK!" He didn't move. "I like the prequels better than the original trilogy."

"Sarah!" he said, snapped out of it. She glanced down to his phone and he realized it was going off. He pulled up the screens to the apartment complex and noticed someone approaching Ellie's door. "Huh, police," he said.

"Zoom in," she replied. Chuck nodded, did, and the flash began. He looked up. "I got it," she said, and bolted out of the room.

}o{

"Sarah," Chuck called out as he entered the apartment. Sarah and Casey had arrested Reardon Payne before he was able to drug Ellie, and all was right with the world. There had been some uncomfortable moments about what exactly was going on, so Sarah pulled Ellie off to the side. He didn't know exactly what happened because Sarah wouldn't tell him, and Ellie wouldn't either, but when Sarah left, Ellie was excited. Ellie had burst into his room that night and asked him what was going on with the two of them. Chuck had replied with the standard, "It's complicated," and Ellie opened up on him. She told him he was a big boy and she was a big girl and the two of them could uncomplicate things in a hurry if he'd just go over there. Chuck's eyes got wide. He tried to explain to her she didn't understand, and Ellie said, she understood better than he did. That's why Chuck found himself at Sarah's. "You home?"

"In the bedroom, Chuck, I'll be out in a minute," she said. "Will you start the music for me?"

"What music?" he asked, and looked on the coffee table, and saw a remote control. He hit play and Ain't I Been Good to You by The Isley Brothers began to play. "Oh, good song," he said. He swore he heard her giggle. "Makes you want to dance."

"Then dance," Sarah said, still in the bedroom.

"Uh, I don't dance too well," he said.

"Chuuuuuck," she said, and he could hear the grin in her voice. "This is our place to be ourselves, I won't judge…..much." Chuck began to dance, getting into the music and he noticed candles. Lit candles. What was going on?

"Looking good, Chuck," she said from the hallway. She was wearing a black trench coat, that was all he could really see.

"Oh, you going somewhere, I can head home," he said. She grinned at him.

"I kinda hope one day you'll consider this home," she said softly. Chuck looked at her for a second and a smile broke out on his face, making his nose scrunch. "Chuck," she began, but couldn't say it.

"Sarah, there's something you really should know," Chuck began. "I've been thinking, realizing, contemplating," he paused. "Basically I've been spiraling." Sarah giggled, making Chuck grin. "I'm crazy about you, and I know one day, you could be taken to some exotic place. I get it, and while I always wish you could be here with me, and I get that you have a job, so thank you for making me such an important part of your life. Just please, tell me goodbye before you leave." Sarah stared at him. She slowly walked towards him, and Chuck noticed the coat's length, not that long, and her legs were bare under there. He forced his eyes back up to her face, and she was grinning. Good lord she was enjoying this. Chuck didn't ever remember being this nervous, or excited in his life.

"Why would I go anywhere, Chuck?" she asked, popping the "k". "My life is here. Did you not hear General Stansfield? Did you not hear me? I am tired of being an assassin, I am perfectly fine spending my remaining days watching over you."

"Yeah, but what if we're not together?" Chuck asked. Sarah shook her head.

"So that's it," she said. "You don't think we belong together?"

"No, no that is not what I'm saying, I just don't want you to resent me, find someone that will blow your mind, and you're stuck here with me," Chuck said. "I love you too much for that." Chuck realized what he said, and his eyes got huge. "I, uh, I mean."

"I swear to God if you try and take that back, I will make you regret it for the next eighty years," Sarah said fiercely.

"Eighty. Years?" Chuck asked, his eyes wider than they were. Sarah nodded.

"I'm in good shape, and I can get you there," she said with a twinkle. "And don't start that crap about someone blowing my mind, because, Chuck Bartowski, I've already met him."

"It's Casey, isn't it?" he asked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Yeah," she said, mock sighing. "Something about those grunts just do things to a girl," she said, backhanding him.

"You're very violent," he said, laughing.

"That's what happens when I have no way to release my pent up, aggression," she said emphasizing aggression. Chuck leaned forward, and she didn't even realized she hissed a breath until she heard it.

"Is that what you call it?" he asked. She didn't answer, well, verbally. She undid the tie to her trench coat, and slid it off her shoulders. She had on a purple negligee and she heard the same hiss of breath from Chuck. "Thank you, God," he whispered.

"See something you like?" she asked, coyly.

"Every day, I see you," he said. She reached up, put a hand around his neck, and pulled him in, gently. She kissed him and Chuck thought if he died right there, life couldn't get better, that's when his hand settled on her hip and his thumb rubbed the bone, and she moaned into his mouth. He was wrong, it was about to get better. She pulled away.

"You don't need the flattery," she said, grinning. "You got the girl."

"I'm just telling the truth," he replied. The look on Sarah's face made him think of a ravenous tiger and he was nothing but a slab of meat. He was looking forward to her dinner.

"Chuck, we're going into that bedroom, I'll drag you if I have to, and you are going to pay for all those times you got me reved up, and left me high and dry," she said, grinning.

"You might be the death of me," Chuck replied. "Speak well of me at my funeral."

"You gotta earn it, Baby," she said, kissing him. He pulled away and looked her in the eye.

"For the record, please call me Baby whenever you feel like it," he said. She winked, grabbed his hand, and was pleased to see she didn't have to drag him into the bedroom.

A/N: Hoped you liked it, reviews are always welcomed…til next time.

DC