#to say yeah we’re still on for 8:30

[ryuu242]

[Ryōshū stuff: again]

Question. Find the similarity between the moment when your mother goes to the parents’ meeting and, on her way home, tells you, “I need to talk to you,” leaving you gnawed by fear like a dog on a bone for those 30 minutes while she’s still out.

And. The scene of a sinner realizing it’s next on the platter—while it’s still lying on that very dish.

Whatever your answer, you can keep it to yourself or drop a comment below. But for now, welcome to the show: “I Play the Analysis Game: The Lore Pieces of Ryōshū Released in Canto 8, Part 1.”

(If any of the theories here are wrong, the worst would just me being wrong… and you still get something fun to read.)

[for this part i have to read on both JP and EN TL of the game to make sure they aren't too different, or else i will more fond on JP TL]

「蜘蛛の巣は恋しいか？まあ恋しいわけあらへんよな。俺っちも行くたびに気ぃ悪くなるし。」 “You miss the Spider’s Nest? Nah, course not. I'd sick by just visiting that damn place.” Spider’s Nest / Kumo no Su / 蜘蛛の巣 — For some reason, the English version chose to render this as “Spider’s House”, which gives off orphanage vibes. Like we’re about to meet a gaggle of mini Ryōshū living inside wwwww (insert spider dance BGM)

Anyway, we can temporarily refer to the Spider’s Nest as Ryōshū’s “home.” A not-so-safe one. In fact, it’s so messed up that even a Capo from the Thumb admits the place makes him feel sick.

“Heebie-jeebies” is a term used to describe a mix of anxiety, fear, unease, or nausea.

and 悪くなる (wakunaru) means "to feel worse / to become unwell," which is why I went with "feel sick"

「あとでまた顔でも見せやぁ。あんときみたいに、もういっぺん刀の握り方ちゃんと教えたるさかい。」 “Swing by later, yeah? I’ll teach you again how to properly hold a sword—just like the old days.”

「いんやぁ、そんでも・・・あんなかじゃ俺っちが一番格好よく斬る方法を教えてやったやろ？」 “Wait, didn’t I already show you the slickest way to slash someone back then?”

We’ll set aside how effective his “training” was (and whether he’s the one who got her into smoking). But out of everyone present, Lei Heng is the only one genuinely happy to see Ryōshū again—so happy, in fact, that he went easy on someone just because she showed up.

Now, remember: in a syndicate like the Thumb, where hierarchy and protocol are law, talking to a superior without permission is a massive deal. Just a few examples from Library of Ruina:

"When a subordinate dares to speak without a superior’s permission—cut off his lower jaw.” – Dennis

Katriel asked Dennis to cut out her tongue for upsetting Angela.

A Kurokumo clan head lost an arm (mercifully, thanks to sottocapo Kalo) just for apologizing on behalf of an unruly subordinate and asking a question out of turn.

So when Lei Heng only took one arm from Nangong Xianhe's young master, that was him being “merciful.” And that was after said young master’s servant got his hand shot off and tongue removed for stepping out of line just because "seein' a friendly face put me in a good mood."

Even looking at a superior could bring consequences, as Faust gently reminded Ryōshū. Yet Ryōshū made eye contact with Lei Heng—and Lei Heng jokingly called her out for not even saying hi:

「お〜い！目ぇ合ったやろ、挨拶でもしろや！」 “Oi! Our eyes met, didn’t they? Least you could do is say hello!”

This interaction leaves us with two main theories:

Lei Heng wasn’t a capo yet when he trained Ryōshū—or maybe he hadn’t joined the Thumb at that time. Now, their ranks have reversed.

He was already a Capo, but something happened—possibly Ryōshū joining Limbus Company—that significantly lowered her usual standard (or her power).

One of those must be true. Because otherwise, we’d be witnessing a full-on verbal beatdown from our temperamental artist, not some playful prodding from a capo to a muzzled mutt. This isn’t a true “conversation” anyway—it’s completely one-sided, thanks to the Thumb's law: don’t speak unless spoken to.

Then again, maybe Ryōshū just doesn’t want to talk to Lei Heng, or the power imbalance has always existed between them. But hey—you didn’t click on this post just for lukewarm takes, did you?

Another detail: Faust reminds Ryōshū of a promise she made before joining the company, which remind us that moment in Canto III when Vergilius reminded Don Quixote of their deal on the fateful day of her recruitment. It’s subtle, but may imply Faust personally recruited Ryōshū, just like she did with Yi Sang.

Moving on, this next line hints at something foreboding: one day, Ryōshū may be taken back.

「肩の力抜きぃや。お前さんを連れに来たわけやないし、あんときみたいに、なんか教えに来たわけでもないさかい。」 “Relax your shoulders. I didn’t come here to drag you back. And I’m not here to teach you a lesson like last time either.”

(“Teach a lesson” — in this context — also implies beating someone up. Classic Asian parenting energy.)

Most people hate getting smacked around, but in Ryōshū’s case—someone who practically breakdances along the boundary of sadomasochism—it’s a bit more... layered. If Lei Heng thinks that’s what sets her on edge, then it must have been that bad.

His surprise at not knowing Ryōshū had disappeared might suggest:

Ryōshū ran away. The Spider’s Nest didn’t like that and may have sent people after her.

Lei Heng, who only visits the Nest occasionally, isn’t really interested in dragging her back—and doesn’t feel like wasting his breath on her either.

His tone implies Ryōshū is fully aware she’s on borrowed time—that someone might come collect her—and she clearly doesn’t like that. Nor does she like Lei Heng, considering the entire “conversation” is him monologuing while her only line is yelling at Faust to shut up.

(Spoiler: Faust didn’t shut up. And frankly? We should be grateful she didn’t.)

「オメェのガキ、 まだあの家におるやろ。ちゃうか?」 "That brat of yours is still in that house, right? Or not?"

The word "ガキ" or "brat" in English is usually used for a boy or a rowdy, misbehaving child. That’s why I’m bringing this word to the dissection table—because it typically implies two things:

The child in question might be a boy.

The child might be really bratty, just like their parent.

It immediately feels wrong if we think of this “gaki” as Yoshihide’s pitiful daughter. Because clearly the tone and nuance of this word do not match the way the work builds the image of that girl. Now, Yoshihide’s daughter clearly isn’t described that way, but her pet monkey? That does suit the word perfectly.

"Each time he came to the Lord’s palace, he wore a clove-dyed hunting garment and a floppy eboshi on his head, but he had a vulgar appearance and his lips, too red for his age, had an unsettling bestial quality. I do not know for sure the cause of this red colour. Some said he had the habit of licking his paintbrush. Others, more slanderous, compared his appearance and gait to those of a monkey and nicknamed him Saruhide"

それが大殿様の御邸へ参ります時には、よく丁字染の狩衣に揉烏帽子をかけて居りましたが、人がらは至つて卑しい方で、何故か年よりらしくもなく、唇の目立つて赤いのが、その上に又気味の悪い、如何にも獣めいた心もちを起させたものでございます。中にはあれは画筆を舐めるので紅がつくのだなどゝ申した人も居りましたが、尤もそれより口の悪い誰彼は良秀の立居振舞が猿のやうだとか申しまして、猿秀と云ふ諢名までつけた事がございました。

--------------------------------------------

"The Prince, the Lord’s young son, who was at the time in the age of mischievousness, named the monkey Yoshihide. The monkey’s gestures were amusing indeed, and everyone in the palace laughed at the animal. If this mockery had been all, things would not have been that bad for the monkey, but each time it climbed up the pine tree in the garden or soiled the mats in the Prince’s bedroom, everyone chased him, shouting, ‘Yoshihide, Yoshihide,’ to tease the poor beast."

すると何かの折に、丹波の国から人馴れた猿を一匹、献上したものがございまして、それに丁度戯盛　りの若殿様が、良秀云ふ名を御つけになりました。唯で��へその猿の容子が可笑しい所へ、かやうな名がついたのでございますから、御邸中誰一人笑はないものはございません。それも笑ふばかりならよろしうございますが、面白半分に皆のものが、やれ御庭の松に上つたの、やれ曹司の畳をよごしたのと、その度毎に、良秀々々と呼び立てゝは、兎に角いぢめたがるのでございます。 — Hell Screen, Chapter 2

Fusion dances between characters aren’t new now—we’ve already had Linton Edgar, who combines the features of blond, sickly Linton Heathcliff. So, the idea of Yoshihide’s daughter and her monkey being thrown into the same melting pot to create a single character isn’t that far-fetched. The personification of an animal, or the animalization of a human, is a familiar motif in Japanese literature – especially when associated with the image of hell, punishment, or karma.

Of course, it could also just be Lei Heng’s way of talking. But again, what’s the point of reading an analysis if we’re going to ignore details that might be exploitable?

「う~ん、ちゃうんか? もうおらんのか? なんかあったんかいな。 俺っちはそっちの事情はよく分からんくてな。けど、何かあったんは確かっぽいな ?」 "Hmm? I got it wrong? They’re not there anymore? Guess something happened, huh. I don’t really know what’s going on over there. But seems like something definitely went down, yeah?"

So, something did happen at the Spider’s Nest—some event that caused that “brat” of Ryōshū’s to no longer be there. It’s also very likely that this very event led to Ryōshū leaving the Spider’s Nest herself.

If Ryōshū had lost a child (or some other beloved creature that was considered a child), and that animal was a monkey, then Lei Heng's use of the word "gaki" would be both an insult and a dig at the pain.

Or perhaps the "gaki" was no longer human, but had transformed into something else – an embodiment of guilt, karma, or obsession, which Ryōshū could not shake off the past.

Lei Heng’s tone and word choice make it sound like he’s bullying a child. And honestly? It doesn’t seem like it’s the first time. Their teacher-student relationship might’ve always been this one-sided.

This is also the moment he hits Ryōshū’s nerve. She nearly drew her sword if Faust hadn’t chimed in to spare our eardrums with another 5–30 Ultra Pro Max versions of Ryōshū’s wrath.

The only thing Ryōshū seems to feel when facing Lei Heng is a mix of rage and panic (焦りと怒り). This is why have to check other TL as well and English versions—the English oddly decided to go with “anxious.”

The English translation of “anxious” is a bit soft and doesn’t capture the danger of Ryōshū losing control of her emotions. Ryōshū is like a ticking time bomb here.

Saude might’ve sent Sinclair to keep both her and Heathcliff in check, but in this case, it’s Faust who had to intervene—twice—because if Sinclair, by some miracle, tried to stop her, he’d probably end up as a seven-piece chicken nugget.

"Ryōshū-san, now is not yet the time."

Why Faust? Because she seems to be the one who’s made a direct pact with Ryōshū, and also the only one who knows everything about the sinners’ pasts. That’s why she knows exactly what to do.

Let’s be real—when someone’s got deep beef with another person over past events, and then some random third party who knows nothing tries to step in, it’s only going to backfire. Or worse—it’ll throw fuel on the fire.

「次はお前さんたちのオヤジの話でもしようやないか、ヨシヒデ!」 "Next time, let’s chat about your daddies, shall we, Yoshihide?"

Another namedrop just like in Canto 7 for both Sancho and Baoyu, but it still doesn’t take the edge off the shock from the previous line.

お前さんたちのオヤジ — "your daddies."

Yes, you heard that right — plural. Not even in my wildest dreams did I imagine she'd have more than one dad. Is this… LGBT Company?/jk

But there’s something even more noteworthy here. A lot of people interpret Ryōshū as someone in a parental role — in fact, most people do, even non-fans. But have you ever stopped to think: What if Ryōshū is also someone’s child?

— Intervallo IV: Murder on the WARP Express

— Lobotomy Red Eyes E.G.O Uptie Story

— Canto VIII episode 11

From those quotes, we can tell that Ryōshū despises — or at least deeply distrusts — controlling parents. You can picture her life being smothered by overbearing fathers forcing their ideals onto her, burying her under expectations, demanding she follow the future they envisioned.

Judging by that line from Canto VIII Episode 11, it’s possible that Ryōshū was raised to reach some high position — whether that was to become “the greatest painter under heaven” or even... a lord as i mentioned before from the word "領主" (Ryōshu) — Lord.

Speaking of that, we should talk about her name, which is a whole messy process on its own.

If you’ve followed me for long time, you know that the inspiration for “Hell Screen” (Jigokuhen) came from 絵仏師良秀 (Ebusshi Ryōshū), a character from the Uji Shūi Monogatari.

And according to official sources, Ryōshū here is based on Jigokuhen. But let’s be honest — she’s not just from Jigokuhen, right? All three characters — Ebusshi Ryōshū, Yoshihide, and Ryōshū — share the same kanji for their name: 良秀 (Ryōshū / Yoshihide).

Originally, in Uji Shūi Monogatari, 良秀 was read as Ryōshū. Later, Akutagawa came along and read it as Yoshihide. And now, with the release of this Canto, it loops back again — Ryōshū becomes Yoshihide once more.

Anyway, I’m not trying to play ship-theory here, but if we’re talking about who’s the worse father, Ebusshi Ryōshū is way worse than Yoshihide.

I mean, look at it this way — one dad abandons his wife and child in a burning building and watches it like it’s the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen, totally unmoved. The other dad suffers seeing his daughter burn, only to suddenly light up with joy a few seconds later like she hadn’t just turned into a charcoal brisket.

One’s bad. The other’s horrifically bad. So between “a bad dad” and “a worse dad,” they’re both still bad dads.

With all that in mind, we can tentatively guess that Ryōshū’s “daddies” — the ones Lei Heng referred to — include none other than Ebusshi Ryōshū, since at this point, the only person who out-awfuls Yoshihide is him.

And based on Lei Heng’s promise to “chat about them next time,” I fear we’ll be seeing more of these dads again. Which means we’ll be back with Lore Dissection: Part 2.

[morganbritton132]

I absolutely love every time other people find something out about Steve and are just like ???

I wonder if any of his student’s parents are fans of Eddie’s but have no idea their kid’s teacher is married to him (perhaps finding out at career day 👀)

I love the thought of some rock n roll dad (aka: the guy in the minivan blaring Rage Against the Machine during morning drop off (aka: aka: my dad)) meeting his kid’s teacher during open house and seeing a picture on his desk of him and guitar legend, Eddie Munson.

Steve’s in the middle of explaining the curriculum for the year when Rock N Roll Dad points to a picture of him and Eddie backstage at the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame last year when Eddie presented like, “You like that guy?”

Steve looks from Rock N Roll Dad to the picture and then back, “Yeah, you could say that.”

Then he goes back to talking about what they should expect in terms of homework and that was that until parent/teacher conferences.

The first thing Rock N Roll Dad clocks in the new picture on Steve’s desk. It replaced the Eddie Munson one with a new one of the two of them in the parking lot after a local show. Steve’s got his arm thrown around Eddie’s neck, both of them smiling wide, and Gareth is in the background giving them bunny ears.

Rock N Roll Dad points to the framed picture like, “Pretty cool to have met ‘em.”  

“Yeah,” Steve nods. “It’s one of the best things that’s ever happened to me.”

Rock N Roll Dad is not gay himself but he is not one of those ultra straight Corroded Coffin fans that liked to pretend that half the band isn’t queer. He was actually watching the MTV Music Awards show that Eddie publicly came out at by declaring his love for some guy named Steve, and actually.

Rock N Roll Dad thought it made a lot of sense that Eddie Munson was gay because well. A lot of his songs were… phallic.

So, he knows.

He knows that Eddie Munson is gay and that he’s married to some guy whose name isn’t even listed on his Wikipedia page, and he knows that he lives in Chicago, but what he doesn’t know is why he never put two and two together and got Steve Harrington.

There’s a different picture of Eddie Munson on Mr. Harrington’s desk when Rock N Roll Dad goes to talk to him after his kid gets detention for being a little shithead. There is framed original concept art for CC’s first album on the wall behind Steve when Rock N Roll Dad checks in on his kid during a zoom study session.

Hell, Rock N Roll Dad follows Eddie on Tiktok.

He has seen the ass shots that Eddie has posted of his husband in his running shorts, and he did think, yeah, that’s a great ass. He didn’t know he was thinking that about his kid’s math teacher!!

It’s not even Career Day when he discovers it. It’s the day before when they can set up their booths in the gym because Rock N Roll Dad may be a heavy metal fan always, but he’s also an accountant from 8:30 to 4:30 Monday thru Friday.

 He’s struggling to keep his poster board up when in walks guitar legend, Eddie Munson. He’s carrying a box, following behind a guy carrying an iguana.

Rock N Roll Dad abandons everything and walks over to the booth across the way. He can hear the two bickering with each other but before he can say anything, Steve Harrington is there and he is distressed, “Why do you have that?!”

“Her name is Leia, Steve,” Dustin says, “and she has separation anxiety.”

Steve opens his mouth like he wants to complain but doesn’t even know where to begin so he just accepts it, “Is she going to eat somebody?”

“That happened one time!”

Eddie Munson, infamous guitarist that lived on Rock N Roll Dad’s walls as a teenager, uses the opportunity to slide up next to Mr. Harrington and wrap an arm around him. He kisses his cheek, “Baby, we’re here to help.”

“You’re here to guilt me into letting you be a part of Career Day.”

“I can multitask, babe,” Eddie grinned, still so close to Steve that his smile touches his cheek. Steve just sags against him and Rock N Roll Dad thinks, oh. He thinks, oh, shit.

“You have a fan,” Steve mumbles, pulling away a little. It takes Rock N Roll Dad a second to realize that they’re talking about him and then he thinks, fuck.

“Hey – Hi. Uh.” He stops, thinks about lying and saying he needs tape or something, but settles on, “I didn’t know my kid’s teacher married you.”

“Technically, I married him.”

“Technically, I married both of you,” Dustin pointed out. “I officiated the wedding.”

“Ah,” Rock N Roll Dad says because what else is there to say. “Big fan.”

“Yeah, I can tell.”

[jirsungs]

ep 11: love like the movies

word count: 2.8k (i am SO sorry.)

Walking into the small dimly lit nightclub, you and your friends were immediately blasted by the sudden breeze of the AC. None of you complained though, it was getting hotter in the area and you needed all the air-conditioning you could get. 

But despite the cold air, you could still feel yourself sweating with how anxious you felt. You were dreading to hang out with Jisung alone, not because you hated the guy but because he made you nervous. This time alone with him meant you had to be nervous around him with none of your friends to come to the rescue. 

It was Rockway’s first gig of the week, and it wasn’t long before Haechan invited your whole group to come watch. However, this gig started later than usual because they didn’t start their set until 7 pm, closer to when their performances regularly ended.

As soon as Rockway takes notice of you and your friends’ arrival, Mark and Chenle share a teasing look before Chenle nudges Jisung and signals him to look in your direction.

“Look whose girlfriend just walked inn…” They both sing-song and the younger brushes his friend off, trying his best to remain civil. But of course, inside, he wasn’t, in all honesty, the thought of you being called his like that had his heart swelling and his face heating up. 

He just hoped his friends didn’t notice. Jisung says in a warning tone, pointing at the both of them, “Play it cool, guys. She said we’re just friends, so that’s what we are.” He also hoped his words came out coherent because his brain couldn’t properly process him saying that you’re “just friends.”

For the rest of the time, Mark and Chenle kept their cool, and Rockway’s performance turned out great. They performed four original pieces then ended with two covers. Their opening song was an original piece composed by Mark with the help of lyrics by Haechan and Jeno.  You could say that their gig was pretty successful. 

It was now 8:30 pm and Jaemin and Ningning were currently dragging you to say hi to the guys, or more so, Jisung. Yeonjun and Renjun followed shortly behind, ignoring your pleas to help you get out of your two friends’ grasp.

Jaemin and Ningning stop, still with you in their hold and you turn around to be faced with Jeno and Haechan. Jaemin greets them with a big smile, “Hi, guys! Great performance as usual.” 

“Yeah, Haechan, you killed it… like, wow.” Ning admires.

The bright singer replies with a flattered chuckle, “Aw, shucks. This performance wasn’t my best.”

His attempt to be humble only gets replied with Jeno smacking him on the arm, “Shut up, just take the compliment.” 

Haechan’s pained wince makes you three laugh. Not long after, you’re freed from Ning and Jaemin, and Yeonjun and Renjun catch up, joining your conversation with the two band members. 

Renjun’s concentration on the conversation didn’t last long because, in his peripheral, he noticed Mark and Chenle pushing Jisung toward your group, which the younger continued to protest without making it obvious that he was nervous to go up to you.

But of course, Mark and Chenle couldn’t let that happen. Mark rests his arm around Haechan’s neck while Chenle squeezes himself and Jisung in next to Jeno, “Hey guys, what’re y’all talking about?”

You focus on Jisung as he stands there next to Chenle and avoids all contact with you. He’s dressed in a baggy black hoodie with a black and yellow flannel buttoned on top of it and of course, it wouldn’t be him if he didn’t pair his outfit with baggy black pants. 

You seriously wonder how someone can wear such dark clothing in the summer. You still had to fan yourself even with the outfit you were wearing. A tank top and a skirt, and here he was, not sweating in the slightest. 

Before your friends can indulge themselves in their conversation again, they acknowledge the awkward tension that’s floating above you and Jisung. That’s when they take matters into their own hands. Ning pushes you closer while Jeno and Chenle do the same. 

And that’s how you end up almost pushed against his chest, his eyes finally meeting yours. Well, kinda… even with your shoes slightly making you taller, you still need to look up at him. 

“Um, hi.” Jisung sheepishly says, his hand rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment. 

You should’ve found his action funny because it feels like something you’d see out of a cheesy romcom, but you don’t. Instead, it makes you smile, “Hi.” 

The situation almost feels unrealistic. You’re both centered between your friend groups as they try to play cupid. The rest of the nightclub around you stays chatty and dimly lit, though you can still see his features. Fireworks or some stupid love song should be playing right now. Seriously, something should break this before Jisung succeeds in having you fall too deep into it. 

Then, Yeonjun gags in disgust, “Get a room!”

Oh, thank God for Choi Yeonjun. 

As if on cue, all of your friends immediately shooed you away to hang out on your own after that. The mixed laughs and exclaims “Get her home safe, Ji!” and “Use protection!” from your friends as you walk towards the exit of the nightclub got quieter and had you both embarrassed. And then it was just the two of you.

“Shall we?” Jisung asks, holding the door open for you. You smile at the nice gesture before walking through and saying a small “thank you.”

You begin to walk down the sidewalk, keeping the same pace with no more words said. The quiet finally disappears when Jisung chooses to speak up, “Uh, Y/N, are you cold?”

“What? No, of course not.” Yes. Yes, you were. You don’t even know why you’re trying to hide it when he can clearly see you trying to warm up your arms with your hands.

He doesn’t give you time to say another lie when he’s already removing his flannel from his body which he hands to you to take before he takes off his black hoodie. He doesn’t say anything as he switches the clothing out of your hand to give you the black hoodie. You’re not allowed to say anything about it again because he slips his flannel back on. 

You watch him, staying quiet, and Jisung lets out a nervous laugh, “What? I wasn’t gonna let you freeze to death. The hoodie’s warmer than the flannel.”

You finally protest, “But—This is yours, I simply can’t take it—I mean—” 

Why are you stuttering? Stop that!

Jisung notices and calms you down before your ramble continues, “Y/N, I seriously don’t mind. Just wear it, it’s nothing to feel bad about, okay?”

Another objection lies on the tip of your tongue, but you hold it and mutter a pouty “Okay.” and slip on his hoodie. 

He smiles when you finally allow it. “Good.”

Hanging out with him wasn’t as bad as you thought it would be. As soon as you paid for your dinner at the local food street stands, you found out he’s surprisingly a talker when the question about his favorite food places around town came up, or why and how he wears such big clothing during the hottest season of the year, or simple questions like what his favorite video game is. He didn’t like the thought of him being the only one talking the whole night so once he was done answering your questions, he’d immediately turn back to you and ask for your input. You appreciated it.

Since it was obvious that both of you didn’t want this night to end after you finished your dinner, Jisung’s earlier suggestion of stargazing at a nearby park sparked your interest again. And that’s how you ended up walking on the dark green grass, following Jisung as he tried to look for a good empty spot. 

Once he found a free spot, he removed his flannel and carefully placed it on the ground for you to avoid getting grass on your skirt. He waits for you expectedly, wearing a cute smile on his face, but you only raise your brows at him. “What? The girl needs a proper seat.”

“You’re so cheesy, Park Jisung, you know that?” He doesn’t take your comment to heart when he sees you giggling. 

He joins you on the grass and your conversation continues right where you left it. At some moments, Jisung points out the different stars in the sky and gives you short information on them. You didn’t find yourself hating it though. Sometime after, you both sat quietly, simply enjoying each other’s company as you watched the night sky. 

Jisung liked that you didn’t despise the quiet. Even though you both can talk for so long, you can appreciate the calm atmosphere as well. And knowing how he is, he doesn’t mind the silence, instead, he loves it and the fact that you like it too makes him happy.

He looks over at you and quietly examines your features as you watch the sky in awe. Your upper body is covered by his hoodie and your legs are locked against your chest, and he thinks you’re the prettiest girl he’s ever laid his eyes on. Fuck, he really is cheesy. His mind begins to have a mental battle with itself on how to make this better with you, leading him to focus on something else other than your face before you notice him staring. But then, the idea hit him.

“Do you wanna listen to music?” He asks, motioning you to look at him and then at his left earphone wire that he was offering you.

“Sure.” You accept it before putting it into your ear.

He unlocks his phone and hands it to you, “Play a song, let’s see how different our music tastes are.”

“Okay. Let’s see.” You open the Spotify app and start typing the song title, Jisung acknowledges how you stick your tongue out to the side of your mouth when focusing. She’s cute, he thinks.

The song pops up and you let out an “Ah, there you go!”. Once you press on the song, Like the Movies by Laufey, it begins to play, leading you to turn off Jisung’s phone and bring your focus back to the sky.

You turn your body towards him in shock when you hear him humming the melody, “I never expected you to be a Laufey fan.”

In the corner of his eye, he notices you looking at him and he can immediately feel his body radiate heat. He plays it cool, his lips making a pfft sound before making eye contact with you, “I’m not. She’s an amazing artist, and I like some songs but I only know her ‘cause Chenle’s a big fan.” 

You challenge him with a raise of your eyebrow, “Oh yeah? Then what artists are you into?” 

Suddenly Jisung’s mouth feels dry and his brain turns to mush. Jesus, Jisung. It’s just a simple question. Why are you getting shy now? He mentally scolds himself.

He opens his mouth, thinking words would come out of it, but closes it right after. You giggle at him. Instead of giving a verbal answer, he opens his phone to the Spotify app and scrolls through his playlist until he finds the song. He doesn’t say anything after that, letting you focus on the opening of the song playing in your right ear. But the first verse’s familiarity to you has you figuring out what song it is. 

It makes you laugh, “Really? 1D? Now that’s unexpected.”

He joins in on your laughter then answers in defense, “Oh come on, Story of My Life is nostalgic. I don’t know what it is about it, the song just makes me feel nice.”

“Aww, was little Jisung a 1D fan?”

“Okay, ha ha,” Something about teasing him so naturally made you feel safe, but before the scary thought could overcome you, Jisung continued, “We’re actually called Directioners, thank you very much.”

You gently push him with your body as you snicker, “Like that’s any better.” 

The both of you go back and forth showing each other songs, Jisung even introduces you to Oasis, one of his favorite rock bands, and the reason behind his agreement to join Rockway. One of your top love languages was music bonding, and it seemed that it was his too. Tonight felt too good to be true. You felt like a princess knowing that time was ticking and this moment between the two of you wasn’t going to last long. 

Because of course, every perfect night has to end eventually. 

After Jisung’s queued song, Bruno Mars’ Natalie, ends, the realization of the time hits him. “Oh shit, it’s already 11 pm. I am so sorry I kept you out this late—”

You cut him off, “Ji, you’re good. I didn’t realize the time either.”

He’s about to continue his apology ramble but his ears perk up at the new nickname. “Wait. Wh-what did you call me?” He didn’t mean to talk over his words, it just happened cause what the hell? Is he already at the “Ji” stage? 

You stay oblivious to his reaction, “Ji? It’s okay that I call you that, right? I always hear your friends call you that so I thought—”

“Yes! I mean–yes, you can totally call me that.” He hopes he covered how bad he’s blushing right now, but he’s 90% positive that it worked because you’re laughing. 

Your giddy mood doesn’t go away when he offers you his hand to help you up and it continues not to because now, he’s walking you to your apartment after his multiple pleas to walk you home and his scenarios of what could happen to you and how he couldn’t live with himself if one of those situations did happen to you. You hate that it’s hard to say no to him.

You expect him to say goodnight once you reach your apartment complex, but he continues to insist on staying by your side. And when you try to object, he replies with, “What if you get kidnapped on the way to your apartment?”

Not gonna lie, that shouldn’t have convinced you that easily. But that was because you didn’t want him to leave you in the first place, you only put up a fight because your fear of occupying him with this when he could be busy doing other things worried you more. 

The both of you stop at your apartment door where awkward silence hangs in the air until you remember that you were still wearing his hoodie. You’re about to take it off but he stops you. 

“Keep it. I saw how bad you were shivering earlier, I fear you need it more than I do.”

Your heart flutters at his offer despite the guilt you feel for taking his hoodie. You still ended up taking it though. It was warm, comfy, and smelled like him, it was a mixture of flowery laundry detergent and his cologne. You appreciated that he didn’t wear any overbearing or overpowering scents but it was one of those where you can easily detect where it’s coming from. 

The awkward silence bothers you both again, that is until you break it once more.

“This was fun… I, uh, enjoyed it a lot.” 

The way you’re obviously using your fingers as an excuse to not make eye contact with him has him shyly smiling down at you. “Yeah, me too. You make a very good yapping partner.”

You burst into a fit of laughs at his use of yapping and gently slapped his arm, “Oh my God, I cannot believe you just said that.”

“Hey, it made you laugh. I think that’s what matters.”

Somehow, the once awkward silence wasn’t so awkward anymore. This felt comfortable and natural, but a little bit too natural. You can’t handle it. Your fear urges you to shut him out and escape back to your shell, but because you don’t want to ruin this night for the both of you, you dismiss it. 

“Well, um, I should head inside.”

Jisung nods, his expected disappointment lingering as he knew the night had to end, even though he didn’t want it to. He gives you a small smile, “Alright. Goodnight, Y/N.”

“Goodnight, Jisung.” 

He watches you walk inside and close the door, making the coast clear for him to put his hand into a fist and pull his arm towards his chest as he excitedly cheers “Yes!” under his breath. When he turns around to check if your door is closed, he’s already five feet down the hall but stops when he hears the door open and your voice once again.

“Hey, Jisung?”

He turns around, “Yeah?”

“Thank you for tonight.” 

Your smile is enough for his heart to do literal somersaults in his chest.

He can’t help but smile back, “Anytime.”

Luckily, you both say goodnight before you can notice the blush on his face.

previous ☆ masterlist ☆ next

note: this chapter is HEAVILY inspired by the songs: laufey's like the movies, one direction's 18 and story of my life, & heeseung's cover of this is what falling in love feels like (they were on repeat when i was writing this) but RAHHH, fav chapter idc idc. i hope you guys like it<3 esp because things slowly get sad from here... </3

🎫: @idkwhatursayinh @sunghoonsgfreal @multifandomania @nanaxwi @odxrilove @sourrpatched @hancafe @chaellaa @dojaejunging @jising-jisang-jisung @heheheeral @haechansbbg @renjunsversion @seunghancore @woshixinqgiu @jiiieun @pinknjm @mrshwang-park @neozon3nha @joyzluvr @aerivrs @nosungluv

[kitty384]

The Three Dads Club

Summary: Bucky, Steve, and Sam team up to babysit their kids while the moms are out for girls' night—and it goes exactly as disastrously as you'd expect.

Warnings: Pure fluff, dad!Avengers chaos, food messes, diaper struggles, tired husbands, soft family moments, mentions of spit-up, one (1) glitter incident.

It starts with a threat.

“Don’t burn the house down,” Y/N says, pressing a kiss to my cheek as she grabs her purse. “And remember: no juice after seven, bedtime is not a suggestion, and if you panic, call Nat. She’ll scare them into behaving.”

“Are you implying I can’t handle this?” I ask.

She grins. “I’m saying if Sam, Steve, and you all manage to survive bedtime with three toddlers, I’ll be impressed.”

Sam groans from the hallway. “You haven’t even left yet and the disrespect is unreal.”

Y/N pats his shoulder. “Godspeed.”

The front door shuts. Silence settles.

Then Steve claps his hands. “Alright, team. We’ve trained for this.”

“We literally haven’t,” Sam mutters, already carrying a diaper bag like it’s a ticking time bomb.

“Exactly,” I say. “We’re winging it. Just like every other heroic moment in our lives.”

“Except now the villains are sticky, emotional, and don’t respond to logic.”

“Basically, mini versions of Tony.”

The first thirty minutes are fine.

The kids are playing. Steve’s reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar like it’s Shakespeare. Sam’s organizing snacks with military precision.

Me?

I’m trying to convince my daughter that no, she cannot have a cookie the size of her head before dinner.

Then everything starts falling apart.

6:34 PM: Sam’s kid spills apple juice all over Steve’s lap.

6:42 PM: My daughter decides pants are optional and takes off running.

6:49 PM: Steve accidentally uses a baby wipe to clean marker off the wall—and it smears worse.

6:55 PM: Sam sits down for one second and immediately gets glitter dumped on him from a rogue craft project.

“Why do we even own glitter?” he yells.

I shrug. “Y/N said it’s for ‘sensory development.’”

“She’s trying to kill me.”

7:10 PM: Steve’s making mac and cheese. His kid is clinging to his leg like a koala.

My daughter is now in the dog’s bed.

Sam is trying to convince his kid that vegetables aren’t poison.

“Can I have a fruit snack instead?” the toddler asks sweetly.

Sam stares. “You just threw a green bean at my face.”

The toddler blinks.

Steve yells from the kitchen, “WE’RE OUT OF MILK.”

I grab my phone. “Calling Nat.”

7:37 PM: Everyone is fed. Kind of. There’s cheese on the floor and juice on the ceiling.

The kids are finally in pajamas.

Sort of.

Mine’s wearing a tutu and Steve’s kid has his socks on his hands.

“It’s fine,” Steve says, exhausted. “They’re clothed.”

Sam looks at me. “Do we still do bedtime stories or just wave a white flag and let them win?”

“Stories,” I say firmly. “It’s the only thing standing between us and total mutiny.”

8:00 PM: We settle in with the kids in a big blanket pile.

Steve reads Goodnight Moon like it’s gospel.

Sam accidentally starts crying at the end of Guess How Much I Love You.

My daughter climbs into my lap, curls up with her head on my chest, and sighs.

And suddenly?

It’s quiet.

Soft.

Sweet.

I glance at Steve and Sam—both of them holding their sleepy, warm kids like they’re the most important things in the universe.

And I realize—we are the Three Dads Club now.

God help us.

8:30 PM: The kids are asleep.

The living room looks like a war zone.

We’re on the couch, sipping juice boxes like beer.

“I love them,” Sam says.

“I’d die for them,” Steve agrees.

“I’m never doing this again without backup,” I whisper.

And we all nod.

The girls get home at 9:15 PM.

They find us all asleep, kids curled across us, glitter still in Sam’s hair, and a pot of cold mac and cheese on the counter.

Y/N kisses my forehead.

“You did great, soldier.”

I smile in my sleep.

Because yeah.

We kinda did.

Masterlist

Request

[secndlife]

[7:15pm]

Soonyoung’s alone and sad on Valentine's Day.

And it’s all his fault. 

It’s all his fault and he knows it. 

You’re not alone and sad, though. You’re spending Valentine’s Day with someone else when you should be spending it with him. But again, it’s his fault. 

“So…” Your voice is small and hesitant already. You’re not sure how you’re gonna do this.

Soonyoung looks away from the movie to stare at you, eyes as majestic as ever, and a small smile across his lips. His black hair is slightly damp and droplets of sweat are trailing down his torso. His body can never really hide what the two of you do.

When you say nothing, he asks, “Yes?”

You just have to say it. Plain and simple. You’ve known him long enough. You’ve been doing this long enough. It’s time. 

Breathe in, breathe out.

“Valentine’s Day is coming up.” This has to be enough, you can’t bring yourself to continue. You just can’t do it. Soonyoung has to figure out the rest on his own. 

The thing is, he isn’t any good with unspoken words. 

“Oh, yeah.” His eyes are facing front again, “I have a couple’s class to teach until 8:30 that day.” 

You nod. 

You want him to tell you he can still see you after classes. You want him to tell you he wants to spend that day with you. You want him to own up to his feelings, even if he’s not ready to actually call you anything more than a friend. 

Because you know you are. You are more. You feel it in the way he kisses you. In the way he smiles at you. In the way he holds your waist when you’re dancing. In the way he says you’re the best he’s ever had. 

But now you want him to say it with actual words. You want them to roll out of his lips the same way moans were doing not long ago. 

“Do you have plans?” Soonyoung suddenly asks and you’re caught off guard. 

“Not really.”

Silence.

Do it. Do it now. Ask her to spend Valentine’s Day with you. You want it and she wants it too. That’s probably why she’s bringing this up. Just say it. They’re just words. It’s not like you haven’t been showing her in other ways you want that. 

But Soonyoung just can’t do it. 

It’s like he’s paralyzed. By fear, by insecurities, by the weird voice in his head - he’s not even sure what it is. He just can’t do it.

When Soonyoung doesn’t say what you wanna hear, you do your best to hide, but there’s a clear shift in your posture. And it’s so evident that even someone like Soonyoung can pick up on it. And before he realizes it, he’s vomiting words. And they’re all the wrong ones. 

“You can do something if you want to. Don’t let me hold you back.” He’s still not looking at you, but he can feel your eyes on him. “I mean, it’s not like we’re officially dating anyway.” 

“What?” You can’t say anything more than that. Your head is spinning and your mouth feels dry. 

No, Soonyoung. No. Shut up. Shut up, shut up, shut up. 

But again, he just can’t do it. 

“Well, we always said this was casual.” 

There was absolutely nothing casual about the two of you. Not anymore. Soonyoung’s in it, and deep. But that’s not the arrangement. That’s not what you both said this thing was gonna be when you first kissed months ago. That’s not what you both said when you kept having sex week after week. He was not supposed to like you this much. He’s not supposed to almost love you like that. 

But he does and he somehow thinks he’s not allowed. Soonyoung thinks he shouldn’t. Not because of you. God, never because of you. But because of him. Because he’s clueless.

And he thinks you deserve more than that. He’s known you for ages and you’re his favorite person. You don’t deserve clueless. You deserve intentional. Regardless of how much he likes you.

So maybe that’s why Soonyoung is doing this now. He’s not sure.  

Clueless.

This did not go as you planned. Awful result. Just awful. You’re at a loss for words so all you do is hum in acknowledgment.

Soonyoung tries to think for a second, and he can feel in his heart he’s absolutely ruining everything. 

But he just can’t help it. Maybe it’s for the best.

Clueless.

“Yeah, so you’re free to do whatever. Maybe even go on a date.” You look at your hands and his words feel like a thousand knives being pressed against your skin. “You shouldn’t be alone on Valentine’s Day.”

And so you aren’t alone on Valentine’s Day. But Soonyoung is. 

And all he thinks about is you. 

Soonyoung is alone and sad and he’s about to teach a couple’s class without the best dance partner he’s ever had. 

And it’s all his fault.

a/n: omg hiiiiii! i haven't written anything in ages. i was in fact complaining yesterday to a friend about it lol and then today i woke up and BAILE INoLVIDABLE was stuck in my head and had an epiphany that it's very much a soonyoung song. so then i wrote this. i kinda wanted to write more and give it the happy ending it deserves but i the inspiration is gone (and so is my free time). so maybe some other time. but yes here you have it, angsty soonyoung for vday!!! enjoy!!! mwah!!!

[jeon-ify]

request from @sanspuppet !!

8. wanna fuck you in the back seat

21. atta girl, taking it so deep on your stomach

.MDNI.

—————————————————————————————

deep in the back seat- keeho

“my god keeho, you never wanna go on road trips! its only 4 hours its not like-�� he sighed. he never likes driving. ever. and if he ever did drive, it’ll only be around the city, or to go on dates— but never for over 30 minutes.

lately, you’ve been wanting to go to another state. road trips are so much fun, but only with keeho. he made everything so much more fun and elevated. he listens to the same music, he raps the same verses you do, and he just gets it.

“ok, yeah we’ll go. but don’t expect me to drive the entire way there, baby. at least drive half way.” he argues. he’s wearing a white tee that hugs his neck so perfectly, and black baggy sweatpants. he’s wearing the chain you got him for his birthday, and the cologne you bought him for christmas. it’s his favorite.

you can’t stop staring no matter how hard you tried. he likes arguing with you just to argue with you. it turns him on. but at things like this, its kinda hard to tell if he’s serious or not.

“kee, are you serious..” you drop your eyes and lose all recollection of whatever he just said.

“kee, i’ll drive wherever, baby. just go with me. we’ll have so much fun,” you beg, and you could’ve sworn you saw his eyes drop to your lips.

“i’ll come with you, pookie. but you gotta play my song. promise me baby.”

keeho LOVES dirty music. his favorite was ‘friends’ by chase atlantic.

“yesss, i’ll play it!!” you laugh.

———————

the drive out of state is so much more fun with keeho. he’s still in the same clothes he was in at home, but you’re wearing a crop and his black sweats. he wasnt any smaller or bigger than you, but his clothes are gonna be a tad bit baggier.

“AND WHAT THE HELL WERE WE?? TELL ME WE WERENT JUST FRIENDS!!! THIS DOESNT MAKE MUCH SENSE NO” you’re both screaming with the windows down, your hand in your boyfriend’s face, and his chain shining in the sun.

the song comes to an end and you and him take a deep breath. “my god, never gets old.” he says. he looks at you in a way you feel butterflies in your stomach.

“baby, pull over.” he asks, making all the eye contact possible.

“wait what? we’re literally almost there. relax, kee.” he wants to fuck you.

“if you dont pull over in the next 10 minutes, y/n.” he threatens. you don’t wanna push his buttons so you speed up and find an empty parking lot.

“okay!! god, i’m pulling over stop fucking yelling!” you argue. you really really want him to fuck you.

“get in the back. wanna fuck you in the back seat, pretty girl.” he groans and stares at your ass while you move to the back. he takes his shirt off while youre switching seats, and he follows you. he sits in the middle, manspreading and his cock hard the entire ride. you see it twitch just a little bit and you shift your eyes to his collarbone.

“kee, what’s gotten you so worked up, hm?” you ask, your doe eyes staring straight into his sharp almond eyes. you run your fingers up his collarbones and to his neck.

“you look too pretty, baby. couldn’t stop thinking about fucking you right here. want you on my cock ‘til youre screaming.” he moans. he moans.

his voice sends a thrill to your pussy and he grabs your hair and pushes you deeper into his kiss. he owns you, he owns your body and you willingly gave into him. the kiss is all tongue and teeth, he’s deep in your mouth and he tastes like the sweetest candy. “kee, please. please touch me.” you moan. he moves his hand to your throat and applies pressure right below your jaw, and he watches the way your eyes roll back.

“get on top of me baby, don’t even need to prep you, you’re soaking my fuckin’ pants.” he puts his middle and ring finger in your mouth and fucks your throat with his hand. “there you go, baby. get me soaked, all over baby. fuckkkk.” his eyes roll back and you feel him twitch again under you.

he moves his hand from your mouth and runs them under your pants just to feel that you were already fucking soaked since before you left the house 2 hours ago. “keeho, fucking do something please, j-just want you- mmmm.” you moan , as if he fucked you stupid already.

“need to stretch you out before i fuck you, can you even handle me?” he asks, his eyebrows furrow in faux concern and that alone makes you cum. he pushes his soaked fingers into your hole at an ungodly pace, the heel of his hand pushing against your clit. the rush sends you squirting all over his abs and his lower stomach. “fuck, kee, ‘m sorry baby, i’ll clean you up.” you apologize and he shows no emotion, yet he just wants to fuck you and get it over with. he’s rock hard. he needs you.

“take your pants off. take your top off. don’t say a fucking word.” he grabs your neck yet again. he licks your lips like you were a popsicle, and he kisses your chin and brings you to a deeper haze, by applying more pressure.

you take off your top and he squeezes your left tit and sucks on the right one. you feel him pressing into you but you can’t make a sound. he feels you clenching around him already.

“i feel you squeezing my dick, pretty. feels like heaven.” he groans, he’s fucking up into you and your head is muzzled in his neck. you suck the spot right below his ear and he sighs. the more you suck on it, the deeper his thrusts get.

“mmm, kee, please fuck.” you moan. you’re so loud and he’s so deep, you see his dick literally right above your belly button pumping you full.

“fuck baby, look at that. see it in my stomach you’re so fucking big.” you grab his hand and put it on the spot he keeps hitting.

“atta girl, look at you taking it so deep in your stomach. so fucking pretty. my beautiful whore.” he kisses your nipple and sucks. hard.

“kee! fuck i’m cumming!” you stutter. his hips speed up and you cum all over his cock.

“there you go baby, keep fucking cumming on me. so messy baby. love you like this.” he groans and grabs your hair and pulls your head up so he licks a stripe right up your neck.

“fuck baby, fucking squeezing me. cum again with me baby. need to fill you up.” his hips speed up and thumb strums your clit and your entire body twitches.

he reaches his orgasm and a layer of sweat coat his face and neck.

“my god baby, we need to go on more road trips together.” he laughs.

“told you, dumbass.”

———————————

I HOPE THIS IS GOOD IDKKKK TYSM AGAIN

#keeho

[bqstqnbruin]

Just Friends - Part 1

Hello friends here we are with a new/old fic. like I said with the prologue, this is a rewrite of a fic I started back in 2021 so here we go

General Warnings for all parts: Swearing, drinking, sex, parental death, panic attacks

WC: 4147

Read the prologue here

____________________________________________

The last thing Emeline wanted to find when she got home from work that day was Francesca and Maddy in their apartment with the music so loud she could feel the vibrations through the door. If their neighbors hadn’t complained yet, as someone did just about every single time the two of them were home with Emeline with them, there was no doubt they were going to. The fact that they hadn’t gotten kicked out of the building was baffling, if Emeline had to admit it.

“There’s no way you can hear anything,” Emeline yells over the music, dropping her bag on the floor and kicking off her shoes.

“What?” Fran yells back, she and Maddy showing no care to the fact that Emeline was unusually late getting home and dancing to Maddy’s ‘feral pop punk garage rats’ playlist that Emeline didn’t need to hear right now.

Emeline reaches over to their speaker and turns the music down a little, ignoring Maddy and Fran’s protests. “Why is it so loud?”

“Music is meant to be heard,” Maddy protests. 

“Yeah, heard, not blowing out your ear drums.” 

“Aw, did someone have a hard day at school?” Fran teases, giving her roommate a playful shove on the shoulder.

“Notice what time it is?” Emeline gestures to the clock she had hung over the TV when they first moved in, 8:15 flashing on it when she normally got home around 5:30 every day.

The three of them sit down in their living room, Maddy on the floor, Fran in the chair she had claimed as hers for the last two years, and Emeline cross-legged on the couch, the music just loud enough that Emeline could still feel the vibrations the sound waves were sending through the apartment, not helping the growing dehydration headache she had.

Emeline recounts her day, from the lab that she had set up the night before for her honors students somehow dismantled and parts of it thrown out, knowing that the janitorial staff had a habit of mistaking some of her lab equipment as garbage at times, which meant she had to scramble to reset it before her AP students showed up to review for the test they had that day. The two free periods she was banking on using to take down the honors lab and set up the college-prep lab she wanted to do last period were both taken away because everyone in her department was getting sick, so she had to go cover other classes and use that time to plan out a new lesson for them for last period. Then, since she can’t say no to her students and they found out she played lacrosse in college, she then had to go to practice despite the fact that their season was in the spring, and it was fall. Once that was over, she finally had time to set up the lab, forgetting that she also still needed to prep for the next school day. 

“So what you’re saying is, we’re ordering pizza, drinking wine, and definitely getting drunk this weekend,” Maddy says, already tapping away on her phone their usual pizza orders.

“Have fun with that. Keelan is coming over tonight, too.” Her roommates groan at the mention of her boyfriend's name. “We haven’t seen each other in two weeks since that weird conversation about the guy in the elevator. Order his pizza, too.” 

“I knew I was happier these last two weeks,” Fran snides. Maddy and Fran had a strong dislike for Keelan since the four of them met during their freshman year of college. No matter how often they were together, no matter what he did for the girls, they never warmed up to him. 

“Knock it off,” Emeline tells them, getting drowned out by Maddy turning the music back up, louder than it was when Emeline first walked into the apartment. Emeline groans, lying down on the cushions and putting one of the pillows over her face. She really wanted to just go to her room and rot in her bed by herself after the day she had. If Keelan wasn’t coming over, she could have changed into one of the hoodies and pairs of sweatpants she had stolen from him and sat in the dark with something on Netflix that she wouldn’t pay attention to playing in the background.

“Do you guys hear that?” Maddy asks, pulling Emeline out of the trance she fell into. “Is someone knocking at the door?”

“We would know if the music wasn’t so loud,” Emeline mutters, definitely not loud enough for either of them to hear it.

“Nose goes,” Fran says, her and Maddy holding their finger to their nose like children, pointing at Emeline to get up from the couch. “Have fun, Em.”

“I bet it’s Mrs. MacGregor,” Maddy laughs, their senile downstairs neighbor constantly coming over to tell them that they were walking too loud and it was disturbing her parrot.

“If it is, you’re buying dinner this weekend,” Emeline calls, hoping their eighty something year old neighbor wasn’t on the other side of the door. “Oh, hi.”

Two guys she was sure she had never seen in the building before were standing in front of her, practically towering over her. “Your music is kind of loud,” one of them says, his cheeks turning red, shoving his hands in his pockets like he was afraid to tell her. There was something about him that she found endearing. His beard was a different shade than the rest of his hair, adding to his charm, the nervous shake of his voice making her wish she met him in a different circumstance. If she wasn’t in a ‘murder everyone’ type of mood, she would have actually wanted to be nice to him. 

“No, it is loud,” the other says, clearly not amused with his friend trying to sugarcoat the subject as Emeline makes a face at them. There was something about them that made her briefly think that they were brothers, cousins, some sort of genetic relationship had to exist between them. Either that or they were both just guys with brown hair and she was too tired to comprehend anything else.

“I know.” The shorter her answers, the shorter their conversation, right?

“Who is it?” she hears Fran calling from her chair. Emeline can picture the smug faces they had as they hoped it was Emeline who had to deal with Mrs. MacGregor and not them.

“People telling us your music is too loud.” 

“Tell them to come in and say it to our faces.” 

Emeline rolls her eyes at her roommates' antics, gesturing to the strangers to come in despite not knowing who they are or why they were in their building in the first place. “They could be murders that you’re inviting in,” she points out.

“We aren’t murderers,” the nervous one says to her before turning to Fran and Maddy once she leads them into their living room. “We aren’t murderers.”

“We just got back from a trip that was way too long. We’re eating dinner and then going to bed, but we can’t do that if the music is too loud,” the other one says. 

Maddy scoffs, finally turning the music low enough that Emeline can finally think without the music interrupting her thoughts. “Who are you, anyway?”

“Murderers,” Emeline mumbles, reclaiming her spot back on the couch.

“We’re your neighbors. I’m John, this is Jeremy.”  

“Well, John, Jeremy,” Fran starts, leaning forward on her chair, “We were just about to order pizza. Want to join us?”

Emeline glares at Fran. She knows what a long day means for Emeline’s social battery. She knows that there is nothing more that Emeline wants than to go to her room and go to bed, Keelan coming over or not. 

The nervous one, Jeremy, starts to stammer. “Uh, no, it’s fine. She doesn’t really look like she’s in the mood for company, we don’t want to bother you.”

“If you’re buying, I’ll eat,” John shrugs, plopping down on the floor next to Maddy as she hands him her phone to put in what he wants. 

“Johnny, we can’t.”

“Emeline is fine. She’s just grumpy,” Fran mocks her. Emeline throws the pillow at her, silently wishing she had something harder. “Exhibit A.”

“It’s been a long day.” 

“Ours was longer,” John counters.

“It’s not a competition,” she shoots back. Before they can say anything else, she gets up, leaving the four of them in the living room. She didn’t need this. Her room was calling. Her sweatpants and sweatshirt were on her bed waiting to be changed into. 

Someone knocks at her door just as she pulls the sweatshirt over her head. She really wasn’t in the mood for Fran to just barge in like she did. “Can you at least be nice to them for like, an hour? They’re cute. And Jeremy seems to be nervous around you,” Fran tells her in a sing-songy voice. 

“So?”

“He likes you.”

Emeline scoffs, tying the strings on her hoodie just the way she likes them. “He just met me.” 

“He said he’s seen you around the building and he’s been wanting to talk to you.”

“So he’s a stalker. How does that get brought up in the less than five minutes I’ve been in here, anyway?”

“Jesus, Emeline. Not everyone is looking to commit a felony.” Emeline avoids looking at her roommate, really just wanting to be left alone. “The pizza is gonna be here soon, the guys are nice, and I’ll even be nice to Keelan when he comes if you come back.” 

“You’re annoying.”

“And you love me, anyway,” Fran tells her, throwing her arm around Emeline and dragging her back out to the living room, finding Jeremy on the couch still looking nervous when she comes back.

Emeline sits down on the other end of the couch, tucking her feet under her. She tries not to stare at the two of them in their apartment, but Fran was right, they are cute. John looks a little younger than the three of them, but Jeremy is about the same age, she guessed. There was something familiar about both of them, though. 

“So, uh, Emeline,” Jeremy starts, not making eye contact with Emeline. “Fran and Maddy said that you’re a teacher?” 

“She teaches chemistry.” 

“I can speak for myself, you know,” Emeline tells Maddy. 

“Not according to that one guy,” Fran points out, she and Maddy exchanging knowing looks about the one coworker that Emeline hated talking about the most just as her phone vibrates.

Her roommates really did forget that she can order sulfuric acid with a few clicks of a button on her computer.

“Should we ask?” John asks, noticing the scowl that was forming on Emeline’s face.

She rolls her eyes, knowing that thanks to her roommates, these guys would find out anyway, checking her phone and groaning, throwing it to the side. She was outside contract hours, he couldn’t make her work. “My department head is a dick. He takes my lessons and my labs and passes them as his own because he claims his ‘department head duties take up so much of his time he can’t plan on his own.’ He just texted me asking what I was teaching to college-prep so we’re ‘on the same page.’” 

“Do you think he’s the one who took apart the lab you set up yesterday?” Maddy asks, Emeline noticing she stole a glance of Johnny while saying it.

“Either him or our custodial staff thought some of it was actual garbage so they threw it out,” she shrugs. “Which, reminds me, I have to order more filter paper tomorrow, remind me to do that.”

Fran and Maddy exchange looks, both of them knowing that they were going to forget to tell her, scrambling for their phones to put a reminder in for themselves.

“That sucks,” is all Jeremy can add, still not looking at her.

Emeline shrugs, her phone buzzing beside her, probably another text from Anderson. “Eh, I have some of the guys in the department who try to stick up for me, and my students seem to like me, so who cares?” 

“One thing you’ll learn about Em is that part of being a teacher is that she can never check out from being one,” Maddy explains, Johnny being the one to steal a glance at her this time. “It’s constant.” 

Fran, Maddy and John fall into conversation, Emeline trying to process that even though she knew it was true, while Jeremy just sat there awkwardly on the couch next to her not saying a word. Emeline was getting more tired by the minute, and Jeremy was still too nervous to say anything to her.

“You left the door unlocked again,” they hear, interrupting their conversation. Fran and Maddy roll their eyes, Emeline’s anxiety growing suddenly as Keelan lets himself into their apartment. “Do you know how many people could just walk by and rob you when you do that? I’ve told you not to -oh, hi.” Keelan stands there, clearly expecting to only lecture the girls about their door. His face turns red, a cup from Dunkin in his hands.

“Keel, this is Jeremy and John, they’re our neighbors,” Emeline explains as he walks over to her, kissing the top of her head and handing her the drink. Emeline took a sip, grimacing at the tea he had brought her, way too sweet for her own taste despite the fact that she had told him multiple times she didn’t like sugar in her coffee or tea.

“Huh, it’s like a triple date,” he says, leaving to drop his bag in Emeline’s room, the three girls exchanging equally confused glances. 

“He really had to come tonight?” Fran whispers. 

“He’s staying over, isn’t he?”

“Yes, and yes, stop it. You knew he was coming. You said you would be nice to him.”

“I said I would be nice to him, not about him.”  

John and Jeremy sit there in awe, trying to figure out what they had just walked into. Before her roommates could protest more, Keelan comes back, sweatpants and sweatshirt on just like Emeline. Both were wearing Boston College lacrosse gear, Emeline definitely changing into the old gear because it was comfortable after what had been a day from hell, Keelan only pulling it out because the guys were there, despite the word ‘club’ written on the breast of his sweatshirt being the noticeable difference between their clothes. That didn’t matter to Keelan in the moment; Emeline didn’t even have to ask, she knew he never wore that sweatshirt unless he felt threatened by something.

“Did either of you play lacrosse?” Jeremy asks, trying to break the awkwardness.

Keelan puts his arm around Emeline, pulling her close to him faster than she was expecting. “We both did, actually. That’s how we meet.” 

“At BC?”

“We all went to Boston College, we all played lacrosse. Three of us did all four years, too, on an actual varsity team, not the club team,” Fran snides, a not so subtle dig at Keelan, causing him to roll his eyes and hold Emeline almost uncomfortably close. 

“That’s because there’s only a club team for men. For some reason, the AD decided the women having a team was more important despite you losing in the championship three years in a row,” Keelan tries to counter, only earning an eyebrow raise from Fran who was, without a doubt, about to say something much worse to him. 

“We only lost twice and won the championship our senior year,” Fran corrected him. “BC hasn’t had a varsity lacrosse team for men since 2002. If you wanted varsity, you should have went to BU.”

“What time is the pizza getting here, Mads?” Emeline changes the subject before the dick measuring contest between her boyfriend and her roommate somehow ends with her roommate winning. Fran was, as usual in her verbal sparring against Keelan, remaining calm, while Keelan himself was two seconds from saying something that would result in him getting kicked out of their apartment permanently. 

“Oh, I didn’t know you were ordering pizza,” Keelan snides.

This was awful. This was the last thing Emeline wanted to deal with when she got home. If she went to her room, then Fran or Keelan would just follow her. As soon as the pizza was there, all she wanted to do was eat it as fast as possible and run away to her room. She needed peace. She wanted quiet. 

“I’m getting a drink, who wants something?” Emeline asks, wriggling free of Keelan’s grip and heading off to the kitchen with the practically full tea still in her hands. Emeline sighed, leaning against the counter with her eyes closed. It was already pushing 9:30 pm, half an hour from when Emeline normally went to bed happily since she had to wake up to take her train way earlier than she would like to every morning. 

“Hey,” Jeremy startles her, causing her to bump her hip harder against the cabinet, making her wince at the pain that would definitely turn into a bruise. “Sorry, we can go if you really don’t want us here. We just wanted the music to be a little quieter.” 

Emeline sighs, knowing that she was acting like a bitch. “No, it’s fine. It was just a long day that was part of a longer week. I’m sorry.”

“You don’t need to apologize,” Jeremy says, quietly. He shrugs. “It happens to all of us.”

Emeline looks at Jeremy, her entire being feeling calmer with him standing there for whatever reason. “Thanks.”

Jeremy swallows, clearing his throat. “Uh, the pizza should be here any minute. If you want, you can just take it to your room instead of staying out with us,” he tells her, somehow reading her mind, “I don’t think any of us would mind. Well, Fran seems like someone who might.”

Emeline can’t help but laugh. “She means well.”

“She seems to want what’s best for you. And for Maddy. I can respect that.” 

“She’s very protective, that’s for sure,” Emeline says, throwing out the tea and grabbing a glass of water. Without asking, she pours one for Jeremy, him taking it and smiling at her, sending a shiver down her spine that she didn’t quite know how to process. Fran had been there for her and Maddy’s darkest moments during college, which sounds dramatic, but she really was the first person either of them wanted to call if something was going wrong. She just cared, probably a little more intensely than either of them asked for. 

 The two of them go back into the living room without saying anything else, glasses in hand. The pizza had arrived, Maddy and Johnny passing them around, reading off everyone’s order. 

“Why’d you order me this?” Keelan asks when Emeline sits down, box in hand as Maddy  passes off the last two to her and Jeremy.

“You always get the honey barbeque chicken one,” Emeline points out, opening up her box, her favorite pizza making her suddenly excited. She didn’t realize how hungry she was, or remember the fact that she hadn’t eaten since her lunch at 11 that morning. 

“Yeah, you have made a very big deal about how you always get that one pizza, because it’s your favorite,” Maddy continues, spraying bits of her own pizza everywhere. 

“You’re a creature of habit, as you love to say,” Fran deadpans, not looking away from her own food. 

“I don’t want this. What did you get, Emmy?” 

Emeline freezes with her mouth open as she was bringing a slice to her mouth, already knowing where this conversation was going to end up. She tried to ignore Fran mouthing ‘Emmy,’ to Maddy, mocking the nickname Emeline admittedly hated that Keelan always used for her. “The White Greek pizza.” 

“It’s fine, we can just switch.” 

“But,” she starts, looking at her own pizza. “I don’t like barbeque. You know that.”

“Yeah, but I don’t want this.” 

The two of them stare at each other for a minute, Emeline’s mind trying to process the fact that Keelan even had the audacity to ask her to eat his pizza when he knew she detested the entire thing. They were nice enough to buy him a pizza, a surprise that he wasn’t expecting, and here he was, demanding that she give him hers? She had called him on the way home and told him all about her day and what happened, and now he was adding to it? “Take mine.” Both of them turn to Jeremy, him already holding his box out for Keelan. “I thought I ordered the barbeque one anyway, not the buffalo one, it was my mistake.” 

“Hey, thanks, man,” Keelan says, all too happy to take the pizza from someone he just met. 

Fran, Maddy, and John start to have a conversation, tuning out the three of them on the couch. Not that they were saying anything. Emeline was too mad to eat the entire thing, only picking off the olives instead. Jeremy was trying his best not to cringe at the overly sweet pizza that he had never had any intention of ordering. Keelan just existing at that moment was enough to make Emeline irritated.

“You know what,” Emeline says, closing the box of pizza, all five of them startled and suddenly turning towards her. “I think I’m going to turn in.”

“Are you sure?” Jeremy asks, a sound of panic in his voice.

“Yeah, I mean, I’m tired, I have to wake up early and I have another long day tomorrow, anyway.” Emeline leaves before anyone can protest.

The five of them watch Emeline leave, Fran and Maddy sending death glares at Keelan. 

“Why must you have the personality of a guy who’s had back pain his entire life? What is wrong with you?,” Fran scolds him, throwing a napkin at him.

“What kind of insult even is that?”

“‘I don’t want this,’” Maddy mimics in a high pitched voice. “What adult talks like that?”

“Go apologize to her or I’m going to shove my foot so far up your ass you’re going to taste that instead of the pizza you took from Jeremy,” Fran threatens.

“I offered it to him,” Jeremy tries to diffuse the situation.

“You love buffalo chicken though. Linus has fed you buffalo wings in the locker room before,” John points out.

“We’re going to talk about that in a second,” Maddy starts, “but Keelan, come on. You know how stressful this time when lacrosse starts back up for her. You could have just taken the pizza she was nice enough to order for you.” 

“I knew I should have let you starve.” 

Keelan huffs, putting the pizza down on the table in front of them. He knocks on the door to Emeline’s room, not waiting for her to invite him in since the lights were already off. He sees her in the dark, lying on her back scrolling on her phone. “I’m a dick.”

“I know.” 

He sits down on the bed next to her. “I’m sorry.” 

“For?” she asks, treating him like one of her students.

Keelan sighs, lying down. “How long have you known Jeremy?”

“I met him like an hour before you got here.”

“He was the guy in the elevator.”

Emeline groans. “I thought we were past this.”

“Well.”

“Well?”

“Well, he likes you, Em.” Emeline can’t help but scoff. “I mean, I obviously can’t blame him. But, Em, he hasn’t taken his eyes off you the entire time he’s been here. He didn’t take his eyes off you in the elevator either. John even said Jeremy had mentioned that he’s been wanting to talk to you.”

“Oh, for fucks sake,” she groans again, putting her phone on her stomach and covering her face with her hands. “So what? That doesn’t mean he likes me, it means he’s kind of a creep. And if he does, what does it matter?” 

“I’m afraid.”

Emeline reaches over to turn the lamp on, wanting to get a look at Keelan for this, this confirmation she was waiting for. She studies his face as he stares up at her ceiling fan. “Afraid of what?”

“What if I lose you?” 

Emeline lets out a little laugh. “To Jeremy? Please.” She rests her head on his chest, Keelan wrapping his arm around her and kissing her forehead. “At most, he can be a friend. Just like Jack. Just like Marc,” she says, referencing his college teammates.

“Jack and Marc didn’t so obviously like you.”

“Jack and Marc both tried to hook up with me multiple times during college.”

Keelan sighs, pulling her closer. “Just a friend?”

“Just a friend.”

[writerscall]

you’d have to stop the world just to stop the feeling.

author’s note/s: 2k+ words. trigger warning for some internalized homophobia. butterflies with girls hit different, hit better, but why was embracing it so difficult?

You liked Hazel Callahan.

Her friends knew it, your friends knew it, everybody who saw the way you two acted around each other knew it. You assumed even Hazel knew, since she’s stopped being shy about her own very likely similar feelings a while back.

But coming off from a break up with your longtime boyfriend and moving on to a girl right after just felt so strangely cliche, if that was even the right word for it. No, it definitely wasn’t, but you couldn’t be bothered to wrack your brain for a more appropriate one with the current situation at hand.

“I’m just saying, it’s fine. People know you’re into both teams — all teams now,” Isabel says. “Maybe just the one team? Anyway, there’s no right waiting time for you to start dating a girl after dating a guy. Mine was like, less than two weeks honestly.”

You snort, glancing at your friend lounging on your bed. If anyone understood what it felt like, it would be Isabel. “Well, unlike you, I only just realized that it’s not just guys for me. You said you always knew.”

Isabel considers your words, her head tilting to the side in thought. “True, but my point still stands. Plus people are gonna be a lot less judgy now that it’s college and not high school, everyone is discovering things about themselves and getting into new things. I really don’t think you have anything to worry about.”

If only assumptions could be confirmed right away. It was sweet of her to be so encouraging, and you did appreciate it, but your issue wasn’t really with everyone else. It was with yourself and feeling more… comfortable with all these new feelings. People often said you’d feel freer once you came out but they never talked about the process of fully coming to terms with it after, like it was an everyday type of thing. It still felt like a new pair of shoes that needed breaking in.

“Look, it’s no rush. But… don’t push Hazel out throughout all of this, okay? She likes you, and I know that you—”

“I know, I know.” You sigh. “She’s pretty hard to ignore, as we’re both well aware.”

Isabel smiles at you knowingly. “She just really likes being around you.”

It was funny how different things could feel inside while everything else around you stayed the same. Your earliest class was still at 8:30 and your latest at 3:00 in the afternoon, your roommate still ate an apple with her cereal every breakfast, your grandma still texted every night. And Hazel still waited by the bench outside your last class’ building, that giddy smile lighting up her face once she spotted you.

Your stomach flipped. You weren’t sure if it was nerves or excitement.

“Hey,” she says, jogging up to you with a grin. “I got us some scones from Popeyes. I think they made them a little bigger than usual today for some reason, so if you’re hungry, you’re in luck.”

“Oh, thanks, Haze. That’s really nice of you.” 

Hazel shrugs, shifting the Popeyes bag to her left hand. “Well, anything for you, you know.”

God, how was she making it harder and easier at the same time?

“Would you mind if we ate it in the dorms? Yours or mine, I’m fine with whatever. I just really wanna relax after such a long day.”

“Yeah, yeah, of course! Um, could I uh…” She fiddles with the hem of her shirt for a second, and you think she might ask if she could carry your books or your bag for you in that silent conversation she appeared to be having with herself. Cute. 

What came out next wasn’t either suggestion but it made your stomach flip again, in greater intensity now, and you were positive your heart actually skipped a beat too. If that was even biologically possible.

“Could I hold your hand on the way there? If that’s okay with you?”

Oh you could kiss her— you really could, and you would eventually. But time and place and all that.

You reach for her free hand in reply, smiling shyly as you lace your fingers together. The way Hazel’s eyes soften at the edges and her face literally brightens almost makes you forget about coming across anybody who might give the two of you curious glances. Hazel’s propensity for rambling about the happenings of her own day definitely helped, too.

Hard emphasis on almost, though. You knew you probably wouldn’t be bumping into your ex so soon since he did study elsewhere, but the fact that his brother went to your university totally slipped your mind.

You freeze when you hear that familiar voice call your name, the momentary panic overriding the guilt you felt at swiftly taking your hand away from Hazel’s when you turned in its direction. Breaking up with someone didn’t necessarily mean you were breaking up with all the other people that connected the two of you, and considering how you were being treated like always, his brother didn’t seem to be bitter or angry on his behalf. And thank god, cause you did not wanna deal with that with Hazel or anyone else around.

The conversation’s over quickly and soon you’re back on your way to the dormitories, but you keep your hand swaying alongside hers this time. It felt weird to just go back to holding her hand and you were also trying really hard not to overthink the dampened expression on Hazel’s face.

She only really speaks again once the two of you are in the comforts of her dorm room. “I’m just gonna be blunt here and say it… you know that I like you, right? Like in that kind of way?”

You did know, but the question takes you by surprise that all you can do is nod at her slowly.

“And I… I’m not trying to rush anything, I know you just broke up with your boyfriend about a month ago— and I’m totally not assuming your feelings are the same as mine, god I… sorry—”

“Hazel,” you say, walking towards her with an understanding look on your face. “I know what you’re trying to say. Thank you. And you don’t have to worry about anything in the feelings department, I promise.”

You take both of her hands in your own, holding on to them tightly. She gives them a squeeze in response. “One step at a time though, yeah?”

Hazel smiles at you, and maybe it was because of how intently she was staring at you, but there might’ve been a shine of tears in her eyes. “Yeah. I’ll be there every step of the way.”

The rest of the afternoon to early evening goes by just fine, but there’s this weird feeling in the air that you just can’t shake.

“Why are you doing the one thing I told you not to do?”

Your gaze shoots up from your laptop and then around the library, checking if anyone might’ve been looking. Isabel could cause a scene if she wanted to but thankfully, she was only whisper-shouting. Though if the conversation was going where you thought it was, it might not be whispers for too long.

After that day in her dorm room, you have been avoiding Hazel a bit. You did it little by little to avoid suspicion but you knew she was more perceptive and observant than she let on. It was just that damn encounter with your ex’s brother that made you realize further how much things would change, and as much as you liked Hazel— and you really, really did, there was an embarrassing part of you that wished things didn’t have to change.

It was so much easier with boys, that was true. But it felt so much better with girls.

“Look, Bel, the two of us agreed that we weren’t going to just jump into a relationship.” You tell her, although you know it wouldn’t sway her. “It just… it needs time.”

“And Hazel’s giving you that. Willingly. But she’s trying to be there for you and you’re just pushing her away.”

“Isabel,” you start, but she’s determined to have the final word.

“Take it from someone who knows: it’s a lot easier to accept that you like girls than it is to accept that you like them a lot more than you like guys.” She lets a moment pass, and then, “If you still even like guys at all.”

Now that definitely struck a chord. She’s right and you know it, and she knows you know it.

“I’ll talk to Hazel,” you say quietly. “I will. Today. I promise.”

The walk to Hazel’s dorm room has always made your insides tingle but this time, you knew you wouldn’t be soothed by the easy smile on her face that would greet you once she opened the door. At least it was likely that you wouldn’t with how you’ve been treating her.

You knock twice. “Haze? It’s me.”

You hear some shuffling behind the door and a breath taken exhaled before it opens, revealing the woman of the hour. Of every hour to you lately, in spite of everything.

“Hey.” She offers you a tired, half-hearted smile. You hate that she wasn’t beaming at the sight of you like usual. “Got your text. You sure you’re not too busy with something at the moment?”

You shake your head. “No. I really do wanna talk to you, Hazel.”

Hazel stares at you for a moment before opening the door wider and stepping to the side so that you can go in. When the door closes with a click behind you, you know there’s no running away this time.

You take a deep breath, wringing your hands together as you say, “I’m not gonna make any excuses. The way I’ve been shutting you out has been shitty and it has everything to do with me and all these new… feelings that I can’t seem to deal with. Or I guess, that I haven’t wanted to deal with.” You mutter the last part and steal a glance at her. Hazel is looking at you thoughtfully as she sits on the edge of her bed, her eyes silently urging you to continue.

“This is all pretty new to me. I’m not like you or Isabel— you’re both so secure in your sexualities, just knowing them from the get-go. And I’m not saying I’m ashamed of mine because I really am sure that I like girls. That I like you. I just…”

“You don’t want things to change?”

Hazel is looking at you so sympathetically that you want to cry. You almost do when she tugs you closer and on to the bed, right beside her spot on it.

You take another deep breath. “I can deal with change. I just wish it didn’t feel so… difficult.”

“I meant what I said that day. That I’d be there every step of the way.” She pulls you even closer and you let her, just wanting to get lost in the feeling of her and the intimacy of the moment. “But you have to let me be there for you. I want this to work out.”

“I want that, too. I want everything with you.”

And maybe that was a little too much to say so soon, but it doesn’t matter anymore when Hazel moves to kiss you on the forehead, then on your cheek, and finally on your lips. It’s so gentle and loving that you almost do cry this time; trust Hazel Callahan to always know how to make you feel better.

You cup the side of her jaw and kiss her back, letting the moment last for another second before pulling away. “I am really sorry too. I was getting to that part.”

Hazel chuckles softly. “I’ll forgive every tiny heartbreak this past week as long as you’ll be my girlfriend after this.”

“Just like that?” You lean back a little, studying her face for any sign that she might be joking. She looked very amused and pleased with herself, but dead serious all the same. 

“I want everything with you, too.” Hazel leans forward again to press a lingering kiss on your cheek. “So… yes?”

You close the gap and smile into the kiss you give her, knowing she’d understand that as the resounding yes she was hoping for.

[jayparked]

jayparked's 1k follower drabble celebration event!

as a big thank you for hitting this milestone i wanted to do an event for my followers :)

please send me an ask with one or two members from enhypen (except riki) and one or two numbers from the list below! after one each prompt has been claimed i will be crossing them out meaning they are no longer available!

this event is nsfw so mdni

i got this list of nsfw prompts from this post. i did remove and adjust some of the prompts so this list is slightly different than the original posters!

1.“So how do you want me to fuck you?” 2. “I’m not sharing you with anybody. You’re mine, and mine only, and I’m going to make you remember that.” 3. “That’s sweet and all but do they touch you the way I touch you? Fuck you the way I fuck you? Mm, yeah, didn’t think so.” 4. Softly, “Want you to fuck me like you mean it.”  5. “Let me take care of you. I’ll do the work.” 6. “Gonna fuck you until the only word you remember is my name.” 7. “Can I…can I touch you?” 8. “My God, you’re so fucking gorgeous like this.”  9. “Can I please touch myself?” 10. “Wanna see how you look when you come undone under me.”  11. “I’ll make you feel good, I promise. Just trust me.” 12. “You sound/taste/feel/look so fucking good.” 13. “Oh God, you feel amazing, baby.”  14. A whispered “Please” slipping out of kiss bitten lips.  15. “You drive me so insane, you don’t even know.” 16. “You. Me. Bed. Now.”  17. “Is this okay?”  18. “How much do you want this?” 19. “Doing so good for me, sweetheart.”  20. “Shh, just a little more…”  21. “You’re taking me so well, baby.” 22. “Say please.”  23. “Tell me how you want me.” 24 Soft whines and whimpers; held back noises because they don’t want anyone else hearing them; a plea for more without the use of words.  25. “Oh, I can think of many ways to shut you up right now.” 

26. “I wanna hear you beg for it"   27. “Where do you want me to touch you?” “I don’t know and I don’t care — I just want your hands on me. Please.” 28. “P-please just”—a sob—“I just need you to fuck me.”  29. “Need/want you in me.” 30. “Beg and maybe I’ll think about it.” 31. “Not so fast, bun.”  32. “So…You touch yourself to the thought of me? I’d like to see that.”   33. “Want your fingers in me.”  34. “Now, why don’t we teach you a lesson?”  35. “Touch yourself for me.” 36. “I wanna taste you on my lips again.” 37. It’s the gentle and soft touches which send shivers skittering down their spine.  38. “Rough or gentle?”  39. “Fuck, look at you right now…” 40. “You’re really messing with my head here.” 41. “Fuck, just touch me already! Just—do something!” “Not so fast. We’ve still got the whole night/day ahead of us.” 42. “Don’t wanna come until I feel you in me.” 43. “All yours. Only yours.” 44. “How about we put that pretty mouth of yours into good use, hm?”  45. “I want you to say my name like that again.”  46. “Aren’t you desperate?”  47. “Only I get to ruin you like this, you hear me?” 48. “Only I get to touch you like this, okay?” 49. “Patience, love. We’re getting there.”  50. “Look at your reflection. Look at how gorgeous you are. So fucking gorgeous when I’m fucking you like this. So pretty for me, and only for me.”

51. “Be good for me.”  52. “You want to come?” “Y-yes, I— please—” “Hm, but do you really deserve to?”  53. “You like that, don’t you?”  54. “Let’s make your thoughts a reality, yeah?” 55. “I’ll fuck you so good, I promise.”  56. “I can taste myself on your lips and it’s messing me up real bad.”  57. “You look like a mess and I love it, because I’m the one who made you like this.”  58. “You’ve got me all hot and bothered.” 59. “You don’t get to touch yourself until I say so.”  60. “Always so needy for me, aren’t you? Can’t help yourself, can you?”  61. “Please let me come.”  62. “I-I promise I’ll be good.”  63. “How are you feeling?” 64. “God, you feel so good around me.” 65. “So wet/hard for me already, huh?” 66. “Mm, always so impatient for me, aren’t you?” 67. “Do I turn you on that much?” 68. “Let me ride you.” 69. “Behave.”  70. “F-Fuck, I don’t think I’m gonna last long if you keep doing that.”  71. “I don’t think I’ve ever wanted someone more.”  72. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” 73. “Stop fucking teasing me and get to it already.”  74. “Oh, the things I’d do to you if we were alone right now…” 75. “Th-There are people outside this door—” “Well, this isn’t about them, is it?” 

76. “Look at you, squirming under me, all flushed and pretty looking. Can’t even take a little teasing, can you?” 77. “Yeah, but they don’t fuck you the way you deserved to be fucked, do they?”  78. “Might I remind you that these walls aren’t sound proof.”  79. A softly exhaled, “I don’t think I can ever get enough of you.”  80. “Do you know how much I love seeing you like this?”  81. “Gonna make sure you don’t forget about me or tonight.”  82. “Oh, sensitive there, aren’t we?”  83. In a hoarse whisper, “Fuck, you’re killing me here.”  84. “But you think about me when they’re fucking you, don’t you?” “I… That’s not true.”  85. “Try not to be so noisy, yeah?”  86. “Tell me if it hurts, okay?”  87. “Lift your hips up for me.” 88. “Fuck, you’re so hot when you’re bossy.” 89. “Look at you, coming undone before I’ve even started touching you.”  90. “I want to be the one fucking you this time.”  91. “Sweetheart, you’re so responsive to my touch.” 92. “I think you’d look even better under me.”  93. “Want you to ruin me.”  94. “Do whatever you want with me.”  95. “Just sit on my fucking face already.”  96. “Who gave you permission to touch yourself?” 97. “What did I just say?” 98. “You feel so fucking good in me.”  99. “You can have all of me if that’s what you want.”  100. “Baby—shit—I don’t think I’m gonna make it to the bed like this.”

101. “Tell me if it becomes too much, okay?” “Okay.”  102. “S-Stop leaving marks on my neck. I have a presentation first thing in the morning.” “Then I get to leave marks anywhere below the neck?” 103. “Let me make you feel good this time?”  104. “You only get to watch.” “B-but—” “No buts, sweetheart.”  105. “I’d fuck you right here, right now, if I could.”  106. “Let’s take it back to my place.” 107. “Are we— are we really going to do this here?” 108. “You look so cute like this, you know?” “Shut the fuck up and just fuck me already.”  109. “Why’d you stop?” “Because you sounded too fucking good and so I had like, a moment.”  110. “Eyes on me at all times, sweetheart.”  111. “Spread your legs for me.” … “Spread them wider.”  112. Hands firm on their thighs, keeping them from snapping them shut.  113. A whispered, “Then come for me,” right next to their ear after they beg for release 114. “I want you in the most sinful ways possible.”  115. “I want you to touch me like I’m the only thing you could ever want.”  116. “Can’t— can’t you go faster than this?”  117. “You like messing with my head, don’t you?” “Only because it clearly turns you on.” 118. “Fuck, you have such a tight hold on me, you don’t even know.”  119. “Don’t make too many noises or we’ll get caught.” “That’s part of the thrill.” 120. “You’re the only one I’ve ever wanted so badly.” 

thank you again for all of your support ♡ masterlist

[jerzwriter]

I've decided that my 30-day challenge will likely take 60-70 days, but I'm OK with that as long as I'm still writing. 😊 Day 8's prompt from @creativepromptsforwriting's 30-Day Writing Challenge is - Write about finding a new hobby. @snoopdogcone sent a request asking me to do this for Tobias and Casey. Thanks, Mari, I had SO much fun with this!

Book: Open Heart (Post-series) Pairing: Tobias x Casey Carrick (F!MC) Featuring: Bryce Lahela, Jackie Varma, Sienna Trinh, Ethan Ramsey Rating: Teen Words: ~1,750 Summary: A dinner out with friends leads Tobias & Casey to realize they don't have any hobbies that can be discussed publicly, and they are determined to do something to change that.

30-Day Challenge Masterlist | Full Masterlist

It began innocently enough – dinner out with old friends. Casey had planned on meeting Bryce, Jackie, and Sienna at a trendy new waterfront spot, but when Tobias and Ethan decided to join in, it officially became a party!

The restaurant would have been wise to film this crew – seven smart, sassy, and attractive people laughing over drinks and shared appetizers, with no shortage of playful flirtation to boot. You can’t pay for advertising like that!

Just before the coffee arrived, they were discussing stress management when Bryce aired a grievance.

“I swear,” he said with dramatic flair, “if one more person tells me I need to relax and find a hobby, I might take up martial arts just to learn how to toss them over my shoulder.”

“You?” Jackie snorted. “Please. You’d be too busy staring at your reflection in the mirror to learn anything. And even if you managed to learn something, I’d still be able to kick your ass when you were done.”

Ethan's stony face cracked enough to almost produce a smile, “I’d pay good money to see that, Jackie.”

“Not happening,” Bryce smirked. “But, seriously. What’s the big deal about hobbies? Besides, I have hobbies. I surf...when I can. I rock climb. I mix cocktails. I...”

“Sleep with your therapist,” Jackie cut in.

“She’s not my therapist! She’s a psych masters candidate who enjoys psychoanalyzing me post-coitus.”

“Exactly,” Jackie proclaimed as laughter rippled around the table.

Trying to shift focus away from poor Bryce, Sienna chimed in. “Well, hobbies are good for you. Especially when you have high-stress careers like we do. I’d be lost if I didn't have my baking."

"Yeah," Tobias chuckled, patting his stomach. "So would we! And thanks to your hobby, I have one, too. Hitting the gym!"

"All right, but seriously," Sienna asked, turning her attention to Tobias and Casey. “You’re both so busy with work and Sammy – do you even have time for any hobbies?”

“Sure,” Casey shrugged. “We do lots of fun things together.”

“Yeah,” Tobias added, wrapping his arm around his wife. “Tons of things.”

“Really?” Bryce asked with an arched brow. “Name one that doesn’t involve sex.”

The table went silent. Casey wanted to retort - opening her mouth, then quickly closing it. Tobias didn’t even bother.

“Well?” Jackie snickered. “We’re waiting.”

It was embarrassing. It wasn’t that they didn’t do things together - they did. They took long walks and had their favorite shows. But actual hobbies?

Honestly, what they did in the bedroom—and the kitchen, the shower, the laundry room, on occasion, on the rooftop deck—essentially, anyplace in their home—yeah, that definitely took center stage.

By the time dessert arrived, the couple had been thoroughly roasted, and Casey was determined to change things. They barely made it through their front door before she kicked off her shoes and flopped onto the couch. “God, are we really that bad?”

Tobias slipped off his coat, a proud grin on his lips. “I wouldn’t say it’s bad. I’d just say we’re… efficient.”

“Efficient?” she echoed.

“Yeah. We optimize our limited free time for maximum mutual gratification.”

“Tobias,” she laughed. “You’re literally describing sex.”

“Exactly,” he said. “But I don’t see a problem here.”

Casey tugged him onto the coach. “It’s not a problem, Mr. Efficiency. But we should find a real hobby. You know, one we could discuss at public gatherings. One that doesn’t end in orgasms.”

“If you insist,” he said, pulling her close. “But just to be clear… we’re not banning orgasmic hobbies, correct?”

“God forbid!” She laughed. “But let’s come up with three things we’d like to try; something that can hold our attention while keeping our clothes on. Next time we see our friends, we can tell them we do have that in us.”

~~~~~

The first attempt came on Sunday morning. Casey had rearranged the furniture in the family room and turned on some soothing music. Tobias laid matching yoga mats out on the floor.

“Yoga was a great choice,” Casey stated. “It’s great for stress reduction and relaxation.”

Tobias plopped down on his mat, gazing suggestively at his wife. She took one look at him in his tight black T-shirt and grey sweatpants that left little to the imagination, and she forgot what they were supposed to be doing.

“It also helps increase flexibility,” he teased. “And you know how important that is to me.”

“Tobias! Focus!”

“All right! All right!” He laughed, promising to take things seriously.

And he did - for a while. There was deep breathing and bursts of laughter as they moved through different poses. But somewhere between the downward dog and the pigeon pose, Tobias let out a low, salacious groan - but it wasn't due to pain, but because Casey’s backside was aimed squarely in his line of sight.

“Baby,” he muttered, his voice dangerously low. “You’re right, yoga’s incredible. In fact, I think I’m having a spiritual awakening right now.”

Casey leaned lower, peeking at him through her legs. “Is your chakra talking dirty again?”

“Yep. It’s saying you look fucking hot in those leggings, and I should do something about it.”

“Tobias!” She laughed. “Focus!”

But even as she said it, she knew the battle was already lost. One playful swat on her backside, a shared giggle, and that was it. The mats were abandoned as they made a beeline for their bedroom, where all that newfound flexibility was pleasantly put to the test.  

~~~~~

A few nights later, they decided to try something else.

“This is perfect,” Tobias said, tying his Kiss the Cook apron behind his back. “We enjoy cooking together. We’re foodies. So, let’s take it to the next level. You’ll see. We’ll be leaving medicine behind to start our own restaurant within no time.”

Casey looked up from sifting flour with a grin. “Considering how the yoga experiment turned out, maybe hold off a bit before making such grand declarations.”

“What?” He grinned. “We can do anything we set our minds to, baby.”

“Yeah,” she signed. “But we usually end up doing each other.”

“Well, not tonight,” he laughed. “Come on. We’ve got this.”

They had picked a recipe together - dark chocolate molten lava cake with a ganache center and a berry compote. Tobias had even laid out the ingredients ahead of time, determined to keep them on task. At first, everything was going perfectly: measuring, stirring, folding… licking batter off each other’s fingers... that’s when things started to go south.

Tobias accidentally smeared melted chocolate on Casey’s cheek - and insisted on wiping it off… with his tongue. She retaliated by flicking cocoa powder at his shirt, which led to him dramatically peeling it off - inch by tantalizing inch. Things escalated quickly.

Before they had a chance to put the cake in the oven, Casey was sprawled across the counter, Tobias approaching with a wicked grin and a spatula loaded with icing in his hand.

“Oh, look at that,” he teased, dragging the spatula slowly down her leg. “Seems I got icing on your thigh.”

“You sure did,” she replied, breathless. “I’m going to have to insist you clean that up... sir.”

By the time they were finished, they did have a craving for something sweet—but that required delivery. Because despite all the heat in their kitchen tonight, there was no cake to show for it.

~~~~~

Their final attempt at finding a respectable hobby was Tobias’s idea. He’d always loved boating—it was calm, rhythmic, and meditative—but he hadn’t taken the boat out for a long time, and he missed it. Casey loved the idea; as anticipation built, she even bought them adorable nautical outfits for the occasion.

The weather cooperated —it was a perfect day. They spent the afternoon gliding across the harbor while Tobias taught Casey how to steer and read the depth finder. She picked it up faster than either of them expected. Everything was going great.

“We’re actually doing it,” she squealed. “Look at us! Enjoying a real, sex-free hobby.”

Tobias grinned at the wheel. “It only took three attempts and a ruined cake.”

“Hey, what happened after was well worth the loss of those ingredients,” she laughed.

They cruised peacefully for a little longer, the sun sparkling off the gentle waves, a light breeze brushing through Casey’s hair. Everything was going smoothly. Too smoothly.

Ten minutes later, Tobias was helping Casey navigate a narrow turn. He stood right behind her, his hand over hers on the throttle, his other hand resting gently on her hip.

“You’re a natural,” he murmured, his lips brushing her ear. “I’ve gotta admit... it’s kind of a turn-on.”

He didn’t need to say it – she could feel it pressed against her lower back. She swallowed hard.

“We said sex-free,” she reminded him, though her voice lacked conviction.

“We did,” he agreed, kissing her neck. “But it's not a law or anything. Come on,” he said enticingly. “We went most of the day without doing anything... that counts, right?”

A few more kisses and one lingering look were all that it took. The wheel was abandoned, and the boat anchored in a flash. They couldn’t stop laughing as they stumbled below deck – their nautical outfits tossed onto the floor, and sighs of pleasure filled the air as they gave in.

Afterward, they attempted to catch their breath. Glowing and with a gentle giggle, Casey curled into her husband. Her head rested on his chest. “Baby, we suck at this.”

“What?” He gasped. “We’re amazing at this.”

“Not at sex,” she chuckled. “Of course we’re great at that! But we were supposed to find a non-sexual hobby, and we failed miserably.”

“Oh, I’m going to have to disagree with you there, princess,” he smiled. “Hon, we did yoga. We cooked. We went boating, and I dare say we were damn good at all three.”

Casey lifted her head to look at him. “And yet, every single time…”

Tobias shrugged. “So we have a very enthusiastic way of expressing ourselves. We know how to celebrate. There’s no shame in that.”

Casey’s smile softened. “You’re insane.”

“Nope,” he said, kissing her forehead. “I’m right.”

She sighed happily, her limbs tangled with his. “Maybe we don’t need a separate hobby. Maybe the whole point is we just love doing things together.”

“Exactly. And if one thing leads to another…”

“...and one thing always leads to another...”

“Then we’re just following our natural God-given gifts, babe.”

“Oh, yes,” Casey laughed. “And we are very gifted.”

“The most gifted,” he agreed. “Let people talk shit if they want. Honestly, I think they’re just jealous.”

“You know what,” she said as her lips met his again. “You’re absolutely right.”

His hands found her hips beneath the sheets, and she let out a breathy laugh as he rolled on top of her again. It wasn’t long before round two was well underway… and all that talk of hobbies? Yeah. They never brought that conversation up again.

@choicesficwriterscreations @openheartfanfics @choicesapril2025

[tgmsunmontue]

Season to Taste - 37/42 WIP

Explicit Hangster - Celebrity Chef Bradley and Naval Aviator Jake Seresin who have a relationship spanning the globe before they realize how tightly bound they are to one another.

PROLOGUE/1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 (interlude) 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 (interlude) 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 (interlude) 31 32 33 34 35 36

And have a sketch I drew this morning:

CHAPTER THIRTYSEVEN

                (No more flashbacks now, we’re on the home straight…)

…            …            …

                After ascertaining that Maverick is, in fact, alive and well, Bradley sort of wants to read him the riot act for making Ice worry so much. He doesn’t of course, but he thinks Ice maybe aged an additional decade in the time it took them to find him. It does make him realize how much he cares for Mav though, that his loves runs deeper than his anger ever has. While he might regret the years apart he can begin making more of an effort. He knows it will make Ice happy as well, and he’s glad he saved up the news of his engagement to share when he could tell them both at the same time, especially given how long he didn’t tell them about Jake at all.

                They make all the right sounds, saying they want to meet him, and Bradley nods and smiles because he can’t tell them that he still hasn’t told Jake about his relationship with them both. Vi’s right, maybe she does need to be there to chaperone so at least he doesn’t get distracted simply by seeing Jake again.

                Bradley is en route to Tokyo when he gets the messages from Jake. Been summoned back to North Island of all places for something he has no information about and will be going into blackout comms. His blood runs cold at that, because that’s only happened twice before, and one of those times was very early on and Jake came out of it with a medal and an air-to-air kill that he only heard about because Slider told him. He feels a little sick but knows he can’t do anything about it, remember Maria’s words about Jake being good and just has to hope.

                He books his air ticket back to New York while he’s still in the air.

…            …            …

                He’s not surprised to find Javy also in North Island, his friends are no slouches. But it makes him wonder just how many people they’ve called in. They don’t have to report in until 0800 tomorrow. They spend some time catching up before deciding to head to the Hard Deck for a drink and a game of darts. Maybe pool. Anything to keep him from sulking too much about the fact that he’s meant to be on short leave in Japan with Leo.

                Then, as if thinking about Leo has conjured him, he recognizes a face. Not one he’s ever met, but one he’s seen in a couple of photos, and he needs to get closer, make sure it’s actually him.

                Captain Pete Mitchell.

                Maverick.

                Leo’s godfather.

                Jake tracks him in the bar and keeps his distance, not sure what to do. He’s kept tabs on him, out of curiosity but also because he had wanted to be prepared if he ever crossed paths. Prepared to do what he’s not sure, because yeah, he might have a bone to pick with him over his treatment of Leo, but he also doesn’t intend to piss off a man potentially in his direct chain of command. He’s not active anymore though, so it’s unlikely he’ll ever be reporting to Maverick.

                In any other universe Jake knows he’d be over there introducing himself, ingratiating himself to hear the man’s stories. However, he thinks of his boyfriend, fiancé, who is loving and open and expressive and so generous. The idea of him being hurt by someone… and Jake gets it, the idea of Leo doing a job where he could die scares him shitless, but that’s his problem to deal with, not Leo’s. He’s grateful that all Leo has to deal with are hot pans and sharp knives, that the worst of his injuries are things Jake can pretend to kiss better. This man though has dealt him emotional damage which Jake doesn’t know will ever heal. Jake knows he has a protective streak a mile wide but it’s never come head-to-head with the hierarchy of the naval chain of command before. He’s not a violent person, hitting things does not come naturally to him but sometimes he wishes it did because he’s like to just plant one on his nose.

                When the bell rings Jake feels a spike of smug pleasure that Mitchell has clearly pissed Penny off, because she won’t hold back. Jake had been thrown out once when he was younger, and has never made the same mistake again, will always back Penny and he studies the older man as he orders four beers on his dime. He’s older, but still very clearly recognizable from the Top Gun class photo of 1986 that Jake studied several years ago. The man that was flying when Leo’s dad died.

                Of course Pete Mitchell doesn’t know who Jake is at all, so his narrow eyes and disdain probably don’t come out as anything out of the ordinary, but Javy and Phoenix are both raising eyebrows and he shakes his head, doesn’t want their questions. Goes back to beating their asses soundly at pool as more and more aviators roll in and his nerves and excitement are making him vibrate and itch in equal measure. Then the bell is ringing again and Penny is jerking her head and Jake doesn’t need to be told twice.

                Throwing Maverick onto the sand outside the Hard Deck is extremely satisfying.

…            …            …

                Of course the next morning when Captain Mitchell walks in and is touted as their instructor he winces a little, but fortunately Maverik doesn’t seem to hold a grudge against any of them. It would make Jake like him a little if he didn’t already kind of despise him. It’s fine. He can be professional. Has to be, really. Fortunately there are eleven others around to act as a buffer and he uses them effectively until they’re making their way to their jets.

                “Hangman…”

                Jake keeps walking, not sure if it was simply an acknowledgement of whether he’s being addressed.

                “Lieutenant Seresin…”

                Fuck. Definitely being addressed.

                “Yes sir.”

                “Do you have a problem with me Lieutenant?”

                “No sir.”

                “Hmm.”

                “I wanted to get to know you a bit better…”

                “Uh. Why sir?”

                “Oh. Uh. Um.”

                “See you in the air. Sir.”

…            …            …

                “Leonardo… Bradley… cugino… ti lavorerai fino a morire.”

                “I’m not. I won’t.”

                He knows he’s not coping very well, unable to sleep without any communication at all with Jake, so he’s living in the restaurant almost every waking moment, drinking too much coffee and wine. The circle under his eyes dark and growing darker every day. Shit. Maybe Vi is right, maybe he is going to work himself to death.

                “You need to look after yourself so you can give Jake the type of homecoming that makes me want to vomit. Okay?”

                “I… I want to, okay? I just… I can’t sleep. I’m having nightmares.”

                “Sleeping pills? Meditation? Baseball bat?”

                He huffs a laugh at the last suggestion and lets himself slump against her.

                “Maybe I should go and visit his family for the weekend. At least we’d all be in the same boat.”

                “It’s your family as well. Even before you get married, they’re your family as well.”

                “I… yeah. I guess you’re right.”

                “I’ll book tickets. Late Friday to midday Monday sound good?”

                “Yeah. Perfect. Thanks.”

…            …            …

                He turns up at the farm at four in the morning and Maria take’s one look at him and puts him to work. He’s helped set up for the market several times now, no one is surprised to see him after years of him occasionally being around. He signs autographs through the morning, then recipe books as words gets out and poses in selfies, he weighs and sells things under Maria’s watchful eye. Then they’re packing up and while he’d usually be heading home with Jake he’s instead dragged out onto the farm to do manual labor, shown how to prune and harvest.

                It’s physical work but it keeps his mind busy and the kids running around and entire family come for dinner. It reminds him of helping in the olive groves in Italy. He easily falls asleep that night; body tired from a combination of lack of sleep and now compounded by a full day of a different type of physical labor. Even though Jake isn’t there and he hasn’t spoken to him in over ten days he can smell him on the sheets of their bed, has felt his presence throughout the day with his sisters all telling stories and a visit to Jake’s parents.

                When he gets on the plane back to New York he feels well rested and Vi looks happier with his appearance, telling him that he just can’t make the zombie look work.

                Hopefully he can talk to Jake soon, even if he can’t see him.

THIRTY EIGHT

[bluewatersfairy]

after hours - j.p.

Read part one here

a/n: sorry this took 8 million years to publish, post-grad lowkey kicking my ass rn.

synopsis: reader is given the green light on a series with Jordan on a trial basis and is determined to show her higher ups that she has what it takes to make a difference in their media engagement.

warnings: none! look at me go 🤠

word count: 2.7k

•••

The next morning, you gave a 30-minute pitch including the “superhero” type story and graphic you’d been working on the night before, and bringing back the mini mic series with Jordan Poole.  Everyone took the superhero story well and you were told to make it into a graphic that could be used for home games, and the season opener.  This was a big deal and you were still riding that high when your boss broke the rather shitty news regarding the mini mic series.

It turns out the reason they didn’t pursue it further the previous season was because it took up a lot of time.  Editing it together, getting footage for it and finding stuff that would engage Jordan past his introduction – it was all too much.  Some members of the team agreed that it was good publicity, but it was a lot of work.  Instead of saying yes or no, your boss gave you a proposal because they could tell how much this idea meant to you. 

You had a one-month-trial to run the series.  In that time, you would have to produce at least six videos.  If they did well and you still wanted to continue doing them at the end of the month, they would allow that.  But for this one-month-trial, you would not be paid overtime for the extra work you would put in for the series, and everyone was pretty sure that you were going to have to work overtime. 

Perhaps it wasn’t your smartest move, but you accepted it.  One month and six videos didn’t seem like all that much work, plus they’d just said they loved your superhero story.  This was bound to be an even bigger hit.  If anything, the Jordan Poole stans would eat it up, and he actually talked openly with you.  At least he had at midnight the night before.  You were set. 

You didn’t see Jordan until you were on your way out for the day.  You’d been sent home early because they had found out how late you’d stayed the night before and no one was exactly happy with you.  It turns out it wasn’t just the overtime you’d be working on the mini-mic project that would go unpaid, but all of it.  

“Oh, I have good news,” you said to Jordan, grabbing his hand and pulling him into your office.  He visibly lit up seeing you and you took this as a sign of friendship and let your excitement kind of take over.  

“Yeah, what’s up?” Jordan smiled down at you.  

He was glad to see you were more put together when the sun was up.  As much as he’d enjoyed talking to you, you had left clearly giddy in your own head.  He went as far as calling it cute before shoving the thought elsewhere.  Not appropriate, he reminded himself.  

“They’re gonna let me do a mini-mic series with you, if you’re in?” you smiled hopefully up at him and the hand behind your back had your fingers crossed.  

“Hell yeah,” Jordan said with a massive smile on his face, “I miss them mini mics.”

Your excitement was so clear in that moment and Jordan thought you might actually burst, or hug him.  Instead, you got him to sit down in your chair and pulled up a document you’d spent a majority of the day working on.  

You bent down so you were eye level with the screen and started explaining everything to Jordan.  He took turns between watching your face as you spoke and looking at the screen to see what you were pointing at.  The less professional part of him was hyper aware of how close together you both were.  He could smell your perfume and the shampoo you used and it was something like a spell.  Again, he felt like he’d met you before, more than just seeing you at a game.  Even your voice sounded familiar.  He just couldn’t shake it.

“So,” Jordan started talking after you’d finished your whole breakdown, “we’re gonna do six videos in the next month and if they do well, we get to do them for the rest of the season?”  

“Exactly,” you nodded your head, “these are some of the topics I think would catch people's attention,” you pointed to a small section of the screen, “and these are the dates I think they’ll be more likely to do well on.” 

“You’ve thought this all out, huh?” he turned to face you just as you did and your eyes met.  Your eyes were bright with promise and hope, he felt like he owed you its success.

“I couldn’t stop thinking about it last night,” you confessed with a shrug of your shoulders, “you lit up talking about the mini-mic interviews and we sort of owe you some good publicity.  As much as this is me trying to leave a good impression on my boss, this is me trying to give you something good too.”

Jordan’s smile was genuine and big.  He stood up without thinking it through and wrapped his arms around you.  It surprised you but you returned the hug without a second thought. 

“Thank you,” he mumbled quietly, “it feels like it’s been a while since I’ve seen someone in the media be so on my side.”

“Always,” you found yourself saying without a second thought, “you’ve got a say in this too.”  You pulled out of his hug and took a step back and glanced at the wall clock quickly.

“If there’s ever a topic or question you don’t want to answer, you say the word and I’ll make something up out of thin air if I have to.”  

Slowly, Jordan nodded his head.  What you’d shown him seemed pretty tame and he was open to most questions, especially if they let him have a bit of fun in front of the camera again.  He did enjoy being in front of the camera.  He was pretty sure if this whole basketball thing didn’t work out he could make something of himself as a media personality.

“When do you want to shoot the first video?”

The first video came out three days later at 1:24pm.  The general theme was the return of the mic and Jordan’s summer.  You asked questions about his travels and he gave a funny story that you were able to add picture evidence of to the video.  He was smiley and his happy, goofy self, so naturally, the video took off.  

For things to be somewhat successful, you had decided, the first video needed to blow up and reach as many corners of the internet as possible, not just the basketball community.  As it had been a summer of edits of just about anyone to ever exist, basketball player or not, you made sure to get some “edit-worthy” clips of Jordan in there.  When you asked him what the first thing he did when he got back to the facility, you made sure to have a clip of him shirtless, sweaty, and yummy to accompany it.  

Respectfully, Jordan was one of the most beautiful men you’d had the pleasure of meeting, and anything you captured on camera didn’t do him justice.  Not only did he look good, his natural charm pulled you in in a way that can only be thought of as primal.  It wasn’t so much that you wanted to do things to and with him, but more than you felt wanted and desired under his gaze.  Like he was actually looking at you and taking you in, rather than someone you see in passing.  

You’d hoped you’d captured all that on camera, and it seemed you had.  Literally, the first comment you saw when you opened up Tik Tok when you got home was ‘I need him in a biblical way.’  That was the type of response that was gonna keep people coming back and it was for sure, going to make people want to watch.  

Over the next 24 hours, you watched the comments, likes, and views come in.  The Wizards following was going up and the views on the recent videos were more than triple the previous ones.  More importantly, people wanted more of Jordan and the mini-mic.  This type of response was going to guarantee you a season long series.  You were so excited.  

The following video did just as well. Jordan talked about his cats and what they’re like and a bit about his Mum and how she had told him that there was no excuse for missing from the free throw line because there was no one guarding him.  You’d stayed late one night with Jordan to get shots of him practising and had made sure to get some thirst-trap worthy footage when he was at the free throw line.  

“Respectfully,” Jordan grinned as you’d scrolled through the photos and videos with him after the fact, “no one has ever captured me like this.  Whatever you’re doing is working.” 

The first time a Jordan-edit crossed your FYP with footage from your videos, you’d jumped up and screamed.  Your roommate had actually come running from the kitchen with a shoe in hand, assuming there was a bug somewhere.  When you’d told them why you’d screamed, still jumping around happily with your phone replaying the same part of ‘heartbreaker’ by Justin Bieber, they’d just thrown the shoe at you and left.  This felt like things were working out how you wanted them too and your dreams were coming true. 

“Can I ask you a question?” Jordan had said one day when he’d come into your office to approve of the third video you wanted to put out.  You were going for a different vibe with this one to switch it up and hopefully show that you had variety. 

“What’s up?” you asked in return as you turned to face him in your chair.

He smiled at you and turned to look over your whiteboard quickly.  His eyes were cast to his shoes for a second, his hands shoved in his short pockets.  

“What is the job you actually want to be in?” he asked, only looking up to meet your eyes after he finished his sentence.  “You’ve put too much into this to just want to be a photographer.”

You smiled at him and chewed at your bottom lip nervously, “I went to school for political journalism, so you would be right.”

“So why are you here?”  he leant forward as he asked and you felt yourself grow warm.  You weren’t sure if it was his question or the way he was looking at you but it was a pleasant type of warmth – like getting into a warm bed in a freezing cold room. 

“When it popped up, it felt like it was meant to be,” you shrugged, answering honestly, “the way I feel about this team, it never mattered if we were losing or bottom of the league.  I was happy to be here and I was gonna keep supporting, regardless.  I figured that’d be a good quality for someone on the media team, so I applied without really thinking too much about it.”

“I’m glad you did,” Jordan responded quietly, sincerely.  He nodded his head at you before standing up properly and taking a step closer to you.  

“How did the ASMR turn out?”

You turned back to face your computer screen and handed him your earphones.  You’d spent a lot of time on this asmr segment of the mini-mic series – you even recorded some extra sounds for the layered effect.  You wanted it to be relaxing, but to also highlight the smoothness of Jordan’s voice.  You’d edited a separate bloopers video for it as well so it would count as one of the six for the month.  Depending how it performed, you thought I’d be a fun thing to do once a month.  

“You might be a lil too good at all this,” Jordan grinned as he took the earphones out, “I don’t even know how you can pull all this shit together so quickly.”  He shook his head and you looked up at him smiling. 

“You make it so easy,” you shrugged, “most people have some awkward habits in front of the camera, but you make it all look like second nature.  If I did this with any other player, it wouldn’t be this good, I promise you.”

“I feel like Kyle would be smooth,” he countered, “he’s slick on camera.”

“Nah,” you shook your head, “he’s not like you and me though.  That’s part of the magic, y’know?  Our chemistry.  It makes everything that much better.”

Chemistry, Jordan turned the word over in his head a few times.  You were aware of the chemistry you had with one another.  It wasn’t something he was making up in his head.  

“You and me,” he agreed slowly with a smile, “we’re the dream team.”

“Exactly!” you exclaimed with a smile that would have melted the ice caps.  “That’s why this has got to be a season-long series.  You’re too good of a person and ball player to get buried under criticism.”  You nudged him with your shoulder as you complimented him and you watched as his ears got red.  Were you really making him shy?

“Y/N,” your boss boomed from your doorway, forcing both you and Jordan to return to serious faces, “can I speak to you in my office please?”  They walked off before you could answer and you and Jordan shared a look.

“It could be good news,” he tried to reassure you with a hopeful smile.  You shrugged, took a deep breath and started to shoo him out of your office.  

“Go do your job,” you ushered him off and he playfully acted hurt before winking at you and jogging off towards the locker rooms.  

“This isn’t an easy conversation to have,” your boss said as you sat down across from her.  You were more nervous now than before but you knew you hadn’t done anything wrong, whatever it was, it was a word of warning or caution.  You were okay. 

“We have strict rules here that there is to be no romantic relationships between our media staff and the players.  Technically, we are separate from them but everything we do revolves around them.” She paused and you took that as the moment to defend yourself.

“I promise, ma’am, there’s nothing going on between me and any of the players-”

“This isn’t just about what is currently happening,” she cut you off, “it’s what is ultimately going to happen if you continue to have such close relationships with the players.”

Players, plural, but you knew where this was going.  How could you not?  Jordan was in your office every day and you were constantly editing videos of him.  Truthfully, you were rarely not thinking about Jordan.  When you weren’t editing, you were planning and if you weren’t planning, you were checking on how the videos were doing, and when you weren’t doing all that, sometimes you really were just thinking about Jordan.  

“I like you, Y/N,” your boss interrupted your thoughts, “you are incredibly creative and have made it clear that you’re here to make this team better, not just to work.  But you and I both know this isn’t the job you see yourself doing in 20 years, and I don’t want something to happen that will affect the rest of your career.  Politics is a lot more cutthroat than sports, and it’s even worse when you’re a woman.  I’m saying this as someone who has been in your shoes, not as your boss,” she reached her hand out to grab yours.

“Be smart and put your career first.  He’s just a basketball player.”

Except he wasn’t just a basketball player, you thought to yourself as you walked out of the office, he was your friend.  Beyond that, he was a man that actually looked at you, and saw you.  He could read your moods and always knew the right thing to say.  Worst of all, you’d only known him for a few weeks.  Imagining how much closer the two of you would get over this season, after that conversation, made you feel sick.  

Maybe this all wasn’t such a good idea.

[clarisse0o]

Camp Wiegman-Part 84

Lucy Bronze x Ona Batlle

Alternative Universe: Military School

Words: 5K

Masterlist

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Friday, July 1st; 8:30 AM – Ona and Lucy's apartment.

I hum while cooking my pancakes in the pan. It's early, but I couldn't sleep anymore. Instead of waking Lucy, who was peacefully sleeping, I decided to make myself useful. So, here I am, in front of the stove. After several mornings of Lucy teaching me how to make pancakes, I finally decided to try it on my own. It was the perfect time while everyone else was still asleep. At least I knew no one would disturb me or offer their help, thinking I wouldn’t succeed. For once, I wanted to do it all by myself. This solitary moment is deeply relaxing for me. I feel good, with only the sounds of cooking and the TV in the background. The music coming from it puts me in a good mood. I sing along, swaying my body to the rhythm. When my pancake is ready, I remove it and start on the next one. That's when two arms gently wrap around me.

"What a lovely sight this early in the morning," I hear Lucy whisper in my ear.

I smile and stop moving my hips to feel her press against my back.

"Good morning," I murmur.

"So, how dare you leave me alone in bed?"

She takes advantage of my hair being tied up in a messy bun to plant a kiss on my exposed neck. A shiver runs through me, but it's a delightful way to start the day.

"And you have the nerve to complain? You don't think twice about leaving me alone when you go for your runs."

She laughs, tightening her grip around me. My stomach flutters in response. Yeah, I could definitely get used to this kind of morning.

"You're right. Forgive me for putting you through that."

"I’m adapting. You’ve got to make some sacrifices if I want to enjoy my girlfriend’s athletic body."

Lucy laughs again and kisses my cheek. Then she steps aside to lean against the counter with her arms crossed.

"True."

"So, where’s my kiss?"

She smiles and leans in to meet my lips. I close my eyes to savor our first kiss of the day. These tender moments between us mean a lot. They're spontaneous, which makes our relationship even more special. I sincerely hope they will continue and help our love last.

"Are you satisfied now, princess?"

"More than ever."

"You make me so happy. But why didn’t you wake me?"

"You were sleeping so deeply. I didn’t want to disturb you, especially since you so rarely sleep in. Besides, I wanted to use the time to make breakfast by myself."

"I see. It smells delicious."

"Thanks."

I blush softly. She runs her hand along the back of my neck as she straightens up, glancing at my plate full of pancakes, ready to be eaten.

"I suppose I can’t have a taste yet?"

"No," I giggle. "We’re all waiting for my mom and Joan to wake up."

She pouts, but I stand firm.

"Alright, but you should at least cover them," she says as I add another pancake to the pile. "They’ll get cold by then."

"Can you do it for me, please?"

"Hmm."

Her hand slides down my back before her touch fades away. She covers the plate and starts setting the table. She knows I’m not in my usual state. In an hour and a half, I’ll finally find out the result of my exam. I’m grateful that she’s not pressing me about it. I finish the last pancakes, and just in time for my mom and Joan to make their appearance. Lucy has also finished her tasks. She’s prepared freshly squeezed orange juice and is getting the hot drinks ready.

"Good morning, girls."

"Hey. Did you sleep well?" I ask them.

"As well as ever. I could get used to this place, especially if we’re treated this nicely every day."

"Uh… I like you, but no thanks."

"Ona!" Lucy scolds me.

My mom chuckles. Even though things have mostly been patched up, if I leave home, it won’t be so she can stay here.

"No, Lucy, she's right. The two of us under one roof, it’d be fireworks."

"Maybe, but that’s no excuse."

"It’s fine, I’m just joking."

I stick my tongue out as I place the plate on the table, where everyone is already seated.

"Well, this is quite a feast."

"Ona made it," Lucy points out.

"Really?"

I nod, visibly embarrassed. Lucy, sitting next to me, places her hand on my thigh as I take my seat.

"You're barely showing any signs of stress," she teases me.

"I knew something was off—I hadn't heard a single jab from you yet."

"Oh, don’t take it like that, honey."

My mom chuckles as she serves us, while Joan makes it clear he's hungry. They’ve been here for almost a week, and it seems like they've settled in. Their return to Barcelona later this afternoon is going to feel strange to them. One thing's for sure, I’m glad my mom finally got to see my life here. I'm not the rebellious kid I was when I left Barcelona. She can see I’m building my life successfully. She loves our apartment and, of course, has fully embraced Lucy into our family since our commitment to each other. She’s kept the promise she made at her wedding, and I don’t think that will change anytime soon. At least, I hope not. Lucy has helped me understand the importance of family, and even though I no longer have my father, I still have my mom.

"I can finally have a taste!" my girlfriend rejoices when her plate is served.

I’m nervous about her reaction. In fact, I haven’t even told her that I didn’t taste them myself. They look good, but we all know appearances can be deceiving. Lucy, however, seems completely unbothered. She’s totally calm as she takes the first bite. The tension rises in me as she chews slowly. Everyone waits for her reaction, which doesn’t take long. A hum escapes her soft lips.

"Hmm... not bad at all, my love."

"Really?" I ask, surprised. "You’re not just saying that to be nice?"

She laughs, shaking her head. I relax as she takes another bite. I’m happy to know it's at least edible.

"No, really, it's good. You didn’t even try it beforehand?"

"No," I admit, embarrassed. "I was scared of the result."

"Well, go ahead, taste it."

She cuts a piece and holds the fork out to me. I accept it without hesitation. My mom and sister have also started eating. I take my time to savor all the flavors of the dish, and I have to admit it turned out pretty well. For a first try, I did really well. They’re not as good as Lucy's yet, but I managed to make something. Just a few days ago, I was redoing the batter three times over, so I guess I’ve improved.

"It’s not bad at all, actually."

"I never imagined I'd eat one of your dishes one day," my mom confirms.

"Well, thanks!" I giggle.

"Oh no, it's a compliment. I never took the time to learn how to cook. That’s why I have Samuel at home."

I laugh, nodding. Indeed, I remember her as a walking disaster in the kitchen. Since she worked a lot, it was rare for her to cook for me, and yet, I vividly remember her burnt meals when she did. I was always relieved when my dad or grandmother stepped in to save the day. And if neither of them was around, I knew Nick's mom, our neighbor, would gladly serve me food discreetly after my mom’s meal. I focus on Joan, who also seems to be enjoying the food. He confirms this by asking for seconds twice before being refused a third helping.

"What time do we need to be at school?"

"The results are posted at ten," Lucy responds. "So, a bit earlier would be good."

"What about Mapi and Ingrid? Are they meeting us here?"

"Yes, that’s the plan," I confirm. "Have you heard from them?" I ask Lucy.

"They just left their place. They should be here soon."

"Okay," I reply with a shared smile.

Mapi came back with us a week ago. It feels really strange having her so close now, but I’m not complaining. For now, she seems to be enjoying her life here. We’re all on vacation, so we see each other regularly. Ingrid and she are helping out at the gym, where we’ll all start working next week. Jenni finished her contract at her previous job and will be wrapping up the major renovations. This summer is going to be intense as we try to finish everything before the start of September. There are six of us helping now, including the rest of our friends. I have no doubt we’ll get it done.

"Go get ready. We’ll take care of cleaning up."

"Are you sure?" Lucy asks.

After several months, she’s finally comfortable enough to use informal speech with my mom, although you can still tell she’s not entirely at ease with it.

"Of course. Your friends are arriving soon, and we’re already ready. We don’t want to be late."

"Alright."

I wasn’t going to argue since she was offering her help. Lucy shoots me a look, but I just take her hand, ignoring it.

"See you later."

I lead her with me to our room, which is still a bit of a mess. My mom had brought over a few more things I had packed up at their place before I left. Since we’ve been out with them all week, I haven’t had time to sort it all out.

"We could’ve helped first."

"Stop complaining. We’ve been serving them all week. They can clean the kitchen for once."

She rolls her eyes but doesn’t say anything else. I start changing into the clothes I’d laid out the night before. Lucy smiles when she sees my school jacket.

"Already missing it?"

"Hey, I’ve always said I liked it," I defend myself.

"That’s true. It does suit you."

She winks, and I laugh. Once we’re both changed and have made the bed, we head to the bathroom to do our makeup. When we return to the living room, Mapi and Ingrid have arrived. We heard the doorbell ring earlier, but didn’t pay much attention since my mom and Joan were already in the living room.

"Good morning!" I greet them as we walk in.

"Ah, there you are. You look less stressed than what we were just told," Mapi teases.

"That’s because she cooked for the first time on her own this morning," Lucy announces from behind me.

"Hey!"

"Yeah, she’s not quite herself today," my best friend jokes.

I’m about to respond, but Lucy gets there first, turning me around and kissing me.

"We’re just teasing, love. It’s okay."

"Hmm..."

"Anyway, it’s time to go."

"Yeah..."

"Let’s head down," Ingrid says.

Lucy nods. They head out since they’re already ready. I sit on the couch to put on my shoes. Lucy, having slipped on hers quickly, crouches down in front of me.

"Everything’s going to be fine, okay?"

"What are we going to do if I didn’t pass?"

I feel a knot in my stomach just thinking about it. Lucy smiles, lifting my hand to her lips to kiss it.

"Well, you’ll repeat the year, and we’ll push back your art school plans to the following year. Grace said she’d wait for you, though she’d be a bit disappointed."

I nod, looking down. She strokes my cheek.

"Come on, babe. We don’t know anything yet. What matters most is that you gave it your best."

I smile softly and nod again. I then lift my head to meet her loving gaze.

"I was just wondering how you wanted to handle things once we’re there. Do you still want to introduce me to your friends tonight?"

I take a deep breath and shrug. I’m not sure, really. Lucy has officially left her job as an instructor, so I know we could go together. I had thought it would be more intimate to do it with just a small group. The other students don’t need to know about our relationship.

"I guess," I mumble.

She chuckles and stands up, kissing my forehead.

"I’ll probably meet up with my colleagues who will likely be there. I suggest we go separately at first, and we’ll figure it out if needed?"

This idea lightens my heavy heart. To be honest, I was mostly worried about keeping it together if I passed my exam.

"Yeah, that sounds good."

"Alright. Then I’ll ride with Ingrid. You can take my car if you want."

"You’re letting me drive?" I ask, surprised.

"Well, yeah. You’ve been driving it these past few days."

My smile widens as I take her keys. It’s true she’s given me the opportunity to drive her car. Lucy wants me to get used to driving again before we buy a car for me next year. It’s been great practice. Plus, it’s little gestures like this that boost my confidence. I’m starting to become independent, and it feels good.

"Thank you."

We kiss one last time before leaving the apartment. We stick to our plan and each drive separately. In front of us, Ingrid leads the way, though I know the route well by now, having done it many times with Lucy. She only lives a few blocks away. As we get closer, it’s clear today is a special day. There are so many cars parked outside. The street has never been this full. I take my time parking the car, just like Lucy taught me, in the first available spot. Then we step out. From a distance, I can see Lucy and Ingrid walking toward the entrance of the building.

"They’re not waiting for us?" Mapi asks.

"No. They’re going to see their colleagues first, and we’ll catch up with them later."

"I see."

She gives me a look that clearly shows she’s teasing me.

"What?"

"You know you won’t be able to hold it together, right?"

"Shut up."

She laughs heartily, wrapping an arm around my shoulders.

"Come on, I’ll escort you then."

I smile and nod. That works for me. With my free hand, I grab Joan’s, and we head toward the entrance. Unlike the first time I came here, the gate is wide open, although there are people there to greet us. In fact, it’s Wiegman herself, along with several professors I didn’t have.

"Abby! What a surprise to see you here!" she says as we approach.

"Well, I couldn’t miss my daughter’s results, could I?"

They exchange a friendly hug before she shakes all of our hands.

"Is this your youngest?" she asks, noticing Joan.

My brother immediately hides behind me, making me smile.

"Yes, this is Joan."

"He’s grown so much!"

"Oh, yes."

"Let’s hope we don’t see him here."

"We’ll make sure of that."

"And how’s Marcus doing?"

Not wanting to get caught in a long conversation, I quickly say:

"We’re going to head off without you, if you don’t mind. My friends are probably waiting for me."

"Oh, sure, no problem," my mom replies. "We’ll meet up later. Are you taking Joan with you?"

I glance at my brother, who nods eagerly. I chuckle and nod as well.

"Yeah, I’ll take him. He can stay with Mapi."

After agreeing, we continue. The anxiety rises as we walk down the path.

"Come on, relax."

"I’d like to see you in my shoes. If I don’t pass this exam, I don’t know what I’ll do."

"Lucy said it’s not the end of the world."

"No, it’s not, but it would push back a lot of plans between us."

"I’m sure you’ll pass."

That’s not even the question. I *have* to pass. It’s crucial. As we reach the end of the path, we finally arrive at the central building. It’s packed. We can’t even see the entrance. Luckily, it’s a beautiful day. There’s a light breeze, but it’s not bothersome.

"Wow. This place is huge. So this is where you spent your year?"

"Yeah," I reply with a small smile. "You haven’t seen anything yet. I’ll check with Lucy if we can take a tour later."

"That’d be cool! Is that where you did those famous laps?" she asks, pointing to our left.

I chuckle, nodding.

"Yeah, I know those pretty well, if you want to know."

"I bet you do," she teases.

- Over there, those are the classroom buildings, I said, pointing them out to her.

- And next to the fields?

- The gym. That, I said, pointing to the building in front of us, is the administration building. And the two buildings you see on the right are the dormitories.

- Wow. Which one was yours?

- The one in front. We were on the first floor. There's also the cafeteria behind it, but according to what Lucy told me, there will be a snack bar there soon. You'll get to see it.

She nodded with a smile. I could tell she was excited to be here. I understood her. After everything I'd told her, I'd have been in the same state. She looked around, trying to get her bearings. I did the same, but mostly to find my friends. There were so many people. I was surprised to see how many had come with someone. Lucy was probably right. It's an experience that marks the students, and they're proud to show where they were. That's how I felt with Mapi. My eyes eventually landed on Alexia, who was waving wildly until she reached us.

- You’re finally here. I saw Lucy and Ingrid arrive without you, and I was starting to wonder.

- Ona doesn't want to be seen with her just yet.

- For how long? Alexia giggled.

I rolled my eyes as they laughed together. Those two were getting along just a little too well.

- Where are they anyway?

- What, you want to join them already? Mapi teased.

- No. Just testing the waters. So?

Alexia smiled and nodded her head toward something behind me. I turned around to see Lucy with her former colleagues, and even Jenni was there.

- She ended up coming with you?

- Thankfully. She wasn’t too thrilled, but I didn’t give her a choice.

- Poor girl, Mapi teased.

I laughed softly and nodded. I got it, but I also understood Alexia perfectly. I felt the same way. I turned back to them, but this time I saw Lucy looking right at us. The others around her were deep in conversation, but she was fully focused on me. We exchanged a smile. I would’ve given anything to be by her side, but it wasn’t time yet.

- The others are over there if you want to join, Alexia said, grabbing my attention again.

- Yeah, good idea, I replied. I’m happy to finally see everyone again.

- They’re excited to see you too. Honestly, we were just waiting for you.

- Well, here we are.

We followed Alexia as she led us to the others. I ended up carrying Joan since he got shy around my friends. I couldn’t blame him. It was a lot of people, after all. It was the first time I’d been surrounded by so many people, but I wasn’t complaining. I liked my friends, and I planned to keep them close now that I was staying here.

- Ah! We were wondering if you’d come over, Alba greeted us.

- As if I’d ignore you, I chuckled. Hi, everyone.

- Well, you never know. You didn’t want to be friends with us at first, so we were wondering if you’d still talk to us now that classes are over, they teased.

- Fair point, but times have changed.

- That’s true.

I took the time to greet everyone individually. Mapi did the same, following behind me. She might have only met them once before, but she was so at ease with everyone.

- How did you accept your sister’s girlfriend? I teased.

- You knew? She seemed surprised.

- Like She wouldn’t? Alexia responded.

- Wait, so you know her?

- Well, yeah, I chuckled.

- Whatever, that’s not what’s important, Patri interrupted.

- Oh really?

I tilted my head as she nodded.

- We heard this is Bronze' last year. Since you were always with her, maybe you know something?

- Where did you hear that? I asked, frowning.

It was true, of course, but I was supposed to be the only one who knew. As far as I knew, I hadn’t told anyone. Did someone overhear us, or worse, see us together? Well, at this point, I guess it didn’t matter much anymore. Lucy wasn’t my supervisor anymore. She was just my fiancée now.

- Well, people came up to us thinking you were already here, Claudia continued. They saw her packing up on the last day, so now there are rumors.

- Oh, um...

I didn’t know what to say. Luckily, just then, a commotion started around us. Everyone rushed toward the notice board where the exam results were being posted.

- Oh! They’re putting up the results! Alba announced.

- Finally, her sister replied.

It had been a while since I’d felt this anxious. I felt sick to my stomach. Even back in high school, I hadn’t felt this way. Most of my friends rushed over to get a front-row view. Only Mapi, Alexia, and Leah and Alessia stayed with me.

- I feel sick, I confessed.

Leah burst out laughing.

- Come on, princess. It’s all done now anyway.

She was right, but I couldn’t help it.

- Well, I’m going, Alexia announced.

She led the way, and everyone followed. I turned to Mapi, who was happily playing with Joan, who I put down.

- Go ahead. We’ll wait here for you.

I smiled softly and followed the others at a slow pace. People were already reacting—some were exploding with joy, while others were crying. I didn’t know where to look, feeling completely lost. My eyes scanned the crowd, and I realized I was unconsciously searching for Lucy until our eyes locked. I relaxed instantly when I saw her walking toward me with a reassuring smile.

- Don’t be scared. I’ll go with you, she said as she reached my side.

- Thanks.

I bit my lip and let her guide me with her hand resting on my lower back. We walked together to my section, where I saw Alessia, Leah, and even Lotte screaming with joy. I figured everyone had passed. I would feel so awful if I was the only one who didn’t. We made our way to the front of the list as most people had already seen their results, making it easier to approach. I grabbed Lucy’s hand, squeezing it as hard as I could as I scanned the list for my name. I could feel my heart pounding, and finally, I spotted my name. I shifted my eyes slightly to the right, and as soon as I saw the result, I started to cry.

- I can’t believe it... I whispered.

- So? Lucy asked beside me.

- I... I passed! Oh my God, Lucy, I did it!

I literally jumped on Lucy, who wasn’t expecting it at all. She laughed as she caught me as best she could. Without thinking and not giving her time to react, I kissed her passionately. At first, she was so taken aback that she didn’t kiss me back. I almost regretted it, but she eventually responded, wrapping her arms around me. I hugged her back, burying my face in her neck.

- Oh my God. I can’t believe it. It’s all thanks to you!

- I wasn’t the one taking the tests.

- No, but without you, I wouldn’t have come this far, I said, pulling back to look at her. Thanks to you, I can now chase my dream and get into art school. And also, we can finally start our life together. I never imagined ending the school year like this.

Lucy smiled and kissed me again. I was sure everyone was watching, but I didn’t care. I was so happy that all that mattered was the two of us. It had always been like that from the beginning. Lucy took my hand and led me out of the crowd. Everyone was staring at us. At first, I felt a little self-conscious, which made Lucy laugh.

- I would’ve preferred to spare you this, but now we’ve got to own it.

- The last thing I’d ever be ashamed of is you, my love.

She turned with a smirk. I stopped in step and eagerly accepted her next kiss. She knew those words meant everything coming from me. A few months ago, I couldn’t even fully accept myself. When we finally made it out of the crowd, we rejoined Mapi and my sister, who had found Ingrid and Jenni. I left my girlfriend to jump into my best friend’s arms.

- "Guess who got their diploma, guys?!"

- "Yeah! Now that's some great news!" she exclaims.

I laugh with relief in her arms. All the pressure has finally eased away, making room for joy. I still can't believe it.

- "You really surprised everyone. People haven't stopped staring at us," Ingrid giggles.

Indeed, the stares don't stop. Not just from students, but even the staff. No one knew, but Lucy doesn’t seem bothered. She just shrugs.

- "As far as I know, we’re in the clear. I’m no longer part of this school."

I nod and savor a final hug from Mapi, which she surprises me with. She whispers in my ear:

- "I’m so happy for you, darling. You really deserve this."

- "Thank you," I whisper back.

Before I can fully part from Mapi, Alexia jumps on me next. I see our friends following, but for now, I’m waiting for her reaction.

- "We all made it!" she shouts. "We're going to have a blast tonight!"

She keeps screaming with joy as she runs over to Jenni, who struggles to catch her. And she, too, doesn’t hold back, kissing her girlfriend in front of everyone. After all, school’s over now, and nothing else matters. I also turn back to Lucy and kiss her again.

- "About time you two made it official," Leah teases. "Now we can finally get to know the commander for real."

- "You knew?" Alba says, surprised.

- "Come on, Alba, it was so obvious, »Misa tell her . "They were practically eating each other up with their eyes every chance they got."

I chuckle at her shocked expression while still clinging to Lucy’s neck. I exchange a knowing smile with Misa. I kind of suspected she had figured it out. In the end, not many people hadn’t. From what I can see, it’s only Alba and Patri who didn’t see it coming.

- "Maybe we weren’t as discreet as we thought," Lucy comments, noticing the same thing I did.

Everyone laughs because, honestly, I think by the end, we really weren’t. Still, when I went to see her in her office, it was genuinely to study. I worked my butt off, and it looks like all my effort paid off.

- "So, she’s the girlfriend you’ve had these past months?" Alba asks, still in shock.

- "Indeed. I said I’d come with someone tonight to introduce you all, but… well, I couldn’t hold back."

- "We called it! Mapi and I saw this coming ages ago," Alexia teases.

- "You’re dating Bronze. I can’t believe it. That’s insane!"

- "I’m not your instructor anymore. You can call me Lucy after all, we’ll probably be seeing a lot of each other."

- "Oh my God..."

I burst into laughter at her reaction.

- "What’s with all of you dating instructors?"

- "Hey, they’re pretty sexy," Mapi chimes in.

- "Wait, you too?" Patri exclaims, seeing my best friend hanging on Ingrid.

- "Yep. But I was never part of this school," she giggles.

I smile as Lucy kisses my forehead. I’ve finally introduced her. It was about time. She doesn’t seem as nervous as she thought she’d be. I imagine the situation feels strange for her, but thanks to Jenni and Ingrid, she’s surrounded by her friends.

- "What about the rumor going around?" Claudia asks. "Is it true you won’t be here next year?"

- "Yes, it’s true."

- "Really?" Leah says, surprised. "Did Wiegman find out?"

- "Yes, but that’s not why I’m leaving. I’m opening a gym with Jenni. And by the way, thank you, Alba, for your help. It was invaluable."

Poor Alba doesn’t know what to say. She’s just come to terms with Jenni and her sister, so I imagine it’ll take her some time to accept Bronze and me as well. But I have to admit, they’ve done a great job with Jenni. The kitchen was installed in the break room, but they’ve made the most progress in the locker rooms. They’ve revamped everything, installing new tiles, new shower cabins, and changing areas.

- "You’re opening it with Jenni?"

- "Yes," she replies with amusement. "So, if you really plan to lend a hand this summer, you’ll be seeing a lot more of me."

She’d been pestering Jenni to help, but from the look on her face, I sense he might change her mind soon. I can understand her reaction. Lucy is known to be intimidating here. At first, it won’t be easy for her to be accepted as my girlfriend. Or maybe... She finally smiles.

- "Well, at least I know my sister was in good hands all along... I guess I owe you a lot, too."

Lucy chuckles softly.

- "No, you’ve got it wrong. I hated your sister for a long time because of Jenni’s dismissal. It’s my relationship with Ona that made us friends, since they’re so close. But I can assure you Jenni takes great care of her. You have nothing to worry about."

She nods appreciatively, then looks at all six of us. I think she’s realized her sister is in good company now. She finally looks at me with a small smile.

- "You really don’t do things halfway when it comes to making changes. Making the commander bend, seriously."

I laugh, shrugging.

- "We both bent to each other. What can I say?" I reply, snuggling into my girlfriend. "I’m just glad you’re all okay with it."

- "Of course, princess. But now it’s time to let us into your little bubble."

- "No problem with that," Lucy responds. "We’ll start with tonight’s party."

They nod eagerly. In the end, everything turned out great. I’m so happy. Well, they don’t know yet that they’re now tied to Lucy for life after our engagement, but that’s a story for another time. They don’t need to know just yet. Lucy and I haven’t even picked a wedding date. Ideally, it would be next year, but with all the current projects, it might get pushed back. Neither of us wants to rush into it. What mattered was the commitment we made to each other. We wanted to make it official because we know we complete each other, and there’s no question of looking elsewhere. For now, the most important thing is to enjoy this moment together. We still need to pick up our transcripts, then grab a drink in the cafeteria to celebrate. After that, it’s time to unwind at tonight’s party at Leah house, but more importantly, to celebrate the beginning of our new life—life after Camp Wiegman. It’s clear everyone’s excited about it. I know I am. I can’t wait to live out my dreams alongside the love of my life. 

[whyse7vn]

BREAKING POINT -

[ ot7 x reader ]

this is like super short pls forgive me tan twitter tl for context

tan on twitter!!!

8 participants - 8 online

———————————

tae: yoongi pls unblock me on twitter

yoongi: kill yourself

tae: i tried guys why doesn’t he love me 💔

y/n: that was a pathetic try

tae: guess what

y/n: what?

tae: ligma man..

y/n: ligma??

jimin: no way 😭

jk: baby…

namjoon: really

y/n: WHAT???

jin: i’m with her

wtf you guys on about??

hobi: this is a sad day

tae: LIGMA FUCKING BALLS BITCH

y/n: drown

jimin: ur fault tbh

hobi: real

y/n: leave me alone

jin: look you made her upset idiots

y/n: IM NOT UPSET

hobi: cheer up baby ❤️

namjoon: it’s okay tae upsets me all the time

y/n: im fine

hobi: bts song

jk: i know bts

tae: me 2

y/n: i want to stab you with a pencil

tae: watch out namjoon

namjoon: she is definitely talking to you

tae: proof?

hobi: bts?

jimin: i’m gonna bts outta you shut the fuck up

hobi: aw man :/

jk: bts?

jin: beat the shit

tae: beat MY shit

jk: woah

yoongi: he actually needs to kill himself wow

tae: @y/n u 2

y/n: LEAVE ME ALONE

jimin: she’s mad

y/n: I’M NOT MAD

jin: y/n are you still with that scoups guy?

namjoon: didn’t we just find out they we’re together like a week ago?

jk: WE DID????

jin: she moves on fast tho so idk

y/n: NO I DONT????

jimin: yoongi mingyu jk scoups mark wonho minho san all of us

there’s more hold on i’m thinking

hobi: all of us?

jk: say sike…

y/n: ARE YOU FUCKING SICK???????

jin: woah major slut alertttttt

namjoon: shut up

y/n: ONLY LIKE 4 OF THOSE NAMES ARE RIGHT

jk: what

y/n: AND IVE ONLY FUCKED 2 OF THEM SO KILL YOURSELF LEAVE ME ALONE

yoongi: she’s a grown woman

y/n: RIGHT

sorry i’m hot as fuck and pull bitches it’s not my fault

jin: u mid

y/n: ur 30

jin: ok please leave me alone i’m sorry

tae: my body count is also 2

jimin: -2

tae: ummmm?

jk: i’ve killed no one

i could of but don’t worry

namjoon: ??

hobi: fyi she did not deny being with scoups

jimin: TRUE

jk: NO

y/n: i deny it

jimin: too late we know

jin: SLUT

sorry

pls i’m sorry i didn’t mean it pls don’t be mean to me

please oh my god i’m sorry it slipped out

love u

please

y/n: THIS IS NOT FEMINISM

namjoon: it’s okay if ur with him

jk: NO ITS NOT STOP SAYING THAT WHATS UR FUCKING ISSUE STUPID STUPID STUPID

y/n: IM NOT

tae: who have you fucked

yoongi: are you stupid?

tae: no i’m curious

hobi: OH IM CURIOUS YEAH

wow i love shinee

y/n can you please start talking to minho again and then get married to him so i can be at his wedding and we can be forever connected

jk: SHUT UR MOUTH

y/n: you guys know so much about my relationship life it actually makes me want to throw up

jimin: ur easy to stalk

hobi: she’s fucked jk and yoongi

tae: and me

jin: in dreams doesn’t count

yoongi: lol

tae: LOL AWAY FROM ME YOU NASTY BITCH

U THINK UR WINNING BUT UR FUCKING NOT

WHEN ME AND Y/N GET MARRIED IT WILL BE ME KIM TAEHYUNG WHO LOLS IN UR FUCKING FACE

YOU RAT

yoongi: L

tae: no

yoongi: O

tae: YOU FUCKING STOP RIGJT NOW MIN YOONGI

yoongi: L

tae: 6pm seoul south korea apartment block C floor 7 door number 279 a ak47 a man a mask and a fucking dream

namjoon: wow ok that’s great!!

nice vogue shoot btw jungkook!

jk: I WILL NOT FUCK U GO AWAY

namjoon: oh my fucking god

hobi: scottish pride!!

jimin: ???

hobi: was he not wearing a kilt?

jimin: a what?

hobi: killing myself

jin: why they put you in that dirty ass bathroom omg?

tae: dirty shoot for a dirty man

jin: ?

tae: what?

jin: just a bit crazy coming from u

y/n: tae you need to shower

tae: you in love

ha

fucking bitch

jin: do you fuck her or fight her damn?

jimin: right he’s pissing me off

tae: can you leave me alone i’m going through a lot rn

jk: dick

tae: ??

jk: a lot of dick

yoongi: lmao

namjoon: he likes men?

hobi: ewwwwwwwwwwww

jimin: homophobia?????????

jk: yes so he’s going through them

cuz he does not like y/n

yoongi: you say this like every 2 weeks

jk: because it is true

y/n: thank god

jk: no thank men

hobi: thx men

jin: so it’s not jimin?

jimin: what??

tae: i’ve never touched another man let alone sleep with one

hobi: amen

y/n: now that is just not true

namjoon: who cares

tae: I DO

hobi: no one will ever say those words to you

jin: i will

tae: fr 🥲?

jin: LOL

tae: ok kys

and fuck that bitch y/n

yoongi: have

tae left “tan on twitter”

hobi: cuteness overload ^_^

y/n: what crawled up his ass today tf

jk: hi do you need me do you want me do you love me

namjoon: can we just talk about life or like

jin: let me guess trees?

jimin: weed?

jk: OH MY GOD NAMJOON WANTS TO TALK ABOUT WEED

hobi: life is a downward spiral noting matters we are all slowly dying the government hates us money is worthless drugs are all around our water is running out

jk: where is it running out of

let’s catch it

y/n: tae was being super weird right?

hobi: super shy

namjoom: what’s new

hobi: new hair

namjoon: stop

hobi: forgive me master

namjoon: i’m at my breaking point

jimin: breaking bad

jin: drugs?

jimin: it all links back to namjoon…

jk: omgggggg namjoon is this true……..

namjoon: LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE

—-

pls lmk if you like the twitter concept idk if i’m feeling her yet but if you guys are i will do more idk trying to be different 🙈

[mlmxreader]

300+ prompts.

this prompt list will run from 04/02/2025 - 31/03/2025. if there are little/no requests, it will be deleted and a new one will not be made until potentially 06/05/2025 (if at all).

rules & guidelines - read BEFORE you request.

do not use as your own - this prompt list is ONLY for the use of @mlmxreader , @tokillamockingbird427 & @kaijubluu who have my explicit consent to use this for their own writing.

Prompts 1-300

1. "Nothing can stop us now"

2. "I tried to warn ya"

3. "I'm tired of pretending"

4. "I guess that makes me your favourite"

5. "If you put yourself in danger like that again, I'll..." "You'll what?"

6. "Where did you get all this?"

7. "Easiest choice I've ever made"

8. "I'm not going anywhere"

9. "I'm happiest when I'm with you"

10. "That felt like my first kiss..." "Is that bad?"

11. "Whatever it takes"

12. "I don't want to go if you can't follow"

13. "Can we please not talk about that?"

14. "Please?"

15. "Don't be scared"

16. "Is that how much you missed me?"

17. "Let me in before I get soaked"

18. "Do you have to?" "What? Your lap is my favourite place to sit!"

19. "I just don't know where to start"

20. "C'mon, you need to take a break"

21. “Would you answer my question, please?”

22. “I’ve got an hour exam tomorrow”

23. “You look stupid and rich”

24. “I wouldn’t go a single step with you”

25. “Well, that’s what makes you stupid”

26. “Why would I wanna go to a shitty little pub?”

27. “Because you always go where I go”

28. “I tried too hard, think I might have pulled something”

29. “I’m trying to concentrate, do you mind?”

30. “Hello, animals”

31. “I’m your roommate, if anyone asks”

32. “Oh, shove it right up your ass!”

33. “What would you say if I told you I think I’m in love with you?”

34. “Am I just anybody to you? Something to throw away when you get bored?”

35. “Are you jealous?”

36. “Did you at least make the other guy look worse?”

37. “Son of a bitch”

38. “Whose side are you on, exactly?”

39. “You don’t understand, you're not getting it”

40. “There’s no problem here, not with us anyway”

41. “You’re gonna end up working late if you sit there watching me all day”

42. “See, I think you’re scared”

43. “Admit you care”

44. “Aren’t you a good soldier?”

45. “That’s two outta three, not bad”

46. “We’re together, now, we’re happy”

47. “Don’t leave me”

48. “Who said anything about marriage?”

49. “I’m saying it now, before you can beat me to it”

50. “You wanna marry me?” “Yeah.” “Why?”

51. “My friends are gonna love you”

52. “It’s gonna be okay, I promise”

53. “Very casual, huh?”

54. “I didn’t think it’d be like this”

55. “This is too much for me”

56. “It’ll be a breeze”

57. “So far, so good”

58. “I… I’d like you to meet…”

59. “How can you see me, and still love me?” “That’s what it’s about.”

60. “Do not bullshit thy boyfriend”

61. “Yeah, but it’s home”

62. “Carry me across the threshold”

63. “Would you please say something?”

64. “Please, talk to him”

65. “Can’t you just do it for me?”

66. “You’re a heartless bastard”

67. “I forgot my key”

68. “I’m sorry”

69. “Love means never having to say you’re sorry”

70. “Don’t bullshit me, you were showing off”

71. “I got something important I wanna tell you”

72. “You got kicked out of the army?”

73. “That’s a mistake, it has to be”

74. “Can’t I take my fucking husband out to dinner?”

75. “I just need you”

76. “I believe you, I really do”

77. “Would you please hold me?”

78. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

79. “I want to help”

80. “I’m sorry”

81. "I never told you”

82. “You never asked”

83. “I’ve gotta say what I’ve gotta say, and then I'll shut up”

84. “Tell me everything’s gonna be alright, just... please say it's gonna be fine”

85. “Follow me, and do not let go of my hand”

86. “Are you proud?”

87. “What have you got to lose?”

88. “At least I can say I tried”

89. “I don’t know what to do about it”

90. “I never wanted anybody more than I wanted you”

91. “I want you, I need you, only you”

92. “I won’t let anybody take you away from me”

93. “Be mine, please?”

94. “Just love me”

95. “You deserve it after the week we've had”

96. “You’re sublime, you’re amazing”

97. “I’ve been with you all day, you know I have”

98. “I’m trying to stay calm, I really am”

99. “I’m gonna love you now, and then you can walk away and decide what to do about it”

100. “I won’t let you walk away”

101. “You got me, don't you?”

102. “My hands are fucking shaking”

103. “I think I know what’s going on here, with us”

104. “I know what it’s like”

105. “We could start over”

106. “Just look me in the eyes and say I’m wrong, say you don't feel the same”

107. “Is this what you want?”

108. “I can’t go back there again”

109. “You asked me to love you and I did! I still do!”

110. “Are you ready for the time of your life?”

111. “I beg your fucking pardon?”

112. “Show me your heart, come on, show me what you really feel”

113. “Can you help me with this?”

114. “I can handle everything, don't worry”

115. “If you love me, let me go, let me do this on my own”

116. “My heart is just too heavy to care about anything anymore”

117. “I don’t deserve to love you”

118. “I used to press your hand to my lips, remember?”

119. “I used to savour every single kiss, every touch”

120. “I couldn’t face a life without you by my side”

121. “I'm gonna keep my hand against your mouth so you'll be quiet, alright?”

122. “I think I made it very clear what I think”

123. “I only wish you weren’t my friend, then maybe I could say it properly”

124. “I never claimed to be a good person, you know that”

125. “You never needed any help, you just needed a little push”

126. “If you still care, let me know now because I don't know if I'm gonna make it out alive”

127. “If you want it come and take it”

128. “Let me tell you, man, when I said it, I meant it”

129. “I can rattle off a million other reasons why I love you and why I'll always love you”

130. “I don’t want to get back up, I'm tired”

131. “But I have to fucking say it already, so it might as well be today, right?”

132. “I’m in no shape to do this, my leg is completely fucked”

133. “Believe it or not, but it is true”

134. “Walk with me, please?”

135. “Don’t let this fucking bastard get to you”

136. “How could you forget about it?”

137. “To each his own, I guess”

138. “We can’t continue on like this, hiding all the time”

139. “It doesn’t matter what you say, I'm always gonna be here”

140. “I’ll show you what I’ve hidden”

141. “Where is your fight, my friend?”

142. “A little better than I would ever deserves”

143. “It doesn’t seem to matter”

144. “We were meant to be together”

145. “Know what I mean?”

146. “You made it work”

147. “I will never love another man, I can only love you”

148. “I’m so fucking pissed”

149. “I won’t let you disappear out there on your own!”

150. “Oh, fuck your intelligence! I don't want to think anymore!”

151. “I can’t believe I’m actually saying this to you, I think I'm still dreaming”

152. “So now, I have something to say, are you gonna listen?”

153. “This hasn’t torn us apart, so nothing ever will”

154. “It’s none of your business”

155. “I’m tired of this shit”

156. “I want to go home”

157. “Don’t waste my fucking time”

158. “But you know me”

159. “I better tell you everything”

160. “It’s been years since anyone could be a friend, I've... I missed it a lot”

161. “All you have to do is close your eyes, alright? Just close your eyes for a bit”

162. “But you can’t break me, I can't be broken”

163. “I was all that you wanted and more”

164. “I’d love to help you waste time today”

165. “I’m never gonna be enough”

166. “I guess it’s time to see”

167. “I haven’t felt like this in years”

168. “I know where I need to go”

169. “It’s a miracle you haven’t broken any laws, or any bones for that matter”

170. “You know just as much as I do, we were told the same thing”

171. “I am not the same”

172. “You really wanna know who the fuck I am? Are you sure?”

173. “It doesn’t matter ‘cause I know you’ll never listen to me, even if I screamed it in your face!”

174. “I swear I fucking give up”

175. “Tell me all about it”

176. “I’d love to hear you talk about it forever”

177. “I’m your friend, I love you”

178. “Do what you want”

179. “Just remember that I love you, and I want you to come back in one piece”

180. “I’ve always felt love this way for you”

181. “I don’t need you to do it for me”

182. “Don’t look away, look me in the eyes”

183. “I’m gonna show you how to do it”

184. “I fucking told you so!”

185. “I don’t wanna go to sleep, I'm... shit, I'm scared”

186. “I gotta know now, you better tell me”

187. “Would you hurry up and get inside”

188. “Isn’t this fun?”

189. “Don’t ask me how I am”

190. “I never learn, do I?”

191. “You always come to me”

192. “Couldn’t bear it if you leave”

193. “Is this wrong of me?”

194. “There it goes again, I can hear it louder - it's getting closer!”

195. “Why won’t you stop staring at me?”

196. “What the fuck is all this for?”

197. “Is this what you want?”

198. “Say something, anything to me”

199. “How do you feel?”

200. “Why does it have to be this way?”

201. “I don’t know how else to put this”

202. “I will give you anything, you just have to ask”

203. “Say you want to stay with me”

204. “I want to know I belong to you”

205. “I just want to be right by your side”

206. “I will give you everything”

207. “I gotta say what’s on my mind”

208. “Give me your hand”

209. “I’ll take you home”

210. “You are going to relax”

211. “Listen only to my voice”

212. “I’d cross the world for you”

213. “Where are my cigarettes?”

214. “I want the fucking truth”

215. “Is this the best you can come up with?”

216. “I can’t stay here forever”

217. “Is that an excuse?”

218. “Well I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again”

219. “I really love you, baby”

220. “You must be brave”

221. “Get out my way!”

222. “Just tell me I am yours ‘cause you are mine”

223. “What are you doing here?”

224. “I never knew you could dance so well”

225. “Thank you, so much, honestly”

226. “I can never repay you for what you’ve done”

227. “It’s rather good”

228. “I’m alive!”

229. “Open wide”

230. “Give me spark to light the world up in flames”

231. “Washed away with the tears”

232. “Inside your sleep, vile images creep”

233. “Hear the screams that haunt your soul”

234. “Tell me of the souls you have drowned”

235. “Losing control of your own”

236. “In time you’ll realise”

237. “Craft it to how you see fit”

238. “Recognise powers you hold”

239. “I swear by the blood I have shed”

240. “To rely on the hand that still feeds you”

241. “We’d be free to grow our wings”

242. “Untruth, is this my fate?”

243. “The world we know’s an abysmal hell”

244. “How can you just stand there and stare?”

245. “I’ll wait for you”

246. “If our world ended today, would you suffer or just sit there awaiting damnation?”

247. “It will take all you have held sacred”

248. “Stay here till the windows stop burning for your dreams”

249. “To feel this pain with you”

250. “You’ll feel better when you’re gone”

251. “First step in taking back your life”

252. “So you think you’ve won”

253. “Come take a walk inside”

254. “This enraged pissed off mind”

255. “Lusted for so long”

256. “How can this be for real?”

257. “It’s so beautiful”

258. “Make me swear if I see your face again”

259. “Fuck you”

260. “Tie you up, make you bleed”

261. “Just like me”

262. “They can’t take what’s in our hearts”

263. “They’ll never take what’s in our hearts”

264. “Did you forget something?”

265. “Look me in the eyes and tell me that you don’t love me the same way”

266. “Another night wide awake, huh?”

267. “Don’t fucking torment me”

268. “I waited in the rain so I could assure that we’d be alone”

269. “I don’t think I can stomach another night alone in this house”

270. “Don’t be a dick”

271. “Would you be mine?”

272. “Take my hand, please, just hold my fucking hand”

273. “You chose me - above everyone else, you chose me… why?”

274. “What, did you think I was just happy to be your fucking toy all this time?”

275. “I keep telling you to take a coat”

276. “I have a door! You don’t have to keep using the window”

277. “There’s nothing out there, nothing to be afraid of, at least”

278. “You’ve been gone for so long…”

279. “Don’t tell me that that’s a fucking ring in your hand”

280. “I don’t care what anybody says, I love you, and I love being with you”

281. “It’s getting dark, don’t you think we should leave?”

282. “You’re different, I like it”

283. “Where the fuck did you find a dog?”

284. “Y- you weren’t in bed, and it was so cold…”

285. “You’re not seriously staying up all night to play video games”

286. “I would never hurt you”

287. “I came all this way just to ask you… if you’d go on a date with me”

288. “It’s starting to fucking hammer down”

289. “Stop pretending to give a shit”

290. “Just stop it!”

291. “You can’t go all that way on that horse”

292. “You have to be joking, you couldn’t have come all this way in the middle of a fucking storm”

293. “I would do anything for you, for love”

294. “Tell me what you want”

295. “You can’t keep handing me little notes all the time”

296. “Perhaps one day, we’ll be together properly”

297. “Oh, shit”

298. “I’m your huckleberry”

299. “We could’a had a good fuckin’ life”

300. “I missed feeling your hand in mine”

301. “C’mere, dance with me - there’s a slow song on the radio”

302. “I made this for you”

303. “I never did thank you for that.” “A kiss would be a good thank you”

304. “I know you wanted me to stay”

305. “Don’t cause a scene”

306. “It’s where I belong - at your side”

307. “What? I don’t like it when people look at you like that”

308. “What have you done this time?”

309. “Don’t be so sour - I’m just having fun!”

310. “You will always be my first choice”

311. “I will always love you”

312. “You’re always on my mind, you know, always”

313. “What you waitin’ for, cowboy? An invite?”

314. “I like the direction you’re going, so if it’s okay, I’ll stick around”

315. “I don’t want to be, y’know, casual anymore - I wanna be serious”

316. “You two are almost joined at the fucking hip”

[jessicaloons]

Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince:

Chapter 1

Masterlist - Previous - Next

Miss Americana

May 2019:

"And you’re sure you can handle it? I mean working here and college?" Peter Hastings was a nice, middle aged man, looking for a new nanny for his 6 year old son, Gabriel.

"I’ll wake him up at 7:15. Make breakfast and get him ready for school, drop him off at 8:30 and go to my classes. At 3 I’ll pick him up. Help him with his homework. Soccer on Monday and Wednesday. Piano lesson on Tuesday. Prepare dinner. Make him bed ready and then you’ll take over. Monday till Thursday. Fridays I’ll pick him up at 12. We’re going to the park, museum, zoo whatever. Have lunch and I’ll bring him home by 4, where you take over. And if you need a babysitter on the weekends, you’ll call me." Rachel repeated the schedule Mr. Hastings had presented her with, hoping he would hire her.

"Impressive. Well your report looks great, I understand why you’ve got a scholarship for the MCPHS. I’d say you’ve got the job." Mr. Hastings smiled at the girl.

"Thank you, Sir! Really!"

"Gabriel liked you, you have strong ambitions. I think you’re perfect. Now let’s talk money, shall we?" he clapped his hands and Rachel nodded.

With a full scholarship and a well paid job that still gave her enough time for her studies, she could start saving up money to get the hell out of Woburn, after graduating from college with her nursing degree hopefully.

"I know this was not what you applied for, but I’ll ask anyways, if you say no, you’ll still keep your job starting in fall!" her new boss said and she looked up "My current nanny, well she left, family emergency, so I would need someone from now on, during the summer until you’ll take over at the end of August. I know, you just graduated and probably already planned your summer, but I thought I ask anyways. Again, feel free to say no, the job is yours regardless. It’s only one more month of school and then it’s… well a full day job, I’m off for the entire August, but before that I’m loaded with events here and there…"

"I’ll do it." Rachel said immediately, every reason to leave Woburn earlier was a good reason.

"Yeah? You sure? I mean like I said, you don’t have to!" Mr. Hastings said but the girl shook her head.

"No it’s fine. Really. I have nothing planned. And like this I can get used to Boston."

"You can stay here. Our old nanny has her own studio in the backyard. That way you don’t have to drive every morning from Woburn to here."

"Are you sure? It’s no problem for me to drive!"

"With traffic in the morning you’ll be in the car for an hour or longer. That’s ridiculous. Come on I’ll show you the studio. You could even stay there when you start college. Thinking back to my college times? The dorms weren’t the nicest place to stay." he laughed and got up, leading the young girl outside through the kitchen.

"I mean. I haven’t seen my dorm yet… but from what I’ve heard, yeah, not the nicest place to stay indeed."

The studio was clean and modern. A kitchenette, a table with two chairs. Sofa, TV and a bed. A little bathroom. It was definitely more quiet and private than any dorm at her college.

"Are you sure it’s okay?" the girl asked.

"100%. It’s yours if you want it. Free of charge. You just have to keep it clean yourself. And if you want to bring friends over, just give me a little heads up."

Free of charge. The money she would safe. Only paying the tuition fee. The rest of her scholarship could go into her savings as well. She could leave home earlier than planned. It couldn’t get better than this.

"I guess I’m moving in then."

November 2021:

Rachel always dreaded driving home. The rare occasions over the past 2 years where she had driven home were all proof why it was better to stay away. But something in her father’s voice when he asked her if she would come home for his birthday gave her the chills. When she parked her car in the driveway of her rundown childhood home, she felt the pit in her stomach grow. Calming down her nerves she opened up the door, walking inside. The house smelt rancid. A mix of liquor, smoke and bleach.

"Dad?" the girl walked inside the dark living room when suddenly the light got switched on. She flinched looking at the man sitting in the armchair facing her.

"If it’s not Miss Americana fresh off of college." Tony.

"Where’s my dad?" her voice not as strong as she hoped.

"Come." he got up and dragged her outside with him.

"Stop. Tony! Let go of me!" Rachel tried to get away from him.

"Get in the car. You can do it on your own or I’ll make you." his jaw clenched.

The girl got inside. Shaking.

"Where’s my dad?" she repeated.

"Your dad… he pissed off a lot of people… he was a capo once… but his drinking? Mamma Mia… he became useless the day your mother died… fallen from capo to soldato… and now? A shame really…" he sneered.

"What did he do?" Rachel asked with a shaking voice.

"Oh bella, you know I can’t tell you. Otherwise I’d have to kill you. And I really don’t want to kill such a pretty girl." he laughed and the girl swallowed hard "Just know that he owes a lot of people a lot of money…"

They drove to Winchester and the girl knew immediately where they were going.

"When was the last time you were here? When your mother died?" he asked, although he didn’t sound one bit empathetic "A long time ago… then again, it’s never a good sign if you have to go to Winchester… our family parties are usually held somewhere else…"

The driveway up the hill to the dark manor made Rachel’s insides churn.

"Get out." Tony parked the car and she did as told, following him inside.

"Oh Rachel! Mia bellissima ragazza! Look at you! What a beautiful, beautiful young lady! You should look for a girl like her, Anthony, not the skanks you’re going for." Rosaria Romano pulled Rachel in her arms, before kissing her cheeks "The last time I saw you was before you left for college and now look at you! You’re skinny! Don’t they feed you well at college? All the money they take and then not feeding their students? Che cavolo! You’re staying for dinner! Anthony, tell your father I’m feeding this sweet girl first, before he can talk to her!"

"Mamma! She’s not here to eat!" Tony grabbed the girls arm, but he shrugged away under the cold, hard gaze of his mother. He rolled his eyes, walking away, cursing in Italian.

"Now come, mia ragazza, you can help me with dinner." Rosaria lead her into the kitchen where already a handful of women were cooking away "Here, put that on. We don’t want your beautiful outfit to get stained with pomodori!"

The next hour Rachel cooked together with the ladies, told them about college and how her life was going. She knew all too well that she couldn’t tell them everything. Giving away too much was dangerous, so she lied mostly.

"And what about the boys at college? Someone special there for you?" nonna Viola asked right as Tony came back.

"She’s coming with me now." he grabbed Rachel’s arm, pulling her with him. A muscle ticked at his jaw. His hold on her arm made her whimper in pain.

"Anthony! You hurt her! Stop! Don’t make me swing my mattarello at you!" nonna Viola raised her rolling pin and Anthony let go of the girls arm "There you go, stupido!"

"Come." he glared at the girl who took off the apron, handing it Rosaria.

"When the men have finished whatever their having to talk about now, we’re finishing our conversation, Rachel." she smiled and Rachel nodded.

As she followed Tony down a long, dark hallway the bad feeling she had, since hearing her father’s voice on the phone earlier that day, only intensified.

When they stopped in front of a big oak door Tony pushed Rachel hard against it, caving her in. His nose rubbing down her cheek. His breath reeked of smoke and liquor.

"You won’t like what’s happening next and let me tell you, I understand you. But then again… mhhh look at you." he whispered in her ear, making the girl shudder "My mother wasn’t that wrong, I should go for a girl like you…"

"Anthony?" Don Vito’s cold voice rang out through the door.

"We’re here, papa!" Tony said with a sadistic grin.

"Bring her in then. We have a lot to do."

January 2022:

"Miss Lombardi? Miss Lombardi!" the screeching voice of Professor Cullers made Rachel flinch "Ah great. You are with us again… well, do you know the answer, to Miss Edwards question?"

"I- umm… I don’t. No." the girl looked at her professor "Sorry."

"Maybe stop daydreaming then and start listening to what I’m teaching you."

"Yes, ma’am." she nodded.

The rest of the class Rachel kept writing down everything Professor Cullers said, listening carefully and when the bell rang she was one of the last to leave.

"What’s going on with you?" Stuart asked, waiting at the door for her.

"What do you mean?" they walked side by side to their next course.

"You’re absent. Pretty often. For weeks now…"

"It’s nothing. I’m fine. I promise." Rachel faked a smile and Stuart sighed.

"Ok, cut the crap. What’s going on? Since you left for your father’s birthday a couple of weeks ago, you’re acting strange… what happened at home Rachel?" he looked at her and she took a deep breath, shaking her head.

Stuart was the only friend she made in college, he didn’t talk much, but there was a sense of understanding between the two after she accidentally overheard a conversation between him and a stranger behind the cafeteria one day. Rachel since knew that their backstory was similar and that he broke off all ties to his old life. He would understand her, if she told him what happened. But then again, she knew that she might endanger him if she told him too much.

"How hard was it? Leaving everything behind? Cutting off all ties to your family?" she asked instead and Stuart contemplated his answer for a moment.

"It wasn’t easy, that’s for sure. But I had to do it, so I powered through…"

"But I mean… how did you do it? Where did you get your new identity from? What happened to your old one?" the blonde girl pressed.

"I know a guy who knows a guy… but it costs a lot… also, starting a new life somewhere new isn’t for free either."

Rachel thought for a second, all the money she saved from her scholarship so far, because she only had to pay for the tuition fee and work materials. All the money she saved from working for Peter, which she barely had touched. It was a nice little sum and should keep her afloat for a while.

"Why are you asking me all this? What happened?" Stuart asked again and Rachel sighed "You can tell me, Rach. Nothing you can say will scare me away… I know how you grew up… I know how it is… so come on, tell me."

"I need to leave. Like for real… I always planned on moving to Boston after college, but they won’t let me… I only have time after graduation and then my old life will catch up with me again… I will be pulled into this mess that my life is if I don’t run away." Rachel almost whispered and her friend looked at her wide eyed "They wanted me to leave college immediately but I managed to convince them that a nurse with a degree and all qualifications is more helpful, more useful for them, so they agreed, but as soon as I graduate they will take me back to Woburn or rather Winchester… I can’t go back, Stuart…"

"And you shouldn’t have to go back, but Rach this is a dangerous thing to do? Killing off your old self, start a new life… it’s going to cost you more than just money…" Stuart said and Rachel nodded.

"I’m willing to do whatever it takes…" the young girl said determined.

"Then I’ll help you. But it won’t be easy…"

"Everything is better than staying here…"

"I need to make a few calls, then we’ll see." Stuart smiled at her.

"Thanks Stu. You’re a good friend." Rachel squeezed his hand.

"I’m currently your only friend… so that’s that."

"True…"

April 2022:

"Rachel? There’s a letter for you!"

"Thanks, Peter!" the girl took the letter from the counter, while stirring the pasta sauce "Waterman and Krieger? What is that?" she asked when she saw the sender of the letter.

"They’re a law firm. Inheritance law if I’m not mistaken." Peter looked up from his newspaper.

"Inheritance law?" Rachel ripped the envelope open, unfolding the letter. She went silent, staring at the letter, the pasta sauce bubbling.

"Rach? Hey? Rach?" Peter grabbed the sauce pan and shoved it off the stove top "What happened?" he looked at the girl worriedly.

"My- umm… my mom… she left me some money…" Rachel said slowly, looking at Peter "They write that mom set up a trust fund for me before her death. I have access to the money when I turn 21. Which is in three months."

"Oh wow…" Peter squeezed her shoulder "Do you need a moment? I can finish up dinner and I’ll send Gabe to get you when it’s ready?"

"Is that okay?" the brunette asked and he nodded "Thank you."

Back in her studio she looked at the letter and saw that there was also another smaller envelope inside. She knew the handwriting immediately.

My sweet Rachel,

when you read this letter it means I am no longer around to gift you with my last treasure.

Every money I earned from winning beauty pageants and later from working and that wasn’t needed, I put aside for you.

I know you’re a smart girl and every college would offer you a full scholarship, but just to make sure that if not, we have the money.

I never told your dad about this money, I was too afraid that he would use it. Your father is a great man and I love him dearly. But he’s surrounded himself with the wrong people, they poisoned his mind. And over time he had to drink more and more to forget what he had to do daily for Don Vito.

Please don’t tell him about the money. Keep it to yourself. It’s enough for a fresh start, if you know what I mean.

I’m sorry, that I couldn’t be by your side for longer. That I couldn’t give you the home that you deserved.

Promise me to live a good life. Go live your dreams. But please never forget that I love you, my little Miss Americana.

Love always,

Mom

Rachel leaned back in her seat, closing her eyes. When her mother died, she felt lost, didn’t know how to move forward, didn’t know how to continue with her life. Her father lost himself in alcohol, maybe even drugs. He disappeared for days, just to be laid down on the front porch by some of the men he worked with and for Rachel to get him inside, making sure he wouldn’t choke on his own vomit. She knew what he was doing. She knew who he worked for. From the day she was born she was part of a world she never wanted to be in, as she later realised. Movies and pop culture didn’t do this life justice. It wasn’t glorious or mysterious. It was scary and dark. Where other kids her age went to school and made new friends Rachel always had to stick to the kids from the family. To make sure she wouldn’t spill anything about her father’s work. Her mother had to fight hard with her husband to allow her to take Rachel to beauty pageants, after the little girl watched her mother getting dolled up for numerous pageants herself and wanting to be just like her when she was older. Rachel was talented, just like her mother. Her beauty apparent from a young age and it didn’t take long for her to win her first pageant. She loved competing in pageants. But what she loved even more was the time she spent with her mother. She was always so carefree and happy at the contests, a stark contrast to her usually quiet and almost depressed personality at home. She was always trying to not show Rachel how sad and worried she really was, but unfortunately it didn’t work out and Rachel had asked her more than once what was going on and why she was so sad.

"It’s nothing, my little Miss Americana, grown up stuff, nothing to worry about for you, my pretty girl." she had always said, followed by a kiss on Rachel’s forehead and a "I love you, my Rachel."

But with every year she got older she figured out more and more why her mother was so sad. And why the only times she was happy, careless and free, was when they went to pageants together. Because for a short while she could forget in what danger she was living with her daughter. What her husband did for a living. And the fear of the day where she, or worse Rachel, would have to pay the price of her husband’s job.

Ultimately she paid the price. After Rachel won the Miss Teen USA pageant in September 2016, and she had floated on cloud 9, her mother decided she deserved a treat and on the way home from Boston, where the pageant was held, she stopped at a little diner.

Rachel remembered how her mother ordered a strawberry milkshake and fries, she herself got a chocolate milkshake and fries and as soon as their food had arrived her mother looked around, a big grin on her lips before she nodded.

"No one’s watching… go!" she chimed and began dipping her fries into her milkshake.

Rachel laughed but did the same. Her father was always grossed out when his wife and daughter did that, laughing at them for their craziness, saying they better watch out or the food police would arrest them.

They were so happy that evening, her mother saying a million times how proud she was of her and what amazing and exciting times were ahead now for Rachel. But that happiness was gone in an instant when 2 men entered the dinner and her mother’s face turned to stone. She stopped laughing and looked at her daughter, shaking her head. To not draw any attention to them she silently held up her hand when the waitress looked over to them, signalling for her to come over. Paying in silence Rachel’s mother took her by the hand, guiding her outside, back into the car where she locked to doors immediately, starting the engine. She remembered how her mother called her father, telling him that two of Volkov’s men were at the diner. But before she could say anything she looked into the rear view mirror, her face turning pale when she told her husband that they were being followed. It didn’t take long for her mother to speed down the main road leading into Woburn, faster than ever before in her entire life. On speaker Rachel’s father telling her that their men were already on the way. But it was too late. She felt her mother grab onto her hand, clutching it tightly in her own, when the car was hit with something and soared through the air. She closed her eyes, holding onto the grab handle, listening to the sounds around her, when a searing pain shot through her left thigh. The pain was mind numbing and she tried her best to not focus on it. She tried to listen to the sounds around her but after a short while she only heard her own blood rushing into her ears. Then she felt her mother squeezing her hand and she opened her eyes, her first look was on the bright digital watch in the dashboard, then her mother squeezed her hand again and Rachel turned her head a little, looking at her.

"I’m so sorry, my beautiful Rachel. I love you so much." her final words as Rachel later had to find out.

After that night her father was never the same again. After that night Rachel was never the same again. She had to stay in the hospital for a couple of days, the doctors all confident that with the right care the wound on her right thigh, caused by an open break of her femur, would heal without leaving a big scar, so she could still compete in beauty pageants. But to her it didn’t matter. Without her mother she didn’t plan on continuing. And because of her not responding to any of the calls, mails or letters from the Miss Teen USA committee, regarding her upcoming tour through the United States, they stripped her off her title 6 weeks later, appointing her runner up, Caitlyn Summers, as new Miss Teen USA 2016.

Rachel absentmindedly rubbed her thigh, feeling the scarred skin through the thin fabric of her leggings. A reminder of the night that changed her life forever. That destroyed her life forever. She had to blink away tears, wiping her cheeks when Gabe knocked on the door, making her flinch.

"Rach! Dinner is ready!" his happy voice sounded through the door and the young girl cleared her throat.

"I’m coming in a minute Gabe!" she replied and listened to the sound of his steps on the gravel.

Rachel got up and looked into the mirror, wiping away the last remaining tears. It had been a while since she thought back to that night. The memories still too hurtful and real. After a minute of composure she followed Gabe back into the main house trying her best to not show the emotional turmoil she was feeling.

When Rachel went to bed that night she felt exhausted, drained, but also determined. Determined to escape her life in Woburn. Or Winchester. Escape her family. Live a happy life, just like her mother wanted her to. She would honour her mother’s last wish, give her all to do so. No matter what.

Chapter 1 - and that’s it. First chapter done. I tried something new this time, writing this story from a third-person perspective and also switching between Miss Americana/The Heartbreak Prince centred chapters. I hope you like it! Let me know what you think! 🩷💜

Please leave a comment/ like/ reblog/ message and tell me how you liked it! I'm dying to hear your thoughts!

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Last but not least, English is not my first language and although I tried my best: please excuse any mistakes I made!

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