#truly had a WHY IS NOBODY TALKING ABOUT THIS moment until remembering i had a convo about how much i dislike this cartoon

[ducktracy]

contender for most glee i have felt looking at surviving LT storyboards. everyone knows what this is an allusion to, but still, seeing Popeye written out like that gives me insurmountable glee

[beescake]

PLEASE PLEASE MEGADUMP THE ARASOL!!! PLEAAASEE MR BEESCAKE I AM ON MY KNEES BEGGING YOU

HFHGHD GLADLY aaa i’ve been adding notes to it here and there for months but just hesitant to post it bcs im 🧍‍♂️🧍‍♂️🧍‍♂️🧍‍♂

also this is just my own takeaway of the events, it doesn’t necessarily comply to the Ultimate Truth of Canon-Alignment or represent the actual facts of what hussie intended! v sentimental smh but hopefully its still interesting to read

i love when characters inform each other by proximity, it's one of my fave things to see in media :') it feels even more significant when two characters deliberately choose to stick together, so that when one operates, you can tell the other is similarly aligned in associative solidarity.

sollux is a keystone of this trope — whoever he aligns with is a wordless statement, a nod of approval. this stood out to me bcs the main four humans were alr friends by default, but once you reach hivebent you realize the trolls can actively choose who they want to hang out with.

and as we all know, after assessing every troll's biases/loyalties, sollux is the only one who maintains his selective preference for innately Good 👍 people.

aradia is such a beautiful character honestly, she evokes such incredible feelings in me. she might not have been consistently written with care but the best parts of her character are truly stunning. i think it's easy to remember sollux as the self-sacrificing one bc he's so open about it (and his friends frequently react to his Moments) but when you compare him to aradia, it's always struck me

how much more. raw it is

to be so alone as an agent of time, having to orchestrate immeasurably harrowing events nobody understands or gives a fuck about

with your role painted in the story as one who must tend to the needs of the narrative, responsible to match every next note

because when you're given the capabilities, it becomes your duty to carry it out.

it becomes expected of you to keep experimenting and arranging the machinations to work for everyone, dusting off hundreds of necessary failures to keep going

and having to be so unwavering in your drive knowing miserably that there's no one who can help you but yourself.

or alternatively: to make things fun! so other people won't think twice about letting you go off on your own.

sure she's had some very good buds, notably thanks to Team Charge v Team Scourge antics.

and yet, at the end of the day, the one friend that kept choosing her time and time again was the friend with the highest standards.

i can see why people like to define arasol as moirails/matesprits but surprisingly i find the nondescript, unlabeled aspect of their relationship more straightforward to understand.

there's no shortage of people who would accommodate sollux. most of the surviving trolls are his oldest friends bcs he’d chosen them well. his transparency with his feelings had built him strong friendships that won’t falter or break, regardless of how much of a dick he can be. they’ve already seen and accepted him at his worst, and they still like him for who he is.

contrast that with aradia, who'd been so approachable, friendly and reliable in her exchanges it was super fun to talk to her. but the moment she became depressed, all her connections broke down.

her friends became hesitant to interact with her (until she became god tier, “happy” and amicable again) because her gloom and resignation didn’t serve them. she dealt with it alone.

there’s def something of note here abt the disparity between the way male & female characters are written+perceived in homestuck (esp parallel arasol with davejade) but i won’t go into that lmaoo

with this in mind i like to think of sollux as a gift to her, a loyal companion given to complement and commend her resolve. she's capable of doing so much alone but hussie took the time to build her and sollux's relationship as one of a unit; a set.

the ambiguity of their status does complicate things, but i do believe it makes sense with their characters. aradia's relationship with romance is a rocky one, the dubious stringalong equius had with her is a pointed reminder that her feelings of attraction are ultimately controlled by the author writing her.

unlike the other trolls who can openly address and own up to their crushes, aradia had romantic emotions forced upon her (especially when hussie implies 'she kissed equius back on her own volition'). and it seems like her character is so intrinsically neutral abt attraction that even when forced by the almighty powers above, she's unable to retain it wholly.

however, looking back to pre-game when she could actually "choose" her own feelings, she did have a crush on sollux.

their soft spots for each other were so obvious to the point where other people could see it.

taunting aside, when vriska comments on their unit as bf/gf it actually informs the audience that arasol's relationship is romantic in nature despite not aligning with the quadrant system.

even while dead, aradia could still describe her care for sollux, expressing that she would like to see him happy. if they had more time to explore their relationship on alternia, it's possible they could've settled in a quadrant once they grew older.

but going back to the lack of labels, their dynamic was affected once more when aradia became god tier.

to me, her ascension was both the perfect culmination and possible closure of her character. it's the light at the end of her journey toiling through countless of timelines where she had to actively assess and participate. that's why it's cool to see her being silly and having fun giving guidance, passively exploring and watching other people do their parts.

and yet the joy of her freedom makes it hard to explore further introspection. if we take her by her word, she'd already come to terms with the hurt she's been through and forgiven those involved.

i can't help feeling attuned to how impersonal and detached it can be, to devote and meld your identity so completely with your designated position as Maid of Time until you've become hard for your old friends (and even some readers!) to personally connect to.

idk post-canon but i assume there’s some degree of similarity to be bridged here with aradia's god tier and how the hs2 humans' Ultimate forms was described as a consolidation of all their possibilities. since aradia's classpect is inherently of service to Time, going god-tier may have elevated her beyond personhood with the "game construct" possessing her entirely. sollux doesn't realize the extent of it bcs he's still mortal, but a part of him may have subconsciously understood this.

i think there is a core aspect to aradia that was lost to the dehumanizing glory of god tier — a core aspect that may have contained an element of why sollux enjoyed talking to her in the first place.

to him, aradia hadn't just been a nice girl, she was a cool girl. despite not having much in common, he's still willing to chill next to her so she's not alone while she does what needs to get done.

back on alternia, they held a mutual and equal-level regard for each other that could've definitely settled into something permanent. but now, he's placed himself in a position where he can be kept around or left behind at will. the parameters of the relationship are largely in aradia's court, so any label she suggests to identify their relationship with he's likely to accept.

but that's why it's so difficult to label it. because god tier aradia may not necessarily Want quadrants or relationship labels. rather than the initial romantic attachment, their commitment to each other had evolved into one fundamentally of companionship.

no label? ok fine. no matter what, he still thinks she's a good soul worth latching on to. the best, actually. aradia > everyone else.

even if it gets stilted at times. there's an unexpected struggle to connect when sollux's go-to default for talking points is his feelings about things, and aradia may not want to talk about emotions all the time.

not to mention god tier aradia became an observer, especially of chaos. but sollux's avoidance of involvement comes partially from his innate pressure to get involved if something goes wrong. and he can't always tell when something goes wrong, because aradia doesn't mind if things go wrong anymore.

it's a non-negotiable preference that causes them to take the occasional time apart, a new boundary that wouldn't have existed before the game and aradia's god tier.

but just like how his friends tolerated his moods, sollux accepts aradia as she is. with no quadrants, their connection doesn't break down because there's no implicit romantic expectations to be disappointed by or resentful over.

sometimes when i see hs content that deliberately distances sollux from aradia, i assume this is the dissonance people might have felt. people might find it "easier" to be cynical about them bcs of this strange tension.

but idc lmao. grab that shit by the neck

lack of easy resolutions and cleanly tied ribbons is pretty standard of homestuck and imo it doesn't make arasol's dynamic any less incredible. with the right affection and consideration, there's still so much potential to develop the nuance of their relationship outside of the popular quadrant-based depictions.

hs has a lot of really great character compatibilities but the way aradia and sollux are in their own special orbit is why i can write this much about them in the first place. it's that frail innocence between first loves that makes it so sweet to me, two kids who grew up too fast playing guesswork without being clear where they're going.

ultimately i do think you're meant to feel a little tragedy for just how much they care for each other, even if they can't quite establish it in simple terms.

maybe they keep taking breaks to progress their own paths. maybe they remain as anchor partners while seeing other people. but even if you decide to separate them, they're still (awkwardly) texting each other updates all the while. and when they reunite it feels like coming home.

and well. more than anything, i like to believe that they do want to be exclusive.

they're just afraid. after all, they're still learning how to love, beyond the projections of the foursquare quadrant system they had inadvertently distanced themselves from since young.

they might not have everything figured out, but they'll get there eventually if you just hold them together and write them there.

optional post-canon segment:

one of the limitations of main hs is that (monogamous) relationships are often written as the go-to solution to wrap up character growth; it's an easy "patch" to imagine characters getting their happy ending because they have a partner, and those who don't end up with someone don't get that closure (most notably jade).

hs2 reaffirms this by suggesting that aradia's character cannot progress without letting sollux go, because happily settling in a relationship automatically locks your potential.

that pathetic panel of sollux staring emptily into the sky is still my fave hs2 spoiler ngl i find the impact of their parting so emotionally provoking precisely bcs they were written in original hs to be each other's forever, coming back together again and again

but now, they're subject to the decisions of the post-canon authors who might choose to deviate from that.

it's not new for them to part, but now there's an underlying worry that her dropping him off this time might be the last time. while i think the prospect of shattering their stability to make them grow separately sounds fun on paper, no amount of me desperately hoping for a good execution is gonna guarantee it

idk. i guess prediction-wise im expecting sollux in classic dramatic-hs2 fashion to tell dave to back off aradia LMAO. otherwise it's just gon be sollux and karkat pathetically watching aradia and dave from a distance swimming in their unresolved feelings for narratively-powerful time players smh obvs it sounds corny as hell but who knows its still plausible

srsly tho i hope they take the opportunity to develop arasol's relationship in a fresh direction that doesn't hurt me too badly...... and i hope they force sollux out of his comfort zone. i like watching him struggle :-)

[aly-writes]

wrote this to get out my feelings cause i was going through it lol</3 shoutout to yall who feel similarly, my heart aches for you :( remember that it's always good to talk about how you feel! please don't keep everything holed up inside

i love hyunsu sm :(

word count: 1,190

warnings: reader talking down on themselves, filled with angst/hurt

forlorn - cha hyunsu

Cha Hyunsu was so good to you.

His touches were gentle and carefully thought out. He knew how to read your mood and he dealt with it well, never going too far but also making sure not to leave you high and dry. Hyunsu was considerate, and damn it, you loved it.

You loved all of it.

You loved the way he touched you. Your favorites were the smallest gestures. The way he would lightly put his hand on your back when he noticed you were upset about something, and how if you truly needed it, he would hug you so tight you couldn’t breathe. But it wasn’t uncomfortable or painful, it was needed. Sometimes you needed to feel that secure—tightly held against his chest with the false certainty that everything would turn out alright and nobody could get in the way of that.

One could never forget his voice. The sweet nothings he would whisper in your ear, so hushed that even you could barely hear it. But it was so peaceful, and for a moment, it made you feel like you two were the only people left in the world. Feeling such a way was… nice. Even if it was just for a few minutes, there was a certain bliss that came with the warmth of his soul and knowing that you had it all to yourself.

He cared for you so deeply that you often found yourself questioning how his fondness for you could grow to be so strong. You would think back on the countless nights he would stay up for hours to make sure you were okay, waiting out your moods with nothing but patience and worry. He never resented you for your emotions. In fact, he embraced them entirely. Your emotions were his, as he had once said, and heaven forbid that you go to bed upset because it would only hurt the both of you.

Cha Hyunsu was too good for you.

You were selfish. God, you were so selfish. How did he do it? How did he so effortlessly invest all that he had into you and your sentiments? You had tried so hard to put the pieces together—to understand—but even with your best attempts, you couldn’t manage. Hyunsu would give up everything for you, so why was it so hard for you to do the same?

Your feelings were ugly and brutal, so harsh that sometimes you felt they would harm him. But he dealt with them so effortlessly and so graciously and so lovingly that you felt suffocated. Why did he have to be like this?

Why, why, why?

Things would be so much easier if he would just leave you alone and allow you to process things by yourself. Let you bury your feelings until they explode and you cry to yourself for hours on end questioning why and how you managed to feel so strongly with nothing to show for it. Absolutely nothing to show but an empty mind and a lonely heart, both so agonizing but so much easier to deal with than this.

This sense of guilt that you weren’t sure how to overcome. He was so perfect, so patient. And you were not.

His kisses were always tender and shy, coming from lack of experience but making sure that you knew he was trying his best for you. He always looked at you with a sense of empathy that only a few could achieve. This empathy that he gained through terrible experiences, but he used it in a useful way because, in his mind, you deserved it.

The weight of your remorse was becoming too much for you to bear. He carried your overwhelming emotions on his back while masking his own with such ease. You knew there was something wrong, so why didn’t you ask him about it, damn it?! It shouldn’t be so difficult to hide your emotions just this once, mask them like you were able to do so effortlessly only months prior so you could focus on his feelings. You wanted to show him that you would love to reciprocate his endurance and regard.

But you didn’t.

You broke and revealed your inner self once more, laying yourself bare on the table for him to see all of you. Your imperfections and those goddamn repulsive emotions that you would sacrifice everything for just to go away.

To no one’s surprise, like always, he treated you as he does every time.

“I love you,” you whispered with cracked lips. “I’m sorry.”

His eyes made contact with yours, and the slight tug of his lips caused the corners to crinkle in a way that you adored. He looked at you with so much devotion it hurt. And then he kissed you, taking your breath away with a single motion. Even though they were chapped, his lips always seemed so soft in comparison to yours. His kisses never failed to hold passion and emotion. It was like he was breathing in all the feelings he had so desperately held inside each time and it was so beautiful—fulfilling, even.

When he parted, he simply brushed a strand of hair behind your ear that had somehow gone astray. Then he looked at you once more and nearly blinded you with that same smile. “Please don’t ever apologize.”

It made your lips quiver and you couldn’t help but cover your eyes with your arm.

Love was truly a beautiful thing.

God, you thought. Why does he make you feel this way?

If you were to tell him how you truly felt, would he understand? Pouring out all of this emotion, going on about how remorseful you felt—how ineligible you were for him. Threads of complicated thoughts put into simple words falling out of your mouth, finally spilling the sentence you had been wanting to say for so long.

“Are you okay?” He reached forward to grab your elbow. Ever so gently, he tugged at it in a soft attempt to get you to remove your arm from your face. This only made your lip shudder more.

Hyunsu, you deserve so much better.

But you couldn’t bring yourself to say it out loud. Your heart knew he would understand, but your head convinced you otherwise. This was an issue you had to work through by yourself, it was foolish of you to think that you could share it unwarranted.

Love was beautiful, but your character was not. Despite his past, there was a part of your boyfriend that shined so brightly. You feared that showing him too much would cancel out such a delightful feeling, so you swallowed the smallest tremble of your lip down and sat up straight. You forced yourself to look at him and mustered up the brightest smile you could.

“I am. Thank you.”

With a slide of his hand down to your own, he faintly brushed your knuckles with his thumb. You shuddered at his touch, gulping down the lump that had unfortunately balled up in your throat. It seemed the deal was sealed.

Perhaps some thoughts were better off kept to yourself.

[tojiwrd]

3: fate is fickle ; gojo satoru

pairing gojo satoru x fem!reader

summary when satoru breaks off your engagement, you understand and accept it. but when he marries someone else, you don't understand because he didn't want to be tied down.

content warnings drinking, reader being referenced to as a party animal, nanami being soooo fine lol, mention of drugs but nobody does it, mention of death, gojo being meannnnnn and weird

word count 3.1k

a/n thank you SOO much for the support i luv u guys <33 interaction is always appreciated i love talking to u guys also first part is set in the past j in case there is any confusion

send requests ↞ prev next ↠ to be added to taglist

When Gojo Hana, Satoru’s first wife, had come up to him after going to the bathroom for only a short of three minutes with a baffled expression, he wasn’t sure what to expect. 

Her lithe fingers curled themselves around his biceps as she found home between his thighs. Satoru’s mind was fuzzy, especially after three drinks and four shots, and that merely intensified the feel of her skin against his. It was her expression that he wasn’t sure if he was imagining to be tenfold more worried than it truly was, which pulled his lips into a straight line before he asked, “You okay?”

“Satoru,” she started, a small crack in her voice and Satoru leaned back against the chipped wood of the high table. “You know L/N Y/N, right?”

It was funny, and Satoru realized it was funny because he let out a small, nervous chuckle as his wife dropped your name, that all it took was a mention of your name to get his muscles to tighten like he was going to war. He had gone through every single opportunity for Hana to find out about you—not your existence, because there was hardly anybody within his circle that didn’t know of you—and come out of it unscathed (translation: Hana remained unaware). This couldn’t be any different, though she’d never outright mentioned you before. 

He remembered when Hana sat across the quartz tabletop, writing down name after name in delicate cursive, and asked about the L/N family. He’d stiffened, but only momentarily, before he said something along the lines of of course, father would have it no other way. And that, for the time being, was true because there was no way his father wouldn’t want your family to be there after so many years of working together. Satoru wanted to ask Hana, at that moment, if she was sending out invitations addressed to family but he held off until later to make it not seem suspicious. She’d said, ‘Of course not! I want them to be personal and meaningful.’ Satoru felt as though he was ready to change her mind, but how could he argue with something as sweet-intentioned as that?

“My father worked with hers,” he replied, pushing away memories. “Why?” he asked hesitantly. 

There was no suspicion on her face, just curiosity, and Satoru hated himself at that moment. 

“I think I saw her in the bathroom?” It felt as if all his senses perked up and heightened at her words. Fuck. “She was with another girl. I don’t know her name—brown hair, brown eyes, and… about this tall?” Her hands raised up to demonstrate how tall Reina was. He knew exactly who his wife was talking about because if you were out, Reina was with you. He’d always joked how both of you came in a package, and even Suguru only informed one of you about a party and when the other asked him if they were invited, he always said you both always come together.

It had been ages since Satoru saw either of you, but it was hard to forget how Reina always fought for you when you were his girl. And he was glad you still had her because she wouldn’t leave you abruptly, figuratively packing up all the pieces she left in your life in an instant like he did.

“I wouldn’t know,” he coolly said. 

Hana’s lips curled into a small frown. “Her friend said something about how all I know is Y/N’s dad and yours work together.”

“Well, not anymore but yeah.” He feigned indifference, though every nerve of his body felt as if it was on fire. He noticed how her frown only deepened, and he asked, “Were they mean to you or something?”

Hana, sweet, precious fucking Hana, instantly shook her head before she paused and looked down at his chest, as if cowering away from his gaze. “Kind of? I don’t know, maybe she was offended that I only knew her because of your dad?” When she realized she was implying you were being righteous, she took her hands from his arms and raised them in surrender. “I mean, I don’t think she’s, like… a bitch or anything! I might’ve heard them wrong.”

Satoru tried to stop himself, he truly did. But he had to ask. “They still here?”

When she nodded and subtly pointed to the table you sat at with Reina, he couldn’t stop his neck from immediately turning in your direction, a haze of confusion and animosity behind his eyes. Not because you were being rude to his wife, but because he had to be in your presence after months. With his wife. It was truly a miracle that Hana hadn’t noticed the entire emotional turmoil behind his eyes as soon as your name was brought up, which is why he turned to meet her eyes once again and said, “She won’t bother you again, love.”

“You look especially happy today,” Reina commented as her body slithered into the passenger seat of your car. 

She was right, you did look happy and you felt it, too. After the conversation with your mother—the unmangling of a burden of emotions between mother and daughter—you felt as though a weight had finally been lifted off your shoulders. The small conversation with Satoru felt like a faraway memory, one which your mind didn’t feel the need to unpack and decode anytime soon because, as Reina had said, he was a taken man. He had a girl at home, and that scratched away any possibility of you and him ever being anything, even friends, because you were engaged to him at one point.

Did that fact hurt? To a whole different level, but you weren’t going to let it tear you down like it had over and over again in the past few months. 

“I’m just happy to be invited to the biggest club opening of the year in Kawasaki,” you replied, giggling as you began driving to the location. This was a date you marked on your calendar months ago in big bold letters that said ‘PARTY CLUB LEVITATE.’ It was mere seconds after you opened the dark papered invitation with gold embossed lettering inviting you to a new club, Levitate’s opening. You had dressed yourself in leather pants that hugged your skin perfectly and a shimmering silver halterneck top that covered everything it needed to and just that.

You and Reina glossed over the fact that both of you would be drinking, which meant neither of you would be in condition to drive back. And, even though there were a few people from your circle who would be there, too, it was a hard guess to assume who wouldn’t be drinking. 

That was a bridge to cross later because as you stepped through the large gates, flashing your pearly whites as you said your name to the security guards, you were overtaken by the instinct to let go completely loose. Within a blur of moments, you’d downed five shots and you were nursing a glass of—what the bartender said was—a fucking expensive glass of hennessy. 

Once you deemed yourself buzzed enough to go onto the dance floor and find Reina, your hips began moving off their own accord. You loved letting go. The music reverberated off the newly-done walls, a sheen of excitement running through the air as everybody had large smiles plastered on their faces. You and Reina’s arms were on each other's shoulders as you both let the heavy thrumming take over. 

At one point of the night, many drinks and dances later, you were sitting comfortably on the high chair in front of three bartenders who made small talk and recommended drinks. They recommended the ‘sinner’s delight’ to you which was a combination of fuck-knows-what, and you had to admit it was delicious. Reina was still on the dance floor, taken with a man that had been giving her googly-eyes all night, and you were merely trying to catch your breath. 

“Hey, stranger.” You heard someone say as the bottom of the chair next to yours scraped against the floor, indicating they were sitting next to you. You, your mind hazy, turned to your side and were stunned to meet a pair of familiar dark eyes. 

“Geto…” you trailed off, and he shook his head as a small smile overtook his lips. 

“I’m out of here if you want, trust me. If you—y’know, don’t wanna talk.”

It was your turn to shake your head, and you did it with vigor. “No, no. Stay. I’ve actually been meaning to get in touch with you.” It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t the whole truth either. You were planning on getting in touch with Geto, you just weren’t thinking about it to the point you’d actually go through with it. “It’s just been crazy hectic recently.”

There was a sad smile on his lips, and you could imagine he was probably thinking that by recently, you had to mean just about a year which clearly meant you were lying. You were lying, but you also felt you had every right to since you and Geto became friends through Satoru, and Geto was always going to choose Satoru if he had to. In fact, he did choose Satoru because from all the posts you saw on Instagram, they were still as thick as thieves. 

“What have you been up to?”

Your mind was blanking, it was a combination of the alcohol and reconnecting with your past, but you tried to go through your timeline since the last time you truly talked to Geto. “I’ve been looking to start a company—or something, I’m not really sure—and my father was helping until… Well, yeah. Right now, though, I’m just helping my mother out with papa’s company and getting stuff in order. Reina and I are actually doing this thing where we read twelve books a month, too, so—” You cut yourself off, realising you were rambling and you felt your cheeks warm up when you noticed Geto was hanging onto each of your words. “I don’t know. Anyways, how about you?”

“I’m sorry. About your dad. I know I wasn’t there for you but—”

You raised your palm, attempting to stop him because you didn’t wanna get too deep into the topic of your father. “No, I know. You called, texted, sent letters, Geto. You don’t have to apologize.” He looked forlorn, and your fingers instinctively reached up to place themselves on top of his own to reassure him. “Trust me.”

Geto took that with as much stride as he could, and attempted to make normal conversation with you. He told you about his art gallery which you knew was picking up since the last time you met him. He asked you for your opinion on some pieces he was looking at, and you tried to give him your best advice. And even though you knew he hadn’t meant to scroll through his camera roll of paintings and accidentally scroll past an image of Satoru and Hana, your lips still curled into a frown because it reminded you he was friends with not just him, but Hana, too. Hana was Geto’s friend the same way you were his, through Satoru. Geto masked his mistake by immediately giving you a backstory of one of the artists, and it did get you interested, but not too distracted from your new realization. 

“Suguru! You made it.” Your head snapped up and you thanked every God above for the intrusion of the new voice. Geto locked his phone and looked up at the same time as you at the blond man whose eyes were crinkled up showing the tiniest hints of a smile. “And you.” His gaze shifted, landing on your figure that was leaning against the table. “Glad to see you made it too.”

You remained silent, unsure of how to respond to a stranger as charming as him. 

“Of course, I did, Nanami,” Suguru said, rolling his eyes lightheartedly.

A lightbulb flickered in your mind and you were instantly on your feet. “Oh, god. I’m L/N Y/N, thank you so much for the invite. The opening is great.” You were standing across the owner of Levitate, and you couldn’t help but drink every feature of his in. He was tall, and if you got any closer to him, you were sure his figure would cast a shadow over you instantly. 

He laughed. “I’m Nanami Kento.” He bowed slightly, and his hand reached out for yours and his fingers gently lifted it up before he grazed his lips over your skin. “The pleasure’s all mine, of course.”

Geto shifted uncomfortably in his seat, and you realized it was probably because neither you nor Nanami were pulling away from the other. You cleared your throat, mustering up an awkward smile as you slid back onto your seat. Your eyes still remained on him, and his remained on you and you found yourself slightly burning warm under his gaze. 

“I gotta go, duty calls,” Geto said over the silence though the music was still going on. He flashed his phone screen that displayed an incoming call from his assistant before he wrapped an arm around your shoulder and pulled you into a side hug. It wasn’t much—not the bone-crushing huge the two of you used to share—but it bloomed a sense of familiarity within you, and you could sense Geto felt the same too because he smiled slightly. “Don’t be a stranger, okay?”

You nodded, overcome with a sense of joy that only occurs after you reunite with somebody that has done you no wrong. 

Nanami bids him goodbye, too, before he slides into the seat Geto was occupying.

“Are you liking the place so far?” he asked, hands gesturing to the surroundings. “I wasn’t sure if I should invite the area’s biggest party animal because you’ve seen many of these kinds of places. But I can at least expect an honest review from you, right?”

You gulped at how he referred to you as a ‘party animal’ and you knew that people had begun seeing you that way over the past few months, too. You weren’t sure if it sat right with you, but you didn’t have anything particular against it. 

“Hmm,” you hummed, trailing a finger over the wood of the table, feigning serious thinking. “I think you could change…” You paused, noticing how his brow went up at your words in curiosity. “Everything. It’s trash.”

He narrows his eyes before he lets out a laugh, and you follow along. His hand lightly covers your knee as the two of you laugh a little too obnoxiously over a joke that was hardly funny, but you blame the ‘sinner’s delight.’

“I thought I’d have to close this place down, no joke,” he said, still between bits of laughter.

You smiled. “Hey, don’t do that. This is my new weekend spot, I’d hate to have it taken away.”

His eyes turned warm and he tilted his head at your comment. “Yeah?”

You nodded, ignoring the feeling of his hand against your knee. “Yeah, to the point you’ll have a drink named after me.”

He blew out a breath as he called the bartender over and whispered something into his ear.

“What was that? You order drugs or somethin’?”

“Oh yeah, the code is strawberry and pickles if you want some.”

“I’m glad to know this place has options, then.”

“No, but I just ordered you a drink you’d like.” When you pointed at your half-full glass of ‘sinner’s delight,’ he shook his head and said, “This one’s not on the menu. Just for you.”

Gojo Satoru always hated meetings.

He hated having to prepare what he would say, and hated even more whenever the conversation didn’t go the way he’d prepared. It wasn’t good that he saw meeting his father as a meeting, but that was what it was. An extremely rage-filled meeting that he was never prepared for because he had no idea what his father would say. 

“Listen, Satoru.” Oh, Satoru was listening, alright. “Mrs. L/N isn’t backing down. I fear she’s taking selling the company off the table.”

“Probably because you told her you didn’t want to buy it and just have it.” Satoru knew his words held bite to them, but that was the only way his father would realize that he can’t merely get whatever he wants. And also because he couldn’t stand talking about your family at all as the memory of the last time they had dinner was still fresh in his memory.

“I said I wasn’t paying the money she asked for, not that I wasn’t paying at all.”

“Father,” he said, letting out a strained breath. “You have to ask, not demand. And I’m not talking about this anymore—it’s not my problem and I’m not getting involved in it.

When Satoru walked out of the office, he realized that he was being harsher on his dad than he ever was. Hana seemed to realize the same, because she froze up when he opened the door and caught her standing a few feet away, probably having heard the entire short conversation. 

He brushed past her, giving her a small smile, towards their shared bedroom but she followed while saying, “Satoru, darling, are you okay?” She followed him to the bed where he laid down, fingers rubbing at his eyes as he tried to alleviate some of the tension away. “Talk to me, Satoru. Are you upset with your father?”

Of course. Of course he was upset with his father because when was he not?

“Hana, please—”

“No, Satoru.” She cut him off and he could barely inhale at her tone. Rarely had she sounded so curt with him, and everytime she did, he wasn’t sure how to pull her out of it except for leaving her alone. He hadn’t been able to figure out the specifics, despite it being many months since they’ve been married. “You’ve been acting off for the past week, and it started after dinner at the L/N’s. Did something happen?” “No.”

“Then what is it?”You. It was you who he couldn’t get out of his mind. He couldn’t forget how you’d once and for all, completely solidified that you and him were over. He couldn’t forget that he could’ve tried harder. He couldn’t forget that he could’ve explained everything. He could see that you were still seeking closure, and he knew he should give it to you but he couldn’t have. Not unless he wanted you to fall down the path of having to heal all over again. Because of him.

[summerrain123]

I wanna talk about the conversations Padmé had with Sola in the AOTC novel, and they how clearly confirm that Padmé’ first and last love was always just Anakin 🥺 of course we know Anakin felt a deep connection with Padmé the moment she walked into Watto’s junk shop, and has loved her for 10 years, so she’s indefinitely his first and last. But on the flip side, is the truth for Padmé as well.

(Of course, I’m not counting adolescent crushes she had when she was a kid, because that’s not “love.”)

*•..•*.•*•..*•.*

Sola in the AOTC novel has a conversation with Padmé about how she never thinks about settling down and wonder if she’s ever even wanted a family, and clearly Sola thinks the concept is foreign to her sister because she never speaks on such things nor has she ever expressed the desire to want more (despite that we know Padmé does want these things.) because Padmé was always heavily focused with duty rather than getting involved with someone.

Padmé even tries to deny it when Sola insists that settling down with someone is something she needs and wants but finds that she can’t when she’s faced with the reality of it. This clearly indicates Padmé’ mindset all her life, trying to justify to herself that she doesn’t need to settle down and find love, start a family. She tries to convince herself that she’s okay and content with living her life in duty. Having not found anyone to love her whole life, she thinks she’s immune and not needing of matters like this, and yet she still finds it hard to deny the desire when her sister poses the question.

Padmé eventually gives the idea some thought when she’s reunited with Anakin again, because up until now, she’s never in her life before gave into “wanting more”. Her life was always choosing duty and career over her desires. Or to put it more accurately lacking the conviction for that desire because nobody in her life before Anakin could make her.

Padmé even so much as remembers Sola’s words of “finding love” and “settling down” the minute Anakin comes back into her life, admits that she found the idea more tempting than it had ever been. Because now, finally, Padmé truly had found someone to desire and fight for (even if she doesn’t yet realize it yet, because he’s a Jedi, and she’s a Senator.)

After Padmé brings Anakin home to meet her family (something which Sola confirms Padmé had never done before with another boy 😏) Sola pulls her aside to talk about Anakin with Padmé, because she so clearly sees the sparks flying between them. Advising her sister to give the idea some thought, because as Sola says Padmé thinks “being a girlfriend and a Senator, aren’t mutually exclusive.”

Sola confirms that Padmé just needs to “give into her desire” and that she’s always so “tied up in responsibilities”. Never leaving room for “more”.

And the most pivotal part of Sola and Padmé’ conversation about her quickly growing feelings for Anakin, Sola corroborates that whatever Padmé is “feeling” is something “new” to her, she knows her sister has never felt this way about anyone before Anakin, and she knows she’s afraid. Padmé is weary because Anakin is a Jedi, but more importantly Padmé is afraid of her own feelings for Anakin too, because she herself also knows she’s never felt this way for anyone, her whole life was all politics and that’s all Padmé knows and is comfortable with, at this point. Sola then she tries to reassure Padmé that it’s a wonderful thing despite that it’s a new sensation her sister is going through. Padmé at this point even acknowledges that denying what her sister is saying wouldn’t be honest.

This is why Anakin and Padmé’ love was so pure, before they got together, their lives were entirely about duty and responsibility. And as Anakin and Padmé have stated in other SW novels, their lives before each other, belonged to something lesser then their true selves and the people they were before didn’t matter, as it took away from their individualities. After getting together they became two halves of one soul. They’re stronger together. Nobody {before one another} was able to do this for them.

They’re truly each others “one and only”, or “first and last.” 🌟

[xxsabitoxx]

“Dating” Dabi

~Dabi x Fem! Reader~

Warnings: SPOILERS, suggestive themes, mentions of violence, unhealthy relationship themes and toxic behaviors

A/N: this is my second time posting MHA content and idek what made me wanna write this but I’ve been in a Dabi mood ever since watching “Dabi’s dance” lol. I hope I captured his character well since this is the first time I’ve ever written for him :o

Blue text = You | Purple Text = Dabi

The league liked to say you two were dating, though you were fairly certain that he didn’t see it that way at all

Something was always hanging heavy on his mind, yet you’d never been able to get him to speak up about it

You’d bicker often, call each other names, but usually it was nothing serious. Eventually you found yourself “falling” for the scar covered man

Your pent up feelings came pouring out of you one night, standing with him on the roof of a building where nobody would be able to see either of you

You could still remember his cigarette smoke lingering in the air as you poured heart out to a man who simply couldn’t care less.

“I appreciate it… but I’m not looking for love.”

“I figured, but it was killing me not to tell you.”

You had felt a bit defeated, embarrassed even for letting Toga convince you it wouldn’t hurt to just tell him

“Though… I wouldn’t mind someone sharing my bed.”

Your self pity party came to a screeching halt, eyes wide as you looked at him.

“I’m not looking for anything serious. Just someone to keep me company…”

You watched him inhale before puffing the smoke out between his lips, eyes surveying the city around you.

You knew what he was implying, hell you were close to nearly screaming out yes

You were a villain just like him, there was no future for you that would allow you to settle down or have a boyfriend or anything domestic of that sort

You were willing to play pretend if he was

“So you’re saying… friends with benefits.”

He snapped his finger, chuckling softly. “Pretty much.”

For a man that claimed he wasn’t looking for love, that he wasn’t capable of even feeling those emotion, he certainly knew how to pretend.

He almost had you believing that his words were truth

Perhaps it had been the heat of the moment talking, but you’d never heard him talk so highly of anyone, not even Shigaraki.

“You’re taking me so well… fuck if I knew you’d wanted me this bad earlier…”

On that very rooftop, where nobody could see you, Dabi fulfilled your desires.

Your relationship hadn’t changed at all, you still bickered, you still called each other names, now you just shared a bed on nights were you were both lonely

He was still emotionally unavailable, but more talkative with you and honestly you didn’t mind it one bit

Deep down you knew he was simply using you, getting his stress out by using your body

But you couldn’t exactly say that you weren’t using him for the same reason

It would take about six months of this relationship before Dabi kissed you outside of sex

Just as you had caught him off guard that night on the roof, he caught you off guard alone at the bar in your hideout.

“I told you I wasn’t in the mood…”

“Neither am I.”

“Then why did you…”

He shrugged “felt like it.”

He was so cut off from his emotions, so much so that he truly couldn’t offer you an explanation even if had one

You didn’t push, instead you busied yourself with your drink and tried to forget about it

Dabi wouldn’t let you though, stealing kisses when nobody was around and finding your embarrassed face to be quite amusing

Dabi didn’t realize he cared for you until you came back to the hideout one night a bloodied mess.

Though, even then, care was pushing it. If anything he felt protective… something he’d honestly never felt before

Sure he wanted to keep the other members of the LoV alive, but you? Seeing you messed up bothered him

“What the fuck happened?”

“Wasn’t the heroes… some grimy group of wanna be thugs.”

“Wanna be thugs but they fucked you up like this?”

He was fuming, hand griping your forearm tightly as you tried to move away from him

“They caught me off guard, one of ‘em had a powerful quirk. It doesn’t matter now, they’re dead.”

That gave him some satisfaction but not nearly enough

“Did you make them suffer?”

You cracked a smile despite the pain radiating through your body “Of course I did.”

That night you saw a side of him you didn’t think he had, it was quiet and gentle as he tended to your wounds.

Protective even, that night he had kept you close to his side as you slept.

For once in his life, his blinding hatred was subsiding just a bit, enough to let some other emotion seep out.

[delopsia]

Idk I'm just still feeling soft about childhood friends to lovers with rhett 🥺

Ugh, I miss this concept :( I'm ashamed to admit that it took me a remember which fic I wrote this trope in.

Childhood Friend!Rhett who has been bound to your side from the moment you first met on the playground. Who wore his dad's old cowboy hat and was so much tinier than the other kids his age. Got into trouble for punching the boy who stole your bracelet at recess (he never really learned from those "don't speak with your fists" talks 🙄).

He's there when your date stands you up at freshman homecoming and chases away your tears with ice cream from the shop across the street. He waits by the phone the next year, just in case you need a shoulder to cry on again. You never call, but he's happy that you had fun, even if he doesn't understand why the new guy on your arm makes him feel sour.

You're the first and only person he tells when he enters the rodeo; bull riding. The one sport that frightened your young heart the most, but you scrounged enough money for a ticket, all to see him fall off before the eight-second buzzer sounded.

Weekend after weekend of hopes and traveling, just his best friend, you had called yourself. Because best friends beg to go to weekend rodeos together and sleep on top of each other in the back seat.

They get scolded for snuggling into the same bed and getting separated, you in Cecelia's bed and Rhett in Royal's. Spent too many nights sneaking out of the room to walk around the hotel and texting beneath the covers, because his folks go to bed early, but you two weren't done talking yet.

Because best friends do nothing but think about each other during senior prom, and their eyes grow glassy when they realize their paths split the moment they walk across that crudely built stage. Two hearts who both long to escape this old town, but only one has been given the opportunity to.

Childhood best friend Rhett who would call you every chance he got until suddenly your schedules began to clash, and late-night chats dissolved into missed call notifications at odd hours and short, awkward talks that struggled to grow beyond a 'How are you?'

Two old friends who don't speak anymore, until two horrible breakups happen on the same day, and suddenly, you have something in common again. You rant and you cry and you listen,

Maybe you're friends again. Or maybe friends isn't what your hearts have always longed for.

Maybe the reason you've never enjoyed kissing your dates is because your lips have forever craved the roughness of a cowboy who kisses like he's starved. Maybe all of Rhett's midnight ventures have never lasted past dawn because nobody has ever looked at him the way that you do.

Childhood best friend Rhett who flounders when he realizes you've come to one of his rodeos again, not because of the flowers in your hand but because he's almost forgotten what you look like. And it's like meeting you for the first time all over again.

Except this time, he's not the tiny little boy on the playground, running around with his dad's cowboy hat anymore.

No, he's strong now. Bigger. The only reason he tilts his hat up is because he doesn't want it to knock you in the head when he leans in, and maybe kissing you is the only thing he's ever truly needed.

There's nothing stopping you from clinging to him as he backs you into the wall. Nobody to scold you two for stumbling into a cheap hotel room and falling into the same bed.

Childhood best friend Rhett, who shyly kisses you in the morning, unsure if this is a boundary he's still allowed to cross and is pleasantly thrilled when you pounce on him. Who gets teary-eyed when he realizes you can't stay in Wabang and somehow convinces you to spend one more night with him.

Childhood best friend Rhett giggles when you adorn him with the shiny new title of boyfriend. His cheeks too rosy, and smile too big for him to formulate a single word.

Boyfriend Rhett, who ventures out of Wabang to see you every weekend and gets along with your friends as well as you do. You start coming to his rodeos again, that truck bench seat becomes your favorite place for post-ride snuggles, and his buddies complain about how much he's talked about you.

The riders are so sick of seeing him rush up to kiss you after a ride that their barking and jeers have dissolved into fake gagging and taking bets on whether he'll propose when he wins the finals again.

Boyfriend Rhett, who moves into a cozy little house with you and turns red when he realizes you've found old elementary school photos. He hates those old braces his momma used to wear, and no amount of kisses will get him to think otherwise. Those late phone calls have become mid-movie chats, and late-night hotel adventures have blossomed into driving around town until drowsiness threatens to kick in.

Rhett who breaks into tears during the middle of your first big argument because his raised voice made you jump, and scaring you is the last thing he ever wants to do. He breaks his hand in a bar fight when someone knocks your glass out of your hand, and it turns out to be that kid he decked in elementary school recess.

Sweet Rhett, who panics in the emergency room until you're allowed into the room. And Rhett who drops the engagement ring because that clunky cast got in the damn way and doesn't even get to ask you to marry him because you're both too busy laughing.

Fiance Rhett whose buddies text you their complaints because he still won't shut up about you, and becomes deeply upset when his buddy Archie hides his phone during his bachelor party. He's never quite understood the whole separate party thing because its so much more fun when everyone is all together. He disappears sometime during the middle of it and turns up with mud clinging to his boots.

Childhood best friend Rhett who never leaves your side on your wedding day and is more than happy to go with whatever last-name decision you have chosen, so long as he gets to share it with you. Who kisses the icing off your cheek and rolls his eyes when you scoop some up and dab it onto his nose.

Husband Rhett who accidentally tears his suit when he tries to stretch and lets you rip those buttons clean open the moment you're alone. It takes you two days to realize he's planted both of your favorite flowers in the garden, and he'd tell you more about them if he weren't about to go on a plane for the first time.

Your old childhood best friend, who loves you more than life itself and still follows you around like a lost puppy, even if he sees you every day. Now you're the one with an oversized cowboy hat, stolen clean off his head, and Rhett's too fond to do anything but smile at you.

It's only a matter of time before you notice the little bracelet he's hidden in your bag.

Send me Rhett and/or Bobby asks 💐

[xxfanfiction-emo-trinityxx]

Away From Preying Eyes - Mikey Way x Reader

Pairing: Mikey Way x Reader (can be read as any gender, no pronouns used) Genre: angst to fluff/hurt comfort Word Count: 2 851 Warnings: loooots of kissing; lack of communication, use of y/n Summary: The way Mikey keeps hiding your relationship causes doubts for his feelings to rise A/N: As per popular demand… I wrote this some two years ago I think. There are a few more stories, that I should proofread and publish… someday. Also i just realised i haven't published anything since the last chapter of Killjoys... oops. sorry.

Mikey’s lips were soft on yours, kissing you sweetly. It had been literally weeks since he had last kissed you like this, all the times in between having been hurried, squeezing as much passion into a short kiss as possible.

But now you could tell he was taking his time, his hands on your waist as you were leaning against the side of the bus, his tongue swiping over your lips lazily. One of your hands was buried in his back pocket, and you almost smiled into the kiss as you remembered the look he had given you, when you had done so: surprised at your boldness, intrigued and definitely a little turned on.

It really was unfortunate that you had to sneak around like this, holding hands and sharing kisses and whispered compliments only when nobody was around who could have witnessed it. It had all started out at the beginning of tour, when after the set, which had been weirdly emotional for all of you, Mikey had pulled you aside, into the narrow space between two curtains, and kissed you for the first time. That’s how it had started, the sneaking around.

You had been more than thrilled at this development, after all you had liked Mikey for a long time, and it was exciting to have a secret the others didn’t know about. It felt like a game of hide and seek, and until about two weeks ago you had not minded the secrecy at all. But then Frank’s girlfriend Jamia had come to visit.

The two of them were definitely not the over the top, love-dovey couple, but you couldn’t help but notice the way Frank would kiss her hair absentmindedly while listening to someone else talk, or how she would hook her thumb in one of his trousers’ belt loops while they were walking or standing next to one another. It made you wonder what it would be like to have this with Mikey, and slowly doubts began raising, doubts you really didn’t want to have.

What was this to Mikey? Did he even see this as a relationship, or was it just a fun thing at the side?

Until then you had always assumed you were a couple, as valid as Frank and Jamia, even if nobody knew. But maybe that was the problem. Nobody knew. Even if Mikey wanted to be with you, properly, more than just a quick make-out session in the long, empty corridors of an arena, or deserted hotel hallways, why were you telling nobody? Was he… was he ashamed of you? You hated when these thoughts started pressing in, especially when it happened in moments like right now, when his kisses were so sweet and caring, that they left no doubt that this was so much more to him than just fun.

You tried shooing the thoughts away, but before you had truly succeeded, Mikey had pulled away.

“Is something wrong,” he asked, his eyes carefully scanning your face, searching for the smallest hint of discomfort.

“Nothing,” you smiled, hoping it was convincing enough. “Everything’s good.”

“Hey, something’s off, I can tell,” Mikey insisted, and gently nudged his nose against your cheek, an affectionate gesture you had quickly learnt to love. “What’s going on? Talk to me.”

You sighed. At the moment you really would have preferred continuing to kiss him than to talk about the stupid thoughts that had swarmed your mind. And they were stupid, you knew that. Every time Mikey touched you, or looked at you when you were alone, you knew that he cared deeply for you.

Maybe it was just the fear of giving your heart away and being left again. It had happened before.

Mikey cared for you, yes, but how could you know he cared for your as much as you cared for him? Well, you didn’t even expect him to love you the way you loved him. You just couldn’t help but wonder if this was something he wanted to pursue in the long run. And no matter how little you wanted to hear him tell you that it was just something that would last for the duration of this tour, he still deserved to hear your thought on the matter. So, you sighed again, and tilted your head, making space for Mikey as he trailed small kisses along your jaw towards your neck.

“It’s just- I can’t help but wonder-”

You were interrupted by the door to the bus jumping open, no six feet away from you.

Mikey’s reaction was immediate. Quicker than you were able to register, he had clamped one of his hands over your mouth, and – being taller than you – brought himself between the door and you, so you wouldn’t be spotted as easily. Even though the door blocked the view to whoever had opened it.

Those were the moments that really made you feel weird. The moments when Mikey was so quick to cover any and all interaction with you, never letting the others even get the faintest clue as to what was going on between the two of you. And for some reason, this time it stung more than before. If you only knew why he did that, why he was so keen on keeping your relationship, if it even was one to him, secret, then you absolutely wouldn’t have minded it but this way…

“(Y/N), Mikey!”

It was Frank, who had opened the door of the bus, but seemed to make no attempt at stepping outside. “(Y/N), Mikey! We’re gonna watch Dawn of the Dead!”

He waited a moment before he spoke something else, more muffled, and probably directed at the others inside the bus, before the door got pulled closed again.

“Let’s talk another time, alright,” Mikey suggested, still tense, but slightly more relaxed now, and you nodded. “You’ll go first?”

Again you nodded, quickly tucking at your shirt to make sure everything was in order, before you slipped past Mikey and headed towards the door of the bus. It had been stupid to think that Mikey and you might actually have a little time this once. You knew the others were waiting for you to come back from the drug store and for Mikey from saying hi to another band who had parked their bus not too far away on the festival grounds.

But maybe Frank had sort of saved you there. Otherwise, you would’ve had to tell Mikey how you felt about him, and especially after his reaction to almost having been found out just now, that felt even worse than confessing to your best friend.

With a last glance at Mikey, you pulled open the bus door, and climbed inside. Ray and Frank had already settled on the sofa, while Gerard was fumbling around with the TV.

“There you are,” Ray noticed and patted the empty seat next to him. “We already wondered what took you so long.”

“Couldn’t find the damn store,” you whined, dropping down next to Ray.

“Did you at least get what you were looking for,” Frank asked, before telling Gerard to try another button.

“Nope, they didn’t have my brand,” you lied. Of course the truth was that you had never looked for a drug store in the first place, and instead spent the past thirty minutes kissing Mikey. But now you could reuse the drug store excuse for the next time.

“Ugh, that sucks,” Frank rolled his eyes. “Oh, and have you seen Mikey? He’s been MIA since this morning.”

“No clue,” you shrugged, giving your best to sound indifferent. As if you didn’t know he was waiting outside just a little longer before coming in.

Indeed, just as Gerard had found the correct button on the old TV, Mikey opened the door, and with an apologizing hand gesture settled down between his brother and Frank.

While the others were focusing on the movie, you did your best not to look over at Mikey. You knew he had sensed something was up and would not stop asking about it before you told him the truth, and you were not sure you liked that prospect.

~*~

For two days you managed to escape Mikey. Two days in which you always managed to not get out of a situation with others, even though you knew he was waiting for you. You were evading him. Mikey knew that as well as you did. You knew eventually you’d have to talk to him, eventually you would have to ask him what this thing between you meant to him. Two days. And then your luck ran out in a dimly lit hotel corridor.

Mikey had waited in the open door to his room until you tried passing it on the way to yours, when he grabbed your wrist, and dragged you down the corridor and around the next corner. No rooms were here, only the small door to a broom closet. Nobody would look for you back here. And a huge potted plant gave you additional privacy.

You had let out a surprised squeal at him dragging you along all of a sudden, but you got quickly shut up by Mikey’s lips on yours. He was kissing you feverishly, as if it were the last time he ever would get to do it. You couldn’t blame him, after all, god knew what he had to think after you had evaded him for two days, not even allowing him his by now traditional post-show-kiss.

His hands were cradling your face, while he used the length of his body to keep you trapped against the wall, his lips desperately chasing yours. You kissed him back, suddenly not sure anymore how you had managed to deprive yourself of him for the past days.

Only when he was out of breath, did he pull away, leaning his forehead to yours with closed eyes.

“Talk to me,” he begged, his hands falling from your face to your waist, gently holding you there. Not forcefully, never forcefully. Rather the kind of touch that made it clear that he wanted to feel you, wanted you to stay, but would easily allow you to slip away, should you wish to do so. “What happened? What did I do?”

You swallowed thickly, opening your eyes to look at Mikey. His face was so close that you couldn’t focus on him properly, but you could make out his long dark lashes against his smooth skin, the slight stubble that grew on his cheeks. He looked troubled, even with eyes closed and as out of focus as he was right now, you could tell he looked troubled and worried.

“I’m sorry,” you mumbled, making him shake his head slightly.

“No, no. Don’t apologise,” Mikey disagreed. “You pulled away and there has to be a good reason for that. And I know it has to do with me, so don’t apologise, alright? I just- I want to fix it… if you’ll let me. I want to make things okay again. With us.”

“Is that really what you want,” you asked, finally pulling back a little.

Mikey’s eyes opened, and confused he looked at you.

“What?”

“Do you really want us?”

You could see the fraction of an inch that his eyes widened, the shock, the panic setting in, and almost instantly you felt bad for it. But this exact question had been plaguing you for too long now, so you had to ask it eventually.

“Yes, yes of course,” Mikey bubbled out. “Of course I want us. What- why would you think I didn’t?”

Ashamed you looked away. How the hell should you put all those thoughts and feelings into words, this fear of rejection, of just being a side-gig, the fear that he might be ashamed for you. How could you possibly put it into words without making it sound like you thought he was the bad guy in all of this?

A warm hand came up to your chin, and Mikey tilted your head up to look at him again.

“Why would you think I don’t love you?”

His words were like a knife through the heart, and you could feel tears rising.

“I just- you were so insistent on keeping everything a secret, it felt like-”

The moment the words had left your lips, realization hit Mikey and he groaned, and squeezed his eyes together, before he dropped his head backwards into his neck.

“Shit,” he swore quietly, “I knew I should’ve talked to you about it.” He took a deep breath and looked back at you; his brown eyes full of sorrow as they took you in. “It has absolutely nothing to do with you, it’s just- For as long as I can remember I was always Gerard’s little brother. Or My Chem’s bassist. Or Pete’s friend. And I love being these things. I love my brother, and I love the band and I love Pete, even though all three can really get on my nerves sometimes.

“But to other people I’m never more. I’m never Mikey. I’ve had girls want to date me just because then they’d get closer to my brother. As if he’d ever even think about doing something with a girl I was interested in at some point. Or interviewers ask me about everyone in the band but me. And whenever someone shows interest in me, it’s either because of Gee or because of the band.

“But with you I can just be myself, you know? I can just be Mikey. And- fuck, at first, I wasn’t sure if maybe I’m wrong this time too, that you’re just letting me kiss you because we’re in the same band, and maybe this doesn’t actually mean anything to you. But then we were in that studio, and you kissed my hand and I just knew that it you were actually looking at me-”

You remembered that interaction. A radio station had invited the band to record a song with them, and while everyone else had been busy setting up, you had snuck over to Mikey. It had been quick, the way you had taken his hand and pressed your lips to his knuckles.

You had been scared he’d be mad at you, since anybody could have seen, but the urge to show him some sort of appreciation had been overwhelming, and instead of getting mad, his cheeks had been dusted over a slight pink, so that a minute later Ray had asked if Mikey was feeling alright, or if he might be getting a fever.

“I’ve always been looking at you,” you interrupted Mikey quickly, making him smile sadly.

“I knew that then. I knew that, and it was, is, the most precious thing in my life. And I didn’t want to share it. We, the band, we spend so much time on such narrow space. We know literally everything about each other. But this – that you were looking at me for me – this was my secret, and I wanted to protect it so badly from preying eyes… And I completely forgot that to you it had to seem like I didn’t care enough or-”

Mikey broke off, unable to phrase the words both of you were thinking.

“It’s okay-”

“No, it’s not. Because I made you feel like you weren’t desired, and trust me, that’s as far away from the truth as it gets.”

“I made you feel awful too, not telling you what I was thinking and avoiding you for two days.”

“At least now I know why. So, if you want to tell the others, then I’m fine with that. I don’t feel quite ready for the rest of the world to know, but if that’s what you want, I’ll learn to-”

“It’s not,” you interrupted him. “It’s not what I want. We don’t even have to tell the others, not now at least. I wanted to know why we were keeping it a secret, and now I do. Hell, I can even understand how you feel, parts of it at least. And it’s okay for me to do it at your pace, as long as you promise it won’t last just for this tour.”

“I never meant for it to just last for this tour,” Mikey shook his head in disbelief. “Not with you. I love you too much for that.”

That was the second time now that he had said he loved you. Trying to keep your smile in check, you bit your lip before answering.

“I love you too, Mikey.”

He smiled then, brighter than you had ever seen him smile before, and leant in again, kissing you once more, slower, calmer this time, but with unguarded love, and still smiling, both of you finally certain that your feelings for one another were reciprocated.

A few meters away, Frank silently closed the door to his hotel room, giving a thumbs up to his band mates, letting them know Mikey and you had made up. They’d continue playing the oblivious fools for as long as Mikey and you needed them to.

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[kimbapisnotsushi]

some of the best/funniest moments in house of many ways, the final book in the howl's moving castle trilogy:

charmain convincing peter that waif is magical just so that he HAS to share food with her

when aunt sempronia and mrs. baker check on charmain after a few days and mrs. baker says that she feared charmain left a window open, charmain goes "no no i closed it" and then IMMEDIATELY goes, in her head, 'fuck. peter is DEFINITELY opening it'

peter nearly coming in on aunt sempronia's and mrs. baker's visit and being HORRIFIED by their "respectability" and charmain shooing him off by pretending he's waif, made even funnier when you remember that at this moment the kitchen is being invaded with angry kobolds and peter had to WAIT with them for charmain to finish

honestly the entirety of the visit had me in hysterics it was amazing

okay this isn't even funny but when you reread and realize aunt sempronia was 100% serious when she said nobody needed to fear for charmain when waif was around --

"i told them that you were in charge and they had to wait until you had finished being polite to those witches." "witches!" said charmain. "one of them was my mother!" "well, my mother's a witch," peter said. "and you only had to look at the proud one in silk to see that she was a witch."

peter getting defensive about gardening i LOVE this kid

charmain suggesting that peter sit on the trolley to find out where things disappear to when they put stuff on it

the supremely random fact that, for some reason, people of high norland are great on clocks and charmain's house itself had seventeen of them

waif running after charmain every time charmain tries to get her to stay at the house on her first day of helping the king in the library

the fact that princess hilda and the king wanted to poach HOWL?? howl jenkins pendragon??? the most pathetic cringefail man in all of ingary??? which sure they don't realize. but the idea that they want to after everything WE know is so fucking funny

sophie struggling with the butter dripping down her fingers

"charmain could not think why mrs. pendragon was staring at him in such horror. he was surely a truly enchanting child. and what long, curly eyelashes! 'with my husband and his fire demon,' mrs. pendragon finished. her face had gone fiery red, and she glared at the little boy across the toddler's head."

"i have no opinion of men's ability to manage anything." - princess hilda 2023 (or 2008, when this was published)

anyways this entire thing with 'twinkle' was fucking hilarious oh my god

SOPHIE STAMPING HER FOOT AND CALLING HOWL "disgustingly pretty" WHEN HOWL ASKS HER IF SHE THINKS HE'S PRETTY AT ALL

the whole pipe scene when charmain gets home and everything is flooded. also, charmain using a bath brush as a wand

howl sitting very politely on the roof waiting for charmain to rescue him while charmain is panicking about getting him down

THE FACT THAT HOWL IS APPARENTLY SCARED OF HEIGHTS BUT CLIMBED THE ROOF ANYWAYS JUST SO HE COULD TALK TO CHARMAIN IN PRIVATE

bakery apprentice timmy cuddling waif when charmain comes back out to the front and her thinking it means they won't be lifelong enemies after all

all the rocking horses. for protection, obviously

prince ludovic using the kobolds to steal the money from high norland and timminz going "well, nobody asked" when charmain wanted to know why he hadn't told anyone

when all the lubbockins reveal themselves and literally everything dissolves into absolute chaos, particular moments including: - the king and princess hilda shouting "not in the library!!" so imperiously that the lubbockins actually changed direction - "i had a miserable childhood, nobody loved me" and "don't listen to him it's all a pose" - morgan revealing that prince ludovic wears a wig - HOWL SWITCHING PLACES WITH MORGAN, NOT AS TWINKLE BUT HIMSELF, SO THAT LUDOVIC FINDS HIMSELF WITH AN ARMFUL OF HOT WIZARD WHO IMMEDIATELY PUNCHES HIM IN THE FACE. FUCK YEAH HOWL - to which ludovic whines "how DARE you do that!" and howl goes "bad luck" and punches him AGAIN - waif committing murder, twice

peter barreling into the room long after everything had ended and feeling quite proud of himself for finally getting some magic right, about twenty pages from the end of the book

and when he DOES come barreling in he immediately narrows in on charmain ("i knew she was making a stupid fuss, she's never sensible about things")

[mandatory-blog-stop-asking]

Weird thing, but I miss Alfred.

It's shaping up to be one of the longest "deaths" of a famous, legacy secondary character, at least in modern DC history. And in that way, it served the narrative pretty well, subverting the usual problems with death in comics. Sure, it was all over an ego trip some bad former Editor in Chief decided to have on a whim; King didn't really plan to kill off Alfred so nonchalantly and it wasn't meant to stick. People know that, it's well documented and they even had foreshadowing that he was Clayface being a part of the plan. So the fact that it sticks should be lauded, right? This is, after all, how death works.

And, sure, it made some characters grow. Bruce, specifically, moving to a brownstone and taking care of his son all by himself is a genuinely cool idea and I'm enjoying seeing him bond with Damian in ways he never bonded with the others. Dick as a billionaire philanthropist dedicating his newfound fortune to Alfred, his late sponsor, is a genuine stroke of genius. Actual change and progress in comic books, holy shit. A feast Spider-Man fans don't even remember how it tastes!

Yet it sometimes feels like you're reading a Batman book in an empty house, because Alfred is gone, and it was over nothing. An unplanned death that took him suddenly with no real gravitas or preparation. Not exactly the same -- okay, not the same by a wide margin, -- but it kinda reminds me of how Buffy fans reacted to The Body.

The character was here, and now they're not, and it genuinely feels empty and real in a way you're not really expecting popcorn media to feel. There's no power fantasy or melodrama or anything. Someone broke his neck and threw his body on the floor, and that's the end of Alfred Pennyworth.

And like, yeah, man, people obviously write stories about other versions that are alive and flashbacks. Nobody is literally gone from comics, things don't move forward *exclusively*, Alfred is a brand unto himself and will never be truly gone. It's the same reason why aging up Jon Kent isn't that big a deal; Super Sons will release as long as someone gets the approval, it's just going to be a flashback. It's fine. But to see the world having to move forward without him has been quite something, you know? People have had big personal moments that he's not there for.

Dick and Barbara got back together, Jason moved to the Hill, Tim got a boyfriend -- it's the kind of stuff these kids could rely on Alfred to talk about, or to help out with, or to simply Be There as a zealous figure for them, and he's just. Not. And the story moves on all the same, yet now it feels like there's a panel missing, somewhere.

Albeit they had like two or three individual times when the actual fucking ghost of Alfred Pennyworth came to say goodbye and peace out to Bruce, I still think it's a pretty solid guess that he'll come back before the end of the decade. The nature of comics means sometimes you need a back from the dead story to keep things fresh, and those can be done extremely well -- Resurrection of Magneto might be the best thing released in the Krakoa era, as far as fully realized minis go. But...

Shit, Alfred missed Damian going to school, you know? That's really sad. I miss Alfred. In a way I'll never miss Uncle Ben or the Wayne couple, I really miss opening a monthly and reading the latest wit out of Alfred's mouth at his silly son and his funny crusade. The nature of comic books being infinite until they're cancelled means this sort of relationship just doesn't get cut like this very often, and I can't recall the last time I *cared* when they tried cutting it.

It will be an awkward day when he comes back and it's back to normal business again, honestly. There's now an understanding of what Batman is without Alfred that I feel they don't have a great way of addressing. Don't really envy the writer who gets the job.

[rustyelias]

This ask/character dissection contains events from Red Valley, including major spoilers, blood and injury, and the fear of death.

*takes a breath*

Okay so I have become some what of a Clive Schill blog of late, and given that Red Valley in of itself isn’t wildly popular, and that Clive Schill is simultaneously the comic relief and antagonist of the show, there aren’t many people to talk about him with.

Initially, he comes off as just an arse. He’s mean to the protagonists, seems to have no remorse for his actions and is generally shown to also just be bad at his job? His main character traits are his “colourful” insults and his status as the Redval sugar daddy.

This doesn’t really change until near the end of season two, at which point he’s noticed Bryony’s treatment of the mc (Warren) and steps in. His concern is framed as a need for Warren to be in the best shape possible, for presenting to the world as a “solution to cryosleep”, but I do think he was also genuinely uncomfortable with the situation and wanted to get Warren out of there.

This all goes tits up when they return to Red Valley and the season finale happens. Won’t go into details but this winds up with Clive getting shot in the knees. Warren has simultaneously had a brain haemorrhage, and Gordon (mc no.2) has also just been shot. The focus is placed on getting the two mc’s inside of cryopods before they both bleed out. Clive is left forgotten on the floor of the lab.

He is eventually helped by someone else, and doesn’t die, but I think this is an incredibly important moment for his character. His entire story revolves around moving up the corporate ladder, and his desire to be the first to crack hypersleep is Always framed as a desire for recognition (and money).

Clive Schill is terrified of being forgotten. This also ties into his fear of death. He is terrified of dying and nobody remembering him. I think this fear translates into why he’s always so loud, so quick to argue and insult. He’s trying to be noticed.

So when he’s left on the floor bleeding out, with everyone else focusing on saving Warren + Gordon, it’s a huge fucking moment for him.

He goes on to form a business partnership with the person who saves him, they make Aloha Eternity, a cruise ship that utilises cryopreservation. He gets his recognition.

And then…

There’s growing unrest surrounding cryogenics. The world is rapidly going to shit thanks to climate change, partially due to big companies like Overhead (this is the one Clive, Bryony and the entire Red Valley team work for). The leaders and higher ups of said companies all plan to hypersleep (in cryopods) for 1000 years until the world’s unfucked itself. Clive helps this happen with the tech development he’s funded.

And when the time comes, he is not offered a place in the cryopods. Instead, he is made CEO of Overhead Industries. He got his fucking dream come true, because he was deemed expendable enough to let die in the real world. (Before this his cruise ship got blown up by terrorists, truly he has nothing)

So yeah uh there are some mildly coherent thoughts about Clive Schill. There is more where that came from but from here the thoughts get a Lot more incoherent.

Such as Bryony referring to Clive as “the shovel bit of the shovel”

She uses him for his status in Overhead and his money.

Also I think Clive is incredibly touch starved. Never comes up in the show because the only time people get close to him is when they’re hurting him (Warren’s headbutt)

Oh and he looks like Alexander J Newall. And Murph from D20. Just a mix of those two.

And he’s a musician. Like a really talented musician. I have no basis for this hc other than the fact I feel it in my soul.

Anyway if you’ve read this thanks so fucking much, and if not it was still great screaming into the pit

raaah!!! i love him! it's been a while since I last listened to red valley but omg! he is such a character to say he is treated like the comic relief or what I called him that prick™️ he has SO much going on!

Bro really gave his whole life to this business only for them to basically leave him to die in the fucked up world :( also the fucking cruise business bsjdjdjjdj

I love how I went from loving him because he was just the worst to loving him because he is a complex character. Gosh after he was shot man :(

jskskxkdkjd he is SO touch staved you get it! you get it!!

“Also he looks like Alexander J newall” oh god oh fuck its him:

Okay yeah after my relisten of rqg I am 100% going to listen to Red Valley

[rainbowsystemblog]

Head space/inner world and how our sys works:

I wanted and actually did record the video you asked about but... translating all that to another language with a really bad video editor to that would be too hard and a long process for us while it's better to write it down and just be able to fix it any moment while nobody will have to look at me talking. I can also add pictures so - it's a win win.

My name is Monty and I'm sort of a gatekeeper in misty system. It wasn't always like that though... We started possibly without head space in our early childhood and most of us been just fragments - only our host was an alter at the time until everyday abuse been too much to handle for her or something bigger/sudden happened that finally formed others into shape. I won't explain whole basics of how OSDD happens because there are plenty of arguments if core exists or the orange theory and such which I don't know enough about as I'm not a doctor nor a scientist. I am unable to recall our infant memories much or at all to say how it exactly looked like but I know our host was there first as a person. Anyway we heard voices that weren't attached to anyone specifically at the time (those who existed) that probably been gatekeepers (because Jack remembers he had specific rules of how to act around the host without seeing anyone) until like elementary school (probably) when our inner world was truly created for the very first time...

Those were barracks in a city ravaged by war. Why's that? Because our trauma affects our inner world. Our pseudomemories/stories, elements of head space, who we are as alters = all that is a mirrored trauma to process it, keep it away from the host (we've been mostly an inner system for almost 30 years) or punish us further. It's symbolism like in a dream or metaphors mostly now. It is possible that most of it happened right when host found out about the system and we officially started fronting so how system worked changed. Before we only had to store things (memories, traits, behaviors, fears etc) or help host - co-con or rarely co-fronting (basically never fronting as she felt loss of control over her body and was freaking out). We were barely noticeable by others thanks to that and yet our host sometimes been wondering what is happening to her (especially when Nat was fronting). But about hs now... most of us been soldiers so that was our job inner. Later, after a big war between elementary and middle school, we got a house that others (fragments) been already living so we joined them. Sometimes we still fought, some others fought for us that didn't belong to our system at the time (one of many sorts of our dormancy that I will explain later in another post), but mostly we had quite normal life as a big family or rather orphanage of aunt Vinnie (alter) that was our gatekeeper from that time probably. House was huge, a bit vintage/victorian, with lots of stairs and rooms - a whole labyrinth I'd say that one could easily get lost in.

You can here see a post with pics we have that remind us of our hs.

We also had NPCs of course - most of them been persecutors, not just background characters, so we wouldn't have to be them as alters. We had animals too but currently we only have horses. We were all "written" - explanation of how we formed and our stories happened plus aunt Vinnie been writing down some important stuff - our host loved books. We touched the host/been close to co-front and some things been attached to us somehow (mentioned parts) later by being ripped off of her (not limbs, dw). Host herself been seen yet unconscious in head space - like a person who sits/lays down there paralysed - sometimes screamed when angry (internal screaming) or walked without looking where but rarely. She didn't saw anything there before finding out about a system - just rarely heard (voices/thoughts that didn't belong to her) or experienced loss of control or felt emotions that weren't her. She didn't remember some stuff of course as well that either we had easier access too or nobody had it until therapy and digging deeper. Some stuff been coming back only as flashbacks while triggered. We had superpowers (reason of trauma) and turn[ed] into animals (our host been fascinated by those but the fact we are them is also a reason of trauma, just her knowledge helped becoming those). We are also angels but don't have our wings at all times. We had spooks - black floating dust/ghosts/clouds that formed into shape that were bleeding black goo - those were fragments but most of them were evil like intrusive thoughts or phobias and bad memories. They were too dangerous to keep though as well as NPCs so we decided after awhile to fix our inner world. I came back from dormancy so I could work on the computer that I left around middle school - it was supposed to help us front and note stuff. I also recently made bots that teleport us so we can faster access the front or other alters. They look like apple shaped drones and float above our heads (not at all times). Sadly us getting rid of NPCs and so persecutors created problems. That is an illness and the fact we didn't process trauma it had to find a way to exist so it made a layer with NPCs for example or made our house/city we lived in even more dangerous - like for example building's wall could swallow you and rooms squash you inside or plants been attacking us etc. which I won't go into details of as it's drastic and personal as well as hard to explain.

Now it's much safer as we worked hard to stabilise our mind. Therapy helped but also overthinking/analysis/autoreflection (which has bad side to it of course too) and leaving toxic relationships that were mostly causing us dissociative attacks for example and provoked our unhealthy behaviors (BPD). We also had ocd and our obsessive thoughts and delusions been stopping us from progress. We have a smaller house that we refused to build due to fact we wanted everything to happen naturally. It's just a fixed version of the old one. Still we have our old ballroom we had parties in but now it's mostly an ice rink to skate. We might draw you that building but because rainbow system lives in the city away from us we are unsure if they will move in and everything will shift again. While some alters been going into dormancy or falling apart then also their rooms been disappearing...

*We have problems with aphantasia so it's hard for us to see details so we use pictures of people similar to us to be able to visualise ourselves better in our head.

Somebody once asked me how it feels to see hs. It's a bit like an image from a projector or like when you imagine things in your head but not at all times - only when I try to look. Reminder - head space isn't imagination as we have no control over others and what is happening there. We still can imagine stuff but those don't happen in the inner world. Not every system has a head space and some therapists say it's good to create one but it's probably better to look for one first instead of making one above the one that can be hidden. It's good to look at this particular scene to know how it looks inside and outside but careful! it's drastic.

[worriedvision]

Omg I loved "his first love"! Can we get another part? Maybe one where all the other forest rangers are like giving nari the side eye knowing he was wrong but they don't wanna pass him off and get fired?

So I'm gonna do this as a set up of sorts lol, gender neutral reader. There's gonna be 2 endings (again wow).

--

Everyone heard that argument he had with you. Well, it was mostly him shouting at you. He didn't think too much of it, in fact he still believed that you were only dating him so you could brag about being his. He didn't believe that you were genuinely interested in him.

He waits for you to approach him the next time, at first he's wanting you to apologise to him for taking advantage of how much he wanted to have that feeling of affection. He wasn't one to focus on relationships, and you were always the one who initiated stuff.

You don't approach him, why would you after he showed you a side that terrified you? You didn't dare approach him for anything, work related or not. When you thought of him, you did think of the happy times, but you'd always remember when he glared daggers into your vulnerable soul. The way he refused to believe that you truly loved him, it caught you off guard considering he was usually the most patient man.

The forest rangers notice you don't ask for help even when you needed it, and they'd come along to help you even if you didn't ask them. Tighnari doesn't say anything about it, he thought you were probably too embarrassed to approach him after he called you out.

But then one of the forest rangers that knew both of you decided to be bold.

"Apologise to them." They advise Tighnari. "Seriously, even if you two aren't together anymore, you still need to make things right."

Tighnari crosses his arms, his ears pointing down as he asks them why they thought he was the one to apologise.

"Did you think about what we heard?" The forest ranger decides to keep going. If they didn't say it, nobody would. "I want you to seriously sit and think about what you said in the heat of the moment. I want you to also consider if they would typically do that."

The forest ranger walks away, Tighnari taking a seat in his chair and clasping his hands together as he takes a moment to be objective.

He was the one who shouted at you, he was the one that accused you based on his insecurities, he was the one that scared you. He didn't register the fear in your eyes until now, how silent you fell when he turned to glare at you once more.

Now that he thought about it, you stopped talking to him completely, and it made him feel even more bitter inside. He was thankful the other forest rangers would go to assist you, but not once did you even consider getting him. He knew he was the best candidate for assisting in work related problems, but you didn't approach him. You didn't dare look in his direction.

He thinks back, once again, to when you ran out. That light sniffle that escaped you, and that one gasp that one of the forest rangers let out.

The other forest rangers didn't tell him off because of his position, he realised. The forest rangers almost seemed scared themselves despite not being involved. It was like he saw your fear in them as well, and it was only after the forest ranger ballsy enough to call him out that he was able to sit down and think of his actions.

He stands up, rubbing his eyes, before he starts to look for you.

[wordsandrobots]

Contact

[@lilenui informs me today (8 April) is Shino/Yamagi day. Actually, they informed me of this via a post four days ago, which proves I can write fast when I have a looming deadline, since I bashed this out inside 24 hours.

Anyway, in honour of today, here's a flip-side piece to accompany Falling for a Fool. Content warnings for extremely bi himbo energy and general dumbassery.]

————

It shouldn't have meant anything.

It probably didn't.

Touching other people was such a normal part of everyday life, Shino barely thought about it most of the time. A nudge here, a knock there, the clasped hand or bumped fist, a slap on the back for a job well done or a kick to the ass for being an idiot. He couldn't count how often he'd lifted one of the little guys where they couldn't reach, or knocked about with those in his weight class, or simply slung his arm around a familiar pair of shoulders just because.

What was there too think about?

Why couldn't he get this time out of his head?

The battle with the mobile armour had been intense. A giant monster robot from hundreds of years ago on a rampage that nearly ended with Chryse getting flattened, that was only stopped because Mikazuki went all-out. When the dust settled, Tekkadan were heroes once again. They'd done something nobody had since the Calamity War and by rights it ought to have been the start of bigger and bigger things, putting them on the path to truly becoming the kings of Mars.

Hadn't worked out that way, but still: they got to prove how awesome they were!

And in the middle of it all, Shino headed out to fight in a mobile suit he barely knew how to use.

Yamagi had been pissed at being dragged into the cockpit to work the new Ryusei-Go's equipment. He didn't wait to start bombarding Shino with homework afterwards, insisting he wasn't about to take a job as a full-time operating manual. That sucked because reading a mountain of technical mumbo-jumbo was more likely to send Shino to sleep than help him understand the rail-guns and the transformation mechanism and so on, but he supposed it was fair.

He'd practised hard until he could remember which buttons did what, first try.

His record now stood at switching to and from shelling-mode three times in a row without throwing anything out of whack, which had earned him a rare nod of approval.

So all in all, the situation worked out well, for him specifically. He got a Gundam to call his own, did his part in the battle, bringing down a canyon to split the mobile armour off from its drone swarm, and Yamagi was still talking to him despite everything. Sure, with what had happened since, it felt like a very small achievement in amongst a storm of massive disasters, but you took what you could, right? It definitely wasn't nothing, to finally have the strength to protect his friends.

Yet the memory kept worrying at him, like a stone in his boot.

Not the whole thing, just one particular part.

Because there'd been this moment, on-route to the target, where he'd needed to swerve. He can't remember what he was avoiding, exactly. An outcropping or a crater, some common hazard of speeding across a rocky desert, pinging on his sensors. He'd done what he always did, throwing the Ryusei-Go into a sharp sideways jink, and normally that'd be that. Only, he had another person stuffed in there with him and when he hit the dodge harder than he'd meant to –

The cockpit rocked as he regained his balance.

And Yamagi's hand struck his shoulder.

Which made sense. Yamagi was sitting across Shino's knees, folded practically in half, and there wasn't anything else for him to have braced against. It was that or being pitched across the cabin. In any case, Shino hardly felt the touch. Yamagi was not what you'd call heavy, or especially strong. He could've pushed with all his might and it'd likely have done very little had Shino been standing up, much less sitting down with a back-rest behind him.

But Yamagi didn't push.

He flinched away and hunched up, and began tapping furiously at his data pad.

Now, true, Yamagi wasn't the world's biggest fan of being manhandled. A holdover from how he got treated when he first joined the CGS and quite a lot of the time after then, before Orga took charge. Probably from being a small, slim little guy who worked for a military company in general, really, especially since getting so badly sick from the Alaya-Vijnana surgery meant he never took to the training. It was understandable, if he was sensitive over getting shoved around

Shino did his best to respect that, even when circumstances meant he needed to physically move Yamagi about the place.

Yamagi usually let him know if he went to far, with glares that had him regretting his life choices.

Except this wasn't that. Yes, Shino did catch hold of Yamagi as well, to stop him going flying, and got shrugged off for his trouble, but he was fairly sure that hadn't been the reason for the reaction. No glare, for one thing. Could it run both ways? Did a dislike of being touched make you hate touching? That didn't sound right. Then again, Shino couldn't say he'd ever paid much attention to who or what Yamagi went around touching. Maybe it was just something he'd failed to notice?

No, hang on, Yamagi helped him put on Alaya-Vijnana connector blocks all the time.

Surely he'd have noticed if that made Yamagi uncomfortable?

If they hadn't been fighting a life-or-death battle, and if Orga hadn't chosen that exact moment to come on the comm to tell them to get a move on, Shino would probably have asked Yamagi what was up then and there. He regretted missing the chance. He got too caught up in the high of victory to remember to do it when they made it back home, only thinking he should after Yamagi had already shoved the pad into his hands and hurried off, boots dangling from his…

Wait.

Did Yamagi run away from him?

He replayed the scene in his head, trying to recall the exact expression with which Yamagi delivered the instruction to read the damn files already. He'd had his head lowered, fringe falling across his face, making it hard to see fully and meaning it was even harder to picture in hindsight. Vaguely annoyed and despairing? That wasn't exactly unusual. Sometimes, Shino genuinely wondered why Yamagi had put up with him for so long.

That was probably why Shino was worrying about this.

He and Yamagi made such a good team, he hated the idea of anything coming between them.

Was it just a gross place to put your hand? Checking for himself, running a finger around the point under his collar bone where the slab of muscle on his chest gave way to his arm, there didn't seem to be any strange bumps or warts or whatever. Maybe the bare skin felt bad? Mobile suit cockpits weren't much better than mobile workers when it came to overheating and getting ugly-sweaty. Except Yamagi had been wearing gloves…

And Shino never got complaints from people who touched him there while working up a nicer kind of sweat!

The thought wrapped around to hit his brain like a live grenade.

No. No! Absolutely not. Why would he think for even a second that that had anything to do with it? Sure, yeah, it was technically an intimate place to touch, and looking at things from that angle – the angle where he hadn't been wearing a shirt and he and Yamagi were closer than they'd ever been before in their lives – then the connection wasn't a totally wild one to make. Under other circumstances, for other people, it might have been sensible. But come on!

Did Yamagi seriously think Shino thought he'd been trying to cop a feel?!

That was crazy!

For starters, Shino would never think that. Tekkadan was his family and as far as he was concerned, that put everyone else in it squarely off-limits when it came to any sort of intimate touching, giving or receiving. That was just… obvious. Orga said they were a family, and Shino cared about the guys around him the way you were supposed to care about your brothers, so of course he wasn't about to start leaping to all the wrong conclusions just because –

It suddenly occurred to him he hadn't ever checked if the others took the same meaning from what Orga said as he did.

Perhaps he needed to change angles again.

Yamagi being into guys wouldn't be the most surprising thing. All the crap the First Group bastards used to sling around aside, it was hard not to notice how uninterested Yamagi was in girls. Or at least, he wasn't interested in going out on the town to pick them up. Like Orga, except without the feeling the point was flying over his head. Yamagi seemed to understand sex as a concept, he just didn't appear to want it with the kind of people who showed up in Shino's magazines.

Didn't he ask if Shino was into girls once? As though there could be any doubt!

…had he maybe wanted a different answer?

OK, this was starting to feel weird. Now Shino was wondering if he'd ever seen Yamagi look at someone in a way that suggested he wanted to get it on with them! He was always so quiet and serious, it was hard to picture him being horny. Or giving anybody the time of day, honestly. The closest he got was maybe how he'd looked when they were putting the Alaya-Vijnana into the Graze Custom. The intense concern he'd shown over the pain the testing caused Shino.

Since then, he'd made it a mission to always perfectly tune Shino's A-V system, to avoid it hurting him again.

Did… did he do that for anyone else?

An itch spread across Shino's scalp as he took stock of the sheer amount of stuff he relied on Yamagi to do for him. Hell, there hadn't been a question that he'd be the one to head off to the Saisei to get Gundam Flauros fixed and turned into Ryusei-Go the Fourth. Shino bought the paint out of his own pocket but he'd known he could rely on Yamagi to make sure his new machine came back a roaring pink. Shino knew he could rely on Yamagi, full-stop, with pretty much everything.

Which was great!

Having a comrade – a friend – who'd make sure he got what he needed to fight the way he wanted was amazing!

Why though? Why did Yamagi do that? Shino was always bugging him with new ideas and he was always going along with them, despite his better sense. Sometimes, he'd explain bluntly why a suggestion was stupid and impossible given their resources, then come back an hour later with a plan to get close to something like what Shino wanted, and the result would turn out even better. In fact, the only time he'd flat-out refused was…

When they talked about funerals.

When Yamagi said he'd not make ice flowers bloom for Shino because they were too expensive.

Shino got the strong urge to slap himself across the face. He'd known he was being given the brush-off back then, it just hadn't occurred to him that was because – because, well, how could it have been? 'Cos when you started bringing in things like… then you weren't talking about sex any more, were you? And he could deal with somebody thinking he was hot, he could handle them being embarrassed over that, but if it was more than just a guy into guys being into a hot guy –

He was getting ahead of himself.

Way, way, way ahead of himself.

So what if Yamagi's flinch could possibly, maybe be taken as a response to… that. What other clues were there? He hadn't squirmed or blushed. He was a predictable level of snitty over being treated as on-site tech-support. He'd… not exactly been pleased when Shino got a tiny bit loud over Ride using Ryusei-Go the Third to snag the monster's attention. Nothing out of the ordinary for someone so cool under pressure, the only sign of nerves was a single foot tapping against Shino's knee.

Hold on.

Back up.

For a long few minutes, Shino sat with what snatches he could remember from before the flinch. The yelp Yamagi gave on being hoisted through the hatch. The restless patter of his toes, like he was trying to grab on with them. The all-business voice in which he rattled off information about the Flauros cannons. The faint reek of engine oil, soaked into his overalls, mingling with the new-clean smell of the cockpit and the animal musk of another body. The way he kept looking away –

None of it should have meant anything.

It still probably didn't.

But if Shino's suspicions were on the mark, then there was somebody in Tekkadan who did not think of him as family, or at least, not the kind of family Shino had assumed they were. Which meant he needed to figure out what to do next, because he couldn't just leave the guy hanging after going so long without realising. He'd have to say something, do something, decide if he wanted to see what came of saying yes…

Surprisingly, there didn't seem to be much of a question over that.

Good to know.

Even so, he ought to make sure. It'd be a huge pain in the ass if he worked himself up to asking an important question only to find he'd completely misread the situation. That'd be a real jerk move, inflicting such an awkward mess on Yamagi, and then Shino'd be the one dealing with horrible embarrassment. No, the smart thing would be to get a second opinion, check his working, make sure he wasn't chasing down the wrong rat hole with all of this.

And Eugene was sitting right there, so –

“Hey, can we talk about Yamagi? Do you think he… likes me or something?”

[sleepysnk]

a/n: hey everyone! welcome back to the beach :). i know it’s been a while, but we’re back! this chapter is a bit lengthy, so i hope you all enjoy! thank you so much for your patience <3.

pairings: obito uchiha x fem!reader

warnings: modern au, suggestive content, arguing, physical violence (not towards reader), fighting, slut shaming, fluff, brief angst, some jealousy if you squint.

The Beach: Chapter Twenty-Six

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“..Kakashi?”

Your voice caused Kakashi’s thoughts to disappear almost automatically. He didn’t even realize that he had zoned out that hard. Those thoughts from that night practically consumed his head. He wasn’t expecting it to affect him that much, but he didn’t want to bring it up to you.

He had totally forgotten that you were in his arms. Your head, which was once on his chest, was now lifted upward so you had a better view to look at him. You honestly seemed a little concerned if he was being honest. He didn’t want you to start asking questions, so he figured he’d try to reassure you that everything was okay. The last thing he’d want is to worry you.

You already had enough going on, and he wasn’t going to make another issue for you to deal with.

Kakashi brushed his thumb against the swell of your cheek. “Yeah? Sorry, I was thinking about something, but I’m here. Do you need something?” he looked down at you with full attention.

You placed your hand against the shirt he was wearing. The fabric was soft beneath your fingertips. “Are you okay? You seem a little.. off, right now,” you cocked your head to the side in curiosity. You honestly weren’t sure what he was thinking about, but you wanted to know.

He smiled at you reassuringly. “I’m okay! Don’t worry about me,” he shook his head, “Trust me, you would know if I was feeling off,”

Your mouth parted open to speak, but you chose to not say anything. You figured that maybe he was right. Your brain hadn’t been working its best lately, so you honestly didn’t know what was okay and what wasn’t. Plus, you hadn’t known Kakashi well enough to know when he was feeling off or what that even looked like.

The one thought that crossed your mind was that you didn’t truly know Kakashi that well.

Sure, you knew of him for quite a while, but you didn’t know everything. That made you question why the hell he was here laying with you like this. The only time you two ever did much talking was that night.

That night.

You remember that night like it was the back of your hand.

The tears that slipped through your eyes that night seemed never ending. That had to be one of the lowest points of your entire life, and you couldn’t believe that you made it through that time period. You were certain the pain and agony you felt was going to be permanent. If nobody had come to you in that bathroom that evening, you didn’t know what you might have done to yourself that night. You’d probably drink until you couldn’t stand.

Then, he came.

Kakashi came and let you speak. He heard every single bitter detail of what you were going through, and he stayed through every waking moment. Besides Konan, nobody else listened to you. It was the same bullshit responses you’d get every single time.

“You’ll get over it!”

“Just think positive!”

It was hard enough dealing with it all, and everything they said would make it worse for you. You’d never tell them that, but you hoped that now they knew to never say things like that to someone who is going through something.

When you informed Konan of what you did, she was honestly baffled by your actions. You were in so much mental distress that you went out and did that? She wanted to lecture you about it, but, deep down, she knew that lecture would lead to an argument. As your best friend, she didn’t want to judge you for sleeping with Kakashi Hatake of all people. You hadn’t been yourself for so long, and, from what Konan had gathered, Kakashi had helped comfort a part of you that couldn’t feel anything.

Sometimes you still had questions about that eventful night. You wondered if Kakashi ever regrets it, or if he sees you completely differently.

You, personally, didn’t regret a single thing.

If anything, the intimacy he created with you that night made you feel something. He proved to you that you weren’t just some robot that had your feelings numb by some cheating jerk who couldn’t remain loyal to you. You were somewhat thankful that you two had sex. It opened your mind to many things, and you felt blessed that he didn’t walk away from you inside of that bathroom.

You and Kakashi never spoke about that night. Every time you saw one another, it was always very casual conversation. There was never anything brought up about sex or anything close to it. It was almost as if it didn’t even happen.

“Kakashi?” your eyes averted off of the carpeted floor to look at the boy before you. As soon as you spoke, his attention shifted towards you and his brows arched upward in curiosity.

“What’s up?” he twirled a piece of his smoke-colored hair around his index finger.

Part of you wondered if asking these questions would do you any good. You weren’t sure if he’d become uncomfortable or weirded out by your questions. Kakashi was a blank canvas to you. You honestly didn’t know his true colors, and you still felt like you didn’t have a single clue about him.

You chewed on your bottom lip nervously. “Do you.. have regrets about that night?” you swallowed thickly as the words came off your tongue. Your voice honestly sounded shaky and under confident.

Kakashi’s eyes widened once he understood what you were asking him. He felt like all of his words disappeared from his head. How the hell was he supposed to respond to that? He didn’t want to be an asshole and disregard it, but he knew that it was kind of hard to answer.

He didn’t want to give you the vibe that he was uncomfortable, because, truly, he wasn’t at all. It just took him by major surprise. He didn’t know that you still thought about that night. Kakashi honestly thought it was coincidental that you thought about it the same time he did. It was almost like you read his mind like a damn book to catch him in the act.

He cleared his throat to try and fix the awkward energy that was stirring around the room. “I mean.. no, I don’t really regret it. What happened between us happened, and I wouldn’t take it back whatsoever,” he replied, “Do you have regrets, (Y/N)?”

Honestly, that was a good question.

You honestly told yourself that you didn’t regret what you did with Kakashi. The only issue with that was that you were sleeping with his best friend. Obito had zero clue about it. Well, what does it matter now? He didn’t want anything to do with you anymore, so you didn’t need to hide it any longer.

You laughed softly, looking downward at the floor below you. “Honestly.. not really, that night you helped me a lot, so I don’t really have any regrets about it,” you tried your best to sound confident. You didn’t want to give off anything that sounded conflicting with your voice.

There was this sudden tension that filled the atmosphere around you.

You and Kakashi were so close to one another. His arms were still wrapped around your torso, and you were laying between his legs. The discussion of sex also filled the space around you, so that also created that tension. You could practically feel it when you breathed, and it caused your heart to start racing inside of your chest.

Kakashi leaned backwards onto the pillow that was behind his back. He did this so he could get a better view to look downward at you. There was a look inside of his eyes that was different than before. It almost looked like his once normal pupils were now dilated with desire filling the center of them.

“Do you.. ever think about that night sometimes?” he was staring at you quite intensely. It wasn’t enough to scare you or anything, but he seemed very determined to receive some kind of answer from you. He seemed almost pushy, but not pushy at the same time.

Your eyes didn’t leave his one bit. You just kept staring directly into them. “Y-Yes..” you swallowed thickly once again as the tension began to become thicker than it was before.

You could feel your body slowly heating up, and anticipation began to bubble inside of your belly. He was making you feel something. Something that felt similar to that night you had met him. Everything you were able to feel felt like deja vu all over again, and it was becoming hard to get away from him.

It was almost like Kakashi was a magnet, and you were the piece of metal that couldn’t pull away from him. No matter how hard you tried, you were being drawn to him.

Kakashi felt as if all of his emotions were being thrown all over the place. He could feel himself melting into you, and he didn’t want to reach away from you. He didn’t know if it was the smell of your daisy perfume, or it was how beautiful you looked down below him in his arms. He just couldn’t control himself.

He leaned close to your face. It was just enough so your lips were now inches apart from one another. You could smell the faint hint of mint that lingered on his breath.

“Do you ever wish.. we could recreate that night one more time..?”

All your brain could scream was yes. It was almost like the heat in your stomach was now bubbling over with how seductive he sounded. His voice was so smooth. It was practically driving you up the wall from how hot it was. You didn’t know, or rather care what happened after this.

You let out a shaky breath. “Yes.. yes, Kakashi,” your eyes flickered from his pretty lips to his eyes which were still watching you like a hawk.

The sound of Kakashi chuckling filled your ears. It wasn’t a laugh of mockery, no, but it was a laugh of seduction.

Before you even knew it, his hand grabbed your face. He then pressed his lips onto yours, causing a fiery kiss to erupt between the two of you. It was hot, and it was slightly rougher than what you were used to. It was addicting, you didn’t want to pull away from it. It was almost like the kiss ignited everything your brain forgot from that night, and it all flashed inside of your head like a camera taking pictures.

Your arms instinctively wrapped around his neck, and Kakashi took that as a sign to bring you on top of his lap.

Once on his lap, he placed his hands on your hips where he began to explore you. Occasionally, his hands squeezed at the plush of your ass, causing gasps to come from your mouth. He almost forgot how great your kisses were. The taste of your chapstick reminded him of that night. You were so delicious, he wanted to savor you so badly.

You whimpered once your clothed clit made contact with the bulge that formed underneath his shorts. Fuck, he was making you feel so fucking good. You were becoming so wet for him, and you wanted nothing more than to satisfy yourself.

Your fingers entangled themselves into the strands of his hair. You parted your lips slightly so Kakashi could dart his tongue into your warm mouth. This only made the two of you more desperate for one another. You couldn’t help but grind yourself against his aching cock. Your action earned a groan from Kakashi’s throat as he felt the friction.

He was growing more needy for you. The absolute desire to have you was taking over his body. He felt as if he couldn’t hold back on you. Kakashi craved nothing more than you. He thought about that night more often than he’d like to admit, but nobody else will know that except for him.

Smacking sounds came from your lips as your kisses grew sloppier. His hands wandered around your exposed skin, causing several small moans to come from your mouth. You had such a sweet voice. He always recognized it whenever he was out and about. It practically swam inside of his head when you were begging for him to let you cum that night when you were laying down before him in the sheets.

Things were growing more intense between the two of you. Kakashi’s hands were dipping lower and lower towards your wet core.

You were about to feel his touch when your brain suddenly saw him.

You weren’t exactly sure why you were seeing him inside of your head at a time like that. The image was foggy and almost hard to see, but he was there inside of your head. Everything you had done together played like memories on a film.

It wasn’t Kakashi, no, it wasn’t Itachi either.

It was Obito.

He was smiling inside of your head. That once adorable grin you loved to see everyday was present on his features. He seemed so happy to be with you. Every single detail was painted inside of the walls in your brain. It brought you such nostalgia. You honestly couldn’t believe it had been almost two or three weeks since the two of you last spoke. All of this time had passed by, but, yet, it felt like it happened yesterday.

Sometimes you wished you’d wake up with Obito lying right beside you. You hoped that this was some horrible nightmare that would eventually come to an end, but, unfortunately, that day never came. You still woke up every morning without him by your side.

You missed Obito, my god, you missed Obito more than anything else.

There was a side of you that wanted to believe Kakashi was Obito. You wanted to trick your brain into believing it, but, to no avail, your brain knew better than you did. Kakashi could never ever be like Obito. Nobody else could compare to the sweet boy you had been longing for. His lips weren’t like Obito’s, he didn’t kiss like he did, none of it was like him. None of it was the same, and, deep down, you knew that was a fact.

No, you couldn’t do this to yourself. You couldn’t do this again with Kakashi. He had already assisted you once before, and, sure, it benefited you in some ways, but it was temporary. All of your healing came from yourself, and you couldn’t use Kakashi to mend the pain inside of your chest. It wasn’t his responsibility, nor was it his obligation.

You came back into reality faster than the speed of light. You realized that you were still on top of Kakashi, and you were both still making out with one another.

Your hands went to place themselves onto his chest. You pulled yourself backward so the kiss was now broken. Kakashi kept trying to lean forward to catch your lips again, but you looked down at him to shake your head. You knew you couldn’t do this with him again. God knows what would happen if you two slept together again. What if this time Obito found out?

Kakashi seemed genuinely concerned, his once sly smirk turned into a worried expression within the snap of a finger.

His hands almost instantly removed themselves off of your body. “Are you.. alright..? Did I make you uncomfortable..?” he was searching your face to see what you were feeling. Kakashi had this bad feeling inside of his gut. He hoped he didn’t push you to the edge. Kakashi’s intentions were pure and they weren’t harmful one bit.

You let out air through your nose. You could feel your heart slamming against your rib cage. “No, no, you didn’t, Kakashi,” you finally looked into his eyes, “I just.. I don’t think we should do this. We don’t know what’ll happen,”

You saw his face soften from your words. Kakashi couldn’t force you into anything you didn’t want, and you had a point. You two had done this once before, and, even though neither of you spoke after that, it didn’t mean that something bad couldn’t form from doing it again. It was dangerous enough that you two already had sex once, but twice? You’d be digging your graves.

He could see how shameful you felt. In his opinion, there was nothing you had to be embarrassed about. You had every right to stop the situation, and he wasn’t going to judge you for that. Kakashi was there for you, and he was always going to be your friend.

He also knew how you felt about Obito.

Kakashi was angry with his best friend at the moment, but he couldn’t necessarily bring himself to try and change your feelings about Obito to bring you to have sex with him. Your dynamic was one that he had zero intention of messing with. Hell, if you two did have sex, that would only make things worse for you and Obito.

Rin would probably find out somehow too.

He placed his hand onto your shoulder, giving you a reassuring squeeze. “Don’t worry about it, I completely understand. I shouldn’t have said those things anyway, so I’m sorry for that,” his voice was very sincere, and you honestly hadn’t heard him sound that serious before. It honestly settled a lot of that anxiety you had about stopping the situation.

You gave him a small smile. “Thank you for understanding me, Kakashi, I just didn’t want you to get mad at me. I shouldn’t have talked about that night,” you rubbed your forehead as you spoke to him.

Kakashi laughed, “Don’t even worry about it. We all have questions and it’s okay that you asked them. You’re an amazing person, (Y/N), I’d never get upset with you over something like this. Don’t fret about it, I promise,”

All of those worries you had slowly began to disappear. You honestly needed that reassurance from Kakashi. Part of you was nervous that he’d possibly get upset over you practically cock blocking him, but you were relieved that he wasn’t. He was an understanding person, and you were glad he had that trait with him.

“I appreciate you, Kakashi,” you smiled at him with generosity.

Kakashi sat up so he was sitting straighter than he was before. “Anytime,” he tapped your shoulder once more, “I think I’m going to head out though, because I really want to play some basketball with the guys,”

You nodded your head, “Okay! Sounds good, thanks again for stopping by,”

He started to chuckle at you which made your eyebrows furrow. You wondered what he was laughing about. “Uh, you know, I can’t leave unless you’re not sitting on me like this,” he looked up at you with this cocky smirk like he usually did.

You quickly realized what he meant and your cheeks burned with embarrassment. “Oh! Right! Sorry..” you instantly began to maneuver yourself off of his lap. You honestly needed to learn how to read the room. All of the time you spent in your room really messed with your head.

Kakashi sat up, and a few of his joints cracked as a result of his movements. You stood beside him next to the couch as he rose from his spot on the cushions.

The two of you walked into the direction of the front door. You honestly were very happy Kakashi was there to help you. Things were slowly starting to become better for you, and it was almost as if you could see the light at the end of the tunnel. Sure, you had a lot of healing to do, but you knew it was going to be easier with the friends you had around you. It didn’t feel like you were all alone like before.

Kakashi turned to face you as he opened the wooden door to your apartment. The air from the hallway began to seep in from his actions. “If you need me, you know where I’m at,” he pulled out his phone and nodded his head towards it.

You shook your head, understanding what he was trying to tell you. You were glad you had his support. It made this situation a lot easier to bear, and you had more confidence than you did prior.

“Of course, thank you again, Kakashi,” you felt a smile grow onto your cheeks. The grin you wore didn’t feel fake either, and it felt so genuine. You hadn’t felt that in the last couple of weeks, and you felt better knowing it wasn’t forced anymore.

He waved at you before stepping out into the hallway, leaving you by yourself inside of your apartment. The door shut with a final click, and silence enveloped all around you. You honestly didn’t know what you were going to do with yourself for the rest of the afternoon, but you felt really hungry.

You then remembered you had some McDonald’s waiting for you in the living room, so you figured you’d go and have a quick bite to eat.

You started smiling to yourself when you realized that maybe this nightmare would finally come to an end. For once, you felt like you were going to make it through this tough time. You honestly didn’t want to sulk anymore. You didn’t want to let this destroy you, and you wanted to do something about it. You desired to go back to your life, and you were over feeling bitter all of the time.

It was time for changes, and you were ready to bounce back.

-

Slamming the driver’s side door of his car, Kakashi ran his fingers through his hair. The air was still quite warm, but it wasn’t too hot for him to start complaining. The day was perfect and beautiful. The sun was high and bright in the baby blue sky, and there wasn’t a single cloud dancing around it.

It was a great afternoon for some basketball.

Taking in his surroundings, he noticed a majority of the frat guys were out of the house. This was for sure a fact because most of the cars were out of the driveway, but only one car remained and that irritated Kakashi knowing whose car it belonged to.

It was Obito’s car.

Kakashi wasn’t sure why he was still at the house. Usually, he was out and about during most of the day, but today he wasn’t. It was kind of irritating if he was being honest. He didn’t want to deal with the Uchiha and his unnecessary behavior. He had this habit of poking at Kakashi’s buttons whenever he had the chance, and it was beyond exhausting. The only time he actually shut his mouth was when the other guys were around.

Kakashi began to mentally prepare himself as he walked the concrete path that led to the entrance of the house. Once he was in front of the door, he placed his hand on the knob and slowly pushed the door open. He could feel the cool air from the air conditioner wrapping around his warm skin as he walked inside of the house.

The environment inside of the house was very quiet. Kakashi could almost hear a pin drop if he was silent enough, but that most likely meant that Obito was upstairs in his room. It was somewhat of a good thing, because that meant Kakashi didn’t have to interact with him. He just wanted to go inside and get right back out to play some basketball with his friends.

He removed his shoes, heading in the direction of the kitchen. All he needed was to grab some water and then he’d head out. Kakashi figured he’d just wear the clothes he had on now. Changing would take him too much time and he didn’t want to risk the possibility of seeing Obito, because, frankly, he took any chance to say stupid things to Kakashi.

Once in the kitchen, he walked to the fridge to grab the many water bottles that sat on the top shelf. He grabbed three of them and placed them on the counter beside the fridge. He was glad that Shisui restocked them before he came home. Otherwise, he’d have some gross room temperature water that wouldn’t refresh him at all.

As he shut the fridge, he heard the sound of fast footsteps coming down the staircase near the living room. Kakashi rolled his eyes once he realized who was coming. There goes the idea of him avoiding Obito completely. He’d just have to ignore the Uchiha the best he could, but he honestly didn’t think it would be possible. He had a habit of being really fucking annoying.

Obito turned the corner to see Kakashi standing in the kitchen. He honestly was surprised to see him there, but he wasn’t interested in what he was doing. Obito could care less what he did anymore. He just wanted to grab a quick snack and head back upstairs for the rest of the afternoon. He didn’t have much interest in talking with the other guys either. All of them pissed him off so easily. It was difficult to have normal conversations anymore without his mood being absolutely changed.

He stepped into the kitchen, giving Kakashi no type of acknowledgement. It didn’t seem like the gray-haired man wanted anything to do with him either, so it was mutual.

Kakashi stood by the counter for a few moments. He wanted to send a few messages to his friends to see if they were open to playing some basketball with him. Usually, it’d be Obito he would go and play with, but those days were over. The circumstances made it worse. He hoped that there would be someone he could play with, but he was fine if he had to play solo. It wasn’t that much of a bother.

Obito was kind of annoyed that Kakashi was still standing there. He absolutely despised the idea of having to walk past him. He didn’t like coming close to his best friend, because it honestly made Obito more irritated that he had to get close to some loser.

But, he didn’t have much choice. He was hungry, and he wasn’t going to wait there forever. Obito didn’t have much patience nowadays, and he wasn’t going to try and settle it by waiting for Kakashi to move over.

He then walked beside Kakashi, making sure to not accidentally touch or make contact with him. He successfully made it to the other side of the kitchen, so he decided to look for something inside of the cabinets to eat. He was going to honestly lose it if he couldn’t get some food. Obito usually had a big appetite, but he blamed it on the intense workout he did earlier that morning.

As Obito searched, something filled his nose. It was a familiar aroma. It brought him back to a time he could recall like it was yesterday. The smell made every cell in his body freeze, and it honestly alarmed him. He tried to shake away the smell as possibly it being his imagination, but it still remained there.

The scent of your perfume was filling his nose. It practically sent him back to the many times you two hung out with one another. Obito could see every precious memory inside of his brain. He couldn’t believe the scent was around. He thought he had pushed away those thoughts of you, but, to his surprise, they were glued to the walls inside of his mind.

Obito knew damn well you weren’t at the frat house, so where was it coming from? Did he possibly forget to wash the shirt he was wearing? It made him begin to question what was happening.

He then turned his body around. The sudden realization hit Obito like a ton of bricks, and he could feel his anger boiling inside of his body. He quickly found out where the aroma was coming from, and there was absolutely no mistake. He wasn’t imagining your scent. He wasn’t making it up. Your perfume was around, and it wasn’t coming from you. It was quite the opposite in fact.

The scent of your Marc Jacobs Daisy Love perfume was coming directly from Kakashi.

The absolute fury Obito felt was like no other. He swore to God he was seeing red in that moment. The idea of your perfume fuming off of Kakashi made him disgusted. His body was heating up, and he had so many things he wanted to say. He knew it was odd that Kakashi had been leaving the house frequently, but he never expected him to be spending time with you. What the fuck were the two of you doing?

He had a pretty great idea. Knowing your behavior with Kakashi in the past, you two were probably doing that. It wouldn’t shock him one bit, but the damn nerve Kakashi had was sending Obito over the edge.

He couldn’t control himself, there was no way he could.

“Where the fuck were you?”

Obito’s serious voice brought Kakashi’s attention away from his cellphone. He lifted his head to meet Obito who was staring directly at him. Though, his expression was not what he was expecting to see. It didn’t scare Kakashi, but it was very alarming. It didn’t seem right, he hadn’t seen a look like that on Obito before. He’s known him for a while and he’s seen his best friend pissed many times before, but he hadn’t seen him that infuriated before.

His eyes were dark, they seemed like an abyss you could get lost in. Kakashi could see his hand was clenched into a fist, and he was twitching. Obito’s face was extremely serious. He could also see his breathing becoming heavier. Kakashi was very confused, and he was extremely concerned by him. He didn’t know what was going on.

“What are you talking about? I was on campus? I had classes today, you should know this,” Kakashi clicked his phone off to focus on Obito. He wasn’t sure what he was trying to get at, but he was determined to figure that out.

Obito’s expression didn’t change, if anything, he seemed more angrier than he did at first. “No you weren’t, don’t fucking lie, Kakashi,” he sounded close to snapping. This was rubbing Kakashi the wrong way. He didn’t understand why Obito was acting the way he was.

He started to wonder if Obito somehow figured out that he was with you. He didn’t tell anyone where he was going, and he was on campus for a little while. Though, he wanted to stop by to check on you, but he never told anyone specifically where he was heading. He hadn’t even spoken to anyone that morning besides the other frat guys. Even so, he hadn’t mentioned a single thing.

Kakashi questioned if Rin somehow saw him with you, but he didn’t think it was possible. There was no possible way she knew where you lived. Hell, Rin barely knew a single damn thing about you except that you fucked Kakashi.

Unless Obito was accusing him of something completely different, Kakashi had no idea what the hell was going on. He had no intention of telling Obito that he was with you. He wouldn’t know what might happen if he revealed that fact. Seeing how he was acting before him now, he needed to get to the bottom of his anger.

Kakashi stood his ground, looking at Obito with a serious face. “What are you trying to get at? I was on campus, I literally just walked through the door a few minutes ago,” he crossed his arms, “I don’t know what the fuck your problem is, but cut it out. It’s not your business where I go anyway,”

“Did she slut herself out for you again?”

The color in Kakashi’s face drained almost instantly. Did Obito figure it out? There was no way! He never told anybody he was going out to see you. He had to be speaking about somebody else, because there was no way he was talking about you.

He could feel anger starting to flow through his veins. “What the fuck did you just say? Who the hell are you talking about?” he started walking towards his best friend. Kakashi was so over Obito and his stupid words. He wished he could do something about it, because it was getting ridiculous.

Obito scoffed, shaking his head in the process. He couldn’t believe the shit he was hearing. “Did I stutter? Stop acting so stupid, Kakashi, playing dumb won’t get you anywhere. You know damn well who I’m talking about,” his words were like venom, toxic.

Kakashi clenched his jaw, trying to hold in the emotions that threatened to fall out of his mouth. “You better not be talking about her. I swear to God, Obito, you know damn well you’re wrong,” he glared at him with dagger-like eyes.

A chuckle came from Obito’s throat. His serious expression turned into an almost evil looking smirk. “It doesn’t surprise me, Kakashi, (Y/N) did it once with you, and it isn’t shocking that she did it again. I should’ve known she was a fucking whore,” he rolled his eyes in complete annoyance at the thought of you.

Kakashi didn’t know what it was inside of him that made him move so quickly, but, before he knew it, he was standing directly in front of Obito. He peered at him with a dangerous look written all over his features. Obito was even slightly taken back from it all. He barely had any time to react to what he was doing.

He was at his breaking point, no, Kakashi was beyond angry. He became so infuriated with Obito. It was the first time in his entire life that he actually wanted to do something to him. It wasn’t good at all.

“You’re talking some really big stuff, little guy,” he clenched his fist, “You act like you weren’t a complete slut at one point. Do I have to name them, Obito? Yasmine? Or what about Cassie? Hailey? Or was it Harley? What about those two girls you had sex with in one night? Huh? What the fuck do you have to say about that? I find it ironic that you’re throwing a fit over me and (Y/N) as if you weren’t fucking around with others in the past,”

Silence suddenly filled the room, which made Kakashi laugh. He couldn’t believe that Obito didn’t have a single thing to say in response to his words. He wasn’t going to let Obito destroy you like that, and make you seem like a bad person. You truly weren’t, and, most of all, you weren’t a fucking slut.

He wasn’t going to stop there, oh no. Kakashi had plenty of things he wanted to say, because Obito needed a fucking reality check. He wanted to be the one to give it to him, because, being truthful, Kakashi was sick of his stupid bullshit he was pulling.

“You acted like she was yours or something. I’ll be the one to tell you the honest fucking truth that she was never yours, Obito. She didn’t belong to you, and she never will,” he stared at him intensely as he spoke to him. He wasn’t holding back anymore, and, frankly, he didn’t want to.

Obito felt everything inside of him snap. He was beyond angry, and he couldn’t stop himself anymore.

Kakashi’s eyes went wide when he felt Obito’s fist make contact with his cheek. He had punched him, and hard. It took him completely by surprise, and, to be honest, Kakashi could barely process what the hell happened. It all occurred so quickly.

Though, he wasn’t about to just sit there and take it.

Kakashi could feel the bruise forming against his skin, but he held back the pain to go after Obito. “So that’s what you want to do, huh?!” he could feel the rage soaring inside of him. It was making his body warm.

He walked forward to shove Obito backwards. This action only made him angrier, so he lunged towards Kakashi to try and grab at him. However, Kakashi was well prepared for that, and he was able to land a hard punch onto Obito’s nose. It was so hard that the nerves inside his hand started to pulsate and feel staticy. He’s never experienced that before, but he could care less.

The pressure against his nose caused Obito to reach up to touch his now sore nose. He could feel the warmth of liquid trickling down from his nose towards his mouth. The iron taste of blood filled his tongue, causing him to cringe.

Obito wiped the crimson liquid off of his lip before going towards Kakashi again. This time, he was able to sock him in the stomach. Kakashi coughed when the tight pain inside of his abdomen made itself known. It practically knocked the air out of him, and it hurt a lot. He wasn’t expecting that to happen.

“You’re a piece of shit! You know that?! What the hell do you gain from this?!” Kakashi held his hand over his stomach to try and ease the ache that was spreading throughout his stomach.

Obito scoffed, rolling his eyes. “You deserve to get your ass beat. All you’ve ever done is ruin things for me,” he looked down at his once best friend with rage-filled eyes. He didn’t see Kakashi as his friend anymore, not after this.

While hunched over, Kakashi took the opportunity to bring Obito down. He sprang forward to knock him onto the floor. Obito was caught off guard. His head instantly hit the hardwood floor, causing him to hiss in pain from the sudden contact.

Kakashi took all of the strength inside of him to lay punches onto Obito’s face. He landed only about two before he caught his wrist in his left hand. The constant force against his face was causing sharp pain to scatter along his cheeks, and bruises were slowly forming onto his once clean skin. His left eye was also becoming swollen from Kakashi’s assault on it.

Obito took the open opportunity to land his fist onto Kakashi’s mouth. It ultimately freed Obito, because the punch made Kakashi move backwards. It hurt, and it hurt bad. His teeth practically bit his bottom lip, and the inside of his mouth was filled with blood. A bitter and disgusting taste that made Kakashi want to vomit.

Since Kakashi was now knocked onto the floor, Obito grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. All he saw was red when his mind imagined the thought of him fucking you again. Your voice calling out to him, and not Obito. It enraged him, and he couldn’t wait to hit him again. He needed to feel the shit Kakashi had put him through.

“What the fuck?! What’s going on here?! Stop!”

Kakashi and Obito both paused to turn their heads towards the voice. They were met with Rin and her worried expression.

The girl seemed genuinely terrified of what the two boys were doing. She didn’t expect to come by and see that. It was true she hadn’t spoken to them in a while, but she didn’t think the things between them were that bad. Obito and Kakashi were best friends. Their friendship being turned sour made Rin feel terrible.

Obito let go of Kakashi, standing up straight so he could look at Rin more clearly. “What the hell are you doing here?” his tone was irritated, and he could care less about what she had to say. He wasn’t particularly interested in speaking to Rin anyway. Obito realized a lot while she was away, and he didn’t want to deal with her right now.

Rin’s eyes flickered from Kakashi to Obito. She had so many questions. “Why are you beating him up?! No, why are you two even fighting?! Guys, this isn’t like you at all!” she stepped towards them with caution. It seemed worse as she grew closer.

Their faces were turning all kinds of blues and purples. Blood clung to the bottom of Obito’s nose, and Kakashi’s lip was busted open. Blood pooled from the wound, and his bottom lip was slowly swelling up.

She never imagined the two could inflict those kinds of wounds on one another.

Kakashi flinched once his fingertip made contact with the bruise on his cheek. It was hot, and it was only growing more painful. He was also bothered by Rin’s presence. After all, she was the one who created this entire mess.

“Rin, just leave! We want nothing to do with you anymore, so get out. I don’t want to see you here ever again,” he shoved past her to head up to his room. He had to clean himself up, and he didn’t want anyone else to see him like this.

Rin turned and watched as Kakashi disappeared around the corner. She briefly heard the sound of him rushing up the stairs. She honestly felt an ache inside of her chest when Kakashi’s words processed through her mind. She never thought things would ever be like this.

She shifted her attention towards Obito. He was staring at her, but he said absolutely nothing as he walked past her. Rin flinched as the bathroom door slammed shut on the first floor.

Rin honestly felt helpless in this situation.

She cared for Obito and Kakashi more than anything in the world. She adored being friends with them, and she never imagined a world where she’d actually see the two beating the living shit out of one another. It honestly hurt her seeing the two like that. She couldn’t believe this was all happening.

It was almost as if she couldn’t recognize them anymore. They were completely different compared to before, and she had no idea if they’d ever rebuild their friendship again. It seemed almost impossible with the circumstances.

What angered her was the fact that you were to blame for this. You slept with Kakashi and Obito. You’re the reason why all of this fell apart, and Rin hated how you weren’t taking responsibility for a single thing. Hell, she hadn’t seen you on campus in weeks. Were you hiding from the truth? Because it sure felt like it. You were a fucking coward, and Rin wasn’t going to let you slip by like that.

Maybe Obito was right, maybe you were a fucking whore.

Rin was now determined to do something about this. She wasn’t going to let her friendship crumble apart because of you. There was no fucking way she’d let you get away with this. You needed to know what the hell you had done.

Once she saw you, she wasn’t going to hold back.

[harlowcomehome]

“Divorced and happy.” PART FOUR/FINAL

A/N: Part one. Part two. Part three.

You and Jack were so distracted that you didn’t even hear the door swing open, not that anything could have stopped the two of you from making out in that very moment.

Everything about this felt right, you couldn’t explain it and you didn’t know why but he had always felt like home to you.

There stood Samantha, Urban and Adam. The three of them stopping and staring as you and Jack mauled each others faces as if nobody else in the world existed.

Samantha looked over at Adam apologetically and smirked at Urban. Urban not at all phased about what he was seeing.

It wasn’t until Jack came up for air that he noticed the six eyeballs on you both. He cleared his throat awkwardly, motioning for you to pay attention. You turned, jumping down from his waist immediately.

“Oh fuck” you groaned and Adam turned around to leave and you chased after him, leaving Jack standing in the living room with Samantha and Urban. Jack wanted to follow you, but Samantha and Urban kept him from it, knowing it would cause a bigger scene.

Both Urban and Samantha stared at him in silence for a moment. “How the hell did you pull that off? Truly? I want to know” Samantha scoffed, clearly still not being his biggest fan but deep down she was slightly excited that you both could possibly be dating best friends now.

“Looking forward to being the best man in your wedding someday Samantha, you are such a delight” Jack raised an eyebrow and laughed earning a look from Urban to knock it off, although he wanted to laugh too.

Meanwhile you were chasing Adam to his car “ADAM! ADAM! ADAM, PLEASE WAIT!” Your much shorter legs were having difficulty keeping up with him.

“Wait for what? To look like an even bigger fool Y/N? Do you know why I came back to the house?”

You shrugged “I don’t know, to be nosy?” You were wrongfully defensive in this moment.

Adam scoffed “to tell you that I was in love with you. I’m in love with someone who still wants to be with their dead beat baby daddy.” He shook his head, that not so subtle jab enraged you like no other.

“Jack is a lot of things but a deadbeat isn’t one of them. You don’t get to say that just because you’re mad.”

“You don’t get to fuck your ex just because YOU’RE mad” Adam shouted back.

“We didn’t fuck, we just kissed. Get over yourself” you laughed attempting to walk away.

“If I hadn’t walked in? You’d be fucking” he shouted back.

You couldn’t help but be petty and respond with “YEAH! PROBABLY!”

You slammed the door shut on the way back inside your house realizing Samantha and Urban had likely been holding Jack back from going outside and beating the shit out of Adam. By the looks on their faces you realized they had just seen the entire thing. “You guys watched all that from the cameras didn’t you?” You sighed, remembering Samantha had an app on her phone where she could watch your outdoor security cameras.

All three of them nodded. Jack broke the tension by letting out a laugh. “Now what could be funny in this moment?” you asked sarcastically but you laughed just hearing his goofy laugh. “You’ve had to defend me twice today” he smiled.

You just shook your head and laughed “this has been such a long day.”

The room went silent for a moment.

Urban cleared his throat, getting everyone’s attention. “So are we just going to act like we didn’t walk in on y’all sucking each others faces?”

Samantha laughed “yeah really? What did we miss?”

You looked over at Jack, smiling and blushing but not saying anything at all.

Jack took that as his cue to speak “well, we were just getting started.”

You laughed as Samantha and Urban were both intensely watching the two of you make eyes at each other.

“We have a lot to talk about” you admitted and Jack nodded knowing the hardest parts were yet to come.

Urban and Samantha took that as a hint and left to go to Samantha’s bedroom.

You took Jacks hand leading him to the couch. You sat next to him, facing your body to talk to him directly. “What do you want out of this?” You we’re afraid to ask, afraid to hear his real answer. “Please be serious” you pleaded.

Jack read your expression, you looked exhausted, and on the verge of crying at any moment and honestly you probably were and he understood that.

“Well right now, I want us to try again. I want to take you out on dates, I want to experience family trips with you and Reyna, I want to do all of the things that we could never do before because I was too naive to realize I was ruining what I had in front of me.” You wanted to cry, the weight of the world felt like it was being lifted off your shoulders but you were doing your best to keep your composure. You nodded for him to continue, letting him know you were listening.

“In the long run, if things go according to plan I’d like us to get married again.” Your heart started racing, you loved the sound of that. “ I’d like to be the husband you actually deserve” he said that with a certain confidence, you knew in this moment he really meant it. “I know I have to prove it to you” he added.

You sighed, your heart wanted one thing and your head another. Reyna was a little older now, you didn’t want her to be confused, complicate things and make it harder on her.

He could see you battling things out in your head, he interrupted your thoughts “I’ve been seeing a therapist again” he shyly admitted, something you never thought he’d say especially in this moment.

“You have?” You looked at him, happy and very shocked.

“Actually for the last eight months” he scratched the back of his neck, nervously.

“Jack! That’s a big deal! That’s so good, I’m really proud of you” you squeezed his hands, scrunching your nose at him and smiling.

He blushed, looking away from you for a moment to stay composed.

“But Jack, I- I really don’t know what to say about everything ” you grabbed his hands again, playing with his PG ring. He smiled at your nervousness, he always found it to be adorable that he made you so flustered.

“Say you want to try. Please?” His eyes were hallow and sad.

You wanted to give in, you knew you wanted him more than anything in this world but taking this step would either be your greatest love story or another addition to your heartbreak.

You avoided his gaze for a moment, trying to collect yourself.

“You asked if I had fallen out of love with you….” You sighed, turning back to face him , still playing with the ring on his finger.

“Jack, I love you and never stopped” you smiled, his smile matching yours, his dimple visible making your heart skip a beat.

“But love doesn’t make the world go round. Love doesn’t keep your spouse from cheating obviously.” You paused before continuing “Love doesn’t make a happy home. Love doesn’t keep your life together, we need more than love here” your lip quivered as you spoke.

Jack nodded, you could tell he was really listening to you, which was a relief considering you were being brutally honest.

“I know, I know that” he said sympathetically.

“Tell me what you need and I’ll be that” he scooted closer to you, looking directly into your eyes.

“I need you to be transparent, honest, faithful. I need you to be more open, and not so guarded. I need you to be patient and loving, I’m not going to trust you right away, you got to know that” you sighed.

He nodded “I need you to give me the room to grow. The space to make mistakes, a chance to learn you. I’m not going to cheat on you, I’m past that. I mean the small things, I need the room to figure this out too.” You nodded, you were surprised he even said that much, guess the therapy was helping.

You smiled at him, you felt like for the first time in a long time that you were getting to know each other again and it felt nice.

“But about Reyna…”

He sighed “yeah, I mean I think we should wait a while before telling her anything right?”

“Yeah, I mean you know we always said we’d wait until we had a serious partner before introducing her….” You giggled earning a laugh from Jack too.

“So where do we go from here?” You looked up at him.

“I think we start going on dates, hide from our child and see where this goes” he laughed and you did too.

“Is this kind of crazy?” You hummed, looking up at him, counting the freckles spread across his face.

“A little bit but it’ll be worth it” he smiled.

“Actually no, what’s crazy is you trying to pass Vanessa off as your girlfriend” you teased and his eyes got wide “Vanessa! What the hell?”

You couldn’t help but laugh “oh baby she told me that first night at dinner” and you let out another laugh not able to hold back. Jack wanted to point out the pet name but didn’t want to spoil the moment.

“Oh she’s so fake for that, cutting her studio time immediately” he rolled his eyes and laughed, you knew he was joking.

You missed this, at the start of your relationship before Reyna the two of you used to joke like this all the time. It felt refreshing.

In this moment you looked at the man you loved with so much empathy and grace. You were excited to know what the future held for you both.

Fast forward a year and a half from now.

You, Jack and Reyna were running around the venue rushing to get dressed. You were searching for your earrings, frantically trying to put finishing touches on without ruining your dress or hair for the big day. Reyna was excited, she had never been a flower girl before.

Jack looked you up and down, “you look so beautiful in that dress.” You walked over to him giving him a kiss, “you clean up pretty well yourself handsome.”

He leaned in to kiss you one more time. “I guess I should head out there huh?”

“Probably” you smiled, “I know Urban is probably freaking out.” Jack laughed “yeah you’re right, I love you.”

“I love you too” you smiled and Reyna shouted that she loved him as he walked away.

You and Reyna stayed with Samantha helping her tie her corset in the back of her wedding dress. “Samantha Wyatt huh?” You giggled and she did too “wild right?” You could tell she was really happy, you had wanted nothing more for your best friend.

The wedding ceremony was perfect, Reyna was an amazing flower girl, and you won the bet that Urban would cry, you winked at Jack who now owed you breakfast in bed.

You had no idea that at the end of the night you’d be engaged, something both Samantha and Urban graciously agreed to let Jack do at their wedding. It just made sense, the four of you being best friends and all, but for now all you knew was that you were going to slow dance with the best man.