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#two years on this DAY i started it. watching my little snapchat videos like 'so i started this anime and haha WOW it's a bit intense?'
hella1975 · 1 year
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idk how regular consumers of all hurt/no comfort major character death SLEEP at night i watched one piece of media with major character death TWO YEARS ago and it made me fucking suicidal
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occult-roommates · 1 year
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Little Baby Saraswati
Eventually, the group made it to the Cox’s house located in the heart of Del Sol Valley. The place was so big, it was probably as big as their three childhood’s house combined. Immediately, Paisley and her husband, Damian, came to greet them.
Paisley: Welcome! Welcome everyone!
Now at their final destination (2000), Akva, June and Athena could settle down. But you know, they were originally here for someone in particular, so Paisley wasted no time to show up her little girl. She came back from upstairs holding a little girl with green hair like her mom, and blue eyes like her...other mom.
Paisley: Akva, this is Saraswati. Swati, say hi. Swati: Hewo. Paisley: You see, I named her Saraswati cause like, I did my research y’know. So I found out Saraswati is a Hindu goddess who is strongly associated with water, and I wanted her to keep a connexion with both her Indian and mermaidic heritage, but it was extra perfect for me cause I always loved the named Sara which just seems like the natural nickname here. Though I am pretty much always calling her my little Swati, it has a nice ring to it don’t you think? Akva: You’re right, that is a greatly thought out name. Paisley: Do you want to hold her? Akva: Uh...Sure.
Paisley gave the toddler to Akva. However, as soon as Swati was in her arms, she started wiggling around yelling “noooooo” and screaming for her mommy.
Paisley: Oh um...well...She’s probably hungry, it’s almost dinner time after all. Also she refused to nap during the afternoon so she might be a bit cranky. Akva: Why? Paisley: That’s toddlers for you. They can be mad unpredictable. Though maybe she was too excited to sleep cause I told her we’re having very special guests this weekend.
And so, Paisley gave Swati a little ham sandwich while the adults sat down to figure out what they were going to eat tonight. They settled for getting food delivered and while they were waiting, they discussed about what they had all been up to in the last few years.
Akva: I’m going to flight school. June: Bitch since when??? Two days ago you were crying to me on Snapchat that you failed all of your classes but one...You’re studying physical therapy. Akva: Going. Future tense. I’ve decided that if traditional college can’t work out for me that’s what I’m gonna do, and it’s currently, indeed, not working out. June: Still? You never ever showed any interest for that before? Athena: Well, speaking of college, I just recently graduated in video editing! Paisley: Wow, congratulation! You know, I’m looking for a new editor for my YouTube channel, the last one quit to work on a movie, so if you’re looking for a job, I’m just saying... June: By the way, why don’t you ever show Saraswati or even say her name? She’s cute, don’t hide her. Paisley: Well, I believe showing your kids on the Internet is highly unethical when they’re too young to consent or even comprehend that. I mean, it’s one thing if you’re just a random person on Facebook who’s only friends with people you know in real life and set on private, but I’m an influencer with millions of followers. I’m doing that for her own safety. June: Oh, that’s actually a great reason. You’re such an unproblematic fav Paisley, it’s crazy. Athena: ...Didn’t she sold diet tea that essentially just gives you diarrhea? June: It was in 2018 and she didn’t know any better! Everyone did that back then! Paisley: Oh my god, exactly! I’ve already apologized a million times let it go. Athena: I will if you pay me decently for that editing job.
Akva sat there. She doesn’t watch Paisley’s content, but June did tell her she rarely talks about Swati, which is why she still didn’t know after 18 months what her name was. To be fair, it’s also because she didn’t wanna know up until now...Still, she was happy she wasn’t parading the little girl around and acting like she’s such a great person for adopting, but like...What if in actually it’s the other way around and she’s hiding Swati cause there’s dark stuff going on behind the scene?
But no, thankfully, everything seemed to be well and Swati clearly loves her adoptive family. Good right? ...So why did it made her so sad?
Swati: I wuv you mommy. Paisley: Me too sweetie! But yeah, anyway, you’ll notice a lot of her stuff are pink, cause like I found out I was gonna have a girl and I went crazy. But like, I’m not forcing her or anything, now that she’s old enough to start to develop her personality, I’m always encouraging her to express herself and I let her pick the colors of her clothes and stuff. Like in the toy store I just let her guide me and she can pick from any section. I don’t care, it’s 2021 my daughter can play with cars if she please just like she can play with doll. We also buy her a lot of pool toys so she can have fun while staying a little hydrated mermaid. Damian: Her favorite toy actually is a horse figurine she found at my parents’ place. It’s adorable, it’s as big as her face. Paisley: And this summer, we’re gonna go to Guyana so she can see her parents’ motherland. She’s still young, but you know it’ll only be the first visit, we’ll make sure she gets to visit it plenty of time growing up. Athena: Actually, that’s only Akva. My dad is Trinidadian and my mom is Greek. Paisley: Oh my god, that’s perfect! We were also planning on going to Greece this fall! Akva: I-I need to go to the bathroom. Damian: Go to the living room, and turn left. It’s right there.
The mermaid left the table with a big smile on her face, which faded as soon as she was out of sight. 
Why was this making her so sad, so angry? She knows she cannot raise Saraswati, she doesn’t have the money, resources or space to do so. The Coxs are clearly amazing parents who care for their daughter deeply and love her so much. They are doing everything adoptive parents should be doing so perfectly, it’s almost comical. It almost felt unfair how good Paisley was at being a mom compared to what she would have been had she raised Saraswati herself. She’s the one who gave birth, the one who had her womb hijacked for nine months and now has her body permanently altered, so why isn’t this coming naturally to her??? At the same time, she’s not even sure if she does want to be a mom eventually, and she knows she can’t right now!! And even if she could, Saraswati is already attached to Paisley and Damian and loves them, she can’t take her away from them. Fuck, she herself has never even been to Guyana!
Such a weird, weird feeling to have...
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ultralaser · 2 years
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thinking today about all the social media sites i have lost over the years
2018/9 to today - twitter
cause of death - a robber baron having a midlife crisis, or maybe a multi level marketing scheme of authoritarians aligning to take down a protest hub
what we lost - a reliable, expansive feed of traditional Wierd Internet, breaking news, esoteric discourse, and minor celebrities who might actually follow you if you had a good bit of humor or outrage go a bit viral
2010 to 2018? - instagram
cause of death - facebook buyout, the algorithm, monetization
what we lost - started as a nice way to share pictures, then it became very difficult to see your actual friends pictures under all the Content, then they pivoted to video (stories aka snapchats), then they pivoted to video AGAIN (reels aka tiktoks), now they've somehow pivoted to video YET AGAIN and buried your friends reels under an avalanche of reposted tiktok Content, if they havent all been shadowbanned anyways for only posting pictures
2008 to 2018/9 - tumblr
cause of death - yahoo, digital gentrification, a legitimate need to clean out all the csm that went really badly and ended up breaking everyone's trust
what we lost - a full decade of community building of all the quirky independent artisinal discourse this site became known (and then maligned) for, leading to the last three years of twitter users whinging endlessly about tumblr bs while i'm all "why are you booing us, we're right!" bc this is where we were radicalized and twitter is where trump happened
2000? to 2015? - facebook
cause of death - nazi apologia, maga regulatory capture, broken ass algorithm, pivot to video, "it's meta now", etc etc
what we lost - it started as a fun simple way to keep up with your family, and friends from hs and college and old jobs, and to share cat photos and baby photos. it ended up as a radicalization vector for turning your grandparents into far right trolls.
2003ish to 2005ish - my movie critic friend luke's web forum on his personal site
cause of death - actually i don't remember, it might still be there, oops. but probably hosting fees vs just moving to facebook
what we lost - a fun little community of luke, me and some of his other internet friends, some of his irl friends, and his cool irish uncle, plus random angry strangers, just talking mostly positively about movies. it was a good vibe, felt like working at the movie theatre again
1999? to 2002? - killingmachines
cause of death - hosted on a server in my brother's office, which died and killed the archive and also nuked the code, which, will definitely happen to someone's mastodon instance in the next 3-6mos, oops
what we lost - a budding community of us and our friends and also a bunch of early internet randos i never regained contact with but still remember fondly to this day
1999 to 2001ish - the raving toy maniac "toy buzz" forums on toymania dot com
cause of death - hosting fees, the internet changed, my group had already aged out like two message board generations ago as we graduated hs, etc
what we lost - being yelled at for going off-topic unless we were hiding our conversations in replies to old posts way down the board, a community of like minded toy nerds who absolutely believed that scalpers were an organized cartel ruining the hobby for everyone else, the naivete of the late 90s dotcom era, getting to watch week old posts and reply chains slowly disintegrate as they fell off the bottom of the page, getting to append NT for no text to posts where you put your whole short reply in the post title so no one needed to click through to that post on slow-ass dial up connections. but also, the pure anticipation we all felt for the star wars prequels in the summer of 1999 when all we had was a trailer, a promise, and a MOUNTAIN of merch on the way
1995 to 1999 - email
cause of death - too much god damn email
what we lost - a manageable amount of primarily non-spam email. 95% of what email used to be is just what facebook became, and twitter perfected it, becoming what email could have always been but never got to
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cobrakaisb · 3 years
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tik tok
summary: a collection of the different times that y/n referenced tik toks throughout their friendship with the characters in cobra kai. (i tried to keep this somewhat consistent with the plot of the show) 
word count: 1140 words
“you could take her to get tattoos,” hawk suggested, causing you, aisha, and miguel to look at him like he was crazy. “my boy rico hooked me up with this bad boy,” he continued. hawk proceeds to take off his gi and show the three of you his tattoo. “badass,” aisha commented, and you nodded in agreement. “fourteen hours in the chair, totally worth it though,” hawk explains, looking at himself in the mirror.  “do your parents know?” miguel asked him and he shook his head no. “they’re gonna know,” you commented. hawk just gave you a questioning look. “they’re gonna know,” you repeated. “how would they know?” he asked. “because it’s a giant fucking hawk tattoo on your back, and i’m gonna tell your mom,” you respond, smiling sweetly at him. “please don’t,” hawk begged, sitting back down to stretch.   
--
“so that’s why i broke up with hawk,” moon finished telling you why she broke up with hawk. “fair enough,” you said, nodding your head slightly. “that’s all you have to say?” moon asked, a hint of anger in her voice. “i’m a little lost but fair enough,” you answered her question by repeating your previous statement. “how are you a little lost? i literally just explained everything to you!” moon shouted. you rolled your eyes. “moon, you broke up with hawk for being a bully, when you used to stand by and let yasmine bully him,” you said gently. moon’s eyes widened at your statement. “besides he just got a tattoo for you. that would be enough to keep me from leaving,” you added as moon laughed at your words.    
--
“hey tory!” you shouted, waving to the blonde girl. “hey y/n what's up?” she asked as you jogged over to her. “who’s daisy?” you asked. tory’s eyebrows furrowed at your words. “daisy? i don’t know a daisy,” she mumbled, confusion plastered all over her face. you frowned at her words. “then who’s this girl that keeps texting me? she said that you hooked up?” you questioned tory. “what? i swear i don’t know a daisy!” tory defended. “you sure?” you asked, raising your eyebrow at her. “yes!” she shouted back. “daisy me rollin!” you replied, walking forward doing a dice roll. tory glared at you, while you just burst into a fit of laughter.  
--
hawk was currently beating up brucks, who had decided to join cobra kai, and make fun of his scar in the process. you were standing next to tory and doug watching the two of them fight. “you can do it! you can do it! you can do it! you can do this! you can do this! you can do this!” you cheered from your spot, looking at hawk. hawk looked over towards you rolling his eyes. “shut the fuck up!” he yelled, punching brucks in the nose. “i’m just encouraging you!” you shouted back, gesturing to the fight. “no!” he replied, continuing to beat the shit out of the boy. 
--
“you fuckers! you fuckers! you motherfuckers! i will rain hellfire upon you!” you shouted, walking towards sam, demetri, hawk, and miguel. the four of them just looked around, not knowing what you were talking about. you punched miguel’s shoulder. “how dare you not call me the second that fight broke out!” you shouted. “y/n-” sam started, but you pointed at hawk. “and you! why wouldn’t you tell me what tory was planning!! especially since you know how badly i’ve been dying to fight those assholes!” you continued. “y/n it’s fine. we took care of them. and you can’t fight them until the all valley next year,” demetri said calmly, walking you towards your first class of the day.  
--
“okay y/n name something that you might like to have two of on your bed,” demetri said, looking at the family feud card. you, demetri, hawk, sam, and miguel were all playing family feud. “karate boys demetri,” you answered confidently, and rather quickly. “what?” sam asked, a confused look on her face. “i mean look at them!” you said, pointing at miguel and hawk who were sitting on the other side of the table. “tell me you wouldn’t want to come home and find the two of them on your bed?” you continued, looking at sam. “no i would,” she whispered and you nodded, mumbling out an “exactly”. “okay well that’s not on the board. that’s also your third strike. miguel,” demetri said, continuing the game.  
--
“hey sam, how old is your dad?” you asked, opening the door to her bedroom, carrying a plate of food. “what?” she asked, appalled. “no, not like that! well it is, it is like that,” you explained. “how old is he?” you asked again. “why do you care?” sam asked. “because i came in the house and he was like ‘you want to eat?’ so i said, ‘eat what?’” you continued. sam scoffed. “first of all put my plate down, and stop hitting on my dad!” she yelled, grabbing the plate from your hands. “ugh fine!” you sighed, closing the door to her room behind you as you entered. “he is really hot though,” you mumbled, quickly dodging the pillow that sam threw at you.   
--
“i would never let a man spit in my mouth,” you said to tory. “i would,” tory answered confidently. you gagged at her words. “i don’t know why y’all keep saying, ‘oh spit in my mouth!’ that’s fucking nasty!” you shouted looking at tory. “alright y/n whatever you say,” tory replied, shrugging her shoulders. “hey guys!” robby greeted, walking up to you and tory. he was wearing a black denim jacket and his hair was looking on point. “hey robby!” tory greeted, but you were too busy standing there, looking at robby, with your mouth agape. “hey tory,” you whispered. “mhm,” she replied. “forget everything that i just said. i would totally let him spit in my mouth,” you whispered back, subtly gesturing to robby. 
--
you and tory pulled up to hawk’s house, and you beep your horn loudly. hawk came out of his house, and you rolled down tory’s window, shouting, “get in loser we’re going shopping!” tory laughed at your words as hawk flipped you off before climbing into the backseat. together the three of you drove to the mall where you were in fact going to do some shopping. 
--
“how is he so fucking hot!!” you scream, recording a video on your snapchat of you at the eagle fang karate dojo. you were holding your phone up, zooming in on bert as he kicked nathaniel, his partner, practicing the new skill you guys were learning. “and respectful!” you continued, when bert helped nathaniel get up from the ground. “you need to stop,” miguel mumbled from beside you. hawk, sam, and demetri all nodded their heads in agreement.
tags: @iwantahockeyhimbo @funprincess101 @the-anxious-youth @rottenstyx
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oblxvion · 3 years
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kiss me thru the phone | megumi fushiguro (1)
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-> pairing(s): megumi fushiguro x f!reader, a bit of yuji itadori x f!reader
-> wc: 4k
-> warnings: smut, phone sex, slight corruption, cheating, mutual masturbation, a bit of praise
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megumi had always thought you were insanely attractive, what was there not to like? everything about you, how kind you were to everyone, how your smile could always lighten up a room, your body and facial features were just a plus. he’d never really thought about you in that way until you started to hang around him and his friends more. there wasn’t anything wrong with you in his mind, you had no flaws. except for one thing, he wasn’t the one dating you, yuji was. 
of course, there wasn’t anything wrong with that, he was glad that you were happy and if dating yuji put a smile on your face, then so be it. but sometimes, he wishes he had you all to himself. 
on the other hand, you were completely obvious to megumi’s liking to you. and you had reason, you were preoccupied with your feelings for your loving boyfriend. you would’ve never suspected that he felt something for you due to the fact that he was a very closed off person, rarely sharing intimate aspects about himself. regardless, you were still close with him because of how all tended to hang out together sometimes with kugisaki, who was one of your best friends. 
yuji had recently left for a business trip that was in his hometown, he said it was going to take a week, which you were fine with. you could use this time to spend some time with friends and family during the day, but at night, this was a completely different story. since yuji wasn’t home, you were left alone, having to deal with the nightly events. you enjoyed pleasuring yourself but having him pleasure you was just so much different, you had grown addicted to it, and now that he wasn’t home, you missed him even more. 
you had been laying in bed in a bra and panties, scrolling through your phone for what seemed like hours when you got a snapchat notification from yuji, bringing a small smile to your face. you quickly tapped on the app and opened his snapchat, he was in bed, clearly tired and ready to go to sleep. you swipe over to the chat and your fingers tapped on the screen as you sent him a message.
hi baby, how was your day? you sent him before swiping back to your other snapchats, answering them and going to explore the other apps on your phone. you missed him, a lot, in fact, but you didn’t want to seem desperate.
you opened kugisaki’s snapchat, she was watching a new show that she had told you about, to which you responded with a smile. then you opened megumi’s, he seemed to be in bed with his shirt off and LED lights set to a low dark blue. you chuckled to yourself as you had a good feeling about what he was doing, but you decided to play it off as you send him back a photo of you, making sure not to show anything that was meant for yuji.
yuji is typing…
snapchat from yuji
angel! my day was good, i’m a bit tired though, how was yours? his words made your heart flutter, you missed him. it was only going to be a few more days until he came home. 
good, i miss you
i need you right now.
you hoped he would get the message, you couldn’t deny the warmth near your core that was beginning to form. it had been a while since the last time the two of you had sex, the week before he left, you were on your period. as much as he begged you to have period sex, you didn’t necessarily feel comfortable at the time but you told him that it would happen in the future, to which he obliged.
i need you too, fuck, i don’t know how i’m gonna go without you for the next few weeks. you felt yourself freeze, weeks? the trip was originally supposed to only be a few days. did something happen? at work? with his family? all possible reasons to why he would be staying longer flooded through your head. 
i thought it was only supposed to be a week? what happened? your fingers trembled as you typed out onto the screen. how were you supposed to go weeks without him? you were already struggling as much as it is, you missed him too much.
yeah, it was but something came up at home and i need to stay to help. 
i’m sorry, baby.
you wanted to ask him if you could come but if it was something personal to their family matters, you didn’t want to impose and cause any stress. you replied with a simple “i understand,” not wanting to invade his privacy because you knew that it could be something that he didn’t want to talk about just yet, but he would tell you eventually and you were fine with that. it was clear that the both of you didn’t want to continue the conversation, however sensitive it may be. you snapped him a photo of you cuddled up in bed with a small smile, hoping to brighten his mood.
he responded with a picture of him laying shirtless in bed, he angled his phone perfectly for you to get a good view of his chest and abs, while his free hand was very close to the waistband of his sweatpants. you could feel yourself growing hot at the scene, but for some reason, it felt weird to be sending lewd photos of yourself after that conversation. knowing yuji, he probably was jerking off before you texted him, so you disregarded the other thought from before. 
you decided to have a little fun with him as you sat up in your bed, sending him a picture of your body, specifically the matching panties and bra. it was one that he had bought for you for valentines day this year, claiming that he didn’t need anything from you because seeing you in it would be all that he needed. 
he opened the snapchat almost right away, taking a few moments to respond while you responded to kugisaki and megumi. his response consisted of him sending you a video as he slid his sweatpants down to mid thigh, his hand slowly sliding up and down his shaft before picking up the pace. you knew he was close, you could tell. his body had a sheen layer of sweat, only telling you that your suspicion about him jerking off earlier was true.
“fuck…” he groaned through the video, his voice sending vibrations down your spine. you took it upon yourself to help him reach the release that he was so desperately trying to reach. you exited out of his snapchat and double clicked, brining your phone in front of you, trying to take a good picture of your breasts that you know he loved. once you took the photo, you made sure that you looked good before you hit send.
your heart dropped once you realized who the photo went to, it wasn’t yuji.
it was his best friend, megumi.
you frantically swiped through the chat to attempt to delete the ten second photo, but to your despair, he’d already opened it. what were you going to do? you needed to tell him that it was an accident, especially since you double snapchatted him as well. 
fuck, i’m so sorry that wasn’t meant for you
you were shaking, how was he going to react? how could you tell yuji? was he going to tell yuji? all these questions began filling your head as you awaited his response. what the hell were you going to do? just what the fuck had you gotten yourself into?
as an attempt to calm yourself down, you clicked on yuji’s profile, seeing that he was last seen 5 minutes ago, you hoped that he would snapchat you back. you were never one to cheat, it was only an accident. he would understand that, right? you didn’t send megumi that picture on purpose.
that was meant for yuji! sorry again!
megumi couldn’t believe what he was seeing, here you were, on his phone screen, sending him a lewd photo. he thought he was dreaming, the way the lingerie fit so perfectly on your body, he couldn’t help but palm himself through his pants. he had a feeling that the picture wasn’t for him, he knew that it was for yuji, you confirmed his thoughts by sending your apology but what was the issue with looking at it a bit longer? dragging this moment out to the fullest?
the things he wanted to do to you, how fuckable you looked, it was driving him insane. he wanted to have you, to hear your whimpers as he ruined you over and over again. but he knew it was wrong, he had always felt wrong for having these feelings about you while you were with yuji.
megumi fushiguro is typing…
snapchat from megumi fushiguro
you were terrified to open his snapchat, afraid to see his response, slut-shaming you for sending him a picture like that when you had a boyfriend. you had to know what he said in order to explain the whole situation or else you’d hate yourself for it. but his response was something that you did not expect.
nah you’re all good
look at you, fuck
you could feel your face grow warm at his comment, it wasn’t something you weren’t used to. yuji always told you how good you looked for him, but for some reason, this was different. you liked it, and you felt dirty for it. 
the right thing to do would be just to apologize for the confusion and be on with your day, but your mind and body were saying two different things. you knew this was wrong but your body was saying something else. 
he doesn’t have to know.
he won’t know.
before you even had time to respond, megumi sent you a photo. you hesitated to open it at first, what if it was a picture of his dick? he didn’t seem like the one to do that, but men in the past had done this to you before, so you weren’t so sure. but curiosity kills the cat, and once you opened his snapchat, you shifted your position, trying to get any sort of friction on your clothed clit.
he was on his bed in the photo, one arm behind his head as he held the phone at a good angle for you to see some of his body while he wore a mischievous smirk on his face, cocking his head to the side. who knew such a innocent act like this could get you all riled up? and to top it off, the words on the photo said put on a show for me.
it was obvious that his words had an effect on you, even though you couldn’t hear him saying them, your whole body was hot. it felt like this decision was life or death, it wouldn’t be that bad. 
you tapped out of his snapchat, stood up near your bed and angled the camera to make sure you got your whole body in the picture. nobody could deny it, you looked so fucking sexy in this lingerie. this was all so dirty, the fact that it was the lingerie that yuji had bought you and you were sending picture of yourself in it to his best friend. in a way, it almost turned you on even more. you loved yuji, you did, but this was getting you more excited than he ever had. 
you continued to send him more photos of your body, living for every response that he gave you. his responses sent a chills throughout your body, making you want to hear more, see more. it seemed that megumi wasn’t really one to send lewds but you could tell that he was very aroused by your photos with the comments he was giving you, it was addicting.
fuck, you’re so pretty
so fucking sexy
holy fuck y/n
it was wrong to be doing this, and you hated to admit that you were enjoying it every one bit. with just his comments and pictures back to you, you could feel your slick pooling in your panties. his photos back to you consisted of him sending pictures of his abs or pictures of him gently stroking his length through his sweatpants. 
you wanted more, him to say more, for there to be more, you wanted to see it. just from seeing his print in his pants, you could tell that he was nowhere near small, maybe it was time to take it to the next level.
his previous snapchat consisted of a body shot, clearly from the side so you could see how toned he was, along with his free hand down and under his waistband. it was a sight, you had to agree, it left you flustered. you wanted to one up him, make him be the one unable to control himself, make him be the one who’s flustered. 
you took it upon yourself to take a video of your body, hand slightly ghosting down your breasts, making sure that one could hear the small whimpers and noises you were emitting. you had to admit, you were hot, there was no doubt in that statement. once you clicked send on the video, a smirk took form on your face, you couldn’t wait for his reaction.
when megumi opened your video, he was surprised because all you had sent him before were pictures, but now seeing a video, he didn’t know how to react. he felt his whole body freeze when he heard your little moans as you gave him a perfect view of your body. he was impossibly harder than he was before, and it was all because of you. 
“fuck,” he groaned as he set his phone down, bring his hands up to his face. his cheeks felt hot, he would’ve never believed that this was going to happen. you, the girl he’d always wanted to be his own, sending him provocative pictures like this. it felt like a dream come true, he didn’t want to let it go to waste. 
on the other hand, you leaned back on your bed as you set your phone down beside you as you slowly began to bring your hands down to your pulsing heat. although you had been teasing him, you also had been teasing yourself too and you needed to let off some steam. you tried to think of yuji, how he loves and praises you, but all you could think of was him.
megumi.
your boyfriends best friend.
you tried to imagine what it’d be like if it were his fingers on you instead, sliding up and down your body as he took in every crevice, every dip of your skin. the feeling of his mouth on yours, on your body, between your legs, you wanted to feel him everywhere. you felt filthy, disgusting, but you needed him. 
just as you were about to bring your fingers under the waistband of your flimsy panties, your phone began to vibrate on the bed. you were a bit confused to be receiving a call at this time of the night but when you turned your phone up to face you, it was megumi. 
you were nervous to pick up, thinking that it would be awkward. but you had just sent him lewds, so you decided that didn’t matter. you picked up the phone call embarrassingly quick, only to see his face light up when yours came on screen. you didn’t know what to say, it was like all the words had suddenly fell back down your throat.
“hi princess,” he whispered, making your heart flutter. you mentally cursed at yourself, he shouldn’t be making you feel this way. you had a boyfriend. 
megumi took notice in your lack of response, chuckling lowly to himself. he thought it was cute, how you now could barely keep your composure around him. 
“hi,” you mumbled in response, his voice putting you in a haze. you’d hung out with megumi before, but never did you feel this way towards him.
“acting all shy now, huh? you weren’t so shy before, baby.” lust was laced in his voice, you found it undeniably attractive, the pet name sending a warm feeling throughout your body. “c’mon, put on a show for me.” 
you weren’t quite sure with what he meant with his words, but you had an idea. you reached behind you to unclasp your bra and slowly pulled it down for him to see, gently bringing your free hand to fondle with your breasts, forefinger and thumb playing with your nipple, making sure both got the same amount of attention.
this simple action had him throbbing as he held back a moan, he could feel the precum leaking down his shaft. oh how he wanted to ravish you, have you all to himself. you were addicting, he needed you.
megumi slid his hand under the waistband of his pants, stroking himself ever so slightly. he tried to hold back his moans as his eyes stayed glued to the screen as you played with your breasts. it was so overwhelming, he loved every second of it.
“fuck,” you moaned quietly, hoping he wouldn’t hear, but to your disappointment, he heard. 
“what is it?” he responded rather quickly, worried that he had done something wrong. the silence in his room and yours was undeniably loud, and he heard that small sound of you playing with your cunt. you tried everything to make sure that he hadn’t heard, but this whole situation was going south and you needed to relieve the feeling that was building up. you knew you would feel disgusting about this later, you’d feel like a horrible person for what you were doing. 
yuji didn’t have to know.
“‘need you right now, fuck, megumi, please,” you whimpered as you gently ghosted your fingers over your folds, silently cursing at yourself for getting so aroused from him, with him on the phone. you gently swirled your finger around your clit causing you to twitch at the sensation, stifling back a moan as you bit your lip.
the sound of you moaning his name and getting off on the other end of the phone was driving him insane, he needed to see you, to see your pretty pussy, all puffy and slick with your essence as you shamelessly fingered yourself for him. the fact that you had a boyfriend and this could be really bad for the both of you, seemed to only turn the two of you on more. 
“wanna see you,” your voice was small, he thought it was cute. “please.” he could tell that as much as you wanted to see his face, you wanted to see something more.
“fuck, y/n, okay, only if you show me after.” he pulled his sweatpants down just enough to free himself, his dick slapping against his lower abdomen. you swore you could feel your hole clench at the sight of his fully erect cock. sure, you had a large amount of sexual experience and seen a fair share of dicks in your life, but there wasn’t a single one that looked as pretty as his. he seemed to be above average size, a bit on the skinnier side but he made up for it in length, compared to yuji, who was around average size but had more girth than megumi. but you knew that megumi would be able to hit spots inside you that yuji hadn’t. of course, he still pleasured you but there was something about megumi that had you itching to have him inside you. although it seemed far fetched, you were just going to have to relish in this moment.
“like what you see, hm?” his words snapping you out of your trance, turning your head away from the camera which earned a low chuckle from him.
“shut up,” you mumbled, before looking back towards the screen. you saw him stroke himself, picking up the pace from the speed at which he was going at earlier. he tried to hold back the noises that were coming from his mouth but you loved them, you loved this.
“are you g’na show me that pretty pussy of yours?” he asked you, your face heating up once again at his request. you nodded your head slowly as you brought your phone down in between your legs. you never had done something like this in the past, but it sent adrenaline throughout your whole body.
megumi’s eyes stayed glued to the screen as you lowered the phone agonizingly slow until the phone was right in front of your clothed heat. the wet spot at your crotch was incredibly noticeable along with your free hand stuffed in your panties, trying to bring yourself close to the edge. you slowly pulled your hand out from under the waistband, fingers coated in your slick as you pulled your underwear to the side to reveal yourself fully to him. 
he felt his breath hitch in his throat, you were so wet. there was no doubt that you were talking to yuji before you talked to him but the fact that he had managed to get you even more turned on before, stroked his ego immensely.
but little did he know, most of this was because of him.
“holy shit,” he groaned as he began to stroke up and down his length, keeping his eyes on the screen. you had the prettiest cunt he’d ever seen, it was even better than he’d imagined, he knew he wasn’t going to last long. megumi had fantasized about this for so long, and now he has it right before his eyes. he continued to watch, giving you encouraging words of praise as you fingered yourself ever so slowly, making sure your clit also got some relief as well.
your saccharine moans echoed through the room as you began to pick up the pace, you were close. you could feel your orgasm as it was just on the edge, you just needed one more push.
“oh fuck,” you bit your lip as you tried to cover your sounds, your fingers barely grazing over your special spot as you fucked yourself with your fingers. “megumi, ’m gonna - ”
“you gonna cum? yeah?” he seethed, megumi could feel his orgasm approaching fast, he needed to see you cum before him. “imagine if it was me, using my fingers on you, my mouth on you. c’mon baby, cum for me.”
as soon as those words came out of his mouth, you came hard, imagining as if it were him who was the one with his fingers inside of you, easing you out of your orgasm. the sight of you coming undone before his eyes through the screen made him lose it as he came, hot spurts of his cum on his chest, groaning at the feeling of his long awaited release. 
you both stayed quiet as you caught your breath, the silence somewhat awkward, but for some reason, calming. once back to normal, you both exchanged a light conversation before ending the call.
you lay in bed, thinking about what you had just done. it was wrong, dirty, and you felt filthy for it. the worst part, you enjoyed it way more than you thought you would. the two of you knew in your hearts that things won’t be the same after this, there’s no way they could. it would have to be a secret, just be between you and megumi.
as you lay there, one thought played on repeat inside your head.
what were you going to tell yuji?
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amazingphilza · 4 years
Text
maniac :: cc!tommy x reader
angst (?) , platonic (?) , gender neutral ! ib: conan gray’s maniac
this is satire & note that i write the reader to be a few months younger than tommy (besides that, i think it is fully inclusive !)
synopsis : you put all your hard work towards a useless crush. with no expectation for reciprocated feelings in the first place, it still all ends in a bittersweet slap to reality.
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you grew up with minecraft and it was an understatement to say it was part of your childhood
even years later, you still maintained interested in the game
it wasn’t just a simple video game, the community inspired you to do many things
you aspired to be like the creators you watched at a young age like sky, dantdm, cupquake, stampy, and many more
making people happy and entertained was a dream
and when minecraft slowly began trending again in 2019, you started making your own content whenever you felt like it out of fun
you never got much views but it was an enjoyable experience nonetheless
but it wasn’t until the first minecraft monday you decided to push a bit more with your hobbies and worked hard to make it somewhere
however balancing your passions with school wasn’t the easiest
given, you were still only around 15 and your content wasn’t even that good
with not much of a goal or plan with your youtube channel, you fell out of interest eventually
you loved minecraft but you always a rocky relationship with it; getting back into it for a few months then pretending it never really existed for another few
besides the occasional videos you watched in your pass time, you didn’t stay that updated
then lockdown happened
it changed everything and even got you regressing back to old interests
soon enough you were back to minecraft
there was so much to catch up on
hermitcraft season 7 just started, there was minecraft championships, and smp earth and smp live, and so much more to look forward to watching
you were a bit late on both of the smps but your interest peaked specially towards smp earth and it didn’t stop you from watching the past videos
you first gravitated towards a certain youtuber’s videos first since you remember stumbling onto his videos before from your recommended page; wilbur soot
besides recognizing him from his you laugh you lose series and making parody-type of songs, you didn’t know much
however with a few clicks, you had binge watched his smp earth series effortlessly
you found yourself falling down the endless hole, finding more creators to watch through wilbur
one in particular caught your eye in an interesting way
tommyinnit
my god, how can someone be so annoying and pushy in these videos? like shut up already
and to find out he was barely months older than you frustrated you
you just wanted to be better in some way
if someone like him could be popular, why can’t you? yelling at others and causing problems didn’t seem that hard
and so you went back to working hard on your previously failed youtube channel but this time with a goal; be better than tommyinnit
it was a weird aspiration in your head but it worked
he was your age and successful, why need a better motivator?
tommy wasn’t the sole reason why you strive to make content since you truly did want to create videos to entertain people like the youtubers you originally grew up watching
and with the amount of free time you had, you thoroughly analyzed his content; what was the most popular, how he streamed, edited his videos, everything
you just completely studied the algorithm in general
along the way, tommy’s personality grew on you
tommy was undoubtedly a very loud and energetic person but you became fond of his ambitions
you understood why he was popular at such a young age; he was a natural entertainer
your spite towards the boy turned into a hope
a hope to be at par with him someday and even be mutuals
and it was like your dreams were suddenly manifested into existence
you gained a large following in the early months of lockdown and even was recognized to be apart of minecraft championships
it felt like yesterday that you were just watching your favorite youtubers livestream the same competition
and now you were situation in a team to play yourself for the first time instead of being a viewer for once
not to mention, with tommyinnit as a teammate
how did you manage to get so lucky?
under the excitement, you felt beyond never nervous waiting in the empty discord call for your team to join you to practice the mini-games
in the middle of gathering your thoughts together, you heard a sound from discord signaling someone joined the call
“uh, hello?”
you heard the familiar british accent you spent hours listening to from countless streams and videos
“h-hi! i’m y/n, how are you?”
you hoped tommy couldn’t hear the strain in your voice due to fighting your nerves, but you quietly celebrated that you didn’t freeze up altogether
“oh i’m good, thank you. and i’m tommy by the way, this is the first time we’re speaking, yeah?”
“yep! it’s nice to meet you”
“yeah, i’ve seen your name around the timeline a few times, you seem cool”
oh my god what?
“thanks! um i actually really enjoy your content not gonna lie”
“oh wow, good shit!”
and the conversation smoothly went on, bouncing back and forth between you two before your other two teammates joined the call
once everyone was situated, you decided to start streaming since it was your first mcc and you wanted a vod of you practicing to look at later on as a memory
your chat immediately noticed how much you were enjoying yourself, especially after all the short stories of talking about who inspired you in the past
the smile plastered on your face never left
after stream and your other teammates went offline, it was you and tommy left in the call once together again
“it was nice talking to you tommy! and the practice was really fun, i cant wait for the actual competition!”
“yeah definitely, we’ll for sure place high”
“hopefully. it’s my first time and i hope i don’t cost us the dub”
“nah, you think so? i mean rt and plumbella are also our team mates so you know, it’s all for fun in the end”
you knew tommy was implying the teamwork wasn’t going to be the best compared to the other teams but at least in the end you’ve both made a new friend
“yeah you’re right!”
“anyway it’s getting late imma hop off”
“okay tommy, talk to you soon?”
“yep!”
“alright byee”
“bye!”
the moment he left the call, you felt a sense of relief before a small wave of sadness took over
you wanted to continue talking to tommy but you knew you had other responsibilities to tend to
for the rest of the day, you couldn’t stop thinking of the call and mcc practice
the funny jokes, singing random songs, screaming for no reason, everything
it even kept you awake until the early morning
you buried your head in a pillow and screamed into it after realization hit
y/n no
no no no no no no no
you tried to recall anything that remotely related your other teammates which you remembered that didn’t include tommy
even if it was a few hours ago, you couldn’t pin point something specific
no
i must just be forgetful, right?
what the hell did rt and plumbella even say that whole call?
you vividly remembered everything with tommy and it was clear to you why
surely not
with putting a hand on your chest above your heart, you confirmed that you couldn’t lie to yourself based on the rapid speed
you liked tommy for a good while but it hadn’t clicked to you until now
eventually you fell asleep due to exhaustion but that’s to say you didn’t do so without imagining spending more time with tommy
ever since that day, time went by in a flash
your team didn’t do the best in mcc but it had been a while since then to have that as a concern
sadly you and tommy didn’t talk as often as you hoped but that didn’t make you have less feelings for him
on some days you felt bad since you thought you didn’t know enough about him to even be allowed to crush on him
it was a bit unprofessional but you were nearly 16, it’s normal to have these little crushes right?
eventually time came to rescue when tommy asked you if you wanted to accompany him in the dream smp
undoubtedly, you said yes
and for the few months during summer, it was where you two became even closer than before
however, once both of you two had to go back and attend school, it was harder to catch up with each other
even on calls together off stream, the occasional snapchat notification going off irked you in a way you couldn’t explain
only winter break was the small pause on your disappointment
but even then, it was a slow but steady hill of repressed sadness and frustration until early spring of the following year
you had hoped 2021 would be better than last year but after scrolling through twitter one day and seeing stans making rumors about how tommy had a crush on one of his classmates gave you the same pain you felt when school started last fall
you dreaded to look over at tommy’s most recent story time stream vod where all the gossip arose from; it was him stumbling over his words with the mention of a girl during a certain part
jealousy wasn’t the right word to describe the way you felt
you would never go out of your way to make tommy reciprocate the feelings you had for him
and if he liked someone else the way you saw him, you wouldn’t mind
having a crush is ecstatic, and if he has someone like that too, you should be happy
right?
you tried
what finally broke you was seeing a tiktok a few weeks later of tommy in college with eryn and another girl talking
you didn’t know how she looked like or anything but you wanted to sob
good for him
she didn’t even say much in the video and you dont know enough about tommy’s personal life to jump to conclusions like this
you knew you were acting irrational and you couldn’t be upset at tommy for something he couldn’t control
if anything, you never directly showed interest in him
you didn’t want to in the first place
it was a bad idea from the start
you looked back at the past year and all your intentions
what kind of sick fanfiction did you think you were living?
becoming a content creator, hoping to blow up, just to talk to a big youtuber you had a crush on?
oh my god
y/n what is wrong with you?
listen to yourself, y/n
you need to get some help
whether tommy was dating or even just had interest someone was none of your business
you had to move on no matter what it was and be good and supportive friend
it was dreadful to get over a stupid crush like this but after so much work you put in, you gave some sympathy for yourself
in a friend perspective, you were happy with whatever tommy did and was satisfied your friendship together, but you hadn’t realized how much you gambled from the beginning
and just for a crush?
you couldn’t comprehend how far you gone because you fancied someone
it wasn’t like anyone could get famous and become a popular content creator either
and now with you being on the dream smp along with a successful youtube channel at 16? you were grateful something pushed you enough to work this hard
but you’d never forget the fact everything that lead up to this point was a crush on no other than tommyinnit which first spurred from complete spite
“who’s the one better off now?” your thoughts mocked you from the complete irony
sigh
y/n, you maniac
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theasstour · 4 years
Photo
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𝐔𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝.
𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 𝟕.𝟕𝐤 𝐍𝐁: 𝐚𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐡𝐨𝐥, 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞, 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐭 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐠𝐞, 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐚
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Tuesday, 13 December 2017
Tooley Street was always busy, whether there were a horde of people walking to and from the riverside and underground, or cars driving by at a ridiculous speed. London Bridge station on the other side of the road to where Y/N and the gang sat at Caffé Nero, looked like a small insect in comparison to The Shard that reached like a pillar above the partly cloudy winter sky. The blue painted brick building beside it, The Shipwright Arms pub, was a lively addition to an otherwise very bleak street.
The winter wind by the riverside was horrendous, but Y/N had offered to come with Annalise on her cigarette break, so she had only herself to blame for exposing herself to more of the biting cold than completely necessary. From where the two were sitting, they could just make out Tower Bridge behind them, bare trees rising up along the streets that indicated summer was long gone and winter had arrived.
Y/N had spent a lot of time just sitting outside the last few days. Whether it was on a bench by Regent’s Canal, in the grass at Shoreditch Park, or at a table outside a café with a coffee in hand. She had just been sitting there, staring out at nothing. Thinking. All she had been doing since finding that watch was think.
She had tried to find some kind of logical explanation as to why that watch had the coordinates for her family’s Newport cabin, but there was none. What kind of connection did George have to Newport? To that cabin? Had he just fucked her and left it there because he knew who Y/N’s sister was? And where was George now? She had not seen him since that night in October, was he still around? Or had Y/N just missed him when he had been, and this had all just been a huge coincidence. But Y/N somehow knew, deep down, that this was far from a coincidence and she should not treat it as one.
“You have to come to Monnickendam,” Annalise said, blowing out a puff of white smoke.
Y/N looked away from a man across the street who was arguing passionately with someone on his phone. Shoving the thoughts of the watch that was laid on her desk in her room, out of her head. She had not told anyone about it, this was not something she wanted everyone to know about because she had no idea what it meant. The only person that knew was Harry, and she would like to keep it that way.
“I’ve never been to the Netherlands,” Y/N said.
“Even more of a reason to come.”
Y/N smiled. “Buzzing. I haven’t travelled much in Europe, mostly been to Brazil with my family.”
“When you come to Monnickendam, we have to take the train to, like, Germany or France. Andorra is also so beautiful, I think you’re gonna love it.”
“Make a roadtrip out of it.”
“Exactly.”
Y/N’s smile grew. “Had you been to London before you came here for school?”
Annalise brought the cigarette up to her mouth. “Loads of times.”
“Really?”
“Yes, we went here around Easter in 2012 the first time, and I fell in love. Went here four more times, then to an Open Day last year.”
Y/N nodded. “Was Helmond your first choice then? Did you like it the best?”
“No, Battersea was, but I’m happy I ended up at Helmond.” Annalise breathed out white vapour. “Helmond’s prettier.”
Y/N laughed. “The aesthetic is more important than the uni itself, innit? If you can’t take decent Instagram pictures there, what’s the point of spending the next three years at that place?”
Annalise laughed along with Y/N, taking a last drag. “I rarely use Instagram.”
“I used to. I loved to like document my life, to let all my friends and family know what I was doing at all times. But then I found Snapchat, and it’s just better.”
“You know that if you, like, save a picture or video in the Snapchat app, Snapchat owns it?”
Y/N blinked.
“At least what someone at home told me once.”
“Doesn’t Instagram do the same?” Y/N asked.
“Think so,” Annalise said, walking over to the litter and stumping her cigarette out in the ash tray on top of it. “Ground rule: don’t save anything onto social media. Anyone can save and see your pictures.”
“Basically,” Y/N mumbled, looking over at the man she had watched earlier. He was still arguing with someone over the phone.
“Ready to head back inside?” Annalise asked.
“Yeah.” Y/N got up and the two strolled back over to the Caffé Nero their three other mates were sat in. Thian, Hayden, and Chloe were all sat with their laptops in front of them and books in the centre of the table behind their screens. Chloe was talking animatedly as Y/N and Annalise approached, Hayden busy with something on the laptop in front of them while Thian sat with a book in his hands, looking at Chloe as she spoke. Y/N took off her puffer jacket, hanging it off the back of her chair as she sat down, adjusting her black V-neck jumper and loose denim jeans.
“…the problem isn’t that. The problem is the fact that they never clean up after themselves. That’s the problem,” Chloe said, groaning loudly. “And when I ask in the flat groupchat if anyone wanna be social, no one answers. I swear, all of them hate me.”
“Maybe they’re just busy,” Thian suggested.
“They always say that, but I know two of the boys are in Dave’s room playing something on that PlayStation.” Chloe crossed her arms over her chest. “Should I learn how to play FIFA?”
“You don’t have to impress them,” Y/N said, turning her laptop back on to finish the essay for Critical Reading that was due that Friday.
“No, I know. But if I want to hang out with anyone in my flat, I gotta do something. What games do you play in the PlayStation, Thian?”
Thian stared at Chloe for a second, mouth working before he mumbled, “I didn’t bring one to uni.”
“Alright, then what did you play at home?”
“Call of Duty.”
Chloe scrunched up her nose. “Isn’t that a war game?”
“Yeah.”
“Nah, I’m not into that.” Chloe grimaced, looking at something further away. “I’ve never really played PlayStation. One of the blokes I dated in college gamed a lot, but I couldn’t be asked to sit around and just watch.”
“The three in my flat play GTA,” Y/N said. “At least that’s what Nathan wants to play, Harry and Mason just go along.”
Chloe’s face instantly lit up. “Oh, my word, Y/N. You have to make Harry teach me how to play something on the PlayStation.”
There was a slight pang in Y/N’s chest at the sound of his name leaving Chloe’s lips in that way. Y/N opened, then closed her mouth, then opened it again. “I don’t really hang out with them when they play it. I’ve had so much to do these past months.”
“That’s fine, Nathan can keep us company,” Chloe said, leaning back in her seat. “Make Mason come, too. God-“ She grinned, letting her head fall between her shoulder blades. “-Your flatmates are fit.”
“Harry’s fitter than Mason,” Hayden chimed in.
“No, definitely Mason,” Annalise said.
“I can’t choose. Depends on my mood,” Chloe mused.
Thian kept quiet, staring pointedly at his laptop.
“Can you do it? Make them teach me?” Chloe begged, sticking her bottom lip out at Y/N.
Y/N took a deep breath. “I’ll try.”
Chloe grinned.
“They might be busy, too. Might not get to it till after Christmas break.”
Chloe waved her hand. “That’s fine. I just want to hang out with someone from my flat eventually.”
Y/N glanced down at her laptop again, trying to forget the conversation she had just had with the other three. Chloe continued chattering on about something of no significance, Y/N did not care to listen as she wanted to finish her essay before she had to leave for home coming Saturday. Though her coffee was cold now as she took a sip of it, Y/N still appreciated the taste of caffeine. It woke her up, made her more alert and focused.
Ever since she was seven years old, her papai had made her coffee to drink. He always said “coffee is as vital to a Brazilian’s existence as tea is to a Brit’s” and she had drunk it ever since. She loved the taste of it much more than tea, but seeing as tea was much easier to make, she had come to resort to it here in London. Home in Nottingham, there was always a brew in the making or one ready for whoever felt like having a cup, made with a proper coffee machine that Davi had invested proper money in. He had bought it back in 2001, and it worked just as well as it did back then. Y/N, like her papai, loved the coffee from that old coffee maker more than anything else. She could not wait until she was home with her parents so she could drink proper coffee all the time without going to the nearest coffee shop to do so. The instant coffee Nathan often made smelled and tasted rank, Y/N would have no other coffee than her papai’s and a cup made at a coffee shop.
“I’m gonna go buy a muff,” Hayden said, getting up from their chair. “This essay is doing my head in, I need something to sooth the pain.”
“Oh, could you buy me a scone?” Thian asked, putting his hands together as if he was begging on his knees. “I’ll pay with five stellar knock knock jokes.”
“Make it six.”
“Deal.”
The two shook hands and Hayden grinned as they looked at the other three. “Anything from the trolley, dears?”
Y/N and Annalise chuckled. “No thanks,” Y/N said, Annalise saying the same thing.
“No, I’ll just add to this,” Chloe said, patting at her stomach.
“Add to what?” Hayden asked.
“A belly.” Chloe gripped the little that was protruding from her tight denim jeans. “I’m trying to start working out for bikini season, to remove that extra uni weight, you know?”
Hayden looked absolutely lost, so did Thian, and Annalise looked to not be paying any attention at all. Y/N, however, felt a familiar pang in her chest. It was a small explosion she had felt before, one that would taint the rest of her day. Instinctively, she put her scarf around her chest, letting it fall over her stomach.
Hayden did not comment, instead they just walked up to the till, ready to tell the lady working there their order. The table fell silent, but not for the reason Y/N wanted it to. No, they were all just busy with their essays. Y/N knew that it would be impossible for her to concentrate on the assignment now that the only thing she would be thinking about for the rest of the day was Chloe’s comment. Chancing a look over at her friend, she saw her flicking through a book in her lap, completely unbothered, Annalise was cocking her head to the side as she wrote something on her Mac, while Thian was watching Hayden pay for their food. None of them had batted an eyelash. Which was nothing new, Y/N was used to no one picking up on covered up fatphobic comments.
She knew that Chloe had not said those things with her in mind, that the statement had been about her own body only. But Y/N could not help but feel the comment in her very soul. She could remember her mates from school in Nottingham making comments similar to that one, so hearing it wasn’t alien, but it stung as much as hearing it that first time.
“Here we go,” Hayden said, putting the scone down on Thian’s keyboard.
“Scones are so bloody good,” Thian moaned, taking a huge bite out of his. “If we had to fuck a food, I’d fuck scones.”
The table went quiet, all looking at Thian. He just continued on eating, humming some Alesso and Conor Maynard song that was always playing on the radio.
“Why did you just say that?” Hayden asked.
“Felt like sharing my thoughts with the class.”
Hayden raised their eyebrows before looking at the laptop in front of them. “The class did not need to know.”
Thian shrugged his shoulders and Annalise laughed, Chloe joining in after a little while. Y/N smiled at them, but her thoughts still drifted back to Chloe’s comments just a minute earlier. She spread her scarf out over her stomach, wishing she had worn something that wasn’t so tight fitted.
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Friday, 15 December 2017
“Sorry we’re late,” Mason said as him and the rest of the rugby team streamed into the seminar room. Hayden, Y/N, Thian, Chloe, Annalise, Nathan, and Annalise’s two friends were all sat around one table, already having started a round of Uno.
“Oh, don’t worry,” Hayden smiled. “I’ve put Uno decks on the other tables.”
“Cheers.”
Mason and the rest of the team sat down, all chatting amongst themselves and letting go of heavy sighs as they took their seats. It was clear that the last training session for the team this year had not only been cold, but also immensely tiring. They all looked very ready to travel home for Christmas break, and it looked like a few already had.
Y/N felt their struggle with the cold. She herself was wearing a mini linen skater dress in black. The skirt was loose, making it comfortable to hide her belly in – she had not stopped thinking about Chloe’s comment all week, but it would not stop her from looking really fucking good – and the waist was open, baring some of her skin and rib tattoo to everyone. Her skin protruded around the straps that were wrapped around her waist, connecting her skirt from her top, but there was nothing she could do about it, so she just tried to stay out of Chloe’s vision. The plunge neck revealed a very deep cleavage and skin, making it so Y/N had put on two silver necklaces to top of the outfit. The rest of the top had long sleeves and a nice collar, which was why Y/N had bought the dress. It was slutty, but in a modest way.
The rest of the gang around the table had also dressed up, ready to go out after this. They all had their last lecture of the semester today, meaning that their Christmas break had just started, and they wanted to celebrate before everyone travelled to their separate locations the next day. Chloe to Oxford, Thian to Bristol, Hayden to Sheffield, Annalise to Monnickendam, and Y/N back home to Nottingham. It would be weird not to meet up with them, to not go to lectures and stress about assignments for the next month. Then again, Annalise had made a Snapchat and Messenger group to ensure that the gang would talk every single day. And knowing her mates, Y/N was sure they would.
During a break between rounds, Y/N got up from their table after making sure that her polyamide shorts underneath her dress didn’t roll down her stomach. She wore them to prevent chafing, knowing that if she did not wear them underneath her skirt, it would be hard for her to wear anything the next day. She did the zip of her chunky sock boots before making her way over to Mason’s table.
“Alright, Y/N?” Mason said as she came closer, giving her a small smile.
“How’re you lot finding the society?” she asked, looking around the table, meeting Kai’s eyes.
Kai beamed. “Good, it’s nice to spend some time with the whole team off the rugby pitch.”
“You’re dressed up,” Mason pointed out. “What’s the occasion?”
“Uno Society.”
Mason smiled. “Trying to pull some rugby players, are ya?”
“No. No, rugby players.”
Mason only raised his eyebrows as if he didn’t believe her, smile widening.
She narrowed her eyes at him. “You’re just as unbearable as Harry sometimes.”
“Nah, Harry’s worse than me.”
“Right.” Y/N took a big breath. “Chloe over there, the blonde,” Y/N said, motioning behind her with a nod of her head. Mason’s gaze immediately fell on Chloe. “She’s wondering if you and Harry can teach her how to play the PlayStation.”
Mason blinked, looking over at Kai as the bigger man clapped his hands together before laughing.
“Is that funny?” Y/N asked.
“No, it’s not. I just knew Kai would react like that,” Mason said. “But I’ll do it. After Christmas at some point.”
“Nice, I’ll tell her that, then.”
“Why does she need someone to teach her how to play PlayStation?” Kai asked, and though there was laughter in his voice, Y/N could tell his question was sincere.
“Some blokes in her flat never want to be social, they just stay in this one room playing PlayStation, and she’s kinda left out ‘cause she doesn’t really know how to play.”
“That might not work out,” Kai said, smiling still.
“Worth a shot, either way.”
“Maybe she just wanna spend time with this hunk,” Kai grinned, putting a hand on Mason’s shoulder. “Or the other hunk that’s not here.”
“Speaking of him,” Y/N said, putting a hand on her hip. “Not that I care, but where is he?”
Kai grinned, sitting back in his chair. “You don’t care? Not at all?”
“No, Y/N doesn’t like Harry much,” Mason explained, completely unbothered. “He’s working. The team’s popping by The Stag’s Head later to check on him since it’s his last shift and all that.”
Y/N nodded, suddenly remembering how Harry had told her that a few weeks ago.
“What’s the bellend done to you?” Kai asked.
“Another time, Kai. We’re in the middle of a round,” Mason said. “I’ll find a day that’s good for Chloe to come over.”
“Wicked,” Y/N smiled. “See ya.”
“Later, mate.”
Y/N walked back to her table, sitting down in her seat again. “Sorry,” she said when Hayden gave her a look. “Chloe, Mason said he could teach you how to play PlayStation sometime after Christmas break.”
Chloe squealed. “Really?!”
“Yeah, he’ll text me saying when.”
“Ahh! Buzzing!”
Y/N gave her a smile before the gang went back to playing.
Though she was physically present over the next hour or so, Y/N’s mind travelled back to the flat and the watch on her desk. Besides assignments, Christmas, and what Chloe said on Tuesday, that was all Y/N had spent her time thinking about. She would be in bed, about to go to sleep, then just get out of her bed and look at the watch, study it carefully. Maybe there was another message of sorts on it, maybe she was supposed to do something with it. But other days she did not want to touch that watch. There was something about it, something about how it had just been left in her possession so casually, something about the fact that she had not seen George since that night, that did not sit right with Y/N at all.
Throughout the rest of the night, after the Uno Society, while the gang was sat at a pub, and then dancing at a club later, Y/N could not bring herself to enjoy herself thoroughly. All her energy went back to that watch. She wanted to understand what it meant, why George had it, and what she was supposed to do with the information. Was she even supposed to do anything at all? It only made her want to travel down to Newport even more. She had to now. Her parents might think about getting rid of that cabin, but Y/N had to revisit it one last time before that happened.
Y/N did not drink that night; she was afraid of the conspiracy theories she would form if she did. She had one cocktail at the pub they went to, but could not do more than that, and her mates did not ask questions as to why she was not drinking, something she really appreciated. It was late when she announced she would be going home, and so she called Nathan and made him stay on the line with her as she took the tube back to Haggerston Station. Once she reached Orsman Road, she could hear his snores on the other end, and hung up halfway down the road to the flat. However, in the distance, she saw a stag’s head sign hanging out on a metal pole, protruding from the building opposite her flat building. She suddenly remembered what Mason said, and crossed the road, making her way over to the pub.
A small group of lads made their way out of the pub as Y/N reached it, the last one holding the door for her. She smiled and thanked him before walking inside. Now that she wasn’t affected by alcohol, Y/N was finally able to take in the pub properly without having the slight haze of alcohol taint it. The lights were comfortably dimmed, not too much so you could not read the menu, but just enough so that a person’s facial features would be a tad blurry. The red that ran along the wall behind the dark bar counter was subtle, giving the bar a sense of holding onto the secrets of each person who walked through the front doors, like a Victorian murder mystery. Y/N could see Sweeney Todd’s barber shop trapped in the same colours.
“Excuse me, miss,” a man walking out from behind the counter said, grey hair and broad shoulders. “We’re closed.”
“Oh,” she said, looking around the dark pub. “I… I thought I might find Harry here.”
The man narrowed his eyes a little. “He’s got a new girlfriend? So soon after the other ones?”
Y/N felt herself narrow her eyes back at the man. Girlfriend? Harry’s had girlfriends – plural – since he started working in The Stag’s Head? There was a very strange combination of a lot of different feelings that swarmed around Y/N’s body, suddenly making her feel seasick. She was about to abort her mission, to say she would just catch Harry at home, when there came a voice from the door leading out into the smoking area.
“Y/N,” Harry said, turning the lights off outside and closing the door. It looked as if he could not quite believe his eyes as he saw her standing there, like he had not thought she would ever show up to his work like this. Without seemingly able to help himself, his green eyes fell down to her green dress and her exposed legs. He quickly looked to his other co-worker, clearing his throat as he walked behind the pub counter. Y/N could swear she saw a slight pink hue to his cheekbones.
“I’ll leave if you’re busy.”
“No,” Harry said, the word coming out a little too quickly as if desperation got the better of him. “No. Not busy.”
The grey-haired man raised his eyebrows at Harry. He must have seen something in Harry’s demeanour, because he said, “You’ll be alright to close up on your own?”
Harry smiled. “It’ll be a nice way to end my time at Stag’s Head.”
“Nice,” the man Y/N now suspected was Harry’s boss, said. “Pop by with the keys tomorrow, will ya?”
“Yes, sir.”
The man gave both Harry and Y/N a smile each before he started on his walk up to his office. The pub was suddenly very quiet, not a single sound came from inside, just the distant siren outside and the low buzz of the city. A place that was usually bustling with noise, energy, and anticipation, was now left with the latter. Y/N looked around the place, unsure of what to do with herself now that it was only her and Harry there. Harry watched her, picking up the Cif spray from where it stood under the counter. She felt his gaze on her as she walked along the booths, touching the red velvet cushions, a rush of goosebumps travelling up her spine at the knowledge that she had his full attention.
She turned around, leaning her bum against a table as she took in the liquor behind Harry. He was washing the counter, looking over at Y/N again, eyes falling to her mid-area that was expanded slightly at the pressure the surface behind her was providing. He quickly looked away again, biting his lips together as he focused on the counter in front of him. Y/N could not help a small smile.
“What made you show up to my work, then?” he asked.
“Can’t a friend show up to another friend’s work?”
Harry let out a strangled chuckle. “Alright. That’s very nice of you, but I don’t buy that for a single second.”
Y/N raised her eyebrows. “You don’t?”
“There’s gotta have been another reason as to why.”
“Okay…? What’s that?”
Harry shrugged his shoulder, spraying more Cif onto the counter. “You were bored. You didn’t want to be around your other mates any longer. You wanted to see a delicious man with an irresistible Northern accent clean up a pub since it’s his last shift ever here tonight.”
Y/N let out a laugh, placing her hands on either side of the table beside her. “None of the above.”
“Alright,” Harry said, coming out from behind the pub. “What didn’t I cover?”
“You weren’t at the Uno Society meeting.”
The answer came so effortlessly, as if her subconscious had been holding onto the answer for Y/N until she was strong enough to know the real reason. Her hands instantly gripped the table harder, feeling embarrassed for admitting vulnerability so easily. She blamed how easy it was to talk to him, how he just seemed to throw a lasso around her deepest secrets, her most private desires, and drag them out of her.
Harry looked over at her from where he was cleaning the tables a bit further away in the pub. “Had work. Would’ve been there if I didn’t have to be here.”
She nodded, looking down at her black boots. For some reason, his words warmed something inside her. Hearing someone care about something she cared about made her feel special. Then again, someone she just met on the street could tell her they hated Marmite, something Y/N also did, and she would feel equally as fuzzy inside. Finding small bonds, small preferences, small somethings that connected you to other people, made you feel like you weren’t alone, but it also made you feel special, made you feel seen and understood. It was as if someone opened a door into their soul, and giving you a warm handshake, welcoming you into them and their life.
“The lads had a blast,” Harry said, now closer to Y/N as she had zoned out for a minute and some.
“They did?”
“Yeah, it’s nice to just sit down and relax like that. We don’t really get to do that.”
Y/N watched as Harry hovered by a table, leaning over it to clean it. His black tee shirt stretched over his broad back, his shoulder blades visibly working as he ran the cloth over the table in front of him. The outline of his muscles, the way they were so hard against the soft fabric of the tee shirt, made Y/N’s body feel very hot all of a sudden. He worked so carefully, sliding his hand holding the cloth so slowly over the table, paying it his undivided attention. She adjusted her position against her table, looking away from Harry as he stood back up, his black trousers that had been tight around his buttocks, slacking at the lack of pressure on the material. Get a fucking grip, Y/N screamed at herself in her head, focusing on the wall in front of her. She saw Harry look at her over his shoulder, gaze lingering on her for a few seconds. Y/N suddenly found it very hard to draw a proper breath.
“You’re mad I didn’t show up?” Harry asked.
Y/N was silent, her brain completely blank. “Didn’t show up…?”
She could see his smug smile in her peripheral vision. “Yeah.”
“To what?”
His smile widened and he focused on a table closer to her. “The Uno Society.”
She closed her eyes. Her checking out Harry while he had his back to her had not just made her forget the whole reason why she had showed up to The Stag’s Head in the first place. His body looking the way it did, him caring about the society, him teasing her to get a reaction out of her… Why the fuck did he have that effect on her?
“No,” Y/N said, refusing to look at him still. “I’m not mad.”
“Then why won’t you look at me right now?”
Y/N could feel her hands instinctively grabbing harder onto the table behind her. “No reason.”
“You know,” Harry started, she could hear the smirk in his voice. “You can try all you want, but I still know you.”
She huffed. “You wish.”
“I don’t gotta,” he said, chuckling a little. “Don’t gotta wish when I already do know you. Wish I knew you better, wish you’d just open up to me like you did so easily before, but that’s for a later time.”
That made her look over at Harry, her eyebrows drawn together as she just watched him clean yet another table. He… Did he really think she would one day open up to him again and they would go back to being friends like they used to? Was he really that optimistic? Had he thought about it? About them and their friendship? And what a future with her alongside him at uni would look like? Her eyes landed on his bicep as it flexed, holding his body weight as he leaned against the table again. Her gaze following his arm all the way down to his hand, long slender fingers wrapped around the edge of the table, and the thick veins over the dorsal part of his hand made something in Y/N’s brain short circuit. That along with the casual way he was leaning his hips against the table, staring down at it with his head cocked.
What the fuck, Y/N said to herself again, looking away from him. What the fuck what the fuck what the fuck?! How was she supposed to stay neutral, to not find him attractive, to not want to sink right back into old habits when she allowed herself to study him and look at him like that. She had to stop. This was getting out of hand.
“You’re uncharacteristically quiet tonight,” Harry said, working slowly as he cleaned up the table in the booth beside the one she was stood leaning against.
“No, I’ve just got things on my mind.”
“What things?”
Your broad shoulders. Your hands. The way you stick your tongue out of your mouth when you are concentrating. But Y/N said none of those things, as doing so would sentence her to a lifetime of humiliation.
“Insignificant things.”
“When they’re taking up a lot of space in your head and preventing you from being present, they’re not insignificant,” Harry said, sounding a little serious all of a sudden. “Everything alright?”
“Yeah, there’s nothing inherently bad on my mind, just… I’ve got a lot of… thoughts,” Y/N said, not knowing how else to explain it without giving something away.
“What thoughts?”
Y/N narrowed her eyes at him. “Thought you did Architectural Studies, didn’t know you also had a degree in being Nosy.”
Harry let out a laugh, coming to stand in front of her with the spray and the cloth in his hands. “I’m very nosy.”
“Glad to hear you’re self-aware.”
“But right now I just want to make sure you’re okay.”
Bloody hell, Y/N thought, could he just fucking stop being so nice? So fucking adorable? And fit? It made hating him so much harder than it already was.
“I’m okay.”
He took a step closer. “What’s been on your mind then?”
“Just… life.”
“Has uni exhausted you?”
“Yeah, but it’s not what I’m thinking about.”
Harry took another step closer. Y/N’s palms were suddenly very clammy.
“What’s on your mind?” he asked again, a small smile on his lips as if he was challenging her.
“Maybe you just have to face the fact that I won’t tell you and you can’t figure it out on your own.”
“Nah,” Harry said. “I’ll figure you out.”
Y/N watched as Harry took another step closer, her heart suddenly beating very fast inside her chest.
“I just gotta…” He trailed off, now standing directly in front of her. Tip of his shoes against the tip of hers. Without a warning of sorts, he leaned closer, bending over her until his head hovered beside her own. Chest wavering above hers, touching as she drew in a precipitous breath and he did the same. Their bodies did not brush against one another again, an invisible, burning shield was built to keep them apart the second their upper bodies made contact. As if the universe was telling them that by touching like that, the world would go up in total flames around them.
Harry’s sudden closeness made her breathe in a little too harshly, she was sure he must have heard it but she simply did not care. The reaction her body was having to him being so close was electric, it made all the hairs on her body stand on end. She didn’t know what he was doing that close to her, thinking at first that he must have wanted to whisper something in her ear, to say something to her that would undoubtedly make her glad she was leaning against something solid for support.
But she heard the familiar sound of the Cif spray, and a second later, Harry reached his cloth behind Y/N’s back, cleaning the table. She felt his breath against her neck, triggering something radioactive inside her. The oud aroma of his cologne, with notes of cedar, patchouli, and spicy saffron filled Y/N’s nostrils. In those seconds when Harry hovered above her like that, his warm body inches from hers, breath fanning against her skin, his aroma, and aura mere inches from hers, Y/N was conflicted as to if she wanted time to speed up or slow down some more. She knew that if she stayed like that, with Harry so close to her, for much longer she would go absolutely mad and have an impossible time resisting him if he were to try something like he had done in the living room the week before.
No sooner had she thought that, he pushed off, face lingering just centimetres from hers. “I just need to take a look,” he said, speaking as if he did not mind if the whole world was watching them. He raised his hand, about to touch her chin. For what reason, Y/N did not know, but she didn’t ask any questions. However, he stopped, as if touching her was something he could not do. Y/N was glad he hadn’t, because God knows how her body would have reacted had he tenderly touched her jawline like it looked like he wanted to.
“Take a look?” Y/N mumbled.
“At you.”
A small breath left her lips.
“Maybe the answer to what’s been on your mind is somewhere in your eyes,” he said, eyes suddenly falling to her lips. “Or your lips.” He glanced at her forehead. “Or in the slight lines that appear between your eyebrows when you’re deep in thought.” He looked down at her hands on the table edge. “Or the way you’re gripping the table so tight right now.”
Jesus Christ, she was about to explode. Y/N let go of it immediately, standing up and forcing Harry to take two steps back. His intense glance lingered on her, falling to her lips as she opened her mouth to take a breath.
“It’s getting late,” she said, fingering the hem of her leather jacket as her heart continued to hammer away inside her chest.
“Wait for me, yeah?” Harry walked over to the next table to clean it, doing it way faster than all the other ones. Biting his lip and moving his hand with the cloth over the table as if to make up for time spent on something else, cleaning very slowly and standing too close to her.
“No, I can walk home by myself.”
“I know you’re capable of walking, but I don’t like you being out in the streets all alone late at night.”
Y/N looked over at Harry as he cleaned the last booth, seeing the determination to finish as quickly as possible.
“It’s just across the road,” she said.
“Please just let me walk you across the road, then.” Harry walked behind the bar counter, putting the cleaning supplies away.
“You make me sound like an old lady.”
“Just-“ He appeared from behind the counter. “-Wait.” He then disappeared into the backroom where he only stayed for a few seconds. Y/N would have thought that since he enjoyed working at The Stag’s Head, he would have at least lingered for a few moments to take in the last time he would ever be back there. But instead, he emerged wearing his coat, locking the door behind him, mere seconds later. He turned the lights off, and, walking over to where Y/N was standing, placed a gentle hand to her lower back, guiding her in the direction of the door that she could only barely make out in the dark. Goosebumps instantly ran up Y/N’s back and she inhaled at the pressure of Harry’s hand on her body. He held the door open for her and Y/N stepped outside, watching as Harry locked the front doors to The Stag’s Head for the very last time.
He looked around them after locking the door, checking up and down the three streets that came to a crossroad just outside the pub. Once his eyes finally met Y/N’s again he gave her the smallest smile, then motioned for her to lead the way back to their flat. She wanted to roll her eyes, but she could not find it in herself to do just that in that moment. Though it was just across the road, she very much appreciated Harry’s company back to their flat. Distance was nothing when the roads were dark and the faces of the figures walking past were left blurred by the dim streetlamps.
Harry held the door for Y/N once again, letting her be the first to enter the building. She strolled upstairs, unlocking their front door and watching as Harry gestured for her to walk on inside. The flat was dark, except for the warm yellow lights Nathan had twined around the railing of their terrace and the changing colours of the luminous Christmas tree in the living room. The kitchen was usually left in darkness, as was the rest of the flat, but since their eyes were used to night outside, it wasn’t hard to navigate their way to the stairs. They took their jackets off, and without her leather jacket on, Y/N was very aware of how much of her skin was exposed to Harry. Her dress showed off her legs, arms, and parts of her back to him, and she knew that, if he walked behind her up the stairs, he would get a good look at her bum.
She took her boots off and started up the stairs with her purse in her hand, hearing Harry make his way up them as well. If any man were to walk behind her up the stairs, Harry was one she trusted not to take the mick, to not look up her skirt and make her feel uncomfortable. But… after everything… she still didn’t want him to see her knickers. However, facing her door, she heard Harry walking up the stairs. Taking a deep breath, she turned around to face him once he reached the first floor. What happened next happened so suddenly that Y/N barely managed to wrap her head around it before the moment was gone.
She had just turned around to face Harry when he walked up over to her. Taking a step back at the sudden closeness, she felt herself breathe in sharply as Harry’s face lingered only centimetres from her own again. Though the person standing in front of her was a man, a completely different person, something inside her brain took her back to that night when they were 16. He hadn’t been this close to her since then, had not touched her or looked at her like this since then. His eyes flicked down to her lips, and then to meet hers, wet lips parting as if the anticipation was killing him.
And Y/N had to painfully admit, it was killing her, too. As much as she had tried to fight it, it was impossible to now. She wanted Harry to kiss her. Not tenderly kiss her like you would peck a person you were in love with, or to gently rub his thumb over her cheek as a show of affection, or to hug her tight when they met up for lunch. No, she wanted him to fucking kiss her. She wanted him to grab her face and kiss her hard; desperately, needily. She wanted them to fumble to take each other’s clothes off, and for him to make up for how bad that first time together was. There was absolutely no denying it, Y/N wanted Harry. She really wanted him. All these months, all those moments spent trying to push the thought away, she simply could not anymore. There was a hunger inside her for him, but only in the sexual sense. She could never fall in love with this man, she just wanted to fuck him. And she wanted to fuck him bad.
Her own lips parted, and she looked into his eyes with an expression she hoped he could read, because she needed him to understand. Once again, Harry raised his hand, hovering between them as if he were unsure what to do with it. Fingers twitching, she could see he was conflicted, whether he should touch her cheek as it looked like he wanted to, or if he should stop himself. Y/N let her eyes fall to his hand, to tell him she wanted him to touch her. She wanted to feel him somewhere, anywhere on her. Just looking at him, she could see he wanted the same as her. He wanted to feel her body, to explore it in a completely different way to last time.
Harry’s hand fell out of view, and just as Y/N thought he was going to let it hang limply, uselessly, at his side, she felt something on her waist. A warm pressure, snaking around the black linen of her dress. She waited for him to pull her closer to him, for their torsos to connect, but it never happened.
“Y/N,” Harry whispered, eyes falling to her lips again.
She did not answer, instead just tilted her head so it would be easier for him to kiss her. With her eyelids hanging low over her eyes, her body language not showing any sign of protesting, and with her lips parted, Y/N hoped the message was coming across clearly. Harry leaned in closer, his nose almost touching hers. Her heart was beating so fast and hard it hurt. Her hands were clammy. All her attention focused on Harry and the electricity they created on that spot where his hand rested. He leaned down, lips hovering just over the crook of her neck, making her close her eyes. Breath against the hair of her shoulder, lightning shooting up Y/N’s back. He slowly leaned back out again, nose hovering beside hers. The anticipation was absolutely killing her.
“I…” But he drifted off, eyes falling to her lips again. She could feel his breath on her mouth, could smell his cologne. The tension was making her dizzy, she just wanted him to bloody kiss her already.
She was just about to do it herself when she felt his warm hand drop off her waist. She blinked, and the next second, Harry took a step back. He only looked at her, mouth working as if he was trying to find the right words to say, but there were none. So, as if blinking himself awake from a sort of dream, he took another step back. Suddenly, he opened the door into his room. He stopped in the doorway, looking back at Y/N. Again, he tried to say something that must have died on the tip of his tongue, because again, he did not utter a word. It looked like he physically could not say them out loud. Instead, he closed the door, leaving Y/N standing alone out in the dark hallway.
Y/N’s eyes rested on the door to the bathroom, trying to go over in her head where it had just happened. Had… Had Harry just walked away just now? Had he teased her in the pub, then done almost the same just now, only to walk away? What had gone wrong? Why had he not kissed her? What had made him step away? What had made him stop? Y/N could not answer a single one of the questions, and she doubted Harry would give her any. She closed her eyes, resting her head against her door behind her. This was exactly why she had not wanted to live with Harry, this was why she had not given in to his charms and flirts before. Now, because of what had just happened, because of how awkward that had just been, they were back to square one. Just living under the same roof as him infuriated her. She could not fucking stand Harry Styles.
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shoyodon · 4 years
Text
Reclined Seat Prank HCs
𝙐𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙟𝙞𝙢𝙖, 𝙊𝙞𝙠𝙖𝙬𝙖, 𝙆𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙮𝙖𝙢𝙖, 𝙆𝙪𝙧𝙤𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙖𝙩 𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙏𝙞𝙠𝙏𝙤𝙠 𝙥𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙃𝘾𝙨
Warnings: Suggestive b/c Kuroo - what’d you expect, language
A/N: it’s 1AM heres a shitpost 
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Ushijima
You had seen this prank on Tiktok a couple of times, a girl picks up her boyfriend but the passenger seat is reclined all the way back and gets their reactions
Ushi does NOT know who Tiktok is or why his girlfriend finds him funny and he does not care
Honestly, you had no clue how he’d react, he didn’t ever respond to the majority of your cheesy pranks but maybe this would be the one
You had messaged him telling him after practice today you'd pick him up and the both of you could grab something to eat together to which he responded an “Okay 🙂”
Tendou is still teaching him how to use emojis leave him alone
You pull up, placing your phone down so that it records the passenger seat and you recline the seat. 
You pull out a tube of lipgloss and begin applying it in the camera as if you were using it as a mirror and Ushi comes up to the side of the door, knocking twice on it before he opened it.
He does that so you know its him and dont get startled 🥺
He gives you a short greeting, a ghost of a smile on his lips, climbing in
Bro literally just adjusts the seat correctly and puts his bag in the backseat
What
“Ushi..” “Yes, my love?”
Sigh
You cant even be mad, the dude trusts you blindly, the thought of you cheating on him doesn’t even cross his mind
With a shrug you lock your phone, sparking normal conversation before pulling out to go get him a well deserved after practice dinner
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Oikawa
Okay THIS motherfucker. 
I feel like Oinks definitely has Tiktok, unlike Ushi, and he is the definition of straight Tiktok
HOWEVER I don't think he has a lot of couple Tiktoks on his FYP and if he does they're like the sitting in your partner's lap pranks, not something like this
Hes also like...7 years old so he probably does his own petty pranks but theyre ones he comes up with himself that he thinks are fucking hilarious like taking a million selfies, posting them on your instagram/snapchat stories until theyre like 10-15 minutes long and filling your storage with them
So THIS
Oh this is well deserved
You set up your phone in a place that he wouldn't notice, and started recording
He runs to the car, opening the door quickly and tosses his bag in, getting in the car and literally fucking falls flat on his back
Confused™️
“Hey babe” 
“Yes tooru?”
“Who was in my seat?”
“Your seat?”
“MY seat who was in MY seat??”
No longer confused, just panicked
He sat up, leaning over the console looking you in the eyes, you can't tell if he's going to start crying or throw up
Not your intention to make him cry
Carefully explaining that it was a joke while he let out a loud, dramatic huff, placing his forehead on your shoulder
“I’m having heart palpitations”
“I'll pick up milk bread on the way home if you stop the dramatics…?”
“Deal.”
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Kageyama
Bro he has 3 brain cells, one for you, volleyball, and milk
Why would you do this
He doesn’t know what the fuck a Tiktok is despite you repeatedly showing him videos or telling him to make an account
He is far too busy watching 10 hr long volleyball compilations
I also HC him as having boomer humor so even if you showed him a fucking FUNNY video, he’d be brain dead, absolutely. He doesn't get the appeal
 He laughs at the minion memes this is fact
BUT ANYWAYS
You saw this and for whatever god forsaken reason wanted to do it on Kags, the most oblivious person on planet earth
It was like 3 AM and you told him you were coming to pick him up to go on a drive, which was normal for the two of you, it's one of the more peaceful moments in your chaotic lives 
He agreed, ofc, because babie is a huge softie for you. 
You pull up in your jammies, seat reclined and start recording
Kags comes out in sweats and a hoodie you gave him for your anniversary and opens the door, he notices the seat and gets in carefully
“Hey Y/n? Did you sleep in your car?” he asks quietly, turning to look at you, almost concerned.
“Did your parents kick you out or something? You know you can always stay with me..” baby starts rambling because he fr thinks you're living in your car for some reason
The whole concept of cheating doesn't exist to him, you are the one and only person in the world he has complete trust in, so naturally the only conclusion he could come up with was you being homeless
“No..Kags...I’m not sleeping in my car...it was a prank”
Cue explaining to him what the prank was
He doesn’t get it, why would pretending to cheat on your partner be funny
sigh
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Kuroo
You know exactly what I’m about to write
This motherfucker
Kuroo for sure has TikTok BUT WAIT
Its canon that Kuroo is just a cocky dork that knows how to shit talk
He would never be on straight or couple tiktok, he's on science/nerd Tiktok and deep Tiktok for sure, he sends the craziest shit to you.
So there is NO way he would know about this prank unless someone explicitly explained it to him
Perfect
You told him you were going to pick him up for a lunch date since it was saturday and the two of you hadn't seen each other for a couple days
He agreed? Obv he is in ✨🌸love🌸✨with you 
You pull up, seat reclined, and set up your phone after shooting him an “i'm here” text
He runs out, pops the door open and looks in
Does NOT get in, instead, this cocky SOB leans down so you can see his face fully, hands resting on the roof of the car, shit eating grin on his face. “Is this you telling me you wanted a little something before we got lunch…? that'll ruin your appetite y'know..” 
Spit on him
Why didn't you see this coming
It did ruin your appetite
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bbysamu · 4 years
Text
Like I need U
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⭑ Song: Like I need U by Keshi 
⭑ Warning: Minor angst 
⭑ Pairing: Tsukishima x f!reader 
⭑ Part II ; Part III ⭑
➴ Take a peek at my Masterlist
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♫ baby i call in the dead of night 
 but you don’t need me like i need you 
 pray that i won’t be alone ♫ 
(Y/N) laid on the bed, waiting for her boyfriend’s text. It’s been over an hour since that call went to voicemail. It was unlike Tsukishima Kei to not been in contact, although that seemed to be the norm these past few days. She rolled over in bed, checking her phone charging by the bedside. 
No new texts, all that stared up was her lockscreen of her kissing Tsukki’s cheeks taken at the time Karasuno won their first game and qualified to continue next. (Y/N) always thought this was such a good picture of them both. Tsukki cracking a shy, but happy smile, arms wrapped around (Y/N)’s waist as she happily pecked his cheeks. 
That was over a few weeks ago, a lot of things can change in a few weeks.
As they were preparing for the upcoming inter-high, a new manager came to the Karasuno team to help out Kiyoko, Yachi and (Y/N). 
Yuki was a cute girl, shy with a hint of mischievous gleam in her eyes and she quickly bonded with the team and quickly bonded with Tsukki. (Y/N) wasn’t worried though, Yuki quickly became like a little sister and she knew how much Tsukki loved her. 
What she didn’t know was the way Yuki saw how tender Tsukishima always pecked you on the cheeks when entering the club room for practice, how his eyes seemed to search for you in the hallways and that little smile breaking out on his usual stoic face when they met hers. Tsukishima was a tall, handsome and intelligent second year. Yuki wanted a relationship like that too. Yuki wanted Tsukishima too. 
 And Yuki, the only child of loving parents, always got what she wanted. So it began. At first it was standing by (Y/N)’s side when Tsukki comes in the club room, so he doesn’t feel comfortable kissing his girlfriend on the cheek with another manager around. Then it was asking (Y/N) for his phone number to get some help with homework. What began as questions over texts quickly became in-person study sessions with (Y/N) and Tsukki, which quickly became only with Tsukki as Yuki found a way to always schedule study sessions when (Y/N) had conflicting times. Soon, study sessions became a weekly thing and suddenly, Tsukki found himself enjoying the company of Yuki, his kouhai, a cute one that is. 
As (Y/N) got busier with other club activities, suddenly Tsukki found himself texting Yuki all the time, even when he was spending time with his girlfriend. He didn’t think it was wrong, after all, couldn’t he be friends with Yuki? (Y/N) did say she was like a little sister. 
Weeks went by, Yuki knew she was close to getting Tsukki. She noticed how he no longer kisses (Y/N) on the cheeks as he walks in the room, how his eyes seem to find hers first in the crowded hallway, only fleeting to find (Y/N)’s after, and how (Y/N) was always the one initiating physical affections now. Yuki was smart and she knew she was close. Does she feel sorry? No, not really. Afterall, (Y/N) was a beautiful and sweet girl, she could have anyone she wanted, she didn’t need Tsukishima. 
People began to notice Yuki’s closeness with Tsukishima. Yamaguchi was worried for his best friend, it wasn’t that he didn’t like Yuki, perhaps it was because he liked (Y/N) more and thought she was great for him, like two pieces of a puzzle. Yet, he can’t help but get worried as Tsukki started to tell Yamaguchi more about Yuki and less about (Y/N). 
Hey Tsukki, you noticed you been hanging out with Yuki a little too much these days? Yamaguchi inquired, to which Tsukki only scoffed and said “not really, she’s my kouhai and she needs help with her homework, its what a good senpai would do, plus (Y/N) doesn’t mind”. Yamaguchi sighed and hoped his best friend knew what he was doing. 
(Y/N) have noticed the minor changes in Tsukki’s behavior but always brushed them off as he always reassured her that he loves her and only her. (Y/N) trusted in Tsukki and knew he would never do that to her, considering he knew what happend to her parents, with her dad’s affair casting a huge shadow on (Y/N)’s life. 
So what could explain his lack of communication now? 
*ding* (Y/N) quickly sat up in bed and grabbed her phone excitedly, her brows furrowed in confusion as a snapchat notification from Yuki popped up and Yuki rarely sends snapchats to her. She opened it, a video popped up with the caption “I just love him so much”, a video (Y/N) assumed was supposed to be sent to Yuki’s friend. 
(Y/N) was not expecting to see a familiar blonde. 
It was her boyfriend, hands on on Yuki’s thigh, laughing as he watched Steve Carrol fell in the pool, his favorite moment from The Office. His eye glances over at the camera, in a tender way asking “why are you recording?”. 
“Because you’re cute and I want to keep this video forever”, 
he smiles “you’re cuter”, 
“cuter than (Y/N)?” 
He pretends to think for a moment, “yes, of course, now come here cutie pie”.
The camera cuts off and (Y/N) stared at the darkened phone screen, tear drops soon covered the phone. Tsukishima did not text her that night, or the night after. 
♫ afraid what’s coming next 
 wished we never met (be alone) ♫ 
That morning at school, Tsukishima knew something was amiss when he saw (Y/N) puffy eyes. 
“hey babe, you okay? sorry i’ve been busy with homework over the weekend” he asked, immediately thinking of Yuki and her smile and her laugh and her kisses. 
It was like the first time (Y/N) been able to see him clearly. The clear way his eyes did not seem to care about her answer to his question. The clear way his eyes seem to be scanning for someone else over her shoulders. Those eyes she once loved so much, now clearly in love with someone else. 
“I’m not okay, but thats okay. ” She offered him a small smile, when he didn’t ask why, she knew he was gone. So she grabbed his hand and kissed him on the cheeks one last time, “lets break up”. 
Tsuki was stunned, for the first time in a while, head devoid of any thoughts of Yuki. He suddenly saw how tiny (Y/N) looked in that sweater and started to panic. 
(Y/N) cracked a small smile, tears in her large eyes “you promised you’d never be like my dad Tsukki, but I know”, with that she slipped her hand out of his “my family is actually moving, so today is actually my last day at school. I’ll see you around. I hope she makes you happy”. 
After school, (Y/N) visited the Karasuno volleyball club room one last time to bid farewell to the team. Tsukishima was a no show, so was Yuki. It was easy for everyone to piece it together. (Y/N) hugged everyone and thanked the team for taking care of her. There was not a dry eye in the room. 
Weeks passed - time had done its fair share to mitigate her heartbreak, last she heard, Yuki has quit the manager position as the entire team gave her the cold shoulder. Tsuki stayed on the team, but kept mostly to himself now, even Yamaguchi could not believe his best friend would have the audacity to hurt (Y/N) after knowing her story. God and time slowly healed everything as her days at Karasuno became a memory. 
♫ pain, that’s an option
 no time for nonsense ♫
(Y/N) stood in front of her new volleyball team’s practice room at Aoba Johsai. It worked out so perfectly that their old manager had to leave and (Y/N) who had experience at Karasuno, was quickly accepted to be the new manager.  
(Y/N) brushed her long, black hair back over her shoulder, putting on a smile. After all, pain is only an option, she’s no longer got time for nonsense. Little did she know, waiting for her inside was a certain, very cute captain who has had his eyes on her since that practice game with Karasuno. 
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Text
It’s You (Nico Hischier Imagine)
Y’all, I’ve been so busy lately! I’m sorry it’s been so long since I’ve posted, but hopefully this and the Matty imagine coming soon will make up for it :)
Rating: G
Pairing: Nico Hischier/fem!reader
Words: 3047
Warnings: minor language
Requested: yes/no
Prompt: “It’s you. It’s always been you.”
Summary: “ Nico Hischier, fluff prompt 2, and the couple trope where they’re both dense af and don’t realize how cute they are together. The third wheelers that wanna smack their foreheads? Nico’s entire team. “
Knowing that you’re in love with someone is different than accepting that you’re in love with someone.
You’ve known that you love Nico for years. It wasn’t anything special that made you realize, really. It was during one of your semi-regular movie nights, when he was tossing popcorn into the air, trying to catch it in his mouth. He hit himself in the eye with a piece, and you’d laughed at him so hard that he shoved his cold feet under your leg in retaliation, and as you yelped in shock, it had hit you. You never wanted to hear anything but his laugh ever again, and you’d suffer worse than some cold feet for that.
It wasn’t until last year that you truly understood how far gone you are for him, and actually accepted what being in love with him meant. Despite being annoyingly sure that you and Nico were meant to be together, your friends had tried to set you up with someone. Their reasoning was that you hadn’t made a move, and probably never would, so they decided you needed to meet someone else to get over him. It was the second blind date when you realized that as well as you meshed with the guy, all you wanted was to be at Nico’s place watching some stupid show cuddled up on the couch. You didn’t want anyone else, and you never would.
That was the part that scared you at first. You’re never going to love anyone like you love Nico, and you didn’t have any desire to try. He’s everything you want, and the only thing you want. And he would never want you back. The prospect of a life without romantic love was terrifying, but after a month of near-constant panic, you were able to accept it. You have friends, and so much in your life that makes you happy, and that will be enough. You’re not excited to see him fall in love with someone else and get married and start a family, but having him in your life is enough. It’s enough. It’s enough.
You wonder sometimes, though. When he turns down invitations from the guys to spend time with you, when he holds you close on the couch, when he curls up next to you in bed after a bad game. The wondering is the worst part. You know he doesn’t feel the same as you, that they’re just best friend things, but sometimes you can’t help but to let yourself believe in the possibility.
The guys used to tease the two of you about “being in love”, but in the past year or so, it’s started seeming less teasing and more genuine. Frustrated, even. Between the guys and your friends, it seems like everyone thinks you should be together. That’s the second worst part.
Today, Nico has saved you a ticket for the game, since you can actually make it after work. When he’d gotten the captaincy, he’d gotten you a new jersey with the C on it, so you wear it to the game over your favorite sweater. A few of the WAGs came as well, and you’re excited to catch up with them. They’d adopted you as an honorary WAG a couple years back, considering how close you are with Nico.
The first period goes well, Nico scoring a beautiful wrister six minutes in. He looks up to where he knows you’re sitting after collecting his fist-bumps, though you’re sure he can’t really see you.
The second period is a little rougher, the Rangers scoring two goals, separated by a tip-in from Nico. He looks to your section again, and it makes you smile every time. Having him on hatty watch is exciting, and the game is dynamic enough that you’re cheering maybe a little too hard to be respectable. Luckily, the girls think it’s endearing, and know to expect it from you.
During second intermission, you chat with Nicole. She’s still beaming with pride from Travis’s thousandth game the other day, and you love to see it. She asks you about work and family and Nico, the conversation casual and comfortable. The only thing that bothers you is the way she looks at you as you talk about Nico, smile small and gentle, eyes almost pitying. The other girls still occasionally urged you to make a move on Nico, but Nicole had stopped around the time that you accepted your love for him. Now she just looks a little bittersweet when you bring him up. It’s kind of annoying, honestly. But she’s your friend, and she means well, so you don’t mind too much.
The third period is dynamic, the puck flying between zones, both teams feeling the pressure of the impending end of the game. The atmosphere in the arena is electric, everyone shouting and leaning forward in their seats, enraptured by the action. Because of the way the team has been struggling in the past few years, most of the Devils fans that are left are the die-hards, and it shows in the passion filling the Pru.
It’s looking like they’re going to go into overtime, the score still tied with only two minutes left in the game. Neither team pulls their goalie, probably trying for overtime so that they get at least one point. At 1:47, Nico gets a breakaway, and you jump out of your seat along with the rest of the crowd, throwing a fist into the air and cheering at the top of your lungs. Nico reaches Georgeiv, fakes a five-hole shot, and when Georgeiv hits the ground to block it, Nico flicks the puck up toward the top shelf. Georgeiv flings his glove up to catch it, but he’s just a moment too late. The puck hits the top left twine, coming to rest in the back corner of the goal.
The arena explodes.
Your hands are in the air as you jump around, screaming in unfettered joy. Even the WAGs are shouting, the shot beautiful and coming just in time. Nico collects his fist-bumps, then looks toward your seat yet again. But this time, he points toward your section, and you’re sure he’s pointing to you. You place a hand over your heart, the other clenched in a fist in the air. The pride is overwhelming.
The last minute and a half are a desperate rush of the Rangers trying to even the score back out, and the Devils doing all they can to keep their lead. Kreider, Zibanejad, and Buchnevich make a fantastic first line, and they’re doing a great job of bringing the puck into the Devils’ zone over and over, but Ty and Damon are on fire, clearing the puck every time it’s brought in. When the buzzer sounds, you and Nicole hug, excited to see your boys succeeding.
Nico will have to talk to the media for sure, considering his hat trick, in addition to the cool down, game debrief, and getting changed. It adds to the time you’ll have to wait before you see him, but you’re so happy for him that it doesn’t even faze you. He was amazing, and you’re looking forward to having a late dinner and cuddle session with him.
After a moment of consideration, you resolve to make him his favorite post-game meal. That means you’ll have to stop at the store, so you decide to forego meeting him outside the locker room in favor of grabbing the ingredients and getting the food started. You have a key to his apartment anyway, and the doorman knows you, so you don’t have to wait for him to let you in.
You stop at Shoprite on your way to his place, grabbing everything you need, along with some snacks to stock his pantry. He forgets to keep them in the house sometimes, so you like to make sure he has something to nosh on when he doesn’t feel like cooking. When you get to his complex, the doorman greets you happily.
“Roger!” you greet in return, giving him a quick hug, “It’s great to see you. How’s the family?” The two of you chat for a few minutes, catching up since you have a bit of time. He lets you into the building, and you take the elevator up to Nico’s floor. You unlock the door and drop your keys and bag on the table in the entryway. After dumping the grocery bags on the counter, you put on some music and start unpacking.
You stash the snacks in the upper cabinets, setting aside the things you need now. You set to work, singing along to the music as you cook. There’s a lull while you let the chicken cook, so you check your phone. You’d sent Nico a text before you left, letting him know you’d meet him at home, so you wanted to make sure he saw it. He’d sent back a thumbs-up, so you don’t have to call him. You have a couple notifications, and a text from Nicole. After checking the notifications and replying to a snapchat from your friend, you open Nicole’s message. It’s just a link, so you tap into it, and a video pops up. It’s Nico’s post-game interview. You don’t usually watch them, because he tells you about the game afterward anyway, but if Nicole sent it, there must be something special about it.
The pride on his face brings a smile to yours. You listen to him give some pretty standard answers to some pretty standard questions, waiting for whatever made Nicole see fit to send it to you. The reporter asks about his hat trick, and the flush on Nico’s face grows. He’s so damn cute.
“Well,” he begins, huffs half of a laugh, continues, “There was a special girl in the audience, so I wanted to do something special for her.”
“Oh, trying to impress somebody?” the reporter asks, the smile evident in her voice.
“Yeah,” Nico replies, clearly embarrassed, “She’s the most important person in my life, so…” He trails off at the end, but the intent is clear.
Your heart stops.
It’s unbelievable, what you’ve just heard, and it’s inconceivable that it could be about you. You try your best to think of everyone who was in the family and friends section, anyone in Nico’s life that he could be talking about. You were the only one there for him tonight, unless someone else was in a different section. You try as hard as you can, but you can’t think of anyone that Nico’s talked about lately that he could be interested in. You try to convince yourself that there’s someone he hasn’t told you about, but you tell each other everything. If there was someone, he would have told you.
Shit.
You want to call him, ask him what the hell that was, hear him tell you that it was for someone else. You’d already accepted that you’d never be together, that you’d never have love, and the possibility of your greatest desire being obtainable throws you off so hard that you have to take a moment to lean on the counter and breathe.
You manage to resist the urge to call him, knowing that he’ll be home soon anyway. If you keep focusing on the interview, you’ll have a panic attack, so you force all of your attention to finishing the food. The chicken is still cooking, and usually you’d just let it sit, but this time you’re spooning the sauce over it with very intentional focus. Anything to keep yourself stable.
Once you’re sure it’s cooked through, you turn the heat off. The broccoli is already done, but the rice takes another minute to finish. You plate the sides next to each other on the dishes, placing the chicken on the bed of rice and dousing it in the rest of the sauce. The sauce is Nico’s favorite part, so you make sure to give him extra.
Once the plates are set on the coffee table in the living room, you hear the doorknob turn. Your heart skips another beat, and you take a deep breath to settle yourself. He calls your name as he comes in, and you swallow hard so that you can tell him you’re there without your voice cracking. He rounds the corner and walks straight to you, wrapping you up in his arms. You hug him back, face buried in his neck. You know that you’re tense, and that he’ll probably notice, but you hope that he doesn’t ask about it.
Luckily, he only gives you a worried look. You smile back instead, and you can feel how fake it looks. To avoid the question, you start asking him about the game, leading him over to the couch to sit and eat. Nico stops when he sees the meal, a soft look overtaking his face. He always got soft and sentimental when you did thoughtful things for him, and his appreciation brings a real smile to your face. Your heart settles in your chest, and you remind yourself that this is Nico. At the end of the day, this is Nico, and he’s your best friend, for better or worse. There’s no reason to be afraid; there’s never a reason to be afraid around him.
You turn on the TV, navigating through until you can start the episode of The Good Place that you’d left off on. Even as you eat, you take pauses to make small comments about the show. Nico laughs at all of them, even if they’re not that funny. Once you’re both finished eating, you pause the show and take the dishes into the kitchen. Nico trails behind you, slipping between you and the sink at the last moment, close enough that you bump into him.
“You cooked, I wash,” he says on the tail end of a laugh.
“Then at least let me dry,” you reply, smile shining through your voice. He gives an over-dramatic sigh and an “I guess” before his smile returns. You bump your shoulders together and grab the towel off of the drying rack. Nico has a dishwasher, but you always wash the dishes by hand when you eat dinner together. It’s just a little tradition at this point, a way to spend a quiet moment together, to extend the time you stay. To increase the chance of you just staying over. Well, it’s not really a necessary motivation any more, but it is a handy excuse.
As Nico starts the water and soaps the sponge, you turn on the bluetooth speaker at home on the island and choose some chill music. There’s just something about this time together that always gives you a special feeling, something that you don’t get anywhere else. Something that relaxes your shoulders, softens your jaw, turns the edges of your lips up just enough that you realize your face has been resting in a frown all day. Your life is perfectly fine, but being with Nico makes you realize that it could be better. That you deserve better. That as long as he’s by your side, you have better.
Washing the dishes is calming, silent save for the clink of the silverware and the soft melody floating from the speaker. Once all the dishes are dried and back in the cabinets, Nico steps into your space, resting his hands on your waist. It takes the breath from your lungs, until he starts swaying you and you realize you’re dancing.
Your hands had landed on the curve of his shoulders without your conscious decision, thumbs gently propped along the tendons on either side of his throat. It feels too intimate that way, so you move them to join behind his neck instead. The more traditional position is less uncomfortable, both physically and emotionally.
You have no idea what song is playing now, too caught up in the weight of his hands, the baby hairs at the base of his skull running between your fingers, the unbearably fond look in his eyes. He’s looking at you like he’s just as happy to have this as you are, like there’s nowhere he’d rather be. Like he loves you.
“I saw the interview,” you say, not meaning for the words to slip out. You knew that it would ruin the mood, but you had to know. You had to know.
“Oh, um,” Nico stutters to a stop, though he doesn’t remove his hands from your hips. He tightens them, actually. No matter how much you want to cup your hand around the curve of his jaw, you leave them where they are. You don’t want to assume, just to embarrass yourself later.
Waiting patiently, you keep an eye on Nico’s face. He’s cycling through so many emotions that it’s difficult to catch them all. His face has gone pink, cheeks nearly glowing as they continue to redden while he thinks. You give him as much time as you can bear.
“Who were you talking about, Nico?” you ask, needing him to say it. You need to hear him say it. His breathing has gone a bit ragged, and he takes a gulp of air to steady himself. His cheeks are still bright red, and it somehow makes him even more beautiful.
“You,” he says simply, eyes locked on your own.
Your heart stops.
“Yeah?” you ask, the barest hint of a smile starting. Nico ducks his head for just a moment, huffing a laugh before angling back up to look at you again, eyes soft instead of determined.
“It’s you,” he replies, “It’s always been you.” Your breath catches in your throat as he says the words you’ve been dying both to hear and to say. It’s you. It’s all for you.
“Well, that’s convenient,” your smile is blooming wide, “Because it’s always been you, too.” Nico’s face springs into a bright grin, and you let your hands come to his face. Your fingertips wrap below his jaw, your thumbs resting on his cheekbones.
“You should kiss me now,” you say, pulling a dazzling laugh from him. He leans down, pressing your lips together in what you hope will be the first kiss of many.
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alinastracker · 3 years
Note
If you’re still doing the prompts I have oneeeee hehe
" i mean... i-i'm cool with sharing the bed if you are. "
you got it baby 🥰
but i know something’s starting right now
It’s a sweltering Ravkan summer day, but nothing brings heat to her body like watching Mal in the pool, water droplets racing down his chest. His shaggy hair is a mop on his head, and she realizes this is what he must look like in the shower.
This is exactly why she didn’t want to bring him on the trip.
It’s the first week of July, and for the past three years, that’s meant a trip to the Os Alta Resort with Genya and Zoya. It’s a way for them to relax after exams and catch up now that they all attend different schools. But at the end of May, the two of them had FaceTimed her about a change for this year.  
“We were thinking of taking the boys with,” Genya says gently, nervous for her reaction.
Zoya is frank as ever. “It’s cheaper that way. Besides, after all this long distance, I could use a week of uninterrupted fuc—”
“Zoya!”
“Relax, Starkov. We’re all adults here.”
“Anyway,” Genya cuts in. “We’re just telling you in case you wanted to bring someone, too. Maybe Mal?”
“Mal and I aren’t dating.”
Only in her dreams.
“Might as well be,” Zoya mutters.
So in the choice between bringing Mal on what has basically turned into a couple’s retreat and going to said couple’s retreat alone, she’s chosen the former. It would be fine. Mal knows her friends. Him and Nikolai like to talk sports. Maybe it’ll be a little weird, being the only non-couple, but they could deal.
It would have been fine, if it weren’t for this morning’s check in.
"So it looks like we have you booked for three single rooms," the concierge says.
Alina frowns. "One of those should be a double."
The concierge checks again, each click of his mouse making her anxiety rise. He frowns. "Sorry, miss. It's showing me all singles."
"It's fine," Mal says. "Could we just upgrade it to a double, then?"
"Er, I'm afraid we're all booked, sir."
Nikolai claps his hands together, cheerful as ever at Zoya's side. "Well, I'll just switch with Alina, and Mal and I can — shit, Zoy!"
Zoya had stomped on his foot.
"We are not switching shit," she hisses under her breath.
Nikolai sighs. "My deadly dearest, certainly it's no big deal—"
"I bought us a new toy for this trip. We are not switching."
There is a brief moment where everyone freezes, then Genya groans, shaking her head as she murmurs apologies to the concierge, who is trying hard to pretend he hasn’t heard a thing. The tips of Mal's ears go red, and Alina is sure hers match. David, lost in his audiobook, is oblivious to all of it.
Nikolai clears his throat and turns to the two of them with a sheepish grin. "Sorry, mate. You're on your own."
The concierge slowly raises a finger and says, "We might be able to supply a cot?"
Alina can feel everyone's eyes on her, which is the last thing she ever wants. She has the strong desire to curl in on herself, but that only really works in the winter when she dons large coats and sweaters. But it’s summer, and she is in only a mustard yellow crop top and jean shorts, though she suddenly feels as exposed as if she were completely naked.
Mal takes one look at her and gently nudges his foot against hers. "I mean . . . I'm cool with sharing the bed if you are?"
Her brain is looking for anyway out of this whole conversation, so she nods.
So far, they have been in their room once to drop off their things and change into bathing suits, both of them dancing around the bed without ever touching it. The air in the room feels charged even with sunlight still pouring in. What would tonight be like?
More importantly, how was she supposed to handle sleeping beside him when she can’t even handle watching him in the pool?
Genya climbs on Mal’s shoulders for a game of chicken — David is, unsurprisingly, not in the pool, but sitting beside Alina on a lounge chair. She feels a pang of something like jealousy as she watches the game commence, which cannot be more ridiculous.
They can’t avoid the night forever, and it comes much too quickly despite how long they spend mingling at the resort bar. In their room, Mal lets Alina use the bathroom first. A kind offer, she thinks, until she realizes it leaves her to stake out a spot on the bed first. No more dancing.
Left side or right? Does Mal have a preference? Does she? How long until Mal finishes in the bathroom and comes out to see her staring at the bed like a mental person?
Right side, she chooses finally. She curls up on the left side of her body usually, so this way, she doesn’t have to face him as they sleep. Good call. As she untucks the covers from the bed, she secretly hopes to find something horrifying, like blood or bugs, so they can get a refund and leave. Sadly, it is a perfectly fine bed. Alina plops onto it and tucks herself in.
Mal finishes in the bathroom a few minutes later, and if he’s as rattled about their sleeping arrangement as she is, he does not show it. There’s plenty of space between them as he settles into bed. Maybe this won’t be as bad as she feared.
“Well, goodnight,” Mal says through a yawn.
“Goodnight,” Alina replies.
They each turn off their bedside lamps. Mal is softly snoring soon after, but Alina stays awake much too long for her liking, thinking of how close he is.
They fall into a similar routine for the next couple nights. During the day, all is fine. Their little group meshes well. Genya and Nikolai are often off together, both of them on a mission, it seems, to try every flavor of ice cream from Os Alta's ice cream bar. Or sometimes it’s Nikolai and Mal running off, joining a game of pool volleyball, both of them stupidly competitive. When Zoya gets annoyed with the overload of children at the waterpark, she joins David on one of the lounge chairs to read for a while — Zoya a smutty historical romance and David a nonfiction on modern space travel. We just shouldn't let Jeff Bezos come back, he argues to Genya later, while Zoya murmurs to Nikolai something she wants him to do to her that night.
Alina thanks the saints her room isn’t next to Zoya’s.
The trip is going so smoothly that she doesn’t realize what trouble Sunday brings with it. It’s always their favorite part of the trip: bottomless margarita night. They all have absolutely horrific, hilarious pictures and videos of themselves from the past three years thanks to bottomless margarita night at Os Alta. But the thought of being drunk like that while she’s sharing a bed with Mal?
Okay, so she just won’t drink tonight. Problem solved.
“You can’t not drink!” Zoya says, personally offended.
“Come on, it’s tradition!” Genya agrees.
But she’s determined to hold out. Only when she sees the others with their drinks, she decides one sip won’t hurt. One sip becomes one drink, and one drink becomes a couple. Soon enough, she’s drunk enough to sign herself up for karaoke, another Os Alta tradition.
“I dunno what I should siiiing,” she slurs, swaying lightly on her feet.
“I have the perfect song for you!” Genya cheers excitedly.
So that’s how she ends up on stage, drunk off her ass, horridly singing Taylor Swift’s We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together. She really gets into it, jumping and nailing the talking parts a little too well. But she can hear Genya and Zoya screaming the lyrics along with her, and it only encourages her.
Genya records a Snapchat of her performance, snickering to Mal and David about how she’s going to accidentally send it to the asshole Alina dated last year who’s still entirely too obsessed with her.
Nikolai is the only one of the boys drunk enough to sign up, taking the stage after Alina to perform a disgustingly off-key version of Queen’s Don’t Stop Me Now. They all agree that Freddie Mercury is rolling in his grave.
By the end of the night, the four of them are totally wasted. David, who had spent the night nursing one drink, his focus on getting Genya her drinks and ensuring that she didn’t trip over herself, has to help the aforementioned redhead up to their room. Nikolai and Zoya are a sight, both wickedly drunk, trying to help each other stay upright. Mal had only downed a couple drinks and is mostly sober, which Alina is very thankful for, as she can’t hold herself up to save her life. She nearly trips on absolutely nothing so many times that Mal finally scoops her into his arms, carrying her the rest of the way to the room. Alina giggles the whole way. 
There’s no getting ready for bed that night. Mal sets her on the bed, and she resigns to sleeping in her red summer dress. When Mal joins her after having a shower, drunk Alina has no qualms curling up against him and sniffing him.
“Mm, you smell good,” she hums.
Mal chuckles even as he tenses. Alina has her arm around him and her face pressed into his side. He’s not sure he can breathe. She’s too drunk to notice the blush on his face.
“That’s probably just because you smell like alcohol,” he hedges.
Alina giggles and shakes her head. “No, you always smell good.”
He doesn’t know what to do with this information, but he does a lot of thinking instead of sleeping as Alina passes out next to him.
Monday morning brings with it a pounding headache for Alina. She prepares for the bright sunlight streaming through the window, but the room is dark when she opens her eyes. Mal isn’t beside her, but he left aspirin and a glass of water on the nightstand in addition to pulling out the blackout curtains. She falls in love with him a little bit more. 
The day is a quiet one. The girls and Nikolai spend their time at the spa, Mal and David off doing saints know what. She gets the best massage of her life, and while her head still aches despite the pain pill, seeing Nikolai get his toenails painted bright red makes every sip she had last night worth it.
When they’re in the room again after dinner, tucking themselves into bed, Mal says, “You told me I smell good last night.”
Alina pauses. “I did?”
The night comes back to her. She totally told him he smelled good, and she had closed the space between them on the bed, curling up right next to him. She remembers all of it, suddenly and painfully.
“Oh, saints. Mal, I’m so sorry. I didn’t . . . I shouldn’t have—”
He cuts her off. “It’s okay, ‘Lina. You don’t have to apologize.”
“I don’t?”
Mal smiles an amused smile and leans over, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “No, you don’t. Not you. Never you.”
Alina is almost positive she can hear her heart pounding as Mal reaches for something tucked in the drawer of his nightstand.
“For you,” he says, handing her a long rectangular box. “Saw it today when I was out with David and I just— I thought of you.”
She can’t even process the image of Mal and David out shopping together, needing to open this damn box. With shaky fingers, she lifts the lid. Waiting for her inside is a dainty necklace with a gorgeous gold sun charm.
“Oh,” she says softly.
Mal blushes, and this time, Alina notices. “Do you like it?” he asks. “I just thought of you singing last night when I saw it. You’re so bright, Alina. All the time. Just like the sun.”
She has no idea what this confession means, or how she earned it from drunkenly telling him how good he smells — which his really quite good — but her heart has kicked into overdrive. She isn’t sure what, or how, but she knows something’s starting right now.
“I love it, Mal.” She turns so her back is facing him and hands over the necklace. “Will you help me put it on?”
He wraps the chain around her neck. The sun rests perfectly against her heart. She notices every little brush of his fingers against the back of her neck as Mal works the clasp.
When the necklace is secure, they both lay back down, noticeably closer this time. Not as close as last night, but close enough that their arms occasionally brush, close enough that she’ll end up kicking him during the night. Alina sleeps on her right side. 
Their trip might be ending tomorrow, but something better was beginning tonight.
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midnightsnyx · 4 years
Text
Mathew Barzal - A Year In The Making
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pairing: mat barzal/reader
word count: 5.5k
warnings: fluff, angst (me writing sad stuff?? shocker), and there may be a couple swear words? also, this is not edited so i apologize in advance lol
a/n: so this isn’t the soulmate mat fic i am supposed to be writing lol but its still mat! i’ve been working on it f-o-r-e-v-e-r for @hannahmb​ so hannah, i hope you like it!
my masterlist
Mat Barzal
Summary: Y/N looks back on an entire year with Mat.
 January
When you say that meeting Mathew Barzal swept you off your feet, you mean he literally swept you off your feet. It was cold and icy when you were walking to your favorite coffee shop. You weren’t watching where you were walking so when you ran in to him, his foot accidentally (and you question to the day whether it was truly accidental) tripped you up, he managed to catch you before you fell and when you looked at him and saw warm hazel eyes and brown hair sticking out from under his gray hat, you knew you were a goner.
. . .
You knew the reputation hockey players had. They slept around, didn’t give girls a second look after they got what they wanted and you were dead set on never giving Mathew Barzal a second thought but when you ran into him at the grocery store and he asked you to go for coffee, you agreed. 
Looking back, it was probably the dumbest and smartest decision of your life.
Coffee led to lunches which led to a movie night at his place which led you to your first hockey game. You knew absolutely nothing about hockey but what you did know, was that Mat loved to celebrate after a win. Whether it was heading to the bar with a couple of his friends or spending the night home watching a movie, he was always in the best mood after. 
After your first game, he decided that the best way to celebrate was to go for a walk and get hot chocolate with you. Despite only knowing each other for a little under a month, it felt like the two of you had been the best of friends forever. It was something that attracted you to Mat. How easily he was able to get you to open up to him and vice versa - how much he trusted you with his thoughts and feelings. 
It’s definitely how you found yourself standing under a lamppost, snow falling around you like some cheesy romance novel and Mat kissing you softly.
And thinking back, you wouldn’t have changed a single thing.
February 
Things between you and Mat were… interesting to say the least. You weren’t a couple but you know that both of you weren’t seeing other people either. Labels were messy anyways. They caused more tension between the two of you than good. Your friends, however, had their opinions.  
“I just think it’s a little weird that he hasn’t asked you to make things official yet.” Your friend said. “I mean, you don’t know what he does on the road or during the nights you don’t spend together.”
Her words certainly hit a sore spot but you tried to brush it off. “It’s casual,” you said. “We don’t want to jump into anything.”
“If you say so.” She hummed, going back to eating her pasta. 
Her words were in the back of your mind though, no Mater how hard you tried to push them out. You and Mat had been open about not seeing other people, it was a lengthy discussion that made you feel better about not putting a label on anything. But, there’s always the possibility that he would change his mind. You didn’t know what he did on the road. Maybe your friend was right, and even though you and Mat had talked about it, perhaps it was just his way of making sure you stuck around while he was home.
Maybe you were just the pathetic girl that waited at home for him while he did whatever he wanted while on the road.
 March
You’d swept your uneasy feelings about Mat under the rug until a Snapchat video surfaced of him on the internet. It was him with the other guys sitting at a table in a bar with some girls sitting with them. 
They were sitting with Mat and not on him is what you kept telling yourself. He didn’t look like he was interested in them but you couldn’t get rid of the awful feeling in the pit of your stomach that he would take one of them home with him.
You knew that letting your friend’s words about him would ruin things but you couldn’t help it. So you ignored him when he called you the next morning. He knew that you had early classes and wouldn’t call you after games when the time zones would be too different.
You ignored his call and then the texts he sent. He would be home the next day so you decided he could wait until then because you still weren’t sure what exactly to say to him. What would you tell him? That you didn’t believe him when he said that he only wanted to see you? That you didn’t trust him, or that you let your friends words get to you?
You still didn’t know what to say when he showed up at your apartment. He looked worried and mad and you weren’t sure which was worse.
“What’s wrong?” was the first thing he asked. There was no hello, how are you?
“Nothing.” You lied but he shook his head. 
“I know you better than that.” He said. “Something’s wrong.”
You wanted to lie to him again, tell him it was nothing, and to forget about it but you needed to know. 
“Those girls in the video.” You said, and he looked confused for a moment before his expression turned into understanding. “I know we aren’t a couple, technically,” you said quietly and watched as he slowly walked towards you. “But it bothered me.”
You waited for his reaction, watched his face warily. What you weren’t expecting was for him to take both your hands in his and squeeze them gently.
“Can I be honest with you?” He asked softly and even though you weren’t ready for his honesty, you nodded.
“I couldn’t stop thinking about you that entire night.” He chuckled and shook his head. “Tito kept asking me why I wasn’t making a move on one of them.” His head tilted a little as he studied you. “But all I could think about that night was how much I wanted you to be there with me.” 
You couldn’t hide the smile that crossed your face and you wrapped your arms around his waist and hid your face in the crook of his neck. 
“I kinda wished I was there too.” You whispered and your smile widened when he picked you up and spun you around. He was laughing when he put you down.
“Let’s go out tomorrow night. A couple of the guys and their girlfriends or wives are going to Joe’s.” He gave you a hesitant look but continued. “I want to introduce you to them.” 
Your brows furrowed. “I’ve met your teammates.” 
“I want-” he cleared his throat. “I want to introduce you as my girlfriend.” 
Your smile could have lit up the room.
April
You quickly learned that being exclusive wasn’t all that it was cut out to be. There was a certain pressure that came with dating a professional athlete and as time went on, you felt yourself begin to crack under that pressure. You weren’t sure if it was the media, intense fans or the fact that it was difficult to spend as much time together during the Playoffs but you started to question things with Mat.
Your mother always told you that you were an over thinker and always managed to think of the worst possible scenarios and though you would never admit it to her, she was damn right.
Your overthinking is what typically caused an fight between you and Mat. You were never one to pick fights but it just felt like every single thing that happened made you upset. Whether it was you feeling that he played video games too much when the two of you hung out or that he thought you made a big deal out of small things, the two of you were arguing all the time.
It left you spending many nights questioning whether being with him was even worth it when all it seemed to do was cause stress. You wondered if he ever thought the same things.
. . .
The loud cheering in the Barclays Centre did no good to your mood on a Monday afternoon game. You weren’t even sure why you went to the stupid game in the first place after a terrible argument between you and Mat the night prior. It might have been Tito’s many, many texts that day asking you to come because “Mat is always in a bad mood when you don’t come to games” that had you sitting in the stands sporting your Barzal jersey. You knew that you were welcomed in the Wives Lounge but sometimes you enjoyed sitting surrounded by random people you didn’t know and not having to socialize.
It definitely was a good idea at the time because yours and Mat’s fight had unfortunately been in front of some of his teammates and their other halves so you didn’t feel like getting questioned about it.
A loud bang caused you to nearly jump out of your seat and when you looked up, Tito was standing in front of you, grin on his face and waving. You had been distracting yourself on your phone so you wouldn’t look at Mat during warm-ups but you caught his eye when Tito had made you look up. You couldn’t really read the expression on his face. Part was probably irritation and the other maybe relief that you had shown up. The door slamming in his face the night before was probably still fresh in his mind.
Tito waving his hand in front of you brought you back from the memory and he had a puck in his hand, pointing it to you. You furrowed your brows at him because you already had a few pucks from games when you and Mat had first started dating because he had a habit of gifting you with a lot of Islanders things. So you caught it when he chucked it over the glass, intending to give it to the kid sitting next to you until you caught sight of some scribbles on the back. You flipped the puck over and your heart warmed when you realized it was Mat’s handwriting.
I’m sorry with a small heart was written messily on it and when you looked up and caught Mat’s eyes, you smiled and nodded and that must have been enough for him because he grinned and winked at you.
It was enough for now.
. . .
Meeting him at the locker room doors was not anything unusual but you were on edge that evening. You were pretty sure Mat had forgiven you for slamming the door in his face the night before but you were still nervous. When the guys started coming out of the locker room, dressed back in their game suits and grins on their faces, you kept your eyes trained on the doors waiting for Mat.
“He’ll be a few more minutes.” Tito said, stopping in front of you. “He’s doing an interview - game winning goal scorer and all.”
You smiled and let him ruffle your hair like you were his little sister despite the age difference between you two being minor. He always treated you like a sister from the moment you met and you liked that compared to some of Mat’s other young teammates who tried flirting with you in the beginning.
“Thanks, Tito.” You said, waving as he smiled again and walked away.
A little longer than a few more minutes, Mat walked through the doors. He was dressed in his suit again and his hair was wet from the quick shower he must have taken before coming out.
“Hey.” He said quietly, hesitating as if he had been trying to decide whether to approach you or not. When you held out your arms, he walked straight to you and wrapped his around you, lifting you off the ground slightly.
The two of you stood there for what felt like longer than it probably was before he loosened his arms and pulled away a little.
“I’m sorry.” He said, resting his forehead against yours.
“Me too,” you told him and stood on the tips of your toes so you could reach his lips. The kiss was gentle and slow and when you pulled away, you took a step back. “The fight was stupid and we both know it.”
He nodded and ran a hand through his hair. “I know. I just… I feel like sometimes we fight for no reason and it frustrates me. I hate being mad with you.”
Deciding that Barclays Centre wasn’t the right place for his conversation, you took his hand and pulled him towards the exit.
“Let’s go home and talk.” You said and he nodded, squeezing you hand gently and pressing a kiss to the top of your head.
As you both walked to his car, you idly wondered when home stopped being a place and instead became a person.
May
The Islanders got put out of the playoffs during the second round and although you knew Mat was upset, he shrugged and said, “there’s always next year.” You wondered if that was what got professional athletes through the losses in their careers.
The end of the hockey season meant Mat going home to B.C and it left you in an odd place. He didn’t directly ask you to come with him for the off season but the way he described his summer plans, made it seem like you were involved.
But you being you prevented you from outright asking if he wanted you to come home with him. It was a big step and you weren’t sure you could handle the rejection.
As the date he was leaving quickly approached, he asked if the two of you could talk and your stomach plummeted at his words. You agreed though and during the drive to his apartment, you mentally prepared yourself for the rejection.
He greeted you at the door with a kiss which eased some of your worries but when he started making you your favourite ice tea, you started getting worried. He was mindlessly babbling about random things until he sat on the stool next to you and when you looked at him, he was uncharacteristically serious.
“You could have told me you didn’t want to come to B.C,” he said. “I wouldn’t have been offended, I know you have friends here and probably had summer plans-”
“Mat.” You said quickly, cutting him off. “I want to come with you. To your home.”
He stopped his babbling and looked at you in shock. “Wait, really?”
“Yeah.”
“But you didn’t say.”
“Well I mean, you never asked.”
He rose his eyebrows comically high. “I didn’t think I had to.”
A smile broke out across your face and you leaned forwards so you could kiss him. He chased after you when you sat back making your grin widen. “I just didn’t want to push. We spend nearly all year together so I didn’t know if you wanted space for the summer.”
“Y/N.” He said seriously. “I want to be with you. Forever.”
And if that wasn’t the sweetest and most romantic thing a man had ever said to you, you weren’t sure what was.
June
Summer with Mat was, well, amazing. Days spent on the lake and nights spent under the stars ended up making that summer one of the best in your life.
Meeting his family for the first time was equally frightening as it was exciting. His father, Mike and mom Nadia were two of the kindest people you met and you quickly bonded with his sister Liana. They took you in as if you were their own and Mat frequently joked that they were stealing you from him.
You didn’t mind though. You loved spending days shopping at the mall or going to the beach with Liana. Brunch with his mom was always lovely and she always managed to tell you the funniest and most embarrassing stories about Mat. It gave you a little leverage when you needed it and on top of that, Mat was overly cute when he would pout at you jokingly poking fun of him.
Every single day, you realized you fell a little more in love with him and that realization nearly knocked you off your feet.
July
“Let’s go out tonight together.” He said one morning. “Just the two of us.”
Not having spent much alone time together as you would have liked, you quickly agreed. Mat didn’t tell you where he planned on taking you but he must have told Liana because she chose an outfit for you. It gave you a small idea of what he might have been planning.
She didn’t pick out a fancy dress which told you that he wasn’t bringing you to a high end restaurant which you were secretly pleased about because you never quite felt like you fit in at places like those. You much more preferred to go to a small diner so when she chose a cute romper with a pair of sandals, you had a bit of an idea of where you might be going.
“Any hints?” You asked, placing a hand over his which was resting on your thigh.
He shook his head and grinned. “It’s a surprise.”
You pretended to be bothered by it but you felt giddy inside that he was putting so much thought in to your date. It was also fun playing a guessing game, throwing ideas at him of where he was taking you even though you knew he wasn’t going to tell you. You had carefully watched his reactions to your guesses so you weren’t overly surprised when your ride ended at a park.
It was pretty late in the evening, getting close to dark so there were very few people out and around. He parked his car and reached in the backseat to grab a bag before climbing out of the car.
You knew he liked opening the door for you so you waited until he opened it before getting out as well. He took your hand and lead you to a park of the park that was empty and then dropped the bag on the ground and dug around, pulling an old blanket out.
“Picnic?” You asked, grinning from ear to ear.
“Is it okay?” He asked and you sat down when he spread the blanket out.
“It’s perfect.” You told him, watching as his face lit up. He sat down next to you and started pulling different snacks out of his bag, handing you some of your favorites.
“Mom helped pack the lunch.” He paused. “I had to stop her when she tried to cook a three course meal for us.”
You couldn’t help but laugh because it was a very Nadia thing to do.
“I love your mom.” You said. “I love your entire family.”
He smiled, looking at the ground as if he was concentrating on something. You knew the look enough that it meant he was going to say something but was either nervous and was working himself up to saying it or would decide not to say it at all.
But you wanted to know what he was thinking so you nudged him.
“What’s going on in your head?”
His cheeks were red when he lifted his head and he shrugged, smiling.
“I love you.”
Your smile was as bright as one of the stars and he met you halfway when you leaned towards him.
“I love you too.”
August
August was one of your least favourite months because it meant that summer was coming to an end. It also meant that off season was coming to an end and it meant that you and Mat would soon be heading back to New York. You loved it there, you really did. You missed your friends and your job but you knew you would miss B.C even more so when the day came that the two of you had to leave, you weren’t ashamed of the tears that were shed. Nadia made you promise to visit again soon and it was an easy promise to keep.
As soon as you got home, Mat was right back at training for the new season. It was a big change from spending basically every single day together to having to share him again with hockey. You loved Mat and you loved that he did what he loved but sometimes you did wish he had a normal nine to five job. He knew you felt that way some days and you could tell he sometimes felt a little bad about it but what you came to learn throughout your relationship with Mat, was that hockey nearly always came first. It was something that you struggled a lot with in the beginning of your relationship but it got a little easier as time went on.
On your best days, you would watch Mat train and feel pride in how determined and hard working he was.
On your worst days, you laid in bed at night and tried to think of your first kiss with the snow falling softly around you, warm sunny days at the lake and late nights under the stars.
Sometimes it was enough but sometimes, it wasn’t.
September
Wake Me Up When September Ends is the most played song on your playlist for an entire month.
October
You never know the biggest fight of your life is coming until it happens. It’s something that starts as the smallest of things until suddenly it hits you like a freight train and the impact is devastating.
That’s what the biggest fight of yours and Mat’s relationship was like.
You hated shouting and screaming. You hated threats to give everything up and walk away. You hated how easy it felt to do just that.
But what you hated most of all, was feeling like you were never enough. Like no Mater how hard you tried, failure was bound to happen and there was no way you could stop it.
And that was exactly what happened.
Slamming doors was your thing. It was childish and immature but it was a way of you making a point when you were angry about something so when Mat slammed a door, you knew he was past anger.
Mat rarely got angry with you. It could be counted on one hand the amount of times he even raised his voice at you but that night, the two of you yelled at each other until your voices were hoarse.
“Why can’t you understand where I’m coming from?” You snapped, watching him pace back and fourth across the living room. His hair was a mess, he had been running his hands through it and tugging enough that you thought he would tear it out.
“Because it makes no sense!” He yelled, “you knew what you signed up for when we started dating! I can’t be your typical nine to five boyfriend who comes home every night.”
“I’m not asking you to be that! I’m asking you to try and put more effort in to this relationship!” You shouted, not caring about the noise complaints you received from your neighbors a week later. “Do you know what it feels like when you feel that you’re the only one putting any effort in? What it feels like when you look at your friends relationships only to realize that yours isn’t even close to how good theirs is?”
“So you’re calling me a terrible boyfriend.” He said dryly.
“That’s not what I said and you know it. Stop putting words in my mouth, Mat.”
“I’m not putting words in your mouth if that’s what you’re saying. If you’re so unhappy, then why are you still with me, huh?”
His words stopped what you planned to say and you stared at him in shock. A small part of you wondered what the answer to his question was. Were you really that unhappy that you considered leaving?
“I…” you began but trailed off as you watched any emotion leave his face. The hurt and even anger disappeared and you didn’t realize how quiet the room was until he shook his head.
“I’ll make it easier for you.” He said, grabbing his coat and keys. “I’m done.”
You felt like you were frozen in place as you watched him leave, slamming the door behind him. Minutes passed before you slowly walked towards the front door, opening it in hopes that maybe just maybe he was standing on the other side but when you opened it, the hallway was empty. It was dead silent and when you looked at the floor, you saw Mat’s key to your apartment laying there, the little heart and smiley face you had drawn on it staring up at you as if it was mocking you.
You knelt down to pick it up and suddenly it felt like you couldn't breathe, like all the air was pulled from your lungs and your heart was cracking open.
If meeting Mat felt like breathing for the first time, then losing him felt like drowning.
November
You thought that heartbreak was something that passed eventually, that it got easier every day but it was a lie. You didn’t get over Mat quickly, in fact, it felt like every day got harder and you always told yourself you wouldn’t be that girl. The girl who gets her heart broken and can’t get over him. You wouldn’t cry yourself to sleep some nights or be afraid to turn the TV on in case it was the sports channel and you saw his face.
You scrubbed your apartment clean of him, everything he gave you and anything that reminded you of him sat in boxes on the top shelf of the spare bedroom. It didn’t help though because the memories, those were impossible to forget. They were engraved in your brain forever.
You hated him for how easily he left, how easy it was for him to walk out of your life as if he was never here.
Tito texted you a few time in the beginning, first asking what happened and then asking if you were okay or if you needed anything. You guessed he got the message when you didn’t answer because you haven’t heard from him in weeks and you weren’t sure if that made you relieved, or sad.
Falling in love was easy you realized.
Falling out of love was impossible.
December
A year passes swiftly. Especially when it’s both the best and worst year of your life. You hated yourself for it, but when December hits, you wondered how Mat was. You wondered if he got over you quickly or if he struggled the same way you did. You suspect it was the former.
At the end of every year, you liked to go through your things and donate what you don’t need or want. You started with your clothes and as you went through it, you noticed that you were missing several of your favourite outfits and your heart sank when you realized they were at Mat’s.
It left you with a dilemma. Leave them, or be a big girl and go ask for them back. You could go through Tito to get them back but you don’t know if he’s upset with you for ignoring him just because you broke up with Mat. He was your friend and it was unfair what you did but at the time, you were hurting.
But still, you decided to do it yourself and go get the clothes from Mat’s apartment and whatever else you might have left there. You did your best to get ready and look presentable and when you felt ready, you grabbed your keys and headed for the door. When you opened it, a hand nearly collided with your face as the person standing there was starting to knock. They jumped back and when you looked up, you found yourself staring in to the eyes of the exact person you were going to see.
“Mat.” You whispered, feeling like you needed to reach out and touch his face to make sure he was actually standing there and you weren’t hallucinating. But you didn’t because that would just make you look insane.
“Hi.” He said quietly and the two of you stood there for an unknown amount of time staring at each other.
Eventually, you found your voice.
“What are you doing here?” You asked, not harshly but confused.
He opened his mouth to say something but it was if he couldn’t get the words out. Like they were stuck in his throat.
“I’m sorry.” He finally said and you looked at him in shock.
“What?”
He scratched the back of his head and looked at the floor. “What I said to you… it was unfair. I know I fucked up, and I don’t deserve a second chance but these past two months, I missed you like Hell.”
You were lost for words. You couldn’t lie and say you didn’t miss him too but were you really willing to put your heart on the line again and it got broken so easily last time? Could you even handle another heartbreak like that?
“Can we… can you give me a second chance?” He asked so timidly and quietly that you barely heard him.
You let yourself think back over the past year, remembering every single detail. All the joy, laughter, love and heartbreak. Was it worth it? Risking everything again even though you could end up broken again?
You found yourself looking at Mat again, hazel eyes warm and hopeful and it makes you think of the very first time you met. You were faced with the same decision - to let him in or let him go?
You knew you could live without him but you realized standing there, thinking about the past and what the future could be - you didn’t want to live without him.
So you stood up on the tips of your toes and pulled his lips down to meet yours and it felt like you were whole again.
“I can.”
(a couple years down the road, you’ll be saying I do in front of your friends and family with the love of your life and you’ll realize that yes, the risk was worth it.)
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ohsolonelyghosts · 3 years
Note
Hello!!
Can I request some fluff with Paterson? A hurt/comfort perhaps?
Thank you!
I brought you some tissues
Characters: You x Paterson!
Word Count: 1,355
Note: Hi there! Thank you so much for the request! I hope I did it justice! I had some fun writing this, and I would too like to be coddled by Paterson when I'm having a tough time.
Contents/Warnings: Grief, loss of a friend, fluff!, Paterson comforting you
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It had been a year.
You cooped yourself up in your bed, wrapped in a burrito of a blanket. You sniffled, not even bothering to hide the mess of tears running down your face. You knew you looked like a mess and were thankful Paterson wasn’t here to see you like this.
You wish that stupid Snapchat memory hadn’t popped up, of you and your best friend. You regretted not deleting the photos, but you couldn’t just let them go like that. With snot running down your face, you reached for the tissue box you had on your nightstand, only to find it was empty. Great.
You wiped your nose on your shirt, you were going to change it eventually anyway. Your shaky hand held your phone, tapping back onto Snapchat. It was magnetic almost, you clicked on the memories once more. You felt stupid, you felt as though your grief should be over and done with after a year. Why couldn’t you let go?
You clutched your phone to your chest as if it was to hug them one last time. You let out a heavy sob, leaning back against the headboard of your bed. It was as though you couldn’t get enough air, and you swore that if anyone was in the house they’d hear your wailing. You would have given anything to go back and see your friend one last time. To hear their laugh, watch them smile as you told a stupid joke, no matter how bad it was. They were one of your biggest support systems, aside from Paterson.
At the funeral, you practically wanted to jump in the grave with them. The tears streaming down your face as you watched them lowered in. You didn’t recover from the sight of that for a while, and seeing the video of you two dancing around only reopened the wound.
You were startled when you saw your boyfriend standing in the doorway of your shared bedroom. He was holding a brand new tissue box, moving slowly toward the bed, sitting on the edge, and setting the box in front of you.
“I brought you some tissues.”
His words were spoken simply, eyes sympathetic at the sight of you. You quickly moved to wipe the snot from your nose with one of the tissues, and another for the tears. Your eyes were puffy and red, lips in a pout.
You felt his thumb wipe a tear from the corner of your eye, your eyes meeting his. You let out a hiccup, adjusting your blanket to hold you tighter. You felt stupid, sitting in front of him looking like a mess. Your thoughts crashed into you like the ocean, everything coming at your head at once. Pat had only really ever seen you like this a few times, most of the time he happened to be at work while you had a breakdown.
You would cover up your sadness really well because you never wanted him to feel bad for you. You had no idea why you did this, as Paterson was willing to be there every second with you. You both sat there in silence for a few minutes before you spoke out, between soft sobs.
“I miss my best friend,” you whispered. Instantly, you noticed as Pat’s face contorted into the same sadness you were sharing with him. He felt bad, he always wanted you to be okay. He moved the tissue box so that he could get into the bed, right up next to you. His arms moved to bring you into his chest, and you couldn’t hold it back much longer at that point. The dam of tears you had managed to keep back exploded, and unfortunately all over Pat’s chest.
“I’m so sorry,” he whispered into your hair, hand reaching into the back of your blanket burrito, stroking your back. Pat held you firmly as if to let you know he wasn’t going to go anywhere. You both sat like this, for an immeasurable amount of time. When you pulled away from his chest, your hand peeked out to pinch at the now damp fabric he was wearing. He pushed your hand away, shaking his head.
“It’s okay, love, it’s just a shirt,” he murmured, pulling you back into his chest. You sniffled, shaking your head a bit. You felt bad for getting his shirt all wet and covered with your snot. He squeezes you tightly into him once again, before speaking out.
“Do you want some food? Or a drink?” Paterson asked, brows furrowed as he looked down at you. You thought about it for a moment before nodding. Pat nodded back at you, gently peeling you from his body.
You watched as he disappeared from the room, waiting a few moments before touching your feet to the floor, slowly following to the kitchen. Paterson turned around, tilting his head when he saw you.
“Why aren’t you waiting for me? You didn’t need to come out here, y’know.”
“I know,” you sighed out, moving to sit on the counter, adjusting your blanket as needed. Paterson moved over to you, gently pressing a kiss to your forehead. He placed a cup of water in your hands, watching as you drank it.
“You don’t drink enough water sometimes,” he mentioned as he turned back to the stove. You rolled your eyes slightly, but he was right and you knew it. You drank the liquid, as it was the first thing you had drank all day. You were just too upset to be worried about anything else.
You let out a sigh, setting your glass down. At least there was some substance inside of you now. Pat returned to his spot of being right in front of you, setting his hands on your thighs.
“What’re you making?” You asked, eyebrows raised. He went to the stove, holding up the box of macaroni and cheese. You gave him a soft smile and a small nod of approval.
“It’s some comfort food, and it’s easy and fairly quick to make.”
Paterson poured the macaroni noodles into the pot once the water was boiling, stirring them once, leaving the spoon on a napkin beside the burner. He strode over to you yet again, wrapping his arms around your waist this time. Pat gave you another small smile, pressing a kiss gently to the corner of your lips before dropping his head to rest on your shoulder.
Before you knew it, the noodles were ready, and you watched as Pat drained them and stirred in the milk and cheese. He got each of you a bowl, setting them both at the table. He helped you down from the counter, and you left your blanket there, as you would get it later.
You both shared a fairly silent meal, but Paterson knew to give you at least a little space while you ate. He didn’t want to start up any more waterworks. After you had both finished, he picked up your plates in one motion, carrying them to the sink.
He came back, picking you up out of your chair, his hands resting under your thighs.
“Pat, I can walk, I’m not broken,” you grumbled, resting your hands on his shoulders. He shrugged, one hand grabbing your blanket, throwing it over his shoulder, and bringing you back to the bedroom. He set you down gently on your bed, having you lay back while he put your blanket over you. You chuckled softly, he cared about you so much.
Paterson crawled into bed next to you once again, one arm behind his head. You cuddled up right next to him, resting your head on his chest.
“Why don’t you tell me about your friend?” He asked softly, hand stroking your hair. You looked up at Pat, eyes already filling up with tears again.
You both laid there for the rest of the night, you babbling on and off about how much you loved your best friend. Paterson lies there, listening to your soft cries, and every little detail you gave him.
He never let go of you once.
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livingasaghost · 4 years
Text
okay so i always see a bunch of ridiculous aftg headcanons soooo i decided to put my hat in the ring and try it out
this is all about the foxes and their chaotic as hell groupchats
so let’s imagine for a second that this series doesn’t take place in the early 2000s so smart phones exist 
periodically the foxes have exchanged numbers with each other - obviously each of the cliques can contact each other, but then throughout that first year there are little things that cause people to give out their numbers
like at some point nicky lets it slip that he’s having trouble with his stats class and out of the blue allison offers to meet up with him because she’s surprisingly like really great at math? so the two of them start up a little text chain where they just shit talk everyone and start a few random bets
and then dan gets katelyn’s number from one of the other vixens and the two of them initially just start texting about game details...which turns into bonding over make-up and girl talk and eventually dan starts inviting katelyn to hang out with her and the fox girls
at first renee is the only one who has everyone’s number because she’s the only one who everyone likes 
but then after their big win, renee just puts everyone in one massive groupchat so no one gets left out and they can all bond and it’s just as chaotic as one would expect
at first everyone’s just trying to figure out who’s who, but not everyone has an iphone so all the iphone users are really pissed off at the green bubbles
aaron’s the only one with an android because of course he is
he refuses to switch to an iphone even when the rest of the team BEGS him to bc he “doesn’t see the point”
for the whole summer after neil’s first year, the team keeps trying to pressure him and andrew into upgrading their phones because the team is so sick of what it’s doing to the groupchat
neil doesn’t really know how it all works because he’s still getting used to having a phone and having friends to text, but then everyone starts sending him emojis that don’t show up properly and his phone won’t load any photos they send and the rest of the foxes are so FRUSTRATED bc neil doesn’t seem to notice
eventually, in a shocking turn of events, andrew gets so fed up with the chaos of everyone texting his flip phone that he’s the one who gives in
he shows up at the dorm one day and just hands neil a little baggie with his new iphone
they’re just starting to get it set up when nicky strolls in and IMMEDIATELY takes over, showing neil all about emojis and changing your phone background and saving all the fox contacts
neil is, unsurprisingly, very overwhelmed and slightly terrified, so andrew reaches over and does it all for him, and nicky just looks put out
it takes neil like six months to change any of his contacts or backgrounds or settings because he just doesn’t care
eventually he does manage to set his lockscreen to a really bad photo he took of andrew when he wasn’t paying attention
andrew notices it one day and chooses not to say anything
(he secretly loves it)
when the groupchats start heating up.......neil realizes it’s kind of fun to have a smart phone because it feels like the foxes are with him all the time
after neil and andrew get iphones, the rest of the team decide to make a separate groupchat for just apple users bc no one really texts aaron regularly anyway
at first it’s just a place where people drop details about practices
dan shares news from wymack and abby and then kevin starts giving orders about what the foxes can do better
and somehow that is the tipping point
because everyone hates when kevin starts talking exy
(except neil)
so everyone jumps on him and it’s the perfect icebreaker
nicky is the obnoxious one who sends a ridiculous amount of emojis and gifs and reaction images (neil never knows where he finds them all) - he also sends the most tiktoks. usually ones that are super inappropriate or just plain stupid.
allison texts a lot because she’s always attached to her phone ready for the tea and sometimes she’ll send a really raunchy meme just to spice things up
neil doesn’t really know what’s going on half the time - and he never really scrolls up to see what he’s missed - so if and when he does respond, it’s usually just to ask clarifying questions or give a thumbs up
matt is the one who always checks in to make sure everyone’s doing okay - he’ll send really encouraging texts that people like andrew shit on
one time matt sends everyone a really sweet text over the holidays about how much they mean to him....and then dan just kicks him out of the gc and goes “okay enough of that bullshit i hate u guys xoxo” and andrew gives it a thumbs up
sometimes when he’s bored andrew will just kick out everyone but renee and neil bc why not
kevin is the one who gets kicked out the most 
sometimes it’s because he texts about exy, but eventually it just becomes a running joke that they’ll kick him out randomly
like they’ll be in the middle of a conversation and then allison will just boot him out of the gc just to see what he’ll do
usually when this happens kevin will just send an angry message in one of the other gcs telling neil to add him back
it’s usually neil or renee who adds someone back bc they feel bad that people get left out of the gc
renee has this weird obsession with tiktok and she sends them CONSTANTLY like usually they remind her of certain teammates
she’ll send these at all hours of the night bc she has trouble sleeping and that means more time to scroll through the app from hell
and even though it gets on everyone’s nerves, no one can hate renee so they all just kind of....watch the videos and then everyone’s obsessed with tiktok
dan will send memes and things but only when they’re like so ridiculously funny that they get the whole gc wheezing at midnight on a school night
and usually they’re SO ridiculous that they only make sense to dan
“Dan you do realize we have practice tomorrow?”
“matt shut up this girl is talking like MARGE SIMPSON I CANT BREATHE”
most of the foxes text without proper capitalization or punctuation but  matt and kevin and neil (and aaron) are all very proper with their texting
dan makes fun of matt all the time bc he doesn’t seem like the kind of person to Use Proper English but matt doesn’t understand why everyone can’t just use capitals when it’s automatic (he doesn’t know how to turn it off)
neil uses proper grammar just bc it doesn’t occur to him to do anything else
andrew uses lowercase bc it reads like a monotone to him and he thinks it’s ~cool~ and he also likes making kevin mad
sometimes he’ll use the wrong punctuation and grammar on purpose just to get kevin to reply to his texts
eventually nicky realizes he can change the group name and the group photo so he starts the most chaotic conversation by dramatically changing it to a snapchat screenshot of neil asleep on andrew’s lap and calling the gc SEXY EXY BESTIES 👅💦
it stays like that for all of two minutes before kevin notices and quickly changes the name to The Foxes
and then it becomes a free for all as everyone tries to be smart and snarky and ridiculous
stans of kevin’s left hand
the foxwhore court
🧡 Neil Josten Fanclub 🧡
life’s like a game of exy🥍
periodically throughout the week someone will change the name as they see fit - normally it’s something stupid but sometimes they’ll start an actual conversation by changing the group name
The Ungrateful Foxes
fuck you kevin
Guys plz be nice to Kevin
YOU KNOW, I GET IT—
The Worst Team in the NCAA
fuck you kevin
GO TO SLEEP NEIL!!!
one time after they’d spent like two weeks being called wymack’s whores, andrew decided he’d had enough of that so he just renamed it 🖕🏻🦊
and they do have a separate gc with wymack (they just don’t need to bother him with all their shitty commentary)
but funny enough, they’re almost worse in the wymack gc
at first wymack tried to control everyone by kicking people out who misbehaved, but then it just kept happening until it was him, kevin and renee left and he had to let it go
now all the foxes will text him at the most random times with the most random of questions
they also have a running joke where they all call him dad
kevin hates it, but wymack secretly thinks it’s hilarious and sweet
“hey dad can we get pizza after practice tomorrow???”
“dad nicky’s being a bitch can you make him run extra laps”
“WAIT DID YOU GUYS KNOW THAT WYMACK IS KEVIN’S ACTUAL DAD??? *blinking man gif*”
kevin starts leaving the gc instead of waiting to be kicked out
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nashvilledreams · 4 years
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My Naya, my Snixxx, my Bee. I legitimately can not imagine this world without you.
7 years ago today, she and I were together in London when we found out about Cory. We were so far away, but I was so thankful that we had each other. A week ago today we were talking about running away to Hawaii. This doesn’t make sense. And I know it probably never will.
She was so independent and strong and the idea of her not being here is something I cannot comprehend. She was the single most quick-witted person I’ve ever met, with a steel-trap memory that could recall the most forgettable conversations from a decade ago verbatim. The amount of times she would memorize all of those crazy monologues on Glee the morning of and would never ever mess up during the scene… I mean, she was clearly more talented than the rest of us. She was the most talented person I’ve ever known. There is nothing she couldn’t do and I’m furious we won’t get to see more.
I’m thankful for all the ways in which she made me a better person. She taught me how to advocate for myself and to speak up for the things and people that were important to me, always. I’m thankful for the times I grew an ab muscle from laughing so hard at something she said. I’m thankful she became like family. I’m thankful that my dad happened to have met her weeks before I did and when I got Glee, he told me to “look out for a girl named Naya because she seemed nice.” Well dad, she was nice and she became one of my favorite people ever.
If you were fortunate enough to have known her, you’ll know that her most natural talent of all was being a mother. The way that she loved her boy, it was truly Naya at her most peaceful. I’m thankful that Naya got that beautiful little boy back on that boat. I’m thankful he will have a strong family around him to protect him and tell him about his incredible mom.
I just hope more than anything that her family is given the space and time to come to terms with this. For having such tiny body, Naya had such a gigantic presence, a void that will now be felt by all of us - those of us who knew her personally and the millions of you who loved her through your TVs. I love you, Bee.
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My favorite duet partner. I love you. I miss you. I don’t have words right now, just lots of feelings. Rest In Peace Angel, and know that your family will never have to worry about anything.
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We started out as the closest friends and then like all new things, we went through a bit of a rocky phase. However, we stuck by each other’s side and created the most beautiful friendship built out of love and understanding. The last I had the chance to see you in person, I had left oranges outside our home for you to take. I wanted to say hi through the window but my phone didn’t ring when you called (which it never does, f*cking T-Mobile), so instead you and Josey left two succulents on our doorstep as a thank you. I planted those succulents and I look at them everyday and think of you. I still listen to your EP on repeat because from the moment I heard it, it struck me and I always wished the world knew more of your voice. You sent me over 5 dozen SnapChat videos when you and Josey woke up in the morning and I kick myself that I didn’t save one of them. You always shared recipes and I admired your love for food. We vowed to spend every Easter together, even though Covid stole this last one from us. You are and always will be the strongest and most resilient human being I know, and I vowed to carry that with me as I continue to live my life. 
You constantly taught me lessons about grief, about beauty and poise, about being strong, resilient and about not giving a fuck (but still somehow respectful). Yet, the utmost important lesson I learned most of all from you was being a consistent and loving friend. You were the first to check in, the first to ask questions, the first to listen..you cherished our friendship and I never took that for granted. 
We never took photos together because we mutually hated taking pictures...our relationship meant more than proof. I have countless pictures of our babies playing, because we shared that kind of pride and joy. So I’m showing the world a photo of our little goof balls for you, because I know that meant more than anything and they remind me of you and I. I speak to you everyday because I know you’re still with me and even though I’m feeling greedy that we don’t get more time together, I cherish every moment we had and hold it close to my heart.
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There are no words and yet so many things I want to say, I don't believe I'll ever be able to articulate exactly what I feel but... Naya, you were a ⚡️ force and everyone who got to be around you knew it and felt the light and joy you exuded when you walked into a room. You shined on stage and screen and radiated with love behind closed doors. 
I was lucky enough to share so many laughs, martinis and secrets with you. I can not believe I took for granted that you'd always be here. Our friendship went in waves as life happens and we grow, so I will not look back and regret but know I love you and promise to help the legacy of your talent, humor, light and loyalty live on. 
You are so loved. You deserved the world and we will make sure Josey and your family feel that everyday. I miss you already.
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She was bold. She was outrageous. She was a LOT of fun.⁣
Naya made me laugh like no one else on that set. I always said it while we were working together and I’ve maintained it ever since. Her playful, wicked sense of humor never ceased to bring a smile to my face.⁣
She played by her own rules and was in a class of her own. She had a brashness about her that I couldn’t help but be enchanted by. I also always loved her voice, and savored every chance I got to hear her sing. I think she had more talent than we would have ever been able to see.⁣
I was constantly moved by the degree to which she took care of her family, and how she looked out for her friends. She showed up for me on numerous occasions where she didn’t have to, and I was always so grateful for her friendship then, as I certainly am now.⁣
And even as I sit here, struggling to comprehend, gutted beyond description- the very thought of her cracks me up and still brings a smile to my face. That was Naya’s gift. And it's a gift that will never go away. ⁣
Rest in peace you wild, hilarious, beautiful angel.
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How can you convey all your love and respect for someone in one post? How can you summarize a decade of friendship and laughter with words alone? If you were friends with Naya Rivera, you simply can’t. Her brilliance and humor were unmatched. Her beauty and talent were otherworldly. She spoke truth to power with poise and fearlessness. She could turn a bad day into a great day with a single remark. She inspired and uplifted people without even trying. Being close to her was both a badge of honor and a suit of armor. Naya was truly one of a kind, and she always will be. 💔 Sending all my love to her wonderful family and her beautiful son.
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Dear Naya, 
I’m failing miserably to process this news. I always imagined old future senior moments where we would hear your infectious laughter down the hall knowing that our funny bone was in for a treat. To many people, myself included, you were the life of the party. Not only able to rock when fun was to be had after a long day but that shining friend that was always willing to listen, offer sympathy, perspective and at times, give much needed levity to any situation. 
You were a beast on the show. I admired you as I watched you nail multi page monologues that you learned moments before and pour your heart into every performance with an energy that had that snicks special written all over it. Our deep conversations about life inbetween scenes are some of my favorite moments with you. Getting to hear about your hopes and dreams for the future and with Josey’s arrival, ‘Your greatest success’ I was so happy to see your dream turn into reality. 
You deserved more. I’m so sorry but you deserved more. You gave life your all and I hope all the good that you have given to the world will be returned in abundance when you reunite with our brother in the heavenly skies. I’m so grateful for our memories. We will make sure to keep your legacy and spirit alive so Josey will grow up to know the incredible woman you were. Love you, Naya. You are already missed. Eternally. 
-HSJ
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Naya and I fell into stride with such ease, she was my first friend and ally on our show. In the pilot, our characters came and went with such swiftness. Our enthusiasm brimmed with all of the unknown. We tried to grasp what the other cast members must be feeling as we were working in such separate manners. We dared to dream. What if this show worked? Wouldn’t that be something? Something was brimming, it was palpable. And thank god it worked. Naya’s magnetic talent was going to be unleashed, we just didn’t know it yet. ⁣⁣
I’ve been revisiting Naya’s performances on our show and it has brought me great joy. To work with her was a gift. There was a great deal to absorb - her work ethic, her fearlessness, her talent - supreme. Naya had a laugh that would envelop you and hold you captive. She was mesmerizing. That twinkle in her eye, her luminous smile. Naya lead with truth, humor, wit. I loved her for all of these reasons. ⁣⁣
I loved her sense of curiosity and wanderlust. I was lucky enough to be her travel partner for some of my most favorite adventures. As I write this, I’m grinning with swelling memories of a spontenaous 36 hour excursion - one might even say diversion - to Paris. With Naya, everything was possible and would often simply unfold before us, almost magically.⁣⁣
On this particular jaunt, within ten minutes of checking into our hotel, we found ourselves strolling the halls of L'École des Beaux-Arts, sipping wine from paper cups with students showcasing their latest work. It was fantastic. We were united in our commitment to discovery. And there was always a list of cleverly curated ideas in Naya’s back pocket, should we need it. ⁣⁣
I cannot make sense of this tremendous loss. I will hold onto her and these memories for the rest of time, alongside our Glee family. Please hold space for her, her family, her beautiful boy. ⁣⁣
In absolute, loving memory.
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Naya The world is at such a loss and I am truly heartbroken. I still remember the day I met you. You Walked straight up to me, grabbed me by the face and drug me around until I met every single person on set, introducing me as “new booty”. You were one of the first people who made me feel like family when others saw me as an outsider. I didn’t know then that you would become my family and that’s just who you were to everyone.. A Mother, Sister, Daughter and most of all a friend. Your massive heart and bright spark is what carried our entire show, when at times we all felt like giving up. 
You always showed up for me when I needed some wisdom or was down and just needed someone to talk to. You took care of everyone around you in a way that was so warm and comforting and you sure knew how to throw a hell of a party! 
I always admired your bravery and passion to fight for what’s right even when it seemed like you were up against the world. Your spirit is contagious and you continue to make everyone you have touched a better and stronger person by knowing you. 
My favorite part of glee was getting to watch you perform and shine up close every day. You really were the pulse of that show. Anyone who was blessed enough to see and experience your raw talent knows it to be true. You’re one of the smartest and most gifted people I have ever met. There is no one like you and there never will be.
You have changed peoples lives all around the world and you continue to change mine forever. I will never forget your love and kindness. Thank you for sharing your spirit Angel.
I will miss you always. I Love you Naya
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For the last 7 years the 13th of July has shattered our hearts beyond repair. There aren’t enough words to describe the pain we are feeling, we are truly heartbroken at the loss of @nayarivera .
Naya, Cory loved you so so much. He cherished your friendship more than you will ever know. From the laughs you shared, to the strength you gave him when he needed it the most. Cory truly adored you. He was in awe of your incredible talent, the way you gave everything you had to each performance; the slap in the auditorium was one of his favourite stories to share. You once said Cory was like a member of your family; you will always be a part of ours. We’ll carry you in our hearts forever. We miss you. Friends reunited for eternity.
We send all our love and strength to your beautiful boy, your family, friends and fans 💔🐻💔
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maria-scribbles · 4 years
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loyalty’s all i got | part two
three years ago, you had it all: great friends, good grades, and an almost perfect relationship with your boyfriend, jj. it all came crashing down when your mom relocated your family to california for work and you were forced to trade the outer banks for malibu, leaving your broken heart behind in the place you were just starting to think of as home. now you're back in town for college and to pick up the pieces, hoping to make things right again with your friends and the boy you never stopped loving.
word count: 8.6k+
ship: jj maybank x female!reader, pogue friendship
warnings n stuff: angst angst angst all around (with a happy ending tho!!), the reader being a v. sad girl, mentions of anxiety/depression, failed long distance relationship, drifting apart, self-inflicted loneliness/isolation, the classic trope of 'they broke up but they're still in love with each other' that gives me feels, swearing (it's not my writing unless someone says 'fuck' at least once), reconciliation/mended relationships, traditional cheesy rom-com rain scene 'cause i'm a Dramatic Hoe™
a/n: and here's the second and final part of this looooong two-shot! thank you all so much for reading and i hope you enjoy the finale even though i low key kind of hate it 🙃. fun fact: surfrider beach is a real place in malibu known for its great waves :) also i apologize for how long this took to post, i dropped my laptop and the screen broke so i had to wait for it to get fixed lmao. unbetaed as usual, any mistakes are my b. 
~masterlist~
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part two: like a ghost that no one knew
When you said goodbye to your friends three years ago, you should've known things would never be the same again. You were sixteen, still so young and naïve and full of an almost childlike hope that kept you from seeing the obvious: life wasn't fair. Sometimes, you could be holding all the right cards and still lose the game.
It should've been easy. You had a video chat schedule already figured out, promises of daily texts and Snapchats, a boyfriend willing -enthusiastically willing, in fact- to go long distance and make it work no matter what 'cause you both agreed that what you had was something worth fighting for. You and your friends had weathered many storms together, what was one more? It could've been easy but you underestimated just how cruel California would be.
You traded one coast for the other and watched the sun set over the Pacific alone when you would've given anything to watch it rise over the Atlantic with your friends. It hurt to surf solo but you did it anyway, even though it felt like a damn sucker punch each time you caught yourself scanning the sand for JJ and his proud smile when you successfully caught bigger and bigger waves at Surfrider Beach. 
Long distance was hard. You had days where all you wanted to do was lay on your bed for hours, safely curled up in his arms as he ran his fingers through your hair but you had to settle for his voice over the phone and one of his shirts from your closet instead. You missed everything about him: his pretty eyes that looked like the clearest ocean, the cheeky grin he'd send your way after making a stupid joke that had you affectionately rolling your eyes in exasperation, that adorable flush that spread across his face without fail each and every time you said you loved him. You longed for his constant affection; the way he always wanted to keep you close somehow, his arm around your shoulders, hand in your back pocket, or fingers entwined with yours; how he could never go a day without kissing you. Being apart was nothing short of torture.
"I fucking miss you." He said late one night during a rare FaceTime session -his phone was a piece of shit so he had to 'borrow' John B's whenever he could- and you smiled despite the knife twisting itself deeper and deeper into your heart as you played with the fraying sleeve of his old sweatshirt you wore. 
"I fucking miss you more, J." You whispered back, giggling quietly when he scrunched up his nose in playful skepticism. 
"Yeah, I don't think so, babe. There's no way." 
"Yes, way!"
Although it hurt like hell, you imagined being tangled up with him in the hammock hanging in the Chateau's yard under the North Carolina sky -the light from the moon would turn his blond hair a pale silver as he grinned down at you and cupped your cheek in his hand, closing that final distance between you for a kiss that'd fuel the fire racing through your veins- and you let that fleeting happiness carry you through the night, long after you said goodbye. You fell asleep with your phone in your hand, unaware that your mother had been listening from the other side of your closed door.
You'd been distant from her and your dad in the months since the move, obviously going out of your way to avoid them both by spending all your spare time surfing at the beach, coming home well past sunset and heading straight to your room without a word. They'd taught you forgiveness wasn't something to be given willingly -it had to be earned- and since neither of them had done anything worthy to deserve an absolution, you simply pretended they didn't exist and let yourself stew in your justified anger.
Until the morning after your video date with JJ, they'd wisely given you your space so you were pretty blind sighted to find them both waiting for you at the dining room table, one of your dad's famous cinnamon rolls on a plate set in front of your usual chair. You paused in the middle of tying one of your boyfriend's worn bandanas in your hair before abruptly continuing toward the front door, acting like you didn't see the hopeful looks on their faces that made guilt slowly start to burrow its way into your chest. 
"Y/N, wait," Your dad sprung from his seat and reached his hand out toward your elbow, his face falling when you instantly pulled back and crossed your arms. "Please, let's just talk for a second."
"I'm gonna be late for the bus," You lied and tried for the door again, sighing in frustration when he blocked your path and ushered you toward the table where your mom was sitting, biting her thumbnail. The guilt burrowed deeper: you thought she kicked that habit years ago but there she was, chewing her nail to shreds and it was all because of you (the empty satisfaction you felt knowing you were the cause of her stress made you hate yourself just a little more.).
"Jellybean, don't worry about that. I'll drive you." 
You bristled at the old nickname but sat in the chair your dad pulled out for you anyway. The smell of the cinnamon roll he pushed your way made your mouth water but you refused to eat and kept your eyes down as you played with the stack of bracelets adorning your wrist. "You wanted to talk?" You asked, deciding to just rip the band-aid off all at once 'cause knowing your mom when she was anxious and your dad being allergic to any type of confrontation, you'd have sat there all day until one of them worked up the courage to speak.
"Talk, right." Bill said with a nervous chuckle, shaking his head as he took a seat and swiped his own cinnamon roll from the pan in the middle of the table. "Uh, how are you?"
"Are you serious right now?" You asked incredulously, looking up from your lap with a raised eyebrow. "All this for 'how are you?'" 
"How would we know?" Your mom finally spoke up as she pulled her ruined nail from her mouth, only to start instantly drumming her fingers on the table. "You're always holed up in your room or at the beach, Y/N. You never talk to us anymore."
You rolled your eyes before fixing her with a deadpan stare. "Hmm, I wonder why."
"Honey, you know I'm sorry-"
"Don't, okay? Just don't." You swallowed thickly and dumped the cinnamon roll back into the pan, blinking away the awful burning pressure building behind your eyes. "I can't listen to some half-assed apology that you don't mean!"
"Y/N, we are sorry. Everything's gonna get better, just give it time." Your dad's reply was muffled by a mouthful of pastry and any other time, you'd usually be laughing at his chipmunk cheeks but instead you just stared back down at your hands again, lip quivering as you tried and failed to hold yourself together. You would not cry. You would not cry. You would not-
"Please, honey." Your mom tentatively reached out one hand like she was approaching a wounded animal, her voice so soft you could barely hear it above the rush of blood in your ears. "It hurts us to see you like this-"
Oh, fuck this shit.
"You're hurt?! Are you kidding me?" Your chair scraped along the tile as you rocketed to your feet, vision blurring when the dam finally broke. "You promised we wouldn't move again until after I graduated and you broke that promise. I let myself make friends for once in my goddamn life -I fucking fell in love, Mom! I fell in love with the most amazing boy who, by some miracle loves me, too despite me being a...a complete loser!" You were rambling now but you couldn't find it in yourself to care about or stop the words flying from your mouth. 
"God, I was happy -so, so disgustingly happy it kind of scared me, okay?" You laughed bitterly and roughly wiped the tears from your cheeks, only to have more immediately take their place. "And you didn't even stop to think before you took it all away from me! So don't even talk to me about being hurt 'cause you have no fucking idea!"
Your dad was frozen, eyes the same color as your own blown impossibly wide in the middle of another bite of cinnamon roll while your mom, two tears streaking perfect twin tracks down her cheeks, looked at you like you'd just told her the world was ending -to her, it just might've been but to you, it already had. Neither of them said another word as you snatched your backpack off the couch and stormed from the house, slamming the door behind you.
Halfway to the bus stop, you decided school just wasn't in the cards that day and doubled back, hiding behind the shed in your backyard until your tears had run dry and both of your parents left -Rebekah to the hospital, Bill to wherever he went while you were in class- before heading inside to change into your rash vest and grab your board. Despite it being early Friday morning, Surfrider Beach was full of life and you welcomed the hustle and bustle as you turned off your phone and buried it at the bottom of your bag, leaving your problems behind on the sand. 
You spent the whole day at the beach, blissfully alone and free to do what you wanted, until the sun dipped low in the sky and you were too exhausted to even think about anything but dragging yourself home so you could pass the fuck out. You caught one final wave before heading back to shore, waving goodbye to the group of other kids you'd surfed with all day (the one thing you loved about California: everyone was so chill) and trudged through the sand toward your things where, just as you expected, your sister sat on your towel, clad in a baggy UCLA long-sleeve with her phone in hand. 
"Bitch, you killed it out there!" She looked up as you dropped your board to the ground and sat down heavily beside her, slipping an old Kildare County High School sweatshirt -the first one you ever 'borrowed' from your boyfriend, much to his delight- over your head. "I mean, look at you go!"
You leaned closer to watch the video she took, the barest hint of a smile on your face when you watched yourself perform a near perfect cutback on the screen. "That's 'cause I had the best teacher." 
Daisy tagged you and posted it to Instagram before you could protest, then tossed the phone back into her bag and turned to you with a forced cheerfulness that kind of made you want to smack her. "So..."
"Mom and Dad sent you to clean up their mess." You finished quietly, tucking your knees to your chest and wrapping your arms around them as your sister sighed dramatically and offered a sympathetic wince. 
"As always." She copied your position and you both stared out at the sun sinking over the water, its fading rays turning the sky brilliant shades of orange and pink. It was typical of your parents to send Daisy after you when you were upset -after all, you'd both been each other's only friend for over half your lives- and normally, you'd be glad to see your sister's friendly face instead of your mom's or dad's. That evening, though? All you felt was...disappointment.
"Guess they really don't give a shit about me." You mumbled under your breath, half-hoping Daisy didn't hear you but from the way she snapped her head in your direction, you didn't get your wish.
"Y/N, that's not it. They're just..."
"Just what? Pretending that they didn't stab me in the back? Acting like everything's all hunky-dory and they actually cared about my feelings?" 
You hastily wiped at your face when your sister silently looped an arm around your shoulders and tucked you against her side, her fingers running soothingly through the ends of your damp hair as you vented all of your frustrations -everything you'd kept locked deep inside your heart- until your voice was hoarse and the sun had long disappeared from the horizon and you had no tears left to cry.
"You have no idea what it's like, being so lonely it hurts to breathe. It hurts knowing Mom and Dad have each other and you have Daniel and I'm alone all the time." You lifted your head from her shoulder and rubbed your red eyes with your sleeve. "Worst part is, they just keep acting like I'll wake up one day and magically be okay and everything'll be all sunshine and rainbows again." 
"First off, I wanna say that I'm sorry for not making more time for you. I knew you were struggling and I'm a terrible big sister for not being here for you like I should have," You squeezed Daisy's other hand in thanks as she tucked a loose strand of hair behind your ear, her voice soft and steady like the waves crashing against the shore. "Second, I definitely don't think Mom and Dad are handling this the way they should, but I think they're trying in the only way they know how. That should count for something, right?"
You sighed and tugged the sleeves of your sweatshirt over your hands. "I guess, but they haven't even tried to see where I'm coming from and they don't get that I'm not the only one they hurt. If I have to hear one more half-assed apology, I'm gonna lose my shit. Again."
"I'm not saying you have to forgive them right away 'cause I sure as hell wouldn't until they say they're sorry and mean it. But..." She said, pulling you to your feet and shaking the sand from the towel you were sitting on, "you shouldn't keep shutting them out, okay? It's not healthy."
You tucked your board under your arm as Daisy grabbed your bag and swung it onto her shoulder before you both started walking toward the parking lot. "What if I'm never ready to forgive them?"
"That's a question I don't have the answer to." She said with a shrug. "You've gotta figure that one out for yourself."
So you followed your sister's advice. You were civil and gradually, your relationship with your parents improved until you could stand to be in the same room as them and even carry on a short conversation, even though you knew you'd probably never be able to fully trust them again. You caught them exchanging glances you could only describe as wounded when you often turned down their invitations to go to the movies or get ice cream or other things you used to love doing when you were younger but for the most part, they took it in stride and you were grateful for their little efforts. Forgiveness wasn't in the cards quite yet but with each passing day, you felt the icy wall around your heart slowly start to melt away.
But every time you thought you were taking one step forward, life pushed you two steps back. Just when you were getting things back on track with your family, the train went flying off the rails when it came to your friends and it was all your fault.
It wasn't like you didn't try -God, did you try- to keep yourself from falling back into old habits but Malibu just had a way of bringing out the absolute worst in you. Your old self, the girl who kept to herself and pushed everyone away, someone you thought you buried in the deepest grave, slowly came back from the dead with a vengeance little by little, so subtly you didn't realize what was happening until it was too late. 
One missed phone call turned into two, texts went unanswered for days or not at all, FaceTime sessions happened less and less. The last video chat had been with Kiara and it ended terribly, after you blew up at her for mending her friendship with Sarah Cameron in the near two years since you'd been gone, spitting words you couldn't quite remember -something along the lines of 'didn't take you too long to replace me, huh' and calling the blonde girl a 'heinous bitch'- but knew you regretted with everything you had and hanging up before she had a chance to explain. You couldn't even recall the last time you talked to Pope or John B aside from the occasional Snapchat and your daily calls with JJ had turned to once a week, if you were lucky.
He was trying, you could tell, and so were you but the deck was stacked against you and you were never very good at cards, anyway. It hurt to try, it hurt not to try, everything just hurt. Nearly two years apart had done their damage and coupled with your debilitating fear of being forgotten that clawed at your chest like a rabid dog, your relationship was on unstable ground and for the first time in almost four years, you were thinking about the end. It wasn't like you didn't love him anymore (holy shit, were you still completely head over heels in love). In fact, you loved him so much you realized that he could do so, so much better than you and the thought rested heavy and bittersweet on your mind, lurking in the shadows until you were ready to bring it to light.
It happened on New Year's Eve. Alone in your room, your hands shook as you answered JJ's call at midnight, his voice tired and a little hoarse from celebrating the new year three hours earlier on the opposite coast and you nearly started crying right then and there when you replied with a shaky "I think we need to talk."
"Babe, what's wrong?"
You took a deep breath and said quietly, "Everything."
"Talk to me." The pure concern in those three words nearly convinced you to call it off, to tell him to forget you said anything and that you were fine, everything was just fine but deep down, you knew you couldn't.
"I've been thinking about us and I...I just think that you deserve better than me. Someone who can actually be there for you when you need her and hold you when your dad's an asshole and see you every day. Someone who can laugh at your silly jokes and share a joint with you and clean you up when you get into fights defending your friends-"
"Babe, what are you talking about? That girl is you."
"Maybe I was but I'm not anymore and I don't think I have been since I left. I just can't be the girl you want, I can't be the girl you deserve, J -I'm a total fucking mess and you can do so, so much better than me."
"Y/N."
You didn't know you were crying until you heard the broken way he breathed your name and salt water dripped from your chin onto the bracelet around your wrist. 
"...are you breaking up with me?" His voice was impossibly small, the quietest you'd ever heard it and the exact moment your battered heart shattered into pieces was when you realized he didn't even put up a fight. 
"I think so." The words tore through you like a gunshot as you cried, curling into yourself on the bed in an effort to ward off the worst pain you'd ever felt in your life and you wondered if it was possible to die from a wound that wasn't even physical. 
He was quiet for a long time, so long you thought he hung up without you noticing through your tears, until he sniffed on the other end of the line.
"Guess we had a pretty good run, huh?" He asked with a watery chuckle and you found yourself giving a tiny, shuddering giggle in response -God, even when you were breaking his heart he still managed to make you laugh.
"The best, baby." The pet name slipped out like second nature and you winced, hastily trying to cover your mistake with an awkward cough but from the sharp breath you heard him take, he'd heard it anyway.
("I'm sorry," you said, and it stood as an apology for more than just your slip-up.)
"I love you, Y/N. Probably always will."
"I'll never stop loving you, JJ. That's a promise."
You let yourself believe him as you laid there bleeding from a gash you couldn't see, a wound you knew would never heal, and you hoped he let himself believe you, too, even when you ended the call without another word and threw your phone away from you, not bothering to see where it landed. The sound of your heavy, broken sobs filled the room and you didn't even mind when your mom, who you knew had been listening from the other side of your closed door like always, barged in and took you into her arms, stroking your hair as you cried into her lap.
If you were supposed to avoid getting hurt by leaving first, why did it feel like everything in you was broken? If you were making the right choice, why did it feel so wrong? You didn't have the answers and no matter how hard you searched, you knew you'd ever find them.  
So you tried to stay busy. You joined the surf club at school, got a part-time job at the local aquarium, did anything you could to distract yourself from the hurt and the guilt and the way getting out of bed every morning was the hardest thing to do. Surf club introduced you to Mackenzie, the one girl who was more ostracized at school -an even richer version of the kook academy you hated -than you, her for being freakishly tall and you for your East Coast attitude, and the two of you became fast, if reluctant friends. Mack didn't try to stitch the gaping hole in your heart caused by your absent friends but she numbed the pain just enough to make it bearable and you were grateful for her calm, steady presence at your side, even as you both tried to keep each other at arm's length.  
Later, you found out she was just like you, friendless and awkward with no self-esteem and a tendency to push people away, and that just cemented your friendship through the summer and your final year of high school.
Mack told you all about her life, growing up with no siblings, having height that she never learned to deal with, and a debilitating social anxiety that made making friends near impossible, and in turn you told her about how you hopped from town to town on your mother's whims, the wonderful friends you let slip away, and the beautiful boyfriend you loved enough to let go, and you both cried together for the lives you could've led.
"You two looked so happy," She said during the first sleepover you hosted as she held one of the many picture frames littering your dresser, her lips turned upwards in a small smile.
You gently took the frame from her hands and ran your fingers over the grinning face of your ex-boyfriend, his arms wrapped around your shoulders as your painted lips planted a deep red kiss on his cheek, and the wave of longing washing over you was almost strong enough to bring you to your knees. "It was the happiest I've ever been."
"Do you miss him?"
"So much it hurts."
i miss you.
i'm so sorry.
i still love you.
You'd typed and erased those texts every day but never mustered the courage to hit send and you couldn't decide if that was a blessing in disguise or the worst possible curse. Of course you still loved JJ: you promised you would and even if you didn't, you couldn't stop if you tried. He was your first love, the boy you so willingly gave your whole heart and then some; you still kept his ring on your thumb -the one he gave you at the airport the day you left- and his bracelet around your wrist, his bandanas in your hair and his face in your dreams and you knew you always would.
Before you could blink, your eighteenth birthday flew by and graduation was upon you.
You thought the second you were done with high school you'd be gone, heading straight back to the Outer Banks and the life you left behind but you found yourself stalling on sending in an application to UNC -Chapel Hill until you missed the deadline for the fall semester. On the outside, you made up a semi-legit excuse about getting your basic courses done at a community college to save money but deep down you really knew why you procrastinated: you were terrified to go back. Ever since your break up with JJ, you hadn't spoken to him or any of your old friends other than the obligatory birthday wishes on Facebook and you wondered if the damage you'd done over the years was too much to come back from, even as you tried to work up the courage to find out for sure.
Another year passed: in between earning college credits, you and Daisy took a sister's trip to Disneyland, Mack asked you to tag along on a jaunt up the coast to San Francisco to see Alcatraz, your parents celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary (your gift was long-overdue forgiveness and they said it was the greatest thing you possibly could've given them). When the time came, you and Mack both sent out your applications to UNC -you for biology, her for chemistry- and the myriad of emotions you felt when you got in was nothing short of dizzying. The old you was terrified, screaming at you to rip up the letter and join your sister at UCLA instead of opening old wounds but the hopeful you, the girl who lived without fear, the girl who fell in love and let herself be loved, screamed louder.
And so you killed the old you once again, burying her even deeper than the last time in a locked chest and throwing the key as far as you could out into the Pacific where you knew you'd never find it. You clutched your acceptance letter close to your chest and took a step east, away from California and toward the place where your broken heart still rested, scattered in pieces across the sand.
Settling in at UNC was surprisingly easy. You and Mack already clicked pretty well as friends so making the transition to roommates was natural and, dare you say it, even a little fun and the two of you quickly fell into a comfortable routine in your tiny apartment off campus in Chapel Hill. Comfortable and yet...that happiness you once felt all those years ago was missing from your life and you found yourself just as restless as you were in Malibu. While you knew exactly what you needed to do, that fear kept rearing its ugly head in the back of your mind, poisoning your thoughts: what if they wouldn't be happy to see you, what if they forgot about you, what if they hated you? What if he hated you?
It was terrifying, picturing yourself turning up at the Chateau with a hopeful smile only to have the door slammed right in your face. Deep down, you knew they'd never do that to you no matter how badly you'd hurt them but when you'd spent your whole life expecting the worst, taking a leap of faith wasn't an easy feat -something Mack just couldn't wrap her head around.
"I don't get it."
You glanced up from where you were lounging on your bed, flipping through your biology notes in preparation for your lab exam the next morning and shot your roommate a confused look. "Get what?”
Mack sat at your desk, her own notebooks lying ignored as she spun the chair around to face you, arms crossed. "Why you haven't hopped on that ferry to go get your man yet!"
You froze for a moment too long before offering a half-hearted shrug as you fiddled with the beads at the end of your bracelet. "It's not that easy. He probably wants nothing to do with me and I don't blame him."
"How do you know? You haven't talked to JJ in over a year, right?" At your tight nod, she continued, "What if he's just like you-"
"Depressed?"
Mack fixed you with a flat, unamused look. "Still in love, dumbass."
You scoffed and propped your chin in your hand as you glanced back down at your study guide, trying not to latch onto that little thought -hope and pain all rolled into one- that sparked to life at her words. He'd said he would probably always love you that New Year's Eve and back then you'd let yourself believe him but now, you weren't so sure. "Yeah, right. No way he's still...still in love with me after I broke his heart."
"Maybe he is, maybe he isn't," Your roommate said with a shrug, spinning around on the chair to grab her things. "You'll never know if you don't get over there, track his fine ass down, and talk to him."
You stared down at your notes without actually seeing anything, the slanted letters of your handwriting blurring before your eyes as the other girl flipped her chemistry book closed and stood, shooting you an warm smile that you didn't see. 
"Listen, Y/N, you're my best friend and I want to see you happy more than anything but I can't take that jump for you. Yeah, it's scary and nerve wracking and you might end up hurt worse than before, so what? That's just...life."
Mack left after that, crossing the apartment to her room so she could get ready for a date with a girl from her psych class, leaving you alone with tears on your face and a million thoughts in your head, all of them terrifying and exciting and oh so loud.
She was right, of course -Mack always knew the right thing to say- and as you stared down at the bracelets on your wrists and the ring on your thumb, the pictures on your phone and the too-big shirt hanging off one shoulder, you realized sitting around moping wasn't gonna solve anything; if you wanted your happiness, your friends, the love of your life back, you needed to step up and fight for them with everything you had. And so you wiped the tears from your cheeks and walked to the cliff's edge with your head held high, ready for the fall and whatever came with it. You were ready to fix your mistakes, no matter how badly it might hurt.
Still, you couldn't do it all on your own. You needed some help to make things right again and while you knew just who to ask, you weren't quite sure if they'd be willing to lend a hand. Desperate times called for desperate measures though and you penned a good old-fashioned letter, feeling like a heroine in a Jane Austen novel as you poured all your thoughts -your dreams, wishes, hopes- onto a piece of paper in bold blue ink and sent it off to its destination on Figure 8, your Hail Mary for a happy ending sealed up neatly in a single envelope.
Mack, bless her heart, did her best to keep your spirits up as you waited on a response but even her ever reassuring presence couldn't keep you from worrying as one week passed by, then two. Halfway through the third you'd almost given up, already wracking your brain for another way to make your plan work when your phone chimed with a text from an unknown number.
i'll help you
And just like that, the moment you'd been waiting for was finally within your reach; you told your parents not to expect you for Thanksgiving break, called your sister for a much needed pep talk, and started counting down the days until you'd see your friends again, for better or worse.
When you left the Outer Banks three years ago, it was sunny. You were sixteen, young and in love and scared about the future.
When you returned, it was in the middle of a storm. You were nineteen, a little bit older but no less in love and definitely still scared about what was waiting for you at the end of the road.
Rain pounded against the roof of Sarah Cameron's SUV as she drove away from the docks and toward the Chateau, her fingers tapping along to the music playing quietly through the radio. You sat in the passenger seat, soaked to the bone from your ferry ride from the mainland and shaking like a leaf despite the towel wrapped around your shoulders and the warm air flowing from the car's vents.
"Thanks for coming to get me," You said, wincing at the awkward lilt of your voice echoing in the small space as you spun JJ's ring around your thumb and stared out the windshield at the familiar sights streaking by in blurred shades of green and brown. Being back opened a Pandora's box of emotions in your head, both good and bad, and instead of trying to sort them out, you let them bounce around in your brain like a pinball machine and concentrated on methodically twirling the warm metal ring in circles on your finger.
Sarah briefly glanced away from the road to shoot you a small smile, her kind eyes softening at your visible nervousness. "Not gonna lie, I was pretty sure you hated me so when I got your letter it kinda...threw me for a loop. Sorry it took me so long to reply."
You wished the heated leather seat would swallow you whole as you winced again and wrapped the towel tighter around your shoulders. "For the longest time, I thought I did hate you but I realized I was just...scared of losing my friends and I took it out on you. You didn't deserve to be labeled the villain in my story when I was the one, um, sabotaging myself, I guess." You took a deep breath and picked at a loose thread tickling your arm. "And I'm really, really grateful for your help."
It was more than you wanted to admit out loud -nearly the same words were written in the letter peeking out from the center console of the car- but at the same time, you knew it was what needed to be said and from the way the blonde girl's fingers stopped tapping against the steering wheel, she knew she needed to hear it. At a red light, she quickly tapped out a text on her phone before tossing in back into her bag with another tiny grin in your direction.
"Happy to help. For what it's worth, I'm so sorry if I made you feel like you were being replaced, I never intended to hurt you or steal your friends or...or, I don't know, usurp-" 
"Sarah, stop. Please," You held up a hand to cut off her apology and offered her a self-deprecating smile. "I'm the one who's sorry. I let my...jealousy get the best of me and I feel so bad about all the shit I said 'cause that wasn't fair to you at all and I hope you can forgive me-"
"Y/N, there's nothing to forgive! We all say stupid shit when we're mad -trust me, I know." She interrupted with a bubbly, contagious giggle that seemed to scare away the gloomy storm clouds gathered over your head for a moment in time. "But I was never pissed at you, ever. I just want you to know that."
Stunned, you settled deeper into the seat and started playing with your ring again as she kept driving on, unbothered by your lack of response. You felt like you were thirteen again, back when Sarah and Kiara were your only friends, before the birthday disaster and the whole pogue versus kook feud that got completely out of hand; it felt...nice and you found yourself hoping that the blonde girl would still want to be your friend again, no matter what the others thought about your sudden return. 
"Thank you."
Sarah gave no indication she heard your quiet confession of gratitude but from the way you watched her smile grow out of the corner of your eye, you knew she did. The rest of the drive passed in companionable silence as you retreated into your own thoughts, your nerves getting worse and worse the closer you got to your destination.
You took a deep breath and let it out slowly through your nose, feeling like your heart was trying to beat its way through your rib cage. You hadn't been this anxious in a long, long time, so long you almost forgot how much you hated the tightness in your chest, how your palms would start to sweat, the way you'd chew the inside of your cheek until you tasted blood on your tongue. By the time Sarah pulled into an open spot beside the achingly familiar Volkswagen parked in front of the Chateau, you were surprised you were still able to breathe.
The sight of the tiny house, one you spent so many carefree days and beautiful nights in alongside your friends, standing virtually unchanged in front of you was like a shot to the heart and your hands, curled into fists on your lap, began to shake without warning. Shit, you were a godforsaken mess; how the hell were you supposed to do this without having a mental breakdown?
"I'm so scared."
The whispered words, barely audible over the torrential rain against the roof, slipped from your mouth before you could stop them and Sarah slowly reached one hand over to give your trembling wrist a reassuring squeeze, the corners of her mouth curled upward in a slight smile.
"Don't be. They're gonna be so happy to see you!"
You turned to look at her, eyebrows knit together in disbelief. "How are you so sure they still care about me?"
"I'm sure 'cause I've seen it. My God, if only you could've heard all the times they talked about you -'I wish Y/N was here,' 'remember that time with Y/N,' hell, just straight 'I miss Y/N so fucking much,'" She said bluntly and shifted in the driver's seat to face you head on, smiling wider at the thunderstruck look on your face. "Pretty sure I haven't gone a week without JJ saying that last one at least once." 
"I thought..." You paused, tongue darting out to run over your dry lips as you tried to put your jumbled feelings into words, "I thought he'd hate me -I mean, after all I've done, you think he still..."
"Loves you? Are you kidding?" Her reply was so enthusiastic it was hard not to believe her as she went on, her words like sunshine brightening the darkest corners of your mind. "He's still head over heels, I've never seen him even look at another girl in three damn years. You know he still wears your necklace, the one with the silver star? Kie told me all about it."
"I-I didn't." You remembered giving it to him the day you left, managing a shaky smile through your tears as you carefully clasped it around his neck, your fingers running over his skin as you settled the charm perfectly alongside that little shark tooth you'd grown to love.
('Be careful with this, baby. It's my favorite.' You had said, crying harder when he'd taken off one of his rings and slipped it onto your thumb.
'Well, this one's my favorite so take good care of it, okay?' His voice had been light but his eyes were heavy with unspoken words that you'd heard loud and clear because you knew your gaze said the exact same things.
don't let me go
don't break my heart
don't stop loving me)
You coughed to disguise the fat tears that started rolling down your face, quickly wiping them away with your sleeve but the blonde girl wasn't fooled as she gave your hand another friendly squeeze.
"Come on, they're probably wondering what's taking me so long," She sent a conspiratorial wink your way and grabbed her bag from the center console. "I told them I was picking up some pizzas but I have a funny feeling they won't be too pissed that I lied."
With a desperate grip on the strap of your backpack and your heart racing, you trailed behind Sarah through the rain to the front porch. 
"Ready?" She glanced back where you lingered at the top of the stairs, anxiously shuffling from foot to foot, and shot you a smile that did little to calm your nerves. "Just wait here!"
She knocked on the door before you could reply and yelled loud enough to be heard over the pouring rain, "Hey, it's me! Can somebody get the door? My hands are kinda full."
"Got it!"
Your bag slipped from your fingers and fell onto the porch with a loud thump at the sound of the voice floating through the open windows, a voice you heard nearly every night as you slept, in your dreams of a future you wanted with everything you had. You knew it better than your knew your own, knew every pitch and tone and lilt; quiet and raspy in the mornings when you woke up in each other's arms, loud and carefree during long days spent under the golden sun with the rest of your friends, soft and warm and laid bare at night when he showed how much he loved you with more than just words.
Sarah gave you an enthusiastic thumbs up before stepping to the side just as the door opened and you suddenly found yourself struggling to breathe as you stared into the wide blue eyes of your ex-boyfriend. JJ stared right back, one of the hands you used to hold clenched so tight around the doorknob his knuckles were white, the lips you used to kiss parted in surprise, the blond hair you used to run your fingers through falling onto his forehead like always and the familiar, beautiful sight of him standing close enough to touch made your knees weak.
"You're not pizza."
It was such a JJ thing to say and you didn't know whether to laugh or cry as you swallowed thickly and shook your head. "Sorry to disappoint you."
"I'm not."
"Oh."
Hope flared white hot in your chest at his words but it quickly started to fade, replaced by fear when he made no move toward you, his fingers still gripping tight to the door, and you felt your face start to heat in embarrassment as Sarah looked back and forth between the two of you like she was watching a tennis match. 
God, you were so stupid. What did you expect would happen, showing up out of the blue after over a year of no contact? Everything would fall into place again with just one long, heavy look? Believing it could be that easy turned you into a complete and total fool, tongue-tied and insecure and weak.
"Yo, what's the hold up?" John B's voice asked from inside the house and Sarah leaned down to call through the open window, "Come out here and find out!"
A wave of dizziness hit you like a truck and you took a sudden step back toward the stairs, arms wrapping around your stomach as it twisted itself into knots. "I'm sorry, I-I shouldn't have come. This was a mistake." You didn't notice the stricken look that crossed JJ's face or the three familiar, stunned expressions that appeared behind him in the darkened doorway before turning away and stumbling off the porch toward the road, leaving your bag behind and you definitely didn't notice how you barely made it off the bottom stair before a set of footsteps hastily gave chase. 
"It wasn't a mistake, Y/N!" JJ's desperate voice stopped you in your tracks, halfway across the yard with more than just rain running down your face. "Not to me, never to me."
His soft touch on your wrist sent shockwaves through your body and you instantly became putty in his hands, letting him turn you around without a fight to face him, watching in fascination as the downpour started to darken his gray shirt and flatten his hair against his forehead. Three years hadn't changed much about him -he was a little taller, hair a little longer, the muscles in his arms a little more defined- and when you met his wide-eyed gaze, beads of rain dripping from his long eyelashes like diamonds, you wondered if he was thinking about the differences time created between the younger you of the past and the you of the right now, too.
"Oh." You repeated dumbly, struggling for something, anything to say that didn't make you sound like an illiterate fool. Even at nineteen, words still weren't your strong suit so you let your actions speak for you as your hand reached out on its own accord to caress the silver star still clasped around his neck, the thumb still wearing his ring brushing slowly against the dip between his collarbones; he shivered, and you weren't really sure if it was from your touch or the cold. 
"Y/N." JJ said your name like a prayer, like he couldn't believe you were there in front of him, and you inhaled sharply when both of his hands slowly, carefully moved to cup your face, his calloused thumbs habitually wiping the tears from your cheeks over and over, even as more instantly replaced the ones he swept away. "I fucking missed you."
You stood there, looking like a damned drowned rat with your hair dripping into your eyes, shivering in your soaked jeans and Kildare County High School sweatshirt, the love of your life cradling your face so gently in his hands, and so many things you wanted to say flooding your brain but only the one that mattered the most managed to get by your trembling lips.  
"I'm still in love with you." 
You noticed a lot when you put your heart on the line: the steady, soothing sound of water falling through the trees, the bright, clean taste of rain on your tongue, how the sun was just barely starting to peek out from behind the stormy clouds, but they all paled in comparison to the little things you noticed about the boy in front of you; blue irises made even brighter by the red rimming his eyes, how he stepped closer on the wet grass until the tips of his scuffed boots touched your worn gray high tops, the way his hands trembled ever so slightly against your flushed face. 
"Well, it's your lucky day 'cause I'm still in love with you, too."
All of the breath left your lungs in one big rush when JJ smiled hopefully -oh, how you loved everything about that smile: his slightly crooked teeth, that dimple in his cheek, the endearing pink blush swept across his nose- and you felt yourself return it without a second thought, your own hope once again burning bright in your chest.
"Even after...everything?" Your voice shook like the fingers you slid into the hair at his nape and he leaned down to rest his forehead against yours, close enough you could feel his breath on your lips when he spoke.
"I told you I'd always love you, didn't I?"
You nodded, a delicious shiver running down your spine when he tilted his head just so and gently bumped your nose with his. You remembered all the times he did that through the years, a dizzying slideshow of memories that flashed through your mind like lightning, and your fingers wove themselves deeper in his hair. 
"I have so many things to apologize for," You said with a tiny, quiet shake of your head, tearing your eyes away from his in shame and staring over his shoulder toward where the rest of your friends watched from the porch, all crowded together at the top of the stairs with identical enthralled expressions on their faces. "There are so many mistakes I've made and people I've hurt and I have no idea how to even start saying sorry for it all." 
"Babe."
The sound of your old pet name caused your gaze to snap right back to his and your heart felt like it was about to beat right out of your chest when one of his hands trailed down the sensitive skin of your neck and then lower until it traced along the curve of your hip and left a line of fire in its wake.
"We'll figure that out later, okay?" JJ said as his fingers tucked a loose strand of wet hair behind your ear, a coy, ardent grin on his face. "'Cause I've been waiting three years to kiss you again and if I don't get to do it soon, I'm gonna lose my fucking mind."
You smiled -a wide, joyful, elated smile- and rose up on your tiptoes in anticipation. "Then kiss me." 
You didn't have to tell him twice. His lips pressed against yours desperately, like he needed you to breathe, like you were the very air in his lungs, religiously, like your mouth was the altar and he was there to worship as he pulled you close, the fingers of one hand tangling in your hair while the others dug into your hip. You kissed him back just as hard and the familiar taste of him on your tongue -mint, smoke, salt- sent that dearly missed spark racing through your veins like wildfire.
It was a little cliché, having your long-awaited reunion kiss in the rain but it was honest and candid and real and so much better than anything you could've dreamed. You lost yourself in his touch like you used to, clinging to him like a lifeline and pouring your whole heart into every fierce brush of your lips against his, both of you pulling away for a moment only to dive right back in each time. It was addictive, intoxicating, and you could've spent the rest of your life standing there in the middle of the yard and kissing like there was no tomorrow if a loud, ear-piercing wolf whistle hadn't come from the direction of the porch.
The two of you broke apart just barely, with foreheads still pressed together and swollen lips, and you couldn't stop yourself from giggling when JJ blindly flipped the bird over his shoulder before pulling you back in for another eager kiss that filled your whole body with an exhilarating, heavenly heat that never faded, even after four enthusiastic voices suddenly surrounded you like an excited swarm of nosy, buzzing bees.
"You aren't the only one who missed her, J." Kiara said, smiling widely as you reached out to grab her hand and pull her into a powerful one-armed hug, her chin resting on your shoulder.
"Yeah, stop hogging all the love!" John B added, throwing himself into the pile along with Pope, who slung an arm around your shoulders as he said, "Great to have you back, Y/N."
Sarah was the last to join and she quietly tucked herself under John B's arm with a pleased grin on her face, nodding when you mouthed 'thank you' in her direction. The six of you stood there in the rain, smiling like fools, and as the sun started to scare away the dark clouds overhead and in your heart, a weight you didn't even realize had been crushing your chest slowly began to lift away with each freeing breath. 
You still had a lot of work to do: wrongs to be righted, apologies to be made, explanations -not excuses- to be given for every shitty thing you did in your past. But as happy tears started streaming down your face once again and you felt the arms of the friends you’d thought were lost to you forever tighten around you at the sight, you knew in your bones all would be forgiven. You knew that after three long years, you'd finally come home.
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