#unedited and presented without comment LOL

[bamfkeeper]

Autumn activities with Kurt~

I love fall, I'm a hugeee Halloween lover so I am feeling very excited that it's August. Anyway here's some fun things to do with Kurt for the fall. This might seem a little different from my usual writing, I wrote this over two days so I came back to it several times.

Warnings: Gender neutral reader, unedited lol

WC: 2.6k

"Come on, Kurt, I don't wanna miss out!" you exclaimed, tugging him along enthusiastically. Your smile widened as you both walked down the picturesque path towards the beloved local farm. You were absolutely thrilled because the farm had already set up the intricate corn maze, which was one of your favorite seasonal attractions. In addition to the maze, they were offering delightful hay rides that meandered through the scenic landscape of the farmland and offered fresh ciders brewed by the farmers.

The farm was also bustling with activity as they sold a variety of pumpkins, crisp apples, and other delicious fruits that were all locally grown and freshly harvested. The entire atmosphere was filled with the excitement of the fall season, and you couldn't wait to explore every bit of it.

"Ja, ja, I can teleport us there too, liebe!" Kurt said with a playful grin, stumbling along with your enthusiastic tug. He tried his best to keep up with your eagerness, his heart swelling with affection. Kurt loved seeing your smile, how it stretched over your entire face, lighting up your eyes as you got to experience something that genuinely made you happy. The joy you radiated was infectious, and he cherished every moment he got to share in your excitement. It was in these moments that he felt closest to you, connected by the pure happiness that seemed to envelop you both.

You arrived at the farm, and a wave of excitement washed over you. The farm's distinctive scent filled the air, perfectly capturing the essence of fall. It was a comforting and familiar smell that you had dearly missed since last year. As you took in the surroundings, vibrant autumn colors painted the landscape, leaves crunching beneath your feet. "Can you smell that, Kurt?" you asked, turning to your blue darling with a smile. You took a deep breath, savoring the crisp, earthy aroma and sighed blissfully, "It's fall, and everything feels just right again..." The moment was filled with a sense of nostalgia and anticipation for the seasonal activities ahead.

Kurt chuckled warmly, clearly happy to see you so thrilled, especially since you had seemed rather down lately. Anything he could do to help you feel happier, he'd do without hesitation. "Ja...they have a lot of things here, don't they?" he said, taking the time to glance around at the beautifully decorated farm. The owners must really go all out for their showings, he thought, noting the intricate details and festive touches that adorned the place. The vibrant colors, the cheerful atmosphere, and the meticulous care put into every corner of the farm made it a truly special experience.

Kurt felt a sense of admiration for the effort that went into creating such a delightful environment. It reminded him of the circus and how they did their very best to present the entire grounds for the public.

"This is beautiful, lots of...pumpkins and apples," Kurt commented, taking in the vibrant decorations and the festive atmosphere around him. You were practically raving beside him, barely able to stay in place, but you kept your excitement under control the best you could. The autumn air was crisp and cool, adding to the enchantment of the scene.

Your eyes immediately went to the snacks they had meticulously prepared for everyone. Caramel apples, popcorn, pies, pops, cider—everything you adored was laid out on beautifully decorated tables. The scent of cinnamon and baked goods filled the air, making it even harder to contain your joy. The laughter and chatter of people enjoying the season added to the warm, inviting ambiance of the gathering.

What surprised Kurt was that there were both humans and mutants freely roaming around the farm. This was not something he was accustomed to seeing; mutants who looked different, like him, usually attracted a lot of unwanted attention in public spaces. Here, however, they weren't given a second glance. He looked around in amazement, almost confused by the sight before him, and you noticed his bewilderment. Your elbow nudged him lightly as you explained, "The owners welcome everyone here. They tragically lost their son, who was a mutant, so…they actively display their farm as a safe haven for all of us."

"Ah...I see," he murmured thoughtfully. He then shifted his gaze back to the owners of the farm, an older couple who stood nearby. They looked like the quintessential image of typical farmers, with weathered faces that told tales of years spent working. Their eyes were kind, filled with a warmth that instantly put one at ease. Their gentle nature was evident in the way they carried themselves, moving with a calm and steady grace. Friendly smiles adorned their faces, radiating genuine hospitality and a sense of welcome that seemed to embrace everyone who came to their farm.

"Come on! Let's go on a hayride! We can get some hot apple cider too, and maybe even pet the horses!" you exclaimed excitedly, tugging him along towards the rustic wooden wagon. The crisp autumn air filled your lungs as you approached, and you saw the magnificent horses already harnessed and ready to pull the wagon for anyone eager for a ride. The horses were gorgeous. They had sleek, well-groomed coats, their manes flowed gently in the gentle breeze of the cloudy afternoon. The horse's ear flicked and it turned its head to look at you approaching.

You grinned widely, feeling a rush of joy, slowing your approach as to not spook the two horses. Reaching up, you gently pet the horse's strong, muscular neck, feeling the warmth of its body and the softness of its fur. The horse nickered softly, acknowledging your gentle touch. "I love horses...they're amazing animals." You commented softly.

"The circus had lots of horses. And zebras," Kurt commented, gently stroking the other horse's nose and then moving his hand up over its forehead. "They are very intelligent animals, more than most think." He paused for a moment, admiring the animal's calm demeanor.

You both climbed into the wagon, eager and excited to go on the hay ride around the expansive farm. The farm was a large patch of land, ensuring that the ride wouldn't be short and sweet but rather leisurely and an enjoyable experience. It reminded you of rides when you were a kid, so excited for the fall holidays to come without a worry in the world. As the wagon began to move, you sat closer to Kurt, feeling the warmth of his presence beside you.

You sipped on some delicious, warm cider, savoring the taste as you looked around the picturesque farm. The brilliant apple trees stood tall, their branches heavy with ripe fruit, and the vibrant pumpkin patch sprawled out before you, each pumpkin seemingly more perfect than the last. The horses wheeled around to see the intricate hay maze, its paths promising adventure and fun. The feeling of these happy things— the crisp autumn air, the vibrant colors, the laughter of families enjoying their day—made you feel so warm inside, a deep contentment settling over you. You were thrilled that Kurt was with you this year to experience all these wonderful moments.

"How do you like it so far? It's nice, right?" you asked, your voice filled with excitement and warmth while you were snuggled into his side, feeling his comforting presence beside you. He smiled in return, leaning his head over yours. "Ja...it's really nice."

"Just wait! We're gonna get pumpkins, and try the snacks, and go through the corn maze!" you said excitedly, smiling ear to ear. "There will be so many different kinds of pumpkins to choose from. We can get other stuff too if you want, like some apple cider or maybe even some fresh berries. And we can head back home and make pies together. It'll be so much fun to bake and fill the house with the smell of fresh pies...and we'll carve our pumpkins too!"

Kurt listened to you ramble excitedly about all the things you wanted to do with him, smiling at you the entire time. His eyes sparkled with amusement and affection as you listed off your plans. "Ja, ja, liebe...we can do all of it. I have not seen you so happy in a long time," he commented, his voice warm and full of love, not negatively but in a pleased way.

He chuckled softly at the end of your little rant when you mentioned the pumpkins, the sound rich and comforting, and he tilted his head thoughtfully, "Carving pumpkins, it is a little too early for that, ja? They will rot before Halloween if we carve them now!" His laughter was infectious, making you feel even more eager to spend time together, planning and enjoying each moment to the fullest.

"Well," you huffed and sat up straighter, playfully smirking at him, "It gives us a reason to come back here and get another pumpkin next time. We can even make it a little tradition of ours."

He rolled his eyes and smiled at you, clearly amused by your enthusiasm. "Alright, alright, schatz...if that's what you want," he said, his voice filled with affection. He leaned in and kissed your temple softly, then pulled back to grin at you warmly. "Who knows, maybe we'll find the perfect pumpkin next time."

"Both times!" You replied gleefully, savoring the joyous moment as the hayride continued its leisurely pace. After the hayride, you eagerly set off to explore the pumpkin patch, your eyes scanning the vast array of pumpkins laid out before you.

You were particularly picky, determined to find the most perfect pumpkin for you and Kurt to carve together later. Each pumpkin was a potential masterpiece in your eyes, and you examined them meticulously. Kurt watched you with a mixture of amusement and admiration, seeing how you scrutinized each pumpkin with a sharp, discerning eye. You carefully considered the color, ensuring it was the ideal shade of orange. The shape had to be just right – round with a flat bottom for stability when carving. Size was another crucial factor; it needed to be large enough to create an impressive design but not so big that it would be cumbersome to handle.

You hummed a cheerful tune as you eagerly picked up a perfect pumpkin from the patch. With a proud smile, you showed it to Kurt, "This one!" You walked over to him, carefully handing him the round, robust pumpkin. Kurt took it from you and looked at it, returning your smile. He didn’t know much about the nuances of picking the perfect pumpkin, having always assumed you just grabbed one that caught your eye. To him, it seemed like a simple task, but you made it sound so intricate and important, as if there was an art to selecting the very best one from the patch.

"Ah, ja, this one is very plump," he remarked, examining the pumpkin thoroughly before setting it aside. He observed you intently as you scampered off to find another one, admiring your playful giddiness. "Are we going to carry these all the way back?" he called out to you, his voice filled with a mixture of curiosity and amusement. He continued to watch you hop over pumpkins, not receiving an answer since you were too focused on your search.

After the farmers graciously let you borrow a small wagon to pull your proud pumpkins, you both wandered through the expansive and winding corn maze. The maze was a labyrinth of tall, rustling stalks that seemed to stretch endlessly in every direction. As you meandered through the maze, you found yourselves playing around joyfully.

He would chase you with playful determination, laughter echoing through the corn. "I will catch you, liebe!" Kurt called as you laughed happily and ran from him. He caught you eventually, without cheating and teleporting. You tumbled down carefully and giggled as he blew raspberries on your neck.

After you played chase, you hide behind the towering corn stalks and waited for your chance to jump out unexpectedly, scaring him for fun and eliciting delighted squeals from the both of you. "Liebe! Mein Gott, I almost had a heart attack!" he laughed playfully with you. "You are getting better at sneaking, have you been training in the Danger Room without telling me?" He poked his tongue out at you.

The corn maze was fun, with its winding paths and unexpected turns providing plenty of entertainment. However, after navigating the maze for a while, you both started to feel hungry. Deciding it was time for a break, you headed over to the snack area. There, you found a delightful variety of treats lovingly made by the farmers and decided to try just about everything. There were slices of pumpkin pie and pecan pie, fresh fruits like apples and berries, and delicious caramel apples with homemade caramel.

You were so incredibly excited and completely caught up in the moment, indulging in these delightful comfort foods with such passion that even the sin of gluttony would be envious. It wasn't all your fault...the farmers were so kind and they just kept giving you food like loving grandparents trying to feed their kin. Kurt playfully teased you, gently poking your nose as he affectionately called you, "My sweet little cavity," followed by a chuckle and a tender kiss on your cheek. "I think we've had enough sweets for today... I feel like I'm going to go into a sugar coma," he laughed, somewhat embarrassed. Kurt had eaten far more sugar than he was accustomed to.

By the time you got back to the mansion, you felt the weight of the sugar hit you like a ton of bricks, making you incredibly sleepy, and Kurt felt exactly the same way. After you both managed to carry in your respective pumpkin and bag of goodies, which were now feeling much heavier than they did earlier, the two of you trudged up to the bedroom. Without even needing to discuss it, you silently agreed that you both needed a well-deserved nap to recover from the day's activities and all the sugary treats you had consumed. The soft bed looked so inviting, and the thought of sinking into its comfort was too tempting to resist.

As you lay down on the soft, inviting bed, you felt a gentle wave of relaxation wash over you, knowing that this upcoming nap would rejuvenate you for the rest of the evening. You couldn't help but watch Kurt as he casually stripped his top off, your eyes tracing the way his well-defined abdomen flexed with each movement. The sight made your loins stir with excitement and need. However, it wasn't enough to distract you from the overwhelming desire for sleep. The need to rest and recharge was the dominating feeling right now.

As you snuggled into him, feeling the warmth and safety he provided, you sighed deeply, a sense of contentment washing over you. A soft, serene smile crept up your face, spreading slowly as you reveled in the moment. He could feel your smile against his fur, the gentle curve of your lips pressing into him, and it made him chuckle softly. "What is it, schatz... you are grinning ear to ear..." he murmured lovingly into your hair, his voice a tender whisper that sent shivers down your spine, his accent sounded thicker whenever he was tired.

"Oh, nothing..." you trailed off, your voice barely more than a whisper as you leaned into him. You buried your face in his chest, feeling the warmth and softness of his fur against your skin, and took a deep breath in, inhaling deeply. His fur tended to keep scents for longer than normal, making it feel like you were enveloped in a comforting aroma that lingered. The scent reminding you of autumn days, warm drinks, and cozy evenings by the fire. All of the wonderful scents you had from your eventful day imbedded in his velvety blue skin.

"You just smell like pumpkins," you murmured softly.

Thanks for reading.

*BAMF*

Cover Images: House of X #3 (2019)

Dividers by @/adornedwithlight

[korebringerofded]

"Awe...You Cryin, Princess?" Satoru Gojo X F!Reader

Description- Most of the time, Satoru Gojo was the sweetest boyfriend a girl could ever ask for. Other times, he would pull your hair while he fucked into you from behind, your face shoved into his plush sheets as his hard dick fucked into your already cum-filled pussy. Words- 1k Warnings- Unedited as fuck yall, might edit later, I hate my writing so much rn, breaks suck, so much smut, MAPPA really got me going lol, SMUT SMUT, Use of princess, mean!Gojo, Oral(F), very little plot

A/N- Reblogs, likes, and comments are always appreciated and keep me going All requests are open and you can find my entire masterlist here.

Most of the time, Satoru Gojo was the sweetest boyfriend a girl could ever ask for. Most of the time, he spoiled you rotten, would take you shopping and just gorge you on presents and kisses and attention. He would watch you try on everything in the store if you wanted, his eyes wide and a big grin on his face as he analyzed each and every outfit. 

He would be so sweet when you made love, making you cum on his fingers and mouth until you’re begging him to fuck you. He would caress your face and plant soft kisses down your throat as his thumb moved slowly over your already swollen clit. He knew each and every spot to touch or kiss or lick to send you over the edge.

Other times, he would pull your hair while he fucked into you from behind, your face shoved into his plush sheets as his hard dick fucked into your already cum-filled pussy. Satoru’s previous hot white cum still spilling out over the sheets as he fucked you for the fifth time that day.

“You think I’m even close to being done with you, princess?”

He hissed in your ear, tugging a handful of your hair back to pull your back flush against his chest, his dick still drilling into your soaked cunt as his hand wrapped around your throat so he could properly fuck into you until you were a sobbing mess, a mixture of his cum and your slick spilling down your thighs. 

Tonight, however, Satoru had convinced you to come out to the bar with him and a few of the other teachers from Jujutsu High. Satoru, of course, looked very handsome in his casual clothes, a tight black button up shirt that hugged his bulging muscles and tight dress-pants that you were positive you could see the outline of his dick through.

You and Satoru had a bad habit of leaving functions particularly early or disappearing at them because you couldn’t keep your hands out of the other's pants. So, you wanted to try and get through one social gathering without Satoru fucking you in the front seat of his car or eating you out in the bathroom at the bar. His bright eyes glossy and half-open, never leaving your wonderful tear-stained face as he holds you against the wall, your own hand clasped over your mouth. Your hot slick running down his chin as he whispered filthy things against your adorable pink pussy.

For a while, you managed to contain yourself. You were determined to keep this night PG since Satoru’s coworkers would be there. There would always be time for other things when you got home. At least that is what you tried to tell yourself.

 He just looked so handsome like this, his hair down and perfectly messy, his glimmering crystal-like eyes, that boyish grin. The way he had his dress shirt rolled up to his elbows and his muscular pale arms were on display just sent heat right to your already soaked thighs. 

You loved every single part of your boyfriend, how could you not?

You hadn’t realized how long you had been staring at him, your eyes trailing down from his handsome face and then back to his arms until you felt Satoru cupping your face gently, his thumb brushing over your cheek as he brought your eyes back to his striking ones.

“Something on your mind, princess?” Satoru asked, a tilt of his head that made his messy white hair ruffle as he looked down at you with a widening smirk.

Shit…he caught me staring at him. You thought to yourself. 

“No.” You said too quickly, clearing your throat. 

You were hoping Satoru wouldn’t notice the embarrassingly furious blush spreading over your face or the way you rubbed your thighs together when he spoke.

He did, of course he did.

You swallowed hard and tried to ignore the increasing wetness soaking through your panties. 

You ordered another drink, hoping it would help, it wouldn’t.

You knew that Satoru was just messing with you when you felt his fingertips run delicately over the surface of your bare thighs and up your dress, pushing the hem up. The action sent goosebumps all over your body and you turned to shoot Satoru a glare, your face heating up all over again. Satoru was already staring right at you, a smirk on his annoyingly handsome face and one elbow on the table as his cheek rested in his palm. 

You could almost taste the mint from his breath from how close he was and it almost made your knees buckle then and there. Satoru just had that effect on you and the worst part of all…was that he was completely aware of it.

“Satoru…” You warned, a huff leaving your lips. 

‘What?” Satoru asked with a huge innocent grin on his face.

“Don’t play dumb.” You groaned, a pout tugging on your lips.

“Am I not allowed to touch my girl now?” Satoru asked mockingly, a mischievous glint in his eye.

I want you to do more than touch me, you jerk.

Satoru made it a point to torment you the rest of the night, soft brushes against your thighs, a soft kiss on that soft part of your neck that just makes you squirm. As he stands at the bar, his arm draped around your hip and as he carries on a conversation with Shoko, his hand trailed down your back. His fingertips dragging up and down your spine through the fabric of the thin dress you wore and sending jolts of electricity down your spine. 

You really didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing that he was getting to you, that all you wanted was to feel his expert hands over your body,

When you got back to the apartment you two shared, Satoru couldn’t help but chuckle when he noticed the way you were looking up at him, big glossy eyes, you were expecting something. But tonight, Satoru was in the mood to be a bit mean to his little princess, for just a little longer at least.

Satoru kicked off his shoes and tossed his car keys on the counter before he moved closer to you, his hand reaching up to tuck a strand piece of your hair away from your adorable blushing face.

“Hm? You want something, princess?” Satoru asked with a grin as he knelt down so your eyes met with his crystals-like ones.

You didn’t know if you wanted to kiss him or slap him. Both

“No.” You huffed stubbornly, puffing your cheeks out and crossing your arms over your chest.

“No? I figured the way you were eye-fucking me that you might want something.” Satoru said with a smirk as he took a step forward, his arms trapping you against the wall as your heart started to beat rapidly in your chest. 

“I was-.” You started to say before he pressed his finger to your soft lips with a dark laugh.

“You lyin’ to me now, princess? I thought you were supposed to be my good girl?” Satoru said with an almost mocking fake hurt voice. 

“N-no, toru’.” You whispered, your voice wavering as your boyfriend towered over you, his hands slipping under the edge of your dress and his finger hooking under the edge of your panties so he could tug them down your thighs so they pooled on the ground. 

“Fucking knew it..” He snorted. 

He was pushing your dress up your hips as he lowered himself to his knees now, his face pressed against your already dripping cunt. His eyes staring hungrily as another dark laugh left him, his fingers brushed up your thighs and against your slick pussy. His index finger pushed and rubbed against your folds and against your already puffy clit as he pinned your hips to the wall, one of your legs over his shoulder. 

“Haven’t even touched you and look at how wet you are…” Satoru cooed, pressing a kiss to your thigh while he started to tease the entrance of your pussy with his fingers, curling them just slightly into your hot plush walls that clenched desperately around him before he took them away again. 

“Tell me what you want.” Satoru hummed, pressing another soft kiss to your thigh but this time he sank his teeth into the plush flesh with a snicker.

You could only whine and pout in response, tears forming in your eyes.

‘Please…” You whined, tugging on his messy white hair with twitching fingers, 

“Please what?” Satoru asked, his tongue poking out of his mouth and delicately running up your thigh, around your folds and dancing right around where you actually wanted him. 

Damn him damn him damn him. 

“P-please, toru’. Need to cum, need to cum on your tongue.” You blurted out, tears spilling down your cheeks.

“Awe…well when you ask all sweet like that…” He said with a grin, quite pleased with himself as he immediately leaned forward.

Satoru carried you to the bedroom after that, your dress and the rest of your clothes gone and forgotten. Satoru had buried his face into your pussy, his tongue flicking your throbbing clit back and forth for a moment before he would suck audibly on the bundle of nerves and then repeat, you could feel your own slick running down your thighs but you couldn’t care less. 

Satoru’s mouth was heaven, he was eager and skilled, it was a bit of a deadly combination. He would happily die between your thighs.

“Ah- F-fuck, toru’, so close.” You stammered, tears running down your face, your eyebrows knitting together as you leaned your head back against the wall, Satoru let out an audible groan at your sweet taste, he wanted to swallow every drop of your sweet desire, all for him.

“Yeah?” Satoru asked. 

He pulled away just long enough so he could shove two of his fingers deep into your pussy before curling them to press against that soft gummy part of your walls that only made you writhe and whimper under him before his lips were wrapped around your clit again and he sucked, his tongue tracing over you until he heard your lewd sobs and felt your nails digging into his scalp. 

Your vision went white, all the air left your lungs and drool dripped from the corner of your mouth as Satoru swallowed every drop of your desire for him with complete joy, his face pink and your slick coating his chin as he pulled away, looking up at you with a smirk, his head leaning against your thigh.

“Awe…you crying, princess?”

Please do not copy, use my work, or put it through AI without my permission or I'll be really sad about it!!

[quotessharry]

Follow you (Vettel Jr one shot)

I had this idea and it took me so long to write but I finally finished it at 5:33 AM lol, anyway this is connected to Vettel Jr trilogy that you can find in my masterlist. I hope you enjoy and let me know what you think! Also this is unedited because I wanted to publish it as soon as possible

Song: Follow you by Imagine Dragon

Words: 2.9

Pairing: Daniel Ricciardo x OC

Warning: mention of Zak Brown

I’ll follow you way down to your deepest low

She was sitting on the bed, watching Daniel in the corner recording a video to announce his departure from his team. They were in Belgium, after the summer break she felt like he needed her to be present more though he had never mentioned or complained about it.

The season hasn’t been kind to the racer men in her life. First she had to deal with his father’s retirement and now the issues that Daniel was facing, she’d never say it bluntly to his face but the reason she’d prefer to be in Aston Martin garage instead of mclaren was because she hated the team, she hated what they did to him and she couldn’t do anything but to watch how the most loved man in his life was breaking on the inside but held his head high and smiled without throwing comments. After the contract issue she didn’t trust herself to go anywhere near the Mclaren because God knows she has words to give them. Her eyes landed on Daniel, she couldn’t believe how he was able to be nice like that, she was raging inside, she simply couldn’t believe they’d do her favorite-driver-turned-boyfriend this dirty.

“I’m finished” Daniel announced, walking towards the bed and laid next to her.

She glared at him “with the way you’re contract is going you sure are” she couldn’t help the comment. Daniel wanted to laugh so bad but tried hard to surpass it just to see her further reaction.

“Sorry too mean?” She asked with raised eyebrows, not really caring about the matter. Daniel didn’t reply and finally let go of the laugh that was suffocating his throat, he threw a hand over her shoulder and pulled her close.

“Does that mean you’re jobless for now?” She asked, Daniel wouldn’t take her comments personally considering both of them used humor to deal.

“Well yes basically” Daniel replied simply

“I hope you know that you need to get a job, I can’t provide enough to take care of a baby, life expanses in Monaco and send money to my retired dad in Germany” she tried to keep the serious face going but the more she spoke, the more her laugh came out. Daniel was laughing so much that his cheeks went red and he was hardly breathing.

They fell into a comfortable silence, Daniel’s hand landed on her belly his fingers lightly tapping “I’m gonna ask a question, be honest”

“You wanna ask if I will stay with you if you don’t get a seat next year?” She made another joke flawlessly

“I was about to ask how you keep making jokes about this so flawlessly, no but seriously, you want a girl or a boy?”

Daniel was thriving with the fact that she was pregnant with their child, he always dreamed of having his own kids one day and the fact that the day was only months away from him was unbelievable, the thought always gave him a warm feeling in his chest.

She turned her body and laid on him, bringing herself up to look at his face, after months she wasn’t used to seeing his face without staring. Everyday felt like the first day in Texas, everyday she would get lost in him as if it’s the last day but she couldn’t get enough, she took her time appreciating his big brown eyes and the sparkle in them, his five o’clock shadow adorning his jaw. Daniel noticed she was staring but didn’t interrupt her, he had never admitted it but he loved when she would look at him like he is the only person that matters, he could see the love she had for him just by this simple act.

A small smile formed on her lips “I want a boy, a little boy with your curls and your big brown running around, making everyone loves him just like her dad”

Daniel’s chest fluttered at her words, he felt like he might explode by the amount of love he had for the woman in front of him “funny you said that because I want a girl with her mom’s wit and sass, a mini you running around and causing chaos” she didn’t know what to say, she simply hid her blushing face in his neck and make a sound.

Daniel smiled lovingly, his hand kneading the hair on back of her head while the other rubbed her back “are you blushing?” She couldn’t see him but could hear the smug smile on his face. Her voice muffled when she answered “yes”

Daniel’s voice dropped lower “why hiding from me? There’s nothing to be embarrassed about, you literally have my baby”

His comment made her laugh but she still didn’t move, too obsessed with the way he smelled. She raised her head to speak “I’m not embarrassed I just love hugging you”

“Ok let’s stay that way then”

She was like a grumpy cat when they got in the car, rambling nonstop about how she hated his team and she was happy that he wasn’t going to be there anymore. She could see how broken race results were making him look like and it broke her heart, after each race that she wasn’t there she wished she could hug him tight and assure him that no matter what, she’d always have his back, all of which when she’d sit behind her laptop and cry. Daniel let her talk until he parked the car, before getting out he turned to her with serious face and wagged his finger “be nice” the authority in his voice had her stomach flipping and she nodded. Daniel opened the door and before getting out he made another comment “that’s my girl, come on they’re waiting for us”

Before they both use their pass, cameramen were all over them, throwing questions at him, the perfect Pr trained Daniel was he kept it quiet, only his brows kneaded, she didn’t miss his slight reaction. Between see of people she got closer and touched his hand, whispering “I got you Danny, ok? I’m here”

Seb was the first person they ran into.

“Dad! I missed you” she let go of Daniel and ran to him for a hug.

“Sweetheart, how’s the baby?” He whispered with a wide smile

“He is good thanks” she replied subconsciously.

Seb raised his eyebrows “He? normally you wouldn’t know the gender until week 16”

Daniel stepped in with an arrogant smirk on his face “she wants a boy to look like me”

“Oh so you want a daughter who looks like her right?” Seb mentioned, teasing the couple in front of him.

“You two, stop. Dad don’t you have to get ready for conference? Aren’t you two sharing a conference anyway?” She pointed at both men in front of her.

“You coming to Mclaren?” Daniel asked, looking at her now disgusted face

“You kidding no way, I’ll either go to Max or Charles or Lewis or my dad, I have friends around”

Her hate towards McLaren made Daniel laugh. Seb rested his hand on her shoulder “that’s my girl, when I’m gone you can carry the Vettel legacy”

“Danny my love don’t worry, you have my dad with you, no one’s gonna come at you ok?” She cooed, looking lovingly at the 33 years old man in front of her.

“I get it you two are in love, please not in front of me”

Michael was trying hard to stiff his laugh at the way she was looking at the McLaren garage. She followed Daniel to his driver’s room, waiting for him to finish changing for press conference and media pen.

She stood in front of him and looked up, she always loved the way Daniel would look at her with those soft eyes, filled with love. She touched his shirt, trying to smoothen up the collar “your arrogance and ego is such a turn on Daniel Joseph Ricciardo” she didn’t know why she said that, but she didn’t want to mention anything related to Formula 1 at the moment.

Daniel laughed at her comment, deeply appreciated the ridiculousness of it “does that mean you’re turned on?”

She made a duh face “I’m never turned off near you, now listen, whatever you hear out there just remember I’m always around the corner ok?”

Daniel’s face was a bit more serious than usual, she knew deep down he was tired and drained from all of it but kept a smile to show her he is alright, but at her comment he dropped some of the act, his shoulders dropped and he gave her an appreciative smile, leaned down for a hug and rest his head on her shoulder. She gladly let him rest before facing unpleasant stuffs, her hands securely around him “thank you, I love you you know that right?”

“I do, and I love you too, go give ‘em hell, or don’t you’re too kind for that” both laughed and Daniel headed out.

She stood in front of RedBull garage, watching Max heading out with two RedBulls in his hand.

“Long time no see, here, a free RedBull”

She eyed the can, dying to have a sip but she couldn’t because of the baby.

“No thank you I already had one in hotel” she lied and blinked

Max’s eyebrows kneaded “what’s happening? Why you’re saying no to free RedBull? You’ve never done this before”

She looked at Max like she is offended “really Maxwell? You see me after months and this is your reaction? I came to take shelter here and this is how you treat me?”

Max could see the hint of Daniel’s humor in her, he knew they’ve been spending more time together since Silverstone. He put a sympathetic hand on her back “how’s Daniel doing? Is he ok?”

She sighs, hands combing through her hair in frustration “he tries to be, you know how he is, but he is just really tired and as much as he wants to shrug it off I can’t, I am mad, he doesn’t deserve this”

Max shook his head in acknowledgment “you’re totally right about this, but uh did…did he know?” He couldn’t form the full question, he didn’t dare to ask if his own team actually told him they are going to terminate his contract.

“No Max he didn’t, I told him to fight back, to shit on them and say no but he said he can’t force himself when he isn’t wanted”

“They’re such an asshole and we know it”

Their session about shitting on Daniel’s team was interrupted by Charles happy voice singing “o bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao caio, I missed you so much” she didn’t have a change to speak as Charles threw himself on her, hugging tight. She gladly accepted and hugged back just as tight.

“Mate I’ll let you win Monza if you promise not to sing ever again”

To say Daniel was suffering was an understatement, he kept answering the same question over and over again in front of cameras that were filming and taking pictures repeatedly, he felt a deep tiredness in his muscles that even 3 weeks of summer break did nothing to solve it, but he was Daniel Ricciardo.

A question about him was thrown at Seb obviously, he turned to him with a smile and mentioned 2014 and how he beat him then he said Mclaren failed to extract his potential and Daniel felt like he wants to give the widest smile ever but he stopped himself.

Another question was for him, he gave an apologetic look to Pierre and Nicholas and they brushed it off with a look, this time he saw a chance to put the news out “ I mean I might take a sabbatical if things doesn’t really work out, you know to be there for the baby we have on the way and be the househusband” his wide smile was impossible to wipe, the thought of it made his chest burst in happiness and he wanted to scream it in the paddock.

“Seb did you know this?”

Sebastian laughed at the question “of course, they were in our house when it happened, we celebrated with a dinner”

Pierre leaned in, gave him a harmless bump on the shoulder “congratulations Daniel, can’t wait to see you as a dad”

Nicholas leaned in from other side “yeah congrats so happy for you guys”

The news travelled fast, Max was heading for an interview when he bumped into her “you know I’m offended you didn’t tell me personally, but actually never mind, you told me you wanna try for a baby during Silverstone and now you’re pregnant? What did you guys do exactly?” Max asked, blue eyes as wide as he could possibly get them, staring at the girl in front of him “sex, lots of sex, tons of sex everywhere”

Max couldn’t help himself, he smiled wide and genuine “but really, I’m so for you two, can’t wait to see mini Ricciardo in the paddock”

“Ah just the one person I was looking for” Lewis’ words stopped them, Max gave him a nod and left them.

“Lewis, you look good” he did, Lewis always looked good.

He gave her a smile “thank you, you too”

She could feel the fangirl within her was begging to be released but she had it under control “thank you for whatever you said about Daniel, really means a lot to me”

“Ah don’t mention it, I haven’t seen you in months come here give me a hug”

She noted how well he smelled when they hugged.

“Oh congratulations on the baby, I just heard the news, the kid is a lucky one” she felt too happy by his presence that she stood on her tip toe, leaving a light kiss on his cheek “thanks, you’re the best”

Lewis giggled at the kiss, rubbing his face “what was that for?”

She shrugged “just felt like it”

When she saw Daniel’s face she could swear she could hear her heart breaking, the usual spark in his eyes was gone and it looked like someone sacked all his happiness during the time they were apart, she hides the frustration in her face and clenched her jaw. The situation made her mad that her man looked like this, the man whose smile brighten up the entire paddock.

Daniel waved at her as they reunited in front of the garage with Lando joining them.

Lando threw his arms around both of them barely fitting them both for a hug “aw you guys congratulations, this kid isn’t even born yet and his luck is better than me, Daniel Ricciardo as a dad and Sebastian Vettel as granddad”

“See Daniel even Lando feels like it’s a boy” she pointed an accusation finger at Daniel.

“Yes I called it, it’s a boy”

She detached herself from them but Lando didn’t let go of Daniel “Daniel I’ll miss you so much”

Daniel touched his head and she felt like she was melting from the interaction in front of her.

“Aw, you said my kid would be lucky to have me as a dad, do you see me as a father figure?” Daniel tried to joke, making his voice thicker.

“What? No if anything I see you as a bother figure”

And they all burst out laughing.

She looked at Daniel with a smile “they all love you so much, no one wants you gone”

Her eyes narrowed “actually Zak Brown should be scared, Lewis gonna run him over with his scooter while my dad livestreams the whole thing on his new Instagram, we can ask Lando to do the same on his Twitch, on wait George and Charles are also in our team, I can ask Max to ask his dad to stab him, what do you say?” She announced proudly.

“All I will say is you’re insane and I love you insanely” he announced proudly, she was Sebastian Vettel’s daughter indeed.

After the race and media duty she left RedBull and went straight into the McLaren, too happy that no one noticed her. She looked around, Daniel was nowhere to be seen. She went deeper and looked at the back but he wasn’t there as well. She walked to the hallway and saw him on the floor, legs being sprawled on the floor and his face hidden in his palms. His curls disheveled due to the amount of time he ruffled them. He looked broken. She kneeled in front of him, not caring about her pants getting dirty.

She put her hand on his “Dan, Danny, hey look at me” her voice came out as a whisper, she was trying so hard not to cry in front of him.

Daniel’s eyes landed on her “oh it’s you, I missed you” he whispered back, no one was there but they felt like they needed to whisper to keep it between them. She touched his cheeks and he leaned in to her soft touch, the interaction soothing the pain and failure he was feeling deep inside. She moved closer and he buried his face in her chest, feeling like a defenseless child. She moved her hand and ran her hand in his hair, trying to give him any kind of a comfort she could offer. Daniel’s arms moved around her to pull her closer, he felt like the entire world was against him and he only had her. He hummed in approval against her, already feeling better “thank you”

“Don’t mention it, I got you darling ok? I’m here, you don’t have to talk” her thumb traced the line of his jaw and she felt the way his muscles tensed under her touch.

Daniel glanced at her, tiredness dripping off his every action “I’m so tired, let’s go home”

She leaned in closer and kissed his lips, he responded fast and kept her face close, needing to feel more of the kiss and her lips, it felt so sweet and he couldn’t help but smile in kiss, the act was very much needed and he deepened the kiss, pulling her closer and rested his back against the wall so she could lean on him. His lips tasted salty and she sucked on it, smoothing the act with her tongue. she stopped and whispered on his lips “yes, let’s go home”

——————————

Also this part “actually Zak Brown should be scared, Lewis gonna run him over with his scooter while my dad livestreams the whole thing on his new Instagram, we can ask Lando to do the same on his Twitch, on wait George and Charles are also in our team, I can ask Max to ask his dad to stab him, what do you say?” was inspired by a tweet from @/tayhatessevery1 on twitter!

[peachithings]

Move In With Us (M)

Main Story // The Series Masterlist

Summary: Deciding to spice up a bit with the date of the move-in day is only a few days away, you decided to upload daily vlogs with no specific time hence, surprising your viewers.

Pairing: Jaehyun x Reader

Words: 6.6K

Genre: established relationship au, idol!jaehyun, youtuber!reader, fluff, smut

Warning/s: tooth-rotting fluff, huge amount of monologue, smut in the form of oral: fem & male receiving, cum eating, squirting, multiple orgasms, unprotected sex (wrap it before you tap it, people!), excessive use of baby, purely unedited (if there is anything that I missed, please do tell me so that I could add it here)

Author’s Note/s: I know this chapter is long overdue :( I’m sorry it’s just that I got caught up finding a job but no need to worry, ya girl is now employed! wohoo, hehe Anywaaays, this chapter takes place in between all those furniture shopping that will happen on the next chapter’s vlog, lol i hope that makes sense like it made sense in my head hahahaha

I hope you’ll enjoy this chapter as well! 

tags: @seodojaezz @keeach @hyunniebuns @jaehyvnsvalentine @sunshinedhyuck @bts7aus @gyukult @tobiobb  (pls tag or message me if you would like to be included in the taglist!)

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Jaehyun is very busy promoting alongside NCT 2020 for their recent unit on the Resonance album. And when the opportunity to spend even the tiniest bit of time with him came to present itself, you couldn’t be more than happier to grab that opportunity with your boyfriend hence, the title of your newly premiered vlog on your channel.

Upload 01, D-3  

Finally Some Quality Time with the Boyfriend

The vlog started off with you sitting in the car with the angle where you could be seen on the driver side of the vehicle which was something new to your viewers since, in your past uploads, Jaehyun would usually be the one they see driving. A few seconds later, you turn to the camera and waved. Speaking to the camera you said, “Well, isn’t this a new sight, right?” still eyes on the road, making a turn. “As you’ve probably read by the title of this video, I’ll be spending some much-awaited quality time with Jaehyun today,” you continued with a smile plastered on your face. “You guys probably think that I look like an idiot smiling while I have my eye on the road, but I’m just very happy to be able to spend time with him,” you said as you slowly push the brakes to stop. “I usually drive with some music on, but today, I wanted to have a conversation with you lot without me having to suddenly sing or dance in front of the camera.” you laughed. “Anyways, today,” you trailed off. “I’ll be working out with Jaehyun. We usually work out together but since his schedule is packed and cannot comply with the workout schedule we had previously, I had been working out by myself since my friends are all currently overseas. Which is, by far, the most demotivating thing for me because honestly, who wants to workout alone, right?” you ranted. “I would always see comments about how I don’t get fat even if I eat a lot on my socials, and lemme tell y’all, it’s all about having good foundations!” you exclaimed, still keeping your eyes on the road. “Before I would only eat without having any control, I was even satisfying my cravings in the middle of the night which led me to gradually gain a lot of weight. For a whole year during that time, I was ashamed of myself, I didn’t have any confidence about my body,” you confessed. “Until I couldn’t take it; I didn’t want to feel bad about myself anymore. So, I started to apply for a gym membership first and tried to be as consistent as possible in going to the gym and workout with a trainer. Then, I started to change the way I eat, in terms of portioning though. With cravings, I still satisfy them. You don’t need to restrict yourselves and most importantly, you do not need to punish yourselves. I also make it a point to listen to my body.” you informed.

After about thirty minutes of driving, “Okay, we’ve arrived. I just need to park my car,” you announced while finding a parking space. 

The next scene transitioned to you reaching out to the back seat to get your bag. Then, taking the camera off the dashboard and turning off the engine. As you went out of your car, you said, “I have now arrived and parked my car, I’m off to meet Jaehyun inside now. This is not my first time here in this gym, most of the artists under SM actually go here, well, that’s what Jaehyun told me though, so I couldn’t really vouch for him since I have not encountered any on the little times I’ve gone here.”

Walking inside, you were greeted by your boyfriend sitting on a stool looking gorgeous in a black sleeveless shirt paired with some cotton track pants while talking to someone that looks like his trainer. Damn, he looks so good, you thought.

While you point the camera towards his direction, zooming in whilst he was meeting you halfway, “Hey, babe,” he greeted with a smile plastered on his face that was clearly caught on camera.

Getting closer to each other, you went in for a hug saying, “I missed you,” the pout evident in the tone of your voice. He chuckles at your sulkiness and replies, “I missed you too, love,” while untangling yourselves from the hug.

He then led you to where he was earlier, “Love, this is Hansung. He’s going to be our trainer today.” You nodded in response to Jaehyun. He then proceeded to introduce you, “Ssaem, this is my girlfriend, Y/N.” 

“Nice to meet you, seonsaengnim,” You smiled at Hansung while extending your arm as an indication to shake hands. He nodded and replied, “You too, I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“I do hope that they are nothing but good stuff,” You laughed. “Seeing that all the members are very fond of you, I’m pretty sure they’re all from good intentions,” He smiled. The video then continued on a time-lapse of you and Jaehyun working out together, messing with each other a bit here and there. There was also a cute little scene that you’ve included because even you felt that it was such a sweet little moment that is worth sharing.

The scene includes the two of you in the frame together. You were doing a set of kettlebell swings while Jaehyun was sitting on a nearby bench and was just fondly looking at you with hearts in his eyes. It’s one of the purest things you’ve ever witnessed. how can one be this attracted to adore you while you were looking a mess and about to collapse from exhaustion, you thought. And watching it made your heart flutter because right then and there, you knew in your heart and mind that this man called Jaehyun is the right man for you.

The vlog then smoothly transitioned to you in the car fixing the camera’s position on the dashboard, freshly out from the shower with your hair still damp and uncombed. Once you’ve found the right position and angle, you pulled out your wet brush from your gym bag that you’ve placed on the passenger seat’s floorboard.

You began brushing your hair while you spoke to the camera and said, “Well, I’m back,” eyeing Jaehyun from the outside, making some weird faces for you, making you giggle.

“Jaehyun is outside of my car, making some weird faces,” You said, taking the camera in your hand and point it towards your goofy boyfriend while gradually zooming in on his face. When he saw that you were filming him, he stopped and went over to open the door in the back seat, putting his gym bag on the back seat’s floorboard. He then closed the door and went over to the driver’s seat, “Hi, everyone, babe,” greeting the camera with a smile, then leaning in, to peck your cheeks.

After putting the camera back on the dashboard, you proceeded to transfer your gym bag to the back seat’s floorboard to make room for your legs. “Babe, do you want some pancakes for breakfast? Or...” Jaehyun asked while using the camera’s viewfinder as his mirror. “Would you prefer to have some steak?” He continued.

“I don’t know,” You trailed off. “They’re both my favorites, I’m having a hard time picking,” You pout. Jaehyun chuckled in response and said, “I’ll pick, then?”

With a smile, you replied, “Yes, please.”

You adjusted yourself on your seat while Jaehyun was adjusting the side mirrors, getting ready to drive off. After, you quickly spoke to the camera, “I’m back in the passenger seat because Jaehyun clearly does not trust me to drive,” as you rolled your eyes at him. You were taken aback by his action, he leaned over to your side and grabbed the seatbelt and buckled you up first then, looked at the camera and said, “Chivalry is not dead, people,” and smiled with his pearly whites.

Jaehyun drove off to the breakfast place that you both go to frequently while you kept talking to the camera. Solely because you wanted to keep yourself from annoying the hell out of Jaehyun that may or may not cause disastrous chaos to unveil. 

Jaehyun on the other hand, was caught in the frame adoring you every chance he gets which is usually when he stops because of the traffic light obviously going red. 

Getting nearer to the destination, you suddenly thought of checking the photo Jaehyun posted on his instagram account in which he tagged you in.

“I’m checking the photo Jaehyun tagged me in on his instagram post,” speaking to the camera then glaring at Jaehyun. You then, showed that said post to the camera and said, “By the time this vlog is up, you’ve already seen the post but I’m just going to say it here; Johnny, Doyoung, how dare you?!” and laughed. “Also, this is going to be proof that I did finish the workout session.”

The post in question:

_jeongjaehyun: @ynsphotoroll’s post-workout situation

ynsphotoroll commented: deadass cannot move 😩 this all your fault for requesting another set 😑

johnnyjsuh commented: lol, bet this was @ynsphotoroll in just 30 minutes through the workout

ynsphotoroll replied to johnnjysuh: heck, no! this was shot after the whole sesh

do0_nct replied to johnnyjsuh: we all know she can’t do a whole workout session even to save herself 🤣

johnnyjsuh liked do0_nct s comment.

ynsphotoroll replied to do0_nct: okay, that was downright mean :( babe, welp? 🥺 @_jeongjaehyun

_jeongjaehyun replied to your comment: no can do, love. you said this was all my fault 🤷🏻‍♂️

ynsphotoroll replied to _jeongjaehyun: should i lock you out, then?

do0_nct replied to ynsphotoroll: ooh, @_jeongjaehyun you’re on your own now bud

johnnyjsuh replied to ynsphotoroll: see you in hell, @_jeongjaehyun

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In just a few seconds, the vlog then transitioned to the both of you inside the diner, sitting side by side with the camera placed in front of you and waiting for your orders to get served.

“We’re here at Y/N’s favorite diner,” Jaehyun spoke. “She loves this place more than me, I think?” He joked.

“Mhm, Yes. I definitely do.” You laughed, joking back at him. In response, he acted hurt and started sulking. “Awe, babe,” You said pouting while scooting closer to kiss his cheek. “You know, I love you. But this place serves all-freaking-day breakfast?!” You exclaimed. “You do get very excited for breakfast,” He said, looking at you fondly as if you were the most adorable thing in the world. On second thought, the nearest description of this would be like how agnes purely adores unicorns. He then looked back at the camera and continued, “She loves breakfast. Thinking about it now, I bet if she were to eat only one of the three meals of the day, no doubt, she’d definitely pick anything on the breakfast menu.” You nodded in agreement, “Well, he is definitely not wrong,”

In a few minutes, seeing the waiter walked towards the table you and Jaehyun were seated, your facial expression changed and it was all caught on camera. Your expression changed from that poker face you’re sporting that one can misunderstand, translating it to “I’m the baddest bitch, whatchu gonna do ‘bout it?” kind of aura while you were looking through your phone when in reality, in your mind, it just screams “Where the hell is my food? I’m fucking hungry.” to an expression closely distinguished to an expression mixed of excitement and giddiness of a child getting a present on Christmas day with those shiny doe eyes of yours. Which was, if I may say, a whole hundred-eighty-degree-turn from that resting bitch face of yours. To those that might have not understood, let's just say that you were drooling over the smell and food itself like you haven’t eaten in days. Or maybe that was overly dramatic and whatnot but Jaehyun was and is a hundred percent smitten in all the things you do. And when I say all, I meant each and everything. Even in the tiniest thing you do. He completely adores you, just like the most perfectly imperfect boyfriend he is to you. And all those were completely caught on the camera for you to cherish and happy to share with everyone.

“And that, ladies and gents, is what my love looks like when food is about to be served,” Jaehyun said facing the camera and eventually breaking you out of your trance. In response to his statement, you swiftly punched his chest with your palm but in a very very soft way. But being his overly dramatic self, he exaggerated his reaction as if your soft punch had hurt him badly. “Stop being dramatic, Yoonoh,” you said sternly. On cue with you calling him by his legal name, he stopped and immediately showing affection towards you making you giggle. “Guys, I’ve learned this, the hard way; when she starts to call me by my legal name, she is dead serious and I should just comply with what she says, just so that I could stay out of trouble,” he started. “Because she’s really scary when she gets pissed or angry. This is not an exaggeration, even the boys got scared of her. And that was the last time we pissed her off. Also, I firmly believe on the saying: happy wife, happy life,” Jaehyun laughed. “You make me look like a bad person,” you pouted at your boyfriend. Jaehyun pouted back at you and replies, “You’re not bad, love. I love you, just the way you are,” kissing your forehead as he post something on his Instagram account to which your phone notified you.

_jeongjaehyun tagged you in a post.

_jeongjaehyun: swipe right to see @ynsphotoroll and I’s post-workout meal 😋

ynsphotoroll liked your post.

do0_nct commented: no wonder @ynsphotoroll is the way she is

ynsphotoroll replied to do0_nct: what’s that supposed to mean??

do0_nct replied to ynsphotoroll: it means you’re getting fat

ynsphotoroll replied to do0_nct: i’m not??? 

taeoxo_nct replied to do0_nct: stop bullying y/n

_jeongjaehyun replied to do0_nct: hyung, don’t you dare hurt my love

do0_nct replied to taeoxo_nct: i’m blocking you, you know i can’t say no to you

do0_nct replied to _jeongjaehyun: fine, i’m sorry @ynsphotoroll

ynsphotoroll replied to do0_nct: ily, let’s eat out soon :-(

do0_nct liked your reply.

do0_nct replied to ynsphotoroll: dm me, i’m buying

_jeongjaehyun replied to ynsphotoroll: babe what about me 

_jeongjaehyun replied to ynsphotoroll: on second thought, @do0_nct hyung ily

“Doyoung oppa is bullying me again,” you spoke to the camera while you put down your phone on the table and began eating the food served in front of you. “Everyone, please don’t misunderstand Doyoung oppa, and I’s bickering,” you plead while you took a bite off the spoon. “It’s just how we really are, that’s how we bond,” you giggled.

“Babe,” Jaehyun called. “Let's eat first,” he said. You nodded while getting excited to take another spoon full, leaving a little sauce on the corner of your lips. To which your boyfriend giggled at then, wiped with a tissue.

“Well, you guys heard the boss,” you joked. “We’ll eat first, and come back later,” you continued then, cover the lens with your hand.

Signifying another transition with you uncovering the lens, no longer at the diner nor in your car. The change of venue is recognizable as your apartment because of the couch behind you.

“Okay, as you guys probably noticed,” you started. “We’re now in my apartment, which I would say goodbye to, soon,” you said, adoring the room. “We actually arrived about an hour ago? Or so,” you continued. “We decided to continue packing and decide on which furniture we’re going to sell. The mattress and bed frame, definitely I will sell then, post them as a story on Instagram with the prices.”

The first ‘daily vlog’ continued on in a classic time-lapse manner of you and Jaehyun packing your stuff and organizing them in different boxes that are labeled to which room is which. After, Jaehyun was seen getting your trusty Deerma vacuum and plugging it in then handing it to you. You started to vacuum the apartment while he carried the boxes to the side and stacked them up.

By the time you were finished, the sun was starting to set. So, you quickly repositioned the camera and angled it towards your window where Jaehyun sat. Since the camera was against the light, the scene was perfectly captured with your silhouette where you rest your head on your boyfriend’s shoulder. A few frames after, he was seen kissing the top of your head then resting his head on yours as the sun sets, darkness starts to set in signifying that the vlog has come to an end as well.

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Upload 02, D-2  

A Day in My Life

Starting the vlog, shows a view of your makeshift workspace. Then, out of nowhere, you screamed, “Surprise!” making you giggle for the little stunt that you had done a few seconds back.

“Because let’s face it, there’s nothing more surprising than yelling surprise,” you joked. “Jokes aside, you guys might probably be surprised because of this sudden upload of a new vlog,” pausing for a moment to gather your thoughts making sure to not accidentally slip any confidential information for the time being. “I guess this is my way of saying, I appreciate all of you without me actually saying it?” laughing at your own excuse. “In this surprise vlog today, I’ll show you somewhat a day with me looks like.”

You took the camera from the tripod, holding it up with your hand. “I actually just woke up a few minutes ago, and the time now is fifteen minutes past eight in the morning,” you informed. “The first thing I do when I wake up is make and drink coffee,” lifting your cute mug to show everyone that you’ve made coffee and is now drinking it. “To the people who follow me on Instagram, this mug might be very familiar with you,” you started. “I’ve used this mug quite frequently for flat lay and drinking coffee or tea. But there is another reason why this mug is my favorite,” you paused, to sip coffee from the mug. “It’s actually because Jaehyun made this mug,” you started, sipping from the mug again. “It was during our second date, I booked us a studio in a pottery shop that I go to frequently and we both made a mug for each other. But it was not matching though.”

You continued to drink your coffee, occasionally dipping white bread in then, eating it. After finishing your cup of coffee, you immediately washed the things you used and putting them on your drying rack beside your kitchen sink.

“That is usually what I eat for breakfast, whenever I’m not going to the gym in the morning. After breakfast, I take a bath. It’s honestly just a personal preference to start my day, it gives me a refreshed feeling. So that’s what I’m going to do now,” you informed.

“I’m back,” singing to the camera, with your hair still wrapped in a towel and a robe on. “As you can probably see, I’ve just finished taking a bath,” pausing for a moment while gesturing the get-up you were sporting. “Thinking about it now, I don’t think I have shown you guys my skincare routine yet,” you said rummaging through a drawer of your vanity for a cotton pad and reaching for your toner. “This is the toner that I will use today. I’ve used it for years now, this is a holy grail,” showing the product to the camera, making sure that the camera had focused on it. “This is Glow Recipe Watermelon Glow PHA + BHA Pore-Tight Toner; absolutely love the watermelon scent it has which is not too overwhelming. Though it’s on the pricier side, it does its job pretty well,” you informed reaching out to gather a few more toners on your vanity. “I do have here other toners that are on the cheaper side,” pausing for moment, checking each bottle if it was the correct ones. “The first one is Krave Beauty Kale-lalu-yAHA which is just a few dollars cheaper, next one is Purito Centella Green Level Calming Toner and the last one, Haruharu Wonder Black Rice Hyaluronic Toner,” showing the products one by one to the camera. “I haven’t disclosed this in any of my videos before, but I do have acne-prone skin. So, all the products I have mentioned are all suited for acne-prone or sensitive skin.”

You poured enough Watermelon Glow to soak the cotton pad and started to wipe it all over your face, “Before, when I was just starting out with skincare, I would have really bad breakouts which led me to go and book an appointment with a dermatologist so that I could further understand the situation of my skin. I also used to get backne too,” you informed making sure that you also put the toner on your neck too. “Getting facials once or twice a month also helped me greatly... There are also some months that I couldn’t go to have my facial so, I make sure that I have a stock of Neogen’s exfoliating pads in my bathroom or in my luggage when I travel. I use the Neogen one, maybe once or twice a week,” you shared. “Oh?! I almost forgot I do double cleanse. The first cleanser is oil-based and the second one is CeraVe Renewing SA Cleanser,” you said while allowing the toner to dry first before you continue the next step of your routine. Putting back the toners on their rightful places on your vanity, you babbled, “This is my Virgo self, always wanting to have my things organized and clean.” 

“Moving on and skipping essence, after toner, I put on a very hydrating moisturizer,” you shared and getting the moisturizers that you will share. “Today, I’ll be using A by Bom Blue Cica Azulene Dew Soothing Hydration which is another on the pricier side but since my skin has been very dry lately, I need all the moisture I could get right now and this product delivers!” you started to rant. “Plus, since it is in a gel form; it does not come off as greasy or whatnot and it is perfect for when the weather is hot or during the summer,” you continued while lathering the moisturizer on your face and neck. “Also, a little goes a long way with this moisturizer. I have been using this for two months now and it’s still quite full,” you added. Allowing the product to dry, you decided to mention the alternatives you have, “For alternatives, I have here,” pausing for a moment. “The CeraVe PM Facial Moisturizing Lotion; texture-wise, it is in between a gel and a lotion so it’s also a good morning moisturizer. Another one, Cetaphil Moisturizing Lotion; this is a good moisturizer for both the face and body. These moisturizers are tried and tested to be very moisturizing on the skin,” you informed. 

“For serums, I usually use it at night only. The only serum I use is The Ordinary Ascorbic Acid 8% + Alpha Arbutin 2%,” you shared. “I put on sunscreen even when I’m not going out, and the sunscreen I use is either Supergoop Mattescreen Sunscreen SPF40 or Purito Centella Green Level Safe. I don’t have any other alternatives because they are literally the only ones I use,” you giggled. “I also use face masks every night to give my skin extra moisture and during winter I use face masks twice a day.” 

The vlog then transitioned to a time-lapse of you in your very comfy loungewear; a maroon ribbed crop top paired with your trusty gray sweatpants, pacing around the kitchen and cooking yourself some lunch. Then putting your lunch on a plate and head off to your almost empty living room, placing your lunch on the coffee table and opening your laptop to watch some Netflix.

“I’m currently outside, I’m heading to the grocery,” you informed while you were walking with the camera in your hand. “But before going to the grocery, I decided to take a little stroll to get my body moving and to help me digest the lunch I had,” you laughed. “Jaehyun will be coming over tonight so I’m going to buy some ingredients for our dinner tonight,” pausing a few seconds to look at where you were going, “Well, and some midnight snacks; none other than the good ol’ ramen.” 

The vlog then continued to a time-lapse of your little stroll and grocery shopping until you get home and start to prepare for dinner. Still in your comfy loungewear, putting on an apron over it, you brought the butter out from the refrigerator, settling it on the side and started to chop some onions and garlics. The main course tonight; your infamous steak. The boys loved it the last time you cooked it for them, your own boyfriend included. And for desert, you bought a Tres Leches cake in that cute little cafe near your apartment complex and placed it inside the fridge to keep it cooled. 

You then turned on your stove to pre-heat the skillet pan you’ll be using as well as the exhaust hood, and started to marinate the steaks with salt and pepper, leaving it to the side. You also bought some sweet potatoes in the supermarket a while, knowing that Jaehyun loves them, you decided to roast some in the oven.

For the main course, you started off with melting the butter on the pan. Once the butter has melted, you put in some onion and a whole lot of garlic then placing the steaks in using metal tongs, pressing down across top surface of steaks to ensure the entire bottom surface is making direct contact with skillet. While waiting for the bottom of the steak to turn brown, you opted to quickly clean up your kitchen counter. Flipping the steaks and continue to cook the other side, you continued to clean up. After a few minutes, you reduced the heat. And by that time, you were done cleaning up the counter and all that’s left is to wash the utensils and plated you’ve used to prepare. And that was when Jaehyun came into the frame; he was seen putting on the rubber gloves that rested on your kitchen sink and started to wash the dishes while you keep an eye on the steak.

The video then transitioned to you and Jaehyun setting up the food on your coffee table in your living room. The video continued on a normal paced manner when you were both eating, talking, and laughing with a faint background music playing over the video. 

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Upload 03, D-1

The Truth

Take one: “I actually don’t know how to start today’s vlog,” tou started with a frown on your face.

*bleep*

Take two: “This is what’s going on behind the camera, the truth is,” seriousness and sadness evident in the tone of your voice.

*bleep*

Take three: “I honestly don’t know how will I say the truth to you guys,” with tears that were threatening to escape from your eyes, now pouring down your face. You took a tissue from your tissue box on the table to wipe the tears staining your face.

*bleep*

“Hello, everyone! Welcome back to my channel,” you said enthusiastically signifying the real beginning of the vlog. “How was the intro?” you quizzed, eyebrows wiggling. “It’s actually just a little skit,” Jaehyun laughed in the background, “You might as well just audition for a part, you’ll surely be casted. Because wow, that crying was very believable,” he continued with a hint of amazement evident in his voice. “Thank you for your kind words, sir,”

“Oh, sir?” you saw him wiggle his brows behind the camera. “I kind of like hearing you address me like that,” he responded in his deep voice, being sultry in the background. You rolled your eyes at him, knowing very well that there’s a double meaning in what he said. “You do know that they’re going to catch on what you just said, right?” you scolded him. “I’m going to laugh at you when this whole thing gets meme'd, gif’d or whatever. You’re never going to live up to this, I swear,” Jaehyun just laughed at you in response to your rambling.

“Okay,” you sighed. “Kidding aside, this will actually be some kind of a sit-down video wherein I tell you guys my future plans and whatnot,” you started. “Some kind of get ready with me or like a story telling video of some sorts,” you continued to ramble.

“Jaehyun is here because he stayed over last night because while we having dinner I just sold my sofa. The buyer and I agreed that she could pick it up here in my apartment complex, and Jaehyun, being the best boyfriend he is,” pausing for a quick second to wink at him behind the camera, making him laugh. “He decided to stay over and help with carrying the sofa down to the lobby. And may I say how adorable she looked when she saw Jaehyun,” pausing again to put a hand over your heart, reminiscing what happened this morning. “These fan interactions with Jaehyun are always so adorable to me, they make you feel all warm and fuzzly inside; if you guys know what I mean,” with eyes twinkling from pure adoration of those moment, “It’s definitely one of those feel-good moments, don’t you guys think so?”

“But that is not actually what I’m supposed to talk about today,” in you said in a serious tone. “Lol, sorry about that, this is not that serious though,” you continued. “I can’t believe that I was able contain my excitement over this in the surprise vlogs I’ve uploaded recently,”

With a smile plastered on your face and excitement in your eyes, “We’re finally moving, tomorrow!” you announced. Jaehyun coming into the frame, champagne and two mugs on hand. He poured the champagne to the mugs to celebrate with you, “She was really excited to tell you guys this, but that is not only the announcement we have today,” Jaehyun started. “I also have an announcement to make. It has been months since it was confirmed with the cast, but I’m here to confirm it to you guys, to my beloved Czennies, that yes, I am indeed a part of the cast for KBS’ new drama series, Dear.M,” he said with happiness in his eyes and a smile on his face.

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Upload 04, D-Day

Move In With Us

“It’s finally D-day guys!” you sang to the intro.

“I’m sad to say goodbye to my apartment,” you pouted, changing the subject of the lens from you to your empty apartment. “It’s around brunch time now, but we still haven’t eaten yet. We’re probably going to eat when we’ve settled in to our new home. And yes, of course, we’re going to get jajangmyeon delivered because... I don’t know, I’ve always heard that when you move into a new apartment the first thing you should eat is jajangmyeon, but nit so sure about what it really means,” you rambled while taking a quick tour of the apartment before you bid farewell. “Jaehyun and Tyong oppa are here, they’ve brought the boxes down to their cars. As for my furnitures, I’ve sold all of them. Jaehyun and I actually bought some already in Ikea, to which you’ll be able to see on the next vlog,” you winked at the camera, “I gotchu guys,”

Walking back over to the living room, “Anyways, the big furnitures we bought are going to be delivered some time this week but the small decors we actually already left it at the new apartment a few days ago,”

Jaehyun entered to the apartment and said, “Babe, you ready?” You nodded to him in response, snaking your arms to his torso and said, “Goodbye, house. Thank you, you’ve been so good to me.”

The video transitioned smoothly to the scenery outside of the car and then to you, Jaehyun and Taeyong taking the boxes inside the new apartment. After, Taeyong bid farewell to the two of you and hugged you both. Then transitioned to the both of you unwrapping the plastics from the jajangmyeon’s packaging. It showed the two of eating on the floor, in front of the windows as the sun sets yet again. The next scene was Jaehyun unwrapping what seems to be a deflated mattress that quickly inflated as soon as the plastic was torn apart with the caption in the middle of the video saying, “And with that, we spent our first night dreaming of our future together,”

The vlog ends as the video fades to black.

While you were editing the Move In With Us vlog that you just published on your channel, you were shocked that the last footage on the SD card from your camera lasted for quite a few hours. And then it suddenly hits you, but you didn’t believe it not until you’ve seen it with your own two eyes. In which you’ve regretted watching as soon as the obscene actions started, instantly taking you back to what had happened during your first night together. The scene vividly captures each and every move in a whopping 4K quality.

It started with a passionate kiss that slowly turns into a sloppy and messy one. You moaned through the kiss as you feel the wetness that starts to pool in between your legs. A few moments later, slowly pulling away from the kiss, you smirked at your boyfriend and pushing him to the mattress that laid on the floor, quickly hovering above him and his eyes only focused on yours. Wasting not another second, he kissed you again, his hands roaming all over your body, feeling every inch and every curve while mumbling, “You’re so fucking beautiful, babe.”

Your lips started to leave open mouth kisses as you traveled down to his jaw, his neck, to his chest. Your mouth found their way to his nipples, gently sucking; earning a moan from your boyfriend. “I want to suck your cock,” while your mouth moved towards his other nipple, giving it the same attention as the other. “Fuck...” he groaned. “Show me what that pretty mouth can do,”

It was the go signal. And like a child excited getting excited for a piece of candy, you quickly went down his torso, unbuckling his belt and taking off his pants, you greeted by his now hard cock standing as if it was saying hi to you. “Fuck, baby. I still can’t get used to seeing your cock after all this time,” your mouth watered at that sinful sight. Licking the precum on his tip, “You’re so big, baby,” Earning yet another sinful moan. You took his length, bobbing your head slowly keeping eye contact with him. “You look so hot with your mouth stuffed with my cock,” Bobbing your head a bit faster, hollowing your cheeks making him moan at the pleasure you were giving. A few moments later, your bobs sped up with one hand helping you pump his length and the other toying with his balls, your eyes never leaving his. “Just like that baby,” taking his length further down your throat. “Shit,” you moaned at the sight, sending vibrations against his cock. His hands, intertwining with your hair as you choke on his cock. “Fuck, babe. I’m gonna cum,” With every bob of your head, you take him in further, making him explode from pleasure your mouth was providing him. Like the good girl you are, you swallowed everything he gave. Opening your mouth to show him, “Shit, babe, you’re fucking amazing. Let me return the favor, yeah?”

Jaehyun discarded his shirt on the floor while you were giving him a private strip tease that got him hornier resulting in him getting hard again for you. And you noticed; you most definitely fucking noticed and it turned you on even more making you wetter than you originally were. Your pussy was so wet that it was already pouring down your legs which definitely did not go unnoticed by Jaehyun. “Baby, you’re dripping for me,”

Jaehyun pulled you in his embrace, making you straddle his lap and as soon as you did his lips were quickly attached on neck leaving a love bite or two before moving over to your soft mounds. Taking one to his mouth sucking gently while the other gets equal attention from his hands, earning a whimper from you. His mouth then found its way to the other mound tending the same way he did earlier. Flipping you over to the bed, with him now hovering above you. He made his way down in between your legs, “Your smell intoxicates me baby,” You moaned loudly to his cold breath that radiated towards your cunt. Getting impatient, craving for his touch, you suddenly jerked your cunt towards his face. “Baby, please...” you whimpered. “Please, what baby?” you whined, wanting even the slightest of friction. “I want you, baby. Eat me out, put your fingers inside me, anything. Just please touch me,” you begged. And without any warning, Jaehyun slowly licked a stripe on your folds. You whimpered at his action. He then starts to devour your cunt like an animal who hasn’t eaten in days; licking and flicking your clit, he inserted his middle finger and began to slowly pump it in and out of your heat. You were already a moaning mess by the time he adds another finger, “I feel your pussy pulsating, you close, hm?” you whimpered in response. Pumping his finger faster while stimulating your clit with his thumb, eyes fixated on your face as if he was memorizing each and every reaction your face contorts. “Come for me, baby,” he encouraged. The knot that formed in your abdomen threatening to unfold, “C’mon baby, look at me when you come for me,” and that was the last straw, the knot in your abdomen unraveled making you see stars while you release spurts of liquid on your boyfriend’s face. “That,” your boyfriend in disbelief, “was definitely fucking hot!”

You were exhausted from your orgasm but Jaehyun was clearly not yet done with you as he cleaned up your juices with his mouth and tongue making you whimpered from overstimulation. “Those beautiful sounds that come out your mouth makes me want to fuck you to oblivion,” he growled.

“Show me how it’s done, baby,” urging him on.

Still hovering above you, he aligned his shaft to your folds, slowly pushing it in, “Fuck, you’re so tight,” you moaned at the way his length was filling you up pefectly; your walls perfectly hogging his length. “Please, move,” you moaned.

His thrusts started off slow, appreciating the feel of your walls around his length. “You feel so good, baby,” you moaned, urging him to go faster. You wrapped your legs on his waist, wanting him to go deeper. Both of your moans fill up the empty bedroom. That familiar knot starting to form again, you clenched on his length. “Shit, baby. If you keep doing that I’m gonna blow my load in you,” you didn’t know why but his words made your cunt clench, “Do it, I’m on the pill,” you urged. He flipped you over him, loving the way he manhandles you in the bedroom. “Ride me,”

And ride him you did. With the new position allowing him to perfectly hit your gspot while bounce on his cock as if your depended on it. Using him to catch your own release. “Fuck, yeah. Baby,” he moaned, making you whimper. He thrusts his hips upwards to meet yours, and it made you a moaning mess, hitting your gspot over and over again. The knot came unraveling once again, screaming his name as you spurt your juices on your boyfriend’s body. Jaehyun waited for a few minutes so that you could come down from you high. And when you did, he thrusted his length in your pussy with his pace unmatched. Another knot forming in your abdomen, making you whimper as he use your cunt, mercilessly fucking you to oblivion. Within a few minutes, his thrusts became sloppier as he comes closer to his release, painting your walls white with the ropes of cum he released in your cunt. Milking himself dry with your cunt, he thrusts once more, untying the knot that had build up, squirting on him again.

“That was fucking amazing,” you sighed. “No, baby. YOU are amazing,” he replied.

Jaehyun took care of you after, running a warm bath for the both of you, lathering your body with soap, dressing you up in your pajamas and even combing and blow drying your hair.

It was the perfect way to end the first night together in your new home with your best boyfriend.

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< previous // next >

Main Story // The Series Masterlist

Author’s Note/s: I do hope you enjoyed this chapter, as always feedbacks are always appreciated, you can send then in my ask. It keeps me motivated to write.

Also, you can send me a coffee and leave a feedback hehe

[zigtheeortega]

redeemed

pairing | m!raleigh x mc

word count | 6.6k

warnings | cursing, innuendos, mentions of sex

tags | @natesewell, @choicesarehard, @empressazura, @raleighcarrera, @pixeljazzy, @pixelsandkink [tagging people who usually ask to be tagged !] 

author’s note | i’ve talked about this before but i’m not a huge fan of the platinum mc’s personality, so i’ve kind of crafted my own that’s quite a bit more rebellious than canon. i’m obsessed with the idea of an mc who’s romancing raleigh and falls into the same pattern of behavior and it genuinely concerns them – so yeah i play with that idea here! i deviate from canon some but not too much ! this is my submission for day 2 of @platinumweekend as well ! also i had no idea how to end this so i apologize for the fizzle out at the end lol

•─────────────────•

As soon as he stepped off stage, he was shuffled to his tour bus, Fiona on his heels. She looked like the human embodiment of rage in a grey blazer, a look in her eye that made him thankful he wasn’t the one it was directed at – or at least he hoped he wasn’t the reason she was two seconds away from a murderous rampage.

She slammed the door behind her, locking it, running to the windows and closing the curtains, peeking out at the paparazzi that no doubt had already tried flocking at the edges of the blocked off area where the bus was parked.

“Damn, what’s the problem? Can’t I at least get my food from craft services? Jesus,” he complained, grabbing a bottle of water from the fully stocked mini fridge, downing it while Fiona frantically ran around the bus, turning off every electrical device in sight.

“What the fuck are you doing?”

She wheeled on him, a few strands of her hair sticking to her lips. “We’ve got a problem.”

“Yeah, you won’t let me go get my fuckin’ overpriced grilled cheese that I know is waiting for me,” he jabbed his thumb towards the venue. “At craft services.”

She eyed him, pupils wide, her anger nearly palpable. “It’s bigger than food.”

He ran a hand through his damp hair, some strands completely drenched in sweat. “Lay it on me.”

And the three words that fell from her lips were soul crushing, his post-show high wearing off in an instant.

“Dom’s been arrested.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” He sat up, posture rigid. “What happened?”

“Not here. We’ll talk on the plane,” Fiona said, twisting the knob of the closet door, grabbing the black duffel bag on the ground. She tossed it at his feet, motioning for him to stand. “The jet leaves in an hour. I packed for you.”

“The plane? Where is she?” He was getting more and more frustrated, nearing hysterics. He should’ve felt a bit more shame about how worked up he was getting, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care.

Fiona took notice, her fiery gaze softening at the edges, the blue flames flickering across his face. “Not here, Raleigh.”

He slung the duffle bag on his shoulder, walking to the door.

“Wait –” Fiona said, leaning over the couch to pull the curtain to the side, peering out again. “I paid off a security guard to distract the paparazzi. And when he does, we have to run to the car that’s gonna pull up any minute now – undetected,” she shot back at him, her icy gaze warning.

Within minutes, a security guard with a similar build to Raleigh sprinted towards the venue, jacket over his head, paparazzi on his heels.

With the camera’s flashing finally pointed away, they were able to slide into the back of the cab, thankful that Hank had connections everywhere. The driver rolled up the barrier without question as soon as Fiona tossed him a wad of cash that she’d fished out of a plain leather pouch.

She shook the pouch, her lips set in a thin line. “You know what this is?”

“A purse?” He asked, brows furrowed. “Is this some kind of fuckin’ trick?”

“It’s an emergency fund. Cash. Not traceable.”

She shook her head, dropping the pouch into her lap, before pinching the bridge of her nose. “When Dom first started getting into trouble, I had to pay off a few people here and there, but when it became more frequent, I had to actually sit her down with her accountant and sort this out.”

“Sort… what out?”

“How much money she needed to allocate to her… antics,” she rolled her eyes, propping her elbow on the back of her seat, hand pressed to her forehead.

She looked drained. Fiona never looked disheveled, but he sensed this was the closest she’d be to it.

“If it’s money she needs, that’s fine. Lemme call my agent –”

“There’s only so much cash I can hand people under the table before it becomes a problem. Not just financially, put publicly,” she sighed, chewing the inside of her cheek. “I’ve been able to cover up the smaller mishaps, but this, I’m afraid, might be the start of something… much worse than disorderly conduct.”

“You gonna tell me her charges?” His jaw set in anticipation, already running through a list of the best lawyers in L.A. that got him off from potentially hefty lawsuits.

Her short locks swayed as she shook her head. “I don’t think it’s my place to tell you.”

He blew air out of his cheeks, leaning into the corner of the cab, legs splayed wide as he tried to take a nonchalant stance. “Can you at least tell me where we’re going?”

“You’ll be glad you have a bedroom, shower, and fridge on the plane,” she said with another shake of her head.

––––

Raleigh laid in bed, aimlessly scrolling through his burner account.

He never really cared for social media under the public eye. Every post of his was either related to tour or the series of brand deals for products he never used. Each page was a personified advertisement – some shit he regretted signing up for.

One drunken night, his curiosity got the best of him and he found himself making a pretty inconspicuous profile, following some funny internet personalities and political commentators. And although he had plans to delete it, once Dom came into the picture, he unabashedly lurked.

He followed her on all platforms, and when he had the chance, he watched her stories, voted in her daily polls, and occasionally scrolled through her old instagram photos.

This time in particular, though, he was looking for something specific without really knowing if there was an answer.

He scrolled to her first post, hundreds down, smiling at high school Dom. Thick eyeliner, layered hair, brace-adorned grin – she was a poster child of adolescence.

Photos of her with Shane at pep rallies, in Halloween costumes, in prom formal wear filled the screen, later transitioning to senior portraits, graduation photos, and dorm photos. A setting of picturesque normality as Dom grew into herself, growing out her choppy layers, softening her makeup, her gleaming smile lighting up each photo.

She grew more beautiful with each year, each little phase of her life coming with a new style, a new little identity or association, Dom’s willingness to try new things the reason she was able to break free from her small town.

God, was Raleigh so fucking envious of this imperfect little portion of her Instagram. If someone were to look this far back for him, there’d be photoshoots and magazine spreads and paparazzi photos all neatly planned. The shaky off-guard photos, the unedited red eyes, the off guard photos, the expressions they made in them… it was something Raleigh never had the chance to do.

Being in the business for ten years, everything was pristine, crisp – always smiling or smoldering, no in between. Sexy and rugged or smiling and happy. Like he had two modes and he wasn’t ever able to exercise those other parts of himself because being in front of the camera was restrictive – while Dom was able to be unabashedly herself.

He was breaking shit just to feel something, to have some range of emotions even if it was a stupid fucking publicity stunt where he damaged property or made out with another politician’s daughter or attempted irreparable blows to his public image.

The more recent the posts, the more calculated her photos got, the phrase “ad” showing up more and more. But even with a skincare brand deal, her step-by-step skincare routine video was on brand for Dom, her bright smile and wit always present in everything she did.

But Raleigh couldn’t help but feel like parts of her were slipping away.

Her online persona was still pretty crisp, except for her style shift – tattoos, a couple piercings, and some edgier photoshoots signified a tonal shift in Dom’s aesthetic, but nothing he hadn’t seen before.

Hell, when he used his first innuendo on his solo album, there was widespread outrage on Sunset Skatepark fan forums, ripping into him for singing about using his dick (even though he was definitely an adult and definitely not a virgin).

But other than her general style, nothing was different. Nothing to indicate this downward spiral that Fiona kept a secret.

Where’s the shift? He thought to himself as he scrolled to the top. When the hell did she start changing for the worse?

She’d come a long way from her clean songs that didn’t require a radio edit. He felt a pang of something in his chest –– regret, maybe? Was he the reason she’d changed?

The questions sent him into a near tailspin, his pulse quickening at the realization.

He was the problem.

She’d since deleted her photos with Raleigh, because their breakup was so public, but he could tell that the shift happened right around the time she started spending more time with him.

He’d been a mentor of sorts, opposite of Avery, showing her the ropes… which meant that he was teaching her how to evade the press, fuck with the paparazzi, pick out industry plants – the whole nine yards.

She was impulsive, daring, adventurous, fearless – all the qualities he liked in himself. But he never thought those traits would take a negative turn, morphing her into a rebel with an affinity for breaking laws.

He could blame himself all he wanted, but he couldn’t blame her for taking the same route he took. 

He knew it better than anybody – it was hard to shift the public’s persona of you. Once you did something horrible to make them hate you, either the rebrands and ass kissing worked, or you get written off by everyone.

Raleigh Carrera was a special case, a wild card of sorts who toed the line, unpredictable, both with his craft and his behavior. The nastier his lyrics, the crazier his publicity stunts were, the more polarizing he was.

And that was no doubt the route Dom was on, heading towards an inevitable press nightmare – if people were to find out the home grown rags-to-riches Dominique Avalos dove headfirst into her rebellious phase with no smooth transition, she wouldn’t be able to Google herself for months without having a panic attack.

She’d changed drastically, but that’s what fame did to people. Some people cracked under the pressure, or they rebelled to show the public they were in control of their narrative… or that they desperately wanted it back.

He took a shaky breath, swiping out of the app.

He wasn’t sure if he could save her, but he’d be damned if he wasn’t gonna try.

––––

The moment the jet touched down, Fiona was in full manager mode, adamant on abandoning his phone, stressing the importance of going off the grid.

“If anyone finds out you’re here, they’ll be able to put two and two together. Why else would you be in the same country as Dom when you’re supposed to be heading towards New York for your next show?” She asked, hand outstretched.

“I hate it when you’re right,” he grumbled, tossing his phone into her palm. “Where are we exactly?”

“I can’t tell you,” she sighed, looking exhausted. He had a gut feeling she hadn’t slept a wink since they’d boarded the plane.

“Why not?”

“It’s a bit safer that way.”

He scoffed. “You’re serious? Look, I’m not exactly thrilled to pull the A-List celebrity card, but this is borderline kidnapping.” 

“Let’s just say you might be able to pick up on some of the language,” she said, turning on her heel to exit the plane.

Within minutes, they were pulling onto a dirt backroad, the small houses they passed barely casting shadows onto the ground.

The town itself was seemingly innocuous – the tiny brick houses riddled with dust, the stone paths lining the road cracked and deserted. The tiny town had turned in for the night, their old Sedan sticking out like a sore thumb despite the old model.

Raleigh squirmed in his seat, twisting the expensive watch on his wrist. He fucking hated this.

No matter where he went, he was noticed in some capacity – so wearing a Rolex and Cartier rings in a small village in the middle of nowhere just made him look pretentious.

He slipped the rings and watches off, shoving them deep into the pocket of his jeans, ignoring Fiona’s calculating side eye (one he knew all too well).

The only light, other than the gas lamp posts and their high beams, came from the building at the end of the road.

The car pulled around the side, flicking their lights off, the driver peeking around before motioning for them to exit the car.

“Throw the hoodie on, Raleigh,” Fiona ordered while slipping on a ball cap of her own, her casual t-shirt and leggings wildly different from her normal outfit.

“Sure,” he murmured, tugging the hood on.

The walk from the car to the dusty glass front door was short, Fiona breaking into a light jog to keep up with Raleigh’s brisk pace.

The makeshift “waiting room” in the front corner of the station was empty, the scratched up folding chairs in crooked rows. The front desk was occupied by a sleeping form, head buried in the crease of his elbow, snore muffled by the counter top.

The other officer stood at the back near an old vending machine, sliding coins into the slot, the clink of each piece ringing out against the brick and linoleum.

No cameras, he thought, after a quick scan of the room, shoving the hood back in its place at the nape of his neck.

The holding cells were farther back, but he couldn’t see her.

He stepped up to the counter where the man was sleeping, giving a gentle knock to the top. The man stirred, unfurling his arms, while the other man in the back glanced up from where he was, elbows deep in the snack machine as he fished out his bag of chips.

Raleigh offered a basic greeting in Spanish, frowning just a bit when both officers’ eyes lit up – the phrase “famoso” and “celebridad” falling from their lips almost as soon as they recognized him.

Yeah, he was gonna use his notoriety to their advantage, but that didn’t mean it still didn’t sting when people immediately tried gauging what they could get from him when they realized who he was.

For a long time he’d been waiting for the day where name dropping himself didn’t get him out of deep shit.

And the day he met Dom, when he assumed she knew who he was, all she did was raise her brow as if to say “Why the fuck should I care?”

It startled him, truthfully. But it was such a breath of fresh air. He couldn’t remember a time before or after that someone showed no interest in him.

The officer in the back jogged to the front, pulling his phone out of his back pocket while asking for a picture.

He looked to Fiona, who was shaking her head furiously, stepping up next to him like her 5’5 stature was enough to shield him. “Nobody can know we’re here.”

He nodded, turning back to the men, trying to negotiate with them.

Yes, Dom’s here.

No, you can’t see her.

He racked his brain trying to figure out how he was gonna get himself – and Dom – out of the situation unscathed if he couldn’t give them a photo or autograph.

“Dom bought me the Rolex and Cartier rings, right?”

Fiona’s brows furrowed. “Yes. She gifted them to you on your birthday. You know this –”

“No, what I mean is, she has the receipts? Or you do?”

“I don’t have them, but I have access to them,” she said, still confused.

“Get rid of ‘em. I haven’t told anyone she bought them for me.”

Her face lit up in recognition, and she nodded, encouraging him to go on.

He dug in his pockets, fishing out the watch and thin bands.

After a quick exchange, the officers took two rings each, and began rapid fire arguing over the Rolex. They tossed Raleigh the keys, stepping out the front door.

“I’ll keep watch,” Fiona said, turning towards the door.

“Hey –” Raleigh said, laying a hand on her shoulder.

She quirked a brow at him. “What?”

“You’re not coming with?”

She shook her head. “No.”

“Why not? I’m not even sure what the fuck I’m supposed to say –”

“She specifically asked for you.”

He took a step back, resting his palm on the countertop behind him. “What the – are you… are you serious?”

She nodded once. “She might’ve been slurring, but she was clear as day. She wanted you.”

He blew air out of his cheeks, running a hand through his short waves.

Fiona’s gaze softened, her eyes still piercing. Fiona was a lot of things – steadfast, headstrong, determined – but she wasn’t soft. She didn’t sugar coat shit.

“She’s missed you. She doesn’t confide in me much, but even I can tell she’s unhappy. Be gentle with her,” she said, gaze tearing right through him.

The walk to the holding cells felt miles long – his resolve was shrinking with every step.

He wasn’t afraid of seeing Dom, not at all. He was afraid of whatever part of himself that might’ve been reflected in her.

The cell was empty, save for the curled form on the bench, long dark hair cascading over the edges of the seat.

“Dom?” He called, hearing her sharp inhale of breath as she stirred, bending into a long stretch, her limbs unfurling until she was lying on her back on the bench, tilting her head towards his voice.

God, even when she looked like life had torn her to shreds, she still looked beautiful.

“Raleigh?” She croaked, her eyes squinting to adjust to the low lights. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

She arched her back, stretching again, her long frame covering the bench. It was almost the right level of distracting to stop the creeping annoyance at her question.

“What do you mean? I’m here to bail you out, obviously.”

“Where’s Fiona?” She asked groggily, rolling off the side of the bench awkwardly, trying to gain her footing.

“You asked for me, didn’t you?” He raised a brow, sliding his forearms through the bars, resting them there.

“She told you?” She asked, voice raising in betrayal, a scoff following his silence. “I was drunk.”

“And? You still asked for me.”

 “Oh, fuck off,” she murmured, crossing her arms as soon as she was balanced.

He dangled the keys between his fingertips, gently jingling them. “I’ll let you out if you tell me what happened.”

Her lip curled in annoyance. “You’d really leave me here?”

“You don’t want to find out.”

She ran a hand through her hair, blowing air out of her cheeks. “Alright.”

He unlocked the door and slipped in, the heavy door creaking as he slid it wide enough for him to fit through.

She backed up, plopping back onto the bench, arms lowering to curl around her sides.

He followed suit, sitting a couple feet away from her on the other end of the bench, shoving his hands in the front pocket of his hoodie.

She stared at the floor, clearly waiting for him to make a move.

“So…”

“So, what?” She grumbled.

“So… how’d you end up here?” He asked, trying to remain as relaxed as he could since she was clearly on edge, ready to tear him a new one at a moment’s notice.

“I was drunk. I got in a fight. Here I am.”

He sighed. “Look, you don’t have to tell me everything, but I can’t help you if I don’t know if you’re ankles deep or neck deep.”

She chewed her lip, chin dipping lower, strands of her hair falling forward, creating an inky veil. “Fine. I’ll tell you but… can you not… look at me?”

Raleigh’s face contorted in confusion, but he listened, swivelling until he was facing the back wall, propping one leg up on the bench.

He waited for her to speak. The break in conversation was a bit too long – but before a quip could fall from his lips, she spoke.

“I did get drunk, and I did get in a fight. I’m telling the truth but I, uh, left out some details,” she started, her voice low.

“I, uh, was passing through this town after my last show because I wanted to go to a bar without being noticed. Like the old days. I know it was stupid, but I didn’t think anyone would find me here.”

That was her first mistake. Smaller towns surprisingly had the most dedicated fans – maybe because they’re bored or nothing exciting happened in their towns, but most of his die hard fans came from the middle of nowhere. 

“The first hour was fine, and I was able to drink and dance with strangers. Most of them were a lot older than me and spoke zero English – and I speak a little bit of Spanish as you know, so I could make some small talk, but I was on my own just… enjoying myself and my freedom,” she said, and he could almost see the grin tug at the corner of her lips.

“I noticed someone taking photos of me with their phone, so I got a bit paranoid and sat in a booth in the back drinking for a little while longer so I could figure out my next move,” she continued, before sighing loudly. “I guess they told the local news or something, because by the time I decided to leave, I ran smack into a reporter on the sidewalk.”

Silence ensued again, this time more deafening than the last.

“I didn’t mean to give her a black eye. Or break the camera. Or elbow the camera man in the face when he tried restraining me. I just… couldn’t think straight. I was mad. Intoxicated and wrong, but still mad.”

“I know Fiona’s trying her best to get me out of this mess but… I think I went too far this time.”

Raleigh stared at the wall, racking his brain for something. He was a little dumbfounded that she spilled to him so fast. He figured it was gonna take a bit more digging to get her to open up, but she blossomed in front of him; despite the wilted petals, he was relieved to know she still trusted him enough to confide in him.

“Are you gonna say something?” She asked, a bit timidly.

“Not if I can’t look at you.”

“Okay, then don’t say anything.”

He sighed, settling into his spot on the bench, waiting again for her to speak.

“Why did you come?”

Instinctively, he shrugged. “You asked me to.”

“But you don’t owe me anything. We’re not together.”

“Doesn’t mean I wouldn’t drop everything to come help you. I mean, I’d like to think we’re at least acquaintances, if not friends,” he joked, resting his arm over the back of the bench.

“Sure,” she said, voice straining just a bit. Just enough for him to notice.

Dom was a special kind of resilient – one trait that Raleigh was sure she didn’t copy from him.

He knew that being a woman in the industry was already hard enough – everything from beauty to body standards to raging misogyny was enough to give people reasons to hate her, as stupid as they were.

Raleigh benefitted from the standards in place for men. He was young, attractive, talented – didn’t matter what he did wrong. He’d bounce back.

But he’d seen some vile shit since he’d ascended to fame. So many celebrities fading into obscurity after one mishap. One bad album. One bad interview. One rude encounter. One rumor.

For some reason, despite diving headfirst into troubled waters, Dom bounced back every time, fire in her eyes, her jaw set in determination, her face painted with the look she got when she was ready to face the world.

But whatever she was feeling in that moment, in that jail cell in the middle of nowhere – was enough to break her. 

He heard her take a deep, shaky breath, and he started to turn, but he felt her warm palm on his shoulder, holding him in place.

“Don’t,” she whispered.

He listened to her labored breathing, likely struggling to hold back tears, while he stared at the cracks in the wall, trying to think of something – anything – to console her.

“Did Fiona seem… upset?” She asked, seeming a bit nervous.

“It’s kind of hard to tell, to be honest. She’s pretty intense all of the time,” he laughed, not really meaning to.

He was relieved to hear a light chuckle from behind him.

“Yeah, I figure she’s pretty mad at me. I don’t blame her,” she sighed, another break in conversation ensuing. A couple beats later, she asked, bluntly, “Are you mad at me?”

“No,” he answered with zero hesitation. “I know you’d do the same for me.”

She laughed again, a bit more genuine that time. “Not sure where you got that impression.”

“You wouldn’t leave me here to rot if I asked you to come, Dom. You’re not that heartless,” he teased gently, glad that things were taking a lighthearted turn.

“I’m just glad you’re not gonna lecture me. I already know I’m gonna get an earful from Fiona, not to mention the shit I’ll get from Shane and Avery. I couldn’t handle one from you.”

He grimaced. “Uh, well, you’d rather hear it from me than Fiona, right?”

“Oh, you’ve gotta be fucking kidding me,” she mumbled under her breath.

“You know I normally don’t care what you do, because it’s your life, and you should be able to do whatever the fuck you want, but Dom…” he trailed off, trying to choose his words carefully.

“I know I fucked up, Raleigh. I don’t need you making me feel more guilty than I already am,” she said defensively, voice raised.

“I’m not gonna make you feel guilty. Just offering some advice.” God, did those words feel foreign to him. Offering advice. He never did shit like this for anybody.

He took her silence as a green light. “You’ve just gotta slow down, Dom.”

Whatever impact his words made, he couldn’t see it, since he was still facing the damn wall. “Can I please turn around? I can’t talk to you like this.”

“Sure.”

He adjusted himself on the bench, trying to look attentive without staring. She was stunning, even with the smudged makeup, the dark circles, the red eyes  “You don’t have to do anything and everything you’re asked to do, but you gotta find some kind of balance.”

She wrung her hands in her lap, picking at her cuticles absentmindedly. “Yeah, I know.”

“I mean balance the good and bad, Dom. There’s a line for people like us and you can’t cross it often. You can get close, but you can’t just dive over it and not expect there to be some fallout.”

“I know,” she said, bluntly, looking a bit more annoyed with each word that came from his mouth.

“You can cause some chaos, but some of it isn’t acceptable,” he said, watching her expression contort in anger. “For them. Not acceptable for them. The average person, I mean.”

“Oh, you’re one to fucking talk!” She rolled her eyes. “How are you gonna sit here and tell me that your brand of shit stirring is okay, but mine isn’t?”

“I’m not the one sitting in a jail cell right now, Dom,” he said, calmly but firmly. He wasn’t used to being the rational one, but he had to be level headed. He was trying to save her.

She ran a hand through her hair, leaning back against the back of the bench. “You’re infuriating, you know that?”

“Trust me, I know.”

“You’re hypocritical.”

“Not necessarily,” he said, propping his arm up on the back of the bench. “I was in the industry for years before I started dirtying up my image. You just got here.”

“And you’ve been here too damn long to act the way you do,” she nearly spat, lashing out.

“I’m too far gone,” he simply stated, keeping surprisingly calm through it all.

“What the hell do you mean by that?”

“I’ve been here for a long time, which means, I’ve got a lot more fuck ups under my belt. Irreparable damage, if you will.”

“People love you,” she said, matter-of-factly, like that solved it – it honestly relieved him. A bit of Dom’s naivete from when they first met was shining through.

“People also hate me, because I’m a little shit who sets fires for fun,” he grinned. “For legal reasons, my lawyers insist I clarify that I’m joking.”

She rolled her lips, trying to suppress a smile. “People who hate you don’t know you.”

He nodded. “You’re right, and you’re so close to the point I’m sure you can taste it.”

“I’m too far gone to save. No matter how hard I try for the rest of my career, I can never get away from the wild card label. Plenty of people don’t wanna work with me. I’ve damaged business relationships. Lots of artists don’t want to collab with me because of how it’ll make them look.”

“Why are you telling me all this?”

“Because I know you don’t want this. You’re too good for whatever baggage comes with being a ‘rebel’, Dom. I don’t want to see you turn out like me.”

For the first time that night, she stared at him – really stared at him. Her deep brown, nearly midnight eyes searched his for any sign of insincerity.

“You’re… serious?” She asked finally, brows furrowed in confusion.

“One hundred percent honest,” he said, nodding.

She sat back in her chair, chewing on her lip, contemplating.

“Can you turn back around again?”

He nodded, wordlessly facing the wall again.

“I left out a few details,” she said from behind him.

“I’m listening,” he affirmed.

“I, uh, was pretty hammered by the time I left, so it was even harder for me to understand what people were saying,” she said before he could speak. “I heard the reporter say ‘Raleigh’ and ‘novio’ and I saw red… so… I, uh… swung.”

His chest clenched, tightening until it was difficult to breathe. He was thankful she’d asked him to face the other direction, because he knew his reaction betrayed his cool demeanor.

“I guess I’m not over it,” she laughed humorlessly.

He ran a hand over his face, racking his brain for a response, but coming up short.

“You, um, don’t have to say anything if you don’t feel the same. I shouldn’t have gotten attached. It’s on me.”

That made him turn, swivelling around before she could finish speaking.

She flicked her head towards the bars of the cell, raising a hand to cover her face. “I said ‘don’t look at me’, Raleigh. Goddamn.”

Years and years of PR training and interviews and he had no idea how the fuck to console her. Partially because he was trying to get a grip on whatever the hell was going on in his brain as well.

Instead, he answered her with a question of his own, a tactic he’d used anytime he wanted to deflect in interviews.

“Why can’t I look?”

Dom tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, slowly rotating to meet his gaze. She sank her teeth deep into her bottom lip to keep it from trembling.

“Fuck,” she cursed, rubbing the backs of her hands under her eyes, the dried black mascara under her eyes beginning to liquidate again. “Because I’m crying, Raleigh. And I don’t cry.”

“You wanna tell me what’s wrong? I know there’s more to it than you’re telling me,” he asked, holding up two of his fingers in a solute. “No judgement.”

She sighed, crossing the room to put some distance between them. She began pacing, taking slow steps as she spoke.

“I might’ve fucked up my career and I keep letting people down and I’m destructive because this whole fame thing isn’t what I signed up for and I didn’t think I’d cave under pressure like every other mid twenties child actor who goes through a premature mid-life crisis, but here I fucking am,” she said, nearly out of breath by the end.

His legs carried him across the room before he could think twice, pacing towards her while she strode across the room in the opposite direction.

“God, I’m so fucking stupid –”

“Stop. You’re not stupid.”

“I am,” she said, wheeling on him. “And – and I’m embarrassed. I’m embarrassed that my manager and – and my ex –” She stopped in her tracks, rubbing a palm over her forehead, shutting her eyes.

He reached out to her, but let his hand fall almost immediately.

“My acquaintance had to fly out to a fucking village in the middle of nowhere to bail me out –” 

“Dom, stop –”

“– because I fought a fucking reporter over not being able to handle my fucking feelings –”

“Dom –”

“– like an adult with a functioning frontal lobe all because I love someone who –”

Her eyes popped open, her expression horrified. “Oh my god, I’m – I –”

She dug the heel of her hands into her eyes, dropping into a squat. “Fuck, fuck, Goddammit –”

“Did you just –”

“Yeah, Raleigh, I did. Don’t make me feel worse, alright? I know I fucked up,” she groaned from her heap on the ground.

“You just said you love me, Dom. I think I’m allowed to react,” he said, a slight teasing to his voice.

She glanced up, glaring. “Okay, then, react.”

Her gaze was fiery, her deep brown irises challenging – something else a bit more vulnerable lying beneath.

She was terrified.

He leaned down, gripping her around the waist to pull her back up, wrapping his arms around her upper back, hugging her to his chest.

She melted into his arms, relaxing and leaning into his embrace.

“I didn’t mean to say it,” she murmured into his chest.

“So do you?” He asked, chin gently balanced on her head.

“What?”

“Do you love me?”

“I don’t know,” she said truthfully, voice small.

“You don’t have to know. I don’t know either,” he said, just as earnest, feeling her tense in his arms. “But I do know that I like you enough to want you around, and that counts for something, right?”

She laughed (as genuine as he’d heard it), leaning back to look at him. “Yeah, it does.”

Their bodies were still pressed together, Dom’s chin tilted upwards towards him, their faces nearly touching.

“If this gets out, don’t let anyone make you feel like you’re a bad person,” he said, voice low. “You’re the best person I know –”

Dom closed the gap between them, capturing his lips in an intense kiss. He cupped her face in his palms and held her in place, moaning into her parted lips.

God, there was nothing that compared to kissing her. Nobody matched up. He’d made out with a lot of people since he was flung into stardom at sixteen, and no one – absolutely no one – left him in a daze like she did.

She gripped the strings of his hoodie, pulling him closer, sighing contentedly against him.

The smell of her shampoo mixed with the sweet scent of her skin and the warmth of her hands and her chest flush against his – it was the next best thing to being inside of her.

He pulled back, trying to catch the dreamy, half-lidded look she always got when they parted.

“So… did you take your jet here?”

He smirked and rolled his eyes. “Out of context, that sounds so superficial.”

She grinned, her first genuine smile that night. “Oh, but you’re not? Hanging around a rising artist to cling to relevancy?”

He laughed, the sound reverberating off of the walls. “I really am rubbing off on you, aren’t I?”

“Yep. The good and bad,” she agreed, still smiling at him.

“The good?” He shook his head. “Nah, I’m not so sure about that.”

“You’re literally the reason I haven’t walked out on my label and moved to bum fuck nowhere and lived off the land,” she said, shrugging. “You taught me how to have fun. You were the only one keeping me sane.”

He thought he was the one encouraging her to leap over the edge, but he was the one tugging her arm back.

The whole time he was convinced he was a bad influence, but he was doing some good – for her.

But with that revelation came the guilt at her words.

“‘Were’?”

“Well, we don’t really talk anymore. I haven’t seen you in weeks.”

“Doesn’t mean I don’t care about you.”

“Yeah,” she chewed her lip, stepping back, unraveling herself from his embrace. “I’m sorry.”

That was a slap to the face. Dom rarely apologized, because if she felt she was right, she wasn’t going to budge. She was stubborn as hell.

“Huh? Why?” “I don’t want to guilt you into spending time with me… or feeling things for me,” she said, rubbing her arm. “I didn’t mean to corner you.”

“You didn’t. I wanted to come.”

She glanced up, blinking at him. “No, you didn’t –”

“I did,” he emphasized, slipping her hand into his, intertwining their fingers. “I kinda missed being forced to hang out with you. Feels like old times.”

She couldn’t stop the laugh from ripping from her, this one louder than the last. “Oh, shut up.”

“No, but seriously, I’m here for you. Whatever you need. Always.”

“Thank you.” With her free hand, she punched his shoulder lightly. “You’ll regret that sooner or later.”

“Nah,” he said, lip curling into a smirk. “I don’t think I will.”

––––

[kinetic-elaboration]

100 Days of Writing: Day Sixty-Three

I decided to catch up on The 100 Days of Writing and then I... accidentally wrote a large number of words. In my defense, this is like 2 weeks’ worth of questions. Also I skipped the ones I didn’t have anything to say about so actually this could be worse.

(I’m not even kidding, this is really long. I talk about writing rituals, tools for plotting, my thoughts on opening with dialogue and why I don’t like it, my favorite topics, the weather, and what length of fic I like to write.)

I’m tagging, and apologizing to, @the-wip-project and fellow participants @she-who-the-river-could-not-hold, @thelittlefanpire, @hopskipaway, @easilydistractedbyfanfic, @dylanobrienisbatman, and @fontainebleau22.

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Day 49: How do you get yourself in the mood to write? Do you have a ritual?

Every time I tell myself I’m going to get back into doing these questions, I see this one in my bookmarks and go nope! and turn around. It’s not a hard question; I’ve just been having trouble consistently getting into the mood to write, so I feel like any answer I try to give to it will be, in some sense, a lie. Like do I ever get “in the mood” to write? Really?? Also, I feel like I’m relying too much on ‘ritual,’ building up ‘the perfect writing situation’ in my head, which at the end of the day is less important than just saying ‘I’m going to do this now’ and then doing it.

I do have some things I always do when I sit down to a writing session. I write on my couch. Almost always (unless I’m on an event deadline where I just have to write in bits and pieces whenever possible), I write in sprints—I use write or die to keep me actually typing and not staring into space. I write in order, and I often write a whole scene at a time. So before I start I need to have at least a couple solid opening sentences in mind, plus some kind of idea about what happens/needs to happen in the scene. In order to get in the right headspace, I usually spend some time just thinking before I actually get to writing. I reread my outline or notes, and skim whatever I might have already written on the project. Sometimes I look at images that help me get in the right mood. Sometimes I just imagine or daydream for a bit. The difficulty, especially recently, is in making sure I do this just enough and not too much, because then I get too caught up in my head and I can no longer translate what I’m seeing into words.

In a broader sense, I also have a building up to writing ritual—again, I think this is part of my problem, that I don’t know how to balance this build up with actual writing. In the hours/days before writing something, I turn it over in my head a lot. I practice different versions of those critical opening sentences. I play it out like a fantasy just to see if there’s a possible flow, even if the final version is different. Basically, I try to turn it into something that just needs to be written, that just needs to get out. But again—this can lead to overthinking and frustration.

The best way I can describe writing for me is that, when it goes well, I find a rhythm, or enter into a zone, where I can describe the images in my head in a way that’s both accurate and pleasant to read. But entering that zone or finding that rhythm is like jumping into a game of jump rope. If you don’t do it right, you’re just going to trip over your feet and get tangled in the rope. But if you do it correctly, it’s fun and exhilarating and you can keep jumping for a long time. Sometimes it takes me some false starts to jump in. And recently I’ve been having days where I just can’t at all, where I tangle the rope up so much I can’t unknot it. Those are the days I just have the same sentences repeating over and over in my head, sounding wrong, and I can’t do anything about it. On the other hand, I write in much longer sprints than I did a couple years ago. I used to only write partial scenes, maybe a few hundred words. Now I can write whole scenes without stopping, and on a few occasions, I’ve written multiple scenes or even whole stories without stopping. So in other words, when it works,  it really works. But it doesn’t always, and there’s not a lot of in between.

*

Day 50 What fic/story made you?

Um… honestly I’ve been writing, in general and fic specifically, for such a long time that I didn’t have a ‘maybe I can do this’ moment. I mean one problem I’ve never had is thinking I can’t do this. I had positive reinforcement for my school and academic writing, and for a long time my fictional stories were just for me, and I knew what I liked. Even just thinking about my fic writing… I’ve been posting fic online since 2006, and I’ve been in multiple fandoms. I don’t really have much connection to a lot of those early stories anymore. They feel like they were written by someone else, a little. I’ve also moved on from most of the fandoms I wrote for in my early fic days so I don’t feel like I can really judge them anymore.

That said… there is kinda an obvious answer for my Star Trek fic lol. I also have favorite stories, and stories that stick out even years after I wrote them, in all (or at least most) of the fandoms I’ve been in. But I’m not sure if that’s the same.

Also, I had two teachers who were really encouraging of me and who I still think about often. One was my seventh grade English teacher, who had us do a lot of writing exercises of various types, both large and small, including keeping writing journals we wrote in every day at the start of class. He once told my mom that I wrote well, not for a seventh grader, but in general, and to be honest I still think of that with some regularity and take a lot of pride and comfort in it. The other was my creative writing professor in college. I don’t think I did my best work for that class, but she was very encouraging and seemed to like what I did. At the end of the semester, as I was preparing my portfolio, she told me that if I didn’t want to do much editing, I didn’t have to, because my unedited work would stand on its own. Again, especially considering all the problems that I saw with my writing for that class even then, I really took that comment to heart. When I’m feeling very self-critical, I remind myself that even my raw scribblings have, perhaps, something to them, and it helps ease the excessive and unwarranted pressure I put on myself. These aren’t really stories about specific writing pieces that ‘made’ me but I do think they speak to that ‘maybe I can do this’ feeling.

*

Day 51: Do you use tools for plotting and what are they?

So, generally, no. Sometimes I’ll look at various writing/plotting/organizational tools as a method of distraction, but my actual process is very simple. I use plain old notebooks and pens, and word documents on my computer, to plan all my fics, from the one-shots to the multi-chapters. I start by writing down general thoughts and brainstorming, then I build a scene list and/or outline, and then, if necessary, I separate the scenes lists into chapters. Sometimes I break down the scenes even more, if I have additional ideas I don’t wan to forget or if I know I need to hit certain points in a specific scene. The process varies a little bit from project to project, but that’s basically all I do.

I did use Evernote to plan the (still unwritten….) Ark AU. I don’t know if that was the best program choice or if something else exists that would have more precisely met my needs. But that’s what I used and that’s how it is. It’s a little annoying that every time I open it, it’s been updated, and the interface looks totally different and I have to relearn where everything is. But the tagging system has worked decently to allow me to see the big picture of this complex, multi-strand, multi-character, multi-ship disaster epic of a story. I struggled to plot it for a long time because I didn’t know how to balance all of the different parts. In Evernote, I made one ‘note’ for each character, and one for each scene (in addition to miscellaneous notes about sub plots, relationships, questions, etc.). Then I tagged each of them, including tagging the scenes by chapter. So now I can look at a list of all the characters, or all the scenes, or all of the scenes in chapter 8, or whatever, but I can also look at just one particular note at a time, and not be distracted by anything else. That said, I do also have one note that is just a total scene list for the whole fic, which is pretty reminiscent of my usual outlining process.

So… somehow this helped me plot (tentatively) the whole thing, but as I’ve written almost none of it—I finished outlining this in February 2020 so in my defense… I think you can see why it stalled—I’m not yet sure if it was a successful experiment in a ‘plotting tool.’

*

Day 60: How do you start your chapters? Do you start with dialogue? Why or why not?

While I am definitely against prescriptive “writing rues” generally, as my own personal rule, I try not to start with dialogue unless I have a very good reason.

To be quite honest, I think it’s lazy. I do think that dialogue openings can be used well, if the writer acknowledges that they are intensely stylistic and, from a reader’s perspective, quite difficult. Even within fanfiction, where a line of dialogue (especially if accompanied by a dialogue tag or swiftly followed by a reference to the speaker) gives a lot more information to the reader than in original fiction, opening with dialogue still shoves the reader directly into the deep end of the scene, with very little to orient her. WHERE is the speaker? WHO is being addressed in the dialogue? WHAT is the context of the conversation? Who ELSE might be present in the scene?

There are reasons you might want to throw the reader in the aforementioned deep-end. Maybe it’s an in media res situation and you want to emphasize the overwhelming nature of the action—starting a scene with “Get down!” for example. Or maybe the overall mood is one of disorientation or floating or uncertainty, and you want to create the same effect in the reader.

But I think if you’re starting a scene with dialogue because that’s the first thing that comes to mind for you—the person who conveniently already has the setting, character list, and even future plot already in mind—and it’s just simplest and easiest to start that way, you’re doing a disservice to the reader.

For example, I actually am planning to start the next chapter of the Sleeping Beauty AU with dialogue. My POV character is in a room with multiple other characters, and she’s examining something meaningful to her and not fully listening to the conversation around her. So I want the dialogue to float around in the background, to feel unmoored, and to stand in contrast to the very precise, detailed thoughts and memories that she’s experiencing, which are grounded in physical sensations like touch.

I haven’t quite gotten it to work yet, though, in part because opening with dialogue and doing it well is, in my opinion, quite hard. The difficulty lies in alleviating the challenges the reader is experiencing and making the text fluid and easy to picture. You need to get all of that scene-setting information—the who, what, when, where, and why—in very quickly, but without being jarring. In this scene in particular, I have multiple characters, all in a comparatively unusual location, and I need to establish where they are, who exactly is there, how they’ve come to meet my POV character (which happens ‘off screen’ between the end of Ch5 and the beginning of Ch6), all on top of the character’s thoughts and feelings.

I know all of this very well. To picture the scene in my own head takes only a moment. I just think about it and I see all seven of the characters, where they’re sitting, how they’re positioned, what their facial expressions are, and I also know roughly what each of them is thinking and feeling. To describe all of this in words would take several sentences. Do I put all those sentences on the front end? Do I weave them in among other description and dialogue? Is all of it even necessary—maybe we don’t need to know who’s sitting in what order on the couch, for example.

I’ve gone over a couple of different ways to do this in my head, and I’m sure it is possible, but I’m struggling to get it all down in a coherent way. (Admittedly, I’ve only made one solid attempt. As I was describing above, I’m probably going to jump in with several false starts, and then it will suddenly click.)

My initial attempt to set up the scene relied heavily on dialogue, but when I read it over, what sounded snappy and interesting in my head just fell completely flat—because it lacked context and thus, any meaning. I think the gulf between how dialogue openings feel to the writer and how they feel to the reader is large. To the writer, they feel easy and natural. To the reader, they can feel forced and, contrary to the writer’s intention, serve as an additional reminder that this is a constructed narrative rather than an immersive experience—the opposite of natural. In other words, as I said, they’re a highly stylized form of writing.

To illustrate, this was my first try at the Chapter 6 intro:

"I still can't believe it," a lightly awed voice says from somewhere behind Clarke. "The Princess of Alpha Station really used to live in our quarters.”

She pictures Miller, sunk into the couch cushions, slowly shaking his head, the expression on his face equal parts satisfied and amused.

"Really? That's what you think is the oddest part of all this?"

"Yeah, Bry, I do. Would you prefer I gloat? About being right this whole time? Who says she's just a legend now?"

My current idea is to still start with dialogue, but to move back into a significant amount of description pretty immediately afterward, and only then add more dialogue. Even this is a little hazy, since I haven’t thought much about this fic in a while. But I do think it’s quite clear this won’t work.

As for how I DO start chapters/scenes/stories… I like to start with a strong image that sets the scene and mood of the story, and hopefully leaves the reader wanting to know more. Here are some examples of story openings I’ve written recently, which I like a lot:

When Bellamy is angered, deafening bouts of thunder shake the heavens.

The cawing of the crows—high, sharp, angry shots of sound. The buzzing of the telephone wires.

Marcus Kane's body shows up again in June, skeletal and rotting, six months after his disappearance at the turn of the year.

The sky has turned a bruised yellow, like the inside of a plum, by the time Bellamy starts seeing the robots in the fields.

At noon on the third-to-last day before Christmas, Murphy leaves the cafe, with a single peppermint mocha and a small paper bag, and heads right, walking parallel to the ocean.

The last one doesn’t seem as interesting but consider: you get the who, what, when, and where, the mystery of the paper bag and where he might be going, and also the immediate understanding that this is probably going to be a Fluffy Beach Christmas story—which is correct, that’s exactly what it is.

I’m not saying that I’m always creative or unique. I often start stories off with descriptions of the weather. And I have committed the ~~cardinal sin~~ of starting with a character waking up, heaven forbid. I don’t have any hard and fast rules for myself other than that I try to avoid dialogue, or at least, be careful about its use (another example: I use dialogue to start off Mad Women—but it reads like narration, until it’s rudely interrupted, a sort of in-joke/reference/twist). I try to match the mood of the story and, as I said, include something that will create a question for the reader, some version of why, that the rest of the story will answer.

*

Day 61: Do you describe the weather? Try changing a scene you wrote by adding weather effects.

After writing a book for the last question, here’s an easy one! Yes, I describe the weather. A lot. Often. In detail.

(Though if we’re talking about the Sleeping Beauty AU as my “current wip,” I actually don’t do much weather describing there, because 4 of the 6 chapters take place in a location with no weather.)

 *

Day 62: What is your favorite thing to write about?

Honestly I like to write about people being dramatic about their emotions. That’s what I’ve discovered while writing my surprisingly self-indulgent Troped fic: I want to describe people acting as if Everything was the Most Ever. It’s fun. Part of this is getting into the usual romantic tropes—longing, pining, exaggerated touches and glances and the like—but why stop at romance when you also have stuff like The Weather and Random Feelings to contemplate?

I also like setting scenes that I find soothing, which is part of why I like Seasonal Stories.

 *

Day 63: Are you more of a drabble/flash or a longfic/novel kind of writer?

I’m in the middle. I mostly write one-shots, and I’ve noticed that a lot of them fall in the 4-6k range. Long one-shots can get all the way to 10-12k but I feel like most of those are, semi-objectively speaking, too long, and would probably have been stronger if they were pruned down to 6k, or, better yet, never made it past 6k in the first place.

I have written some multi-chapters, or, uh, started multi-chapters, but I’m VERY bad at it. The only thing that makes me slightly less bad is being stubborn. Hence the existence of a WIP that I’ve had going for over 10 years now and refuse to call abandoned. Hence this year’s extended angst about the Sleeping Beauty AU, which is only 6 chapters but has taken me literally years to write. I don’t honestly know if I’ve ever finished a multi-chapter WIP, like, properly speaking. I’ve done some short multi-chapters that I wrote as if they were one-shots and then split up for ease of reading or, I dunno, just because. I wrote a Big Bang once, but it’s not very good. Nor very long, if I remember correctly. Generally speaking I probably shouldn’t be allowed to write novels lol—I have a lot of them in my ‘I should write this one day’ idea list—but as it so happens, no one can stop me, so here we are. I definitely have wild fantasies of writing multi-chapters with ease but I’m just a very slow writer and my ideas can’t keep up with my actual-writing. Thus one shots are much easier than multi-chaps, and one-shots on a deadline are much easier than ‘I’ll finish this whenever’ one-shots. One-shots written for events or exchanges also tend to be shorter (and, imo, better) because of the deadlines they’re written on, and are thus more likely to hit that sweet 4-6k spot than stories where I’m allowed to ramble at will.

All that said, I ALSO write a good number of drabbles/writing exercises. I used to write them more often than I do now, but still over the last five years I’ve produced 110,000+ words in free-standing scenes so like… that’s also a thing I guess.

[bang-me-bangtan-style]

UNKNOWN 01

Paring: Jeon jungkook x reader

Genre: smut, friends to lovers, unexpected love

Summery: what if the famous front man of bangtan accidentally texts the wrong number thinking your his cheating girlfriend only it’s really you?

Notes: this story has no triggers. Just smut. Read at your own risk

                                                      *Unedited*

                                                    today  2:11 am  

+82 (02) 491-7265: I can't fucking believe you Lee Jieun! Did you really think that I wouldn't find out? That I would be blinded by the evil that is you. When was it that you thought it was okay to cheat on me? To break my heart? I wanted to be a good man for you! I changed my self for you now I don't know who I am anymore! For you even though I was weak I could pretend to be strong. Love is mad. This is so mad. I loved you so much and now what am I left with. Fake love? It's funny how I thought I could trust you. Give you everything, love you. But all I was left with was fake love. Thanks for destroying me. Destroying us. Read at 9:32am

                                                  Today 9:34 am

You: I think you got the wrong number..... Read at. 9:34 am

+82 (02) 491-7265: quit the bullshit Jieun! Why did you change your number like I wouldn't find out. Like I wouldn't be seeing you next week at the gaeyo dae jun awards? Like we won't have to be in the same room ever again!

••• typing

You : seriously You got the wrong number, im not lee Jieun.

+82 (02) 491-7265:

•••

+82 (02) 491-7265:

The person on the other side stopped texting and you wondered who this mysterious man was? Was this lee Jieun the famous IU? If so could this man be one of her rumored to be boyfriends? This stranger did say that they would see each other at gaeyo daejun a place for celebrities.... nah that's like a one in a million chance a celebrity could be texting you. Get it together.

+82 (02) 491-7265: wow you really stooped a low one Jieun 👏🏻👏🏻 thanks for continuously keeping up your act. You don't know anything right? You didn't cheat right? You love me still right?

You: dude

You: I'm not this Jieun girl.

+82 (02) 491-7265:

•••

+82 (02) 491-7265:

You threw your phone across the bed. Your hair disheveled. Light from the early morning peeked three the blinds and you hoped to start the day off right. But now you had someone harassing you claiming that you were a cheating slut named Jieun.

You peeked to see if the perpetrator had hung up or not. They hadn't. What was you supposed to do? Answer? No this was a stranger. Plus this stranger was angry.

Missed FaceTime call...

+82 (02) 491-7265: What are you so afraid of Jieun? Can't answer because it's really you. Can't face the truth. Can't look me in my eyes now? Don't wanna feel guilty for making me hurt for you? ANSWER THE FUCKING PHONE. Malhaebwa! Tell me why you did this? Tell me why you got me over here crying over you? Tell me why you hurt me. Show your self! Delivered

You didn't dare look at the message. You only read it from the lock screen not knowing what to do or say to this person anymore. He was going ballistic over this one particular girl and you weren't her. It wasn't your problem. All you had to do was block him and be on your way. You didn't have to keep running in circles trying to get him to understand that you weren't who he thought you was.

Plus this other girl sounds awful. You would never have the heart to cheat on someone and break their heart. You kind of felt bad for the poor guy. Whoever he was.

+82 (02) 491-7265: oh no don't ignore me now! Your going have to deal with the consequences of your actions. Don't think that you can do whatever you want and get away with it. Delivered

+82 (02) 491-7265: ANSWER THE FUCKING PHONE YOU CHEATING SLUT. Delivered

+82 (02) 491-7265: explain to me this! What was I to you? Was I anything to you at all? How come I fell for you so hard and lost myself only for you to give your self to someone else? Delivered +82 (02) 491-7265: tell me this why can't I see myself without you? What even is life now. I've been shooken up and I feel dysfunctional. I hate that guy. If I ever find out who his I'll beat his ass. Read at 9:56 am

You: •••

You: I swear I'm not Jieun. I'm y/n

Read at 9:56am

+82 (02) 491-7265: •••

+82 (02) 491-7265: prove it. Read at 9:57am

You: fine.

You: how what do you want me to do so you'll leave me alone?

read at 9:56

Your heart drop out of your chest and you didn't know what you could possibly do in a situation like this. You wanted to prove him wrong so he would stop harassing you but at the same time you just woke up and you looked a mess. Not that you had to impressed the poor boy but you would never let anyone just see you like this.

You rushed to the bathroom and combed your hair and brushed your teeth. Your phone kept going off in the background and you ignored it as you tried to make your self presentable.

He kept calling and calling as you tried to go as fast as you could. You pulled your hair back and quickly washed your face and payed it dry. You ran out to pick up your phone.

2 missed calls from unknown

You ran back to the bathroom to put some mascara on lightly.

You came back out and he had hung up again.

+82 (02) 491-7265: answer if you are who you say you are JIEUN

you: •••

You began typing A reply but-

You hesitated but continued anyways accepting the call from the infuriated man.

Connecting.....

You held your breath with every second about to meet the man from the other side not exactly knowing what to do next.

He paused as he took you and realizing who you were and NOT Jieun. He had made a mess and was unable to go back now. You wanted to smirk but at the same time you couldn't breath. There on your phone was the Jeon jungkook front man of 방탄소년단. You tried not to freak out so the only thing you could do was stair.

"I don't know what to say other that sorry for harassing you," he looked down looking sad more that angry. He seemed disappointed like he hoped you were her. Which was sad because he shouldn't want to see someone who cheated on him.

"I-it's okay, are you satisfied now so we can part ways." You wanted to run, run as far as way as you could from this situation this was one hell of a morning. Harassment and now you were harboring a deep secret that you wish you could forget.

He looked back up at you and you could see the hurt in his eyes and you felt bad. "Yeah I'm okay, but now I feel worse," he said stairing intently at you.

Your stomach turned and you couldn't sit still your eyes bouncing everywhere but his. "Why?"

"Because ..."

you raised your eyebrows waiting for him to continue.

"Because now you know who I am and what is going on how will I know you won't go to the tabloids and expose me and Jieun?"

You knew this was coming. Damn it you should have never answerd this call you should have never thought that him seeing you would fix everything it only made it worse. Like said you could have just blocked him and called it a day. You would have rolled out of bed just fine and now you were stairing into the eyes of a international celebrity.

This was a big no no.

"I won't I promise."

"That's what they all say," he sighed.

"How much money do you want yo stay quiet? How much would it take for you to keep your word,"

You drew your head back. " this is none of my business is has nothing to do with me don't drag me into this! You texted me and went off and exposed your self without checking yo make sure that it was her! I want no part of this and I don't wnat your money.

"Why because the magazines will give you more?"

"No because I'm not the type to take money from strangers or anyone for that matter. Listen I don't wnat your money I'll keep my word for free. I'll delete your number and pretend this never happened.

"Oh but it did,"

You sighed. You were annoyed.

There was a knock at the door from jungkooks side of the call. "We're leaving in an hour."

You knew that voice you wish you didn't.

"Okay, hyung," jungkook said his head turned around. "Oh wait jin hyung I won't be down for breakfast I feel a little sick."

"Okay, but get some rest before we all leave,"

Dae"

He turned back towards the camera and he looked at you. "I'll figure somthing out. You'll hear from me again. Don't change your number aresseo? I gotta go so I can get ready for today's schedules talk to you soon,"

He quickly hung up and your phone went back the home screen.

Great what have you Diddley done?

yes, hi. i started a new book. yes i haven't finished my other ones. yes ill eventually finish them. just roll along with it. if you follow me you should know by now that i cant get my life together, and i love starting new things just to not finish them. but you still love me right? i just have so many ideas and if i start them then eventually ill finish them lol

but tell me what you think? should i continue? does this style plot seem interesting? comment give feed back or ill start something else new! lol

[kitwilsonsass]

Since I’ve been putting it off due to lingering sicky feels, etc.

Here’s the far too long and far too unedited and written at 4am vacation rundown NO ONE ASKED FOR! (huzzah!)

So, yeah. I arrived at the new Amtrak station in the city which is a major upgrade from the trailer park reject of station the old one was. Way roomier. Could use a coffee stand or something but yeah. Improvement. Had to go underground under the tracks and back up to get to the very cold surface, it must suck in the winter.

About an hour, hour and a half into the trip I quickly realized that a.) all I wanted to do was sleep, and b.) that my throat was burning. I assumed this was due to the absurdly cold, non-stop dry ass air conditioning, but no. This bitch got sick for her entire trip. On the plus side I had the seats to myself for the majority of the trip, but still. I barely watched any CR or anything because I was miserable the entire time. Ya don’t wanna be miserable for 10+ hours on a train.

Got to Boston, to @conniecorleone‘s frightening apartment stairs. My bag was way too heavy and she troopered through taking it up them for me without dying. So if you ever need a tank in battle, call Rachel.

Hung out a little. Ordered some Five Guys. Watched a couple episodes of the first season of American Horror Story. I get the appeal but also never needed to see Dermot Mulroney’s ass.

Rach was busy with work stuff a lot early in the week, not helped by some dumbass school shooting threat the week before and kept apologizing while still going above and beyond as a hostess while I just felt guilty for getting snot on her sheets.

Day two I colored a bit. I can do a wicked water gradient with erasable colored pencils, for the record. Hung out. Relaxed. Used a lot of Zicam and Advil. Then we were on way to The Middle East for her conehead space boyfriend.

We waited like, an hour? In the chilly mist outside? The show started like AN HOUR LATE after that. The venue was nice but man, the mood was getting close to dead at points, especially since, again, FUCKIN SICK. But Planet Booty came on and while, a little on the bordering too raunchy side, put on a fucking amazing live show. Dylan has an absurd amount of energy that should be bottled and sold, but if it were it might result in the orgypocalypse. I saw a youtube comment that said he’s ‘very touchy lol’ and truer words never spoken. That man will grind on you and sing directly in your earlobe with his tongue if you are front row and happily, I was not. Yet somehow I still ended up with his sweat on my sweater sleeve thanks to someone being a dumbass and high fiving him after their set and not being able to handle the consequences. Ahem.

THEN TWRP TOOK LIKE ANOTHER GODDAMN HALF HOUR???

But I FORGIVE THEM because they were GREAT and played Daft Punk’s Celebrate in honor of motherfuckin Canadian Thanksgiving so... fine... I guess. My only complaint is they didn’t do The Perfect Product even though I get that’s probably a weird thing to do live. Also minimal keytar and Sung almost decapitated himself but you know... it happens. They DID do Tactile Sensation though which is a fucking jam. And Atomic Karate, ofc. And Meouch broke his fucking bass string which is like? Fucking hardcore? He came down like a foot away from us at one point. It was dope. They’re amazing live and have no right to be for dudes in ridiculous robot costumes playing synth in the year 2018 and rolling around stage on a hoverboard. Sadly I brought minimal memory cardage this year and didn’t get a lot of good video of them.

Afterwards, despite *someone* almost passing out, we hung out in the merch lines and did NOT accidentally cut ahead this time. I got a free signed poster because it was my birthday vacation ayyyyy and bought a couple EPs and the Together Through Time album. Then hopped over the PB’s line and got two hugs from Dylan who hung out and talked to/hugged/got selfies with every single person who got into line there and just? Good dude. Pure dude. Awful stache but... thumbs up human being. I got their Naked album and we headed out back to the apartment and some delivered Dominos (which was the only good Dominos I’ve ever had in my life.)

Day three I accidentally slept until like 4pm. Literally what else did we do that day? I cannot remember for the life of me. We might have went to Dunkin at like 9pm and she showed me a weird omnipotent plastic ear hanging on an electric wire? Was that this day? I have no fucking idea. Her Netflix and supply of Puffs tissues were my best friends this trip okay.

Day four she went to class and I relaxed and intended to walk to the mall. Unfortunately, my sick bleh hit and I didn’t feel up to going until about ten minutes before she got back. So we ended up heading over there together. I made her try Baja Blast, as is customary in my nation, and got her to try some green matte lipstick. Success. I was highkey hoping they would have a Build-A-Bear in the joint but they didn’t. They did have a Newbury though, that had the six-inch Roadhog pop which I’ve had a hard time finding locally, so I said fuck it and bought it.

That night was MST3k live! The theater was old as dirt. The kind of old as dirt where the flooring is bowing in. They had real strict rules on cameras and shit, which I get for the sake of spoilers but c’mon.... c’mon. Their merch sucked unfortunately though, so I didn’t waste any money on anything (for some reason they had 2017 tour stuff? It’s... not 2017?). The show itself was good, though I was wondering before it started how sick they must get of doing the same movie in different towns almost every other night. Pretty quickly realized oh, yeah, a lot of this show was likely pre-riffed. They did pull a kid from the stage at one point so he could guest riff off a script from Joel, which I’m thinking was a clever little insert fraction of the riff they did live between segments. I could be wrong, but on that front, it felt a little cheap. But it was still fun to see the boys and the bots live and have jokes cracked about not being able to afford the villains for the tour. And The Brain itself was........ I don’t know what I was expecting but..... it sure was.... something. The novelty was worth it and I will still gladly marry Crow T. Robot.

We went across the street to a little pub stop that was I think called Rock Bottom after that and got some much needed late night food. For some reason my brain was like “man, I could go for chicken fried steak right now” and don’t you know IT WAS ON THE FUCKIN MENU? WITH GARLIC CHEDDER MASHED POTATOES? Boston, much like with wings, does not know what country gravy is, but it was still everything I fucking wanted and did not expect to find, so A+. Also I was wearing a dress with shorts underneath it and stuck to the goddamn stool. Such is life.

Day five was rainy and miserable. I tagged along to university with Rach and it sucked, honestly. Being on a campus makes me feel awkward and the whole still being sick thing didn’t help. I ended up taking a walk way around the block to a Starbucks and getting the worst fucking frap I’ve ever paid too much money for. Went back around. Sat in the library. Felt even shittier. Started googling food places. Yard House wasn’t far but I didn’t want to deal with crossing a lot of traffic, especially if the rain started back up (it did, with a vengeance). So I ended up back around the block at some Olive Garden-esque fake Italian place with not an Italian in sight called Bertucci’s for some bland chicken-less fettuchini alfredo (because, as I’d reasoned with myself, I had chicken three times the day before). It was dimly lit, I had a booth to myself, and the water had the sweet skullet and braided beard combo I had liveblogged. People kept complimenting my tattoo. It was nice and no one seemed overly bothered that I was clearly killing time until I spent probably way too long in the restroom after trying to look alive. I tipped the dude ten bucks and left in the pouring rain with my umbrella.

From her school we took the world’s longest Uber to Parts Fucking Unknown in awful traffic and rain to find a Double Tree where @freakishlytallaustralian‘s parents were staying for a hot minute during their brief little US tour on their way to Europe. I’ve never met Mandi in person, but I’ve now met her parents who say she’s gotten to know a good bloke. She looks exactly like her mom. They were sweet. Anxious but sweet. And I am a freak who doesn’t talk and was sick trying to seem presentable at the bare minimum capacity.

Back ~home~ we ordered some JP Licks ice cream (BROWNIE BROWNIE BATTER!!! BROWNIE. BROWNIE. BATTER.), I watched CR and some stupid videos on the internet with her. Got some sleep. Sort of. Barely.

Despite Matt Mercer nearly succeeding at lulling me to sleep and eating my dreams, it didn’t happen, and I could not get comfortable for the life of me. The “coughing every five seconds in bed” started this night and was not having mercy. So I opted out of another day of hanging around campus to try and get some more rest. It didn’t really work, but I did eventually get a solid three hours or so, so it was something.

As the day progressed it was onward to the Science Museum to meet Ron the T-Rex. There was a wedding happening. How appropriate, for Bravier funko pops to have come along on the day of a blessed union. Coincidence? I think not. A turtle kept falling off a branch when he was trying to nap. There was some space stuff. It wasn’t great. But I got a little stuffed dinosaur and that’s Important.

From there we hit up the same movie theater we went to the year before and saw Bad Times At The El Royale. Do recommend. Chris Hemsworth as a Charles Manson was not something I ever thought I’d see, and I still don’t understand it, but it rather predictably works for me, so we’ll leave it at that. Good movie, good performances, good pacing and editing that could have easily not been. See it, it’s fun. Not perfect, but fun.

It was COLD AS BALLS after the movie and neither of us brought jackets or sweaters, so the walk to the train station and back ~home~ was a chilly one. We stopped in, got some warmth, and headed down the road past her old place to a bar. If we didn’t appreciate TWRP and PB enough already, the band she had to pay cover for us to get in for just to pick up food were about 8 upper middle aged men playing every instrument in the book. Afropunk, they said. No, we said. Offkey, we said. This place was dark as shit and loud as shit but you know what? They KNEW WHAT REAL, HOT CHICKEN WINGS WERE and for that, I am appreciative dammit.

Went back, got some more Dominos, and was finally introduced to John Mulaney’s (or two of) comedy specials. He’s genius and I *understand* it now, tumblr. I get it. We ate way too much and did my laundry.

The week had come and gone way too soon and I felt robbed of my good time by how shitty I felt. Hopping on the train the next day (after a godawful uber ride) was just as depressing as the time before. And even though I didn’t feel as miserable as the trip there, and once again had a window seat to myself, I found myself curled up against my hoodie crying trying to fall asleep again knowing I was already headed back home.

Once the initial depression passed, the trip wasn’t bad. The iced latte was good. The Albany stop not as confusing the second time around. The WiFi kept me company. Eventually my aunt texted me asking if I wanted to hit up Stevie T’s on the way home because they were 24hr and neither of us had eaten all night. It was a plan. Get off, get food, come home, faceplant on my own big comfy bed, vow to deal with my dad’s drama in the morning and call it a night.

Then *that* happened. Yeah. Last year? Every stop, regardless of time of night, they made announcements. They came by, checked the marker above your seat, and if you were due off at the next stop told you it was coming up, would help with luggage if needed, and directed you to the correct door to exit the train. This year? Nothing. They decided to stop making announcements right before the Rochester stop, and no one came by in our car to tell us where to get off. Stopped, myself and the other person due off at that stop, a late-teens girl, went to the door at the front of our car where every other stop had gotten off before us. We assumed since no one said differently, and no attendants were around, that must be it. We were idiots. Because by the time we realized hey, they’re not going to open this door and we should go to the far other end of the train, it was already moving again en route to Buffalo.

We found ourselves in the dining booths by the cafe car while the staff made vague remarks and the conductor acted like it wasn’t his problem. My aunt on the phone talked to the Rochester station, we tried to claim I didn’t even have a reservation until about two other people looked up my ticket. They said it was up to the conductor to get us a cab home, he laughed at us, claimed to know nothing about any of that, and asked if were were going to buy the bus tickets the other girl was looking up. The bus for 3am, in downtown Buffalo, nowhere near the station. When we got off the staff at the Depew station was a lot more sympathetic, and said since nothing else was being offered he would put us on the next train back home, but since it was a Sunday morning there was no train to Rochester until roughly 7:45am. It was about 1:30 at this point. I felt awful for encouraging the other girl not to pay for two ubers and a bus ticket with the only alternative being offered to sit alone in an empty, unstaffed station in the middle of the night for hours. And between the situation, being tired and still sick, and dealing with my aunt calling hotels only to get put on hold and lose the room she was trying to reserve - I put my bags in a corner, found the restroom, and had a panic attack. I don’t know why, but those tend to be stupid like that. It’s not even like I was scared, or confused, or that worried myself. I started out very ‘whatever, I’ll just get a room or stay in the station, I’m pissed but whatever’. But something about the constant calls and texts and my battery nearing 0 had me stressed and I was crying like a bitch. I just wanted to fucking sleep, and I knew that wouldn’t happen in a train station with nothing but some benches, a restroom, and a vending machine.

Rach suggested an alternative I felt guilty about taking but ended up going for: Get to her parents house just outside Buffalo, get their spare key, and sleep on their couch while they’re out of town with their blessing. So I called an Uber, and the first one passed me by, with the gps fucking up and saying I should be picked up ON THE TRAIN TRACKS. The second guy was smart enough to come to the cab pickup out front and was really cool. He said he was just thankful I wasn’t a fucked up drunk college party kid and the first all night. He didn’t comment on how I probably definitely looked like I’d just been broken up with in the world’s worst romcom. It was over 20 bucks and I tipped him the max. Found my way inside, set up the couch, and continued my momentarily on hold panic until I eventually passed out. My Aunt came to pick me up in the morning, I got carsick, we had mediocre diner breakfast and what’s after that isn’t news worth talking about. Isn’t it bad enough the tail end of the trip took up like a third of this post?

All in all... it felt like a disaster. I’m not gonna lie. In weird ways the stars aligned that TWRP would end up on Conan the night of their show and have to reschedule to the day I came to town, but I paid for it with otherwise bad timing and my body deciding against me having a good time. Fun was had, don’t get me wrong. The good was good and any chance to get away from... this, is appreciated, but it just seemed like everything went awry. 

Mucho thanks to @conniecorleone again, for letting me crash on the futon and be my usual bland self, even blander while ill, and also buying me expensive cold syrup and a-many ubers.

We’ll see if Massachusetts and I ever cross paths again.

[camille-marshall-blog]

Birthday Ficlet Part #2

Alternately Titled: They’ll Tell The Story of Tonight

a/n: hi hola hello! I’M BACK with another Marshall Birthday Fic which features some of the major events that had happened during the surprise party. I just really want to thank everyone who had took the time to join the RP and I hope I kinda do justice for what had happened XD Sorry that I didn’t really write about the T or D because lol, this fic would be even longer and I think I just might die from so much writing. ANYWAY, thank you so much for coming to the party! This fic has mentions of @ladyvenusvale, @eloiseduval, @clove-teasdale, @fleur-quinn, @brooks-schreave, @quinn-schreave, @mallory-schreave, @mistylane059, @jordan-maldez, @claraeclair @lady-poppy-verona and mini cameo by @nathaniel-schreave.  GUYS, THANK YOU SO MUCH, IT WAS FUN!!! Also, if I haven’t mentioned you yet, don’t worry!! There’s still Part #3- the last and final installment to Marshall’s Birthday Trilogy. Okay, I think I’m talking too much again OKAY BYEEE ENJOY THIS UNEDITED MESS <3 (4022 words)

Just as I was tucked into my favorite nook, having finished a video call from the Silver Bullets in South Korea (who had orchestrated a spectacular birthday greeting in the matching pajamas I had sent to them for Christmas), Venus pops into my room with a smile.

“Marshall darling,” she practically sings out and I look up from my phone to greet her. We didn’t get to really talk the whole day today

“Greetings and Salutations, Vee.” I reply back.

Vee steps inside with the door open with another grin- why do I feel like she had something up her sleeve? That was a loaded smile.

“So...you know how it's your birthday....I sort of threw you a party in my room with all the Selected so surprise! And I love you!” Venus quickly rambles gesturing to the door, and my jaw practically drops at her words.

“Wait… a party?!” I stand from my chair, walking towards Venus. I couldn’t believe that Venus was throwing a party for my birthday. Sure I celebrated my birthday- chocolate cake with candles, tiny party hat for the festivity, maybe a little ice cream, but I’ve never really had people set up a party just for me.

“Yes a party - you do deserve the best, come on you're keeping everyone waiting!” Venus gestures to the door again.

I begin to follow her out the door putting my phone inside my back pocket. “Whoa, okay…. okay..”

Just as Vee leads me into her room across the hall, I hear yells of surprise from everyone waving their hands and smiling at the sight of me. Good lord help me not be so awkward here.

I cover my mouth in shock of the sight to behold- literally most of the Selected girls were there and jumping in excitement. There was Fleur, Misty, Jordan, Clove, Eloise,

“Hi… everyone!” I say waving at everyone’s direction still covering my mouth. I couldn’t believe Vee had organized all this, and everyone was here! Wow! I didn’t think this many people would want to go to a party for me, this was… surreal.

I feel an arm sling around me, “What do you think?” Vee gestures to her decorated room and I’m just amazed at how much effort she had put into this- my own mother has never put this much effort into a birthday. The gliterring decorations gave it a vibe that only Vee could pull off but she had made sure to put things familiar to me that made it seem like a bedazzled military base.

“Well, I feel like I'm in one of my old bases... just... sparklier. “ I comment looking around and taking in Vee’s transformed room. It was all so sparkly.

In the background I could hear Clove asking about the cupcakes and everyone laughing at the blunt question.

“I wouldn’t mind cupcakes right about now, “ Misty laughs before turning to me, “Happy 20th Marshall, by the way.”

“Oh, thanks Misty.”

What followed was another flurry of personal greetings from everyone, including the usually animated Fleur who asked about my age.

Just as I was about to get myself one of the cupcakes with tiny airplanes on top of it, I hear Clove declare that I should show one of my flight routines to everyone- and I mentally laugh at trying to attempt a routine alone- but everyone seems to like the idea, including Vee.

“Flight routines..well ahh.. anybody have a plane on standby?” I ask sarcastically- all these girls were definitely something.

After a few jokes of leaving planes and not having any planes, Clove presents one of the tiny planes on the cupcakes.

“Plane.”

“Clove likes to play with toy cars and planes apparently.” Eloise side comments in a teasing tone.

“I’m just giving a suggestion.” Clove defends herself, “It has a plane on it.”

“Pffft... fine- I can make due with the cupcakes.” I shake my head with a laugh at their small banter.

“So…” I separate about six cupcakes with planes on them and hold two up in my hands. Uh… I guess I was going to show them the first formation the Bullets and I had learned after basic training. “I'm usually in a formation of six- that's how many we are the squad-”

Just as I was explaining the routine to everyone and everyone was seemingly amazed by the simple formation I was showing to them, I sensed that more people had come into the party.

I arrange the cupcakes into a V shape, “The first formation has to be a V for the six of us, and I'm this one,” I point to one of the cupcakes at the tip.

“V as in me?” I hear Venus giggle and I roll my eyes in reply.

“Don’t flatter yourself, Vale.”

I continue explaining the formation, rearranging cupcakes here and there to explain how as a squad we could do a basic air show.

As I finish up, Venus continues to go through whatever program she had in mind for my party.

“So for the next part of our program, I will be entertaining you all - just give me a second to change.” she declares before doing a quick change rivaled only by Clark Kent.

“SURPRISE MARS!” The beauty guru then pops out of the bathroom wearing a track suit with a camouflage print on it and my jaw just DROPS. “I'll be doing a segment on impersonating our very own Camille Marshall.”

“Oh God, this should be fun…” Poppy comments as we all watch in mild horror at what Venus was going to do (okay, the mild horror was more on me) .

“OH GOOD LORD,” I exclaim as cover my eyes with my hands, hoping to just get through the impersonation without dying of embarrassment.

Venus deepens her voice as she starts her act, “Hi. I'm Marshall and I brood a lot.”

“I DO NOT BROOD,” I defend myself… okay.. maybe I do get caught up in my own thoughts and not end up talking every once in a while… but ugh okay, there was only one way to save face here.

“…a lot.” I correct Venus earning laughter throughout the room.

“Don’t forget the salutations,” Clove mumbles.

“Salutations, I also think about flying planes a lot.” Vee says in her deepened voice (I didn’t have a super deep voice, it was just modulated a lot but that’s beyond the point). Venus then decides to add some plane noises for extra comedic effect. All I could do was try to move my jaw as I tried to think of something else to defend myself with.

“Is she also a plane?”

In her most stoic and deep voice, Vee adds “I love planes so much I might as well be one”

“What’s truly sad is how accurate it is…” Poppy comments and I suddenly regain my ability to speak.

“IT'S "GREETINGS AND SALUTATIONS" FYI.” I correct again. For some reason, that kind of greeting had stuck to me since I was a kid.

Everyone continues to laugh at Venus’ impression of me, and I can’t help but shake my head in mock horror. I feel so exposed.

A knock on the door catches our attention and Venus opens it to the sight of three of Nate’s siblings: Quinn, Brooks, and Mal. Wow, were they here for the party? I shouldn’t be asking that, Brooks had a present in his hands. Nice sleuthing Sherlock.

Venus audibly gasps, “Good evening your highnesses.”

And everyone else in the room has a brief moment of shock at the royals outside the bedroom door, all of us scrambling to follow a Venus who dipped into one of her curtsies.

On the bright side, my initial reaction wasn’t to salute them… so I’ve obviously made progress in lessons with Lady Collette, but I needed to improve my reaction time when curtsying. Maybe later.

“Hello! We heard there was a birthday.” Quinn greets all of us with a smile while Mal looked like she was going to kill someone and Brooks looked like his usual awkward self which I related to some level.

“Please don’t curtsy!” Brooks exclaims to the attention of most of the girls present. Fleur, Jordan, and Clove didn’t seem to take their eyes off him. Poppy and Mal were having some stare down.

“Yes there is! Our very own Mars!” Vee gestures to me, and I curtsy at their attention.

“Hi there your highnesses.” Not one of my best greetings, quite honestly.

“Great, we bought a present!” Quinn says.

“Can we go now?” Mal side comments before her older sister pushes through the door.

“Have a seat please, we were just doing a segment on appreciating Mars' best qualities.” Venus offers the royals somewhere to sit with her usual grace- damn, this girl was good at hosting people, being polite and all that. Quinn graciously took a seat while Mal seemed to be staring down Poppy.

After a brief mini-confrontation between Poppy and Mal, which thankfully didn’t end in me having to pull someone off another, an obviously uncomfortable Brooks approaches me with the present in hand.

“Merry Christmas- er... Happy Birthday.” Brooks says, handing me the gift.

“Ha! Thanks a lot, Prince Brooks.” I say setting the gifts down on one of the tables.

“Just Brooks, please.” he smiles at me before everyone’s attention is turned back to Venus.

“Now that's settled, shall I finish my segment? I have a special guest coming in after this.” she declares. “Err...of course all of you are special too,” Venus gestured towards the royals in the room, damn- I can’t believe how I had a prince and two princesses at my birthday. I could barely get a clown or a mascot in those old days.

Everyone receives Venus with amusement, telling her to continue.

“Special guest?” I ask… who would Venus invite? MY PARENTS? MY FATHER? I hope she didn’t invite them, they’re the worst party goers ever.

“As I was saying,” Venus says as she shifts her features into a stoic expression and squares her shoulders to make her stand a little more rigid, “I'm Marshall, I love planes, I'm a damn good soldier and best of all even though my friends pull stunts like this, I still love them.” she switches to her regular speaking voice,

“Give it up for the birthday girl everyone!” she claps and we all cheer and applaud her for her Oscar-worthy portrayal of me.

After the clapping dies down, Venus continues to speak,“Okay do you all want the special guest first or to mingle first? Because I've been told this special guest might make Mars cry.”

“Let the birthday girl choose then,” Fleur suggests.

“Marshall?? Showing emotion?? Sorry, I don’t know her,” Poppy laughs and I can’t actually help but laugh along with her.

“I never cry, okay?” I joke before taking a bite from a cupcake.

There was truth to that statement, I never really was the one to cry…? It must have been all those years being raised under the same roof as an admiral and an EMT pilot, my emotions were kinda better at being kept at bay thanks to their parenting.

“What if the puppy in the movie dies?” Clove asks which then begins a few more theories on things that could possibly make me cry, which included a suggestion of a plane crash and some reference to something on the internet I don’t quite understand.

“All of you discuss what would make her cry I'll go prepare our guest.” she says, slipping out of the door

While we wait for Venus to bring in the special guest, everyone starts to make small talk- and by that I mean .. somehow gang up on Brooks and turn him into the main topic of conversation, which was hilarious to watch as a bystander. From what I pick up from them, something is bound to go on between Brooks and one of the girls at this rate.

It was funny seeing Brooks get so bothered with all the attention.

Just as the banter was getting even more entertaining, Venus quickly comes in leaving the door slightly ajar.

“Now here is the one person that can make Marshall cry, introducing TAYLOR SWIFT!” Vee announces.

“TAYLOR IS HERE?!”I quickly whip my head up and I feel my knees buckle for a second.

“Courtesy of Eloise,” Venus informs me, “She knows all the best people in the industry.”

“ARE YOU TELLING ME,” I just can’t contain my excitement as I look to Eloise’s direction, “TAYLOR SWIFT IS HERE??”

Eloise flashes me a smile, “Consider it my gift to you, happy birthday!”

“YOU KNOW TAYLOR?” I really can’t get over it. Good lord, Taylor Swift is in this building right now.

“The one and only.” she laughs, and I figure that Eloise would know her- her family owned a huge record label.

Before I can even comprehend what’s going on, Taylor Swift casually walks through Venus’ door.

“Hi everyone!” Taylor Swift (OH MY GOD TAYLOR SWIFT) waves before walking up to me, “Hello, you must be Marshall, the birthday girl.” she says as she opens her arms to hug me.

“Heavens to Betsy! It’s Taylor!” I exclaim as I hug her. I couldn’t breathe, it was Taylor, Taylor Swift was hugging me. Oh MY GOD, try not to cry or freak out too much. It’s not like your childhood idol was standing right in front of you.

As I pull away from the hug, Taylor smiles. “I love you honey!”

“Oh my god, is that emotions?? from the Camille Marshall?” Poppy comments with a laugh.

Venus replies with a smirk, “Told you.”

I can’t believe it, Taylor Swift in the flesh. I needed to process this for a while as I sat on the ground for a while trying to not cry- Oh god, it was like my inner 12 year old was unleashed. “Oh my God, it's Taylor…”

“I’ve worshipped you since I was 12!” I mention, which right off the bat was already too much information. “I learned how to play guitar because of you! Oh My God!”

“Aw sweetie, I’m honoured.” Taylor smiles, and OH MY GOD she’s nicer than I thought she’d ever be.

“I think I’m gonna cry,” I say using one of my hands to cover my face and the other to fan myself. I’m pretty sure that I’m freaking everybody else out with this little freak out, but it appears that even Mal was star struck by Taylor.

“Oh don’t do that! I’m just so excited to be here for you” Taylor says patronizingly.

“I've wanted to meet you for years.” 8 years to be exact.

“Happy birthday Mars I'm going to check on the cake” Venus informs me before making another dash for the door and Taylor continues to socialize with the other guests at the party.

I’m surprised to see Mal walk up to me in a not-so-threatening manner- contrary to all the stories of terror told to me by the other girls. “You are SO lucky!”

“I KNOW, OH MY GOD! TAYLOR SWIFT IS LITERALLY HERE IN THE FLESH.” I turn to the equally excited princess (who I’m pretty sure was a fellow Swiftie) earning me an excited grin in reply.

Eloise laughs, “Well I think she has a song for you, any requests?”

I’m practically bouncing on my heels as I answer Eloise’s question. “OKAY I'M NOT 22 YET BUT CAN WE PLEASE SING TO 22?”

I’d request for any song from Taylor’s Red album- all of those songs were the soundtrack of many summers for me and 22 was my jam.

“You got it!” Taylor smiles as she finds a nice area to perform in and picks up her guitar. “This is, of course, dedicated to the birthday girl!”

As the pop country icon begins to sing, I remember that I owe Eloise a lot for bringing Taylor here, so I manage to walk to her side to show her some of my gratitude.

“Thanks a lot for bringing her and stuff.” I say smiling at her.

Eloise waves her hand casually, “Oh no problem! She was happy to do it”

“I-I just can't believe it! You don't know how grateful I am.” I admit to her, trying to thank her in the best way I can. We weren’t exactly the closest, but I still appreciated what she had done.

While I was trying to have a meaningful heart to heart with Eloise, I couldn’t help but overhear the bickering from the corner of the room.

“there is more than one corner in this room” Clove remarks bitingly.

“Go find one.” Brooks sharply responds.

“OR JUST GET A ROOM YOU TWO!” I yell back, obviously sensing some kind of tension between those two, nothing like that line to make people shut it oooor you know.. get together (though technically as a government employee, I’d have to advise against any possible treasonous act)

I try my best to sing along with Taylor, but I feel a bit of shame knowing that singing was never really my talent- but everyone seems to not die from my singing and patronizingly cheer us as Taylor continues to perform 22.

When we finish the song, Brooks yells for Clove to sing and I can’t help but laugh at the events that follow. Taylor was happy to share the stage with Clove but offered instead let Brooks sing a duet with her, to the entertainment of everyone else in this room- including me. God, those two nerds needed to get a room (though I’d advise against it, because technically, as a government employee, I had to advocate against any possible treason).

What proceeds to follow turns out to be a surprise duet whose chemistry was rivaled only by that opening song from the first High School Musical movie. It was a surprise that Clove and Brooks had known the harmonies to Everything Has Changed, and it was actually pretty decent for something that hasn’t been practiced. Apparently, everyone in the Schreave family somehow had unfairly good musical talent.

Just as their song ends and the two of them were recovering from the power of a Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran collab (and all their apparent embarrassment), everyone continues to mingle and have fun. Meanwhile, I was enjoying one the divine cupcakes as Quinn and Mal had quickly left that party, leaving Brooks on his own.

“It's okay Brooks you can have the cake!” Venus comes through the door with another bright smile on her face as she brings in the cake with Clara.

I’m shocked at its design, looking exactly like planes in formation mid air- a scene straight out of my memories. It was nothing short of spectacular as it all looked so realistic, and I know everyone was in awe of the cake’s design too.

Venus sets the cake the down on one of the tables before she walks up to me with a smirk, “So what did you think of the special guest?”  

“I may have cried... a little…” I reply.

“Mission Accomplished.” She smiles at me before she claps her hands together, “Okay! Lets cut this marvellous cake done by the amazing Clara Eclair!”

“Shout out to Clara. what a gal. you know how she’s doing? amazing sweetie.” Poppy remarks, and I laugh- she had the best side comments.

“Okay on the count of three let's sing! 1, 2, 3, Happy Birthday to you…” Venus leads as everyone begins to sing along. As meaningful as this moment was, I still felt the usual awkwardness of being the center of the “Happy Birthday” song- did I sing along? Clap my hands? Instead of those two usual options, I decide to smile waiting for the awkwardness to stop and live in the moment- until Brooks proceeds to raise his voice while singing, shocking everyone and leaving us in a fit of laughter.

As the song ends, I quickly blow the candles from the cake… and then I realize… “Oh shit, I forgot to make a wish.”

“Fuck, I shouldn't say shit.” I was in the presence of royalty and girls who all have me beat at etiquette. I cover my mouth, “Fuck, pardon my French.”

“Language!” Vee yells in mock sternness before giggling along with everyone else- I’m glad that no one took offense from my verbose vocabulary.

“Yeah, I'll just stop talking now.” I shrug, “Come on, let's eh cut the cake!”

As Venus begins to cut the cake, she dabs a bit of frosting on my nose, “I love you, hun!”

I wipe the frosting off my nose with a laugh, “Lots of love too, Vee.” God Bless Venus Vale.

We all enjoy the cake, marveling the baked good and arguing about who got pieces of the plane (which was also made out of chocolate) having fun before Venus suggests that we could begin the next part of her program, which was Truth or Dare.

Needless to say, I’ve never had a wilder game of Truth or Dare than the one I was playing with all these people. We were jumping into pools, fooling around, rapping, talking about old flames, teasing each other,and doing everything in good fun.

Throughout the night, we give each other dares more daring than the last one and enjoy each other’s company.

After performing a head stand for a dare, daring Clove to imitate someone, and the quick departure of Brooks, a knock on the door catches my attention and I walk to it- seeing that no one was going to get it (or everyone else was probably a little too drunk to hear it).

Opening the door, I’m caught off guard as I see Nate standing at the door with a poorly wrapped gift in his hands.

[ckwlofton]

A few years ago, Ronnie & I traveled to the upper northeast then through Canada and back to Chicago and down to home from there. We touched all of the states we hadn’t visited together except two, Kentucky and Delaware. So, when we decided to hit the road back to the northeast, we knew we had to make sure we hit both of those states. When we left the Memphis area, we headed to Park City, Kentucky to the Diamond Caverns RV Resort, a Thousand Trails park.

The RV park is inside the Mammoth Cave National Park, so that means one thing . . . you don’t get decent cell service or internet! That is something we are learning as we go. Things we have taken for granted in our little rural area of Louisiana are not always present in other areas of the country. We did have some cell service at our site, but as soon as you drove out of the park, you lost service and only picked it up if you went back in the direction of the interstate. Internet was spotty at best, but we were able to go to the clubhouse and use the park wifi with some success.

Speaking of the park clubhouse, meet my little friend that I walked right by on the sidewalk without ever seeing:

AFTER I am past it, Ronnie calmly says, “Christi, watch where you are walking.” A little late dude! Lol. He took the other sidewalk. Then, Ronnie kept asking if it was real or not because it wouldn’t move. The little guy did a good job of acting like he was fake until we moved on. I, of course, had to go back a little later and check to see if he had moved and he had.

Anyway, I digress. Back to the area. Ronnie and I are not “cave” people, so we didn’t do the cave tours. We both have claustrophobia to some extent and just avoid those type of places. If you like them, then this would be a great place to visit. We did visit the Mammoth Cave National Park and did the walk-thru area that tells all about the caves. It was quite interesting. And, my hubby is now the proud owner of a lifetime national park senior pass! There are advantages to getting older.

He’s a cutie, isn’t he??

Doyel Valley Overlook in Mammoth Cave National Park

Since we don’t do caves, we searched out something we do like to do . . . visit wineries. We found the Cave Valley Winery very near where our RV park was located. We enjoyed the wine tasting and the views from the winery. Plus, we went home with an awesome bottle of wine that we didn’t realize was very special until we got back and read the label in detail. The grapes in this wine were harvested during the August solar eclipse. How cool is that?

Cave Valley Winery

One of the days that we spent in Kentucky, we ventured into Bowling Green. After a visit to Camping World (a requisite thing to do when you own an RV, lol), we toured the Corsair Distillery. It was our first distillery tour and tasting experience. We enjoyed the tour a lot, the tasting not so much. Liquor is not our thing, and boy was theirs strong! Very interesting place, though.

  All-in-all, we had a good time in Kentucky. Glad we went, but not sure the area will be on our return list. Here is our park review for the Diamond Caverns RV Resort:

Overall: ***

Site: ***

Personnel: ****

Amenities: ***

Cost: ***** (TT park)

Plans to Return: probably not, just because I doubt we go back to the area

Comments: Site spots were very unlevel but did have fire rings and were decent sized. Had a pool, game room, and wifi in the clubhouse. The employees we saw were really nice, but we didn’t see them often, so it’s hard to really say much about them.

Next stop, North Carolina. Lots to talk about there, so look for the next post!

  **All photos in this post were taken with an iPhone X and are unedited

  Marking Kentucky Off the List A few years ago, Ronnie & I traveled to the upper northeast then through Canada and back to Chicago and down to home from there.