#wait I have a fancy ipad now. nothing can stop me

[acaciapines]

just finished the sketch for my scary dndads animatic. i am so very normal about this podcast (<- lying)

[gingerale2017]

Step 4: Get (Unsurprisingly) Surprised

The sleek black limousine rolled to a stop once the door reached Kai. He was surprised the driver possessed superior driving skills when the door rolled right in front of him.

Kai whistled as he stepped in because it was incredibly fancy compared to the other limo’s he's been in. Black, expensive-looking leather covered the seats. It smelled like a new car, one of his favorite smells. He smiled, though it wasn't the car that caused it.

Hannah was already inside, wearing a black suit and furiously typing on her iPad, “The suit looks good on you,” he chuckled.

She looked up and huffed, “I am trying to hook you up with Ms. Linetti is so you could have a good costume designer for once, Mr. Prince.”

“When are you going to call me Kai?”

“When I’m not your manager.”

Kai groaned, “We kissed last night, and you're going to pretend that nothing happened?” he got closer to her, his voice dropping, “You’re going to pretend that you didn't admit that you wished we were something,” he put a thumb on her cheek, “that I wished we were something too?”

Hannah sighed, shaking her long blond hair, “I want to kiss you again,” she whispered, leaning closer.

“Mhm,” their lips brushed.

She pushed him away, “But I’ve got a million things to do and then a million more,” she pecked his lips, startling him, “how about I kiss you after that?”

“How about we kiss now?”

“Ms. Linetti won't wait for anything.”

“Fine,” Kai receded into his seat, across from Hannah. He smiled at her. Wow, she's pretty, he thought for the millionth time since he met her.

“Kai?”

“Hmm?”

“Good luck at your concert.”

“That isn't until hours.”

“I know; it’s just that I will forget later,” she smiled quickly and then looked back at her screen.

“Oh, ok. Thanks, Hannah.”

“No problem,” he heard her tap the iPad as they rode to the stadium, “hey Kai?”

“Yes?”

“Will you go out with me,” Hannah had her determined look. If the answer doesn't go her way, she would ‘persuade you in the way rich, spoiled, only-children knew,’ her words.

Kai raised an eyebrow, “Didn’t I already ask that?”

“No.”

“Well then, will you go out with me?”

She scoffed, “Yes. Answer my question now.”

“Of course,” he chuckled again at her smile. He had an excellent feeling about this.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

“Would you like to spend the rest of the day with me?”

“What?” Cinder blinked. What did he just ask? It was so random yet so shocking. Why was she nervous about this? Kai just wants to hang out. With her. A celebrity wants to hang out with her. Ok, now she could see why she was nervous. But Cinder did want to hang out with him...

“Well, I have to make a couple of calls and cancel a few things, but other than that, I can do that,” yes, that was a calm, collected answer. Stars, she has to postpone Iko’s movie night; what would Iko say?

“Oh. Alright. I kind of expected to get rejected,” Kai chuckled. Oh, did he just ask her out on a date? What did she miss?

“Well, uh, let me blackmail my friend, then.”

After Cinder convinced Kinney, apologized to Iko (she had to go to a late class anyway), and asked Cress to check up on Kinney, Cinder was already in a taxi next to Kai (who was still wearing sunglasses) headed towards the movie theater.

“What do you want to watch?” he asked, playing with the seatbelt.

“Oh, I like action movies, so maybe something like that?”

“Yes, me too, I would like that,” they didn't drive in silence for most of the ride, which Cinder did not expect but appreciated. Once the taxi arrived at its location, they paid and left.

“I can buy my ticket, Kai,” she said as he was getting ready to pay.

“Oh, it's fine; I got it.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes, of course,” he winked.

“Oh. Thank you,” Cinder shouldn't be blushing, but she was, and it was over the most minuscule thing. She'd never been to this movie theater before. It was simple and small, the snack counters on each side of the waiting room. They strayed to the left side, but she was distracted by the neon orange, green, yellow, and purple shapes (mostly triangles). The theater was also old.

“I used to go here growing up,” Kai said after the lady behind the counter returned his paid snacks, “It was one of my favorite places, and my parents met here too, believe it or not. Here.”

He handed her a clear package with the label ‘Twizzlers’ on the front, “Oh, I love Twizzlers,” she muttered, “But I could've paid for it.”

“You didn't get anything, saying that you weren't hungry, but you were staring at these Twizzlers with drool in your mouth,” she didn't even remember wanting the candy. He paid attention, “Also, I remembered something about how Twizzlers is your favorite movie snack.” Stars Above, Cinder did not expect him to remember something like that, especially Prince Kai, a celebrity with lots on his mind.

“I don't know how many times I thanked you today,” she breathed, a genuine smile forming.

Kai smiled back, “It’s really no problem.”

They walked down the hallway, turning left when they reached the wall, “Theater four, this is us.”

He hooked her arm with his, balancing the popcorn with his other. Cinder laughed at his impulsive but strangely cute act, “Let’s go in.”

The movie was an hour and a half long with no actual plot and more romance than necessary. It was funny, and the actors were good—just no tangible story. Cinder looked at Kai, who was finishing the last of the popcorn. The credits rolled. She got up and stretched; Kai followed.

“What do you think of the movie?” she asked, eating her saved licorice.

“Wasn’t the guy married?”

“Yeah.”

“They never showed his wife.”

She frowned, “No,” the movie ended with the main character kissing the girl he was having an affair with the whole film, “What was the point of the marriage?”

“I have no clue.” they looked at each other and broke out in matching smiles, “Let’s get out of here.”

“Ok,” Cinder followed him the whole way outside the theater, “What now?”

“I don't know,” he called for a taxi, “How about I take you out to lunch and then treat you to dinner?”

“As in, you pay?”

“As in, a date,” Kai smiled, “We’re kind of already on one, just now officially?”

She blushed furiously. Date? Date? She had considered it and kind of wished for it, but an actual date? There's nothing to be frightened of. It’s basically like what they've been doing the whole time, just now officially like he said, “Alright. I will go on a date with you.”

He smiled even wider as his ears tinged pink, “Ok. That's great. Because I have today mapped out in my head.”

She cocked an eyebrow, surprised, “You must like me a lot to map a day out with me.”

Kai’s eyes glinted, “I like you a lot, Cinder,” he said, dead serious.

Although heat sneaked into her cheeks, she grinned calmly, “I do too, Kai.”

He turned away and tried calling for a taxi again. This time he was successful.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

“Kai, I don't understand why you had to bring me here,” Hannah grumbled.

“I’m sorry, I know how much you adore the spotlight, and I apologize for wanting some private time,” Kai watched as Hannah inspected the cozy lounge room.

“I don't mind the media calling us ‘Best Celebrity Couple.’”

“They also call us the hottest, which I do not mind because it's true. Actually, both of them are true.”

She smiled, “I know,” she said as she plumped on the couch, “Kai?”

“Yes, Hannah?”

“If we ever break up, how would you react?” she inquired.

“Well, if we ever break up, my heart would be desolate and shattered into a million little pieces.’

“Hmm. Ok. Interesting,” Hannah rocked her head and continued staring at the window.

“Why did you bring that up?” he chuckled nervously, “Sounds like you’re going to end our relationship.”

“Oh, Kai, I was just wondering,” she smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes, “I too would feel desolate and empty inside,” Hannah started to hum along with some song Kai didn’t know.

His mind was reeling as he sunk in the chair next to her. When he grabbed her hand, his brow

furrowed, “You know me so well,” she murmured.

“I do?”

“You were right. I do love the spotlight,” Hannah smiled at Kai, a strange glint in her eyes.

That was the night Kai started to get suspicious.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

“Kai,” Cinder snapped her fingers in front of his face, “You alright?”

They were eating dinner in a dark, fancy restaurant where the food is good and the people can’t view the neighboring tables. It was perfect for celebrities to eat a good meal without fans begging for pictures.

Kai shook his head, “I’m fine, just… thinking,” he shouldn't think about Hannah, not if he wants to frown when he should be happy. Not when he was feeling like this with Cinder. Hannah has taken too much from him already.

“You just looked out of it,” Cinder looked concerned for a moment before she turned her attention back to her salad, “And pale.”

“You know when a memory or thought catches you by surprise, and it’s not a happy one?”

She nodded, “Surprisingly, yes.”

“Well, that’s what happened,” he sighed, “But I’m good now.”

Kai looked down at his near-empty plate, “Are you still hungry?”

“No, I’m full now.”

“Ok, I’ll ask for the check.”

Once everything was set and paid, Cinder and Kai stood outside (a bit awkwardly). She smiled at him, “I should get going,” she turned to leave but then reconsidered, “I enjoyed today. A lot. I haven’t had much fun in a while so this was nice. It was nice being with you.”

He smiled back, “I enjoyed being with you as well,” Kai turned so she wouldn’t see his red cheeks, “How far do you live. I can walk you.”

“Oh, a couple of blocks. I’ll manage.”

“Please let me walk you,” he blurted. Her brows furrowed, “What I mean is that it's dark and dangerous out. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

After a moment of thought, Cinder sighed and nodded, “But if Iko is there, which she shouldn’t be, but if she is there, hide. I don’t want to explain why I brought home a celebrity.”

He beamed, “I’ll hide under the bed, she’ll never check there.”

“No, hide in the closet, she hates the closet,” they laughed together, the sounds of joy matching for a second. They stopped in surprise and then laughed harder.

Kai talked to Cinder the whole walk to her apartment. She was a wonderful listener as he told her stories of Hollywood drama, most she had heard of but took them to be a publicity stunt. He explained that it was both true drama and to gain more followers.

“What about your drama, with your manager, was that a half publicity stunt?” she had asked innocently. Little did she know that those words were like a sharp knife to his vulnerable heart.

Kai gulped, swallowing down his feelings, “Well, no, at least not for me. She loved the publicity though, which is a reason why we broke up.”

Cinder frowned, “Honestly, I love my privacy. That's why I’m so hesitant to hang out with you,” she nudged him, “But you’re careful and I trust you.”

“I need every shred of privacy that I get, but Hannah was an open book. She wanted everyone to see what was going on with us. I couldn’t handle it,” after stealing a glance at her, he noticed her lips erupted into a large smile, “What?”

“Nothing. It's just that Iko loved you two and would constantly talk about it,” she chuckled, “You must hate the number of things people know about you.”

“Eh. You get used to it. It’s just about how people know your emotions and disagree with them, but they think they know everything but that’s not it and-” Cinder placed a hand on Kai’s arm. He realized he was rambling, “Sorry.”

“Don’t be. I understand,” Kai pressed a hand on hers and squeezed. She let go, blushing, “We’re here, by the way.”

He looked at the building. It was not considered old, but not new either. The half-faded bricks gave it a certain characteristic, “Great, my feet are killing me.”

“You didn’t have to walk me here.”

“But I wanted to, and I had fun, did you?”

“Yes. Yes I did,” Cinder kicked the ground, “Would you like to come inside?” she said in a low voice as if she was still considering her words.

“Are you inviting me?”

“I- yes. I’m inviting you.”

Kai smiled, feeling excited to see this girl’s home, “I accept your invitation.”

They climbed up the stairs to her level. He watched as Cinder unlocked the door and entered the small apartment, turning on the lights. It was cramped with things. There was a TV on the far wall with a long couch facing it. A tall lamp overshone the living room and all the tiny things that littered everywhere.

Kai turned to Cinder to make a joke about the random piece of fabric on the couch when he caught her staring at his lips. She blushed and turned towards the kitchen he didn’t even notice.

“Uh, are you hungry? There’s uh” she searched the cabinets as he stalked towards her, “Bread?”

He smiled, “We just ate,” he said calmly as he reached Cinder. He grabbed her hands.

“Something to drink?” she murmured, a near whisper.

“I’m good,” she stepped closer to Kai and tilted her head up, "You?"

"I'm fine," she leaned closer. He smiled before he bent down and kissed her. She gasped and kissed him back, entwining her hands around his neck. The kiss was slow and long. They pulled away, breathless.

Kai cupped her cheek, "Should I go now?" he murmured, not sure what he wanted the answer to be.

"How far is the hotel?"

He chuckled, "Far."

Cinder nibbled on her lower lip (rather attractively), “You can spend the night. The couch turns into a bed so you can stay there.”

Kai smiled, “Alright.”

Tag List: @i-will-write-someday @greenalmond @the-wee-woo-rita @shellyseashell @icyandthefrostbites @hillbilly-circe @shelbylmkaider @not-the-founder-of-rome @crescentchat @just2bubbly @tamakis-ears @ever-squish @fangirlforever0704 @deprivedmusicaljunkie @notjacinclay @zephyr-thedragon @cerenoya @a-salting-the-world @rapunzelfromthemoon @jacihayle @winterrhayle @wheresmymom-imlost @cinderswrench @cindersassasin (ask if you wanna be added or removed <3)

[estellaelysian]

Let me be in your Life like that (Dakota x MC)

A/N: First of all, happy Valentine's Day to all of you guys.

I was feeling so bad and guilty that I had written a fic for Ethan and Alishka and not for Dakota and Amber, that I couldn't help myself, and hence, I had to write this. So yes, you guys are in for a ride, and there are going to be two Valentine’s Day fics.

Also, this is complete fluff, because we are saving the angst for the series.

(And please excuse my errors if any, I haven’t gone through them!)

**********

‘Hey Amber,’ Dakota said, sounding slightly raw and throaty. ‘I am running late, but I’ll be there as soon as I can. Go on and start the movie without me, I have already seen it anyway.’

Click.

Amber sighed.

No hey how are you? No hey, I am so sorry I can’t make it in time … just I am running late and go start the movie without me.

Classic Dakota.

‘What did he say?’ Mateo asked beside her. ‘Is he coming?’

‘No. He said he is running late. Oh, and that we should start without him.’

‘Oh,’ Mateo said, sounding just as dejected as she felt. ‘Well let’s start then.’

‘Yeah, let’s start.’

She balanced up the iPad she held, and at that very moment, she got a notification of a video message from Dakota.

Holding her breath, she opened the video, and there he stood, dressed in a hoodie, wearing a bright smile.

He grinned at the camera.

‘Hey Amber, I know it’s Valentine’s Day, and I know you are mad at me for not being there to watch the movie like we planned to do… Well, I am not at your house with you. I promise I am not standing you up, it’s the opposite of that. I love you, and I just want your Valentine’s Day to be perfect. I don’t know how to do this, umm … you know, I am just trying to do this perfectly, and my mind being the way it is, I can right now think of a million different ways this could go and I am freaking nervous, but all I know is I want this to be special and that you should always remember this. So, here goes…’

Amber pressed a hand to her mouth, keeping from saying anything as she watched Dakota step away and in the next moment, he was in the school, sitting in front of the green screen, talking to Jayden and Heather.

‘So, hello to both of you. I hope you are doing well on this bright day.’

‘Why yes we are,’ Jayden said, grinning widely. ‘And can I just say what a pleasure it is to have you here?’

‘Oh thank you. It is fun to be around you guys, but today I am actually here because I have something to tell my girlfriend.’

‘Oh yeah? Amber?’

‘Yeah, I think she is watching this right now.’

‘Uh, actually, there has been some technical problem,’ Heather said, looking at Dakota. ‘This is not broadcasting now.’

‘NO?’

‘No,’ she said apologetically.

‘But Dakota wait. I can arrange something,’ Jayden said, looking between Dakota and Heather. ‘Just gimme some minutes, I can–’

‘Nah, its fine actually, I can think of doing something else.’

‘No, no, just give me a few minutes…’

But Dakota was already leaving his seat in haste. ‘I am sorry, you guys, I’ll see you soon. For now, I’ve to go.’

And in the next step, he was at another setting, wearing a white sleeveless tee and blue jeans, smiling. She recognized almost all the classmates that entered the frame, all in same clothes.

Faint music started playing in the background, and Dakota made a goofy grin.

‘We could leave the Christmas lights up till January… this is our place, we make the rules. And there’s a dazzling haze, a mysterious way about you dear. Have I known you twenty seconds or twenty years?’

Amber smiled at him singing, the best way he could, her hand still pressed to her mouth as he continued.

‘Can I go where you go? Can we always be this close forever and ever? And ah, take me out, and take me home … you’re my, my, my, my lover.’

The music stopped, and his voice rang out, loud and clear. ‘This is too cheesy,’ he declared, watching as the classmates danced and danced, not bothering to stop. With a scoff, he left the screen…

… to emerge a moment later at another location, this time the dog park, again, a trail of classmates following him.

‘Wise men said, only fools rushed in, but I can’t help falling in love with you.’

She giggled as one of the girls moved around and stumbled into him.

‘Shall I stay? Would it be a sin, if I can’t help falling in love with you?’ he sang sweetly.

But their classmates were completely onto him now, flirting and seducing, pulling down his suspenders repeatedly, making Amber laugh. He tried dodging their attempts, but they continued, quite voluptuously, and he kept pulling his suspenders back on.

‘Cut, cut! CUT IT!’ he said, looking exasperated, and all the people stopped dancing or rather, seducing him. ‘Good god, this is a disaster.’

There was another change of frame, and now, he stood in front of Dairy Queen, amidst the people who barely paid attention to the camera that filmed him.

And then, all of a sudden, music came blaring through, and a man and woman who stood right in front of the camera started dancing, like professionals would.

She watched in awe as the woman was swept, quite effortlessly, off her feet and up into the air, as she spinned gracefully in the man’s arms.

And then another couple followed suit.

And then everyone was dancing to the music, and again, she saw Dakota singing as she smiled at the frame. But this time, it wasn’t right in front of the frame. He was barely visible as he sang and danced in the crowd.

‘I don’t wanna think too much, I just wanna feel. You know that it ain’t no rush. Let me keep it real. Just let me be in your life like that, in your life like that. I’ll bring the light right back, I’ll bring the life right back. I’m gonna make you want more, I’m gonna be your new favorite. Tell ‘em you’re closing the door, I’m the only for sure…’

He kneeled with a rose in his hand, smiling.

She giggled unknowingly, and again, the music stopped, this time, Lennox appearing out of nowhere.

‘Where is Amber? Is she here?’ Dakota asked, and she shook her head.

‘What? You didn’t bring her?

‘No, that wasn’t my job! Amy here was supposed to get her!’

‘Wha–’

‘I can fix it. Just wait a sec, I’ll call her.’

‘You’re gonna call her? he asked as she pulled out her phone.

‘Oh my God, you guys, I am so sorry,’ he said, turning to the crowd of dancers waiting expectantly. ‘I am so sorry.’

His mom appeared in the frame now, holding a fancy tux jacket. ‘Here, darling, put this on.’

‘Mom, what are you doing?’

‘Come on, put this on, you are gonna need it.’

He pulled on the jacket, and she handed him a small paper bag along with a laser tag.

‘Use this. Use it now!’

In a blind moment, he drew a circle down on the ground and jumped in, as a woman, who she did not recognize appeared in the video.

Soon, they were in a pursuit, running down the deserted and dark streets, but before long, the woman caught up with Dakota, snatching the bag right out of his hands.

‘Hey!’ he said, whirling around to face her.

‘She doesn’t need this. Did you ever think what might e in here? What is it that you are protecting with all your heart?’

She turned the bag upside down, and down fell bits of paper.

‘Nothing. She doesn’t need fancy gifts. She needs you, there, right now, and if you do want to give her something, it should be this,’ she said, handing him a basket.

And then she was gone.

By now, Amber was completely still, holding her breath. Dakota turned to look at the empty street in shock, but then, before long, started walking down, under the golden pool of light.

She recognized the neighborhood. He was getting close.

Oh God….

The doorbell startled her, and she looked at Mateo.

‘Go, open it,’ he urged, smiling at her. ‘He’d want to see you after so much of running around.’

A giggle escaped her lips as she stood and went to open the door, and there he stood, her Dakota, looking smart and handsome, and disheveled at the same moment, his hair tousled.

he looked absolutely perfect.

‘I love you, Amber,’ he whispered. ‘I love you so, so much. Here,’ he held out the straw basket to her, which seemed to be carrying gummy bears, roses and a few notes.

But she was way past caring about what was in the basket.

She threw her arms around him, and he held her as relieved laughter and tears left her body.

‘I love you too,’ she said, tightening the embrace.

**********

So yeah, that just happened. It is inspired from a video I watched, and ... yeah, sorry if things got too cheesy.

Thank you for reading.

Tagging: @tenaciouslandvoidgiant @choicesaddict5 @starrystarrytrouble @dakotasteach @kodysteach @vishhhi 

Let me know if  you want to be added or removed

[wtf-yoongi]

Stage lights. ‹‹part III of III››

pairing | jungkook x reader

summary | you visit jungkook on tour for the first time

genre/warnings | high levels of fluff + relatively new relationship + warning: features jk being extremely tired in between sets + but it’s ok because you look after him afterwards and now my heart is clenching 

words | about 7k total (part III is 2,565)

✨ read part I here ✨

☁️ read part II here ☁️

note | kinda belongs in the same universe as this one, but can be read separately. i got carried away and wrote this huge thing, so i decided to separate it into three parts *laughs* kinda sad this is over and totally devastated by jk’s last words let me warn ya

When the show’s all over, things feel completely different. The messy room is even messier – but no one really cares at this point, collecting items at a much slower pace. People are talking more loudly now, laughing more freely, knowing that the work is done and that it was yet another successful night. 

You leave your worries in a box in the back of your mind, although you can still hear Jungkook’s words echoing inside your head every now and then. When you look at him now, it’s almost impossible to think that this is the same person that left the stage mid-concert like that – even after having performed the rest of it. He looks a little worn out, yes, but happy and satisfied. Everyone has recovered from the intense final act, changed into more comfortable clothes, put on hats and beanies to cover some of the weirdly sticky hair – and positively look like any other person in the world after a day at work.

With the tension gone from the room, you feel much more comfortable now – not like you belong, but like you fit in enough. The same goes for when you move from the messy room to another one filled with tables, Jungkook taking your hand on your way there and telling you all they serve is Korean food, playfully adding that you could only eat rice if you wanted.

He was joking, of course.

Even if things could get weird – and you predicted them to – they really don’t. Jungkook leads you to a table that sits six and the seat next to you, that you would expect to remain empty, is soon taken by a smiling Hae. Namjoon sits in front of you and all of a sudden the table is full. 

Conversation flows as easily as possible when two languages are being spoken and not all people can fully understand both – and it warms your heart to see everyone at least try for your sake. Jin even stood up at one point to do an impersonation of an annoying American interviewer and you felt the need to apologize for the whole country in between laughs and red cheeks.

When everyone is done eating and drinking, you stand up again, moving back to the messy room for long enough to pick up your personal belongings. Jungkook said you would be taking a van back to the hotel downtown and you nod as you feel him take your hand again to walk through the halls you came in earlier in the day. A few moments before stepping foot outside, though, he lets go abruptly.

You don’t mean to look at him like that, but you do it anyway. From the concerned look on his face, you must appear surprised and hurt in equal parts.

“Sorry, bad habit,” he apologizes, but doesn’t take your hand back. “I can’t really be seen with anyone, so I don’t usually… Even when there’s no one around…”

“Oh…” You nod and your expression changes again. “I get it. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be, there’s really nothing…”

“You’ll have to teach me these things, you now? Let me know when I have to do or stop doing something,” you say, now noticing how close you two are and taking a few steps away from Jungkook. “Do we have to keep a safe distance? I’m not being ironic, really, I’m just asking,” you add as you see his face fall.

He snorts, moving a little bit more awkwardly and brushing a hair strand out of his face. “Kinda, yeah.”

“It’s really ok, I don’t mind taking a few precautions,” you reassure him, turning your body and taking a few steps backwards so he can see you better. You point at the black baseball cap on your head and smile.

He smiles back at your words and doesn’t say anything even after you pile up in the van along with other people, opting for just taking your hand again and squeezing it tightly.

The ride back to the city is silent, conversation between everyone dying down the further away you are from the stadium. It seems, you think, exhaustion finally hits. You feel it too, eyes heavy as the adrenaline and nervousness from it all aren’t running through your veins anymore. You raise your eyes just enough to see Jungkook staring outside with dreamy and tired ones, ready to rest your head on his shoulder and nap until you get to your destination.

When your eyes open again, the van has stopped and Jungkook is slowly running his left hand through your hair to wake you up.

“We’re here,” he says slowly and you straighten your body to see people are lazily leaving the van. He laughs lightly. “Can’t believe you didn’t wake up with the screaming outside. I had to close the curtains.”

You’re in what seems to be the back of the building now and your brain finally tells you there’s noise going on, a not-so-distant high-pitched cheering. It gets very loud, then it calms down again, and you notice another van pulling up next to yours.

“Sorry,” you apologize out of habit and Jungkook shakes his head lightly, nudging you to move towards the door with a small smile on his face.

You fix the crooked cap on top of your head and blink a few times to wake up a little better, finally getting up to leave. Outside, you can only see a reduced number of staff members and you assume this hotel really isn’t for everyone – much less the number of people you saw working earlier in the day.

When outside, you wait for Jungkook and follow him into the backdoor. There’s a tiny elevator only a few steps into the building and people are waiting to go up in groups of three or four. It takes a while, but you eventually find yourself in a long corridor, dragging your feet through the carpeted floor.

“Tired?” Jungkook asks, stopping in front of a door and touching the key card to the lock.

“Don’t think I can say that after today,” you admit with a scoff. “And it’s still early in New York, I shouldn’t be this sleepy.”

“How early?”

“Google says there’s a six-hour difference,” you say, entering the room after Jungkook and immediately moving to relieve your shoulders from the weight of your backpack. “So, yeah, still early.”

When you look around the room, it looks lived in, but not nearly as disorganized as you expected it to be. You know Jungkook has slept here already and it seems like room service wasn’t allowed. The bed is still kind of messy, but in a comfortable and inviting way – the way freshly made hotel beds never are.

Next to his open suitcase, you see yours, though – and that’s how you know at least someone has access to this room with the exception of Jungkook himself. It is pressed to the wall perfectly and you notice there’s a foreign, fancy paper bag sitting on top.

“What is this?” You ask, turning back to Jungkook, who’s placing his jacket inside the closet. “This isn’t mine.”

“It isn’t from me, sorry to disappoint,” he smirks. “Open up, let’s see what’s inside.”

You slowly walk towards your suitcase, taking the bag with one hand to open it up with the other. When you look inside, you see a box of fancy pastries and a note.

“It’s from Hae,” you say and turn the note around to read the small message written in delicate handwriting. You laugh lightly. “Oh, you’re going to love this.”

“What? What does it say?” He asks from inside the bathroom. His voice is now muffled from brushing his teeth and you can’t help but laugh even more.

“Here’s what she wrote. Her words, ok?” You warn before continuing. “I hope it’s ok I’m writing you this. You’re American, you make friends quickly, right? It was great meeting you today and I can see why Jungkook won’t stop talking about you sometimes. He will never admit to doing this, though. Hope you have a great stay with us. XOXO Hae. P.s.: I’ve always wanted to write XOXO to someone. And then she finishes with a smiley face. How cute is that?”

“I love that you find it cute when she throws me under the bus like that,” he says, taking a towel to pat his lips dry. “I’m going to have a serious conversation with her.”

“But there’s food.” You show him the light colored box.

“She’s good, isn’t she? Diplomatic Hae.”

“She is. She brought me coffee before the show,” you say with a smile. “You told her I like macchiatos.”

“She asked me what kind of coffee you liked. I told you, she’s nice,” he shrugs. “You want to take a shower first?”

“Nah, you can go,” you say, putting the fancy bag on top of a side table. “I still have to open my suitcase, get my stuff and all…”

“Ok.”

From the corner of your eye you can see Jungkook reaching for the door in order to close it, but stopping midway for some reason. He widens his eyes a little, taking steps in the direction of his own suitcase.

“I have to grab some things,” he says with a weak laugh, lowering his body to reach for what looks like a pair of shorts and something else you can’t quite figure out. “Not on my own today, can’t walk around naked, can I?”

You take advantage of the fact that he can only see your side profile to simply shrug, not giving him the satisfaction of a reaction from his words.

Thank God he can’t properly see your face.

When you open the bathroom door again, you feel relaxed – every muscle in your body a little bit too loose to function correctly. You put your head out to see Jungkook sitting in the middle of the bed, his legs spread out to both sides, with his big iPad in hand – you know he’s exhausted, but you also know him well enough. He will refuse to fall asleep while you’re not there with him.

“Hair dryer?”

“Oh…” He moves slowly, getting up again and reaching for it inside a random drawer. “There you go.”

“I thought you would blow dry yours.”

“I was going to, but too lazy,” he admits with a small smile. “It’s ok, it doesn’t matter.”

“I’ll do it for you if you want me to,” you offer. “Come on.”

“You should just do yours, I…”

“Come on…”

You grab Jungkook by the hand, making him sit on the bed again and looking for the nearest power outlet.

“Let me baby you just for a little bit, ok?” You smile fondly at him, leaning in to lightly kiss his lips for the first time in hours. When you do it, you definitely feel like you should kiss more often. Much more often.

“If this is about today, I already told you I…”

“It isn’t about today,” you interrupt delicately, still holding his face close. “I have a feeling nothing I say will make you work in a more… Balanced way. Am I wrong? You don’t even need to say anything, I know I’m not.”

Jungkook laughs and his shoulders tense a little bit. “Yeah, people have mentioned this to me.”

“Well, if I’m not the only one… Maybe you should start considering it?” You half-ask, turning the hair dryer on. “Wow, this is surprisingly quiet. You own a fancy one, huh?”

You move your left hand through his hair calmly and Jungkook closes his eyes, his stance relaxing almost immediately. While you’re there, you also take the opportunity to brush your hand against his ears and neck a few times and you feel like he could fall asleep right there if it wasn’t for the low, but still a little annoying, hair dryer sound.

When you turn it off, you move your fingers to mess with his long bangs. “I noticed earlier your hair looks more healthy and fluffy.”

“The part that was bleached before grew out,” he answers lowly, his eyes still closed. “Do you like it like this?”

“Yeah, sure. Do you?”

“I like that it is easier to make it look decent,” he laughs quietly and finally opens his eyes. “Do you want me to blow-dry your hair?”

“Oh, no, you should go to bed, I’ll just…”

“Come on,” he repeats your words from minutes before. “Let me baby you a little too.”

Jungkook doesn’t stand up to blow-dry your hair, deciding to just stay seated and pull you down close to him. You have your back to him now and he’s careful to not miss any section, moving from side to side thoroughly. Having him play with your hair also relaxes your mind even further and a few more minutes pass before you’re turning back to him. 

“It’s ok,” you take the tool from his hands to turn it off. “You don’t have to blow-dry it 100%, it’s going to take too long.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, we’re both tired, let’s just go to sleep.”

You don’t have to say it twice. As you place the hair dryer next to the bed somewhere, not even bothering to stand up again to take it back to it’s original place, Jungkook is already turning around on the bed and pulling you by the hand to lay next to him.

“I already said this, but thanks for coming,” he inhales deeply, snuggling into your side as you’re both trying to make yourselves comfortable. “I know it’s hard, but… If you can, you should come more often.”

“You should go to New York more often too,” you say and your voice becomes quieter when the next words leave your lips. “I miss you all the time.”

Jungkook smiles warmly at you and brings one of your hands closer to him. “I will. It’s my turn now anyway,” he assures you and leaves a kiss on your wrist. “And I miss you all the time, too. Actually, I bet I miss you more.”

“How can you know that?”

“Because I do.”

“Oh, so you just got to that conclusion inside your little head?” You chuckle, bringing the hand that is already closer to him to trace his face. Even now, exhausted and ready to pass out, you don’t think Jungkook glows any less.

“Exactly.”

A few moments pass and you feel yourself begin to give in to sleep. The room is completely quiet now with the exception of your light breathing and legs moving to fit in a little better. Jungkook’s body is warm just like the last time you were like this and you wish, from the bottom of your heart, to always sleep by his side for as long as you’re alive.

All of a sudden, you hear his voice again.

“Are you still awake?” He asks, voice not above a whisper. When you open your eyes, Jungkook is staring longingly at you and it takes a second for you to catch your breath.

You nod with the tiniest of smiles, reaching out to touch the arm that is lazily draped across your waist. “Yeah, is there anything wrong?”

“No, not wrong, but… I think I’m in love with you.”

Read more ›› masterlist

[craftypeaceturtle]

B is for Baby Time!

Summary: They finally get to meet the newest arrival for their family.

Note: Part of a series but can be read alone! The ABCs of their little family! Demus and Royality. 

The beginning- A is for Arrival

Next part: C is for Choas!

.

They got the call at exactly midnight. The second it turned to December they had prepared everything ready in case the baby would be early; they would not run around like headless chickens when the moment came. They had a baby carrier filled with blankets and a change of baby clothes that stood guard over their front door. But the 10th of December passed without any update. Remus was particularly insufferable but then again Janus had his own special brand of impatience. But all of that fell to pieces when they finally got the call at midnight that their surrogate had gone into labour. The baby was coming.

Janus blanched as he violently slapped Remus’ arm to get him up. He got up and started storming down the stairs all while silently gaping at the phone. Remus slunked after him before it suddenly dawned on him why Janus would be panicking at a phone call. 

The plan had been to sit at home and wait until the baby was born then drive carefully and calmly to the hospital. That lasted a good... 20 minutes? “Do you want to go and wait in the hospital?” Janus finally sighed. Remus’ fidgeting stopped for the first time since the call.

“Why? Do you wanna sit in a waiting room for hours on end?” Remus kept staring ahead. 

“Well I don’t know about you, but I can totally just sit here for several more hours.”

“We...” Remus sighed and wiped at his eyes, “We should be making the most of this really. Our last night of uninterrupted sleep.”

“Okay then, go to sleep then,” Janus laughed. Remus chuckled.

“Okay, let’s get going shall we?” Remus got up and held out his curled arm like the gentleman he was. 

“We shall... after you put actual clothes on. I’m sure the nurses don’t want to see your manky boxers,” Janus chuckled and pulled and flicked him with the waistband.  

They launched themselves at the car and only just remembered to actually grab the baby carrier. Sitting in the hospital room both felt like a relief and horrifically underwhelming. There were here now! They were here ready for any and all news. No need to keep anyone hanging. They felt productive just sitting there. But also... Both of them were just sitting there. In their rushed on jogging bottoms and baggy jumpers, with Remus’ wild bed head and Janus’ own frizzy hair lying limply against his back. They were both shivering as the December weather leaked into the waiting room. “Just time to wait...” Remus smiled weakly. 

An hour passed awkwardly. The second hour passed both quickly and also as painstakingly slowly. 

Remus’ phone vibrated from his pocket:

Evil Twin Bro- Hey, you know lots of weird stuff about getting different stains out right?

- yep

-also it really isn’t that weird. 

-it’s called being an adult.

Evil Twin Bro- Do you know how to get blood out of t-shirt material?

-is it dried or nah

-soak in cold water

-wash like loads of times

Evil Twin Bro- I’ll kill you if this doesn’t work. Also, why are you awake at 2 in the morning you maniac!

-could ask you 2

Evil Twin Bro- I asked you first. 

-baby’s coming.

Evil Twin Bro- Wait really??????!!!!!!!!!

Evil Twin Bro- Congratulations!!!! 

-haven’t got the baby yet. waiting 4 surro. 

Evil Twin Bro- Are you at the hospital?

-yea

Evil Twin Bro- How long have you been waiting?

-like 2h

Evil Twin Bro- Woah, that’s rough. How you holding up?

-dunno

Evil Twin Bro- You don’t know?

-feel like I’m gonna vomit. but also excited. 

-well I don’t know if it’s good vomit or bad vomit y’know?

Evil Twin Bro- I really don’t. What are you lot doing then?

-J fell asleep. I’m trying to save battery on phone. 

-So just sitting here.

Evil Twin Bro- Do you want me to drop stuff off for you? Pat was planning this whole thing for when you lot got the baby. He was going to cook you lot some fancy dinner and take it to you three. So I don’t mind helping you out! I could give you some muffins (trust me you’ll start to get hungry) and I have an iPad with a few films downloaded so you won’t need wifi. 

-jesus why cant you be like everyone else and send a sentence at a time

-we’re all goiufhgb   

-Hello Roman. This is Janus. Yes, we would greatly appreciate you bringing some stuff. 

Evil Twin Bro- Haha, no problem!

“I can’t believe you’re dragging him here,” Remus sighed as Janus wordlessly passed his phone back. 

“Why not?” Janus answered honestly. His whole being looked dragged down by sleepiness. Remus shrugged and looked ahead. Janus usually put so much effort into his appearance. Even the most basic ‘going to the shop’ outfit was a dramatic black and yellow gothic Disney villain who actually did crimes look. But he was simply shrugged over in the chair. He looked sleepily up to him through his hair. 

“Why was he even asking all that at 2am anyway!” 

“You don’t want him to come?” Janus asked, Remus heaved a sigh and plopped his head on top of Janus’. 

“I dunno... I think I’m just tired and panicky. It’s all good,” Remus muttered off to a whisper. He pressed a kiss to his hair and closed his eyes. 

He didn’t actually sleep. He just wanted to stop all conversation. People continued bustling in and out and Janus managed to fall asleep again with his chin propped up against his chest. He was even letting out a steady stream of snorty snores. Remus kept his eyes closed hoping no one would try to start a conversation with him. Janus was the talker to other people of their relationship. He only opened his eyes when he felt a firm prod to his shoulder. 

“Hey Reem,” Roman whispered before flicking his forehead. 

“What do you want dickbag?” Remus answered without thinking. Janus thankfully stayed sleeping. Roman only gave a pity smile and held out his bag. He pulled out some muffins and bottles of flavoured water alongside the promised ipad covered in glittery space stickers. Remus was too busy dumping the bag on the floor to notice Roman trying to get him to stand up. 

“C’mon.” He gestured to over where the reception was. Remus nodded heavily and gently prised himself from Janus. 

Now that they were further away, Remus saw that another hour and a half had passed. “Woah, you took ages?” 

“Yeah, I thought about waking up Pat and then you have no idea what a nightmare it was trying to find a 24 hour shop. Like it was so much harder than I thought!” Roman now spoke loudly with his on brand gestures.

“Right...” Remus fluffed up his hair and slumped into another chair. Hmm, just as uncomfortable as the other. 

“You okay?” Roman lowered himself to his eye line, looking like he was talking to a spooked dog, “Like really?”

“Dunno. I-I just don’t know. I feel a bit all over the place to be honest,” Remus flung his head back, “What did you lot feel?”

“Pretty much the same,” Roman giggled, “Patton was a mess. I think it’s always one person does fine while the other has an existential crisis. That was definitely Pat. But he calmed down the second he got to see Logan.”

Remus nodded, not entirely sure if he was actually listening or just getting lost in the sensation of his heavy head tipping up and down. “Fair,”

“What’s going through your head right now?”

“Dunno... D-Do you...” Remus started before whipping his head to face the wall behind him, “do you think I’ll be like... I dunno a good dad?”

“Of course,” Roman slapped an hand on his shoulder. He was looking forward at the waiting room with an awkward wonky smirk. 

“Okay listen. Let’s be honest. Being emotional and gross with you just feels weird. I’ve been fine with having a baby before this. This is purely me panicking right now. As you said, I’ll be fine. So we can we not do emotional conversation?” Remus laughed awkwardly but he lightened up once Roman relaxed as well.

“Oh thank god you said it!” Roman laughed and melted back into his chair.

“Why were you coated in blood in the middle of the night anyway?”

“I wasn’t coated in blood,” Roman gasped way too loudly which Remus cackled at. Roman blushed bright red and nodded at the concerned receptionist, “I got the most random nose bleed out of nowhere and I knew you were the entire person in existence who wouldn’t question me.”

“You make me sound like a total weirdo! I would question you!”

“But you didn’t!” 

They settled into silence for a bit before inevitably Remus felt the need to speak, “How the hell did mum ever cope with twins? Like that seems like a lot...”

“Right?! Right after we had Logan, I think my mother’s day presents probably tripled in cost. She deserves it. Like all the same build up and worry but then you have another baby to come!” Roman shook his head.

“Aren’t babies are fairly gross as well?” Remus grimaced.

“Oh yeah! Don’t be put off from it! Oh, I feel so awful but the first time I saw Logan my first thought was ‘ew’. They don’t look anything like babies at first. Like Logan was blue with a traffic cone shaped head.”

“Their head is all fragile and mouldable. Janus made sure to show me pictures of newborns,” Remus stared off into nothing before turning to him with his signature smirk, only a little more tired, “But I am so telling Logan you thought he was an ugly baby.”

“Ahem,” Janus stood before them with an expectant look. Remus smiled and held out his arm which Janus jokingly shoved aside to sit down on the chair, “Hello Roman, I’m guessing you’re responsible for the pile of stuff that was at my feet.”

“Yep! How are you doing?” Roman smiled awkwardly.

“Tired but that’s to be expected. Are you staying long?” 

“No, actually that’s a good point! I really shouldn’t stay out longer. Pat will actually murder me for butting myself in,” Roman stood up with an exaggerated old man groan, “But... please text when you finally say hello to the little guy! I expect pictures!” 

Once Roman left, they wandered back over to their stuff and settled into a long night. Janus tried to stay awake. He knew that Remus was having a freak out. You would think it would be easy with the bright harsh lighting in the waiting room and the constant buzzing of conversation. Yet, his head bobbed lower and lower before Remus finally guided his head to his shoulder. He really tried but the tiredness and mix of emotions left him helpless. Remus only smiled at his useless husband before settling himself into Roman’s ipad. He settled into the Incredibles without much else to do. 

It was 5am when Remus saw the husband of the surrogate walk over to them. He didn’t think about it has he flung himself upwards, flinging Janus wide awake. The guy looked exhausted. “Hey, Remus and Janus?” He asked, thoroughly mispronouncing Janus, with his hand held out. Remus nodded awkwardly before thrusting a still waking up Janus at him.

“Yes, hello.” Janus shook his hand firmly. 

“Hey so the baby’s arrived,” He spoke softly as he walked back into the winding corridors he emerged from. They quickly followed after him, “He’s 6lb and about 20 inches. A little small thing but all healthy and average.”

“Aw, that’s all good to hear. Congratulations,” Janus sleepily smiled.

“Thanks but I think I’m supposed to be saying that to you two!” The guy chuckled awkwardly before he opened a door for them. 

Inside was the mother looking absolutely exhausted, curled up into her pillow with her frizzy hair thrown about the place. Janus subconsciously flicked his hand through his own hair, only now realising that he never brushed it before coming out. Ah well, not like anyone was looking their best for the demon of the baby that woke them all up. And of course there was the star of the show.

The baby was fussing a clear plastic crib looking thing, his reddened arms flinging around with his tiny little feet occasionally kicking. His face was screwed up but at least he wasn’t crying. He was simply laying there. The little boy that would change everything. 

Janus managed to pull away from the sight and say something to the mother. Remus deserved the first moments with their son. 

Remus looked at the mother but she was busy talking so he quietly shrugged before holding his hands out. It felt bad. They baby was clearly still fussy but quiet. What if picking him up set him off? But his hands were also hanging over him now. Sighing, he gently lowered his hands so they just about touched the tiny baby. He was warm to the touch and Remus grimaced at his thoughts that erupted from that. Maybe it was just because he was in a warm room. It felt like he was five years old all over again. It was like when a relative you barely know has a baby and just dumps the baby in your arms because it’s cute but you have no idea how to hold this fragile floppy new human. 

The baby sniffled at feeling his hands slowly worm underneath him but Remus then swiftly took hold of him and brought him to his chest, quietly shushing him without thinking. Thankfully, he settled down instantly. He was somehow both tiny and way heavier than he thought. “Heya little fella,” He cooed as he tried to uncurl his fist. The baby’s tiny little fingers uncurled and pressed back against his own finger. 

“He’s gorgeous,” Janus sighed as he came up behind Remus.

“Aw, he is. What are you guys naming him again?” The mother quietly asked.

“Virgil,” Remus answered but he kept his eyes glued to his baby. Janus smoothed his hand over the baby’s head. 

“Oh that’s a unique name!” The mother chirped.

“Has two people with unusual unique names, it only felt appropriate,” Janus muttered but his focus was completely enraptured by the baby, “Reem, do you mind doing the last of the paper work, then we can leave you all to recovery.”

“Cheers,” The father smiled awkwardly. Remus held out the baby and graciously lowered him into his arms. He perked up when he felt Remus press a kiss to his cheek, god he was clearly felt so sappy today. Not that he could really blame him.

They brought the baby carrier into the room ready to take him home and of course his eyes caught on their supplies. They brought a infant onesie- the cutest and non-halloween themed one they bought- but yet Janus frowned at the thought of trying to wrestle this baby into clothing. He looked much more comfortable pressed to his chest that he did lying down but he still looked like he could be seconds away from crying again. Of course, he couldn’t even begin to understand how stressful birth must be. The poor thing. He awkwardly bent backwards and grabbed the same blanket they bought about a month ago. Despite how much he tried, he couldn’t get out the black marker stain. It was just the first blanket they grabbed when preparing. Obviously. Of course. The first thing they grabbed. He grappled with the baby to gently cocoon him in the purple blanket. The spider web spiral sat in the middle of his back making him look like their little spider sitting in the middle of his purple spider web. 

He didn’t track when Remus came back in. He didn’t even think to keep up conversation with the biological parents. All he knew was that he was slowly stepping back and forth while pressing his face into Virgil’s own squishy cheek. 

Their little baby Virgil. 

[karajaynetoday]

Quit smiling at me, I can’t stop messing up my sentences when you look at me like that.” With Ashton 🥺

Thank you Sarah 😘😘 hope you like this! it’s cute and soft I promise!! It’s also 1.3k words so more of a one-shot than a blurb but oh well hehe

also this prompt can’t NOT be inspired by the world’s most adorable, giggly boy trying to record promo social content, right?

--

You and Ashton had been best friends for as long as you could remember. Your mothers told you you’d befriended each other in the kindergarten sand pit (and thrown sand at any other kids that tried to encroach on your territory) and been inseparable ever since. It’d been tricky to keep up with your friendship when Ash moved overseas with the band, but you tried your best to see him whenever he was back in Sydney, and you’d even managed to coordinate a recent European holiday with some of his tour dates there and have a few adventures together.

Your next trip was to visit Ashton in LA when he had some downtime between touring, recording and promo. The fourteen hour flight was a bit gruelling, but you survived, and before you knew it you were making your way from baggage claim, through passport control, and out to the waiting area where a fancy-looking man in a suit was holding up an iPad with your name on it. You rolled your eyes and silently chastised Ashton; when he’d told you he had a meeting when your flight was due to arrive, you reassured him you were fine to catch a taxi or a rideshare to his place, but of course he couldn’t resist making you feel special with a private town car.

The leather backseat of the car was super comfy (much more than your cramped economy airline seat – you’d refused Ashton’s offer of a business class upgrade, sometimes that boy spoiled you too much, even for a best friend) and you felt yourself slipping away into a nap. Because of LA traffic, the drive was about 45 minutes, and when you finally arrived at Ashton’s house you awoke to your driver awkwardly poking you in the shoulder as he stood beside the opened back car door.

“Oh my god, sorry! Were you waiting long? I didn’t mean to nap, I just… the seat is so comfortable! Leather interior, love that for you.” You awkwardly babbled at the middle-aged man who’d driven you and was now watching your frantic display with amusement.

“Not a problem, ma’am. Happens all the time. Do you need help with getting your bags to the door?” He asked politely.

“No no, I can manage. Thank you so much! Can I… Do I need to pay you? Oh! Or tip you? Sorry, I always forget that tipping is a thing whenever I leave Australia.” You fumbled to pull your wallet out of your purse, but your driver shook his head at you.

“Not to worry, ma’am. Mr Irwin has taken care of both the fare and a very generous tip in advance, so you just take your bags and enjoy the rest of your stay. Welcome to Los Angeles!” The driver settled back into the drivers’ seat of the car, and you scrambled out of the backseat and located your battered suitcase on the footpath.

You’d been to Ashton’s LA house before, a few years ago, and you recognised the large front gate ahead of you. You had a few goes before you successfully figured out how to buzz the intercom, and a voice that you recognised as Ashton’s housemate Matt greeted you on the other end of the line and quickly buzzed you in. It was also Matt that opened the front door for you, and you couldn’t help but feel a little deflated that Ashton wasn’t there to greet you. It must have been obvious on your face, because Matt chuckled as you briefly hugged him after stepping inside.

“Don’t stress, my dear. He’s just finishing up a Zoom meeting upstairs and he’ll be right down for your romantic reunion.” Matt teased, and yet again you found yourself rolling your eyes before reaching out to punch his shoulder playfully.

“Nothing romantic about it, thank you pal. Just two friends who love each other as much as platonic soulmates ever could.” You retorted, struggling to wipe the smile of your face or slow your heart rate that was seemingly increasing at the idea of being in Ashton’s arms within a matter of minutes after so many months apart.

“There she is! My favourite sand-throwing bandit!” Ashton’s voice carried down from the stairwell, and you shrieked as he bounded down the stairs and wrapped you up in a tight hug, lifting you off the ground and spinning you around his arms.

“Hey stranger. Miss me?” You teased, jokingly cupping Ashton’s face in your hands.

“Oh, more than you could EVER know, my love. How was your flight?” Ashton responded, and there was a flicker of something in his eyes that you couldn’t quite decipher.

“Long, tiring, gross food… the usual!”

“How about a nice hot shower and something to eat, then? The guest room shower is being fixed tomorrow, Cal broke it when he was pretending to be a dolphin at our house party last week, long story… but you can use my shower in the meantime!” Ashton pulled away from your hug, grasping your hand with one of his, your suitcase in the other, and traipsed off towards the stairs with you in tow.

After a long shower, some deep moisturising, brushing your teeth and changing into some fresh comfy clothes (you smiled when you noticed Ash had left out one of your favourite hoodies of his on the bathroom counter for you to wear), you felt vaguely human again. 

Tiptoeing back into Ashton’s bedroom, you could hear him recording promo videos on his phone and saw him sitting in front of the window to get the best lighting. You could tell that his bed wasn’t in the frame, so you crept over to it and flopped down on the mattress as quietly as you could, propping yourself up on your elbow so you could watch what Ashton was doing. You thought you’d been stealthy, but clearly Ash had noticed you in his peripheral vision, because he glanced over and immediately lost his train of thought halfway through a sentence.

“Quit smiling at me, I can’t stop messing up my sentences when you look at me like that.” Ashton said accusingly, standing up from his spot on the floor and making his way over to the bed.

“Oh yeah? Like what? What are you going to do about it, loser face? Smother me with your endless charm and social awkwardness? Lock me in your extremely fancy and luxurious bathroom? Bring. It. On.” You stared Ashton down with a mischievous glint in your eye.

Without another word, you each reached for the nearest pillow and began whacking each other as hard as you could. Somewhere in the chaos, Ashton abandoned his pillow in favour of tickling your sides, and before you knew it you were gasping for breath and calling out in surrender. You closed your eyes as you tried to calm your breathing, and when you opened them again you realised that Ashton was still hovering over you, his arms lightly brushing your sides that he’d been menacingly tickling moments before.

You locked eyes, and you noticed how Ashton’s gaze flickered down to your lips and then back up, and back down to your lips. Your heart was pounding, and your cheeks were warm, but you could tell that this was a now or never moment.

“Just kiss me, you idiot.” You teased, linking your arms around Ashton’s neck and pulling him closer. You felt him smile against you as your lips met; at first it was gentle, and then the kiss deepened as you pulled him closer to you, not wanting the moment to end.

Welcome to LA, you thought with amusement. And quite the welcome it had become!

More writing here | send thoughts/feedback/suggestions here | if you’d like to be on my taglist go here

Taglist: If there’s a line through your name, I couldn’t tag you, so please message me to let me know your new URL or what the go is!  @suchalonelysunflower @blackbutterfliescal @redrattlers @loveroflrh @spicycal @notinthesameguey @metalandboybands @cheekysos  @ashton-trash @another-lonely-heart​ @queenalienscherrypie

[all1e23]

Astrophile [Pt.9]

Chapter:  Stardust 

Summary:  Bucky & Y/n spend the day apart, but find themselves struggling to make it through the day.

Warnings:  Flirting. Fluff. Sweet Tony. Sweet Bucky. Slightly sad Bucky but only for a second! 

A/N: Bucko is a little sad at the start, but I don’t consider it angsty at all. Progress babies. Progress. 😉Send me love because I’m needy, okay?!  Plus all your comments make my day. Beta’d by the beautiful and talented @lokissoul I love you 3000.

***My fics are not to be saved or posted on any other sites without my written permission. Reblogs are welcomed! Thanks!**

“What’s been going on with you lately?”

Bucky rolls the glass bottle between his palms and shrugs in answer, glancing up at whatever game was on behind the bar to avoid Steve’s probing glare. They have been in this pub for over an hour now, and Bucky has no idea what game he’s been pretending to watch, and he hasn’t heard a word Steve has said. As much as he wants to throw himself wholeheartedly into tonight, he can’t. Bucky hasn’t seen Y/n in over a week, he had to take an extra shift, so he’s had less time with Comet and with everything going today, neither he nor Y/n have had a minute to talk to each other. The last message he got from her was a quick good morning text, but he had a feeling she only sent it because he sent her a message first. 

Today is not Bucky’s day.

“I don’t know what you mean,” Bucky answers, distracted and withdrawn.

“We haven’t talked in weeks. I don't even know what’s going with you. Clint knows more about you than I do. You’re always glued to your phone waiting for a certain bookstore owner to call, and if you’re not on the phone with Y/n, you’re talking about her.”

“Nothing to talk about there, Stevie,” He sighs and tips his empty beer towards the bartender, slightly asking for another round. “We are friends. She’s been dating Tony for about a month. I don’t know. Seems to be going good. I guess their first date was amazing, and all that sappy love at first sight shit.”

“Not what I heard,” Steve mumbles against the lip of the bottle in his hands. “I heard she hated the restaurant and talked about you the whole date.”

“It wasn’t the whole date, and I don’t think she hated it.” 

Bucky shifts restlessly in his seat, forcing himself to not look at Steve, using the bartender returning with their beers as his excuse – Steve isn’t buying it.

“Did – did she say that she did?”

Steve snorts at the stutter in the brunette’s voice and the painfully transparent way he’s been dodging Steve’s glances from the moment Y/n was mentioned. He nods his thanks to the bartender and spins around on his stool to face his friend. “Buck, come on. I’ve never seen you like this. Tell me what’s going on with her?”

“There’s nothing to say, man.”

“Okay,” Steve sighs, drumming his fingers against the bottle in his hands. “What if – Don’t give me that pissed off face. Just hear me out. What if the reason Y/n jumps up when you call or smiles every time you’re around, or I don’t know, spends all day talking to you and about you is that maybe, just maybe there’s something there for her, too.”

“Steve–”

“Hear me out, Buck.” Steve cuts him off before Bucky has time to tell him to shut up. “You have to know she is different. You’ve been different since she came along.” 

Bucky hangs his head in defeat or annoyance he’s not even sure, and if he tightens his grip in the slightest there are going to be shards of broken glass all over the place.

“Can we please talk about something else?” Bucky asks, forcing as much annoyance into his voice as he can – he needs to be done with this conversation. 

“Anything else besides her?”

“Alright,” Steve spins back around towards the bar, his leg bouncing nervously, and suddenly he blurts out, “Sam, and I are going to adopt a little boy, I think.”

Bucky chokes on his beer, spilling damn near half the bottle on the bartop making Steve grin. 

“What?!” Bucky Shrieks. “You can’t just drop that shit on me.”

Steve shrugs looking complacent and not sorry in the least.

“When the hell did this happen?” Bucky asks, wiping himself and the bartop off.

“Remember Zoey from the gym?” 

Bucky rolls his eyes but nods anyway. 

“Well, it’s kind of her fault. We ran into her, and she was out with her nephew, and I don’t know honestly. Sam was talking to him and playing and…” Steve smiles and shakes his head. 

“We are finally ready, I think.”

“That’s awesome, Stevie.” Bucky pats Steve on his back, drying his beer-soaked hand on his shirt. “You’re gonna be amazing parents. Ori might get a little jealous when she realizes she has to share her uncles, but I think it’s about damn time, to be honest.”

“She doesn’t have to share. I can make time for both of them. Babies sleep a lot, right?”

“Yeah,” Bucky chuckles. “You don’t remember much from when Ori was a baby, do ya?”

“You’re a jerk,” Steve murmurs.

“Uh-huh. You gonna tell me why you didn’t tell me sooner, punk?”

“We started the process a few months ago, but I didn’t want to say anything until we were sure it was happening.”

“You’re sure now?” Bucky asks, not judging, purely out of curiosity.

“Yeah, I know we are,” Steve assured him, firm and sincere. “And, this isn’t because we are missing anything because we absolutely are not missing anything. Sam is all I could ever need, but – I don’t know to explain it. It was like once we met him everything kind of clicked, and it made everything brighter, more meaningful. Now that we know him-- Now that we know Oliver, I don’t think we could go back to a time without him.”

Bucky stares at the amber glass in his hand swallowing the knot in his throat, Steve nudges his elbow grinning widely, and Bucky forces the best smile he can muster.

“You know what I mean?” Steve asks, hope and excitement filling his voice. Bucky wants to be excited for them, and he is, but his mind is somewhere else tonight – somewhere wrapped in story pages and stardust.

“Yeah,” He sighs, “I know what you mean, man.”

-------

Today has been a complete nightmare.

Well, that’s not entirely true. It’s just been a stressful, long day and the nightmare started last night. It began with her neighbors flooding her bedroom the night before and being forced to stay in Manhattan with Tony. She would have asked Natasha or… someone else who lived closer but Tony was dropping her off when they discovered the mess that was her apartment. 

Thankfully Tony was there to save the day.

The incident, however, meant the bookstore was closed for the day while they cleaned up her apartment and Y/n had to plan Ori’s party from Tony’s penthouse, which wasn’t winning any prizes for the coziest spot. It’s not that Tony didn’t have a beautiful place, he did. He was in the middle of Manhattan with the perfect view in every direction. High windows, marble floors and beautiful artwork on the walls. There were some questionable paintings hanging that she wanted to question but didn’t. He had a preposterously fancy couch, and the view off the balcony was breathtaking first thing in the morning. Sure, the view is nice, a chef is on-site, and Tony is always sweet, but it feels wrong.

The couch, with as much money as Tony spent on the thing, it should actually be comfortable! It’s hard, the back has awkward cushions and they doesn’t squish down like Bucky’s does. The arms are skinny and unyielding - there is no way she could curl up on that thing and watch a movie. The entire place is so clean she felt bad laying all party planning books and idea boards out on the table this morning. Tony had insisted it was fine, but it still felt strange to muck up his astonishingly tidy living room.

Tony left her be for most of the day, he had work to do, and she was busy planning a starry birthday bash. He had stopped in to check on her throughout and asked more than once, why don’t you just use that Pinterest website everyone uses? Or at least make all those lists on your phone?

She always replied the same, I prefer handwritten notes, Tony. Then I can doodle in the corners.

Out of everything? The thing she hates most about today? Bucky hasn’t sent her a text all day, except for the quick good morning he sent her which she is almost certain was Ori’s doing. Bucky wouldn’t think to send her a message like that first thing in the morning. It had bothered her quite a bit, and she wasn’t the only one who noticed her sour mood. Tony watches Y/n chewing on the end of her pen from his seat across his living room. She’s been staring at her notepad for nearly an hour now, occasionally glancing over at her phone (that hasn’t gone off since this morning).

Something is cooking in that pretty head of hers, and he is going to figure out what. He drops his iPad to the table and strolls over to the couch. Her focus is solely on what’s laying on her lap, he runs his hand up her bare leg stopping mid-thigh right below her shorts and sits down on the coffee table in front of her – she doesn’t seem to notice he is even there. She’s lost in star-shaped Rice Krispies Treats, recipes for the perfect moon rocks and what appears to be every space themed decoration she can think of.

“You’re doing all this for Bucky’s kid?” Tony inquires, giving a gentle but firm squeeze to her thigh. The mix of his voice and the tickle to her inner thigh seems to grab her attention, but there is still a little something indifferent in her eyes.

“Yes, I’m doing all of this for Ori and for Bucky. Bucky and I are friends,” Y/n explained, credulously and matter-of-factly.

Tony can’t help but smile at her. He leans forward and kisses her forehead, whispering against her skin, "You’re adorably naive sometimes.”

The edges of her mouth curl down into a deep frown, and her brows draw together. “What does that mean?”

“Listen,” Tony begged, ignoring her question. They can talk about that after Ori’s party. “I’ve got an idea for baby Barnes’s birthday if you’re okay letting me help?”

“Depends on what it is?”

“You said her favorite place is your bookstore, right?”

“Yeah, I mean that’s what she said, but I can’t have the party there. I would have to move all the shelves, my apartment is still a mess, and I have no room to cook anything there. I think Bucky just wants to cook burgers or something and,” She hesitates, nervously drumming the end of her pen against her knee until Tony snatches it out of her hand.

“And… what? You’re killing me with the suspense.”

“I’m not family,” she whispers, so soft that Tony has to strain to hear it. “I think they were going to do it at Steve’s because they have the deck out back and well, he’s her uncle. I’m just some girl that owns a bookstore.”

This is something Tony can’t let go. Tony grabs the notepad from her hands, tossing it and the pen onto the couch and pulls Y/n forward by her hands. 

“Your apartment will be fine. I’ll make sure it gets done, and the shelves are not a big deal. Her dad and uncles have muscles coming out of their ass–” They both wince at his choice of words. “– Sorry. That was vivid even for me. Point is we can move them, and I can pay for a caterer. Don’t even try to fight me on that one. It can be my present, and as for the rest, you are far more than just a girl that owns a bookstore to that little girl and particularly to Bucky.”

A wide grin slowly stretches across Y/n’s face, and Tony does not like the smugness of that smirk. 

“What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

He doesn’t like one bit. 

“You’re pretty sweet when you want to be,” She says, still beaming.

Tony reaches forward and covers her mouth with his hand whispering dramatically as he does, “Shh, don’t say that so loud. There are spies everywhere!” 

A muffled giggle slips through his fingers, and she places a soft kiss to the palm of his hand.

“Thank you,” She manages once he drops his hand. 

“I like the idea as long as Bucky is okay with it.” Her eyes wander back to her phone on the table next to Tony’s thigh, and it doesn’t have to be said – he can see it written all over her face.

“You wanna call him right now, don’t you?” 

She gives Tony an apologetic smile with a small shrug. It’s supposed to be their date night, but she is not going to relax till she talks to Bucky and gets this party sorted – they both know it. Tony rolls his eyes affectionately and waves his hand towards the balcony as he stands.

“I have to change before we go out anyway. Go, make your call.”

Y/n slips out onto the terrace as Tony disappears into his bedroom. There is a moment of hesitation before she makes herself to dial Bucky’s number. They hadn’t talked all day, Y/n thought it was because he was busy, but maybe he didn’t want to talk? They aren’t family, they are brarey friends and she could be bothering him-- 

“Hey, Beck,” Bucky’s soft greeting makes her skin prickle and her worry fades away when instantly. 

“Hi,” Y/n sighs, content and somehow lighter from two simple words.

“Hi,” Bucky breathes into the phone with a huge grin on his face, his nerves finally settling for the first time all day. He’s not sure how she does that when they are a good twenty miles apart.

“So,” she mutters quietly.

“So,” Bucky repeats with a soft chuckle.

Y/n knows why she called. They need to talk about Ori’s party but now that she has him on the line, for the first time in what feels like forever she doesn’t want to rush him off the phone. She admires the soft orange glow and the pink clouds peeking out over the Manhattan skyline, and she’s never wanted to be back in Brooklyn more than she does right now.

“I’m not sure what all the fuss is about the sunset from Manhattan,” She scoffs. “Personally, I like a good old Brooklyn sunset.”

Dammit. Why does she have to be so perfect? Bucky thinks as he sneaks through Steve’s living room and out the front door– no witnesses needed for this conversation. He spins around to find the sunset peeking through all the buildings. It’s harder to do the deeper you got into Brooklyn, but he was able to spot the peach colored sky. He can’t explain why, he just needs to know they are both looking at the same thing.

“You called me to talk about sunsets, Beck?”

Y/n chuckles and shakes her head as if he can see her but quickly remembers he can’t and answers him with a nervous squeak, “Um, no? I don’t know.”

“You don’t know,” Bucky echoes her words once again.

“I’m sorry. I’m sure you are about to have dinner with Ori. I just…” I haven’t talked to you all day, and I hate it. She closes her eyes and turns around the block out the nightfall that’s overtaking the orange and slowly fading to plum. “I actually called about Ori’s party. If it’s okay with you, I would like to have it at my shop. I can handle everything. If you just bring the birthday girl.”

“That sounds good,” Bucky whispers, clearing his throat as he turns back around and drops his forehead against the front door – shutting out the dark falling around him, the one that seems to take over when she’s not with him.

“Ori would really love that. Tell me what to buy or set up. I can come early and help move things around.”

“Why are you whispering?” She asks in a hushed tone making him chuckle. “I’m hiding on the front porch at Steve’s. Why are you whispering?” He counters, grinning, foolish, and unabashed.

Y/n giggle softly, and the line goes inexplicably quiet. Bucky slowly lifts his head from the door and turns back around to find the sun was mostly set, he was about to apologize for teasing her when her soft voice drifts through the line, “Let’s not go all day without talking again, okay? I really hated it.”

Sweetest words he’s heard all day. 

“God, me too,” He sighs. “Never again. I pinky promise.”

“Buck, you can’t pinky promise. We can’t lock pinkies,” She scolds with total seriousness because that’s just the kind of woman she is. “I’m in Manhattan, and you’re in Brooklyn. It only counts if you hook your pinkies together.”

“Who says we gotta lock, pinkies?” Bucky scoffs, amusement and sincerity filling his words. He may find her entirely adorable, but Bucky needs her to know he means every word – without a doubt. 

“Maybe that will be our thing. Pinky promise without the pinky.”

Y/n finds herself unable to stop the ear to ear grin that forms. She drops her head back and looks up to the sky in hopes of catching a glimpse of the stars.

“No more days like today, Y/n. Pinky promise.”

There’s her glimpse. Perfect timing. 

“Pinky promise, Buck.”

Previous // Next

[thewritingstar]

1-200 we're all in quarantine so got nothing to do. Might as well ask pls

oo anon you were gonna ask anyways lol. But I did this hella quick during a zoom.....

1. What is your middle name?

-Rose

2. Do you have any nicknames that aren’t derived from your actual name?

-Star

2. Do you have any allergies?

-Penicillin (not really thou), but no

4. What is the longest your hair has ever been?

-Lower back

5. How well can you write in cursive?

-Its readable

6. Name one item on your bucket list.

-Going to all the Disney parks in the world

7. Have you ever been on a blind date?

-haven’t even been on a real date

8. What is the oldest piece of clothing you still wear and how old is it?

-prob like five years ago and its jeans

9. How often do you eat out at a fancy restaurant?

-nothing like I have to dress up but maybe once a year??

10. How grammatically correct are you when you text?

-rules don’t apply in text

11. Can you drive stick?

-hell no

12. What foreign country would you most like to visit and why?

-japan because I think it would be so cool

13. Nutella or peanut butter?

-NUTELLA

14. At what age did you have your first kiss?

-...............ahahhahahh

15. DC or Marvel?

-DC. Harley Quinn owns my ass

16. Have you ever hosted a wild party?

-my parties consist of drinking capri suns and playing cards against humanity and Mario kart

17. Name/author of the last book you read cover to cover. Do you recommend it?

-...ooof haven’t read a book in a while

18. How many of your Facebook friends do you actually hang with?

-my mom

19. Have you ever donated blood?

-I was apart of a cancer study so I used to donate my blood (and pee) to science

20. From 1-10, how much do you like decorating for holidays?

-8 I love to decorate but I’m not allow near the Christmas trees

21. Coffee or tea?

-vaniila iced lattes or raspberry ice tea own me

22. What is your go-to Starbucks drink?

-Vanilla bean frap with extra vanilla

23. Last show you binge watched?

-currently its assassination classroom

24. Dogs or cats?

-puppy’s

25. Favorite animated Disney character?

-Jessica Rabbit, Dumbo, Rey, Tamatoa and Guedo

26. Have you ever cooked a big family meal by yourself?

-mostly baking for my family

27. Favorite winter activity?

-Staying inside

28. Have you ever butt dialed anyone?

-probably

29. Can you blow a bubble gum bubble?

-yes

30. How early in the year do you start celebrating Christmas?

-my mom plays Xmas music year round

31. What emoji best describes your life right now?

-the wilting rose

32. Are you fluent in more than one language?

-nope

33. What is the longest you’ve ever kept a New Year’s resolution?

-I don’t make them

34. Have you ever successfully been on a diet? Did you gain any of the weight back?

-I’m on a diet to gain weight and its not going well

35. Are any of your grandparents still alive?

-only on my moms side

36. How good are you at communicating through facial expressions?

-hahaha my face gives everything away and I can read people pretty well

37. Have you ever gotten a commercial jingle stuck in your head?

-EDUCATION CONNECTION! Get connected for free

38. Have you ever left a movie theater before the movie was over?

-Nope

39. Do you consider rapping singing?

-rapping is in its own ballpark...its why its called rapping

40. Does your home have a fireplace?

Yep

41. Favorite non-chocolate candy?

-sour gummies worms

42. If you could have only one superpower, what would you want and why?

-oooof ummmmmm maybe teleportation

43. Have you ever locked your keys in your car?

44. Do you listen to any religious music?

-noooooooooo

45. Do you drink soda? If so, which one is your favorite?

-I hate soda

46. What was your ACT score?

-do not do me like this (21)

47. Rice or quinoa?

-rice

48. From 1-10, how good of a driver do you consider yourself?

-like an 8

49. Do you like horror movies?

-nope

50. How easily do you cry?

-uh depends on what it is

51. Do you have any tattoos? If so, of what and where?

-no but I want some

52. You are hanging with your closest friends. What are you most likely doing?

-being dumb and quoting tik toks at target

53. Can you handle spicy foods? What is your spice limit?

-not very well

54. Can you play any musical instruments? If so, which ones?

-no

55. Are you more introverted or extroverted?

-middle of the road

56. Last CD you bought?

-Folklore by Taylor Swift

57. Do you like roller coasters?

-yessss but they cant be extremely tall

58. What day of the week is laundry day for you?

-uhhh depends on when I have time

59. Have you ever played spin the bottle?

-uh maybe once but I was in fourth grade and walked away

60. How long have you known your best friend?

-I’ve known my bestie for 16 years (met when we were 4)

61. Can you eat using chopsticks?

-yes!! I usually eat my Chinese food with them

62. Do you have any stickers on your laptop computer? If so, what are they of?

-no because I need to get a case for my iMac and iPad

63. How often do you say y'all?

-every fucking day. Y’all is my go too

64. Favorite flavor of ice cream?

-cookie dough, pralines and cream, blue raspberry sherbert, vanilla, coffee

65. How long was your longest relationship? Are you still with that person?

-my longest relationship was like three weeks in fourth grade with my friends cousin who I saw twice

66. Star Trek or Star Wars?

-haven’t seen either but prob Star Wars cause r2d2 is cute

67. How good are you at math?

-ehhh I’m okay at stats

68. Have you ever acted in a play or a musical?

-used to do the plays in middle school :)

69. How often do you read/pay attention to your horoscope?

-not much my horoscope but just my sign in general

70. What is the shortest your hair has ever been?

-just above my shoulders

71. Have you ever broken any bones?

-my big toe

72. Do you like to go fishing?

-nooooooo I went fishing once and it pooped on me

73. Do you believe in evolution?

-of course

74. Favorite costume you wore for Hallowen? How old were you?

-I was perry the platypus…. 19

75. Real or fake Christmas trees?

-fake!!! WHO WANTS TO CLEAN THAT UP???

76. How many pillows do you sleep with?

-usually 1-2 but like 5 in the winter

77. Do you live in an apartment or a house?

-House rn

78. How many of your friends are of the opposite gender?

-in my close circle, one but I do have many boy homies

79. Have you ever had a near-death experience?

-many times

80. How long have you been at your current job?

-four weeks

81. What kind of car do you drive (year, brand, model, color)?

-white car

82. How flexible are you?

-not super but mama can bend

83. Have you ever ended a romantic relationship?

-haven’t even started one

84. Phrase you say the most?

-“I’m uncomfortable” “Y’all” “I would let J.D from heathers…..”

85. Have you ever kissed anyone of the same gender? If so, did you like it?

-no but I wish

86. Do you own any homemade clothing?

-not that I know of

87. Do you like fast food?

-yessss

88. Have you ever given anyone CPR?

-nope

89. Have you ever learned to do anything from a how-to video on YouTube?

-I fixed my moms glasses yesterday with a video so she wouldn’t have to spend a shit ton of money

90. Describe your sense of humor.

-if Always Sunny in Philadelphia and “vine comp that butters my eggroll” had a baby

92. Favorite cereal?

-no

93. Have you ever auditioned for a reality competition show?

-no

94. Have you ever gotten a TV theme song stuck in your head?

-Sugar, spice and everything nice, these were the ingredients…….

95. Do you believe in ghosts?

-indifferent

96. Do you think there is life on other planets?

-hell yeah

97. Have you ever given money to a street performer?

-yep

98. Your deepest fear?

-lets not go there

99. Pancakes or waffles?

-waffles but I don’t even like them that much

100. Are you still friends with anyone from high school?

-yep, my friend circle dates back to elementary

101. From 1-10, how good of a dancer do you consider yourself?

-7

102. How much of a patient person are you?

-I can be extremely patient. Once waited three hours in a dressing room with my friend and I didn’t have a phone

103. Do you know your IQ?

-no but its prob god level

104. Do you eat meat at all?

-mama loves meat

105. Do you own any clothes from a garage sale or a thrift store?

-I think so

106. Have you ever bought anything from a flea market?

-yess my mom used to take me to flea markets all the time

107. Have you ever quit a job?

-early this year

108. Have you ever gotten a song you dislike stuck in your head?

-many times

109. Any movie(s) you can watch over and over and over again and enjoy just as much each time?

-robots to ratatouille

110. Do you or have you ever worn glasses?

-just sun glasses

111. Have you ever skinny dipped?

-when I was like 6

112. Are your birth parents still together?

-yep

113. Have you ever been in the audience for the taping of a TV show?

-not that I know of

114. Favorite type of cookie?

-chocolate chip or the sugar cookies with the pink frosting on them (I’m a whore for them)

115. Have you ever been broken up with?

-nope

116. How often do you smile when getting your picture taken?

-most of the time

117. Have you ever accidentally dialed 911?

-yes I have and I was 6 and bullied for it for years by my uncle even though my cousins tricked me into doing it

118. Oldest memory?

-throwing a chair at a kid in preschool for stealing my cookie

119. Have you ever been the victim of a nasty prank?

-nope

120. How often do you snort when you laugh?

-uhhhh a lot

121. From 1-10, how good of a singer do you consider yourself?

-5

122. Favorite Disney song?

-uuuuuuhhh Shiny, See the Light, Why Don’t you Do Right, Show Yourself

123. Where do you see yourself 10 years from now?

-hopefully in la

124. What is your Myers-Briggs personality type?

-I’m an advocate

125. Have you ever had a fortune cookie fortune come true?

-I think so

126. Name one thing you wish people would stop posting on social media.

-fascist, racist, homophobia stuff

127. Last musical artist you saw live?

-Jonas brothers

128. Credit cards or cash?

-cash cause I feel like I didn’t spend anything

129. Favorite fandom?

-the powderpuff girls or fairy tail

130. What is your astrological sign?

-Aries

131. Have you ever been fired from a job?

-nope I’m a good noodle

132. Any hidden talents?

-I can do the cinnamon challenge

133. Can you surf?

-nope

134. What motivates you to do well in life?

-the fear of failure

135. Your worst physical feature?

-my acne

136. From 1-10, how much are you like your father?

-mehhhhhhhh like a 4

137. How lucky do you consider yourself?

-I’m a pretty lucky person ngl

138. Name a moment in your life when you were pleasently surprised.

-when I won a coffee maker at my senior grad night raffle

139. Have you ever been summoned for jury duty?

-nope

140. What type of shoes do you wear the most?

-my converse

141. Favorite summer activity?

-getting coffee

142. Favorite song to sing in the shower?

-any Taylor swift song

143. Have you ever lived with a roommate you did not get along with?

-my parents sometimes

144. Have you ever lived on a farm?

-my grandparents owned a cherry farm when I was little

145. Have you ever kept a diary or a journal?

-tumblr is my diary

146. TV show or movie you quote/reference the most?

-Always Sunny, The Office, Gotham

147. How often do you get mad at yourself?

-constantly

148. Have you ever gotten any stitches?

-only in animal crossing (he’s so cute)

149. Have you ever been hunting?

-no

150. Favorite YouTube channel?

-Jenna marbles, try guys, mukbang edit channel, drama channels

151. Have you ever had a pet besides a dog or a cat?

-I had a mouse once

152. From 1-10, how well do you work with others?

-9

153. Are you friends with any of your exes?

-I don’t got exes

154. Apple or PC?

-I have an Apple Mac rn but I think I loved my pc so much so I’m getting used to the format

155. Do you collect anything?

-what don’t I collect? Funko, pins, so much stuff

156. Have you ever seen any Broadway plays or musicals?

-I saw Newsies and A Music chorus

157. Any missed opporunites you wish you had taken?

-I’m not too sure

158. Have you ever uttered a spoken hashtag?

-yes

159. Do you have a pool at your house?

-nope

160. What is the longest you’ve gone without sleep?

-like 24 hours and it was hell

161. Last thing that made you laugh?

-a meme 20 sec ago

162. Disney or Nickelodeon?

-Disney

163. Name one celebrity you wish was still alive.

-Billy Mays (Oxyclean dude)

164. From 1-10, how much are you like your mother?

-maybe a 6

165. Your best physical feature?

-my hair

166. Earbud or earmuff headphones?

-earbud

167. Have you ever wished you were born the opposite gender?

-..hmmmm sometimes I think it would be cool but I’m pretty content with being a girl...

168. Do you have any piercings anywhere besides your ear lobes?

-my nose

169. How often do you wash your hair?

-every other day usually

170. Showers or baths?

-I love a good bath but I take showers more

171. Have you ever been a bridesmaid or a groomsman?

-noooo but I wanna be

172. Bottled or tap water?

-bottle

173. What was your favorite TV show when you were a kid?

POWERPUFF GIRLS

174. Any guilty pleasures you’re willing to discuss?

-watching glee

175. Favorite video game?

-Mario kart

176. Have you ever gotten a New Year’s kiss exactly at midnight?

-nooooo why are there so many questions about kissing

177. How many of the United States have you visited?

-four, ive passed over a few more in a plane

178. Have you ever given money to a homeless person?

-yes

179. Have you ever gotten a surgery?

-no

180. Your least favorite food?

-cheese

181. From 1-10, how competitive are you?

-depends. I’m like a 6 but I can be pushed to a 10 when motivated

182. Do you like wearing hats?

-only a snap back occasionally

183. How much of a jealous peron are you?

-ehh not really

184. What was your SAT score?

-900-1100 (stop nationwide testing doesn’t work and I didn’t learn eveything)

185. Have you ever voted for a reality competition show?

-no

186. Does anyone in your family currently serve in your country’s military?

-my cousin

187. Snowboarding or skiing?

-I don’t do snow

188. What celebrity would you most want to play you in a movie about your life?

-jack black

189. Have you ever been a Boy or Girl Scout?

-hell no

190. Have you ever dyed your hair?

-many times

191. From 1-10, how good of a cook do you consider yourself?

-7

192. You have just opened up a web browser. What is the first site you visit?

-this cursed site

193. How many things can you do with your weaker hand?

-a lot

194. Were you involved in any academic clubs in high school?

-honors i guess

195. Have you ever played hooky from school?

-like twice

196. Are you comfortable with watching rated R movies?

—-not with my parents

197. Do you root for any sports teams?

-bold of you to assume i do sport

198. First thing you do when you wake up in the morning?

-pee

199. If you could take home any one animal from the zoo, which one would you choose?

-a lizard

200. Tell something about yourself most people don’t know.

-uhhh ummmm (I have a tik tok with 7.5k followers) 

[zankivich]

Neighbors: Shawn x Plus Size Reader Chapter 13

a/n: Hi there. This is going to be good. I promise. Take some deep breaths. Relax a little. Let yourself fall into it. There’s a lot of build up here but it will all make sense in a little while. I promise. If you hate it that’s cool, you can come yell at me. I’ll understand. But I love you? If you like it enough to want to buy me a ko-fi I’d love you forever! 

Trigger Warnings: details of sex, anxiety attack

*y/n’s point of view*

Going home is good for a while. You start a huge campaign with Roger’s Stadium to do their new branding. It’s kind of Shawn adjacent, but distant enough that no one brings it up that your boyfriend just happened to sell out a show there. You got to pick someone to help do the low-level research and you quickly paired up with Stu. It meant late nights in the office with your best friend doing what you did best. Marketing was your thing. Understanding different demographics of people and what got through to them best was something that you’d never had to be taught in the classroom. It came naturally. So communicating your product, connecting with people was just fun for you. It just so happened to come with a lovely commission on the side.

You meet with Gina, to confirm and solidify your pitch, but also apparently for a wellness check. After a lifetime of male bosses, you’d never once had one of those, but the second you sat down in her office she quickly flipped the lid on your ipad and made you talk about yourself instead.

“How are you?” She asked.

Your eyes widened slightly. “I...I’m good. How are you?”

“I’m okay,” She chuckled. “You’re used to jumping right into things, aye? Is that it?”

“I guess. Most bosses usually just want me to do the job and move on.”

“Ah. Then this should be a lovely change of pace for you. I have no interest in what you do professionally if you’re not doing okay holistically. The two are deeply intertwined. I’m not saying we’re going to be best friends. In fact we probably shouldn’t but, if at no other point in your day is someone asking you how you’ve been, let that be what your time with me looks like, okay?”

“Okay.” You murmured letting your shoulders relax slightly. “Okay.”

“So I ask you again, how are you doing y/n?”

“Things are good, actually. Stu and I work so well together that sometimes I can’t tell when our friendship stops and when the work begins. We just understand each other’s minds in a really productive way, so it’s really nice to be able to work together.”

She gave you that smile again that said you were doing something wrong causing you to pause again.

“What?”

“I guess I’m just curious how often when someone asks you how you’re doing you immediately start talking about work.”

You signed, hands twisted up in your lap as you struggled to maintain eye contact with her.

“Yea well...There’s not really much going on for me outside of work right now so?”

“Really? What about that famous boyfriend of yours everyone’s always yapping about?”

You snorted. “Famous boyfriend is getting ready for his very famous tour in England at the moment.”

“England, aye? That’s where you flew out to a few weeks ago right?”

“Yea. We uh had a fight that was bit my fault, so I went to apologize and smooth things over. He’ll be heading for Amsterdam come March though.”

She nodded. “That’s a lot for you to handle, I’m guessing. You must fly a lot to go see him? That’s hard considering your job here.”

You peered down at your lap again.

“This is actually the first time we’re doing the whole long term long distance thing. I’m sure we’ll be fine. It’s all a learning curve though. I uh I was planning on going to Amsterdam for the first two shows but that will probably be the last time I leave for at least a few months. I won’t see him for most of the year.”

“Well, shit. That just sucks.”

You smiled. “Yea, little bit. But he says he’ll fly back as often as he can. And with social media and technology now a days I can still talk to him for like hours. We’ll be okay. The hardest part is just keeping myself busy, and thankfully I’m pretty good at that.”

“What about family and friends?”

“Family is...complicated. Friends is Stu and his boyfriend Brian. Most of the people in the office are much older than me though, and we just don’t really care about the same things. I’m good though, I’ve always been the kind of person to go out and do whatever makes me happy. I don’t need a bunch of people around for that.”

She laughed again. “Well isn’t that nice to know. I suppose you can show me your pitch now.”

She loves it. And it’s incredibly validating, and takes a lot of stress of your shoulders. Now all that was left to do was to present the real thing and hope that they liked your design. It seemed like a cause for celebration. So you and Stu made plans to get all gussied up, go out to a fancy dinner, and get wine drunk together before eight pm. You tried to give Shawn a call, he knew how stressed you’d been about it after all, but it went to voicemail. So, you tucked your phone in your purse and went out to have a good fucking time.

“To being in our mid-twenties and finally hitting the fucking glow up! We are in our prime motherfucker!” Stu grinned cheersing his glass against yours.

You snorted. “We sure fucking are. When Ari said it feels so good to be so young and so successful, bitch was not lying.”

“Ugh. I wanna die and come back as that song. I thought that the thing I hated you most for was getting to see Shawn Mendes’ dick in person, but I think it’s that you have the ability to meet my fairy godmother, Ariana Grande, and there’s just nothing I can do about it.”

You peered over at your best friend over the rim of your glass with raised eyebrows.

“Stu...Are you sexually attracted to my boyfriend?”

His eyes widened slightly and his lips parted like a goldfish flopping on a dry surface begging for water. The idiot.

“To be fair...The entire office wants to fuck your boyfriend. Not just me!”

“Wow...That does not make me feel any better you sleez!” You chortled. “You’re my best friend!”

“It’s not like I would pursue it! Besides, Shawn Mendes was on our hall pass list far before you two were playing footsie behind my back.”

“I beg your pardon? And stop calling him by his full name, it gives me the creeps.”

He rolled his eyes at you. “The minute that man figured out how to put on a suit, Brian told me straight up if he ever found out Shawn went the other way, he would leave my ass in a heartbeat.”

“Jesus. So the whole world wants to screw my boyfriend?”

“Little bit, babes. But, you’re the only one who gets to! Don’t worry about the rest of us horny idiots.” He smiled.

“Have I ever told you how good you are at consoling me?”

“No.”

“Good.” You smirked. “You suck at it.”

He swatted at you playfully allowing both of you some time to look over your menus. At least that’s what you thought you were doing. It only took a few minutes of not so subtle stares for you to get the hint. The more you got used to being with Shawn the more you picked up on stuff like that.

“What is it now, Stu?” You sighed plopping your menu down.

“Well...Don’t take this the wrong way, because I completely don’t mean it in a predatory, creepy one at all but...What’s the dick like?”

“Oh god.”

He sighed. “We used to talk about all our hookups! I just want to know that my bestie is getting the dicking down that she deserves. It just so happens that this is internationally famous dick.”

Your best friend was a complete and total dumbass. But, you loved him. And you loved Shawn. And quite honestly not getting to share your experiences with someone was tough. It was hard because you knew Stu might not be able to relate to some of the things you were now experiencing as a result of your relationship, but he was also the person you went to for just about everything and vice versa. Also...sometimes a girl needs to gloat.

You peer around the restaurant as if a pap or one of Shawn’s fans might be lurking around every corner. (Sometimes, it felt like they were.) Stu leaned in in his nosey ass manner

“So like...it’s the best dick I’ve ever had in my life.” You whispered.

“Shut the fuck up.”

You whined dramatically. “I wish I was kidding. The whole hour and a half shows every night of the week translates so well into the bedroom. His stamina is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. His breath control allows him to go down on me for insane amounts of time. I’m talking like the bastard has evolved gills or some shit!”

Stu cracked up laughing and clanked his glass happily against yours.

“To evolving gills, bitch!”

You snorted happily and cheers’d with him again.

“Wait Stu, something happened.” You murmured moving closer in your seat to lean across the table.

“What? What?”

“So I went to the UK obviously to make up for things and I found this plus-size lingerie store while I was there so I thought it might get his mind off things if we like had some fun or whatever.”

“Okay….AND?”

“And so we’re doing...you know, it. And out of nowhere this dominant side of him comes out that honest to god made me wetter than the ocean seas.”

He raised an eyebrow at you. “What the hell does that mean? What did he do?”

You bit your lip taking another gander around the restaurant only for him to swat at you about getting shy just as you were getting to the good part.

“I was somewhat bent over, I guess you could say.”

“Great so you were doing doggy style, get to the kinky shit, sis.”

You rolled your eyes. “I don’t know… It just like started to feel really good and I had a feeling that I was going to…”

“Cum?”

You shook your head softly.

He gasped. “Squirt?”

You nodded.

“Oh. My. God. He’s really dicking you to explosion.”

“Yes. That is accurate. Anyway, I’ve never done that while he was in me before so I guess I started pushing against his hips because it felt so good? And he pulled my arms behind my back randomly and literally fucked me through it. Even when I was screaming louder than I’ve ever screamed before. He said, and I quote: ‘Baby, just let me give it to you. Let me make you feel good like only I can.’ and I just...holy shit Stu it was the best orgasm of my life.”

“You memorized a quote during sex? That is the biggest dick energy I’ve ever heard in my life. I have to go home and now slap my boyfriend because you’ve told me that story. I hope you’re satisfied, ruining other people's relationships. Holy shit, y/n.”

You licked at your lips and smile up at the sky as if God had something to do with it and not your wonderfully aggressive boyfriend.

“Yea. I know.” you sighed dreamily. “I love him.”

Meanwhile…

*Shawn’s point of view*

“What’s your problem? Y/n not texting you back?” Brian asked as Shawn tossed his phone back onto the couch.

He rolled his eyes. “No. But I am a perfectly grown adult who doesn’t need his girlfriend’s constant validation to feel secure in our relationship, Brian!”

“That what the self-help books telling you, bud?”

Brian was walking past after having turned the tv on and he very purposely tripped him. Jackass.

“Is you not getting to blow your load at least three times a day gonna make you an asshole this whole entire tour?”

He reached for a pillow and quickly socked his best friend in the face.

“Why are you such a dickhead, dickhead?!” He snorted. “There’s nothing I can do about having an incredible sex life. That is not my fault!”

“Incredible sex life, my ass!”

He put his hand over his heart and gave him the most sincere face he could offer.

“Bri...it’s a great fuckin’ sex life. Best of my whole life.”

“What does she shoot beams of light out her pussy or something?”

“This is why women hate our whole gender by the way. No, jackass, but she might as well. She is soft and passionate and beautiful and...vocal. Everytime I think I’m in control she does something to put me in my place. It’s wild. She’s fuckin wild.” He sighed collapsing back against the couch. “God, she’s perfect, man.”

Sure, he missed her. He always missed her. But, he also just appreciated everything about her. And talking about their love life wasn’t out of disrespect at all. It was more like bragging out of love for everything that they were together. And also because when it came to sex...they were kind of incredibly good at it.

“You two fuck like bunny rabbits. I’d almost be impressed if it wasn’t a complete inconvenience ninety nine percent of the time.”

Shawn rolled his eyes. “How is our love making an inconvenience to you, oh poor wonderful Brian?!”

“Oh don’t even get me started! Exhibit A, you invite all of us over to your apartment for a party in December. We’re supposed to get incredibly hammered and play mario kart. Not even forty-five minutes into the damn thing, you two assholes disappear into the bedroom, WITH the game system I might add, with the door locked for over an hour. The only reason you even came back out was because y/n wanted more tequila!”

“Hmm...that was a beautiful night. She sounds like a symphony when she cums.” He sighed to himself.

“Gross. Exhibit B! We go to the after party for the billboard awards. It’s supposed to be a good fuckin’ time for everyone--”

“Hey! We had a good fuckin’ time that night! We shared a blunt with Post Malone, Alessia, and fucking Ariana Grande. What could you possibly have to complain about?!”

“Why yes Shawn, that we did. But do you remember what happened after that?” He paused for the briefest of moments before very quickly continuing on. “Y/n for some reason found you smoking to be the hottest thing in the world and decided that she had to have you right then and there. You two left the fucking party and Alessia and I had to uber back to the hotel.”

“Well that is...yea I don’t really have an excuse for that one. Not our best moment. But trust me you didn’t want to be in that car anyway, I ripped her dress that night. It was a bit of a shit show. The only reason the paps didn’t get us was because we penguin waddled inside to hide it.”

“The moral of the story is, as happy as I am that you guys are trying to set an olympic record for fucking, you both suck!”

“You’ve got me there. We both suck...incredibly well I might add.”

He hit him with a pillow and left the room. What are best friends for anyway?

*y/n’s point of view*

“How are things going with Bry?” You asked as Stu worked to pack their bowl.

What better way to celebrate their wonderful friendship date, then ending it with a little weed?

He lit the bowl and took a deep hit, letting it sit in his lungs as he handed it over.

Stu groaned. “They’d be fine if he would get his shit together and propose to me already.”

You took a hit of your own and laughed.

“If you want to marry him so much, why don’t you propose?”

“I’m the one who asked him out in the first place! I’m the one who single handedly kept our relationship going through college. I told him point blank that he needed to propose and for some reason, five years later I’m still missing a ring on my finger!”

“Do you want me to talk to him? Give him the hint?”

He rolled his eyes. “As wonderful as that sounds, no. I want him to want to be with me. I just want him to take a little initiative ya know?”

You each took another hit of the bowl and leaned against each other and the high took over.

“I get it. You want to feel confident in your future. You wanna know he’s gonna be there when you need him. That’s a valid feeling.” You assured him.

“We’ve just been together for so long. And most of the time we are so good together. We communicate well, we have fun together. I just want to know that we’re both feeling the same things. Sometimes he seems so sure that he just thinks we don’t need to talk about it at all.”

“Damn. I think Shawn and I might be the opposite. I think all he wants is for me to talk more.”

Stu chuckled. “No shit. It took me getting you high in my college dorm for you to even tell me anything even remotely personal about yourself. Shawn’s sappy ass probably thinks it’s like talking to a wall.”

“Very funny asshole. I can’t help it okay? I’m the baby of four kids. By the time I was growing up, no one had time to listen to me whine and complain about shit. Shawn just...he understands all of his emotions so well, and he spends so much of his life reflecting on everything no matter how busy he is. I’m trying though. I know it’s necessary, It’s just hard.”

“Do you think you two will be okay with all the touring?” He asked.

Wasn’t that just the million dollar question? You didn’t know how to explain that when you were together it seemed like you could take on the world, like you could do anything together, but that when you were apart you’d never felt weaker. It all feel so sappy and so high school. Not being able to live on your own and per your own person? You wanted to be better than that. And admitting anything else out loud, even to Stu, shook the very foundation of the persona you were trying to force yourself to be.

“Shawn thinks we will be.” You mumbled.

“I didn’t ask what Shawn thinks. I’m your best friend, you can tell me of all people.”

“It’s just harder when we’re apart. So, I fly into whatever country he’s in and we fuck and we go out to dinner and maybe we get high because that’s all there is when you’re together for two or three days. And it’s not until I come back home that I even realize it. Cause when we’re together, I can’t imagine being anywhere else. I could honestly sit in one of those green rooms and just watch him all day, and I’d be happy. I love him that much. But when I get some distance, when I’m back home I realize just how little there is. How little there will be for the rest of the year. I just...I guess I’m hoping I can hold on. Because when I’m with him? It’s the greatest pleasure I’ve ever known.”

“Holy shit babes...That’s deep. C’mere.”

He wrapped his arm loosely around you. You passed the bowl back and forth a few more times until the world grew fuzzy and calm and you were each happier for it. It was a good way to end the night.

***

It’s four in the afternoon. You have a meeting in fifteen minutes to go over revenue for the department. These meetings always made you super anxious. You were the only female senior executive, so any conversation you had about revenue was always in a room full of men. It didn’t help that a lot of the assholes in the office didn’t like the way you were offered the job and definitely held a grudge. You were always dead set on having the best numbers, so no one could say shit. Your stomach was tied up in knots and you just wanted to get it over with, so you could go home and drink a glass--or three--of wine. You’d been stressed about it all week, and it only made it worse that you had started sleeping in Shawn’s apartment because the smell of his sheets was sometimes the only thing that could lull you into sleep only for the smell to eventually fade away. There was tension in your neck and in your shoulders from the tossing and turning, and you just needed the week to be over.

Your phone started to vibrate on your desk and you almost chucked it at the wall. When you saw that it was Shawn wanting to facetime you honestly weren’t sure if that made it better or worse. But, Shawn tended to get anxious when you didn’t answer, so you took a deep breath and opened the phone.

“Babe!” He smiled immediately as his image came slowly into focus.

He must’ve been walking somewhere with the team cause he wasn’t looking at his phone right away. You didn’t really have time for this.

“Hey Shawn. Look, what is it? I’m uh I’m kinda busy.”

“Wait just one sec.” He scrambled a little with the phone before he was finally staring at you, wild curls and beautiful brown eyes to boot. “What’s wrong? You sound stressed.”

“I am stressed. I have a meeting in ten, Shawn; what can I do for you?”

He frowned. “I don’t need you to do anything for me. I just wanted to see you. Hey Jake, I’m gonna go sit for a minute alone alright? I’ll be back.”

“No, Shawn don’t--” But he was already walking away from the group.

“What’s going on, right now? Talk to me.”

Your initial instinct was to tell him nothing was going on, that you didn’t want to talk, you just wanted to muscle through. But you couldn’t help but remember your conversation with Stu a few days ago. It felt hypocritical to say you were trying to communicate if every time your boyfriend asked you to communicate you shut down.

You closed your eyes and pinched the bridge of your nose between your thumb and forefinger.

“I have a meeting, okay? That’s all” You mumbled feeling like an incessant toddler.

He nodded. “Okay, you have a meeting. You’ve told me that. You’ve got a meeting that’s stressing you out. You look flustered. What else is going on?”

“Nothing else is going on. I’m just really stressed at the moment.”

He sighed. “Sweetheart, you don’t need to fight me on this. I only want to help you. You’re breathing is uneven. Are you feeling anxious right now?”

“I--I don’t know. Yea, sure, I feel anxious.”

“How long have you felt anxious, honey?”

“Shawn, what the hell does this have to do with anything?!” you snapped the irritation getting to you.

“I think you might be having an anxiety attack. Try and take a deep breath with me. I know you’re feeling upset, but let’s just breathe for a little bit.”

“An anxiety attack? Shawn what--”

“Hush. Just fucking listen to me okay?”

You stumbled into silence and watched as your boyfriend did his best to calm you down. He had you lean the phone against your desk so that you could place one hand over your stomach and the other over your heart. He had you use your stomach as a guide to let your lungs fill with air, breathing slowly and letting the tension in your back and neck to ease out. His voice was low, calm, and incredibly soothing in your ear. You may have offered him comfort before, but this was something new entirely. At least Shawn could tell when he needed help. You were so delusional about your own wellbeing that you hadn’t even been aware you needed it. It wasn’t until you felt your heart rate calm and your shoulders drop that you felt infinitely better. With this relief came a rather odd rush of sadness that left you crying in the middle of your office in broad daylight.

“Hey,” He cooed face moving closer to his screen. “Why are you crying, y/n?”

“I don’t even fucking know.” You sighed trying to catch the tears before they fall. “I really thought I was fine, Shawn. I thought I was okay.”

“That’s alright. That’s why I’m here. To catch the things you let slip. You do the exact same thing for me all of this time. It’s okay to lean on me once in a while, you know?”

You nodded softly with a sniffle. “I really do have to go to my meeting though.”

“Go. Call me when you get home from work okay? Take a shower, relax a little bit. I’m a few hours ahead of you here, but just call and I’ll be there. We can talk through it.”

“Okay. Okay, I’ll do that.” You mumbled.

“You’re gonna do great, sweetie. I love you so much, okay?”

“I love you too. I’ll talk to you later.”

*four hours later*

“Is that my bed?” Shawn asked leaning back with an arm behind his head with abs on full display.

Ugh.

You nodded. “I’ve been sleeping here a little better lately...Is that okay?”

“Yea! Of course it is. Nothing makes me happier than you sleeping there. That spaces is yours too. That’s why I gave you the key to begin with.”

“Okay.” You murmured not being able to hide the smile that his words brought to your face. “You could probably send me a sweatshirt or something that you’ve worn recently though. The sheets hardly even smell like you anymore.”

He grinned. “I’d love to sweetheart. It’s just that by the time something could get to you from Amsterdam, I think you might actually have already flown to Amsterdam. I’ll be sure to send you back with plenty of material.”

���Good.”

“So...you ready to talk about it?”

“Ugh, I am surprised you're not a licensed therapist with how much you want me to talk about my feelings.” you whined. “How did you even know it was an anxiety attack?”

“I just remembered when I was going through my panic attacks at first, that I didn’t even know what they were called. The doctor said these two words, panic attack and anxiety attack, and I didn’t really know the difference. They sort of sound the same. But you know how like when it gets really bad for me it’s like...super quick? Like one second I’m just thinking about something bad and then the next I can’t see my way out of it?”

“Yea. That’s usually when we start breathing together.”

He smiled. “Exactly. I guess anxiety attacks can be a little slower. My doctor said they can actually happen over a period of days. It’s what makes them harder to detect, but it can also make them much harder on the body. It’s like thinking about something until it consumes you. Not being able to sleep, irritability--even at very lovable and cuddly boyfriends, muscle tension. You seemed to check a lot of boxes, honey.”

“I’m sure loveable and cuddly boyfriends was right in the symptom description, aye?”

“You’re deflecting.”

“You’re digging.”

“I am trying to take an ounce of burden off your back, and you are making it incredibly difficult.”

You closed your eyes and took a deep breath telling yourself to stop being such a little bitch. He was there. He wasn’t going to leave. You could trust him.

“It’s okay to talk to me, y/n. I’m not going to hurt you.” He murmured.

You groaned. “I know. I know.”

“It’s just that...if it were anyone else I’d say that you should find someone to talk to, anyone to talk to but I . . .I’m supposed to be your person. You’re my person and I just--I don’t know y/n, how do I help you through this if you won’t let me?”

“I’m trying Shawn. I swear I am.”

“Hey I know. And I’m trying to be understanding of how hard it is for you. But, I’m also trying to help. I’m gonna need you to at least meet me halfway.”

You nodded sullenly, fingers bunching up in the blankets at the thought of failing him, of not being able to be what he needed.

Shawn sighed. “It’s uh...it’s getting pretty late here. Let’s just talk tomorrow, yea?”

You peered at him through the phone unable to discern how deep of a situation this was from halfway across the world.

“Are you angry with me?”

“N--No. Honey, I’m not angry. I’m just...tired. I’ll call you when it’s morning for you okay?”

“Okay. I love you, Shawn.”

“I love you too. Get some sleep.”

That was certainly easier said than done.

***

*Shawn’s point of view*

He’s in the middle of a meeting when his phone starts to buzz on the table. And he can’t help but reach for it just in case it’s y/n. It is.

y/n: so I couldn’t sleep last night. Surprise. And I just kept thinking about everything that you said, and it made feel really shitty.

y/n: not to say that you made me feel shitty just that that’s how I was feeling

y/n: anyway. I couldn’t sleep, so I tried to think about how I feel and I tried to write it down. I thought I could share it with you. Idk if it’ll help at all I just don’t want to keep letting you down.

y/n: so check your email if you have time. I love you. K. Bye.

And of course the rest of his meeting is absolutely useless. Of course all he can think about is her, about what she might be thinking, about what she might be feeling. And there’s a much bigger part of him than he’d like to admit, that’s wants nothing more than to fly home and cuddle the hell out of her until she gets some rest. The distance between the two of them felt heavier than ever.

“You’ve got forty-five minutes for lunch. Then we’re at the venue for run throughs. Final creative meeting for tour outfits after okay?” Andrew ordered.

Shawn nodded already in search of his laptop.

“Can you have Jake bring me something for the drive? I’m not gonna have time for anything else.”

“Why not?”

“Something is wrong with y/n. I need to check in okay?”

He was so unwilling to focus on anything other than y/n that if Andrew had anything else to say, he didn’t notice. He set up his laptop and found a space to sit in the quiet and read.

So...This is weird. I haven’t written anything like this since my diary in the eighth grade. I just um am tired a lot lately. I don’t think it’s work because I love what I do so much. I guess that’s not great either because I just keep working even when I’m exhausted. And it’s not you. Jesus, it most certainly is not you. I keep thinking that my love for is going to plateau or something, but it never does. It just keeps growing infinitely. I’m not sure if it’s the distance between us at the moment. When I first got home it actually felt good to get back into my routine. I think it’s not until I can’t sleep that I roll over and see you aren’t there that it hits me. It’d just so odd for me Shawn. I want to hold you and talk to you and I can’t because you’re not here. And there isn’t anything that either of us can do about it. I’m not used to there not being a solution. I’ve always been so good at solving things, that now that I can’t I feel like a waste of space. And I know that if I told you you’d tell me to call you but you’re six hours ahead of me right now. Everytime we talk it feels like I’m keeping you from something more important, and I don’t want to do that. I want you to be happy and to tour and have all the success in the world. I think also, and this is just me being honest with myself, even with the people I’ve loved most in my life I haven’t always had my needs prioritized.  My mom. My brothers. My dad. So I really try to take care of myself and prioritize myself. I never learned how to let someone else do it for me, because every time I tried I got let down. Your so endlessly kind to me. And you love me like i’ve never been loved before. Me not letting you in when I’m struggling is not malicious it’s just innate. I’m trying to unlearn these things and it’s much harder to do when I don’t even realize that I’m doing them. I’m sorry if I upset you. I’m sorry that you stayed up for me last night only to be disappointed. You mean more to me than a hundred of these pages could explain. I know I keep asking for time, for some leeway, and maybe your getting sick of that. I guess I’m sorry for that too. I promise you it’ll be different, if you let me try. I want to try. I love you enough to do that for us.

He sits with it for a while. There’s a feeling in his chest that he’s never had with y/n before and then there’s another feeling into response to it. He gets out the app on his phone and meditates for a while because he just doesn’t know what it is at first. And it isn’t until after he’s breathed for twenty minutes and they’re in the car on the way to his next meeting that he gets this overwhelming wave of deja vu. It’s so visceral that he feels himself become sixteen again. He watches himself get off the plan in Toronto and drive to his first girlfriend’s house. He watches him explain to her that he’s got to go away and live his dream, and that them being together is only going to hurt her, that it would kill him to keep hurting her. This idea that...it doesn’t matter how much we love each other, it’s never gonna matter, because all I’m ever gonna do it hurt you. And if I love you, if I truly and genuinely love you, then isn’t the greatest act of love I could ever show you to let you go?

It fills him with anger. Anger because this was meant to be different. In hindsight it makes him feel like a child who had been shouting at the top of his lungs that he knew something that he so clearly didn’t. Maybe Andrew was right. Maybe Brian had gotten annoyed for a legitimate reason. Maybe their love wasn’t what he thought it was. Or, even worse, maybe there love was everything it felt like. Maybe it was larger than the two of them, maybe it was complex and beautiful and wonderful. But, maybe that only meant it would consume them in the end.

After that there’s nothing but sorrow. Because his thread, his being, his life was so deeply intertwined with her’s that he could see no way out, couldn’t imagine not being with her.

For the first time in a long time he was completely at a loss. And it seemed as though he had opened up a can of worms that was only going to hurt them in the end. What the hell was he supposed to do now?

Taglist: @kitykatnumber @lou-and-me​ @ourlittleshawnie @mutuallynotmutual @wanderingmendes @peacedolantwins2 @chels-nyc @justbeingoceana  @hayyitsfayy​ @claredolphinbear24​  @september-lace  @literallyshawn @mchutchmendes @liliane106 @iloveshawnieboi @samwillllson @illloveyouforever1 @grittyisaho 

[nova9]

Aimi Otsukas Taiyuu Enterance exam!

@taiyuu-high-oct

A/n sorry it wouldn’t let me add a read more page break on my iPad 😩

Word count : 3k

Ps just realized I switched into x reader format and I didn’t even see it while I was spell checking or anything it just shows how tired I am rn sorry about that.

To say Aimis nerves were a little shot was an understatement. Not that the high-end bullet train with unnecessarily good bento didn't help a little but still, anyone would be nervous on their first day at a new school.

She was lucky to have been given the chance to be admitted at all considering her application was so late. In her defense, neither she or her parents actually knew about the school existing. It was Toma who’d suggested it.

Aimi wants to imagine that her loving boyfriend just wanted her to go to the latest and greatest hero school to open but she knew better. She knew that the big softy wanted her as close to home as possible and a two-hour train ride was better than the five hour one she’d have to take to get home for the weekends at the school she’d originally planned on attending.

She was just glad that the principal had agreed to her enrollment at all, considering her quirk she’d been denied by three other schools and she hadn't been hopeful when she submitted an application for review anyway.

But here she was. Standing in front of what was probably the fanciest facility she’d ever seen in her life. Growing up in a small farming community did absolutely nothing to help prepare her for anything that she’d experienced just this morning and she hadn't even done anything other than ride a super fancy train.

She was fishing around in her side bag to see if there had been any more instructions but as far as she could remember, the invitation letter said she’d be met at the train station.

Looking over the slightly smashed piece of paper she confirmed that her memory was right but… there was no one on-site. On both sides of the station, she was the only living thing that she could see.

Then she heard a rapid tapping noise, that she couldn't tell the direction of.

Was the exam starting already? Why wouldn’t it? I mean this is a hero school isn’t it, heroes have to be ready for anything at a moment's notice.

When she felt a cold nose on the back of her calf she almost jumped out of her skin though jumping up and effectively ruining her favorite sweater by activating her quirk on accident.

Thank god she’d jumped though because when she turned around to see her attacker she saw what had to be the cutest little dog she’d ever seen in her life.

All of a sudden she wasn't so mad about her selves being shredded and she was more worried about petting the cute puppy.

The sound of someone clearing their throat behind her caught her attention and had her turning on the spot, a little embarrassed at getting caught gushing over a puppy and even more so about her now scrappy looking clothes.

“Ms. Otsuka I presume?” The man who looked much more deer than anyone else she’d ever seen asked as he bowed politely. She nodded and returned the gesture.

“Sorry I was late, the other students were excited about hearing they’d be getting another classmate. Some wanted to meet you directly at the gate but it's best they didn't.” He said in some kind explanation, Aimi didn't really understand what harm it would have been to have met her classmates sooner rather than later.

Then she realized that they’d all taken the test already and having people give her hints about anything wasn't exactly fair to them, was it? She wanted to go in blind just like everyone else and prove that she had the same rights that they had to be here.

“Your written tests were quite impressive.” The man who’d at that point introduced himself as the vice-principal of the school and preferred that he just be called by his hero name, Buckskin.

It was kinda cool and nerve-racking at the same time, Aimi had never met a hero in real life before. She wanted to seem cool and collected when she internally was freaking out with nerves that quickly sat back in as Buckskin seemed to be leading her to where she’d be taking her exam.

“I’ve been studying for the test since my first year of middle school,” Aimi said trying and failing to sound confident.

“So you’ll have no problem passing the entrance exam, it's not particularly difficult. We’ve personalized it to you and your quirk given that we had the extra time. It will give both us and your future classmates an idea of what we're working with.” He said smiling as if what he’d said was supposed to somehow help you. Others had been able to help one another, you were going in alone with spectators.

If you were to fail everyone would see it. Not that it would really matter to them… You’d just be no one other than some kid with a bad quirk who failed a test that they passed.

To you, you’d have to explain to your parents who’d almost lost their business with all the money they’d paid down for quirk therapy and control lessons for you, all of the extra tutoring you’d needed to get your test scores to where they needed to be to get what you wanted, why you’d failed.

You’d have to explain to Toma, who’d lost more than a few nights of sleep to help you study and make sure that you were mentally ready for something like this. You didn't know if you’d be able to face him if you walked away empty-handed. He wouldn’t care he’d just be happy to have you home but you wouldn’t.

You were lead to a locker room and given a chance to change from your casual clothes into the clothes you’d brought to take the test with. It never occurred to you that others would be actually watching you take the test so the tank top and gym shorts felt a little revealing but you didn’t have the option to change your mind.

When you exited the locker room you met Buckskin and another woman who was introduced to you as the principal of the school, Ms. Chikyu, you’d never known her real name, you had however recognized her hero name Laccadasiy. Suddenly your lack of confidence plummeted to the point of seemingly no return.

Someone so cool and strong was the actual principal of the school?! How in the hell were you EVER gonna get in? Why should she let you? There isn’t anything you could ever hope to offer.

“Hey enough of the long face!” She said patting your back a little harder than you think she’d meant to but it helped pull your head out of your ass. “We just wanna see what you can do! It’s not gonna be easy but it will sure as hell be fun!” She said earning a sharp look from Buckskin. “Hell isn't even a cuss word Bambie calm down.” She scoffed rolling her eyes and joking around with the other teacher.

“Anyway wait for that light right there to turn green and your good to step up to the door. It’s automatic so it’ll let you in.” She said pointing at a now red number one that hung above a seemingly normal set of metal doors.

“Good luck!” She chimed before both of them disappeared threw a door a little further down the hall.

Being alone gave you the chance to think and at the current point in time, it wasn't exactly a good thing. Why in the hell did you think that this was a good idea in the first place? There were so many other hero’s out there and you? You couldn't even come close even if you tried. It was pathetic that you’d even had hopes and it was downright wrong that you’d dragged your family and friends down in this? What right did you have to drain them of their time and resources? Playing with their emotions was just cruel.

Greenlight.

Your body moved on its own, that malicious voice in your head lowering in volume but not disappearing.

“Your first task is simple.” Laccadasys’ voice rang out over an inter calm system as the wall in the relatively small room started to raise up, revealing an impossibly larger room beyond it. A large stone sphere and a ridiculously steep decline.

“At the bottom of the hill, is a pressure plate, get the stone ball onto it and it’ll unlock the door.” She said and you took a few steps forward checking and seeing that there was, in fact, a place for the ball at the bottom but if it went too far or jumped the short lip at the bottom you were skewed and the door wasn't going to open at all. You were going to have to come up with an idea to get it to stop, if you could get it to move at all.

“GO AIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIII!” You heard a voice screaming from somewhere along with a few other cheers.

Swinging around you were met with a glass wall that separated you from a large group of others that had to be at least close to your age. Most of them looked excited, others looked like they had better things to do and one was even asleep.

There was someone though with blue hair and a sucker in her mouth who was making a few others hold up a handwritten banner that had ‘Welcome Aimi!’ Plastered on it. It honestly looked like it was several pieces of printer paper taped together and it was probably written in crayon but it was the thought that counted.

You had support here too.

Support was all you needed.

You had everything else covered.

You didn't have much time to do anything other than wave before the buzzer sounded and you walked over to the ball that had to weigh at least 2 tons. A tap let you know that it was solid rock.

Looking at the bottom of it revealed it sat on a lip too and you’d have to get it up and over that before you could even worry about the bottom of the hill.

“Now might be a good time to inform you that you have three minutes to get into the next room.” Buckskin said as a large LCD clock appeared on the ball counting down the seconds and minutes.

Cursing under your breath you tried pushing it like an idiot and of course, that did nothing.

Think fast

You manifested a blade on your forearm, curved and blunt, the last thing you needed was to chip the damn ball and stick it where it was forever. You moved to jam your blade in between the stone and the floor it sat on and pushed. It moved but it didn’t move enough.

You switched from your arm to your foot, knowing you’d always had more strength in your legs.

And THAT WORKED!

Too well, it was now rolling away down the incline at increasing speeds and away from you.

You’d never expected to use your blade skates like this but here you were. Gliding down the smooth concrete incline on blades that curved over the bottom of your feet and knees. As close to the floor as you could possibly get to go as fast as you could. You got there before the ball did, nearly overshooting it over the edge of the floor but you were able to hook yourself before that happened.

You didn't have time to think, just stop the ball. So with blades from your thighs at the ready to stop it and standing in the most grounded and immovable stance, you could muster you braced yourself.

“You really need to have more faith in that quirk of yours Otsuka!” Laccadasey called over the intercom. You opened your eyes to see the ball stopped in front of you with the numbers now flashing green revealing you almost had a full minute and a half of time left and the door behind you opened before you’d even pulled the blades back under your skin.

You moved as fast as you could not even taking time to think about how in the hell you didn't even feel that incredibly heavy ball hit your blades. It had to have stopped automatically on the plate it as designed to land on. That made a lot more sense than you being that strong.

You stood in front of an impossibly bigger room on a platform that was at least five stories above a moat of dark water. What it was surround however was what had all the attention. Large raised platforms that looked like giant books standing up on end with the spines up wards, if books were made out of solid looking stone anyway. Thin, and varying in both height and space between each of them with another platform at the end of the room that looked small in the distance. There had to be at least 30 raised platforms you were guessing that you had to get across.

You waited looking around for some kind of directions, a set of rules, a time limit but the intercom speaker you saw hanging on the wall was silent. Turning to look for anything else like a platform on the side you could run up, that wasn't there but there was another glass wall revealing that everyone was moving to watch this task too. The girl and her friends smiling happy and cheering on the other side of the glass, the encouragement might have helped if you could hear it.

You just decided to cut your losses and go for it.

Jumping from platform to platform gripping on with blades and climbing up before jumping to the next one. The task was pretty straightforward and simple but very exhausting. You hadn’t brought any iron gummies with you and you were getting winded from both overusing your quirk and just the physical work that you had to do climbing up the walls.

You stood at the end of the room in front of the now open door that had been so small minutes ago, doubled over with your hands on your knees and grasping trying to catch your breath. Couldn't this have just been a normal obstacle course with normal things? Has this place never heard of a freaking road climb?!

Apparently not.

You wanted to give up out of pure exhaustion and frustration as you stumbled into the next room to be face to face with a battle bot that was at least three times your size.

You wanted to tell the damn thing to shut up as it started announcing that its systems were operational and informing you that the test would only conclude with you or it being unable to battle.

Not only were you pushing it with your quirk already but you absolutely hated using your quirk to fight, you knew that becoming a hero would mean you had to get over that distaste but you weren’t even enrolled yet and here you were.

You waited for the thing to make its first move, but it didn't. It just stood there as if it was guarding the doors raised up on eight legs like some kind of spider tank love child with a purpose.

You were tired and wanted things to be over with so you just went for it, which was a very bad idea. You soon found yourself slammed down on the ground so hard that it cracked the concrete under you and you were surprised that it didn't crack your skull too. Turns out that spider-tanks legs were all made of some kind of magnetic material so your body literally moved towards them on its own accord. Which was totally cheating in you opinion.

You moved dodging another strike that fractured the ground again and you were lucky you got away despite the fact that the thing was literally magnetically pulling your body towards it.

You had to literally dig blades into the floor for leverage to keep from being pulled under its crushing body.

How in the absolute fuck are you supposed to beat this?!

You were just attempting to not die to be honest and you weren’t doing a very good job of that either.

You were cornered with nowhere to go but over, or under it and with how tired you were there was no way you’d be making a jump like that. You did all you could do and dove under neath it and as you did you saw what would probably be your key to beating the thing.

A latch with a danger electrocution risk sticker plastered on it. If that was the things control or the way that it was creating the magnetic pull it would help either way.

You had to pace yourself, getting another chance to get under it wasn't exactly easy like that thing knew what you saw and was trying to protect it at the same time as it was trying to take you out.

It kept charging and keeping low to the ground.

But it did have a pattern you noticed, it would rear up when it was going to strike it had every single blow that it attempted to hit you with. So all you had to do was time it right.

Once you had your opening though you took it.

You weren’t exactly able to destroy it but a blade about two feet deep as you slid under it seemed to do the trick. As you stood up it didnt move from the spot it had been in standing up ready to break your bones into dust.

A soft buzzing and a beep let you know that the last door was open.

And that you’d passed the test.

[whatcouldgowrong-ohthat]

Hard to be a Stark

I’ve learned that some of these are going to be mini series things within the overall world. I’m thinking Steve’s will have one more part. I have songs for Loki, and Bucky around the corner so keep a look out for those! And the sequels to Sam’s and Steve’s. :)

Also shout out to my beta, @songforherma. They are awesome and handle my crazy very well. XD

Summary: Various Avenger x Reader one-shots with songs from musicals. In this one — Tony Stark has been doing the Ironman for a while now. Kissing babies, shaking hands, still flirting all the live long day, but it’s getting harder and harder to put up the facade. So what happens when his new assistant, you, see him having a drunken heart to heart? Song is “Hard to be the Bard” from Something Rotten! 

Honestly - this one is a bit more platonic. If I write a sequel, the romance stuff will show up there.

Warnings: Angst, Drunk Tony, bit of fluff, confessions, cussing, reference to violence

Word Count: 3477 words

Please don’t post my writing anywhere else without my permission. :)

Stark. The name in itself held…

Power.

Money.

Authority.

Respect.

But with all those things came…

Assumptions.

Expectations.

Anxiety.

Mockery.

Hostility.

Ignorance.

And understandable sorts of coping mechanisms.

Then came the day he declared himself the Ironman - a superhero meant to protect civilians when no one else could. Gone were the weapons of probable mass destruction his company had become so well known for. Now they were replaced by one. A suit of armor in the hands of one man who could only do his best to protect his country. He wanted to believe he was doing the right thing, taking the suit, doing something with it that helped create peace.

Then New York happened. The Avengers.

Everything shifted. Assumptions and expectations skyrocketed. Anxiety twisted its gnarly claws around his heart, opening the door and introducing a new friend — Post-traumatic stress disorder. He could act like it wasn’t there and that it didn’t exist, but then came the outside opinions. It was easier to ignore them when he was just a Stark. He could put up a facade, act like it didn’t bother him because no one knew what was going on underneath.

You’re not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you.

Steve had cut him deep with that one. Mister Cap-sicle over here acting as he knew him. So what did he do?

I think I would just cut the wire. 

Of course, after Tony risked his life with that stupid nuke, Steve realized he wasn’t as correct in his assumptions as he first thought. Tony snorted, taking a swig of Scotch before setting it on the counter. “You know what they say,” he spoke to himself. “Just makes an ass of you and me.”

But he couldn’t hold it against the old man after all Steve was dealing with a  level of ignorance that came from being under the ice. His defense mechanism was mockery and hostility. Sitting in a chair, Tony stared stoically at the ironsuits across the room. They all looked like tin cans really, something made as a means for survival and turned into something greater. Leaning back in his chair, he crossed his arms. There was always some new hostile just around the corner. That didn’t go away with the suits. If anything, he and the Avengers were greeted by more of them every day which included all of the superhuman threats that the world suddenly kept on facing.

And that was where the coping mechanisms took a turn from understandable to downright unhealthy. Pepper had told him that, commented on it and voiced her concerns like Pepper always does. She needed to work on her timing. That night he’d been black-out drunk and didn’t remember anything. JARVIS had to show him the footage the next day. Guilt wracked his body because he didn’t remember. He didn’t remember screaming at her or throwing the bottle. He didn’t remember telling her to get the fuck out or the fact that he fired her. No, he didn’t remember. And when he watched the video, watched his drunken self shoot a repulser blast to shatter the glass next to her? It was like he felt his heart shatter with it because he knew he didn’t remember that. He knew if he had been any soberer he wouldn’t have done it. He would’ve called Rhodey or Happy to get her out of there before he did something stupid.

However, that was a couple of months ago and now he had a new assistant. Some girl named Y/F/N Y/L/N. She was good at her job and Pepper made sure to find someone that could handle his narcissism and ridiculous schedule, somehow someone of that nature managed to fit the bill. Still - she wasn’t Pepper. He appreciated that she acknowledged that. She never tried to be anything other than herself and it quickly earned his respect.

Ding!

Tony shifted his gaze to the computer when the email popped up. Y/N had sent him his schedule for tomorrow. Brushing it with his pinky, he watched as it popped out of the tiny screen and presented itself as a hologram before him. He couldn’t hide the annoyed huff that escaped his lungs even if he wanted to. “My days are too busy for this,” he muttered, knowing everything was back to back with barely a moment to breathe. It wasn’t Y/N’s fault. She was trying to catch him up on the reality outside. “It’s making me dizzy, there’s so much I gotta do.” Standing up, he walked closer to the schedule and his face scrunched in distaste. “JARVIS, there’s lunches and meetings and poetry readings and great, more interviews.”

“Sir, it’s about learning to combine your roles as a Stark and Avenger in a more efficient manner.”

Tony grimaced. “Traitor,” he told the AI before seeing the photoshoot he had to get up far too early for. If he even went to bed for that matter. “Gotta pose for some photos and how I deplore sitting there for eternity. Then it’s off to the bar where my bartender friend wants to name another drink after me?”

“Would you like for me to call Y/N, sir?”

At this point, Tony had stopped listening to the AI. No, his mind was far too focused on this schedule. “Then it’s back to my room, where I resume my attempt to fix this shit.” At least she knew to give him time in the shop so he could work on the suits.

“Just you and your beer?”

Of course, JARVIS would have a witty retort for that. He always did. Sitting on the edge of his desk, he felt a cold wash over him as he admitted, “And the terrible fear that I might be losing it.” Staring at the bright hologram, the grim reminders, he shook his head and swiped it away. He could think about that later. I mean, it’s not that important.

—

Hiss…

The sound was what woke him from his uncomfortable slumber. He stretched, his spine and shoulders cracking from the effort before he realized he’d fallen asleep with an iron arm in his lap. No wonder his legs were tingly. A lack of blood flow did that. Shaking his head in a futile attempt to rouse himself further, his bleary eyes and yawn signaled that he wasn’t quite there yet. His gaze ran along the lab floor, making sure he hadn’t left a random weapon lying around and it was there his gaze found your little black heels on the floor, tapping patiently. Or was it impatiently? Eh, he couldn’t bring himself to care. Instead, he stood and set the arm on the counter, sending one of his infamous “Stark smiles” your way.

It was met with the most patient look he had ever seen.

You weren’t irritated?

Tony wholeheartedly meant that today’s events weren’t important. However, that was when we initially thought it. Seeing your face? Seeing the way your brow furrowed not in annoyance, but concern? Yeah, maybe he should’ve put a little more effort into going to sleep.

“Coffee?”

His gaze shifted to the steaming cup that was outstretched in your hand. He took it, mumbling a barely coherent ‘thanks’ before taking in your appearance. Pepper always wore skirts. You wore pants. She always wore blouses. You were what looked to be a simple tank top or t-shirt underneath a blazer. It reminded him of his look. Maybe Pep warned you that the skirts and fancy clothes wouldn’t survive around an Avenger?

“Did Jarvis let you down here?”

“Nope.”

Now he was confused. “Then how —“

“Ms. Potts thought it’d be beneficial to your habits if you had someone capable of hacking.”

“Wait,” Tony gaped, eyeing you with more interest than a curiosity now. “You-You're a —“ You smile and it knocks the wind out of him. Grumbling to himself, he takes a sip of coffee. Tony didn’t really like being bested. “I want to say I’m impressed, but also that means you hacked into advanced tech when you could have knocked.”

“Would you have opened the door?”

“She has a point, sir.”

Tony looked up at the ceiling, raising an eyebrow. “You don’t get an opinion.” He knew they were both right, but did that mean he had to admit it? Really? Pinching the bridge of his nose, Tony walked back to the bottle that had been carelessly left behind on the table. He poured some of it into his coffee before drinking most of the hot, bitter, and now strong liquid. “Seriously, you’re a hacker?”

“Just for fun.” You shrugged and he snickered. You reminded him of when he first got into tech and making new things. It was just for fun then. His gaze shifted to the lab and he knew that wasn’t the case anymore. Meanwhile, you had turned to the iPad tucked into your arm, scrolling through it. “So first on the agenda —“

“Nothing.” You looked up, the puzzled expression enough to make him feel satisfied. He missed being able to stoop an assistant, confuse them and leave them floundering. If that was how it was going to be, he was sure you wouldn’t last long.

Recovering from your confusion, you tucked your hair behind your ear and shook your head. “No, Mr. Stark, there won’t be any cancellations today. You need to get back into the world. Everyone wants to hear from —“

“I don’t care what everyone wants. I’m Tony fuckin’ Stark. When have I ever cared about what other people want?”

“When your mother asked you to say goodbye to her and your father for a holiday, but you didn’t.” There was a brief moment of silence as the matter-of-fact tone shifted to a much softer one and you added, “They passed away that weekend in a car accident.”

Tony froze, his back to you. He would’ve expected some assumption that he cared when he cut off weapons production for Stark Industries. He would’ve expected some ignorant comment that he cared when he took that nuke into space. Apparently, between the two of you, he had been the one to slip up. He’d been the one to assume. Trying to recover, a wry smile curved his lips as he asked, “Figure that out in your time hacking my software?”

“No, sir. Happy told me. After…After the incident with Ms. Potts, he felt that I needed a little preparation as to the job I was being hired for.”

Happy. Yeah, Tony would remember to talk with the man at a later time. Turning to face you, he downed the rest of his coffee before dropping it in the bin next to his desk. “You know, it’s hard. It’s really hard.”

Confusion. Again. “I don’t understand.”

He grinned and gestured to everything, a perfected swagger in his step as he told you, “I make it look easy, but honey, believe me. It’s hard.”

“Yes, I gathered that from the hangover and the crutch you’ve developed for alcohol in the morning.”

Ah, you had bit more bite than he expected. Looping an arm around your shoulder, he was surprised that you refused to tense under his touch. They did prepare you for the mess that was Tony Stark. Waving his hand, holograms of videos on youtube, news articles, and various photographs appeared to surround you two. You took it all in, more curious than confused now that you started piecing together what he was getting at. “It’s so incredibly hard, so inconceivably, unbelievably hard.”

He was whining, throwing a tantrum because he wanted his way. You both knew it, but he didn’t know the assistant he had. “It’s hard to be a Stark?” you asked, a hint of sympathy in your voice as you stepped out from under his touch. Your eyes studied everything. These weren’t just something randomly picked. He had these saved. He studied everything that was said about him and, judging by the negative articles, he believed more of the bad than the good.

“Honestly? I don’t know how I do it.” You looked at him, but he no longer studied you. Instead, he was staring at the images just above. His voice was soft as he admitted, “There’s only so much of me to go around.” Seeing him like this, open and vulnerable, you weren’t sure what to expect. Perhaps it was the booze that made him act like this? No, you’d seen the footage. Pepper was completely open about Tony’s faults and wanted you to be prepared. On booze, he was angry. He wasn’t vulnerable, but far from it. But as soon as you blinked, just once, just a brief moment, that vulnerability was gone. It was replaced by that Stark smile that graced all the tabloids and interviews. “I’ve got so many fans with so many demands.” He looked at you, smirking. “I can hardly go take a piss.”

“Can’t even pee? I can schedule a bathroom break if you’d like.”

Tony snorted. Alright, he knew he was going to like you. “Be it a hero-freak or another autograph seeker, they all want a piece of this.”

“It happens when one is in the spotlight as much as you are,” you told him honestly. Walking to the desk, you took a seat and looked over the schedule, deleting a couple of things here and there. He spun around, distracted and looking at everything. Tony was doing everything he could to look like he was okay, but just watching him showed you that he was fragile. Instead of a whole man, he’d had pieces of himself chipped away over the years and it seemed his kidnapping had taken out a huge piece. Now he was struggling to glue together what was left.

“It’s a cross that I bear,” he agreed. “I’m like Jesus, I swear!” You rolled your eyes and he pointed at you, reminding you that, “It’s a burden, but I suffer through it.”

“He is suffering,” came JARVIS’s voice, a somehow mocking tone preprogrammed into the AI.

It made you laugh, but the sound died on your lips when Tony sat on the edge of the desk, his leg bumping your knee. “It’s all part of the game, the trappings of fame, but somebody’s gotta do it.” You looked up from your schedule, tucking it into your chest as you eyed him cautiously. He seemed to be tipping on an edge of sorts. Wasn’t this the sort of thing someone discussed with a therapist? Not their newest assistant? “And I know,” he mumbled, shifting his gaze from the floor to you. He leaned forward, nodding to himself as if he were trying to convince his brain. “I know I gotta go and get back to the fans and fame.”

“Yeah, you do.”

He rubbed his temples, huffing as he pleaded, “Don’t make me do it. Don’t make me go through it.”

“Mr. Stark —“

“Oh, I need to get me a drink.” He rose, moving faster than you could have anticipated. Colliding with the chair, he sent you rolling a few feet as he grabbed the bottle he’d been nursing. Taking a few good swigs of the burning liquid, he exhaled slowly. “It’s hard.”

“You’ve said that a few times, Mr. Stark.”

“Well, it’s true!” His shout made you jump though he didn’t seem to notice. No, he was long gone in his drunken stupor. Part of you was starting to wonder if he was even sober when he first woke. Sitting on the floor, he stretched his legs out and rest his head against the desk. He looked spent. “I know being a Stark made me famous,” he whispered. “But being famous is just so not fun.” Waving his hand again, the images of Ironman vanished. Instead, it was replaced by trashy tabloids and photos of himself and news articles with various women, at random parties, creating an image that he’d forced himself to maintain. The hologram divided you two, creating a wall it felt you had to break through if you had any hope of surviving this job. Picking up the bottle, he pointed to one of the older photos before taking another swig. “What people just don’t understand is that fame is demanding. It’s mentally challenging and it’s a bore, jeez, it’s such a chore.”

“To sit in a room full of people?”

To prove yourself to a room full of people

He shifted his gaze, meeting your eyes. There was a fog over the welcoming brown of his irises. Tony was drunk. Truthfully, he admitted, “I hate it.” He exhaled, his shoulders slumping. Would he continue? You weren’t sure.

“You know, you’re trying to find some short line or an innovative idea and you’re pacing the floor and hoping for…Hell, maybe just a bit of divine intervention?”

“Is that what happened with the suit?” You were curious, your tech-savvy brain aching to understand how he created something so brilliant. You were a hacker, sure, but that was nothing like being an inventor.

Upon mentioning the suit, he offered the faintest of smiles. It seemed it might be one of the better topics for him to discuss. “That was the one little nugget. That one little spark. I was ready to die and then eureka, I found it and I was ready to start.”

Silence fell between you two and you allowed yourself to smile, to feel at ease. If he remembered this, it might help him adjust to working with you. There’d be a level of trust. If not, then you could work with the information you’ve learned and slowly gain some level of traction with him. Everything took time and patience and the man sitting across from you was no different.

Not even close.

“It’s hard,” you finally agreed, earning his concentration once more.

“Wouldn’t it be hard to do something as good as the last thing you did?”

“It was already great.”

Tony shook his head and you felt like you took two steps back. He didn’t see it that way. He didn’t see himself or any of his accomplishments that way. “It’s totally hard. I’ve got fortune and fame. Everyone knows my name.”

“Can’t help it.”

“But it’s still freakin’ hard.”

You watched him carefully. He was so fragile at the moment, unlike you’d ever seen. You never would have thought of an Avenger as frail. That was your mistake. That was everyone’s mistake. The world had come to put these guys on pedestals with no concern for the fact that they were still human and broken. They all had scars and emotions to process so that they could form some semblance of a less than shattered individual. It hurt having to see it first hand, but you knew that if you hadn’t, you’d never believe it.

“You’ve taught me a lot, Mr. Stark,” you whispered, looking down at the tablet and clearing the schedule. There was always tomorrow, but today… You looked back at him. Today wasn’t the day. “I’ve cleared your schedule and will leave you to the rest of your day.” The surprise on his face made you smile. You had been a couple of steps ahead of the genius. “On two conditions.”

“Name them.”

“One, no more alcohol. Spend the day tinkering on something.” You shrugged as you stood up, waving one hand through the air to clear away the mess of history between you two. “Maybe create something new or go for a drive — something you want to do. And two, get some sleep tonight. I’ll be back tomorrow morning and we’ll try again.”

His eyes studied you as if trying to find the sneaky detail you were hiding from him. All his friends did that. Instead of being upfront, they hid a detail that would later be used to help him in some sort of way. That wasn’t the case with you. No, you were nothing but honest. No secrets. No ploys. “No alcohol and get some sleep.” Tony chuckled, holding up the bottle to you before dropping it in the bin to his right. “You got a deal.”

Progress. That was what you felt when you saw him willingly take you up on your offer. There was hope for a structured, professional relationship. “Thank you. I’ll see you tomorrow, Mr. Stark.”

Turning on your heel, you made your way to the door to give the man some peace and quiet.

“Tony.”

You paused, looking at him over your shoulder. “Sir?”

“Call me Tony.”

All you could do was nod before you left, closing the door behind you. Looking down at the schedule, you clicked on the title and slowly backspaced on the name “Mr. Stark”, replacing it with “Tony”. Well, surely it’d be a mostly professional relationship.

[ourloveisforthelovely]

Fallout 6

SPN RPF 

Warnings: RPF, Smut 

Link to Chapter 5

Words: 3,724

Pairings: Richard Speight Jr x Reader

______

You sat in the passenger seat of the rental car enjoying the cool mountain air on your face. With a smile, you glanced over at Richard. While this was the happiest you had been in a very long while; you also knew the two of you were going to face one hell of a shit storm soon. Running off and eloping was definitely one of the craziest things that you had ever done! You didn’t regret the decision that Richard had come up with at three in the morning the day after returning from Germany.

  “What are we waiting for? Why have a big fancy wedding when no one else cares? Your parents won’t be able to come, mine certainly won’t be there. Now Rob won’t even talk to us about it or anything for that matter.”

  You had said when Richard made the comment about just eloping. Richard looked a little surprised when those words came out of your mouth. He was partially being a smart ass so when you agreed with his idea it was definitely shocking.

  “Wait, you don’t want to have a wedding with the dress and all that…stuff?”

  You shook your head.

  “Not at the moment. If my own brother won’t be there let’s just do a quickie. Yeah, the rest of our friends will probably be bummed but they will get over it. Besides I won’t be fitting into a wedding dress much longer anyway.”

  Richard raised an eyebrow. He knew that you were irritated with Rob for avoiding but this just proved how devastated you were over it. Rolling his eyes, Richard had to fight the urge to call Crystal and give her a good piece of his mind to tell Rob. He let his eyes look down your body to her stomach. You still didn’t look pregnant. 

  “I don’t want you to regret it later.”

  He responded, softly. You shook your head.

  “I won’t.”

  Richard shrugged deciding now was the time to give up.

  “If that’s what you want, babe. I have an idea. We can do our little shotgun wedding and I’ll book us a week or two back in Tennessee. We can get away from all the cameras and nonsense. It would also give us some time alone without interruptions.”

  You looked pleased enough. At the moment, you would have probably agreed with any quickie idea that he could come up with.

  “Sounds good to me.”

  Pulling yourself from the memory of the day before, the only real regret you did have was not telling Rob. But at the same time, if Rob wouldn’t answer your or Richard’s call and texts, there really wasn’t much that could be done. Judging from the look on Richard’s face you were beginning to worry if he was regretting the decision as well.

 “Do you regret what we did?”

  You asked softly. Richard quickly looked at you. He was worrying himself that you were regretting the hasty marriage. If you did, it would crush him! During the ceremony, your eyes hadn’t left his. It almost felt as though you could see his whole soul. If it didn’t work out with you, he would never fall in love with anyone again!

  “What?! No! Not at all, sugar. Are you?”

  You shook your head and wrapped your hand around Richard’s that was resting on your thigh.

  “No. I’m just worried about my brother.”

  Richard nodded.

  “Yeah, that is going to be a barrel of monkeys. Look Y/n, I’m serious when I say I don’t regret marrying you. My regret was not asking you sooner. I just don’t want people thinking the only reason I married you is because I got you pregnant.”

  He slowly brought your hand to his lips before returning his focus to the road ahead. You meanwhile, looked down at her wedding ring. A few weeks ago you would have never even considered marrying Richard. The two of you were only repairing the broken relationship. However, after the eventful trip to Europe, finding out that you were pregnant, being involved in one of the weirdest train incidents to hit northern Europe (big shout out to Jared, you thought with a smirk), and finally getting some alone time with Richard things had started to look up.

  “What’s so funny?”

  Richard asked as he began to mess with the radio. You chuckled.

  “Just thinking about Jared causing havoc in Europe.”

  Richard rolled his eyes.

  “We are seriously never traveling with them again. I thought we going to jail. Amsterdam was nice though.”

  “We didn’t get out of bed for two days.”

  Richard gave you his best “innocent” look.

  “That was my point. I may be keeping you in bed for the next week and a half. When we get to Missouri to see your mother you may not be walking straight. You may want to think of a clever excuse to tell your mother so she won’t know what you have been up to.”

  You rolled your eyes.

  “You are so full of yourself! You won’t be able to go straight for a week in a half. You may play an angel on TV but hate to break it to you love you are just a man in real life ...and kind of like a bottle rocket the moment you get inside me.”

  You watched as he gave you the most confused and bewildered expression.

  “I can go for a long time….if you recall in Amsterdam it was you that needed to keep taking naps. Baby girl, I can get hard for you any time any place. Speaking of which, we could always pull off and fool around.”

  You shook your head.

  “I am not letting you fuck me in some roadside bathroom where tourists might show up.”

  Richard rolled his eyes going back to the radio.

  “Didn’t stop you before.”

  You gave up trying to argue with him knowing he would have some sassy comment that you wouldn’t be able to keep up with.

  “Ugh everything in this state is damn country music. Do you see why I moved to LA now? Imagine growing up in Nashville.”

  Richard grumbled before giving up and stopping at some random station.

  “We’ll be there soon.”

  You said softly running your hand over his crotch. Richard groaned looking over at you again.

  “I’m really about to pull this car over.”

  Taking your hand away, you leaned back with a satisfied grin on your face. With a yawn, you closed your eyes. Jet lag was still holding on from the trip to Europe. A small nap sounded like a good idea. 

    You were pulled out of your light nap when Richard said your name.

  “Huh? What’s wrong?”

  You focused on the radio.

  “In other news, musician and Supernatural actress Y/n Benedict married co star and long-time boyfriend Richard Speight Jr. yesterday…”

  Your mouth dropped as Richard turned off the radio and pulled over. Both of you sat in silence for a moment before Richard laughed.

  “Well, that cat is out of the bag!”

  You groaned realizing that everyone knew now. The little secret was out.  

  “So much for having a week of peace.”

  You looked down at your phone that started ringing. Seeing Jared’s name followed by Jensen, both Marks, Matt Cohen, Sebastian, Misha, Vicki, and everyone else that you seemed to know. Everyone but Rob, your brain supplied. Richard hadn’t taken his eyes off of you.

  “Don’t answer it.”

  Richard said calmly, running his hand through his hair. You frowned.

  “Do you think Rob knows?”

  Richard shrugged.

  “He hasn’t blown my phone up yet so I’m guessing no. Sugar, turn the phone off. Let’s just enjoy our week of peace. We can worry about the mess back home when we get home.”

  (Meanwhile in Missouri)

  Rob’s morning started like any other. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Crystal left to go to work around 8 am. Rob shuffled into the living room picking up his iPad. He frowned looking down the device. Still nothing from you or Richard. Rob couldn’t help wonder what in the world was going on with the two of you? They never just disappeared and avoided him like this.

  Logging onto Twitter, Rob had enough if the two of you wouldn’t answer his calls or texts he would blow your pages up until someone talked to him. Going to your page Rob froze when something caught his attention.

  “Katherine Benedict Speight.”

  Rob frowned muttering “the fuck?” under his breath. Taking out his phone he dialed your number and it automatically went to voicemail.

  “Y/n, it’s Rob. Call me now!”

  He did the same thing to Richard before sitting down with a frown. Seriously what the fuck was going on? Rob was beginning to regret his decision to unplug from the world while he was getting over his stroke.

  Looking further down your twitter page, he froze seeing all he needed to see at the mention of you marrying Richard.

  “Is it that hard to pick up a phone?”

  Rob muttered before angrily closing the iPad. How could the two of you not call him? Just because he was across the country didn’t mean he wouldn’t want to be there when his sister was married!

  “They’ve lost their fucking minds!”

  Rob thought angrily before trying to formulate a plan.

    Meanwhile…

    Walking into the cabin, you were bound and determined not to let the stresses of life come in the way of a nice honeymoon.

  “Are you okay. sugar?”

  You looked up as Richard shut the door.

  “Yeah. I’m good.”

  You knew he didn’t believe you. Richard quickly pulled you into his arms. 

  “If you’re feeling bad it’s okay to say so. You haven’t been at all like my ex. She was sick all the damn time when she was pregnant. I think I handled that pretty well.” 

  You smirked at the fear in his eyes. Most men seemed to have this look when it came to their pregnant partners.

  “I’m fine. I promise.”

  Richard nodded as he picked you up and sat you on the island. He had been keeping a close eye on you since she said the word “pregnant.” He was no longer questioning whether or not he really wanted a baby. While he wasn’t fully on board or over the moon, Richard had accepted it. He tried to smile and appear happy when you mentioned anything baby related. Surely by the time the baby was born he would feel a little more at ease.

  You meanwhile, watched his facial expression carefully. You were no fool, you knew Richard wasn’t thrilled with the baby but he wouldn’t say it. After you almost left him over the baby, Richard had changed his tune. He was more attentive and gentle towards your needs. You had even caught him stroking his fingers over your stomach a few times.

  “So are you going to fuck me on every surface of this cabin?”

  You asked with a smirk. You pushed a strand of Richard’s hair away from his eyes before leaning in for a kiss. Richard groaned into your lips.

  “Richard, can you please just lose control like you used to and manhandle me?”

  “I can’t hurt you right now. You’ll have to deal with soft and easy until the baby is born. Don’t give me that look!”

  You didn’t listen to his last sentence and gave Richard a pouty face.

  “A lot of people have sex while pregnant, Rich.”

  He shook his head and pressed a few kisses to your neck and the exposed parts of your chest.

  “Not like what we have.”

  “You’re not being fair! You have me sounding like a slut again.”

  Richard stood up with a cocky smile He quickly yanked your sweater and tank top off.

  “You can be a slut for me. That I’m cool with.”

  You whimpered, trying to ignore the need building inside of you. From the time you realized that you were pregnant, you were almost always horny. The pregnancy hormones were driving you nuts.

  “And you talking like that isn’t helping!!”

  Richard shrugged.

  “I never said that I wouldn’t fuck you, sugar.”

  You slid off the counter only for Richard to reach out and put you right back.

  “Fucking tease.”

  Richard smiled. He was genuinely pleased with the comment.

  “You take my cock so well, sugar.”

  The look on your face made Richard chuckle as he reached behind you to remove your bra.

  “How the fuck do I get this thing off?”

  He asked upon finding no clasp in the back. You took his hands placing it on the front between your breasts. Richard rolled his eyes mumbling about stupid lingerie designers and their fancy ideas. After a few tries, he started to pull. You quickly pushed his hands away.

  “Oh no you don’t! I paid a lot of money for this bra. You’ve torn too many of my lingerie items when you’re turned on.”

  Richard shrugged unbuttoning his shirt and undoing his jeans.

  “Well, I didn’t get a fucking MIT degree in bra engineering. It either opens in the back or gets ripped off.”

  You carefully undid your bra and tossed it aside. Richard reached up pressing your breasts together before taking one in his mouth and gently bit down. You whimpered, pulling his body closer to yours.

  “Stop being a fucking tease, Richard.”

  “What’s the rush, sugar? We can play for a while? We have all week to consummate our marriage. How about I eat you out in front of the fireplace? I can make the wait worth your while.”  

  You looked like you were ready to scream at this point.

  “Richard Speight Jr, if you don’t make love to me I will blue ball you until this baby is born!!”

  Richard stood up straight looking at you with honest surprise.

  “You wouldn’t…”

  “Try me.”

  You said before you went to put the sweater back on. Richard lunged forward tossing the sweater somewhere behind him.

  “Fine, bossy.”

  He reached out pulling you into his arms and carried you to the bedroom.

  “I still plan on eating you out in front of that fireplace.”

  He said with a devious grin. Richard laid you on the bed. You quickly wiggled out of your remaining clothes as Richard undressed.

  “I have to say I do enjoy these pregnancy hormones. You being horny all the time will make it better for me to just bend you over whenever I damn please. ”

  “That would be lovely. You’ve always taken what you wanted so bending me over when you damn well please isn’t anything new. Seeing as we have spent a lot of time in airplane bathrooms, closets, dressing rooms I think your sex drive is as crazy as mine.”

  Your lips were on his neck while a fee hand wrapped around his erection. Whatever sassy comment Richard had in mind left his mind as you tightened her grip. You bit down on his neck as Richard bucked his hips into your hand.

  “Sugar…please.”

  You slowly eased your way onto Richard, placing yourself right over him. Richard groaned raising his hips to grind further against you.

  “What’s the matter, baby? You want me as bad as I want you, huh?”

  Richard nodded, looking at you with the best puppy eyes he could come up with.

  “Sugar, you can dominate me later. Let me make love to you know.”

  You shook your head.

  “Sorry, lover boy. You made me wait now you have to wait.”

  Richard glared up at you. Normally he would have flipped you and pushed in. Once he was inside, you wouldn’t have made him stop. Now it was different. There was no way he could do that now.

  “It will make your orgasm better.”

  You cooed as you leaned down pressing a soft kiss to his lips.

  “At least do something. You sitting there looking hot as hell rubbing your pussy on me is killing me!”

  You continued rubbing yourself against him again. Richard groaned when you got off of him. The sudden loss of pressure was more than he could handle.

  “Sugar... please…”

  He panted as you lay with your back the opposite direction so it was possible to see how wet for you were for him. 

  “Now you get to watch me. I don’t want to see you touch yourself.”

  You watched with a pleased smile as Richard put his hands behind his head.

  “Whatever you want, baby.”

  He watched with hungry eyes as your hand slipped between your legs, stroking over your clit, and began to toy at your entrance. From your position, you could clearly see the lust-filled about to lose all grip on reality look on your husband’s face. Richard gripped the sheets so tight they ripped off the bed.

  Richard sat watching a moment long before quickly moving over you.

  “I’m done waiting. I want what’s mine.”

  He pushed in before you could make any protest.  You cried out as he sunk in balls deep. Richard made sure not to put too much weight on you as he began to move.  

  “Mmm sugar you are so tight right now”

  You cried out as he began to slowly push into you deeper if possible.

  “Harder, please.”

  You moaned. The cocky self-assured expression had returned to Richard’s face. 

  “Looks like little ms. bossy has changed her tune.”

  You sighed against his lips as Richard moved a little faster.

  “Rich, for the love of all things holy, please go harder. I’m not that delicate!”

  Richard ignored the comment before pressing a kiss to your lips blocking any more comments. His hand went between your bodies and pressed hard on your clit.

  “Since I can’t fuck you sore I can think of other ways to make you come like crazy. I know you like this.”

  You tried to ignore the tingling in your core. As usual, he was right. There wouldn’t be any holding on much longer!

  “You can come for me any day now. I’m not going to make it much longer after you teased me like that.”

  Richard moaned between gritted teeth.

  “I thought you wanted to eat me out in front of the fireplace?”

  You asked with a cheeky smile. Richard’s eyes rolled down to yours.

  “Darlin, you have a long fucking week ahead of you after this today! Now like I said come already!”

  You dug your nails into Richard’s back as one final thrust pushed you over the edge. Richard pushed in a few more times before coming hard as well.

  “Well being bossy sure got you all hot and bothered.”

  You said with a grin as Richard slowly pulled you into his arms.

  “Yeah yeah. You’ll be paying for that too, princess.”

  You snuggled against his chest. Finally, you were fully his wife now and you were fully happy. You didn’t let the thoughts of Rob, Crystal, or your friend's reaction bother you in the slightest as you drifted off to sleep.

  Around 5 am, you were awoken by the sound of Richard’s cell phone ringing and you being dropped out of his arms. Richard muttered a few cuss words under his breath as he flipped on the bedside lamp before finally locating his phone. He had reluctantly turned it on halfway through the night at the thought of something being wrong with his kids and no one being able to reach him.

  Fishing around for his cell phone that must have gotten knocked off during the previous night's activities, Richard couldn’t help but be annoyed. Who the fuck called someone at 5 am? Someone had better died! He wasn’t a morning person anyway and after getting fucked like he had the previous night all Richard wanted was to sleep.

  Finally finding the phone, Richard didn’t even look to see who it was before answering with a curt, “hello?”

  “So you finally decide to answer your phone?”

  Hearing Rob’s voice, Richard froze before getting suddenly angry.

  “I guess I should ask you the same question. So is it customary to call people at 5 am now?”

  Richard kept his voice cold. Rob was silent a moment.

  “You married my sister!?”

  “Hey look you can check the internet. Too bad you couldn’t check your phone. So I get we aren’t friends anymore is this why you called me at five am…to torture me? You know I’m not a morning person!”

  Rob was silent for a few moments.

  “Wait, why aren’t we friends?

  Richard rolled his eyes.

  “Well shit, Rob, I don’t know! You ignored mine and Y/n’s calls for the past however, the fuck long you’ve been in Missouri.”

  “You idiots haven’t called me!”

  Richard rolled his eyes.

  “What the fuck are you talking about?! We’ve called and texted you. Not to mention your Cuntzilla of a girlfriend who always says he will call you back. You want our phone records because I will send them to you! Rob, you really hurt your sister and that’s not cool. Right now I just don’t have the patience to deal with this. Call me at a normal human hour. I have to go I have a pregnant wife to deal with…”

  Richard hung up when he heard Rob say…

  “Pregnant?! Richard wait!”

  You were sitting up looking at him sadly.

  “Sorry, sugar.”

  You blinked looking down at your lap before Richard pulled you back against his chest.

  “Rich, even though I want to be stubborn we should hear him out. You two are too good of friends to have it end like this.”

  Richard closed his eyes.

  “Yeah. We’ll listen to him at a normal human hour when I have had coffee. That conversation is going to need coffee.  Remind me to print those fucking phone records!”

_______

@brokencasbutt67-writer

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[queenmiranda-01]

The Royal Couple                    Chapter 5 - Love Thy In-Laws

Liam x Miranda (MC)

I apologize that this chapter has taken so long to release but I just got my laptop back today. Thanks again for reading my story and I hope you are enjoying the series. 

Please know that I am not a professional writer so I apologize for any misspellings or improper grammar structure. I welcome all feedback both positive and negative. Thank you!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters as they belong to pixleberry studios. I’m just using them for fictional entertainment purposes

(Miranda releases herself from Liam’s embrace, moves off of the floor and grabs her phone that is on the end table at the other end of the couch.)

Miranda: It is my Mom, I got to take this Sweetie I'm sorry!

Liam: (Smiling) Its ok go ahead

(Miranda quickly puts her T-shirt back on, sits down at the other end of the couch, and answers the phone. Miranda's Mom (Alicia) appears on the screen smiling)

Miranda: Hi Mom!

Alicia: Hi Honey! Oh it’s so good to see you, you look great! It's been so long since I heard from you. How are you?

(As Miranda talks to her Mom Liam gets up off of the floor, puts his sweat pants on and sits at the other end of the sofa and looks at his phone)

Miranda: Thanks. I'm doing great. I'm sorry I haven't called in a while but we've been so busy.

Alicia: It’s ok Sweetie I can only imagine how busy you two must be. Being King and Queen of a country has got to be a lot of work.

Miranda: Yeah, its tough but thankfully I have Liam to help me.

Alicia: How is my wonderful Son-in-law? (Liam smiles when he hears his Mother-in-law's comment about him) Is he there? I want to say hello.

(Miranda glances over at Liam who is shaking his head "No" to Miranda)

Liam: (Quietly whispers) I'm not dressed appropriately.

Miranda: No, he's not here right now. He had a late meeting or something tonight.

Alicia: Oh ok. How is he? Are you taking good care of him?

Miranda: Liam is doing great and of course I am taking good care of him.

Alicia:  Are you still cooking for him? He needs home cooked meals, not just that fancy Palace food. Remember what I told you

Miranda & Alicia: "The way to your man's heart is through his stomach"

(Liam quietly giggles)

Miranda: Yes I know

Alicia: A home cooked meal fills a man's heart and belly with love

Miranda: (Sarcastically) I know Mom you told me all of this before.

Alicia: Well I just want to make sure that you don't forget.

Miranda: I cook breakfast and dinner for Liam just about every day and as he keeps telling me both his heart and belly love me for it.

(Liam makes a kissy face at Miranda and smiles. Miranda glances at Liam and smiles back)

Alicia: Well it’s good to know I taught you well then. You keep taking care of my handsome Son-in-law because he deserves it. Not because he’s royalty and a King but because he is your husband and he loves you so much Honey.

Miranda: I know he does and I love him just as much

(Liam makes another kissy face to Miranda)

Alicia: Oh that's wonderful to hear. You two are good then?

Miranda: We’re prefect actually, we couldn't be better!

Alicia; Really that's great. So umm you are still keeping him "Happy" right?

Miranda (With a shocked and disgusted look on her face) MOTHER!

(Liam puts his hand over his mouth as he laughs hysterically)

Alicia: WHAT? I just want to make sure you're continuing to add fuel to your home fires

(Liam continues to quietly laugh as Miranda continues to get grossed out)

Miranda: Oh my GOD Mom I am NOT having this conversation with you!

Alicia: Oh lighten up Miranda it's a simple question

Miranda: Ok I'm hanging up now!

Alicia: DON'T you dare hang up on your Mother!

Miranda: Then we are changing the subject! NOW!

Alicia: Ok fine

(Miranda sighs and rolls her eyes)

Miranda: So um how's Daddy doing?

Alicia: (Rolling her eyes) He’s fine but he's a pain in my ass.

Miranda: Why?

Alicia: All he does is complain. He's becoming such a grouch anymore.

Miranda: What’s he complaining about?

Alicia: Any god damn thing he wants. He bitches and moans about everything.  If I buy something and spend more than a $100.00, he has a fit. Christ you would think we were broke or on welfare as cheap as he is sometimes.

Miranda: Daddy is just being Daddy, you know how he is but you still love him, right?

Alicia: Of course I love him even if he does annoy the living shit out of me but he’s never been this bad before. (Miranda smirks at her Mom and shakes her head) Have you heard from your sister lately?

Miranda: I haven't heard from Jessie since before my wedding when she texted me and told me she couldn't make it. Where is she these days?

Alicia: I have no clue. I haven't spoken to her in over 3 months. Last time she called she told me that she had met some guy and was planning on touring Europe with him. (Alicia sighs and rolls her eyes) God I wish she would settle down and find a decent job.

Miranda: Yeah well Jessie has always been flighty. She left the house a week after she graduated high school and hasn't been back since. She’s just not the type of person to stay in one place for too long. She’s too much of a free spirit.

Alicia: I know that's why I worry about her. I wish she would grow the hell up. Oh well. When was the last time you talked to your brother?

Miranda: Uh god...um... the last time I talked to Robby...was...probably right after I got back from my Honeymoon. I think he told me he was interviewing at a law firm in Philadelphia.

Alicia: Oh it has been a while since you talked to him. He got that job and he is living in Philadelphia now.

Miranda: Really! That's great, oh I'm so happy for him. I’ll have to call him soon

Alicia: That's actually not the best part. He's met someone.

Miranda: Really? Who?

Alicia: Her name is Avery and she is a lawyer who works with him at the firm, apparently she is the daughter of one of the senior named partners. I think they have been seeing each other for about three months now and wait to you hear this...they just moved into together.

Miranda: WHAT? Robby moved in with her? You’re kidding right? (Alicia smiles and shakes her head “No” to Miranda) Oh my God he has never lived with a girl before or even dated the same girl for more than a few weeks.

Alicia: I know and guess what? He is bringing her home for Thanksgiving so Daddy and I can meet her.

Miranda: Wow Mom it sounds like this relationship is getting serious.

Alicia: Yeah I think it is.

Miranda: Hey speaking of Thanksgiving that's part of the reason why I called you. You remember Liam's brother Leo and his wife Katie.

Alicia: Oh yes of course I met them at your wedding, they're the ones with the adorable twins?

Miranda: Yeah that’s them. They invited Liam and I to Thanksgivings at their house this year and we are actually able to attend so we figured that since we are going to be in America that we would come see you and Daddy the day after Thanksgiving and spend a few days with you guys.

(Alicia gets an overjoyed look of happiness on her face)

Alicia: Are you really? Oh Honey that will be wonderful it’s been so long since we've seen you and Liam. I'm so happy! Let me go get your Father he would love to hear this. Hold on I'll be right back,

(Alicia puts her iPad down and walks away from the screen to call Miranda's Dad (Rob))

Liam: (Sarcastically) I'm sure your Father will be thrilled to know that I'm coming

Miranda: Stop it!

Alicia: (In the distance) Rob! .....Rob! .....ROBERT!!

Rob (In the distance) WHAT!!

Alicia: (In the distance) COME UP HERE!

Rob: (In the distance) I'M BUSY! WHAT DO YOU WANT?

Alicia:(In the distance) YOU'RE NOT BUSY YOU'RE WATCHING TV! GET OFF YOUR ASS AND GET UP HERE! I have Miranda on FaceTime

Rob: (In the distance) Oh well why the hell didn't you tell me that in the first place instead of screaming.

Alicia: (in the distance) Just shut up and get the hell up here.

(Lam and Miranda laugh as they listen to Rob and Alicia yell at each)

Miranda: My god those two are unbelievable

(Miranda's Mom picks up her iPad and appears back on the screen and then Miranda’s Dad appears on the screen and sits next to Alicia)

Rob: Well if it isn't my daughter the Queen. How are you baby girl?

Miranda: Hi Dad! How are you doing?

Rob: Ah I can't complain

Alicia: (Rolling her eyes at Rob and mutters under breath) Like hell you can't

(Rob gives Alicia a stern questionable look)

Rob: What? What was that?

Alicia: Nothing , nothing

(Rob gives Alicia a stern glare and then turns his attention back to Miranda)

Rob: So how you doing Baby? Anything new?

Alicia: She's coming home after Thanksgiving

(Rob gets a concerned and angry look on his face)

Rob: Why? What happened? Did that son-of-a-bitch you married hurt you again because if he did I'll stick that bastard’s crown of his right up his royal ASS!!

Miranda: (With a look of anger on her face shouts at her Dad) DADDY!!!!!!!

Alicia: ROBERT???

(Alicia slaps Rob on his arm and gives him a mad look. At the same time Miranda glances up from her phone and sees Liam slightly sitting up from the couch, looking over at her with an angry shocked expression on his face because Rob's comment has upset him)

Liam: (Whispers quietly) Did he seriously just say that? What the hell is his problem?

(Liam shakes his head as Miranda glances back at her phone)

Alicia: (To Rob) Will you knock it off! What the HELL is wrong with you?

Rob: (To Alicia) You said she was coming home?

Alicia: I meant she and Liam are coming for a visit not because she’s leaving Liam. You IDIOT!

Miranda: (With an angry tone) Daddy Liam is my husband and he LOVES me dearly. He would NEVER EVER hurt me.

Rob:  Yeah I bet Princess Diana thought the same thing when she married a Royal and look what happened to her.

Miranda: (Rolling her eyes and looking annoyed) Oh for Christ’s sakes! Not this again!

(Liam throws his hands up in the air and has a mad look on his face because his Father-in-law has really pissed him off. Miranda puts her hand up to Liam to calm him down)

Liam: (Whispers Quietly) I'm not listening to him anymore. I'm going to bed

(Miranda watches as Liam walks out of the family room and heads upstairs)

Alicia: Oh my god Rob will you just STOP! You are making a complete ASS of yourself right now?

Rob: Alicia don't start with me, I know what I am talking about. All of these god damn Royals are the same. The use people to get what they want and then they toss them aside when they are done with them.

Alicia: (To Rob with an angry tone) You have no idea what you are talking about so STOP it! NOW!

Miranda: Dad for the last time I am NOT Princess Diana and Liam would NEVER allow me to end up like her. If you honestly believe that he is capable of hurting me or would allow anyone to hurt me like that then you really have no clue what you are talking about. Liam and I love each other very much and I wish you would get this unrealistic image of my husband out of your head so you can see what a wonderful man he is and how much he loves me.

Alicia: Listen to our Daughter Robert!

Miranda: You know maybe coming to visit you guys after Thanksgiving isn't such a good idea after all.

Alicia: (Looking like she is going to cry) What? Oh no Miranda please don't say that?

Miranda: I’m sorry Mom but I love my husband too much to subject him to a weekend of untrue and hurtful opinions. He gets enough of that from social media and the press he shouldn’t have to put up with that from his own family.

Alicia: (With tears in her eyes, pleads with her husband) Oh Rob please!

Rob: No, No Sweetheart wait, please don't do that. I...I want you two to come visit us, please?. I'm...I'm sorry ok. I was.... completely out of line

Miranda; Yes you were!

Rob: (With a regretful and remorse tone) I know, I know and I'm sorry Honey. (Rob takes a deep breath) I just love you so much and I worry about you. I know how much pain and heartache you went through to get where you are now and it will absolutely kill me to see you hurt again. Someday if you’re lucky enough to be a parent you'll understand that no matter how old your baby gets it breaks your heart when you see them hurt.

(Miranda sees the love and tears in her Dad's eyes)

Miranda:  I know you love me but Liam is not the bad guy and he was never the one that caused me pain and heartache. He always has and always will protect me because he loves me.

Rob: I know he loves you, but I still worry about you all the time.

Miranda: Why do you worry about me so much?

Rob: Because I’m your Daddy and I’ll never stop worrying about you. Even though you are all grown up and married.... (Rob fights back tears, his voice slightly cracking)....you’re still my baby girl and I will never stop loving you and wanting to protect you.

(Miranda’s heart warms by her Daddy’s beautiful words. She becomes teary-eyed when she notices a tear running down Rob’s cheek)

Miranda: Daddy I don’t want you to stop loving me and protecting me. I just wish you would realize that Liam isn’t the one that you need to protect me from.

(An awkward silence falls between Miranda and her parents. Miranda wipes her eyes and clears her throat)

Miranda: Um it’s getting late for me so I’m going to get going.

Alicia: Ok Honey....Uh call me on Thanksgiving and let me know when you guys will be arriving.

Miranda: Yeah I will definitely call you and let you know.

Alicia: I love you Sweetheart, I’m so glad you called and I can’t wait to see you and Liam. Give Liam my love!

Miranda: I will, I love you Mom! I can’t wait to see you!

Rob: I love you Baby girl! You know that right?

Miranda: I know and I love you too Dad, I’ll see you soon.

Rob & Alicia:  Bye Miranda!

Miranda: Bye!

(Miranda ends the call and then sits back in the couch and shakes her head. She starts to think about why her Dad feels the way he does toward Liam and she realizes that her Dad has acted this way since the day he learned of Miranda and Liam’s engagement)

(Chapter 6 will be released before Friday 2/8)

[nubnubblr]

Day By Day. 6

JIYEON

"What the hell is that?" I frowned at her. Eunji was holding up a pink floral dress with a bedazzled bust.

"You said you wanted girly," she shrugged with an innocent look.

"Girly? Yes. Prom queen? No," I continued to frown.

"Well, you're not exactly helping," she sighed.

"I want something that I'll wear, but, you know, girlier. Something between what you would wear and what I would wear,"

"Why couldn't have just gone through my wardrobe?"

"Because you're too conservative for me,"

"I thought that was the whole point of the date, cover up so you can get to know each other, not sleep together," she raised an eyebrow.

"I can't think right now," I sighed.

"Well, I'm hungry. So, let's get food before we keep up this impossible mission,"

"Fine," I nodded.

INSOO

I sighed sitting on the lounge with my iPad searching for a restaurant. I didn't want something cheap or some take away type of place. But at the same time, I didn't want somewhere that was extremely fancy either. Somewhere in the middle. I'd found two places that I liked but I wasn't sure which one Jiyeon would like more. I would just have to ask Eunji when they got back. I wanted to get Seyong's opinion but seeing as he was being a massive D-Bag, I would just have to bookmark them and wait for Eunji.

"Hey, where's Jiyeon? I thought she'd be making dinner by now," Gunwoo asked.

"She went out with Eunji, she said she's going to bring something home,"

"Went out where?"

"Shopping I think," I shrugged.

JIYEON

"Are you going to eat?" Eunji frowned at me, I wasn't really hungry so I had been moving the food around my plate hoping she wouldn't notice.

"I'm not hungry,"

"Are you nervous?" she joked.

"I think so,"

"Seriously? You don't get nervous, especially when it comes to guys," she frowned.

"I know. But apparently I am, and I don't even understand why? It's just dinner, it's just Insoo, there is literally no reason to be nervous. But here I am freaking out over going on a date with a guy I've slept with a few times," I rambled on as she just sat there smirking at me.

"What?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Have you considered the fact that maybe you're nervous because you might actually like Insoo?" she shrugged.

"I don't like Insoo," I scoffed.

"I think you do,"

"I think you do," I retorted like a mature grown adult.

"We don't really have the same type," she teased.

"You don't have a type,"

"Regardless, I wouldn't like someone that you like,"

"I don't like him," I defended myself.

"Then why don't you save us both the drama and cancel on him?" she challenged.

"It would be rude to cancel now,"

"You're always rude," she retorted bluntly.

"I am not,"

"Why are you being so defensive?"

"Because I don't like him, at least not like that,"

"Okay, before you decide to just live in denial, let's look at the facts for a second. You haven't really slept with anyone else or even attempted to talk to another guy since the day at the gym. You spend most of your free time together or texting. You literally went out at 8 pm the other night to rescue him from another girl. You agree to go on a date with him and now you're so nervous you can't eat. The only thing that is missing is you being jealous, but I'm pretty sure that you experienced a little bit of that at the club last weekend," she stated smugly.

"Who let you go to school?" I sighed sinking into my chair.

"Tell me I'm wrong,"

"I can see how you would think you're right when you put it that way, but I don't like him," I'm not even sure who I was trying to convince anymore.

"Just admit you like him, accept it and move on. It is okay to like a guy you know,"

"Can we just find something for me to wear tomorrow?"

"But I'm still eating,"

"You can eat later,"

"I'm hungry," she pouted.

"So is everyone at home,"

"I'm not the one who decided to go clothes shopping at 4 in the afternoon to buy clothes for a date with a guy I claim I don't like, I was just dragged along," she huffed.

"Let's just go,"

"Just get it," Eunji frowned at my reluctance.

"It's floral,"

"It's pretty,"

"But, it's floral,"

"If you don't get it I'm going home," she threatened.

"If I do get it we're going home anyway,"

"So you're options are either go home empty handed, stay here on your own, or listen to me and buy the pretty outfit that looks amazing on you,"

"But, it's floral," I repeated after a long pause.

"Seriously? You're worse than Kwangmin, at least he listens to me,"

"Because he likes you," I nodded.

"No, he doesn't,"

"Yes, he does,"

"I'll admit he likes me when you admit you like Insoo,"

"Who raised you?" I frowned.

"A stubborn, stubborn woman," she shook her head at me.

"Shut up and help me find my size," I rolled my eyes.

"Finally," she sighed.

INSOO

The girls walked back in the door, Jiyeon saw me and retreated upstairs. I smirked as Eunji brought bags of takeaway and placed them down on the bench. Everyone had been sitting in the lounge room got up instantly and started serving themselves something to eat.

"Hey Eunji, can I get your opinion on something?" I asked before she made her way to the stairs.

"Sure," she nodded. Seyong glared at us as I collected my iPad from the bench and led her into the lounge room.

"So, I was looking for somewhere to take Jiyeon tomorrow and I found two places that I like but I don't know what she'll like better," I said handing her the iPad.

She looked at the first one for a while then tapped the second tab and looked at that for just as long. She frowned puffing out her cheeks as she switched back and forth between the two restaurants. She scrolled down the pages to read some of the information on each restaurant, tilting her head from side to side still frowning, her frowning worried me. Would she hate them both?

"This one," she nodded seemingly satisfied with her answer.

"She'll like this one," she handed me back the iPad.

"Are you sure? You're not just picking the one she'll hate the least?"

"No, I'm sure she'll like this one," she nodded.

"Ah, don't get her flowers, she's not really a flower person," she added.

"I don't want to go empty handed though,"

"She's going to be too nervous to care,"

"Okay, thanks Eunji," I smiled at her.

I stared down at the phone, considering whether I should call and make a reservation or not. I mean obviously I will need to make one, but once I do then everything becomes real. I was second guessing myself, I mean what if everything goes wrong? Or if she cancels? Is this even a good idea? What am I doing? Why did I suggest this?

Because you like her and you want to show her that, why shouldn't you take her out n a nice date instead of a gross bar or dirty club? So what if it goes wrong? At least you tired and if she does cancel then you don't have to worry about things going wrong. You've got this.

I gave myself a pep talk. It didn't really help that much, but I did make the phone call. That was something I guess.

JIYEON

What am I doing?

I stood there staring at the mirror, the girl staring back at me had my face but she was a completely different person. My hair was styled with beach curls, half pinned up the rest left down. I had chosen, with some influence from Eunji, to go with light makeup instead of the heavy eyeliner I normally have on, and nothing I was wearing had any sign of black. For the first time since I started dressing myself, I was wearing pink. Of all the colours I could be wearing. Why pink? And it wasn't even just pink, it as floral and pink. I felt nothing like myself. Why am I going to such lengths? It was just dinner with Insoo.

"You look amazing," Eunji smiled.

"What if it's cold? Maybe I should just go put on some pants?"

"The only pants that you own are black ripped jeans or tight leather pants. Unless you're going to borrow a pair of mine, stop over thinking it. You look great, put on some shoes and go down to Insoo, who has been patiently waiting for the last ten minutes,"

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, he's probably worried you've changed your mind,"

"Okay, I'm going," I sighed fiddling with the hem of, what even is this thing? The hem of the floral material.

He was pacing the hallway frowning at the floor, he paused for a second, shook his head, and then continued pacing. He looked good in his dark denim jeans that were being held up with a belt, he wore a leather jacket over his black shirt that was tucked into the front of his pants. why did he get to wear so much black? His dark hair was styled more than usual, it barely moved as he continued to pace.

I made my way down the stairs, he finally saw me and stopped pacing. I don't know if he was surprised or nervous but I've never seen him with that expression before.

"Hi," I rubbed the back of my neck feeling extremely self-conscious and for the first time in a while; exposed and not in a good way. I was so far out of my comfort zone wasn't even sure I knew where it was anymore.

INSOO

I was having trouble finding words; she looked so different that I had to blink a few times to make sure it was actually her. There was not a trace of black on her, instead, she wore white. I'd never seen her so girly; feminine yes, but not girly.

She was standing at the bottom of the stairs biting her bottom lip nervously. I guess she was waiting for me to say something but I could only stare at her in awe. I cleared my throat in an attempt to get my brain to function enough to form words.

"Ah, hi," I finally choked out, good job Insoo.

"Hi," she said again.

"Should we go?" I asked. She nodded.

She frowned when I walked away from the front door and towards the back of the stairs but she followed me anyway. We entered the garage, she nodded when she realized that's where the car was. I opened the door for her and she stared blankly at me, or she tired, but I could see the smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

The car ride was silent and not a comfortable silence either, it was extremely awkward. I wasn't sure if it was because we were nervous or something else but I was slowly starting to regret the idea.

"You look nice by the way, I'm not sure if I said that earlier but you do," I rambled slightly.

"You didn't, but thank you," she was fiddling with the hem of her shorts.

"I was going to get you flowers, but, well, you're you so I didn't," I tried to keep the conversation going.

"Why does everyone keep saying that?" she mumbled more to herself than to me.

I sighed not really knowing how to respond and the car fell silent once again, this was a horrible idea. Things are just going to be awkward from now on aren't they? I sighed again pulling into the parking lot, it wasn't hard to find somewhere to park. I turned the car off and quickly got out to open her door.

"Thanks," she nodded getting out and waiting for me to lock the car.

We walked into the building, past the front desk, and into the elevator. I pressed the button for the 8th floor and once again we were silent. Could it get more uncomfortable? She didn't stand too far away from me but she wasn't exactly close either. Was the whole night going to be this awkward?

JIYEON

The hostess escorted us to our table which was by a huge window looking out over the city. I felt so out of place not because of what I was wearing, it seemed to fit the dress code. But because I didn't do things like this; I didn't do dinner or dressing up, or dates. This was so different from what I was used to and I wasn't entirely sure how to act.

Insoo pulled my chair out for me before taking his own, he slid his leather jacket off and hung it on the back of his chair. It was quite warm in here, it had a calm welcoming atmosphere, there was no question that the place itself was nice, it was just different. The waiter came over, introduced himself and gave us our menus before telling us he'd be back after we'd had time to decide on what we wanted.

I didn't know what I wanted, I didn't even know if I was hungry or if I would end up throwing up because of how nervous I was. I read through the menu as more of something to do rather than to actually find something I wanted. What am I doing? I continued reading. I ended up reading the menu five times just to avoid eye contact. The whole time I sat there with my elbow on the table looking down at the menu, chewing on my thumb.

"Do you know what you want?" he asked, my heart sped up, I was surprised he couldn't hear it pounding in my chest.

"Uh, no," I shook my head.

"This is really awkward huh?" he smiled at me.

"Yeah,"

"Well, this was a horrible idea," he sighed to himself.

"No, it's just, different,"

"We should just pretend that we're at the dining table in the dorm, it's just quieter, and larger," he shrugged.

"And fancier, and the food is probably better," I added.

"I highly doubt that," he winked.

"We'll just have to order to find out," I challenged.

"Well find something you want,"

"Oh, right," I laughed.

And just like that, the awkward tension seemed to ease away and we started joking and acting like ourselves.

"Have I told you that you look amazing tonight?" he asked sticking his spoon in the ice cream.

"Do I not look amazing any other day?" I glared playfully.

"Oh, no, you do. You're just exceptionally amazing today," he stammered holding the spoon of ice cream in front of my face.

"Amazing, no, but you've used about 20 other adjectives," I answered his question eating the ice cream off the spoon he was still holding in front of my face.

"Oh," he looked a little embarrassed.

INSOO

I paid the bill taking her hand in mine and directing her to the elevator, it wasn't awkward this time. She stood close to me even though there was no one else in the elevator, and she was smiling, at least when she didn't think I was watching. We reached the lobby and were greeted by a cool breeze, I guess it had gotten colder outside.

I took my jacket that I'd been holding at the time and draped it over her shoulders before re-connecting out hands, we walked together to the parking lot still holding hands.

"Where too now?" she asked as we reached the car.

"Where would you like to go?" I let go of her hand to unlock the car and open her door.

"We could go back to my apartment?" she shrugged, I frowned closing her door and getting into the driver's seat.

"Your apartment?"

"Yeah, well you said you wanted to her to know each other, why not get some Soju and play a few drinking games?" she shrugged, I had a feeling this was the only way she was going to share anything about herself.

"Your apartment and drinking games it is," I nodded.

INSOO

We walked through the little mart, I pushed the cart while Jiyeon started to fill it with things like snacks foods and some other things she needed for her apartment.

"Which ones?" she asked casually, holding up two different packets; Onion Rings and Lays.

"Whichever you like," I shrugged. She thought about it for a minute, nodded, and put them both in the cart.

"Is there anything else you want?"

"No," I shook my head.

With that, we left the mart with three bags of snacks and four bottles of Soju.

I wasn't exactly thrilled that we were going back to her apartment. This is my first time going there and we're going to be drinking which is bound to lead to something else. I should be ecstatic right? What guy wouldn't be?

But I wasn't, I was kind of disappointed. I'd wanted tonight to be about getting to know each other, to be more than just two people who drink and had sex.

"So what kind of drinking games did you have in mind?" I asked putting the bags in the backseat before opening her door.

"I thought we could play 'I Never' that way we can get to know each other without being all serious about it,"

JIYEON

"What's wrong with serious?" he raised an eyebrow as he pulled out of the parking space.

There was nothing wrong with serious, except that it generally meant that you were in fact; getting serious. Serious meant talking and sharing feelings and your past and that was just something I didn't do. I wasn't comfortable with it, I would much prefer to just sleep together.

Of course, I couldn't tell him that so instead I said;

"Nothing, we should just make getting to know each other fun instead of making it a task,"

"Okay," he kept his eyes on the road.

INSOO

"Can you put that on the coffee table?" She handed me a bowl of chips and shot glasses she'd pulled from the cupboard above the sink.

Her apartment was really nice; modern with an open floor plan. So open that the only enclosed rooms were the bathroom and wardrobe, you could even see the bed from the lounge, well you could see everything from the lounge. Funny enough there was no black. I'd expected a lot of dark colours but that wasn't the case at all. It was very light; cream walls, similar coloured carpet, except for the kitchen which had wooden floors.

The decor colour pallet was light greys, whites, and creamy yellows, all the furniture was a light wood except for the lounge which was a white fabric filled with coloured cushions. It was very welcoming, not a lot of clutter just little trinkets and photo frames filled with images of her with either Gunwoo or Eunji, some with both and some just them. There were also a few house plants which I had definitely not expected.

"Sure," I took them and added them to the growing collection of assorted food placed on the lounge room coffee table, there was everything from the snacks we'd brought earlier to the side dishes she'd pulled from the fridge, apparently she cooks when she's bored. Her fridge was full of containers so I guess she gets bored a lot being here on her own.

We sat next to each other on the floor leaning against the lounge, the coffee table in front of us. She'd connected her phone to a Bluetooth speaker somewhere in the room so there was background noise. Was she trying to seduce me?

We played rock-paper-scissors to decide who went first; she won.

"I never... made out with someone of the same sex," she smirked then took a shot; she was definitely trying to seduce me. The smirk disappeared when I also took a shot.

"What? Who?" she stared at me wide-eyed.

"That's not how the game works,"

"Tell me," her smirk re-appeared.

"I'll have to be extremely drunk to tell you that," I laughed, I hadn't meant it to be a challenge but I think she may have taken it that way.

"I never... stole something"

"Does someone's boyfriend count?" she smirked raising an eyebrow.

"Yes," I laughed and we both took a shot.

"I never... had a threesome," she was the only one that took a shot this time.

"You've never had a threesome?" she looked surprised.

"Almost but no," I shook my head,

"Wow,"

"I never... broke a bone,"

"That's so PG," she frowned but took a shot anyway, so did I.

"I never... got caught doing it in a public place," we both drunk.

"I like you," she let out a long breath leaning her head on my shoulder. A smile found it's way onto my face.

"I like you too,"

"No, I don't mean like a friend, I mean like more than a friend,"

"I know what you mean,"

"And you like me back?" she tilted her head so she could see my face.

"Yes, I like you back," I nodded. She was red-faced, I'm not sure if it was from blushing or the alcohol but I'll take what I can get.

"I never... got arrested," she perked up, sitting up again leaving my shoulder feeling cold. I took a shot.

"What for?" she asked.

"Seyong, he got into a fight. I helped and got caught," I shrugged.

"Why are you friends with him?" she asked leaning against me again just without her head leaning on my shoulder.

"When we were little, my dad left. Just walked out one day and didn't come home, he stripped the money from the bank account, I mean our mother had a savings account with quite a bit in it but he didn't know about that so it's not like he left knowing we'd be fine. But Seyong, who I'd only recently become friends with, was really there for me and we've been close ever since," I shrugged.

"I never... hated a parent," I said taking a shot.

JIYEON

We both took a shot, he looked down. I guess it was still a sore subject, his father I mean. The mood of the room was just kind of depressing now.

"I never... made out with a friend," we both drank. I was starting to get really tired, I was glad he was sitting next to me, if it wasn't leaning on him I might have fallen by now.

"I never... lied to someone I cared about," he said, we both drank.

"Who did you lie to?" I asked.

"My sister, I told her our dad was coming back, how about you?"

"I lied to Eunji about our mother,"

"Oh?" he wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

I don't know if it was because of the alcohol or the fact he'd just shared his past; either way, my mouth started moving before I had the chance to stop it.

"I didn't so much lie, I just didn't tell her the truth,"

"About what?" he frowned, I could have just avoided spilling everything but apparently my mouth felt like talking and my brain was too intoxicated to do anything about it.

"Our parents fought a lot when we were younger, it's one of the reasons Eunji has a fear of conflict. Anyway, they fought a lot and we weren't sure why at least not then. Eunji still doesn't know. But it turns out that our mother wasn't that great a person. Our parents met in high school; high school sweethearts or so everyone thought. Really it had more to do with the fact our father was hopelessly in love with her and she was in love with the fact that he was going to inherit a lot of money, so before he did, she used his feelings for her and latched onto him.

They were engaged, for a long time, she'd never planned on marrying him and she definitely hadn't planned on falling pregnant, especially not with twins. But she did and was too far along to do anything about it except to have us, her parenting skills where something to be questioned. Sure she was fine when our father was around, quite the actress, but the second he wasn't there she no longer pretended to care.

We were left to do everything for ourselves, like cook. We were only six at this point, but she wasn't going to do it. On one occasion Eunji was making Ramyun for herself and picked up the bowl from the counter, just take a second to consider the height difference between a six-year-old Eunji and a full-size counter, so the bowl tipped and she spilt it down the front of herself. She has a scar now that she's extremely self-conscious of. That's why I learnt to cook.

And our mother the two-faced, gold digging, lair, instead of telling our father what really happened, and admitting what she did, she made up some story about Eunji being too impatient to wait until she was served her lunch. But that was just the tip of the iceberg for our darling mother. On our seventh birthday, I caught her cheating on our father with the party planner. I learnt that day that not only was she a cheating gold digger, but she had also never wanted us and tried to convince our father to put us up for adoption.

I guess at some point our father figured out want she was really like because that's what they were always arguing about. Of course, Eunji still sees our mother in a glowing light instead of what she was really like, and I don't plan on telling her differently," I finally stopped talking. I felt so much lighter, I guess I hadn't really vented about it before.

"Wow, so I guess you don't talk to her now?"

"I wouldn't even if I could, they were arguing and not paying attention to the road, they'd crossed into the wrong lane. Our father swerved to avoid oncoming traffic and went right off the bridge into the water. They didn't survive,"

I woke up, Insoo wasn't next to me. I frowned sitting up, his arm was hanging off the end of the lounge. When had he moved there? I could have sworn he got into the bed last night.

I had a sudden flashback of last night, of me telling him everything I hide. Everything no one else knows.

The game was supposed to help me avoid getting serious. Not have me tell him everything. Is that why he moved to the lounge? Did it scare him off? I mean it's a lot of baggage, what if he decided he doesn't like me anymore?

I rubbed my face getting up, instinctively I made my way to the kitchen and started cooking while my brain started to run through all the doubts.

This is why I don't let myself like guys.

INSOO

I yawned stretching. The lounge was more comfortable than I'd expected it to be, the smell of food greeted me. I sat up yawning again. Jiyeon was pacing around the kitchen as she cooked. She'd cooked enough to feed everyone in the dorm but still, she was cooking more. I was kind of surprised she wasn't hungover.

I stood up and made my way over to the table that doubled as a room divider. Sitting down I waited for her to notice, I was going to go up behind her but she seemed off in her own little world and I didn't want to scare her while she was cooking.

"Oh, morning," she mumbled only glancing at me for a second.

"Are you okay?" I frowned, maybe she was hungover.

"U-huh," she nodded avoiding looking at me. Did I do something wrong?

"You've been busy this morning," I commented.

"Did I wake you up?"

"Oh, no,"

"So was the lounge comfortable?" she sounded bitter. Was that what she was mad at? Because I slept on the lounge instead of in the bed?

"Yeah, I mean it wasn't as comfortable as the bed, but I didn't know if you would want some space or not so I figured that I would just sleep on the lounge in case you wanted to be alone," I explained, her face relaxed.

"Oh, you could have stayed," she shrugged.

"I'll remember that next time,"

"Next time?"

"Unless I'm forbidden from coming back to your apartment?" I smirked.

"Let's eat," she turned off the stove top and places plates in front of me. Handing me a set of chopsticks she sat down across from me.

"So, you like me huh?" I smirked,

"Shut up, you idiot and eat your food," she rolled her eyes but her cheeks were turning a light shade of pink and she was fighting a smile that was tugging at the corners of lips.

"Did you cook me breakfast?" I continued to tease.

"Because you like me?"

"I would like you to shut up and eat," she looked directly at her plate, but she let the smirk slip this time.

"Your wish is my command," I smirked.

"You're an idiot,"

[romaniassexdungeon]

Credit to @phyripo for the header image.

Oh look, I’ve finally finished another fic inspired by a Pogues song! This time it’s NedRo, based on ‘Haunting’ and the tone is rather… different compared to my other fics. Whilst most stories in the series are rather angst-filled (though there are happier ones scattered in there to mix things up) this one’s… well, I don’t want to say funny, more stupid and terrible. And most of it’s in verse. Because I hate myself. This took months to write and I’m so glad that it’s finally finished and I get to share this monstrosity with everyone.

I’m sorry.

Also Ned's name in this is Siemen. Blame Phyripo. Also thanks to her, @peteradnan and @tikola-nesla for reading extracts of this terrible thing and letting me ramble.

It’s probably better to read it on AO3

Siemen – Netherlands

Isabel – Belgium

Luca – Luxembourg

Alin - Romania

“Sit down on that stool hear the cant of a fool,

And a strange tale I'll impart to ye…”

“Opa, will you tell me a bedtime story?”

A big fat ‘no’ wasn’t going to be an acceptable answer here, was it?

The last thing Siemen wanted to do was read anyone a bedtime story, but two pairs of bright green eyes were staring right back at him in the gloom of their shared room and he knew he could spend an hour arguing with a pair of screaming children, or he could just tell them a damn story. At least this way, he could be downstairs with a glass of wine in ten minutes.

Isabel and Luca’s room was a mess of toys and clothes and Siemen wasn’t sure he’d ever seen two people with so many possessions. When he was a child, he had a few toys and books and a little bike. That was all. How did they even have time to play with all these toys? Especially since he’d never seen Luca play with anything except an iPad and that one plastic cash register.

Okay, maybe he was a little proud of Luca for that one. Especially when the kid short-changed a teddy bear for being rude to him.

He stared down at his grandchildren in despair. They… really wanted a story, didn’t they? Was there not something they could watch instead?

No, a story was always the best thing to send a child to sleep with. That was what his daughter insisted when she caught him letting the children watch Watership Down until they fell asleep (the TV show, not the film – he wasn’t a monster).

“Okay,” he said, voice cracking, “what book do you want?”

“Can’t you tell us a story from when you were young?” asked Isabel. “You’re so old! You must have interesting stories, right?”

It was illegal to dropkick a small child out the window, right?

“What did you do when you were little?” asked Luca.

“Respected my elders.” A fat lie but oh well. It was a lie his family told him to get him to behave. It didn’t work but they could sleep easily.

“Did you have TV?”

“Yes but only a few channels,” he sighed, “and it was small and grainy.” And if anyone knocked the aerial then the image was fucked and he’d miss the end of Floris in the time it took to fix it.

“So what did you do when you weren’t watching TV?” asked Isabel.

“Rode my bike.” He smiled, remembering the long summer days wasted cycling by the beach in the sun, maybe taking a picnic with him and spending hours just looking at the sea.

If he was being honest, he had to ride his bike everywhere, because he grew up in the countryside and everything was stupidly far away.

It was how he discovered-

That’s it!

“What about a story a friend of mine wrote?” he offered. Anything to stop them asking questions about his personal life. Even his wife – God rest her soul – could only recall approximately 5 facts about his life. And that was before the dementia set in.

The kids perked up.

“Well, he wrote poems,” Siemen clarified, “but story poems.”

Luca’s face lit up. “Ooh, like Dr Seuss?”

No, nothing like Dr Seuss. “Oh, sure. Like that.”

Leaving an excited pair of grandkids to their chatter, Siemen hauled himself up to shuffle into his room. He always tried to keep everything as organised as possible, a habit that now served him well in his old age. For example, he knew – under his bed – was a battered old suitcase where he kept old mementos regarding a certain someone.

There were two books in the suitcase, one a heavy scrapbook containing preserved leaves and twigs, the other was a notebook on the verge of falling apart.

The unpublished poems of Alin Radacanu, his final volume.

Hand written by Siemen Morgens, upon the poet’s insistence.

Most of these could only be described as ‘sexually menacing’ and certainly not appropriate for adult human beings, let alone children. There was one though…

When he hobbled back to the bedroom, Luca had climbed on the bunk bed to fight Isabel. Again. It was almost perfect, like Alin had planned to have his poem read aloud – for the first time – to a pair of fighting kids.

He snarled and began with a growl.

“Sit down ya wee bastard,

I’ve a tale of disaster,

And romance all to tell ye,

About a young man,

His name was Siemen,

And a strangely attractive ol’ tree.”

The kids jumped, Luca falling off the ladder and Isabel looking at him in utter confusion.

“Dr Seuss never swore in his books.”

He would if he ever met Alin. “I said it was like Dr Seuss, but not entirely. Now, if you promise to not tell your mother about the bad words, I would like to continue, please.”

The kids nodded, eyes sparkling at the thought of hearing ‘bad words’ with cool Opa Siemen. And keeping a secret from mum.

“One night, a cold night,

A night full of fright,

He set off on his little old bike,

Off to a party,

His attire classy,

As the rain it speared like a pike.

If a journey could kill,

Oh, this man hated hills,

He much preferred land to be flat,

He was a Dutchman,

So hills he would ban,

If he had the power to do that.”

“Why don’t you just get a taxi?” asked Isabel.

“It was the 1960s and I lived in the countryside. We didn’t have taxis like those fancy fuckers in Amsterdam. Also I was poor.”

Luca laughed at him.

“You shut your bitch mouth.”

“The rain was too much,

The trip dangerous, as such,

And the hill a steep torrent of mud,

So this man turned around,

For shelter was bound,

Before he got knee-deep in sludge.

At the foot of the hill,

Trapped in a chill,

Our hero sat, sulks by a tree,

But lo and behold,

Gnarly and bold,

This tree was in fact me.

Now a prankster I am,

And I can’t spare a damn,

So as slick and as sly as an oyst-

-er, I bent down to his ear,

And in words loud and clear,

I simply said to him: moist."

“Your friend isn’t very good,” Luca commented.

“Do you want me to stop?”

“Well, no.”

“Then shut up.”

“He was up like a cat,

Or poker to the back,

And let out a terrible shriek,

His face deathly white,

Oh, what a horrible fright!

Simply too fearful to speak.

When nobody was seen,

Except for this tree,

This young man decided to run,

Away from ground haunted,

By ghosts he was taunted,

I, the living tree, he did shun.”

“Your friend… is a tree?” Isabel raised an eyebrow.

“Yes.”

“Mum was right; you’re a senile old bastard.”

“I swear to you it’s tr- I’m a what?”

Isabel shrugged. “Her words, not mine.”

Siemen glared at her for a long moment. “Can I continue?”

They nodded.

“Good.”

“Back on his bike,

Almost flew into a dyke,

In his haste to get away from me,

Shaken and shook,

Without a backwards look,

At me, the twisted old tree.

For weeks, I, alone,

Just stood and bemoaned,

The loss of a potential new friend,

I want him back now,

My soul he will plow,

Will my loneliness ever just end?

Then one silent night,

A strange speck of light,

This man had come back to me,

Though he was scared,

My power he feared,

A new friendship, could this possibly be?”

Luca raised an eyebrow. “You went back to the scary old tree?”

Siemen shrugged. There was a time where he’d been less sensible, almost reckless. And maybe he just wanted to prove to himself that ghosts weren’t real because, dammit Siemen, you weren’t raised to be such a gullible fool.

“If you had found out ghosts were real, would you not want to find out more?”

“Ghosts aren’t real, though.”

“Well, you are wrong. Very wrong. Wrong and stupid.”

Luca began to cry. Because that is what happens when you call a seven-year-old stupid, Siemen.

“Wait, no, I didn’t mean it!” he hissed, “please don’t tell your mother.”

“Give me €20.”

“Absolutely the fuck not.”

Luca cried harder.

The little fu- “Fine! Here!” He – incredibly reluctantly – opened his wallet and fished out a twenty.

He already knew that smug smile on Isabel’s face meant bad news.

“You’ll have to pay me to not snitch too,” she said slyly. Why did his daughter have to go and have 2 kids?

With a growl, he handed over another twenty. “Can I continue my story now?”

“Sure thing, Opa!”

“He kealt at my root,

His glare was acute,

And demanded to know what I was,

Malevolent spirit,

A vision too vivid,

Or was he a cruel laughter’s cause.

I spoke to him gentle,

A voice thin and fragmental,

I begged him to hear my sad tale,

I meant him no harm,

No need for alarm,

I am but a man, cursed and frail,

Though his eyes showed his fear,

Siemen’s ‘yes’ was sincere,

He wanted to know tragedy,

This blight called my life,

My well-deserved strife,

The price of noxious vanity,

Alin the annoying,

A poet so trying,

A genius hated by all,

Though his rhyme was sublime,

And looks so divine,

He was regarded as quite the arsehole.

He made a bet with the devil,

Their power was level,

And he simply won’t ever die,

He put a gun to his head,

And in one shot was dead,

In blood did that idiot lie."

“This moron killed himself to prove he was immortal?” exclaimed Isabel.

“Well how else do you prove it?”

Isabel thought for a moment, then scowled when she couldn’t come up with a reply. Ha! That’s what Siemen thought!

"The devil punished this poet,

Eternal life? He’d bestow it,

Let this man live his mistakes,

Trapped in a tree,

Trickle of time oversee,

Alone in a silent heartache.

Well now I have Siemen,

Promised to be my friend,

He’d come back to visit again,

And the next day he came,

My heart was aflame,

This feeling spread like a bloodstain."

“Eugh,” Luca pulled a face. “A tree fell in love with you?”

“A tree that used to be a man, mind you.”

“It’s still weird. I mean, you couldn’t fall in love with a tree back, right?”

Siemen fell silent. His grandchildren looked at him in horror.

“Well it’s more about personality, you see.”

“And what kind of personality did Alin have?” asked Isabel.

“A horrible one.” They both raised their eyebrows. “Not really. Well, he was very strange, but I couldn’t help liking him. He was funny, and witty. And, well, I don’t know.” He could feel a blush creeping onto his face, and wanted to punch every single one of his blood vessels. “I just found him charming.”

Luca stared at him for a good minute. “Wait, are you saying this actually happened?”

“Of course.”

“You’re senile.”

“Sinterklaas isn’t real.”

Five minutes of crying, and a €30 bribe later, Siemen turned back to Alin’s poem.

“Our friendship, it grew,

To the town’s harsh ado,

Their tongues, like me, were thorny,

Though we broke the taboo,

Our hearts painted rouge,

The truth was he made me so-“

Sieman stopped. Why, Alin? “Oh no, that’s a bit too rude.” As were the next few verses, it seemed. And this was supposed to be one of the cleaner poems.

“We sat in the sun and he told me poems,” he explained, in the hopes of distracting his grandchildren from the prospect of something with a rude word in it, because holy fuck did children love rude words and he couldn’t have them asking their mother what ‘horny’ meant. “We talked about our lives and grew closer. He had a lot of interesting stories, though I’m not sure just how many were actually true.”

He desperately scanned the poem for something that was’t complete and utter filth, vaguely remembering just how disgusted he felt hearing it from Alin’s voice all those years ago.

Ah! Here we go!

“Our cruel reputation,

Across this flat nation,

The madman who French-kissed a tree,

I go naked in winter,

His lip has a splinter!

And his step-child a family of bees!”

Well, it was cleaner than the last seven verses. Isabel still looked disgusted though. He couldn’t blame her. It took him a week to get that splinter out. And that was just the one he got on his lip.

“Our time was a blast,

But it could never last,

He was a human and I just a tree,

I had stood here for years,

Cried cold, lonely tears,

What I wanted was my soul’s release.

What I ask of you dear,

I make this quite clear,

To go set me free at last,

Take your little axe,

Plunge it into my back,

And chop me up quite fast.

I know you will miss me,

With ice where you kissed me,

But the only way to break my cruel curse,

Is to chop me down,

My spirit set down,

Your axe shall be my own nurse.

I’m ready to die,

My soul has run dry,

And my bark has grown dark and inky,

So cut down this tree,

And let me be free,

In fact, I’ll find it quite- God fucking dammit Alin!”

“He’ll find it quite what?” asked Isabel.

“…Stinky?”

“That’s not the word! We’re not idiots!”

Siemen had had quite enough at this point. “It is the word now shut up and go to sleep!” And he left the kids to their protesting, turning off the light and creaking downstairs to find that wine bottle. After locking up the unpublished poems of Alin Radacanu somewhere innocent eyes couldn't find them, of course.

[kirakiraninja666-blog]

my sad, sad love life

Everything mentioned here is true and all names will be left out. In kindergarten, there was this girl that I fancied. She was very cute and kind to me. I recall that one day she read a book to my about blue whales, she spoke about her wanting to be a marine biologist when she was older. Later in the year, I brought cupcakes for my birthday. I sat in between her and another girl. This other girl was extremely happy that I brought cupcakes and kissed me on the cheek. The girl I liked was shocked that she did such a thing during class. We giggled and quickly forgot about it.

Fast forward to 3rd grade and shit got intense, like real intense, my nigga. I had gotten close to this one girl, we messaged each other a lot on the app called “Kik Messenger”. We pretty much had a relationship over text. We would say, “I love you” and, “I miss you” and shit like that to each other. I recall this one moment where she went to go to something and I was texting her friend and she said that “[we were] cute”. One day at recess, one of our friends got us together to talk about our feelings for each other. This shit was awkward as fuck, my nigga. Like I mentioned earlier, this was a text-relationship. We never spoke about our feelings to each other in person. It was pretty awkward and we never admitted our feelings to each other. I don’t remember how it ended but it ended somehow.

Now, onto 4th grade. I had gotten feelings for the girl I liked in kindergarten again. To be honest, I kinda liked her throughout most of elementary school but she was kind of an on and off crush. Anyways, we were on a Skype call on my birthday and she had a friend over. They had known about my feelings for her and they said shit like, “The ship sailed a long time ago” which made me fucking depressed. I cried that night, on my BIRTHDAY. I slept that night with my iPad next to me hoping to receive a Skype message that she had changed her mind or something. But, alas, it never happened. I slit my wrists, the pain helped me to stop thinking of her. I attempted to hang myself with toilet paper, hoping to leave this miserable world. Unfortunately, it failed. Oh well.

5th grade was pretty fucking cringy. There was this new girl at school. She was smart, funny, cute. We talked and we became close. We developed feelings for each other. I talked about this to my friend, the same one that made me and my “ex” confront each other at recess in 3rd grade. She told me to stop liking her, that she was “weird” or something like that. So basically what I did was I wrote an e-mail to her, with my friend’s help, ending our nonexistent relationship.

In 6th grade, there was cute Asian girl I met in math class. We talked a bit and I ended up liking her. Unfortunately, nothing happened because she had a boyfriend.

In 7th grade, I had gotten close to a girl, an Asian girl. She developed feelings for me and asked me out and I said, “LOL, no thanks b, we’re better off as friends. Try again next year OMEGALUL.” And that was that.

Later that year, around December, I had gotten feelings for another Asian girl. I liked her quite a bit and I told too many friends and she quickly found out that I liked her. She stopped talking to me completely and it was really awkward between us. Looking back at it, it’s pretty funny. I stopped liking her because I figured that there was no hope. I started to like someone else and the Asian found out and we started talking again.

Spring time of 8th grade, I was pretty good friends with this white girl. She also started to develop feelings for me and asked me out. I told her that I didn’t want to date anyone at the moment and would’ve preferred to wait until high school to start dating someone. She walked away very sad which made me feel bad but, ya know, it sucks to suck.

So probably around May of 8th grade I wanted to ask out this one girl to the 8th grade dance, known as “Formal”. We were quite close and talked a lot. She was pretty good looking and boy, oh boy, she’s thicc as fuck, my nigga. Anyways, she wasn’t really into me and this other kid asked her to the dance before me. I was devastated, I opened up to one of my close female friends. I told her that I was suicidal, that I had the urge to just swallow my phone and hope that it would suffocate me. She was there for me, she saved me, she was my hero. I quickly fell in love with her. I decided that I would ask her to the dance. I had two of my friends make a poster for me that I would use to ask her out. It was a huge success. People in the hall were cheering, they yelled, “OH YEAH!”, there were fireworks inside the school, shit was amazing. We hugged, walked outside together, and took a picture. We waited for her bus and she gave me a hug goodbye. I was practically smashing that girl. The next day I asked her to be my girlfriend and she said yes. The following day, it was awkward as fuuuuuck. We worked together on this project for health and I’d talk to her, start a conversation, but they just wouldn’t last that long. She didn’t really want to to talk to me. Later that day after school was over, she broke up with me and told me that we’d be better off as friends. I was sad. I had gotten into my first REAL relationship, albeit probably lasted less than 24 hours. I had to get over her though, there wasn’t really any way that relationship was going to work. She probably ended it because she though I had moved on too quickly, that I didn’t really have feelings for her, or perhaps she just wasn’t really interested in me.

Although the summer started off a bit rough, it would later turn out to be pretty fucking amazing, kind of. Around the end of July (I’m thinking it might’ve been July 22nd or some date close to that), I boot up my computer to play with my friend that I played with pretty much the whole summer. We’d get on in the morning and play until nighttime. This day was different, for I had gotten on around noon. Not surprisingly, he was already playing. I saw that he was playing in a group and asked for an invite. He was playing with this GIRL, a fucking gamer-girl, can you believe it? Those girls are pretty fucking rare. Anyways, I joined their group and we had a blast together. The 3 of us became close, we were a group, the modern day Three Musketeers. One day, my friend left for a couple days, I believe he traveled somewhere. She was also gone. I thought, “Damn, so is this where it ends? Is this where she stops talking to us?” but then I thought “She probably just doesn’t want to talk to me by ourselves, she likes my friend more than me.” My friend returned on the weekend, I think, and that’s when she got back online. She said the reason she wasn’t on was because her parents didn’t like her playing on the weekdays and that she was at this camp (this is actually all true, she wasn’t lying). When school started, we still found the time to talk to each other. My friend and her would get into some really stupid fights, fights that were just a big fucking waste of time and shouldn’t of happened. But, it’s okay, for I had had benefited from them. You see, my friend was closer to her than I was with her. But thanks to these fights, this quickly changed. She would talk to me and vent about my friend. I would agree with her and say that my friend was in the wrong (which he actually was most of the time). We’d play together, just the two of us. We’d go invisible on Discord and on Overwatch. We became each other’s best friends. We all lived pretty far from each other, my friend lives in Vermont and she lives in New York City. We’d talk about meeting each other over the summer (which is the summer that is currently being written in, by the way). One day, her and her friend told me that I should go to their school. I thought it was a great idea and we discussed it. Looking back at it, I don’t know what the fuck I was thinking, I actually thought that it would happen. Newsflash, my nigga, that shit ain’t ever going to happen. I thought about moving alone to NYC and going to their expensive ass school, $50k YEARLY TUITION for grade school. Hell no, that definitely wasn’t going to happen. My parents laughed and said no. I was actually kind of bummed, like I dead ass thought that it might’ve happened. Over time, we developed feelings for each other. Her friend asked me if I thought that she liked me and I told her no. She asked her and turns out that she did like me, I was insanely happy. Moving on, later that month she told me that there was a possibility of her coming to Maryland for winter break. I was fucking hyped but she told me not to get too excited because it all deepened on her aunt’s roommate leaving so they could have a place to sleep. Sometime in December she confirms that she’s going. A couple of days before she comes to Maryland, we were talking to each other. We played this game that we had made where if one of us were to curse then the other would ask them 3 questions. These questions were to be answered honestly. I asked her questions about who she liked. She had knew that I knew that she liked me. I wanted her to admit it to me. She also asked me questions about who I liked. I, of course, described her. Now, I believe that she suspected that I liked her but she didn’t want to believe it. Later, she tells me that she has to leave. I decide to confess my feelings for her. I tell her that the girl I like would be coming to Maryland the next week, that we were going to see each other. She freaked out and I started laughing. She hung up the call and I just sat there in my chair, very happy. She arrives at night on Christmas. She’s in Maryland for 3 days pretty much (the 26th, the 27th, and the 28th), we hung out together on all 3 days. The first day was pretty awkward, not gonna lie. It makes sense though because this was out first time meeting each other. We met up at the National Gallery of Art and spent the majority of the day there. We didn’t really talk much at first but we later got more comfortable with each other and talked. After spending a day at the N.G.A., we ate dinner at this Chinese restaurant. It was fun, she tried teaching me how to use chopsticks but I wasn’t able to use them. Second day, I went over to her aunt’s house. It was a bit awkward for the first like 10 minutes but then everything was fine. We went ice skating but, here’s the thing, I don’t know how to ice skate. Her sister and her would hold my hand to try and help me keep my balance. After that, we returned to her aunt’s house where we played poker. Neither of us knew how to play so we had to learn. We played in teams. It was me and her, her sister and her mom, and her aunt and her aunt’s boyfriend. We turned out to be a pretty good team, we won a couple of times. On the third day, we went to ICE! at National Harbor. After spending a couple hours there, I suggested that we go eat at Rio. We arrived at Rio and for some reason her mom and wanted to go to Barnes and Noble. She didn’t want to go so I suggested that her and I walk for a bit. She happily and agreed and that’s what we did. I saw this as my chance, my chance to ask her out. I waited a bit and then I did it. She stopped walking and looked at me and said, “Are you serious?” to which I replied “Yes” and she said yes as well. It was fantastic except for the fact that my girlfriend would have to leave in about an hour to return to New York. We talked a lot over the next couple months, became closer to each other. One day in February, I got extremely lucky. I heard her dad tell her that they would be going to California for spring break. I told her that I’d be visiting New York for spring break. She told her dad this and her stepmom suggested that I go with them to Cali. We couldn’t believe this and we thought that she was joking. Nope, it was not a joke. I asked my parents and they allowed me to go. I arrived at New York on the 24th of March and left a week earlier. The first two days we were in New York. It was fun, we spent time together. On Monday, we left early in the morning to go to Cali. Now, to be honest, I don’t remember everything as it exactly happened, I tried forgetting these memories because it was just too painful to look back at. But here are the highlights of that week:

>lots of cuddling

>we kissed

>we went to some pretty cool places

So after the trip, we talked a lot for a couple of days. She slowly started to talk to me less, she said that she was busy with school work. It got to the point where if I was lucky we’d talk on the weekend (lemme elaborate here real quick, if I recall correctly, she was never busy on those weekends, we’d talk if she wanted to talk, not if she was busy or not). One day I accidentally pissed her off and that’s when it pretty much ended. I asked her if we were still together and she told me to give her a week to think about it. I acted super desperately, like super desperately. I thought that my acts of desperation would help me but it did the opposite. Honestly, if I was in her position I would not have given myself a second chance. I was too flawed and I had to learn from my mistakes. Now though, almost 4 months later, I feel like I am worthy of another chance. I feel that it is my time to try once again. I have reflected on my previous self and I have improved. I. Am. Ready.

to be continued...