#wish i could be normal and just like the book or the musical the most lol

[charliehoennam]

hero's homestead

A/N: just a lil blurb I've had stuck on my mind and had to frigging get out since watching Road House

Pairing: Elwood Dalton x f!reader

Warnings: physical injuries, jealousy, kissing, mentions of grief and death

SHARING IS CARING, SO PLEASE REBLOG

Growing up in Glass Key made your face quite familiar around these parts. Everyone knew you, not because you were popular or from a rich family. Lord knows you wish you were.

But because the island was just so small, like a little fishbowl with too many sharks circling around their prey, everyone knew each other around here. However, the small island was full of a strong sense of community.

Your friendship with Charlie started while you were in high school. You were just a freshman and Charlie was six when Stephen and his wife would very often ask you to baby-sit.

Saying no to them was nearly impossible. Not only did they pay you well, but they always offered you a ride home and made you sure you had dinner before leaving. They really treated you like you were part of the family and helping one another in the community was just so normal.

They always treated you with welcoming kindness and respect so, if there was anything you could do to help them, you did it. Aside from baby-sitting Charlie, this included working at their book store.

You were around there most of the time. If you weren't at home or at school, you were at Glass Books.

As you got older, you started to spend less and less time there in order to focus on your own personal and professional life.

That didn't mean you were never around anymore. You still made your frequent stop to buy the new read of the week.

"Why don't you just get all the books you want for the month, so you don't have to keep coming back?" Charlie questioned genuinely curious.

"Nah, I like coming here. I like the service. And besides, you'd miss me too much, kid" you chuckled watching the young teenage ring your book up at the register.

When Stephen told you about his wife's illness, it really took you by surprise. She could've easily been voted the happiest woman of Glass Key. The aura she possessed could make the dullest room become the brightest. Her sense of humor would have even the most no-nonsense person cracking a smile. She was an amazing woman and a motherly figure to most.

The entire community mourned her loss. The blue sky and the tropical environment wasn't enough to brighten the day for your neighborhood's residents. The heavy rains that followed that entire week led you to believe that even the island was weeping for her absence.

Between medical expenses, funeral costs and a growing teenager, Stephen had to learn to be a single father quite fast. And that meant working a full-time job to make end's meet.

He asked you to help out with the store and you happily agreed. Glass Books was his wife's dream. She loved spending her days there, in the cozy little bookstore she'd built with the love of her life.

Although you know Stephen has a lot on his plate, you can't help but wonder if he wants to avoid the store and her memory altogether.

You refused to accept money for it, knowing the shop didn't make so much money. Even so, Stephen would still transfer you a small amount whenever he could and would often bring you breakfast, lunch or dinner because he felt it was the least he could do.

All you wanted to do was help.

He was more than grateful, especially when he saw how you could make Charlie laugh by putting on music and dancing in the middle of the store with her.

He could see her slipping into a dark place after the death of her mother. Dealing with his own pain, he did his best. But, you were the best friend she needed. A feminine figure she could go to talk about more embarrassing situations or just to get her mind off of the loss.

Gradually, it seemed like their small family was beginning to heal. Although the loss was a still a fresh wound, and Stephen would often find Charlie clutching a small portrait of her mother asleep in bed, they were managing to keep the pain at bay.

You understand how important this store to them. It represents so much more than being just a simple local book store. It represents her.

The store was just as special to you as it was to Charlie and Stephen.

It had always been your refuge, but now, it was always the place where you met him.

Charlie, with her overly friendly nature that she inherited from her mother, struck up a conversation with the then stranger just outside the bookstore.

Her overprotective father was soon outside within seconds. Although the friendly streak ran deep within him too, he knew these parts were full of men with bad intentions.

Once he realized the stranger wasn't from around, he felt a little more at ease.

Although you remained inside the shop, you could overhear their conversation as you inched towards the door and opened it to stand in the doorway, eyeing the stranger with caution.

Stephen was surprised to know he'd come out of town to work at the Road House. To be honest, neither of you expected him to last very long. At that place, security never does.

The bouncer turnover never ceased with the riots that broke out there almost every night. So, you didn't bother getting your hopes up.

However, Dalton kept coming back. Every other day, he came in with the excuse of using the computer or buying a book just to strike up a conversation with you and lay down his flirtatious charm.

Charlie was the first to notice he would always come around when you were there and, if you weren't, he'd always make sure to ask when you were.

She had quite a bit of fun poking fun at you, telling you he had a crush on you or mocking the unconscious change in your voice you had when talking to him.

It didn't long take for feelings to develop between you and him. There was no doubt in either of you. Although unspoken, the magnetic attraction was undeniably present.

Some of those talks were deep and you felt you could confide in him to share things you hadn't shared with anyone at all. He, in turn, told you about the night on the train tracks and how the last fight he had in the ring haunted him every night.

There was no denying the bond you were forming. However, the rumors that were spreading around the island about the closeness between Ellie and him made you hesitant to make the first move.

When you casually brought it up into conversation, he shook his head and told you it wasn't anything serious and that she'd took him on a date once. You wanted to ask him if he had feelings for her, but that would be too much.

"So what's the deal with you and Dalton?" Charlie curiously asked, having picked up on the constant courtship that you two refused to act on.

"There is no deal. We're just friends. Hardly that."

"I may be young, but I'm no fool. I know there's something going on between you two."

"Sorry to disappoint you, kid, but there isn't. Besides, I hear he's got a sort of a girlfriend" you replied without looking up at her from the book in your hand.

You were both sat in fold-out beach chairs placed in front of the store, enjoying a couple of white cherry slushies, hoping the ice cold drink could soothe the hot, humid weather.

"How do you have a 'sort of girlfriend'? Either she is or isn't."

"Those things are complicated. I guess they're getting to know each other," you shrugged wishing you could avoid the topic.

"Like you guys are?"

"There is nothing going on. Sure, he's cute and funny and all, but he's seeing someone else. He's not interested in me, Charlie."

"So, you are interested in him?"

"It doesn't matter if I am. She's a doctor, she's smart and she's really pretty and drives a nice car. I know I don't stand a chance, so I'd rather not get my hopes up," you rambled, failing to read anything on the page you were stuck on. "Can we please drop this now?"

"Oh my god," she smirked staring at you. "You're jealous."

You scoffed at her ridiculous accusation and shook your head as you closed the book and set it in your lap.

"I am not jealous. I do not get jealous."

"Yes, you are! You totally are!"

"I am not! I just don't want to talk about this anymore, alright? So can we drop it?"

"Alright, alright. Sorry I brought it up."

She couldn't stop smiling as you opened your book to continue reading. Although you weren't her parents, her mind couldn't stop thinking of a way to parent-trap you into getting together.

However, her plans were brought to a halt when Brandt's lackeys invaded the shop just a few days later.

You tried your best to stand your ground and defend the shop along with Stephen. He told you to leave, but you refused.

After the beatdown you both received unwillingly, a fire had been set and the cruel men left. The adrenaline that surged through your bodies was enough to numb the pain in order to get you both quickly back on your feet to put out the fire.

Between the blood loss and the resurfacing pain, the billowing smoke got stronger and stronger. The flames became too strong too quickly and had engulfed the entire wall across the front counter.

Light-headed and dizzy, Stephen tried to save whatever he could from the store. As you rushed back and forth, you realized that the fire had grown too much and swallowed the front entrance.

The heat of it shattered the glass windows. The open air only fueled the fire more. Coughing from the heavy smoke, both you and Stephen got down on the floor to avoid the unbreathable air and attempted to crawl to the back exit.

Everything went dark after that and melded into one huge blur.

You don't remember when you actually blacked out, but you do remember feeling relieved once you heard the fire department's arrival.

The time you spent in the hospital was short - only a couple of days - but it was enough to make you reflect on your life.

An overwhelming sense of regret washed over you as you thought about Dalton.

You'd only known each other for a few weeks, but what if you could've had something special? What if Charlie's jokes were true and he actually ended up to be your soulmate?

She could be wrong too, but the fact that you could've died and never found out if you ever really did stand a chance ate at your mind.

You hadn't fully realized the extent of your attachment until a couple days later.

You show up at the store with a limp from the beatdown you'd received a couple days ago.

Stephan tries to assure you they're fine, that you need to rest and recover, but you argue that you'll go insane if you stay at home with nothing to do, high on pain meds.

Helping the owners clean and salvage whatever they can, Charlie casually mentions that Dalton and left her and her father a suitcase full of money to rebuild the store before he got on a greyhound bus destined to leave Glass Key.

The same regret you'd felt in the hospital strikes you again and secretly consumes you.

You try to play it off and instruct her to not to tell anyone about the money. You barely understand what she said after that. All you can think about for the rest of that morning is that he left and didn't even say goodbye.

When Charlie and her father invite you to get some lunch with them, you politely refuse, opting to stay back and keep yourself busy. You lie and tell them you had a big breakfast beforehand just so they won't worry.

You promised you wouldn't get your hopes up. You knew better than that. Bouncers never last at the Road House. You know this just as well as any of the other residents of Glass Key.

He's gone now.

You just want to be alone for a bit to process it.

The door opens and the bell above it rings as you sweep away at the shattered glass, forcing you to look back over your shoulder.

The sight you see has you frozen in surprise.

His face is impossible to forget. You could never forget those big blue doe eyes, even with the dark skin that circles his right eye.

You groan lightly at the shooting pain from your broken rib as you straighten and turn to face him, holding the broom by your side as you stand next to it.

Dalton closes the glassless door behind him as he greets you with a silent but friendly smile until the cut on your lip and the black eye remind him of the damage he caused.

He doesn't look too different from you. His eye is still a little swollen but mostly black now, his lip busted and the stitches on his eyebrow are all evidence that business has been handled at the Road House.

"So, the Glass Key hero returns" you smile at him, ignoring the sting on your bottom lip. "Charlie said you were riding off into the sunset. You forget something?"

"I'm not a hero and, no, I didn't" he starts, looking around the burned down shop trying to swallow his guilt.

"Changed your mind?"

"Someone kinda changed it for me, actually. A very wise person told me that heroes don't always have to ride off into the sunset. They can stay and make a homestead instead."

Joy bursts within you like fireworks on new years. You try to fight back the smile that creeps onto you lips.

"Thought you weren't a hero."

"I'm not."

You nod biting the inside of your cheek to mask your excitement. You take the second broom that Charlie had been using earlier and left leaning against the wall by the front door.

"This homestead could use a hand" you smile and offer him the broom.

He takes it with a happy grin, feeling finally accepted as if he finally found somewhere he belongs.

"There's, uh, one more thing" he says in a soft voice.

His hand raises to your chin, tilting your head up as he cranes his neck to kiss you in the most tender of ways.

Unable to forget about Ellie, you place a hand on his chest and gently push to stop the kiss.

Dalton's face contorts with confusion. He doesn't notice the breath he's holding, anxiety settling in as he fears that you'll ask him to stop. Maybe he got the wrong signals and you don't like him that way. He'd respect it, if that's the case, but it doesn't mean his heart won't be crushed.

"I thought you were seeing Ellie?"

He blinks slightly surprised. That's not what he had expected to hear, but it makes him kind of happy that you're not asking him to stop.

"She took me on a date and we kissed, but that was it."

"So, you are dating her?"

"What, are you jealous?"

"Why does everyone keep saying that? I'm not jealous."

"You sound a little jealous" he smirks.

"I'm not. I just... I don't wanna get my hopes up."

"I'm not dating her," he says gently stroking your bruised cheek. "I told her there's someone else for me, someone that I really wanna date."

He gazes into your eyes as you smile up at him and let him continue his kiss. You let his lips linger on yours and smile when you feel them stretch into a grin.

The cuts on your mouths hurt, but neither of you bother to pull away.

His kiss gradually intensifies. His tongue flicks over your bottom lip, politely asking for entrance. His free hand reaches for your waist as the other sets against your cheek, leaving the broom tucked in his arm.

You let his tongue slip past your defenses. The gentle way his hand cradles your face has you holding onto his strong forearm and the other broom for balance as the room spins around you from his vertiginous kiss.

Your chest presses against his as you moan softly into his mouth. It takes him every ounce of his self-control to not pin you against the wall.

The bell rings again, alerting you both of another's presence so you quickly pull apart, trying to quickly compose yourselves. Your eyes shoot to the door along with Dalton's.

You realize who it is, so he shyly lets his eyes wander around what's left of the store and sweeps the ashy floor.

"Hope I'm not interrupting anything," Charlie smirks sipping her juice from a straw as she stands in the doorway.

"No, no," you reply nervously as heat pools in your cheeks. "Dalton and I were just, uh, cleaning up."

"Cleaning what? The floor or each other's throats?"

Dalton snickers at her candor, glancing at you until she continues.

"Good to see you're back though. And if you ask me, it's about time."

[lenievi]

ok so what I kind of alluded to in this post the other day

like choices were made with bbc!Javert that's for sure but also he is not unrecognizable

from the beginning, they decided that Javert would have power. He was not just helping in Toulon, he was the guy there. He had no one to answer to, he had no superiors there. He followed the law and the rules of Toulon, cruelly and coldheartedly.

And so they established his character to be like this. Then he became a policeman and got promoted to an inspector and assigned to Montreuil. We were supposed to see him working under Madeleine, but they decided that bbc!Javert would recognize him immediately - there was zero doubt in his mind.

"Good God! it is very easy to be kind; the difficulty lies in being just. Come! if you had been what I thought you, I should not have been kind to you, not I! You would have seen!" (Hapgood)

(the translation I'm reading is using "good" (because the French is using "bon") and not "kind", but I think it doesn't matter much)

So bbc!Javert had no reason to act extremely respectfully and deferentially (in some way, he acted as Javert in the book before Madeleine became the mayor, but bbc!Javert was more forward and open about it. We only got very little from that period in the book; and the most we got was him provoking Madeleine during the cart scene).

And because bbc!Javert always knew, his character needed to be kept consistent and so his characterization would be mainly taken from Fantine's arrest and Valjean's arrest.

Javert doesn't listen to people he deems to be criminals. He doesn't care. Any protestation will make him angry, he will raise his voice. Javert enjoys power and hates when his authority is mocked and threatened.

During Valjean's arrest, Javert is petty, he literally stomps his foot, he even grasps Valjean's coat, cravat and shirt. He is elated, cruel, and uncaring.

“I tell you that there is no Monsieur Madeleine and that there is no Monsieur le Maire. There is a thief, a brigand, a convict named Jean Valjean! And I have him in my grasp! That’s what there is!” (Hapgood)

During the Montreuil era, bbc!Javert is a version of book!Javert that excluded the presence of a superior Javert would respect, i.e. Madeleine, imho. There was only a thief and a criminal present for bbc!Javert, and so he behaved accordingly.

[vscabarca]

how about a gavi fic where they’ve been dating for a long time but long distance so the whole relationship is basically a secret and the public finds out and the internet sort of breaks and keeps commenting on how gavi is so different with her. if you do end up liking this and writing this please tag me <33

sant jordi - pablo gavi

summary: you visit your long-distance boyfriend Gavi and he accidentally hard launches your relationship.

genre: fluff!

a/n: @weekendlusting that request was so cute, thank you for your patience!🫶🏼 Also, i was listening to this song while writing, check it out for the full experience;)

———

Exhausted, you placed your school bag onto the floor of your hallway, walking towards the darkly lit living room. Just as you sat down, your phone buzzed and Pablo appeared on the screen.

With an immediate smile, you pressed the green button, accepting his call.

„Hello my love.“ He chimed, already laying in bed with his hood up.

„Hey amor.“ You tiredly answered, now also kicking your feet upon the couch.

„How was your day?“

„Exhausing but I wrote my last exam today.“ A feeling of relief washed over your body when you realized you‘d have now two weeks of pure relaxation, without having to do any schoolwork. But this feeling of relief was over quickly. Being in another country, several hours away from your boyfriend was hard. Especially if you had now so much freetime, you would love to spend it with Pablo.

„I‘m proud of you. Any plans for the upcoming days?“ Your boyfriend asked while playing with his hair.

„Not much. I wish I could spend them with you, I miss you.“ You pouted, feeling sad for only seeing him through the screen.

„Fly to Barcelona. I‘m having a few days off and I wanna see my gorgeous girl again.“

That’s how you ended up on a plane on a Tuesday, flying two hours to visit your long distance boyfriend for the next week.

The reunion was more than sweet. Pablo surprised you with flowers as he waited in his Audi for you. You two were over four months together, but still kept the relationship from the public. You wouldn’t actively try to keep it a secret, but also didn’t have the need to show everyone you two were together. After all, Pablo was Spain‘s teenage heartthrob and you were just a normal girl going to university.

He drove to his house first, giving you time to freshen up and put down your luggage. As it was the 23rd of April, also known as Diada de Sant Jordi, a catalan holiday, the city was decorated in red roses and Catalan flags.

As you two strolled aimlessly around a more quiet part of the city, Pablo never let go of your hand. To be not recognized too often, he wore his sunglasses and a cap, looking as handsome as ever.

The touch of his hand made you blush and the smile never left your face.

Suddenly, Pablo walked towards a little shop at the end of the street. It was so small you wouldn’t have noticed it if it weren’t for your boyfriend. Outside, there was a shelf filled with second-hand books and roses. Like the tradition says, Pablo grabbed a book with the most romantic title and went inside to pay. He stood in front of you, his signature smile plastered across his face as he gave you the book and the red rose.

„Feliz dia de Sant Jordi mi amor.“ You couldn’t help but blush, your face turning red from the charm of your boyfriend.

„Muchas gracias Pablito.“ You mused and stepped closer to press a gentle but yet passionate kiss onto his lips.

After you two enjoyed a fun day in Barcelona, you headed back home to cook dinner and have a relaxing night together.

During cooking and occasionally dancing to the music playing in the background, your phone started buzzing almost every two seconds. At first you dismissed it, thinking it was your friend filling you in on one of her hookup stories, but even Pablo turned his head in curiosity after the buzzing wouldn’t stop several minutes later.

„Don’t you think it’s important? It won’t stop.“ He asked with furrowed eyebrows, just as confused as you were. Your phone screen was flooded with people you barely knew asking about Gavi. Gavi here Gavi there, things like „you’re really together?“ or „could you ask him to sign me something?.“

It was so confusing until one of your family members told you to check Pablo‘s instagram.

You opened the app, seeing your boyfriend posted a story. Clicking on it, you saw a picture of you, holding the rose and book in your hands. Written was next to it „Feliz dia de sant jordi mi amor💞“

The blood froze in your veins. Did Pablo realize he just hard launched you?

„PABLO! why did you post me on your instagram account?“ You asked, eyes wide while he just shrugged his shoulders.

„I always do that. I thought you were okay with me posting you on my private account. You know only my family and close friends follow that account.“

Now it dawned on you. Pablo mistakenly posted the picture on his official account, the one with sixteen million followers instead of his private one with only twenty-seven.

„Baby… Of course I‘m okay with that, but you posted it on your main one. The one with sixteen million followers.“ You started laughing in despair, finding the situation oddly funny, even though whole Spain now knew about your relationship with the famous footballer.

Pablo grew red, standing in front of you in horror as he took a look himself.

„Fuck… I‘m so sorry. I swear I didn’t want to post that on there.“

„It‘s fine. I bet there are picture of us anyway from today.“ You said and assured him it was alright. He embraced you in a hug, kissing your head softly.

„At least I don’t have to hide you anymore.“

———

footy.gossip: teenage heartthrob Pablo Gavi is not on the love market anymore ladies!💔

He was seen spending the romantic holiday Sant Jordi with a mysterious girl by his side, buying her roses and a book. What a true gentleman!

view all comments:

user1: she’s really living the Y/N lifestyle…

user2: Gavi is for sure such a sucker for his girlfriend

->user3: I mean you can even see the heart eyes behind the sunglasses😭

pedri: yn finally you came to visit… he wouldn’t shut his mouth

->pablogavi: how could I not

->user4: HE‘S NOT EVEN DENYING IT??

user5: not pedri exposing gavi😭😭

user6: WE WANT A GF REVEAL!!

user7: I just know she dresses him

->user8: fr, the change from skinny jeans to this is a blessing

->user9: pedri step up your game

user10: don’t know who the girl is but… mamá y papá.

author: wish that was you huh?🫵🏻🤨

———

pablogavi: whoops accidental hard launch… anyway yn te amoo🫶🏼

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[macfrog]

checkmate cowboy like me chapter nine

hi sorry it’s late please don’t hate me 🥲 would just like to note- reader's pasta is gluten free, alright? i have had too many gluten-induced traumas to write about it anymore. she is a gluten free queen. thanks parts 1-8 on my masterlist here, n my ao3 here. love u all the most!!!

pairing: dbf!joel x fem!reader

summary: joel steals you away during a family meal to give you a telling off...in the form of a quickie

warnings: 18+ (minors dni!!!) pining reader, bratty reader, brat tamer joel, spanking, oral (m receiving), face fucking, dom!joel, orgasm denial, theft of underwear, loose mention of someone cheating, alcohol, age gap (reader is 23, joel is 48), cursing, marty robbins

word count: 8.1k

series masterlist | main masterlist | playlist

“Know you can take it, baby, you’ve done it before. That’s my girl.” You whimper in response, mouth full of his cock. “Keep makin’ those pretty noises, whole hotel’s gonna be wonderin’ what’s goin’ on up here.” He allows you a second to pull off of him, gasping for air when your mouth’s free again. “Want ‘em to hear,” you choke out, lips slipping back down his cock.

The water dances to-and-fro, kissing the lip of the pool and splashing onto the concrete at your feet. It’s windier than normal today, trees whispering overhead, breeze taking your hair and lightly tossing it around.

You’re sat out back on a lounger, waiting for Joel to come pick you up. Joel and Sarah, that is. Picking you and your dad up. Be nice if it were just Joel, wouldn’t it? You and him, alone together again. Out on a date, or even just following him around, side by side in his truck as he goes about his day. His hand on your thigh, pretending to roll his eyes at your music choice.

As if that would ever happen. As if that could ever happen.

He and your dad have organized some dinner to celebrate yours and Sarah’s return home; some hotel resort with a restaurant looking out over the river. Your dad couldn’t remember the name of it. Said it was all Joel doing the booking.

You can still fucking hear him. Your dad. His voice lulls through the open kitchen window, the wind carrying it to your ears almost comically. You wish you could bat it away. He’s had the same Marty Robbins song stuck in his head all morning. You’d finally reached breaking point when he’d graduated from just humming it to full-volume singing, even doing his own impression of the guitar.

And now it seems that sneaking out to the backyard hadn’t rid you of the damn song either, no matter how loud the trees may be rustling.

Joel said he’d be here by now – he’s late. You slink off to the back gate to slip out front and wait for him there. And maybe also to escape your dad’s voice. No offense to the guy.

A couple minutes to six, his truck pulls up by the curb you’re perched on. Sarah climbs over the front seat to the back, and you join her.

She scoffs when you slam the door shut. “You’re eager.”

You shake your head in response, warning her with a roll of your eyes not to ask. She gives you an understanding nod and your eyes turn to Joel.

“You’re late.”

He looks back at you in the rearview mirror. “Not my fault. Traffic. We left twenty minutes ago, didn’t we?”

Sarah’s lip curls. She shrugs a little. You know he’s telling the truth.

When you turn back, Joel’s eyes are still on you, expression a little softer. A greeting. Making up for the fact he can’t wrap his arms around you, pinch your nose affectionately, kiss you to say hello. You smile back at him.

“That watch a’ yours runnin’ slow, Miller?”

Your dad’s voice is like a fucking foghorn. Sarah covers her mouth to stop a laugh from escaping her lips. He sweeps down the driveway toward the truck and you lean back in your seat. Quiet moment ruined.

Joel lightly chuckles and then gives you one last hazardous glance in the mirror before pulling off, ignoring your dad’s teasing. Probably for your benefit.

The relief of a quiet journey doesn’t last long, though. Barely five minutes in, your dad picks up the humming again.

“Dude,” you groan, “will you quit that? For the love of God.”

“It’s stuck in my damn head,” he chuckles, arms crossing defensively.

You roll your eyes again. “So your plan is to plague us all with it, too?”

“Pretty much.”

“What’s he singin’?” Sarah asks, leaning forward.

“Marty Robbins. Old song.” The lack of tone in Joel’s voice and the quick shake of his head as he says it tells you he ain’t the biggest Marty Robbins fan either. A voice inside you thanks God, like it even matters what music he’s into.

“Never heard of ‘im.”

“Lucky you,” you breathe, and your dad holds up a finger over his shoulder.

“Heard that,” he says.

“’s why I said it.”

Joel’s shoulders jerk with a laugh. “You’re in a real mood today, aren’t you?”

Your head falls against the window, bumping along with the road as Joel drives.

“Hold up a second,” your dad rounds on him, “you ain’t showin’ your kid real music, are you? She doesn’t even know Marty Robbins.”

“I ain’t puttin’ her through the pain of knowin’ him.”

A smile forms across your lips. Just another thing you two agree on. Another little string connecting you both, separating you from the rest.

You almost snort at yourself. Counting strings.

Sarah interrupts your train of thought when she requests the radio be put on. Joel turns the dial up and she sits back, victorious. You stifle a laugh. But even Taylor Swift doesn’t fully drown out your dad’s voice – she sure doesn’t stop the way he bobs his head as he sings to himself. It’s helpful, all the same.

You and Joel have been quite literally counting down the hours until you’re alone together. Alone for a whole weekend. Each morning, you’ll text him to announce it’s one less day. And he’ll reply some witty comment, some crude joke, or else a thumbs up emoji which usually meant he was working, or had company and couldn’t text. Company meaning eagle-eyed Sarah.

It’s been almost a whole week since the last time you had uninterrupted, unsupervised time with him. When you could link your arms around him, feel his head lean down on top of yours, say things without threat of anyone else hearing.

Seeing him there in the front seat, inches away from you, and not being able to touch him or even talk much to him, feels like a form of torture. Makes you curse your dad ‘n his tone-deaf singing all the more.

You’re supposed to be meeting Sam and Anna and a couple others from work at Frank’s, Saturday night, 8PM sharp. Rodeo night. Your dad’s leaving for Fort Worth in the late afternoon, he said. You’d kinda sulked when he told you, realizing that left a tiny window of time you could see Joel that day.

And then he told you he’d text Joel to ask if he’d be around to pick you up from Frank’s if you needed him, and you chirped up.

“Yeah. Yeah, that’d be really good. Can you ask him to?”

“He said just to text you if you need ‘im, hon.”

“Cool, I will. I mean, I will if I need him. Thanks, Dad.”

If you need him. If. Just on the off-chance, right?

The thought draws a smile across your face. You reckon his presence will be very, very needed this weekend.

Soon enough, the truck pulls in to some ornamented, fountain-guarded resort, bursting with greenery and flowers, paved in pristine sandstone. A red canopy over the entrance, golden letters spelling out Hillcrest.

“Damn…” Sarah leans over into your space to get a glimpse of the building from your window. “This is so fancy.”

“You treatin’ us or somethin’, son?” your dad asks Joel.

He doesn’t reply. But his eyes flit up to meet yours, then back to the road ahead. In a one-second look, you understand.

Sarah’s still staring outside, mouth wide open, blinking eyes taking everything in. “Dad, what the f…”

“Language,” Joel clips.

You smirk. It’s funny, hearing the man who’s whispered far worse things – filthy things – to you in earshot of company, chastise his nineteen-year-old for cursing.

The four of you roll by the water feature – three robed women made of stone pouring water from vases into a pool at their feet – and park up. As you hop out, a woman in a silk dress struts by, floppy sunhat bouncing with each step she takes.

Joel meets you at the back of the truck, letting Sarah and your dad stroll off ahead. They’re busy pointing at different features of the lavish hotel – the purple-uniformed bellboys running in and out of the lobby, the glimmering revolving door, the guests eating on balconies overhead.

“You outta that mood yet?” he asks, and you snap out of your daze.

“Not in a mood,” you reply bluntly, eyes still ahead.

“Huh.” He nods, unconvinced. “Marty Robbins gettin’ to ya that much, is he?”

“Marty Robbins ain’t the problem.”

“No? What is it, then?”

His hand finds the small of your back. It straightens you up like a shot of fire through your spine.

“Not a what. A who.”

You lead him inside.

A man in a pressed white shirt greets you all at the entrance to the restaurant.

“Reservation for Miller,” Joel says, and the man nods curtly and darts off into the sea of tables.

Sarah skips off with your dad on her arm, the two of them fucking ecstatic to be somewhere so fancy and fun. You and Joel amble through, past wine coolers, dodging fleeing waiters, slipping between white-cloth tables and silver spoon diners. His hand never leaves the skin between your shoulder blades, red hot on your goosebumped skin.

You’re seated at a table by the window, overlooking the river. Joel sits opposite you, your dad by his side. Sarah nudges your elbow and holds her phone up, snapping a selfie of you both with the glimmering water in the background. She tags the location and adds text below: fine dining. Her thumbs search for emojis, picking two champagne glasses, some sparkles, and a pink heart. Then she swaps the heart for a smiley face, and tilts the phone to you, wordlessly asking for your approval.

“Cute,” you tell her, and she beams, hittingpost.

The server returns, hands out menus, leaves a jug of ice water and some fancy bottle of wine you’ve never heard of by the table, and then nods his head once again before he rushes off. Your dad salutes him as he goes. You cringe.

“Boy’s gonna take a damn heart attack,” Joel mutters, watching your dad lift the wine from its bucket.

Sarah’s watching, too. She looks from the bottle of wine over to Joel, eyebrows raised. He flatly tells her, “No.”

“Come on,” she protests, “it’s not like anybody here knows what age I am.”

“We know.”

“Dad, I–”

“Water, or nothin’.”

Her eyes dagger into his. “You ain’t exactly a stickler for the rules yourself,” she breathes, sliding the jug across the table, and you scoff.

You’ve seen her do worse on her Instagram stories, and the way she glares at you warns you not to open your mouth. If Joel’s this pressed about some wine with a meal, it’s a damn good thing he doesn’t have a social media account.

“Let’s toast,” your dad announces as he pours wine into three of the glasses, “to…to you girls bein’ back home…” He raises his wine and Sarah lifts her little water, lemon slice floating on top. “…and to a fun summer ahead. Hm?”

You and Joel both hesitate a little before lifting your drinks, clinking them softly against each other with a glint in your eyes.

A fun summer. Sure. You’re certainly having fun. Yeah.

You watch Joel as you take a sip, frowning at the bitter taste. His mouth twists just like yours, neck winces as he swallows. Then he promptly slides his glass along the table back to your dad, clearing his throat and wiping his lips with the back of his hand.

“No?” you ask, amused.

“Not my thing.”

You tilt your head. “Maybe they have Bud at the bar.”

“You’re hilarious, you know that?”

You flash a proud grin at him. The denim of his jeans brushes against your ankles. Your dad takes Sarah up in conversation. No one would see if you just…

Under the long white tablecloth, you nudge open his calves and slot your feet between them. Joel’s boots close at the back of your legs, holding you to him. Holding you against him.

It feels…nice. It’s almost normal. Like something a real couple would do. Not a pair of hopeful idiots wrapped up too tight in some clandestine affair. You almost feel like you could reach for his hand, and you’re willing to bet that if it weren’t for your company, he’d let you take it. Let you part his fingers with yours. Let you run a light touch over his knuckles.

When you finally look up at Joel, he’s looking right back. Watching you. Reading your mind.

You avert your gaze, reaching to pour a glass of water.

A few quiet minutes pass while the table studies the menu. You’re still looking around, taking in your surroundings. The more you look, the more you notice. Velvet drapes framing tall Palladian windows. A man nervously checking his blazer pocket while his girlfriend’s at the bathroom. Joel’s legs give yours a wiggle and you’re drawn away from the pocket square and slicked-back hair.

He smiles affectionately. Asks in his eyes if you’re okay. Your shoulders meet your jaw with the inhale you take, and then you nod. Imperceptible. Some dumb smile across your lips that mirrors his. Like you really are on your own or something. It’s stupid.

“Reckon I’ll have the steak,” your dad says.

Joel hums in agreement, nodding.

Sarah orders a Caesar salad and you decide on the fettuccine Alfredo. The nodding waiter snaps his little black book shut and collects your menus, before disappearing again. Conversation flows across the table naturally: your dad’s big client, Joel’s working week, Sarah’s sophomore year. Of course, the Rangers are mentioned once or twice.

Your wrist is shaking your glass, watching as the water swirls around inside. The thought turns over much the same in your head. A question for Joel. When your food arrives and the chatter lulls, you brave up enough to ask it.

“You think I’m…brighter…here?”

He smiles, a little confused. “Brighter?”

“Aw, kiddo.” Your dad shakes his head, knife tearing into his steak. “I knew you’d take that to heart.”

Joel’s still looking at you. Concerned.

Sarah elbows you. “What’s that mean?”

Your dad sighs. “Bill told ‘er on Sunday she used to be miserable whenever she came home. Said that this time ‘round she looks…”

“…brighter.” You lift your hands to form air quotes around the word, pasta wrapped around the fork between your fingers.

Joel’s expression relaxes, his smile grows. “’cause of anything in particular, or…?”

You instantly regret bringing it up. He’s a dick. Has to ruin every sweet moment with a smug smirk and testosterone-induced impulses, doesn’t he?

You mock smile back and shake your head.

“Y’know what I think it is?” your dad says, and Joel finally turns to him. He nods at you and Sarah. “The pair of ‘em. Back home like old times. How long has it been since the four of us were out doin’ stuff together?”

You and Sarah exchange a sideways glance.

“I’m serious!” he says, waving his hands. Cutlery almost flying out of his grip. “It’s nice. Joel, back me up.”

Joel’s sat back in his chair, midway through cutting his steak, watching this show unfold. He clears his throat and offers, “Yeah. Real nice.”

Your dad looks defeated. He retires from the conversation, focusing on the meal in front of him.

“What are you guys gonna do all weekend without us?” Sarah asks, shoving a forkful of salad in her mouth.

“I, uh…keep forgetting y’all are goin’ away,” you lie, staring down at your pasta.

Joel clears his throat again. “This guy at work was showin’ me these videos of folks playin’ chess – did you know there are these…leagues, for chess? Professional leagues ‘n competitions. They win money, good money, for playin’ chess.”

Sarah, like everybody at the table, is quiet for a few seconds. “Is…is this your way of sayin’ y’all are gonna…play chess?”

You’re staring at Joel, amused and yet a tad embarrassed. The dude you’re sleeping with just went on a ramble about chess.

You twirl your fork in your hand before taking another bite. “I’ve never played chess. Maybe you’ll have to play it alone.”

Joel narrows his eyes. “Don’t think you can,” he says, gritting his teeth, “it’s a two-player game.”

“Nah,” Sarah chimes in. “A guy in my Physiology class plays against himself to practice. He’s pretty good, I think.”

Your head nods toward her, eyebrows raised at Joel. He’s grimacing back.

“He always goes on about speed, says it’s all about playin’ fast so your opponent ain’t got time to think. Quick hands, he says.”

Your brows arch, lips petted. Poor Joel. “Aw. Looks like you’ll be playin’ with yourself.”

His brows angle and you notice a twisted smile on his lips. Pissed – sort of aroused, but pissed. You lift your legs from between his. He holds onto your ankles with his own for a second, forcing you to stare at him, before he frees you. You tuck your legs under your chair.

Just then, Sarah’s phone vibrates on the wooden table.

“Oh, shoot, two seconds. Hello?” She screws her face up. “Are you kidding me? No way. No, I don’t– You– Kels, can I call you back in, like, an hour or something? I’ll call you back, I’m just at dinner with my dad and my…No, I’ll literally be, like– Alright. Lemme call you back. Okay.”

She hangs up and swivels in her seat to you.

“You know Kels? Kelly Ramirez?”

You draw a blank. Push your bottom lip out. “Should I know a Kelly Ramirez?”

“She played soccer with me in high school? Remember, that game you came to,” Sarah leans in, knocking your arm with the back of her hand as if giving your memory a swift kick, “she played in goal to fill in for Stephanie, and broke her ankle tryna save Amber Murphy’s shot? Passed out from the pain?”

Nothing. You shake your head.

She huffs. “Coach Lee had to drive her to the emergency room and it’s all she went on about for weeks.”

“Oh!” The penny drops. “That was her? Didn’t she carve his initials into the girls’ room stalls?”

Your dad and Joel exchange a bewildered and, quite frankly, weary glance. Sarah shuts her eyes and nods, ashamed.

“That’s her.”

“Wow. I wonder if he knew how bad her crush was…” you muse, choking back a laugh when Sarah gives you a dead-eyed stare.

“He would have,” Joel says flatly, and you both shoot him a look. “Girls ain’t good at hidin’ that sorta stuff.”

“Oh, like you’ve ever had anyone have a crush on you.” Sarah bats her hand at him and then her fingers lock around your wrist. “Anyway…”

You can see Joel’s grin from your peripheral. He gives your sneaker a tap with his boot under the table, and you feel your cheeks start to heat. You move your leg.

“…she’s just caught her boyfriend cheatin’.”

“Who has?”

Sarah huffs. “Kelly Ramirez! For cryin’ out loud, are– are you even listenin’ to me?”

“I was caught up in the Coach Lee stuff. Right. No, I’m with you now. Is she okay?”

“She suspected it for weeks. He kept cancelling plans last minute, kept coming up with dumb excuses. We were all tryna tell her, just ask ‘im. Ask him or find out for yourself. So, she did. Checked his phone and found all these messages between him ‘n some girl from college.”

“How’d she hack into his phone?” your dad asks.

Joel, head now resting against his fingers, draws him a look: Really?

“She didn’t,” Sarah tells him. “She knows his passcode. Used it to get in, I guess.”

Your dad nods, taking note, eyes narrowing. He looks over to Joel, then you. These kids and their technology, you imagine him thinking. But he’s staring a fraction too long. You shift in your seat. Give him a comical shrug – Don’t ask me – and he eventually looks away.

The rest of dinner passes smoothly – Sarah picking up her phone, rattling a message into it with her thumbs, and then dropping it back down onto the table. Your dad, battling his steak, asking Joel what he thinks of the Rangers’ chances against the Astros tonight, and Joel…well, Joel not taking his attention off of you for one second.

He’s answering your dad, saying all the right things at the right times, but anytime his eyes lift off of his plate, they land on you. Your arm, draped on the tablecloth. Your hand, moving pasta around your dish with your fork. Your eyes, flitting between the view outside to that inside.

You can see him the entire time. Watching you. You’re not fucking blind. If Sarah didn’t have Kelly Ramirez spamming her phone with cheating boyfriend updates, she’d probably be commenting on it. Did she grow a second head, or somethin’? she’d quip.

But you never look back. Not once. Just let him observe you, let him wait for a glance or a kick of the foot that never comes.

You’re leant back in your chair, arms crossed over your chest, when the waiter clears your table. Watching some couple wander off down the riverside path. She’s wearing a white sundress that dances around her calves with each slow step she takes. He’s in a plain black tee, tan arm around her back. Looking around at the view, taking it all in.

Then she turns on her heel to him. He lifts a hand to move her long, dark braids from her face, drops it to cup her jaw. Pulls her in to him, presses his lips to hers. Her hands are linked at his spine. Like they’re the only two people in the world.

There’s a feeling in the depths of your chest. A throb. Uncomfortable. Maybe even painful. You shift in your seat to move it, but it doesn’t budge. Your gaze falls, travelling along the window frame, onto the white cloth and to Joel’s elbow. Up his arm, across his shoulder.

You reach his jaw and look away. He’s watching everything.

“Alright,” your dad’s hands slap down on his thighs, “we good to go?”

“You go on,” Joel tells him. “I’ll get the bill.”

“Absolutely not, bud,” your dad protests. You and Sarah both lean back in your chairs at the same time. May as well get comfortable, we could be here a while.

“I got it,” Joel says, almost annoyed, getting up to stand. Your dad follows suit. Joel holds a hand out. “I’m sure you’ll repay me somehow. Hey, I got that job in a couple weeks I said I might need you for. Help me out and we’re even.”

Your dad’s hands are on his hips. “I ain’t happy about this, Joel.”

“Stick,” Joel mutters. “I’m sure I’ve done worse that you’ve forgiven me for.”

His eyes finally find yours and your cheeks flush. He covers it by gesturing to you to stand up with a snap of his head.

Why was that hot? Is it…weird…? That that was hot? All he did was nod his head.

You stand – Sarah copies you, sliding her chair under the table. Joel pushes yours in for you. His hand’s on your back again, fingers drawing circles. The four of you are walking toward the exit. Your dad’s still murmuring about owing money.

“Hey,” Sarah calls, pointing, “this place has an outdoor bar. Let’s go check it out.”

Your head’s beginning to dizzy. Why is your head dizzying?

Stick.

The way he pointed, flicked his head toward the door. Knowing you’d just fucking obey him. And you did.

Yep. That was hot. Hot enough that it restarts something in you; something deep down begins to wind. An idea sweeps across your mind.

Sunlight bursts through the French doors up ahead, golden rays flooding in through the glass panes. Joel stoops his head as he wanders through, dodging ivy draped around the doorway. On the other side, drowned in daylight, a paved courtyard.

There are tables and chairs dotted around. Benches in front of flowerbeds. More random statues – a cherub, a rearing horse. Wooden planters with vines growing toward the sky. Another slightly smaller fountain in the middle.

This…is fucking insane. Last night for dinner you ate leftover Chinese food ‘cause your dad was working late. Tonight, you’re strolling through a five-star hotel garden after the best fettucine of your life.

Ahead of you and Joel, your dad nudges Sarah and comically offers her his arm, elbow outstretched. She nods graciously and links her arm in his, and they saunter off, chins up, dumb grins across their faces.

Joel scoffs. Your lips tug a little, chest still tight. Body still tense. And he senses it.

“What?”

You shake your head. “Nothin’. Just…taking in the view.”

“’s nice, ain’t it?”

“Mhm,” you admit. “Word on the street is it was all your idea.”

“Wanted somewhere nice for you. For both of you. Didn’t know it would be this nice, but…it’s what you deserve.”

Your eyelashes flutter, blinking rapidly to conceal the look in your eye. The look that says…something dangerous. You betray the thoughts circling around your head and press your lips together in a tight smile. “Thanks,” is all you can muster the strength to say.

Joel looks forward; your dad and Sarah are strides ahead, still gawking at the garden, chatting, snapping photos.

“It improve your mood any?”

“I already told you, I ain’t in a mood.”

“That why you couldn’t look at me at dinner?”

It stops you in your tracks. You glare at him. Almost about to punch him out of frustration, right before you catch yourself and your expression softens.

“Did you want me to look at you?” you coo, leaning in a little. Your hands rest on his forearms.

Joel tenses. Opens his mouth to say something, then thinks better of it. But you want him to fucking say it. So, you push further.

“What we were doin’ under the table wasn’t enough? Poor baby. Guess you just wanted more of my attention, huh?”

His expression doesn’t change. Lips barely move when he utters, “Thin ice, kid.”

You shrug. “I’m not the one begging you to look at me.”

He swallows. His eyes are staring you down, huge, glowing warm in the evening sunlight. There’s so much energy thrumming around your body that you feel almost faint, like your knees could give. Just swoon, fall into his arms.

“I’m bored,” you back up, turning back to the hotel, “going to the bathroom.”

You’re gone before he can react. Taking off for the doors, stumbling out of the sun and into the cool restaurant, catching your breath when you’re safely in the shade.

You approach the bar – a deep, shiny mahogany, wine glasses hanging from above, glistening footrail at the bottom. Intricately carved, varnished and smooth. Bottles of spirits and ales and wines decorate the back wall, lined up on shelves against a glimmering mirror.

Two girls in black polo shirts stand, elbows leaning against the back shelf.

“I served a duck the other night,” one of them says to the other. She has short brown hair, freckles painted across her nose. A tattoo down her right arm. She twirls a pen between her fingers as she speaks.

“A duck?” The second girl screws her face up.

“Yep. When I gave him the check, he told me to put it on his bill.”

The second girl snorts. “Shut the fuck up.”

“Hey, excuse me?” you call over, and the girl with the tattoo steps forward, still laughing. “Where are the restrooms?”

“Upstairs,” she nods to the doors by your side, “they’re on the right.”

You nod in thanks and she twirls the pen again, resuming position.

The bathroom is freezing cold when you burst into it, almost panting, and stumble across to the sink. Your palms plant firmly on the marble countertop, head falling limp between your shoulders. When you look up to catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror, a laugh passes your lips.

You look…flustered. Bothered. You’re not sure if Joel noticed it. You were too busy trying to conceal it to gauge whether he’d caught on.

What the fuck is he doing to you? More importantly, how is he doing it to you? Can you seriously not go a couple days without him? Need, want, desire. Everything he causes, only he can fix.

But then, he never can fucking fix it. There’s always something or someone in the way. And you swear Joel gets off on it – watching you need him, miss him, pine for him, and knowing he won’t be able to relieve it.

Staring at yourself, you start to feel that energy charging up again. Heat pooling between your legs, blood drumming through your veins. What the fuck is he doing to me? Nothing, he’s not doin’ nothing.

Nothing I can’t do right back to him.

You push yourself off of the sink and shoot one last glance in the mirror, giving your reflection an affirming nod before striding over to the door. It swings shut behind you as you pace down the hall, feeling a lot more steel and a lot less sweet.

As you round the corner to head downstairs, a familiar shadow stalks up the last two steps and bursts into the hallway. Without a word, his arm hooks around yours and he drags you back the way you came.

“Joel– What the fuck are you doin’–?”

He passes by the restrooms and onto a plush red carpet. In a blur, he flings open the first door in sight and throws you inside, ignoring your gasps.

He slams the door shut, whipping you around to shove you against it. From over his shoulder, you notice your surroundings. A bed over by the window, pristine white sheets tucked perfectly under the mattress. Nightstands spotless, desk against the wall topped with a tray holding a bottle of wine and a tiny card that reads Welcome to the Hillcrest.

You’re in one of the hotel’s rooms. One of the hotel’s empty rooms.

Of course it’s empty. It’s like he fucking planned it.

“Alright. A hotel room. Did you book it, at least?”

“Naw,” his eyes scan you up and down, “I didn’t fuckin’ book it.”

“So…what are we doing in here?”

Joel’s pressing against you, forcing you up against the wooden door. Caging you against it with the weight of his body. Clearly, in the time you spent giving yourself a pep talk in the bathroom mirror, Joel was doing the exact same downstairs. The fucker.

“Said you were bored. ‘n that’s a real shame, given I just took you to dinner. Ain’t no pleasin’ you, is there?”

Your head rolls back against the door with a laugh. “That really got to you? So, what, now you’re gonna fuck me? Wine, dine, ‘n…yeah?”

Joel’s lips are tight, eyes staring you down. He’s seething. He’s turned on, and he’s seething. Exactly where you want him.

“You get sluttier every fuckin’ day, you know that?”

You nod, teeth taking your bottom lip. “You like it, though, huh?”

Joel doesn’t reply. You lean in closer to him.

“You like me bein’ a little slut,” you whisper, running a hand softly over his hard jeans, “just for you, don’t you?”

His voice lowers in response. “Not when I can’t do nothin’ about it.”

You pull back, cocking an eyebrow. Angle your head. “You’re the one who pulled me in here. It’s an empty hotel room, man. Do whatever the fuck you want.”

He glowers at you. His face rigid, one hand still locked around yours, almost assisting you in palming himself; the other above your head, flat against the door.

His head dips. Jaw lines with yours, breath against your ear.

“Whatever the fuck I want?”

“Mhm.” You nod, maybe a little too eagerly. Not that either of you care. Then you pause. “Oh! Wait.”

Joel lifts his head, narrowing his eyes. Looks like you just cut in front of some spiel he had planned.

Your cheeks swell. “Do you have a bottle?”

“A bottle?”

“Beer bottle. You need me to go grab one? What if they don’t have beer? It’s kind of a fancy place. Would wine work? Or is it only beer that gets you goin’–”

“Alright. Enough. Fuckin’ – brat.”

You cock your head, tongue in your cheek, pushing around the shape of your mouth. Keep going.

You spurt out a laugh. “I’m a brat?”

“Yep. Never do as you’re fuckin’ told.”

You lean in close, lips brushing off of his, so close you can taste him. Feel how tense his jaw is. Your voice is low, barely above a whisper.

“Then…make me.”

Joel’s still staring you down, watching you like a predator watches its prey. His eyes are so dark you can’t read the thoughts behind them, but the way his grip tightens on your wrist, so rough it feels like he’s fucking bruising you, the way he yanks you off of the door, tells you exactly what he’s thinking.

“I ain’t got time for this,” he hisses, pulling you over to the bed.

You stagger behind him, still snickering. Joel sinks down into the mattress, thighs apart, pulling you to stand between them. You look him up and down once, smirking, his hands still roughly gripping yours. Then –

In one fluid movement, you’re over his knee. Thighs digging into your stomach, face hovering over the soft carpet. Your hands grip his calf to hold onto something – anything – as he pulls the hem of your dress up so roughly, you’re sure he’s ripped it.

“You want to act like a brat?” he asks, and you smile, feeling his hand run from the back of your knee up your thigh, coming to rest on your ass. “Get treated like one.”

The first time his huge palm slaps against your skin, your mind blanks. The sharp sting, Joel’s grunt as his hand comes down on you. The way your body jerks, and the whine you let slip as it does. The throb when he lifts his hand, the cold air hissing against your heated skin.

He’s fucking – he’s…He has you in an empty hotel room, door unlocked, entire lobby of people downstairs. Over his knee, skirt hiked to your waist, spanking you. Hard.

And then you realize. You fucking like this.

“Joel…” you moan, catching your breath when it comes back.

Another sharp sting.

“Yeah, baby? You want me to stop? You gonna stop bein’ a little brat?”

Your eyes roll to the back of your head, filthy grin on your lips.

“F-fuck no.”

He slaps you again. You whimper, wrapping your arms around his leg.

“Didn’t fuckin’ think so. Can feel how wet you are for me.”

He curls a finger around the hem of your panties and drags them down your thighs, letting them drop off of your legs and to the floor while his fingers return between your legs, running up and down your slit. You whine.

“Such a pretty little mouth, huh? You were runnin’ it just a second ago. Where’d all your big talk go?”

You open your mouth to reply, barely even make a sound, and his palm smacks against your ass again. He’s not done.

“Always got somethin’ to say, don’t you?” he grunts, hand coming down on you again. “You remember that day I ran you home?”

You whimper in response – yeah, I remember.

“You ‘n me alone, you being a little fucking tease. Wanted to fuck you so badly, baby. Those tight little shorts you were in…fuck…”

“Why…didn’t…you…?” you whine, muffled into the denim of his jeans. “Would’ve…fuck…let you.”

“Yeah? You wanted me to, darlin’?”

“Wanted…you,” slap, “in the kitchen.”

You gasp when Joel’s grip becomes tighter around your waist, holding you still as his hand sears against your ass. Rougher. Harder. It turns you on more.

“Wanted you in my mouth.”

You swear his breath catches. Swear you can feel his hand hovering over you, almost ready to spank you again, but he pauses.

“That right, baby? In your mouth?”

You nod, unsure if he can even see you. And then you feel him bend, feel his fist in your hair, lifting your head until his lips are curled around the shell of your ear.

“You wanna show me what you woulda done?” he whispers, breath hot.

Your body’s still shaking, throbbing; you’re a sobbing mess, but still, you utter: “Yeah.”

Joel pulls you all the way off his lap then, widening his legs for you to sit between them.

“Gotta be quick, babygirl,” he tells you, pushing you by the shoulders down onto the carpet.

Your knees part to lower yourself closer to his crotch, fingers shakily fumbling with his zipper. Joel helps you, shifting his jeans until his cock springs free. He’s as hard as if you’d been playing with him this entire time, so hard you almost begin to drool at the sight of him.

He sighs shakily, hand leaning behind on the mattress to steady himself. “You’re gonna sit there like a good girl and make me cum, alright?”

You nod, eyes blown black with lust.

He grips the back of your head with one hand and guides his cock to your mouth with the other. You take his thick length in both hands, allowing a trail of spit to fall from your lips and cover his swollen tip, running down his shaft only to be collected and dragged back up by your fingers.

“Good girl,” Joel whispers, watching you. “Doin’ what I tell you, huh?”

A few strokes and his cock’s soaked. When his head lines up with your bottom lip and you open up wide, he pushes into your mouth, filling you up without stopping to let you catch your breath. You gag when he hits the back of your throat, and Joel groans.

“Know you can take it, baby, you’ve done it before. That’s my girl.”

You whimper in response, mouth full of his cock.

“Keep makin’ those pretty noises, whole hotel’s gonna be wonderin’ what’s goin’ on up here.”

He allows you a second to pull off of him, gasping for air when your mouth’s free again.

“Want ‘em to hear,” you choke out, lips slipping back down his cock.

“Yeah?” he bucks his hips up into your mouth. “You want ‘em to know? Why don’t I just take you downstairs right now, fuck you in front of everybody, huh? You like that?”

You whine, gasp something that sounds like a yes around his warm skin.

“Thought you would, fuckin’ dirty girl. Want everyone to see just how good you take me, hm? How fuckin’ wet you get for me?”

Your fingers reach for his balls, kneading them softly in your hands. Joel’s head tips back and he lets out a guttural groan.

“Look at you,” he purrs, “soakin’ wet all over the floor, lettin’ me fuck that pretty little mouth. Needed it bad, didn’t you?”

You follow the words he’s saying with your eyes, never taking your doe-eyed gaze off of him. He’s all you can see; the surrounding world blurred by lust and sex and by Joel.

“Been thinkin’ about this all fuckin’ day,” he mutters.

You pull yourself off of him, disobeying his tight grip at the back of your head.

“Yeah?” you breathe, giving in to him. “Been thinkin’ about you, too.”

Joel almost looks surprised, like he wasn’t expecting that to come out of your mouth. He’s never expecting any of what you say to come out of your mouth, is he?

Hell, you don’t expect half of what comes out of your fucking mouth these days.

You sink back down on him, eyes screwing shut with the feeling of him filling you up to the very bottom of your throat.

“So slutty, baby. You like that? Yeah?”

He’s speaking so soft but being so fucking rough, pushing you down onto his dick and then hauling you back off with a fistful of hair. His hips snap against your mouth and your hands leave his body to balance yourself on his thighs, stabilizing yourself with fingers through his loose belt loops.

You’re gagging on him, choking every time his salty head brushes against your throat, but Joel doesn’t stop. Each whimper, each muffled cry from you only pushes him closer, sends his head back in a wave of euphoria at the sight of you taking his cock in your mouth so good, the sounds of you choking on the size of him.

Your chin is soaked, dripping with spit and precum. Your cheeks dappled with tears. He doesn’t let up. You don’t fucking want him to. Your knees are slipping further apart, your cunt wetter than ever, dripping all over the plush carpet of the classiest hotel you’ve ever been in.

It’s fucking filthy, and you love every second of it.

Your lids grow heavy and you stare up at him, doused in rays from the window behind, blissed out on his body, him blissed out on yours, and you know he’s about to cum. His brows arch, his jaw falls slack. He’s focusing only on the feeling of your swollen lips around him, your throat contracting with each thrust of his hips.

He jerks, grunts out a, “Throat?”

“Uhuh,” you choke back, hands clamping around his thighs when he leans back.

One more jolt and he releases rope after rope of warm cum down you, painting the back of your throat and filling up your mouth. That all-too-familiar taste of Joel trickles all over your tongue.

He’s whispering, “Fuck, fuck, darlin’, fuck…” over and over, chanting your name, breathing curses and praises between.

When he stills and you feel him relax, your hands fall limp on your lap. You don’t move, not until Joel’s eyes flutter open and he slides his soft cock out of your mouth.

Your head rolls onto his thigh, eyes wide and soft as you gaze up at him. Equal parts enamored and painfully aroused.

“Don’t look at me like that,” he tells you. “Brats don’t get to fucking cum.”

There are words coming to your mind that you wouldn’t dare call him when he’s in this mood. Words you wouldn’t call him any other time, either, if it weren’t for the agonizing ache between your legs. This – fucking – guy.

You want to sob. Want to wrap yourself around his legs as he stands and beg him to throw you down on the bed, part your legs, use whatever the fuck he wants just to let you cum. Just to give you some release.

It’s pathetic. You’re pathetic. Dumb for this man.

He sits forward and tucks his limp cock back into his boxers, redoes his jeans. Then he leans down, scoops up your soaked panties and scrunches them in his fist. He slips them into his jeans pocket and, with a heaving sigh, pushes himself up from the bed.

You’re still squatted, knees apart, on the carpet. Arousal probably streaming out of you. Joel only lowers his hand and you take it, letting him pull you up to height. You still don’t believe he’s gonna let you walk out of here undealt with.

Until he wanders off toward the door, and there’s nothing left for you to do but follow.

Each step hurts, your thighs grazing against each other. Your naked cunt throbbing with every tiny movement.

Joel pauses at the door, turns the handle slowly, quietly, opening it just enough to poke his head and shoulders out, before beckoning you forward with a wave of his hand.

He blindly takes your wrist and leads you out of the room in a daze, letting the door close over as you both head back the way you came toward the staircase.

Under spotless chandeliers, past romantic paintings. Along the same plush carpet he’d shoved you along less than twenty minutes ago. Down the stairs, emerging at the bar, pair of you scanning the restaurant for your dad and Sarah. No sign of them.

“C’mon,” he nudges you, “still gotta get that bill.”

You stand by Joel’s side at the bar, catching a glimpse of the pair of you in the mirror opposite. Elbows touching, palms inches apart on the polished surface. Your heart swells to the point of almost hurting at the sight. The cover is back up, you’re back on planet earth; you’re nothing but a pair of acquaintances, friends at best.

Just a guy and his best bud’s daughter.

Joel’s tapping his credit card against the wood.

“What’s up?” you ask him.

“Hm?” he replies, eyes finding you, head still facing forward. Almost bracing for your dad’s appearance at any given moment.

“You’re being weird.”

“Ain’t being weird.”

“Still not gonna let me cum?”

He’s almost startled. You asked it quiet enough that nobody would’ve heard, if there were even anybody around you, but still. It feels like dangerous territory talking about it this out in the open.

“Nope,” he replies, chewing on the inside of his cheek.

“You know I’m gonna do it myself the second I get home, right?”

He shrugs. “You gonna call me?”

“Facetime you, if you want.”

His body goes rock solid. You knock into it, smirking. Before he can muster up a reply, the girl with the tattoo shows back up, smiling at Joel. He tells her the table number and she slides him the bill.

“How much is it?” you ask him.

He turns to look at you. “You won’t be findin’ out.”

You mock offense. A small part of you isn’t kidding. “’n why’s that?”

Joel ignores you. You twist over his arm to get a look and he bats you away, holding you at bay with his elbow while he places his card over the total amount and slides it back across the bar.

You admit defeat, though it kills you a little inside.

Joel does his little head nod again and you follow him to the exit. You walk out of the restaurant together, your chin as high as your shame will allow it, Joel’s parallel to his chest. Your dad’s stood against the truck deep in conversation with Sarah. Or, rather, Sarah’s deep in conversation at your dad.

“…so, she thought he was just textin’ his boys, but here she goes onto his Instagram messages, and it’s all these hearts, all these messages sayin’…”

“Where did you two get to?”

Joel opens the door for you silently, and you breathe a slightly awkward Thanks before climbing in.

Once he’s back in the front seat alongside your dad, he replies. “Charged me twice. Problem with the card reader.”

“I hope they apologized,” your dad says with a concerned tone. “Hope they ain’t tryin’ anythin’.”

“Nah,” Joel bats it away – unconvincingly. Or is that just because you know he just…you know.

Sarah’s still yapping – Kelly’s heartbroken, doesn’t know how she’s gonna go on. She – Sarah – is furious with Kelly’s boyfriend – ex-boyfriend? – his name is…Mike? Mick? Something beginning with M…Your ears are screaming.

“Happened to me once at a gas station. Charged twice for one tank a’ gas. I went back the next day ‘n asked the girl, she said she didn’t remember me. I showed her the bank statement, said, Why the hell would I need two tanks of gas for one vehicle? She had to call her manager. It was…insanity, Joel. You be careful.”

Joel’s pretending to listen, murmuring Right and Uhuh when appropriate, but he aims every second glance at you from the rearview mirror. You tug your skirt as far down your thighs as it’ll go, feeling exposed and guilty and ashamed and yet so fucking good all in one.

You can still taste him on your tongue. Your throat feels raw, your jaw sore. He knows it, from the looks he’s giving you in the mirror. It’s satisfaction, mixed with longing, mixed with guilt. Your underwear is in his front pocket. Your thighs clamp shut, feeling yourself seeping all over his backseat. One big, chaotic mess.

The car falls into silence, Sarah’s thumbs typing rapidly, Joel’s elbow propped against the window, cheek leaning on his knuckles. You lean your own head against the window, the engine drumming into your skull, the cold of the glass relieving your scorching skin. Your dad starts quietly singing again, and you wish you had the energy to put on a convincing voice to tell him to shut up.

“Maybe tomorrow a bullet may find me, tonight, nothing’s worse than this pain in my heart.”

----------

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[tpwkwriter]

Can we get y/n as a total book worm and Harry just finding it so adorable and loving that about her and teasing her and recreating cute scenes from romance books with her

Head in a book

I wish I could say I was a bookworm but in fact the only things I read are on tumblr🥲

Warnings: slight cursing, mentions of book tok😭fluffy as!!☁️

Pairing: Harry x quiet!y/n

——————————————————————————

Y/n appreciated a quiet life, the small moments were a huge thing to her, the smell of freshly baked bread, picking flowers, watching the stars n all.

So when her boyfriend is the most biggest popstar, surrounded by loud music, screaming fans, and flashy cameras, everyone thought the couple wouldn’t work out, oh how they were so wrong.

After loud music, flashy lights, the screams and chants of millions of fans, Harry learnt that quiet and peaceful moments were better shared with y/n, he didn’t just love her, he adored her and everything she did.

She was the quiet rain in the darkest of nights.

It was a common occasion that Harry would come home to y/n absolutely nose deep in a book on the sofa, he loved watching the way she would get totally immersed in the story and endorsed on the character’s behaviour and thinking process.

Well tonight was no different, the time neared 6:45pm and Harry was out of the studio relatively early, he walked into there shared home, before he could look around he could sense something wasn’t right, the lights were all off, normally y/n would have various candle scents lingering in the atmosphere and the sound of her playlist would be faintly heard in the background.

He toed off his shoes and released his belongings by the door (making a mental note to clean it up later)

And walked through to there shared living room, y/n was bundled on the sofa with a grey faux blanket covering her, her hoodies hood was covering her hair and her eyes looked red and defeated.

Alarm bells are immediately going off in Harry’s mind, and he’s quick to act.

“Hey you, what’s happening?” He asked gently asked, swiftly sitting down next to her, leaning back and gently tapping her arm enough to signal ‘come here’

“Harry? Didn’t even hear you come home” she said voice a little wobbly, she joined his side, lounging her legs across his lap and resting her head on his chest.

“S’okay, what happened my love?” He asked softly into her hair, allowing his hand to slowly trace gentle circles on her back.

“Well” she started

“You know the book i was close to finishing?” She sniffs.

Harry begins to slightly relax at the fact it may not be as serious as he anticipated.

“I do m’love” he smiled

“Well because, it wasn’t a good ending at all” she begins to tear up again and snuggle her head further into his chest.

He mainly chuckles out of relief that it wasn’t anything ‘real’ and ‘serious’ he continues to hold her and press kisses to her hairline.

“I’m sorry to hear that m’love, wanna speak about it?” He’d gently ask.

As she begins to tell him the tragedy of the protagonists death and the failing love story between characters, even if truthfully Harry had no idea, he loved listening and taking in what she had to say.

“It sounds like such a beautiful story though my love” he said, trying to amp the spirits up.

“Mhmm” shes hum against him, the rest of the night was filled with cuddles and a lazy dinner together.

——

It was a few weeks later and now y/n had got on to some new books, she was never without one.

One evening when y/n was sitting up reading in bed, and Harry was in there shared en suite getting ready for bed, y/n had an idea, that would send not only her but many girls around the world into a frenzy.

Before he finished up she sent up her phone discreetly on her beside table and began to work her magic.

“Harry!” She called

Lucky for her, timing was great, he emerged from the bathroom and was about to head out to the bed.

“Stay right there mister” she smirked

A confused smile crossed his face, at her instructions but he did as she said.

“Babe-?” He chuckled lowly.

“I’ve just been reading here” she said holding up her book

“And it says here: “with arms holding him up he leant against the doorframe admiring the girl in-front of him” “ she recites from the paper.

Rolling his eyes already knowing what she was gonna request.

“So if you could please, show me your best doorframe lean, I’d be very happy” she smiled as she put the book in her lap and leaned back against the headboard.

His famous smirk flashes at the girl

“Y’want me, to lean against the doorframe?” He chuckles.

“Basically, but like- in a really romantic and heroic way, y’know” she giggles.

Y/n can practically see Harry think of how he’s gonna do this.

“M’kay, I need you to c’mere then” he calmly requests.

“Harry, just do it!!” She blushes, she’s also thinking of how thankful she is for the 5 minute feature on TikTok!

“Will, just come here” he laughs, he walks over and takes both of her hands and guides her to the place he wants which is right by the doorframe but far enough.

When satisfied with were the both at, harrys left arm lifts up and due to his height sits just above the top door frame, already y/n found her self flustered, and with his right hand he held her face and pulled her in for a sweet kiss on her lips, while still holding the “doorframe leaning position”

She pulls away flustered and blushed up,

“You did not just do that” she laughs as she stares at him.

“No Harry, I know the fuck you did not do that” she states, her eyes still wide and her mouth curling up into a big smile.

The smirk of satisfaction crawled up on his face as he managed to to fluster up his girl, despite nearly 5 years of being together.

Remembering the iPhone camera pointing in there direction, she quickly turned on her heels to stop it, at the realisation of she’s been filming them hits Harry and it’s now his time to go red.

“You cheeky thing” he says going up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist, he kept his chin on her shoulder as they watched the video they just made together, sharing laughs and smiles.

“Fuck sake” he smiles, pressing a kiss to her temple and getting into his side of the bed.

She presses post and couldn’t wait to see what everyone had to say tomorrow, she joined in the bed next to him.

“Safe to say girls are gonna be having a field day with that one” she laughs.

“Where did you learn that stunt from anyway?” She giggled leaning in to his side.

“Well baby” he started.

“When your girlfriend is obsessed with books and romance novels you do learn a few tricks along the way, and I’d be lying if I said I haven’t read a few of your stuff” he nonchalantly pointed out.

Her eyes light up again.

“Really? You have?” She excitedly asked

“Mmmhmm, I got say y’got good taste” he shrugs.

“If you want recommendations just say”

——————————————————————————

[silverflqmes]

Any HCs for Sephiroth with an s/o that's afraid of thunder? 👀💖

໒⦂ 𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐏𝐇𝐎𝐁𝐈𝐀 𝐇𝐂𝐒.

notes. hi hi, i did my best to compile some headcanons, personally i think sephiroth might also be scared himself, so a little comfort will go his way too :’)

genre. hurt + comfort

sephiroth x gn!reader.

⌗ the fear of thunder and lightning, otherwise known as astraphobia, is commonly shared among most and completely understandable to sephiroth whenever you find it in yourself to tell him.. unless you give yourself away on accident.

⌗ i feel that due to his enhanced senses and of all the bullshit hojo put him through, he might have developed a sensitivity to loud noises and flashes — but he has learnt to grit his teeth and bear it.

⌗ on some nights it can be a little harder for him, but he feels at ease if you are around and does his best to protect you since you are suffering from the same — if not, worse.

⌗ if you take it upon yourself to speak up about your fear, rest assured, it’s a judgment free zone. sephiroth neither has the place to judge, nor does he shun you for it because he understands it well and wishes to do all that he can to help you through your fear.

⌗ if you have difficulty telling him, trust me with how observant he is, he’s likely to put the pieces together pretty easily. but even still, he will wait until you are ready to tell him.

⌗ but if a thunderstorm comes and you have failed to do, he will take matters into his own hands and at the minute he catches wind of your discomfort.

⌗ it could be a flinch, the tiniest whimper, you ducking to cover your ears or a haphazard excuse to leave the room — but sephiroth will know.

⌗ he would give you a moment if you left the room, but when he doesn’t see you return, he will approach and either join you wherever you are hiding, no matter how small the space is ( this man will cram himself in there like a cat don’t underestimate him ), or pull you into his hold for you to hide in his chest while he soothes your shaking body with his touch.

⌗ from the day he discovered your fear, he would regularly check the weather, making sure to be home whenever a thunderstorm would take place to comfort you through it.

⌗ if he’s away or cannot be home on time from either a mission or meeting, he’s got you on speed dial and keeps you on call for however long you need.

⌗ if he cannot call you at all because fuck shinra sometimes ( all the time ), he took it upon himself to buy you one of those weighted anxiety plushies — or even a normal plush for you to cuddle to feel safe. personally i’m uh.. thinking a gray kitty with cerulean colored eyes to remind you of him :’) so that you feel like he’s still there in a sense.

⌗ another thing is maybe audio recordings of him ( probably just random stuff about his day and sweet nothings ) for you to listen to if you need to hear his voice in the case again, that he cannot be there or phone you.

⌗ throughout a thunderstorm, he would do his best to take your mind off it and make it a little more bearable if at all possible.

⌗ me personally, i like rain but i’m no good with thunderstorms that come with strong winds — the sounds give me a bit of ptsd, especially if i’m on my own. but i try to do things to take my mind off it, which i will list through sephiroth<3

⌗ thunder is a sound which can be solved by playing something over it. whether it’s a show, movie or music, even conversation — you bet your boyfriend is providing whatever he can to mask the unpleasant noises outside.

⌗ rainy days can be nice to get all bundled up in blankets with tea, hot coco or coffee — any warm beverage that you personally enjoy, and sephiroth is willing to use that as a way of making the storm a little easier to handle. pairing the experience with a good book or poetry is also nice — certainly if he offers to read to you. goodness his voice is so nice..

⌗ furthermore he has the curtains pulled in your shared apartment if you find it easier not to see what’s happening outside and he takes it upon himself to make homemade soup for dinner<3

⌗ when the storm drags into the evening, he takes you into his arms and holds you as tight as he possibly can, shielding you from the world beyond his windows.

⌗ even as you tremble and tears prickle at the corners of your eyes, you can hear sephiroth humming, the gentle and steady pitter patter of his heartbeat as he smooths a hand down your back. gradually, it relaxes you and your eyes begin to get heavy.

⌗ you hold on tight to your beloved, allowing his protective hold to envelope you wholly as you at last give into sleep, aware that he would keep you safe throughout the evening and remainder of the thunderstorm.

⌗ bonus for sephiroth.. on the rare occasions that his own fear gets the better of him, you do your best to muster whatever courage you can throw together and hold him closely.

⌗ you card your fingers through his silky hair, allowing him to bury his face in either your neck, shoulder, chest — wherever he feels most comfortable — as you rub his back as tenderly as possible, vowing to be there through the very end as he has with your moments of fear.

notes. i may have gotten a little too detailed and indulged a little more than i should have.. but i’m hoping it’s to your likings, tysm for requesting again<3

↳ return to main masterlist . request rules . send an ask

[eddiemuonson]

"Rely on You" - Eddie Munson x f!Reader

Summary: You try to keep yourself away from people only to bump into Eddie at the Skull Rock. You end up getting high with him and inviting him over to listen to some music with you. But there's something about you that makes him drop his shield down.

Warning: Sex, safe sex, cursing, fluffiness. 18+ MINORS DNI

Word count: 4.1k

You found yourself a good place to hide in the middle of the forest, the Skull Rock is probably a good spot to find if you wanna be away from everyone.

Not that it wouldn't expect to have people there, but most of the time it's just you, one of your favorite books and your Walkman.

You played your favorite song as you sat down and kept reading the pages. You were too stressed you couldn't be on school's play because it was already full.

You usually spend a lot of time in the nature, but this was one of those days where you wished you could get away from Hawkins for a while.

Not that you were used to staying away from home late, but it wasn't an option to go back to school after experiencing frustration. It was your way of dealing with things.

You decided to lie down on the grass, not caring about any insects around, and let the music turn up.

It was one of the things you liked most and felt pleasure about, being able to be away from the noise and people, listening to the birds chipping and the trees swaying.

Not much time passed, but when you were almost dozing off, you thought you heard a noise nearby, but with the headphones on it was difficult to know what it could be.

The silhouette that approached almost fell back in fright, and Eddie Munson screamed, completely scared. "Jesus, fuck. Shit." The man held his chest with one hand, while carrying some belongings in the other.

Of course he wasn't the only one who was scared, as with the scream and the sudden approach, you were pale as you tried to catch the breath you lost.

“What the hell are you doing here?”, he seemed uncomfortable with your presence. Eddie didn't have many friends and was almost always walking around alone.

Eddie Munson wasn't very fond of people. Especially after receiving several nasty nicknames, as well as dirty looks from other people.

His coldness became a defense mechanism, especially against girls. They were the ones he used to run away from.

He sat down next to the stone and brought a flask to his mouth, sipping the content quickly. You found his question strange, but you didn't care.

“I thought this was a public place?”, you joked and Munson shrugged.

"Geez, next time leave a reminder. I must have had two heart attacks," he replied, exasperated and you rolled your eyes.

"Sorry, I thought Skull Rock wouldn't receive so many people during the day, in the middle of class." You put your headphones away and heard him mumble something.

"Normally not, but I think it's becoming a common thing these days."

The two of you spent too long without saying a word, something that was already bothering your throat. He clearly wouldn't open his mouth to start a conversation, in fact he would never do that. At least he thought.

"Do you smoke weed?" he asked, as he assembled his own roll. His eyes narrowed and the first thing you thought was “where did his shit come from”.

You shook your head, whispering "no", while he remained focused rolling his smoke.

And again the two of you were sitting distinctly far from each other without saying a single word. Eddie wasn't in the mood to talk to you, especially since he only knew you as a classmate and not a friend.

But then again, it shouldn't hurt to smoke once. Eddie noticed when you stood up, approaching him, as he looked at you strangely.

You took the object from his hand, without really knowing how you would do it, and inhaled it. The smoke, at first, burned and you coughed a few times. He laughed, he was already used to the reaction from the first drag.

"You're gonna feel relaxed soon" he said as he inhaled again.

A few minutes later, as he said, you were left feeling like you weren't completely sane. The taste of weed in your mouth left it much drier than you expected.

His calm, low breathing gave you a feeling of fullness. You could see from the corner of your eyes that Munson was already feeling the breeze. But he was already used to it and knew how to deal with the sensation.

Without saying anything, the two of you just enjoyed the weed stone, talking and rambling things that you might not even remember later.

Sitting next to him, you inhaled all the air, filling your lungs and letting it out immediately. Something extremely random came into your mind.

“What’s your favorite shampoo?”, you asked, almost innocently. When he finished the smoke, he was surprised by your question, laughing.

"My shampoo? What kind of question is that?" Munson propped himself up by his elbows at his side, looking asthe sky startedto change colors.

"Eddie, your hair is from like a diva. Yes, what's your favorite shampoo?", you repeated the question and he seemed to think for a moment.

"From a diva? What? It must be from a well-known brand, I know it smells like mint," he explained, being surprised by your sudden attitude of smelling his hair.

By tangling a few strands of hair, you traced your nose along the length. Eddie looked at you with a strange look, but laughed when he realized it was the effect of the marijuana.

A roaring noise brought you both out of a weird trance, and you realized you were starting to get hungry.

"Hey, let's eat. I'm starving!", you gathered your things and waited for him to take his and left.

You had to have smoked something to believe that inviting Eddie Munson to have dinner with you would make sense. Because until then, that guy in front of you avoided any kind of interaction.

The two of you entered a Burger King, catching some people's attention with the way you laughed aimlessly and were distracted by little things.

As you sat down at the table already carrying your snacks and drinks, you didn't wait long to start devouring the food in front of you.

Eddie watched you with amusement, he knew that the first few times of marijuana caused a terrible desire to eat.

"My God, this is the best burger in the world!", you exclaimed in a slightly louder tone than normal, causing curious looks.

Laughing, Eddie agreed, looking closely at the way you focused on enjoying your snack, distracted. He still didn't know why you were also away from the city, in Skull Rock, but he imagined that something might be bothering you.

When the effect wears off, you'll realize that you made the most of your stoned time with Eddie Munson, and your reaction would be a big "what the fuck happened?".

As soon as you two finished eating, you invited him to go listen to some music at your house, since you found out that he liked rock bands and you were also a fan of some that he used to listen to.

When you got home, you were still stoned, the effect of marijuana slightly working its way through your system, as you opened a bottle of wine to share with the metalhead in your company.

The two of you sat at the kitchen island, enjoying the music playing on the radio you turned on.

"So why were you alone?", Eddie asked after a moment of silence, while you both enjoyed the red wine. He looked around your house minutely, noticing every detail.

"Ah, school stuff. It doesn't matter to those who don't care," you made it clear that you didn't want to get into the subject, at least at that moment. "And you?".

Munson downed the wine glass in one gulp before filling it with more liquid. He kept a friendly expression, but deep down, a little bitter.

"Ah, I'm already tired of this Hawkins school. Very superficial people, the guys care a lot about their appearance. I have no patience," the guy explained.

You weren’t as high as you were before, but you agreed with him. You knew that people really were futile, many cared too much about status, so he was right.

"That I agree. I've seen the guys making fun of you sometimes, it's just plain ridiculous. They think they're so important", you say as he agrees with you. He didn't look like someone who would just be an asshole for nothing, he wasn't exactly one after all.

Out of nowhere, as you were just enjoying each other's company, you get up from your stool and you grab his hand, pulling him upstairs as you make your way to your bedroom.

Eddie proclaimed something inaudible as you entered your room and stared at your bass hanging on the wall, covered with its case. The sound coming from his mouth made you look back at him, who was mesmerized at the sight.

"No fucking way you own a bass!", he said as his eyes brightened. He got closer to it and looked back at you. "Can I?".

You nodded and stared at him, who happily and carefully took the bass off the case. Munson seemed too distracted as he trailed his fingers against the object, mumbling words you couldn't hear.

As he sat on your bed and held it closer to him. He's obviously seen one before, especially because he's in a band. But the fact he knows a girl owns one, made his heart flinch. He was a sucker for girls with tastes similar to his.

And it was a fucking Fender Bass, he was definitely dreaming.

"Wanna hear me play it?", you asked as you went looking for your small amplifier and he was still head over heals with you.

"Fuck yeah, I want!", he seemed too carried away. Eddie handed you your bass and you sat next to him. You started playing "Nothing Else Matters" by Metallica and you heard him giggling.

He was definitely enjoying watching you as you played the notes perfectly, you were humming the lyrics so you wouldn't get lost on it.

He started singing the song along with you and you locked eyes, he smiled at the action.

The fact you could play so perfectly even after being high and drinking alcohol made you realize how good it felt to be interacting with someone like Eddie. He was just something else, he was nice, gentle, and he was fun to talk with.

You never realized he was this cool, but you've always knew he was different from the others at school. He didn't give a flying fuck about what they thought of him, he didn't bow down for the guys who would make fun of him.

As you got up from your bed and started playing around your room, Munson kept the rhythm, banging his head as you played the last few notes of the song.

He looked impressed by you, he looked like he was enjoying a private show and he was your groupie.

"That was fucking awesome", he said as you finished the song and rested your bass on your wall.

"You think?". He was still smiling at you and your cheeks flushed.

"That was hot, actually". Munson stared at you as he got closer. "So hot I think I might want to kiss you right now".

The way he said it made your stomach sink inside your body and your skin shivered at the way he was looking at you. It felt intense, but at the same time, there was intimacy somehow.

It didn't honestly feel like he was only doing it for fun, or playing a game with you. But either way, you were a little drunk and your body was feeling hot because of the alcohol.

The actual mixture of the alcohol and the tension between you two started making you feel like kissing him too.

So you did. You did it first, wrapping your arms around him and tip toeing as he was taller than you.

You crashed your lips against his and Eddie wrapped his left arm around your waist as his other one cupped your neck. His frizzy hair smelled like mint, definitely making you short of breath, and his growing beard was gently scratching your skin.

He opened his mouth to explore your tongue and the touch made you groan under him. Munson chuckled slightly as he started twirling his tongue around yours, nibbling on your lower lip.

You tried to focus on the moment, but your thoughts were distracting you from enjoying it entirely, because the way he gently embraced you and kissed you made you feel dizzy.

His smell was going to be stuck on you, his cologne and his smoky Hellfire Club shirt was sticking to you like a magnet. You trailed your hands between his curly hair and it felt like silk, Eddie started to feel his own skin crawl with your touch.

You didn't know if it was right to actually lay down on your bed with him, but at that moment if felt good.

You were slowly pushing him against your bed and he hit the back of his knees on the mattress. Munson broke the kiss only to look at you, he was confused as fuck honestly.

You made him hit his back on your bed as you started to climb above him, smiling. He knew it was okay to be intimate by the way you grinned at him and he pulled you for another kiss.

It was still gentle but this time it had a hint of lust, and the way he pulled your hair against his fingers made you moan.

You weren't much of having sex with guys out there for pure pleasure or just for fun, there was always a feeling behind it. It wasn't like you dated a lot, and at that point, if you dated five people, that was a lot.

But with Eddie something seemed to be different, the energy he transmitted was different. He didn't have malice, he didn't have the ego of a person who just wanted to fuck you and leave afterwards, without talking to you.

You undressed easily because of the alcohol, but you didn't care if it looked like desperation. He stared at you as if you were a monument, your chest rising and falling quickly due to the lack of air from the kiss, the way the bra perfectly covered your breasts made him excited.

You helped him take off his shirt and looked at his chest. He wasn't sculptural, he wasn't spotted, but he was striking, quite striking.

The fervent exchange of glances brought a different energy around you. There was desire there, but it wasn't desperate.

Eddie lifted his torso and kissed you again greedily, his plump lips covering yours perfectly. His agile tongue dancing against yours left you desperate for more. His large but delicate hands rested on your waist as they moved to remove your jeans.

You had to separate from him to take off the piece of clothing, seeing that he took advantage of the moment to repeat your gesture. He never took his eyes off you, not even for a second, to get rid of his pants.

The bubble surrounding you caused a furore, the air was already becoming dense, while the exchange of glances burned against your bodies.

When you lay on top of him again, Eddie didn't want to waste any time, grabbing your ass with both hands, squeezing them with desire.

His mouth against yours made him let out a grunt, as he rubbed his already hard member in his underwear against your core.

It was becoming difficult to breathe, not only because of the kisses, but because of the way you both trailed their hands down your bodies, both waists rubbing against each other.

“Fuck, that feels good,” he hissed as he cupped your ass, grinding against your body. Munson was on the verge of exploding, his body was starting to sweat and he no longer wanted just provocation.

You gave him a long kiss before separating your bodies, looking for a condom on your nightstand. It wasn't like you would ever bring a guy into your room, and even if he was saving some, you already had it in hand.

Gently covering his cock after removing his last piece of clothing, he took the opportunity to try to undo the clasp of your bra, looking at you intensely.

His dick throbbed at your touch, precum already dripping down his skin as you slid the condom down his length.

He trailed his gaze all over your body, while you focused on giving him a few minutes of pleasure by stroking him, before sitting on him.

He was waiting for that, he was grateful that the marijuana had already worn off, because he would have difficulty getting hard.

But when he saw you positioning yourself against his tip, Eddie helped you by holding his dick. You leaned in for a lust-filled kiss, your breasts crushed against his skin and he let out a delirious murmur.

When he placed his tip at your entrance, you hissed against his lips, he had already entered a trance that left him scattered, focusing on your small walls.

Slowly you accommodated yourself on his length, sitting inch by inch until his whole cock was inside you.

You watched as he rolled his eyes back in an act of pleasure, holding your hips tightly, marking your skin with his short nails.

You started slowly riding him as he thrusted against your core, his cock was somewhat thick but not too thick so it would slide perfectly inside you.

"Oh God, Munson", you whined against him. You were still riding him slowly, your walls already clentching each time his tip with your core.

He was on cloud nine at this point, his mumbles coming out of his mouth as he tried to catch his breath.

You kept your pace still, trying to gather every feeling inside you, the way he was thrusting against you holding your hips, and the feeling of his cock inside you was mind blowing. Obviously you've felt like this before, but for some reason it felt ten times better with him.

He was careful, gentle, smooth. He wasn't desperate, he didn't slap your ass only because it was everyone's kink, he didn't curse or used dirty words. It was honestly passionate, and you liked it either way.

As soon as you began to sit on him less delicately and more willingly, your sensitive clit pressed more eagerly against his skin.

In fact, the position brought you more desire, as his tip banged hard against your core.

Eddie was on his own little word as he would groan and hiss every time you pounded against him. His thrusts were getting sloppier each time you rode him faster. One of his hands cupped your breast while the other one was still holding your hip.

"Fuck, this is so fucking good", he slurred against you. You caught him by surprise when your body rolled over him, the movement giving you every kind of pleasure as possible, while his cock matched your rhythm.

The more you rocked, the more sensitive your spot became, and the more Eddie tried to hold back the mumbles he wanted to utter. He was very scandalous, he wouldn't be able to hold back.

You cupped his face against your small hands as you started to trail small kisses on his jawline, cheeks and neck.

You wanted to devour him but this wasn't actually appropriate right now, so you just kep nibbling on his skin.

You could feel a lump on his throat as you kept leaving wet kisses on his skin. Your body was all sweaty and you felt numb for a second when his cock hit one delicious spot inside you.

It made you growl his name, making him stare at you with lust.

"Fuck, don't stop Eddie", you cried. You were both panting, the loud noises of skin slapping against each other filling your bedroom. He pounded on you harder and it hit you again.

He didn't stop his thrusts and kept his pace until he noticed you started melting down on his touch.

A heavy wave of pleasure took your entire body and you started to shiver when your release hit you so hard you had to clench around him.

Munson almost yelled by the way your cunt embraced him as he started to tremble under your body. He gushed inside the condom and you felt his length throb inside you, washing over his protection.

Both of you were still trembling from the orgasm, trying to relax as the pleasure was still taking over your entire body.

He was still inside of you and didn't move an inch, just enjoying the moment before it was definitely over.

"That was so hot", he murmured against your ear, while you remained lying on his chest. You smiled at him, he repeated the gesture, gently grabbing your lips, biting your lower lip.

He thrusted against you suddenly and you grunted, surprised by his action. The pleasure still enveloped both of you and his gesture almost made you want to keep riding him, but you were so sensitive that you no longer felt the strength to continue.

"You're wonderful, Eddie", you said under your short breath and it caught him off guard. He shyly smirked as he pecked your lips.

"You're amazing, (Y/N)", he affirmed, leaving your cunt empty as he looked at you before cleaning himself up. "Next time before this happens, I would like to go on a date with you".

"I'll hold that thought", you joke as you dressed yourself with your underwear and his Hellfire Club shirt.

"Ouch, you just hurt my ego", Eddie played along as he dressed himself as well and you laughed.

You and Eddie lay down on your bed, both still catching your breath after a while. You stared at your ceiling, feeling his warmth close to you.

"Say Eddie, do you usually bring girls over?", you asked curiously.

"Not even if they wanted to", you heard him snort.

"Why not?", you lay on your side and look at his expression. He scrunched his nose to your question but answered anyway.

"Like 96% of this hellhole thinks I'm a freak. So I just don't. They either invite me over or I just find a motel or something".

The way he explained it felt really personal, but you couldn't agree more with him. People usually tend to look at him like he's out of this world.

"This is what makes you more special. Because you're not like them", you stated, gently. He chuckled at your thought, though.

"Yeah, not being like them... that's what makes it worse".

"I thought you didn't care about what they thought".

"I don't. But that doesn't mean I feel welcome everywhere", he sounded bitter. It definitely caught you off guard.

The man who usually wears a shield and uses ignorance as self protection suddenly let his guard off.

You stroked his jawline and he closed his eyes to the touch. You had no idea what you were feeling right now, but it was definitely compassion for him.

He seemed too vulnerable, something he didn't seem to be around other people.

"You're a great person. You should rely on your friends and on the people who care about you". He thinks you're unbelievably drunk as your words hit against his skin.

But the way you look at him says otherwise. You were cherishing him at the moment.

For the past few hours you were with him, you've never felt more comfortable around a guy. Obviously, besides Steve and Jonathan and your other male friends.

He cupped your chin and gave you a wet but honest kiss. It felt like heaven. He just studied your reaction to his kiss and breathed you in.

"You're one of a kind, (Y/N). Thank you for that", Munson said after he parted your lips. He gave you a kind smile and rested his forehead against your small hand.

He seemed pretty lightheaded, he was too overwhelmed by what happened and he really wanted to see you again.

This time, he wanted it to be a proper date, he wanted to get know you better, he wanted to see you play your bass more times. Eddie just wanted to have you around, as he felt like you could be a really great company for him.

[janyiahsucks-blog]

A Dream With a Baseball Player

~Miles falls in love with someone who he can't even know.~

wc: 0.6k

warnings: slight stalking (miles is a pussy)

Miles is taking this very seriously. I mean it's his first official mission from Miguel and after their long-standing tension he is quick to try not to disappoint him.

He has a very strict set of rules assigned to most of them being, so he simply doesn't cause more harm than good. The one Miguel stressed the most was to stray from interacting with the people of Earth-780. He says he doesn't want Miles getting attached to people from other multiverses and that this mission is a simple in and out job.

"Do NOT overcomplicate this Morales" Miguels voice is so loud that it rattles in Miles's skull before finally settling.

To say the mission went slightly awry would be an understatement. In the course of trying to capture the anomaly he finds himself in a situation in which he has to save (therefore interact with) one of the many citizens of Earth-780. You.

Probably the most normal person Miles's has interacted with in weeks. But to him you're enthralling. There's just something about you that drives him crazy. He doesn't know what exactly it was that first drew him in, but he knows the hook line and sinker was your smile.

Your smile was the most beautiful thing he's ever seen, and he knows from that moment on he's absolutely fucked. You exchange maybe five words on the way back to your apartment (he insists to walk you).

In the brief conversation he catches your name, and he finds himself wishing he could be just Miles. Maybe he could introduce himself some other time when he wasn't on duty but that happened to be what Miguel called a liability, he had some strict rules against dimension hoping for anything other than missions.

But hey some rules were just meant to be broken, especially if it meant he could see you smile at him just one more time. He found himself visiting Earth-780 far more than he would like to admit. When he was there, he spent all of his time on you. Following you home, making sure you were safe, finding your hobbies. And most importantly sketching you. Candid linework of you in the park, the outline of the back of your head, you smiling at your friends. They filled his sketch book to the brim. Sure, it made him seem like a little (lot) of a stalker, but he just needed to know that you and that smile were fine.

When he got home from long days of patrols and fighting crime, he thought of you. Opening his sketchbook his fingers trace the lines that make up your face on the book. He decided in that moment for one of the very few times in his life he wanted to break rules and he was gonna do it no matter the consequence.

The next week after days of preparing himself he opens a portal to Earth-780 and walks himself all the way to your local park. He knew you'd be there due to his detective work (mild stalking).

You were sitting on a bench minding your business looking as gorgeous as always when he approached you. An awkward looking boy with a lopsided smile and his hand held out in front of him.

You look around trying to see if he's confused, because to your knowledge you have no idea who this man is.

"Uh Do I know you..." Your voice is like music to Miles's ears. He hasn't heard something so sweet since their previous "conversation" if you can even call it that.

"Oh No you don't I just thought you looked like you needed some company" He shrugs trying to be nonchalant when really his heart was beating out of his chest and his brain was turning to mush.

"I'm Miles"

When he gets your number and you make him pinky promise to call he finds himself happy he decided to break some rules

[sshadowritestoriess]

Hi! Assuming you're not like, dead since you've been inactive for 5 months, would you do headconnons on what Ramattra, Zenyatta, and Genji would do for Reader's birthday? I ask because mine is getting close.

Crawls out of my grave… it’s definitely been a rough few months, hello ^^ I’ll do my best.

Ramattra on Your Birthday

Ramattra is the type of omnic that wouldn’t say a word of your birthday as the date fast approaches. You might think he’s forgotten, if the clever ravager was capable of such a thing. But he’s had the date saved ever since you had mentioned it in a long-forgotten conversation

He’s the materialistic sort. Numbers and data mean everything to him - yours in particular, as one of his closest (and last) companions. Ramattra knows exactly the things you like, crave, and want. Some things he’s exceptionally, and unfortunately, quite good at poking fun about; be it because it’s a unique interest or not very well known

But he knows you enjoy that sort of thing, so he’d find a way to acquire it in some fashion : clothing, cosmetics, merchandise, a book or pad, a signed t-shirt, food, tools, tickets… or maybe just a well thought-out playlist he put together just for you. Whatever kind of item he could possibly find that hits as close as possible to that thing that means quite a lot to you, he will have it ready for your birthday

It might just be one thing, possibly two if he couldn’t decide between which you might like the most. He’d have this gift ready just a couple months in advance, just in case you lose interest.

What he does not do is wrap it. Maybe a gift bag if you’d expressed disappointment in that sort of thing - but there’s never a tag or card or anything that would let you know who it’s from. It might just appear at your doorstep like a regular package, or he’d have another bot deliver it straight to you.

Ramattra does not wish anyone a “happy birthday”, unless appropriately prompted to. He might not even have a clear enough schedule to see you that day if you had any plans - a human custom he doesn’t have much interest in partaking in (perhaps because all omnics have the same “birth” day, all thanks to Aurora), but the gift-giving is a meaningful enough aspect he would take advantage of.

He expects no thanks, nor to be treated the same. But if you came to him happy about your gift, that would be entirely enough.

Zenyatta on Your Birthday

This monk is most definitely more of the ‘experience’ type. When it comes to any celebrations or occasions, he tends to lean toward going out to be part of the world.

He’s absolutely asked you just shy of a dozen times what you might like for your birthday, if you’d like to celebrate it early or on the weekend, if you’re hosting a party or just having a day to yourself. All the important things so he won’t accidentally intrude on your special day

Zenyatta likely provides much smaller gifts as compared to his brother - things that might compliment your appearance or home, or represents something about you that he really likes. You’re more likely to learn something about yourself with the kinds of gifts he has to offer

If permitted, he would be joyous to treat you to lunch or dinner. Something made by him, anything you have to request? Or he’d be elated to surprise you with a meal you haven’t tried before, but goes along with the things you normally like. He’s normally spot on, and you just might discover a new comfort food

But if you especially had nothing planned, or just wanted to spend the day with your dear Zenyatta, he would absolutely have something in mind that he would have reserved or set up for weeks in advance. A night at a gala? A local street festival with games and music? A convention full of things you might enjoy - or a wonderful hike through nature. Maybe just a day with a couple of activities he knows you really like; skating, an arcade, shopping, movies, racing - just enough that isn’t too overwhelming, but lets you know he pays well attention to the things that bring you joy.

Whatever the plan is, Zenyatta would have it and be there for it, and be happy just to spend the day with you. His patience is unfathomed - he would make sure that everything you partake in is an experience he knows you wouldn’t turn down. Your smile at the end of the day is all that matters to him.

Genji on Your Birthday

This man is pretty big on surprises. With Genji, you get to start off your morning with a rose and a note on your bedside table.

Perhaps the sneaky cyborg had a treasure hunt set up for you throughout your home, the Overwatch base, or wherever you reside. Or maybe the note tells you where to meet him when you wake? Certainly one of the two, and he’d have quite the elaborate map set up for you

He’d have an array of gifts hidden in places, some that don’t make sense and some that you definitely favor more than the others (a cheap electric kettle versus a brand new hoodie in your favorite color? What was his thought process on these?) but regardless of their individual quality, it’s obvious he’s been very excited to get these to you. And somehow, his best gifts were probably bought just yesterday.

And it doesn’t stop there. Next thing you know, he’s got a blindfold in hand and he’s cautiously leading you to where there is, no doubt, a surprise party he’d set up with friends. (Apologies to those who aren’t big on celebrations with multiple people - Genji would be sure to grovel for your forgiveness later)

If you’re particularly introverted and have greatly expressed a dislike for those kinds of occasions before, then similarly to Zenyatta, Genji might have a few quieter activities reserved just for the two of you. It could even be as simple as a day in playing video games - if you don’t mind getting your ass kicked in the more competitive franchises.

The birthday dessert was definitely something he had made himself, and you could tell. The way it was poorly plated, decorated, and just a tad malformed; inexperienced hands that lack a creative means of decoration certainly took liberties on even writing your name only half in cursive. He would present this as his final gift with a false sense of pride - easy to see in his eyes the shame he felt for being ambitious with frosting.

Genji aims to hear you laugh, and if he could manage being the source of that at any point in your day - then your birthday was a success in his eyes.

[icannotpickanamewtf]

The Day The Music Died (Part One)

(PART TWO)

Sooo...you meet spot and introduce your little world <33but you might know a little more than you are leading on? If you spoke up a little more...maybe others would know?

You remember seeing a man dressed in dark blue and red with a large S on his chest soaring through the sky. 

He looked free. You thought absentmindedly as you walked through the busy New York crowds. 

Some nauseating feeling bubbled inside of your gut. You wished you could touch the clouds like he could. 

Maybe then you wouldn’t feel so trapped.

One foot after another, you made your way through a dark alley to stop in front of a quaint coffee shop. 

The rats scattered beneath your feet and garbage decorated the shadows. The brick was dusty from age and the sound of horns honking and people walking became white noise as you reached for the door knob to the shop.

“Collin’s Coffee.”

Best fucking gig you’ve got going right now. 

You wondered if that Spider-Guy worked a normal job like you did. 

The thought of seeing a man dressed in clad spandex taking orders made you let out a soft chuckle as you ducked into the comforting atmosphere of the shop.

It gave the radiance of a library in Hognorts with the walls dripping with mounts of knowledge and books. The actual walls themselves had a sharp red brick hidden behind the shelves and posters.

Plants grew from the ceiling and succulents were plotted on the ceramic countertop. 

You quickly removed your bag from your shoulders and placed it behind the counter while reaching for a navy apron. Rubbing your eyes harshly, you began to slowly wake up and soak in your surroundings. 

“Hey! How’s it going, kiddo?”

Mr. Parker. Collin Parker. The kind old man that ran the coffee shop semi-hopped to where you were meticulously placing pastries inside the display case. 

Most of the time, and in the most endearing way, he had more energy than a toddler. 

“Fine. You?” You weren’t the biggest fan of talking, but you would make an effort to check in with the old. They held a tiny soft spot in your heart. 

If you even had one.

“Good, good…just filling out some silly old paper-work. Don’t mind this old man.” Mr. Parker slowly hobbled his way back to his office, letting you finish adjusting the glass plates that presented little scones and croissants.

The front door slammed open as a clumsy pubescent boy stumbled through. 

“Sorry I’m a bit late! I swear I was just on my way but a guy decided to–“ 

Sigh. There goes that peaceful, delicious, quiet. 

“Ok.” You kept it short. Honestly, you couldn’t care less.

“–He was awwwwfulllll! Trust me, if you met a guy like him on the train you’d absolutely lose your mind.” 

You had already lost yours a while ago.

“K.” Your responses where getting impossibly shorter as a the kid rambled on as he found his way behind the counter. 

Peter Parker, estranged somehow related to Collin Parker. He had a good heart, but a huge fucking mouth for a fifteen-year old. His brown fluffy hair bounced as he waved his hands around  to accentuate the supposed “annoying man” he met on the train. 

Peter was a nerdy kid, and you appreciated the child-like joy (probably because he still was a child in your eyes) he carried but you would rather die than admit it. 

You saw him as a little, albeit annoying, brother. 

“You can stop now.” You prided yourself in your honesty, but always tried to tone it down to be a bit less brutal for Peter. 

“Oh–Oh okay, sorry–right, silence.”

He wasn’t going to be quiet for long, but that was okay, you knew how to just–push it away. 

 Anywho…what’s going on? Do you want me to man the counter today? I don’t know if I’m really up for it…you know how much it makes me anxious. I would! I really would but…ya’know. I just get all shaky and–“

Buzzing echoed in your ear as his endless chatter filled the café’s walls. 

“Go in the back. Do restock and phone orders.” Like he always did. 

Peter let out a breath in relief, his shoulders noticeably loosened.

As he awkwardly made his way to the back, almost slipping on the white tile that covered where you and him were standing behind the counter.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you! I won’t disappoint you! Trust me, I’ve gotten reallllyyy good at using the new toaster that I think I am a toasting god!–”

You don’t really care, but you let a tiny chuckle leave your chapped lips before you turned to face the front again. You didn’t have enough energy to really play it off with a smile, but it’s the effort that counts right? 

“Mk. Bye.” 

Peter quickly ducked into the back while slipping in his ear buds to get ready for a comforting day at work. When you started working here, you noticed how he looked up to you. Thinking you were…”cool.” 

It made you gag when you thought about it too much. 

The bell chimed and the first customer of the day came on in. 

“Welcome.” Your voice just barely tipped the ‘annoyed and exhausted but had to make some cash’ tone. 

You looked up at the strange figure that just entered. 

Ok…are you fucking kidding me?

His huge trench coat covered his shoulders as he stumbled in, not too unfamiliar as to Peter’s entrance. 

What made your eyes blink a little more than usual was the stark white skin that stretched over him head to toe. Dark little holes scattered his body and a pair of big sunglasses covered the top half of his face. 

Was that a fedora?

You just swiveled to make your own coffee. A plain, black, hot coffee. Free of charge, and one of the best things to come out of this job. 

Just as you were sliding on the sleeve, you quietly shuffled behind the counter as he coughed behind you. You were almost ignoring the weird customer as a whole. 

To be honest, you just couldn’t bring yourself to care.  

You couldn’t bring yourself to care about most things anymore.

Was that bad? 

Eh. Whatever.

You just busied yourself with minimal tasks like rearranging the pastries in the display or picking at the scabs that littered your fingers. 

The customer coughed again. 

“Do you have asthma? Want me to get you an inhaler?” 

Whoops. That might’ve come out a little to sarcastic. You were genuinely worried, ok? 

Maybe not that worried, but still. You didn’t mean it to come out like that. 

“No! I–I do not…Give me the cash in the register, now please!” 

Ohhhhh.

You were being robbed!

Wait. 

You were being robbed.

“Nah.” Your responses were curt and short as you took short sips from your coffee. 

You needed some caffeine ASAP. 

“Wha–?! There isn’t a ’No’ in this! Give me the cash, now! Please!” The weirdo came up to the counter and this time you noticed how fucking huge this guy was. 

He was probably 7 foot. 

Did he seriously say please? At least he had manners.

“No.” You shrugged and casually went back to what you were doing, but before you could turn fully and brush him aside, a pale white hand launched out and flipped you back. 

”Look at me.” Static rippled in his voice. 

Maybe–just maybe-you wanted to fuck with this guy a little by actively widening your eyelids so you could showcase how you were looking in every other direction except his. 

“Just–Just give me the cash. Or else I’ll…I’ll shoot!” He showed off his other hand as it pointed at you through his pocket. 

If you were dumb maybe you’d have believed him. 

If you didn’t have a certain…experience with guns maybe you’d have believed him. 

“What kinda gun is that?” 

You were starting to get a little impatient with this banter. What if Mr. Parker came out and the poor man went into cardiac arrest? What if Peter stopped listening to his shit music and did his job and saw you fighting with this guy? 

“It’s a pistol.” 

That was definitely not a fucking pistol. 

“No, it’s not.” You shook your head and ran your fingers through your hair. 

“How would you know, huh? What if it is?” Was he trying to be smug? 

“The closest thing that your abnormally large fingers look like would be a fucking Longslide Glock 17 with maybe 3 out of the 17 rounds loaded with your kinda confidence. Gotta say, it is lightweight, sturdy, good for beginners...” 

You were good at talking guns. 

Real fucking good at talking guns. 

It was probably the most you’ve said all day. 

The ghostly white ‘robber’ looked shocked, if you could tell by the way his shoulders recoiled. 

Stepping back he bashfully turned away. 

“I just need some cash, okay? That’s all…please. I’m really not good at this whole supervillain thing.” 

A little gun talk was all it took to break this guy? 

Oh well, it was fun while it lasted. 

You heard the front door bell chime and it broke you out of your thoughts.

“Nah. Maybe some other time. Bye.” 

You waved a little before setting your already cold coffee on the counter to prep yourself to take an <em> actual</em> order. 

“Do you even take me seriously! I am The Spot! I literally–I can travel through-- portals!” 

Unsurprisingly, you kinda got bored of this whole ‘supervillain charade.’ 

“Ok. Bye.” You shrugged him off to turn your attention to the new customer, locking eyes with them and insinuating for them to come up to the front. 

“What?!–I’ll show you! I’ll show all of you!” He angrily threw a–

was that one of his weird spot things?

Anyway, he threw a spot into an empty space in the shop and walked through it. 

Finally. You sighed as you took the customers order. 

….

And that, even if you didn’t know it at the time, was the end of your little world as you fucking knew it. 

[mephinomaly]

[TL] Backdoor - an Original Scenario written by Akira

Backdoor is a short original story written by Akira-sensei to accompany the release of the Crossroad animated series. I recommend watching it before reading this, especially if you haven't read the original Crossroads.

Please enjoy my translation below!

—

Backdoor

I break in from the backdoor. I feel like a super cool outlaw from one of those movies. Avoid the countless traps, blindly shoot the enemies like bang bang bang! Feast your eyes, idiots of the world!

I am the great Oogami Koga…!

"..."

By the back door is a guy with blond hair who’s sorting the trash out, probably works here part time. Since I came in and started acting like a weird middle schooler, he looks at me, surprised.

“Hey, you–” Part-time-kun (tentative name) puts his hand out with a totally bored expression. “One thousand yen. It’s the entrance fee.”

“Oh, yeah. Sorry.”

“Next time come in from the proper entrance, ‘kay?” Part-time-kun (tentative name) doesn’t lecture me any further and exchanges my 1000 yen bill for a sleek plastic card.  If I show this at the bar, I can get a drink and stuff. I thank him. “Enjoy your night～♪”

Part-time-kun (tentative name) is side-eyeing me, and at this point in time I’m so embarrassed all I want to do is go home but I pull myself together and head inside. 

I’m in a cheap underground livehouse in the downtown area, near Yumenosaki Private Academy, the school I’m going to attend. 

My sanctuary is here.

My god is here.

***

The livehouse I've been hanging around in lately is built a little weird. The entrance to the stairs is in a back alley. At the bottom of the stairs, there’s two corridors, one leading left, the other right. There’s a lot of soundproof doors, standing one after another. The majority of these small rooms are booths, meant to be hired out by amateur bands to practise in. If you look through the window of one, it’s normally empty since nobody really uses them.

Well, these days people don’t practise by actually picking up an instrument, playin’ until their fingers hurt.  I’ve been doin’ that too lately, sittin’ at home ‘n staring blankly at my computer screen. I dunno. 

At the end of the empty corridor, there’s the employees only room, the kitchen, and the back entrance which I found by accident when I was trespassing. 

I’ve been short on cash lately because I’ve been buyin’ like, introductory books to playin’ the guitar ‘n stuff so I’ve been sneakin’ in that way ‘cos then I don’t hafta pay the entrance fee. No-one’s ever around anyway. 

“I won’t be able to come in that way next time,” I complain as I walk down the corridor in low spirits, stopping when I find the soundproof room I’m looking for. 

The biggest, most extravagant door is in the middle of the corridor. At the back, at the heart of this place— is the livehouse, or I guess you could call it a music hall. 

“♪～♪～♪”

I open the weighted door and my entire body is blasted by music. 

This is it. This electrifying feeling.  

At the back of this relatively wide space is a really nice stage, and that’s where bands that have signed up to perform do so. The entrance fee also covers one drink, but you can order more food and drink and enjoy the show at the same time. It’s your average livehouse. I dunno though. I’m underaged, so I stick to a non-alcoholic tomato juice whilst enjoying the show.

Since this place is close to Yumenosaki, a lot of the customers are scruffy-looking students. I never thought young me would come to a place like this. I’m just in ordinary clothes. This place pays attention to its customer base, so there's not a drop of alcohol or a single cloud of cigarette smoke to be seen. Only super cool music is playing. It’s echoing. 

“～...♪”

My God is in the middle of the stage, singing enthusiastically. The lyrics are in English, and I understand almost none of them. The lyrics are probably about wishing for world peace, or religious sacrilege; something complicated but meaningful. When I asked what he was singing about later, he said something like “I’m so happy because my cute little brother has recovered from his cold!”

Is he stupid? Or am I the stupid one for being so entranced by him?

But. I didn’t know that sort of thing back then, so I was genuinely moved by him.

Illuminated by the dim stage lighting, his pale corpse-like skin stood out in the shadows— him.

Crimson eyes like hellfire. 

Black hair that melts into the darkness.

From between his seductive lips that are sexier than any girls’, comes a masculine, deep voice. 

He looked simultaneously like an angel that could rescue the world and a devil that could destroy it too. Whether angel or devil, his singing voice was powerful enough to completely change the very fabric of this world.

“～...♪”

The name of the person I respect the most in this world is Sakuma Rei. 

My God.

***

I was born and raised in an unremarkable environment. 

We’re middle class. My dad’s an office worker and he earns a pretty decent wage, and my mum’s a housewife, which is rare nowadays. 

They bought a nice detached house in a nice place. Both of my parents like kids and like taking care of others, so I grew up pretty pampered. I’m aware that since I was spoiled, I grew up to be a selfish, cocky brat. I was given whatever I wanted. I didn’t know what I really wanted though since it would be handed to me before I could even think about it. When I got to an age where I didn’t need to be looked after, my parents got a dog to satisfy their overflowing need to help others (?). His name’s Leon. He’s the best dog ever. 

I fussed over him too, but not in the way my parents did. Everyday, they’d treat him like he was a baby, doting on him, probably the same way they treated me. It made me sulk a bit. 

I could tell that my parents’ interest had shifted from me to Leon. Leon isn’t bad. He was bought to be loved. He’s a pedigree, he was born for this, to be doted on. He’s a really good boy and whenever I felt sad he’d snuggle up close to me and put his face next to mine. So I wouldn’t be lonely. So I knew I wasn’t alone. 

But I felt that the amount of love I had received up until this point was steadily decreasing, and it made me anxious. 

—Alas! Miserable, spoiled Oogami Koga-kun!

But I wasn’t shameless enough of a person to say “pay attention to me instead of the dog!” Leon deserved to be loved as much as I did— I wandered around town, searching for someone other than my parents who could love me.

I was starved, yearning. I looked like a stray dog scavenging around for something to fill me up. My parents aren’t bad. Neither is Leon. I’m probably not bad either. 

I’ve already finished compulsory education. I had reached the age where I could fend for myself. So I should have. I’m sure other people are doing that. We leave the watchful eye of our parents, tackle teenagehood, and find out who we are. Find what we want to do with our lives. After countless trial and error, I found what I was looking for— Sakuma Rei. His music satisfied what my soul had been craving. 

***

The performance ends, and Sakuma Rei disappears behind the stage. 

I’ve never been on stage before, so I don’t know what it looks like back there. There’s probably a passageway that leads to a green room or something. The livehouse is weirdly dark and it’s hard to see much of anything, so it really looks like Sakuma Rei vanished like a ghost. 

The person who fills the gap in my heart, vanishes. 

So I grow anxious again and begin blindly searching for him everywhere. I make my way through the livehouse, pushing through the swathes of people who came here to see Sakuma Rei.

—Sakuma Rei, Sakuma Rei, Sakuma Rei.

My soul wants him. 

Of course, I’m not part of his family. We’re not even acquaintances, let alone friends. He’s probably never even heard of me. But I didn’t mind either way. I found him, met him, fell in love with him, and had my yearning quenched. That alone made me thankful. Sakuma Rei, without a doubt, saved me. That’s all I wanted. I was just a sheep, one of hundreds who came here. To me, he was the night sky, something I thought I could never reach. I didn’t mind just watching from afar. That’s how I really feel. If I never got to see him closeup, I’d be fine with that.

And yet. 

“What you’re drinking looks good.”

Suddenly, the tomato juice I’d ordered, which I didn’t end up liking because it was weirdly sweet, is taken from my hand by someone next to me. 

—The hell, bastard? That’s mine. When I go to look up at whoever grabbed my drink with a belligerent expression, I realise it’s Sakuma Rei. 

“If you’re not drinking it, I’ll have it. Singing’s got me workin' up a sweat.”

Naturally, my body stiffens.

That’s Sakuma Rei.

If I reach out my hand, I could touch him.

I’m so surprised by what I originally thought was something that could never happen, I have nothing clever to say and instead, like an idiot, I freeze with my mouth ajar. 

“What’s up? Oh, you’re at that age where you think indirect kisses are embarrassing, right…?” Sakuma Rei says with a somewhat apologetic expression. Then he says something absurd.

“Oopsies, sorry～…Don’t worry, I take full responsibility for stealing your first time. Mhm.”

That was the first conversation we had, and it’s not exactly something I can brag about to anyone. 

Ever since then, ever since that moment, I’ve been at the mercy of this arrogant person.

***

I step through the backdoor.

The unmotivated-looking blond employee is slacking off on his phone again today– he’s a playboy called Hakaze and is actually the manager of this place. He’s also supposedly one of my senpai from Yumenosaki. He glances up from his phone at me with a gross expression.

“Look look. I just got another girl's number. I’m typing out my first message now.”

“Shut up, I don’t know you. Don’t talk to me, playboy.”

About two years have passed since I had my first conversation with Sakuma Rei, Sakuma Rei-senpai, a conversation I’d rather not remember. 

I’ve got a bit taller and a bit stronger. 

I practised intensely so my guitar and singing skills have somewhat improved. 

Whilst I was growing, Yumenosaki had gone to the dogs.

Yumenosaki Private Academy’s an idol school steeped in a rich history and tradition. But inside, it was rotting. 

I wanted to be like Sakuma-senpai, so I followed him without thinking and took Yumenosaki’s entrance exam like an idiot. I was blinded. I didn’t know anything. Every Yumenosaki student is shit. Naturally, I noticed that since I frequented the livehouse in order to see Sakuma-senpai. 

A rotted miniature garden where those with dead eyes spend their sad youth reeking of corpses. Sakuma-senpai was weirdly energetic despite the backdrop of death, so I got it wrong. No. I think I was just an immature, stupid brat, so I didn’t notice. 

Sakuma-senpai had those same dead eyes. 

In the mountain of dead bodies, he was clinging onto life. He was the only one who didn’t want to die, he was the only one praying for something to happen.

No-one could save him. 

A bespectacled monk boy from a temple came along and evoked anger in him, trying to make him into a human— into something more than human.  The stupid, lost dog just wagged his tail and followed the hand that fed him. 

We didn’t realise that the person that was always grinning like a fool, and living what appeared to be a happy life, was actually suffering more than anyone. He desperately needed help. You can see why we didn’t notice; he looked like he was having fun.

When he stood on stage with me and Shitty Glasses as Deadmanz, he lived each day like it was his last. He looked genuinely happy—he looked like he was alive. But that was only a short-lived dream. Once he steps off stage, the spell breaks, and he turns back into a corpse.

A revolution takes place at the rotted Yumenosaki.

Sakuma-senpai was seen as a cause of evil and exterminated by those who claimed to be on the side of justice. The evil monsters had been defeated, and everyone lived happily ever after. It’s creepy when a corpse moves. Yeah, nothing will change if you don’t exterminate all the gross monsters, right?

—Fuck you, you bastards!

***

“Wan-chan, will you be singing today too?” The bored-looking playboy asks, on his phone as usual. Guess he doesn’t really want to talk to me. “You should stop because you’re dampening the mood. People think you're one of Sakuma-san’s henchmen, so people think you’re evil too and will persecute you like he was.”

“I don’t care. I… I’m.” I growl, the shallow first person pronoun Sakuma-senpai sometimes used slips from my mouth [1]. I cling onto what I’ve got left of him. “I just wanna sing with all my energy. I don’t care what the rest of you do.”

“But you’re creating problems for the livehouse. A customer pokes fun at you or Sakuma-san, you get angry, and you start a fight—I really don’t want things like that happening.”

“I won't create any problems, I’ll be on my best behaviour.”

“Will you really? But you’re like the rest of the customers— You always look like you’re going to start arguing with other Yumenosaki students. You come in from the back entrance like, everytime, to avoid any trouble, right?”

“I still pay the entrance fee.”

“Why do you go out of your way to perform here even though you’ve got to jump over so many dangerous obstacles to get here? It’s super bothersome.” Playboy's grumbling as usual. He pulls out a key and throws it to me. “Here. I’ll give you a key to a room so you can change clothes and get ready. If you swear to not cause any more trouble, you can become our new breadwinner, Wan-chan. I actually want to cheer you on,” the playboy said and laughed insincerely. 

I hate his demeanour, so I snap back. 

“Don’t call me ‘Wan-chan’.”

“Sakuma-san calls you ‘Wanko’. I call you ‘Wan’ as in, ‘number one’. Honest, honest to god.” [2] Playboy’s face goes serious for a split second and he waved his hands around like he was trying to hide his embarrassment. “You can be my number one breadwinner, like Sakuma-san.”

“Don’t hafta tell me twice.”

Just like Sakuma-senpai, I’ll become the best guy in the world. My voice alone will excite the crowd. A flirtatious glance will have women swooning. With a single look, even the strongest of men will bow down to me. In an instant, their souls are gripped, I captivate everyone. I’ll become like Sakuma Rei too. But the journey is a long one. “Let’s go. I’m singin’ tonight.”

I reach my booth, key in hand, and change into my costume. I take out my guitar, who’s as important to me as my parents and Leon are. Once I’m ready, I head to the stage. To tackle this head on.

“Shake, you fools! Imma show you what real music is!”

I sing. My guitar does too.

Just like Sakuma-senpai did.

Right now I’m blindly copying him, but I pray that one day, I’ll be able to be just like him.

I hope this song reaches him, wherever he is. 

***

Once, I was starving, yearning. But when I found Sakuma Rei and his music, my soul was satisfied. 

—Now it’s my turn. 

“Rock ‘n’ roll…!”

Come on, idiots of the world. I’ll open your eyes with my music. I’ll become your God. 

~~~~

Translation notes:

[1]  in the line above this one Koga says ‘俺...俺様は’ or ‘ore…ore sama wa’. Oresama being the first person pronoun rei sometimes used, and its very egotistical.

[2] number one is pronounced as, in this case, ‘nanbaa wan’

[nayaaatv]

joshua bf hcs !

✰ ; fluff, male-wife material joshua.

warnings ; mentions of food, and im p sure thats it (?)

wc ; 0.6k ♡

a/n : i love him sm i actually cannot.

+ req by anon ♡

this man is a little bit too obsessed with dressing you up. you can always depend on your boyfriend when ur going shopping. by the end of the day you're gonna be surrounded by the outfits he chose for you. spoiler alert, you look so hot in all of them LMAO, stylist bf things.

he's super in love with watching sunsets with you. ever since you guys started dating, he has always been sneaking a lil pic of you next to the beautifully colored sky, and little does he know, you do too. well, occasionally so.

matching bracelets ♡_♡ suits him so much tbh. and he's like never taking it off too. its those thread bracelets with your initials graved in them hehe.

cleans up everywhere when you're stil asleep. and cooks the most drool worthy breakfast ever its like ur in a mf hotel i swear. he takes care of your things like its his, sometimes you wake up to him reading a book you finished recently whilst drinking a hot cup of coffee on the couch. "hey, i heard you finished this. nothing bad happens in the end right?"

spoils you but spoils you like how a normal boyfriend would spoil his lover AND how a dad would spoil his daughter. one day he could be buying you a pandora necklace and the next could be him coming home with bags filled with matching pajamas and a fairy costume set for ages 3 and up. (ps, the pjs have my little pony prints on them) his excuse for the costume is -- "it says 3 and up baby. you're up, aren't you?". (im tearing up)

random slow dances at noon. with the curtains closed and a big lamp being your only source of light. its so comfortable and calming. your head laying on his shoulder as his hand stays there on your waist. both your hands intertwined as you get lost in the music playing from his phone. everything becomes quiet and suddenly its just the both of you in the world. you can only see him and he can only see you. nothing is on his mind, just you. and vice versa. you find yourself just standing there together until your legs cant handle it anymore. it always end with a nap or even a dinner date. who knows, he just loves being with his angel.

showering together, only if you're both comfortable with it ofcourse. by this i don't mean it in a sexual way like at all. he feels like its his duty to wash and scrub your hair wish the perfect amount of shampoo, and you like rub soap on each others back ㅠㅠ. then afterwards he's blow drying your hair while your taking cute little mirror selfies or putting on skincare together. this is one of the times joshua feels content. he feels more than happy when he's with you right now in moments like this. he adores it when you do his hair too. he gives you little pecks and kisses all over your face as soon as your done. (ok im gonna go cry now)

loves cooking for you. he secretly took cooking classes when you guys first started dating and now he's a five star michelin (ehe). everything in him is so curious and excited for your reaction everytime he cooks a new dish. you can find him constantly looking for new recipes for you to try. expect your stomach to never have issues ever again due to his godly cooking skills. you seriously don't know how he does it, but you let it slide as long as you're getting fed. he's super satisfied when he sees you full and tired from all the food he gave you. he always reminds you to always drink water afterwards and not to move around much. and let me confirm, he definitely has the 'kiss the chef' apron. and obviously you do kiss the chef! always. ♡

✦ ; @odetoyeonjun @stuckinmyhead5 @guavagyu @starry-mins @pearlygraysky @enhacolor @khypods @yoonzin0 @enha-choo @shadowofgyu

m.list - dino or dk is next ><

[skyteller143]

TILL DEATH DO US PART (1) • C.STURNIOLO

PARTS: 2

warnings: swearing, school😔💔

authors note: kinda shit but yk it gets better js stick around

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summary: the most popular girl in school being known as a goody-too-shoes and the captain of the schools hockey team end up sitting with each other in class, she hates him and he hates her. until one day everything changes.

but remember, not every story has a happy ending.

enjoyyy

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People wish to be popular. They wish for the crazy parties and all the “friends” that comes with it. But this makes me wonder do they wish for the secrets that are kept, do they wish for the bitchy glances that you get given simply because you walked past. do they wish for the eyes that are always on them.

But it’s clear that they don’t care about that. they care about the attention and so called fame that they desire so desperately they’d practically trade their soul for it.

it’s the first day back from summer break and i woke up at practically sunrise just to make sure that the stares aren’t as judgemental. doing my hair and makeup, picking out about 5 outfits before finding a good one. gosh sometimes i wish i could trade lives with someone who wasn’t a cheerleader and i could go to school wearing sweatpants, not worrying about being watched.

my outfit was a skimpy black skirt matched with a white crop top and a black puffy jacket. i straightened my hair and did my normal makeup.

since it was the first day back my schedule had changed meaning i was in all new classes. great.

when i got to school i met up with my best friend ivy and we caught up about what happened over the summer.

“yeah and then vacation boy asked for my snap” ivy rambled on “butttt i had to turn him down because he was like 25 but he was so fine” she giggled leaning on me a little as we stood at our lockers. Me and ivy had been friends since middle school we always had our lockers next to each other. well that was until this year.

“oh our lockers are one apart” ivy mumbled opening her locker. “huh” i looked down at the paper i had been given “oh”.

“bummer i wonder who is gonna be our locker buddy this year, maybe they could like be our new best friend!” she jumped excitedly. “yeah maybe” i laughed at her, she looked like a kid in a candy store. “ok we’ll i gotta get going meet me here at lunch” she walked backwards facing me for my reply. “yep! of course” i laughed.

i reached into my bag getting out a few books and pictures to put in my locker. when i was finished i headed to class. i sat in the back corner and put my headphones in. it’s too early for this. i made sure to sit by myself so i wouldn’t have to deal with some weirdo yapping my ear off for an hour and forty minutes. since it was the first lesson we were just meant to be meeting new people and interacting. however i already knew everyone in here so what’s the point?

about five minutes in everyone had stopped talking and the teacher was explaining what we would be doing this year when the door swung open and some boy walked in. i honestly couldn’t care less who he was so i continued jotting down notes when he sat down. next to me. i looked up to see who it was and rolled my eyes. of course the captain of the hockey team decided ‘oh yeah let’s sit right next to the only cheerleader in the room, she’ll love that.’

he huffed as he leant in his seat, crossing his arms. i looked at him to see he looked pissed off and i noticed that every other seat was full. oh.

i turned my music up and just kept to myself when he taps my shoulder. “what you listening to?” he asks. “music” i reply dryly hoping he’d just leave me alone. “no wayyy” he smirks “let me listen” he puts his hand out as if i’m a dog.

“first off, no. second off why would i share with you i don’t even know you” i rolled my eyes. “oh princess everyone knows me and you definitely do being cheer captain and all” he smirks at me. “oh yeah Chris i’m in love with you here have my airpod” i say sarcastically “oh come on just give it” he begs like a child, “i know you secretly love me” he laughs. “the only thing i know is that your ego is bigger then you dick baby” i pout at him and out my airpod back in. that shut him up.

after class i went back to my locker to meet ivy and i see that our new locker buddy is there. “hey” i call out to see who it was. “what do you want” they reply.

you’ve gotta be kidding me.

“why are you just standing there looking like an idiot, did you want something?” he asked clearly still annoyed about earlier. “no i was going to my locker” i mumble.

after about like 30 seconds of silence i speak up. “soo, this your locker?” what a stupid question.

“noo, i’m just putting my stuff in here for someone else” he reply’s sarcastically.

“jeez don’t get your titties in a twist, was just asking” i laugh slightly trying to ease some tension.

he slams his locker door and leans down so he’s closer to my face. “at least i have some” he smiles and walks away.

cunt.

——————————————————

feisty

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taglist (if you wanna be added js comment and i’ll add you): @lacysturniolo @breeloveschris

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[fandomtherapy44]

Dean x reader So American One-shot

Summary: A vague plot based off this incredible song and my love for Dean Winchester

Paring: Dean Winchester x reader

Word count: 2,011

Song: So American-Oliva Rodrigo

Divider

saradika

Drivin' on the right-side road

He says I'm pretty wearin' his clothes

And he's got hands that make Hell seem cold

Feet on the dashboard, he's like a poem I wish I wrote

I wish I wrote

Dean Winchester the guy that stole my heart and shattered my heart in the span of three months. It was my last year of high school. In the last stretch I was the top of my class. Going to Harvard, I never went out of line, always on time for curfew. My parents expected me to be perfect. So I never went out with friends or party’s I was asked out but the answer was always no. My whole goal was to get there and to continue to be perfect but then I met him.

It was the last three months of school. A normal school day with me focused on my work and my teacher announcing that we were getting a new student. All of my classmates were talking about who would join a school in the last three months. Then everyone went quiet when he walked in I wondered why so l looked up and it was the most handsome guy I had ever seen. “Uh hey my name is Dean Winchester and I'm looking forward to all the party’s for the end of senior year!” He fist bumped the air and everyone whopped and clapped in agreement but me. “Dean, why don’t you take a seat next to Y/n.” Damnit. He walks over to me with an egoist bob of his head. “Hey I’m Dean.” He held out his hand with a smirk. “I know.” “Well miss Knowitall what’s your name.” “Look dude can you leave me alone and focus on your work.” “Gesse I was just trying to be friendly.” 

Couple weeks had passed and Dean did not stop try to talk to me which got really annoying. “Hey Y/n you going to the football party this weekend?” “No” “Why?” “Because Dean I have to work on the Graduation speech.”  “Ooh you're the valedictorian smart and pretty.” I was a little too flabbergasted to respond so I just kept working as I always did.

The bell rang and I got up quickly to not have to look at Dean but my teacher had other plans. “Y/n just one minute You too Dean.” Why me!? “Yes Mr.Baker” Dean and I were now at the front. “Dean these last few weeks your grades have not been the greatest.” “Mr. Baker, what's the big deal? It's almost the end of the year.” “That’s exactly the problem Mr.Winchester if you do not pass the next test you won’t graduate.” Damn that sucks but why am I here. “Seriously!?” “Yes Seriously but I think a tutor would really help you.” Oh no no no. “That’s why I have Miss L/n here.” NO “If she is willing to take you on I think you can pass she’s top of the class.” Both of them look at me in questioning. I looked at Dean’s face and for some reason I did something I never thought I would I said yes.

That was over ten years ago I went to college and continued to be perfect but I never forgot that Damn handsome Dean Winchester. I got my dream job at the top too. I never really dated after Dean. I couldn't, I couldn't give my heart again. 

And he says I'm so American

Oh God, I'm gonna marry him

If he keeps this shit up

I might just be in lo-lo-, lo-lo-, lo-lo-, lo-lo-lo-lo-lo

“Thank you for doing this.” We were at the coffee shop early in the morning before school. “Yeah sure but you have to be committed, that means no party’s no girls…” “Hey I am going to be Mr.School I might even go above you.” “Okay Mr.school when you get more than a c then we'll talk.” I tapped his book. “Damn ok so Miss scholar has jokes.” He gave me his smile and that was the first time that my heart quicked a little bit. 

I was getting drinks with friends. The music was loud and lights blinding but I could still see him through all of that. I was sure it was him even though we were both eighteen when we last saw each other. That golden brown hair the green in his eyes looked like the sun mixed together with the tops of pine trees. The freckles dusted over his face like glitter. It didn’t matter if it had been ten years since I had seen him, I memorized every detail of him. He was chatting up some beautiful blonde woman and it was like I was back in highschool before he and I got together. 

I gave my friends an excuse that I had to work early the next morning and got up at a quick pace and shuffled my bag over my arm and I practically ran to the exit. When I entered the dance floor there were so many people that I couldn't see my footing and I tripped over my own foot. But luckily someone caught me. 

I was pacing back and forth in the hallway sweat running down my forehead looking at the clock every minute. The door opened very slowly and Dean walked out with head hung low. “Oh Dean, maybe I can talk to the teacher for you and you can retake it.” He holds up his head and brings a smile on his face. “No need cause I passed!” I paused for a second and I hit his shoulder. “Dean Wincheseter! Don’t you ever do that again!” He was laughing at my fake hits now. “OKAY okay I won’t teach now let’s go celebrate me gradienting highschool.”

I start to follow him and then think about how it’s almost eight. “Wait Dean, it's almost eight and I have curfew.” “Come on Y/n this is a big accomplishment on both of us. And you deserve it more than any of us.” He was right, I had worked my ass off. I deserve this. “Okay well if I'm going to break a rule then we are going to do it right.” “Great what’d you have in mind?”

We were on this cliff that overlooked the city that I found when I was a freshman and that was probably the last time that I was here. I looked over to Dean biting into his burger and the juice dripping down his lips and I couldn't stop thinking about… “Y/n y/n?” Dean was waving his hand in front of me. “Huh sorry.” “So how does it feel to break a rule miss perfect?” I sipped my drink to really think about his question.

“I haven't been here in years because I wanted to put my all in school work so my parents could know that their sacrifices meant something. I haven't had a damn burger in so long so I could only eat “brain food” my parents would say. I haven't breathed in the night cold air in the fear that I would get a cold. So to answer your question Dean it feels fucking amazing.” I grabbed my burger and took a huge bite. Dean looked a little shocked at that but happy too.

“Well it looks like we both taught something to each other. I’m glad I can leave you like this.” “Leave? You're leaving?” “Yeah my brother and I only went to school here while our Dad was doing … work.” “So this is kind of also a send off for me and I couldn't imagine spending it with anyone else. I just wanted to thank you for helping me.” “It was nothing really.” “No Y/n you are the first person who’s looked at me and saw more.” “Well you saw more then miss perfect.” “As I said before smart and beautiful.” At this point we had gotten closer on top of the old chevy impala and he leaned in and kissed me.

I apologize if it's a little too much, just a little too soon

But if the conversation ever were to come up

I don't wanna assume this stuff

But ain't it wrong?

I think I'm in love

I looked up and it was a very tall handsome man with shaggy brown hair. If a moose had a human from this would be him. “Are you okay?” I stopped to shake my head. “Yeah I’m fine thank you.” “Here, why don’t you sit down.” He brought me over to the bar. “Hey can I please get some water for…?” He looked at me for my name. “Y/n.” “Here you go.” “Thanks.” “No problem.” I glugged down my water. “Oh I didn't even get your name.” “It’s-” “Sam!” A voice called out from behind him. I looked up and nearly choked it.was.DEAN. I got up quickly and spilled the water all over me but that didn't matter. “Ah thank you but I got to go!” I got up and ran out. Dean came up to Sam. “Who was that huh Sammy?” Dean raised his eyebrows up and down. “No, just some girl needed help.” “What was her name?” “Y/n” “Y/n? Huh”

It was the next morning and the whole night my head was filled with sweet fluffy dreams of him and that's how I knew I woke up because it's not reality. I went to my regular coffee shop. It was the same one from those years ago. I turned with my drink in my hand and I collided with a hard chest. “AHH Im so sorry.” I grabbed napkins and started to wipe and I looked up and it was the man I had been trying to avoid. “Y/n?” “Dean Hi” I wanted the earth to swallow me. “How are you doing?’” “Good look Dean I got to-” “Go work of course well if you want to catch up I'll be in our spot tonight.” Dean walks out. And I'm left to wonder what to do.

I drove to the spot it was still abandoned as the last time we left it and just as breathtaking. I got out of my car and I saw that old chevy Impala and Dean standing there. I breath in deeply to prepare myself. “Hey.” “Hi.” “So how’s life?” He asked me. “Uh good you?” “I wish I had the same answer.” He leaned against the Impala. “That bad huh.” “You have no Idea.” “And I'm guessing you went through college being the badass you are.” He always made me laugh. “Badass I don’t know about that but yeah college you?” “Yeah, college was never really for me. I went into my dad’s business.” “Well, whatever makes you happy, but college is missing out on one of the smartest people I've ever met.” He laughs.

“Wow, that coming from miss.Scholar is huge.” “Oh, shut up.” I pushed on his shoulder. “Look I'm really sorry how we left things.” “It's okay Dean you to go.” “No, it's not I regret it every day.” “We were kids we couldn't control our situation.” “Still.” “Well, were adults now so how do you feel now after seeing each other again.” I said standing closer to him like all those years ago. “I feel like I should have held the girl tighter who changed my life closer.” “And I feel like I should have held the boy closer.” At this point we were right up against each other. And I did something I thought I never would do again. I kissed him. 

And he laughs at all my jokes

And he says I'm so American

Oh God, it's just not fair of him

To make me feel this much

I'd go anywhere he goes

And he says I'm so American

Oh God, I'm gonna marry him

If he keeps this shit up

I might just be in lo-lo-lo-lo-lo-lo-lo-lo-lo-lo-lo-love

[buckysmith]

Ramadan Special

NON BINARY READER

First disclaimer, I'm NOT a Muslim, so I use google and a lot of websites to write that headcanon, so I DEEPLY APOLOGIZE for ANY mistakes, please let me know if I did something wrong/incorrect and I'll correct it as fast as I can!

Why do I do an Ramadan special  when I'm not an Muslim? 'Cause it's only fair for my  dear friends from another religion to have the same treatment as my own religion, so cause I did an Christmas special, I'll do an Ramadan special as well.

So as a Christian I wish all my Muslim friends, a happy Ramadan, may all your duas come true this Ramadan!

Ramadan Mubarak! <3

Enjoy it D. and thank you so much for helping me with the intel <3

Oh and dear, if you're reading this, I was just as embarrassed as gromsko, much love  😂

Ghost:

- he knows that for you it is an incredibly important period, so it hurts him even more to leave you alone during this time because of his job

- if he is not in the country due to his job and has the time, he will call you just before iftar to either wish you a good evening or to be there via FaceTime

- if he is at home, he helps you during the day to prepare food for the evening so that you can have a nice time together with friends and family in the evening

- if you are not feeling well, it is not a problem for him to take over your household chores, because he has the highest respect for what you do for your faith and seeing you happy is the most important for him

- during ramadan he also keeps some distance physically so as not to tempt you

- he would even sleep in the guest room if you want it

- it is important for him not to do anything wrong and therefore he learns through you, other muslims and many books what he has to follow and what he is allowed to do and what not, which what  he can help you and so much more

- expect him to sit next to you, almost asleep just to eat suhoor at 3 AM with you

- he doesn’t give a something when you tell him that he can go to sleep early, he stays awake for you no matter what, no matter how tired he is

Soap

- as a Roman Catholic, he is familiar with fasting, however, it was a surprise to him how big the difference are

- he was a bit confused at the beginning, not knowing exactly what he could and could not do.

- when he found out that you were going to fast for a month and therefore abstain from water and food for a month, he was already panic-stricken that you would die because of the dehydration.

- however the fear subsided after you explained it to him and he felt really stupid

- if he is not at home during ramadan because of his job, he will make sure you are near your family/friends or that you can go to his family to break the fast

- he is a really good cook and his dishes are always very good, he doesn't like spicy food but he will cook anything for you, you just have to tell him what you want.

- if you are not feeling well during Ramadan, he will make sure that he can at least make your life more comfortable

- but expect him to avoid you physically like the plague itself

- he loves you too much and has too little self control to keep the relationship between you "normal" so he tries to have as little physical contact as possible, after all he doesn't want you to commit a sin or anything like that

- while you are fasting, he is also fasting while he is at home, he thinks it is unfair that only you are fasting and so he goes along with it

- but if he goes on a mission he apologizes a thousand times for not fasting as well.

Alejandro

- he is quite awkward at the beginning concerning the topic.

- México isn't a country with  many muslims and therefore he simply lacks the knowledge.

- however, it is important to him that you know that he supports you in every aspect of your life.

- accordingly he learns a lot about your religion to not look completely stupid

- but he was really awkward the first time

- he did not know what he is allowed to do and what not

- in his base there was always music playing, when he found out that you were not allowed to listen to music among other things, he made sure that as soon as you entered the base there was no music to be heard anywhere

- when he found out that you were in fact allowed to listen to music, he felt so stupid and you teased him about it endlessly

- he even arranged for you to have your own little room on the base, which looked towards Mecca, where you could pray in peace, if you ever spent a longer time on the base

- he also tried not to drink or eat in front of you, nor to say any swear words in that time

- he would also gladly do the cooking for you if it was too much for you and you needed time to rest or pray.

- he avoided physical touch with you like the plague, cause he knew himself and he wanted everything but to commit a sin

Rudy

- he is a little awkward at the beginning, in México there are not many Muslims he could have learned from, so it is new territory for him to learn more about you, your culture and religion.

- The first time he experienced Ramadan with you, he was confused why you didn't have breakfast with him in the morning as usual

- he then offered you something to drink, which you also declined

- and when you told him that you were not allowed to eat or drink anything for a month, he died inside.

- but he didn't make a face cause he didn't want  to hurt you and just nodded with a smile.

- when he went to work that day, the first person he talked to was Alejandro.

- he talked to his best friend about how unhealthy it was to not eat for a month, but he was way more worried about you not drinking anything

- three days without water was bad, but a month?! How did you survive that before?! He was sure that you must be a super  human to go a month without water.

- he came home that evening at the time you broke your fast, and was shocked to see so much delicious food

- that confused him, he thought you were not allowed to eat and drink anything?

- after you explained it to him he understood and at the same time was so incredibly relieved and ashamed

- he also keeps his distance during Ramadan and the most you might get is a kiss on the cheek if you don't allow him to give you more attention

- but as soon as Ramadan is over he makes up for all the attention he missed during that month.

Price:

- he has traveled a lot in his life, got to know many people and many religions and is accordingly enlightened

- especially because his "adopted daughter" Farah is muslim herself

- he tries to be with you during this time, but his job doesn't allow that most of the time, so he at least tries to call you or write you an sms

- if he can't make it at all, he records a video and sends it to you so that he can be there too

- but if he is at home, he does it for you out of solidarity, because he was once not allowed to eat solid food for two weeks and was so mad at everyone who ate in front of him

- he even gives up smoking, which is incredibly difficult for him, but nothing is too hard for him when it's for you

- he is also an incredibly good cook, so you are not alone in preparing food for your whole family and believe me, even your family loves his food

- the hardest thing for him though was to avoid physical contact, because his mind quickly darts to something else and he knew yours was too, so he kept his distance.... Unless you allowed him that certain something after sunset.

Laswell:

- She has several friends who are Muslims, so it's not new territory

- she has already celebrated iftar with all of them, helped her friends to cook and is really good at it

- when you cooked together for the first time during Ramadan, you always let her taste the food to know if there was anything missing in the spices

- for that you had cooked all the dishes you would cook during Ramadan before it so she knew what they should taste like

- she also tried to avoid eating or drinking in front of you and also stopped smoking in front of you

- for her the worst thing was not to have as much physical contact with you as before, but she knew how fast your mind was elsewhere and she did not want you to break your fast because of her

Valeria

- she did not care much for religion, neither for her own nor for any of the others

- for her religion was only the strongest means to oppress people, because it threatened consequences after death and put pressure on people during their lifetime

- she saw it as the perfect means to control people the way you wanted to

- however, she knew that you were faithful to your religion and that it was important to you, which she did not understand, but she accepted it for you

- she also made sure that you had a quiet place in her villa where you could pray in peace

- the principle of fasting was not really understandable to her but it did not make much difference to her since you usually ate something after sunset anyway

- although she is not a fan of religion, she still tries to be there for you and support you

- what really annoys her is that she has to stay physically at a distance

König

- a few of his old colleagues were Muslims, which is why he partly noticed it, but other religions did not interest him very much

- his religion was more than enough for him, he didn't need to know anything about others, after all his was already too much for him!

- However, this changes when you told him about your religion, explained it to him and why you are fasting and all the other things.

- he listens to you attentively and tries to remember as much of it as possible

- he has the highest respect for you that you manage not to drink or eat anything during the day for a month, he had tried it for five days

- the food had been an easy one, he had had many missions where he had no food for a long time, but drinking had been the problem for him

- he could not do without water during the day

- the worst thing for him was that when he was at home he couldn't have that much physical contact with you anymore

- but after Ramadan he will make up for all the physical contact he missed, so be prepared.

Makarov

- for him religion is only a means to legally oppress people to make them compliant without getting violent

- he likes the principle of religion itself, because in his opinion it makes people stick to something for centuries

- For him, it's the same thing he did to people

- when you told him that you were going to fast, he was confused and didn't really understand

- you had to explain it to him and you could see in his face that he was not the biggest fan of it

- according to him it was just impossible to know if you had time to eat at night, after all you lived with him

- however, when he saw that it hurt you the way he treated your religion, he made sure that you could fully concentrate on your religion during this time

- he tries to support you in his own way, which may not always be correct but he tries his best

Gromsko

- he himself had a few colleagues who were Muslims and with whom he celebrated iftar, but only when you lived with him did he really realize what it actually meant

- he made you a Ramadan calendar like you made him an Advent calendar at Christmas

- he filled it with things he knew you would like, different sweets and a lot of other stuff

- he also helped you with cooking or did all the housework when you were not feeling well

- he also helped you cook and prepare for breaking the fast

- he found out of his own that you were not allowed to listen to music, he made sure that there wasn’t music playing anywhere

- that confused you, cause he was always listing to some Taylor swift song and when you asked him about it he told you confused himself that you weren’t allowed to listen to music, which made you giggle

- you told him that you were allowed to listen to it, but that you had to avoid it a bit, to focus more on praying and your religion

- he was SOO embarrassed that he had misunderstood it

- he helped and supported you wherever he could

[dyns33]

The Ruby

Morpheus x Female reader 

Happy valentine day in advance for everyone, taken or single. 

The ruby was on a bench, in the middle of a park, as if someone had left it there for Y/N to find.

Or that someone just lost it, since Y/N didn't believe in destiny or that sort of thing.

There was a strange light when she took the ruby, but she thought it must be the sun. Then, as she walked home, she wondered if she should take it to the police, to make sure the owner wasn't looking for it everywhere.

     "No. Keep me with you. I want to stay with you."

That little voice in her head should have scared her, but Y/N was too tired to think straight. Ever since she was born, the world had suffered from the sleeping sickness, and she had been no exception.

She managed to fall asleep, sometimes, and she was lucky to always wake up, but her sleep was not calm, not restful, and these nights were terribly agitated by nightmares.

So she took the ruby home, laying it by her bed and watching it before falling asleep.

Y/N had never had such a magnificent object, and she thought that she would never dare to wear it, for fear of breaking it, losing it or having it stolen. It was fine in her bedroom, where she could admire it before she closed her eyes for several hours, and it  would the first thing she would see when she woke up.

The first night with the ruby was the best night of her life. She slept for nine hours, without interruption, without nightmares, without the slightest problem. Even though she didn't believe in destiny and that sort of thing, she considered the ruby to be a lucky charm, which she kissed when she got up.

     "Thank you for this good night." she said before going to wash up and get ready for her long day.

It became a ritual. She spokea bit to the ruby, because it seemed stupid, but she wished it a good night in the evening, she said hello to it when she woke up, and above all she thanked it for having watched over her during her sleep.

Because for several months, her nights were all perfect. She even started having dreams. In any case, what she had imagined as good dreams. Never having had a good dream, she had been daydreaming since her childhood, soaking up books, films, music, to forget the cruelty of the world, and those equally painful nights.

Now she had the chance to dream for real. Which seemed unfair, because the rest of the world continued to suffer from the sleeping sickness.

To tell the truth, she hadn't really asked for sweet dreams, and no doubt it offered them to her in thanks, for not having abandoned it on the bench. So she thanked the ruby for all that, without ever asking anything else. Sometimes she felt like a small voice was answering her, but she wasn't paying attention.

This lasted, until its rightful owner appeared in her living room, in a whirlwind of sand.

     "Y/N Y/L/N, you have in your possession something that belongs to me that was stolen and then lost."

     "... What ?" was the only thing she managed to utter, as she hid behind her couch.

     "Hmm. I see you haven't used it. Not really. Surprisingly, most mortals would have taken its power to make their dreams come true, but you... You only asked for access to my kingdom, not to rule it, but to sleep normally, like before I was imprisoned."

     "I don't understand at all what you are talking about."

Without saying a word, the dark stranger went into the bedroom, approaching the ruby, which he touched with one of his long white fingers. But he didn't take it.

     "I see. Don't you recognize me ? I am your master. Yes, I understand. She treated you well, didn't corrupt you and fed you her dreams, but it's time to go home."

     "The ruby... It's yours ?" Y/N asked shyly while standing near the door.

     "Yes. Part of me, part of my power. It seems to have attached itself to you. Will you give it to me, or will you fight to keep it ? I'm warning you, I just punished nightmares to get my sand, and I I fought Lucifer in the Underworld for my helmet, you can't do anything against me."

     "Oh. No, no, if that's your ruby, you can take it. I didn't know... I'm sorry."

     "Hmm. Yes, I can see. No, you can't stay with her, I need you to rebuild my kingdom. Very well. Y/N Y/L/N, thank you for your kindness and your intelligence. As a reward, you will continue to have calm and sweet nights."

Before she could answer, he was gone, taking the ruby with him. Y/N thought she had a dream, but the absence of her lucky charm forced her to admit that something weird had happened.

The sleeping sickness abruptly ceased, but as the stranger had promised, she had no more nightmares, ever.

Y/N didn't think she would ever see him and his ruby again.

Then, when she was sure she had fallen asleep in her bed, she opened her eyes in a cold, damp place, in the company of a raven, which began to speak after jumping up and turning towards her.

     "Boss ? No, you're not the boss. But you have his ruby ! Thief !"

     "What ? Boss ? His ruby ? No, I haven't..." Y/N said before feeling a weight on hier chest and discovering the ruby hanging from her neck. "... How ? I don't understand, I gave it back to that funny guy."

     "Dream of the Endless is not a funny guy. Well, okay, he's not good with people and he can be a little scary, but show some respect !"

     "Dream, is that his name ?"

     "You don't listen much, do you ?" sighed the raven. "So you're the human who found the ruby and gave it back to the boss ? Weird. He's supposed to come here for a fight, against a demon. Again. It's a verbal game, but that's quite violent. I don't understand why you're here, they said the master of the... Oh. Ooooooh."

     "Ooooooh, what ?"

     "He said the ruby wanted to stay with you. It seems like he still considers you its master, and so… You're the one who has to face the demon. Shit."

     "Shit, indeed. This is my first nightmare in weeks and it's really weird."

The little raven continued to speak to her, repeating that it was not a nightmare, that it was real, that it was dangerous and that she could die if she was not careful, but Y/N no longer heard him, touching the ruby and watching it closely, its blush reflecting in her eyes and the voice whispering in her head that everything would be fine, he wouldn't let anyone hurt her, he was happy to see her again, he had missed her.

     "You don't listen to me at all." muttered the raven, landing on her shoulder. "Just like the boss."

     "What? Oh, sorry. I think it's talking to me. But that's impossible, it's a ruby."

     “It's not just a ruby, it's Lord Morpheus's ruby. He put a part of himself and his powers into this artifact, and so he's sentient. And I think he likes you."

Not knowing what to make of this information, Y/N simply nodded, looking back at the sparkling ruby.

A frightening noise then echoed in the cave, indicating that the demon was waiting for them, for his famous fight. Except Y/N wasn't a fighter, even with words. She had no chance of winning.

     "I can try to go get the boss. Or say there was a mistake and the fight needs to be postponed." proposed the raven. "But I don't think that's possible, and if you lose, not only will you die, but the Dreaming will be lost."

     "I’m scared."

     "I know. I'm sorry."

     "Thank you, little raven."

     "Matthew. My name is Matthew, I'm not little, and I will stay with you. Everything will be fine. You have to have hope, nothing can kill hope."

Except that the demon was truly the ugliest, scariest creature Y/N had ever had, and even with the ruby whispering reassuring words in her mind, and Matthew trying to help her with answers, she ended up on her knees, crying, moaning and trying to catch her breath.

     "It'll be OK." repeated Matthew who didn't seem to believe what he was saying at all. "He said he was the Sun. There are plenty of things to beat the sun, like sunscreen, or an umbrella !"

     "I am tired..."

     “No, we have to fight !"

     "My love. Leave it to me. Don't be afraid."

     "Yes, alright."

     "I'll miss you."

A strange, but pleasant, loving warmth then took hold of her whole being and Y/N suddenly stood up, stopping to breathe for a few seconds, while her eyes went black and her voice changed.

     "I am Time." growled the voice from the back of her throat. "First creation of the creator, father of the beings of this world, and passing for everything, even you, warm, tiny, dull sun, who was not when I arrived, and who will not be after I'm gone, from dust to nothingness, and nothing more, nothing, ever, always, ME ! Because there is only me to move the universe, to give birth and death, and nothing, nothing can stop me !"

Seeming to be scared, seeing that he could not answer, the demon began to tremble with rage, before throwing himself on Y/N with a blade, probably thinking that if he killed her, he would win unworthily.

The ruby then began to glow, vibrating, before emitting a shrill sound and glowing, pushing the creature back and sending it far, far away, into a nightmare world.

As Y/N coughed and tried to come to her senses, the raven let out a cross before curtsying.

     "Boss... She won ! But she's in bad shape, and... Your ruby... I don't have good news."

     "I know, Matthew. I felt it, I felt that part of me coming back. I had forgotten all that I had put in this ruby, and I did not know what had been born there. Breathe, Y/N Y/L/N. Be proud of your victory."

     "It's not my victory." she said harshly, rubbing her throat.

     "Maybe not. But I would never have dared to mention my father's name, and Destiny had warned me, saying that I couldn't win this battle, only the master of the ruby could. He was talking about you, who took and cherished it, asking nothing of it and returning it to me without hesitation. I understand why he loved you. I feel what he felt. My love, it is time for you to return home. The power of my ruby was not for mortals, you must be exhausted. I promised you quiet nights, forgive me for this. I won't let anything happen to you again, I swear."

Y/N felt lips land on her forehead, and when she opened her eyes again, she was in her bed, as if nothing had happened. So a dream. A simple nightmare with a beautiful ending.

Turning her head, she saw that the ruby was still gone, and sadly she got up to go shower, have breakfast and follow her day.

But as she was making tea, she heard a tapping against her window. It was strange to see a raven staring at her, tapping again when she didn't approach and continuing until she opened.

     "Hi kid."

      "... Hello. Matthew ?"

     "You remember me, cool. The boss said you might not remember, humans forget things sometimes. You okay ? I was worried, wanted to check on you. The boss said that was fine, but he didn't seem sure. I think he's worried too. And that he misses you. He was already intrigued when he met you, but now that he has the feelings of his ruby, he has eyes that sparkle and he's smiling. That's a bit scary. I think he likes you. Anyway. You're really okay ?"

     "I believe so. Was it real ?"

     "Yes, I told you, but you weren't listening to me."

      "And the man... Dream... You say he likes me ?"

     "You cared for his ruby, you're close to his kingdom, you're kinda cute, you fought on his behalf, and his ruby now destroyed to protect you was obviously head over heels in love with you. Yes, he likes you. More than likes. I'm new, I've never seen him in love, but Lucienne and Mervyn say it doesn't bode well for us. Be careful. Maybe everything will be fine, maybe not, only Destin knows, and he won't let me read his stupid book. Selfish."

After more or less stealing a cookie from her, Matthew walked away, leaving her with more questions than answers, and feeling like she was losing her mind. But Y/N finished her tea, spent her day normally, and went to bed like every night.

The only difference was that she turned to the window, watching the starry sky, and whispering goodnight as she did with the ruby.

And in the dark, as she drifted off to sleep, she heard a voice answer her.

     "Good night my love. I'm waiting for you."