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dreamescapeswriting · 4 years

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BTS Reaction || He’s Your Older Brother and You Faint [Request]

A/N: Hope this is okay, I know you said award shows but I wanted to try and make them all different so I hope it’s okay!!

Seokjin:

Practising had taken over everything in your life for the last two weeks straight, you'd done nothing but eat, sleep and breath for practise and you finally felt like you were ready and that your group was ready.

"You look a little sick, you okay?" Your older brother Jin questioned when he came to see you backstage,

"I'm perfect." You told him and it was the truth, you were fine or at least, you felt fine.

"You ready?" A stage manager asked poking her head into your changing room, you took the microphone with your name on the front and went out to meet Hyunjin from stray kids. You were both presenting the MCountdown show and you had four performances to do as well during the show while Hyunjin had three you wondered how he and his members did it so much.

The greetings had gone by fine, so had the first three interviews and the first two of your performances were fine but as time went on you were starting to feel the effects of the lighting, lack of hydration and the constant feeling of being tired.

"Y/n I think you should wait, maybe have a drink or something," Hyunjin said as he watched you stumble towards the performance stage your legs were starting to feel like Bambi on ice but you knew that you had to push yourself through it, you were just a little tired that was all.

"Maybe we should stop and let someone else go first-" Your second in command said as she saw you walking towards her, you shook your head and assure them that you were fine and it was just a small headache you had.

"Next up we have Lovestruck!" The music started and you plastered the usually bright and happy smile across your face before singing the opening lines to your song. Jin watched nervously from the side of the stage, Hyunjin had gone to get him after the first performance when he saw you stumble and Jin agreed that he was worried about you as well, you glanced over at them for a second and then back to to the crowd. Your heel slipped and you stumbled down falling onto your knees and hissing as you scraped your knee along the floor before hitting your head on the side of the stage.

"Y/N!" Your maknae screamed out rushing to your side but you were already out cold before she got to you.

(X)

Jin stared at you as you woke up in the hospital bed, your hand raced to your head as the throbbing was making your eyes hurt.

"You told me you were getting enough rest-"

"Jin I know and I was but-"

"You told me that you could handle this life."

"I can Jin will you just let me explain-"

"Explain what?! How you passed out on live TV and are now sitting in a hospital bed being given fluids through a drip." You had no answer for him so you just stared at the bedsheets and then to him wondering what to say to him to make this easier on you.

"You told me that you could manage this Y/n, maybe this idol life is too much for you and you went into it all too quickly..."

"Too quickly?! Jin I've been training for seven years, I've had one slip up and it'll never happen again. I'm ready for this, we're ready for this and I know I let them all down but it will never happen again." He sighed looking at you as your frantically begged him to continue letting you do this, not that he would have a say in you being fired or let go from your group but he still had a big advantage since he'd been with your boss longer.

"You have one last chance and then I'm talking to Bang PD...You have to look after yourself." You nodded and he sighed looking at you as you relaxed back against the bed staring at your leg which was in a leg brace.

"You haven't broken anything, they put it on to try and keep it straight while you slept." You sighed in relief and laid your head back against the pillows behind you.

"I'll come and stay at your dorms for a couple of days to make sure you're resting and your members are looking after you." You scoffed at him knowing that wasn't the real reason he wanted to go and stay with you,

"You just want to stay because you're in looooveeee with our Maknae." You teased making his ears turn a bright red colour as he thought about her,

"Shut up." He grumbled going to get you something to eat from the cafe that was down in the entrance of the hospital.

Yoongi:

Your notes were all jumbled around in your hands to say you were nervous would be an understatement. You were about to go out in front of a lot of people and you were used to crowds and thousands of people looking at you, but they were usually your fans and not other idols who would be judging you as an idol from the moment you stepped out on stage.

"Please help me in Welcoming Min Y/N to the stage." Everyone in the venue began clapping and you walked out onto the stage smiling at people in the front row scanning them to find your older brother who was smiling at you to try and send you positive vibes.

"Hi! Sorry I'm a little nervous, as some of you know I'm new to the idol scene and I learnt everything but speeches from my older brother." Some of them laughed while others awkwardly waiting for you to continue on with the speech,

"Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who helped me achieve this award, thank you, mum, dad, Yoongi and my fans gosh you guys have been nothing but amazing to me from the very start." You began tearing up when you looked around, no one was looking impressed by your speech except Yoongi and the boys but it was doing nothing for your confidence.

"I erm...I wanted to just take a minute to talk about my boss as well, we all know she started this company on her own and I just think she's erm-" The lights seemed to be getting brighter and you could have sworn you heard someone laughing so you tried to focus on something else to distract you, your eyes began dancing around the arena to look but you found nothing that would work and you began to panic. Your heart started racing and Yoongi locked eyes with you knowing what was happening and you stepped backwards from the stage and Yoongi watched as you fell limp and people screamed.

"Y/n?!" He yelled sprinting out of the crowd and trying to get to the stage but you were being surrounded by medics all trying to do their job and make sure you were okay.

"Y/n!" He screamed out jumping to see over the shoulders of security who were trying to keep photographers back away from you.

"Yoong this way!" Hoseok yelled pointing to another part he could get through to get to you.

(X)

"Yoongi?" You whimpered as you woke up in his dorm bedroom, you'd spent a lot of your training years staying with him whenever you couldn't go back to your own dorm when other girls were there.

"You passed out, how are you feeling?" He questioned putting down a cup of hot chocolate on the bedside table and sat down beside you on the bed wrapping his arms around your shoulder as you sat up with your back against his headboard.

"I feel awful, my head hurts and my back?" He nodded explaining what had happened and why your back was hurting since you passed out you'd hit the stage floor hard.

"God, I must have looked like a real idiot." You groaned hiding your face in your hands and that was when he caught on to why you'd passed out.

"You fainted out of nerves didn't you, I told you to come to me if you weren't sure..." You stared down at your hands and nervously played with the sheets on the bed,

"I wanted to be able to do something without the help of my older brother...I guess I wanted to be a grown-up." He sighed pulling your head to rest on his shoulder and began talking to you about everything your new idol life was going to bring you,

"You just have to take it easy with things like this, don't push yourself too hard or you'll break like you did today...On the plus side your sales have increased since the fall went out online." You groaned as he teased you as only an older brother would and he laughed as you tried to hide under the sheets to get away from him.

Hoseok:

All of your members knew you hadn't been sleeping lately and it wasn't through lack of trying. Your insomnia had decided to make a return on the week of one of your biggest comeback seasons, you were performing at different shows, countdowns and doing variety shows.

"You should call Hoseok, maybe he can help with some tips?" Your maknae said when you walked into the room for the Running Man show, the set was empty except for your members and a couple of camera crewmen. You were all getting ready to film for the day and then head to a show right after to get some practising in before the big show.

"I'm fine. Hobi is busy anyway, I haven't been able to talk to him all week." You'd tried to talk to your older brother but you knew it was his comeback season as well and he was doing his best to keep up with their busy schedules.

"Morning ladies!" The producer said as he walked onto the set greeting you all and introducing himself,

"Today we'll be filming a collaborative episode and you'll be working with Y/n's brother and his band members." Your eyes followed to where the producer had been pointing and all of the exhaustion you had been feeling melted away at the sight of your older brother who was holding his arms open for you, you took off in a sprint jumping into his arms and smiling.

"I missed you!" You laughed as he span you around in the air before placing you down on the ground so you could hug the rest of the guys before returning to set.

"Battle of the Bands type of episode today, you'll be doing a dance-off, sing-off, rap off and then you'll give us a secret talent that you all have." The producer explained looking at the time before around the studio, the show would be starting in half an hour so you all had time to catch up or practice that you were going to be doing for the talent portion of the show.

"You better watch out Hobi, she's been practising her gymnastic routines." Your maknae teased Hoseok who laughed while staring at you, he noticed that you were staring into space and he knew it was one of the first signs of you not getting much sleep.

"How are you doing? You keeping up with schedules?" You snapped out of the daydream and nodded at him,

"Yeah, I just- I need to go and get something to drink." You lied quickly making an exit and going to find a vending machine to stand next to. You leant against the cold metal and closed your eyes trying to relax, the lack of sleep was starting to make your head hurt and you were feeling more and more tired as the time passed.

(X)

Hoseok poked your cheek until you woke up and you groaned pulling your hands to cover your eyes when you shot up and looked around.

"Shit, shit, shit." You raced to get out of the bed but Hoseok pulled you back and sat you down under the sheets. You looked down at your outfit and noticed you were still dressed in the school uniform for Running man.

"Hoseok I need to go, I have to perform for the show and then we have dance practice and then-"

"You haven't been sleeping, you barely eat anything and when you do it's nothing healthy I thought you said you were handling this and that you could do this lifestyle." You suddenly felt like a teenager getting in trouble by their father and you looked down at your hands, you were shaking from the lack of good food in your system and he handed you a fizzy drink.

"Get your sugar levels back up and then we're going to eat," He told you not wanting to hear anything else about it,

"Hobi I have practice tonight-"

"No you don't, you missed it. You've been asleep for the last 24 hours Y/n. Waking up to go to the toilet before passing out back to sleep." Your mouth fell open as he told you this and you looked at him, he looked worried about you and he groaned.

"I haven't told mum and dad yet I think they should hear it from you but you have to promise me that you'll start looking after yourself. You can't keep pushing too hard, you'll snap." You knew he was right so you sat back against the headboard and drank the drink he'd given you.

"Where are we going to eat?" He smiled softly at you before naming a bunch of places he'd seen on the way to your dorms.

Namjoon:

"How many times do I have to repeat this!?" Your leader yelled making you and the Maknae flinch as she began barking out orders for you and the maknae to get the newest dance moves right. You were performing at the grammy's which was a huge deal but instead of going with the regular routine with the song you were going to be singing your leader and choreographer had decided to throw in a whole new dance routine two days before you were to go on the stage and now was the final practise and you were still failing it.

"I've been at it for two days straight, I can't help it if it's wrong Mieko." She came closer to you and stared you in the eyes, you'd been awake for almost two days straight with the odd hour or two naps that you managed to get when you weren't breaking your neck to try and get her new dance perfect. It was her new dancer, after all, it was to showcase her the most since your managers and the group felt that she should always be front and centre of everything.

"Look, I won't cut you some slack just because you're Namjoon's little sister." She hissed at you before storming off backstage, Namjoon had seen the whole interaction but hadn't heard a single thing that was being said to you,

"Everything okay?" Namjoon questioned walking over and looking at you, you nodded faking a smile and throwing your arms around him and whispering him a good luck message. They were up for four grammies and you knew they were going to win,

"You look tired." You shook your head looking over at the maknae and feeling bad that she was still getting it bad from the leader as well.

"Practise, I'll see you tonight." He hugged you goodbye and you went over to your maknae helping her get her positioning right and then moving on to your own.

The performance was almost over and everyone was nailing it, the crowd were loving it and you could see how proud Namjoon was since he was all over the screens behind you, you were pushing through the headache you had due to the lack of sleep and you were doing your best to keep the dance steady when the room started to spin and you couldn't remember the next move.

"Y/n, what are you doing?" The maknae whispered but you stumbled over hitting the floor at the back of the group as you passed out.

(X)

"You're such a fucking idiot, you messed up on there! You're just lucky no one missed you or saw what happened." You leader barked at you backstage, the medic who was seeing to you stayed silent as she applied a cold patch to your neck where there was a pain.

"Excuse me but I would prefer it if you didn't talk to my sister that way," You looked over to see Namjoon standing there looking at you, his eyes fueled with anger as he looked at your leader.

"You're supposed to be the leader, you're supposed to look after them and guide them not scream at them for something that is out of control...No, actually, let me change that. Something that isn't her fault but your own." She stayed silent not knowing what to say to him,

"She passed out because she's done nothing but practice for the last two days straight, had about four hours sleep and barely ate anything so she could get this right for you and you treat her like this?!" His jaw clenched and you knew he was getting angrier to longer she stood there without saying anything,

"Namjoon, leave it." She left the room and Namjoon came to sit down next to you and question you on why you hadn't told him any of this was happening,

"How did you know it was happening," The door pushed open and your maknae stood there shyly looking at you before walking inside to check that you were okay.

"I'm going to find your manager, stay here and make sure she rests up." You rolled your eyes as he still treated you like a little girl, he kissed the top of your head before going back into scary overprotective older brother mode.

Jimin:

"You sure you're okay? You fell down and I'm not sure-" You shot a look at your band member who took the hint and fell silent looking out at the crowd full of people you would be performing in front of, you'd been practising all week with your band since you were an Idol just like your older brother Jimin.

"He's sitting in the front row." Your member giggled turning to make sure that you could see him through the gap in the curtain, your sent her a fake smile and looked around counting all 12 members to make sure they were ready to go on.

"Places." You whispered fixing your headset onto your head and going out to stand in your starting positions, the throbbing in your head was starting to get uncomfortable but you didn't care. This was one of the biggest performances of your careers and you wanted to do this for your team you felt that since you were the leader you weren't allowed to let them down,

"You really don't look well Y/n-" She was cut off when the backing track to the number you were going to sing came on and the curtains began lifting up. Jimin waved from the front row and you sent him a small smile doing your best to push through the pounding in your head and to focus on your lyrics and steps but it was as if the headache was getting worse and the small pounding and throbbing began turning into a man smacking you in the head with a hammer, it was starting to drown out the music in your headset. All of your members looked at you worriedly when you missed one of your lyrics but you faked a laugh continuing to dance through the pain that was coming from your head. The big lift was coming up were three of your members stood on the knees of two other members holding you in the air for a big finish, you'd managed to hold it out until being up in the air like that made your eyes roll back and your head spin.

"Y/n?!" Someone cried out when they saw you falling backwards from your member's knees hitting the floor, the music cut off and the rest of your members all came to check on your while they waited for a first aider to come onto the stage.

(X)

"What happened?! Why did she pass out?!" You heard your brothers panicked voice ask from outside the changing room door, no doubt talking to the doctor that had just come in to tell you that you were on bed rest for the next week.

"Jimin I'm fine, I just have a concussion," You grunted trying to get off the sofa but he was sitting you back down and turning your head slowly so he could look you in the eyes.

"What are you doing performing when you hurt your head earlier?! You can't do stupid things like this y/n-"

"Excuse me? I can do whatever I want to Jimin, the last time I checked you were my brother not my mother or my manager." He sat back a little shocked that you would speak to him like that and you bent over to reach for the glass of water, your head was still hurting despite being given painkillers to ease it down.

"You should have told someone you were in pain..." You looked down at the blanket that was covering you and then to Jimin who was staring at you with a worried expression.

"Is this life too much for you? Are you working too hard?" You shook your head knowing that you shouldn't have gone out there when you were injured,

"I didn't want to let the other girls down, we've been training so hard and we've come all this way-" He pulled you into his chest slowly so he wouldn't hurt you and began rubbing your arms as you let out silent tears.

"I feel like such a bad leader for doing this, I passed out on stage Jimin we're never going to get another chance like that-"

"Stop it, right now." You sniffled and he sighed, he knew how hard you had been working to become your own person instead of Park Jimin's younger sister and it was working. You and your group were becoming famous for your talent and not for your relative.

"You'll get another chance, I'm sure of it Y/n but in the meantime, you have to take care of yourself. Putting yourself back and pushing yourself too hard isn't going to make it any easier for them either." You knew he was right and you hated the fact that he was right because he would hold it over your head at a later date when you were feeling better.

"A week off, what am I supposed to do for a week?" He rolled his eyes at you playfully and wrapped his arm around your shoulder,

"Hang out with your awesome older brother?" You played dumb, looking around the room before back at Jimin,

"I didn't know Jihyun was here," He glared at you playfully before shaking his head at you and telling you that he would look after you for the next week along with the rest of the boys and your members which didn't fill you with the hope that he had intended it would.

Taehyung:

Nervous wasn't the word you would use to describe what you were. You were beyond nervous, anxious or anything else under that description and everyone in your group could tell. You were about to go out and give a huge speech about your group since you were new and it was your debut show but it was harder than you had expected it to me. You didn't know there were going to be so many people out in the crowd and you had no idea that they were going to invite your family and your older brother Tae who was waiting front row and centre so he could watch his younger sister wow everyone with her talent. Your breathing was starting to get rough as though you'd just finished a 8K run and your name was being called out followed by clapping and it was as if the world was starting to fade away and become distant.

"Go." Your maknae giggled pushing you out onto the stage where you joined one of the presenters who started introducing you and then turned to look at you but you hadn't heard the question. Your head was spinning from the night lights and the outfit was starting to feel tight on your skin,

"Sorry I'm just stunned," You lied. Taehyung caught on to what was happening right away and told Namjoon to move so he could get out and head backstage. The questions kept coming but you kept fading in and out until you felt your breathing quicken and your heartrate pickup, the present took hold of your hand telling you it was okay but you shook your head eyes filled to the brim with tears as the panic attack came on.

"Can I get some help please?!" The cameras were cut and the curtains drew shut but not right before everyone got footage of you passing out.

(X)

The maknae had just finished telling you about what happened after you passed out when Taehyung came into the room holding up a bottle of water and a muffin,

"I thought you could use something to eat after passing out." The maknae left the room and you groaned holding your hands over your face and whimpering to Taehyung about how you'd messed up.

"I thought you said you had it in the bag?" You groaned hearing the words come from his mouth and you looked down at the muffin picking bits off and putting them into your mouth.

"I did- I do, I just had a panic attack...I haven't been sleeping great and I guess I skipped a few meals by accident trying to make sure the girls were ready." He knew all too well the stresses of trying to stay on top of everything while trying to take care of yourself so he said nothing. He just sat down beside you and tried to give you tips on how he knew Namjoon coped with it all.

"They're all so much younger than me and they all look up to me, it's just hard I guess." You were in a group full of 21 other girls all younger than you by a landslide and you were sure you were labelled the grandma of the group and not just because of your age but because you literally acting like a grandmother towards them sometimes.

"We'll look into getting you some more help with them, but managing 21 girls y/n...that's amazing and I'm proud of what you've done with them so far." You smiled softly and he kissed your temple knowing there was nothing he could say to you right now to make you feel any better about what was happening.

"Just eat this and Namjoon said you can come back to the dorms for something to eat-"

"No thank you, if Namjoon is cooking I'll take my chances at my dorm with the food." You giggled making Tae poke you in the rib before going to find Namjoon and the rest of the boys to finish watching the other groups debut.

Jungkook:

"Join us back after the break when we'll have BTS, Stray Kids, GOT7, Ateez and Twice back with us!" You said into the camera smiling and doing the God's Menu dance that you were being told to do by producers.

"Clear!" You and Hyunjin bowed to one another before you walked off backstage to stand in front of the mini fans that you needed to cool you off. Normally the lighting wasn't an issue but you were presenting today and wearing a huge costume that felt as though you were wearing a giant coat in the middle of a boiling summer day.

"How's it going?!" Jungkook asked making you jump out of your skin as he appeared beside you with a giant smile on his face,

"Great, just a little too hot." You laughed looking at him and then to the rest of the members who were all greeting you,

"You're doing amazing, just remember to breath and here," Jungkook handed you a bottle of water before walking back to their places while your name was being called. You put the bottle down not having time to drink it yet, a stylist patted your face and you went back to stand in front of the camera.

"Welcome back! First, we have Twice performing their new single more & more, after that BTS will be singing us their new song Your Eyes tell," You smiled at Hyunjin who there introduced what he would be singing and the other groups but when he turned back to you you suddenly felt faint and he could tell something was wrong so he took over your lines for you.

"Let's give it up for Twice!" The camera moved away from you and you stumbled backwards gripping onto Hyunjin for support who helped walk you off the stage while Twice tried not to look worried for you. Over your years of being an idol and presenter for Mcountdown, you'd gotten close with all of the idols that went there.

"Y/n, look at me," Jungkook said but it sounded as though he was further away then he was and you couldn't focus on him at all.

(X)

When you woke up you were surrounded by people all staring at you,

"Hello?" You asked sitting up and looking at Jungkook who was staring at you worryingly,

"She's alright, everyone clear out!" You heard another voice yell and you were left alone with Jungkook who handed you water and food watching you to make sure you ate them.

"You feeling okay?" You nodded but he stared at you trying to decipher if it was a lie or not but you didn't even know yourself.

"What's going on in that head of yours?" You looked down at the apple in your hand before biting into it trying to distract yourself from the question.

"Y/n." He warned and you shrugged your shoulders swallowing the lump of apple and sighing,

"I've been pushing myself too hard I guess, with presenting, performing and then my manger just set me up with another show to present and I guess it's too much? I thought I could handle it all and this is my bodies way of telling me I can't." He hummed nodding and sitting back.

"I was just going to say you weren't hydrated enough but your idea sounds better...this is why you should have been the older sibling." You giggled at him and he sighed wrapping his arm around your shoulder and shuffled closer to you, you'd always been super close and he was always kind to you.

"Just take it easy, cancel on the second show no one will hate you for it and relax." You nodded and he got up from the sofa and walked towards the door since he still had to go on and perform their song

Tagline:

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tsrookie · 4 years

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Alright, so today’s the three-year anniversary of Reputation a.k.a the greatest album of all time, my baby, the light of my life, the album that deserved a Grammy (trying desperately not to think about the scene from Miss Americana😭), the album that introduced us to the most beautiful couple ever, the album that shut Kimye up, and I better stop now, or else I’m not gonna shut up.

So in honour of this momentous occasion (and the fact that I reached 200+ followers! Thank you so much you guys!🥺 Love you all 3000💙), here’s a loooooong post on why Reputation is the Ethan and MC album.

1. ...Ready For It?

No one has to know

Throwback to MC saying the exact same words back in Miami.

In the middle of the night, in my dreams

You should see the things we do, baby, mmm

In the middle of the night, in my dreams

I know I'm gonna be with you

So I take my time

Remember back when MC asked for Ethan to get into bed right away during their first time? Ethan told them that he had dreamt about the moment for months, so he wasn’t going to rush it.

2. End Game

Big reputation, big reputation

Ooh you and me would be a big conversation

These two dating would be the talk of the hospital, and they know it.

Even when we'd argue, we don't do it for long

And you understand the good and bad, end up in the song

For all your beautiful traits, and the way you do it with ease

For all my flaws, paranoia, and insecurities

Think these lines are pretty self-explanatory😌

I hit you like bang

We tried to forget it, but we just couldn't

*gets war flashbacks of the ‘reset’ phase*😭 They tried to make it work, but we all know how Ch 8 of book 2 went😌

I swear I don't love the drama, it loves me

Perfect for our chaotic MC😌

3. Don’t Blame Me

Do I... really have to explain this one?

For you, I would cross the line

I would waste my time

I would lose my mind

They say she's gone too far this time

Do we need a recap of our rule-breaking MC?

And baby, for you, I would fall from grace

Just to touch your face

If you walk away

I'd beg you on my knees to stay

He was willing to risk his (mostly) rule-abiding reputation for being with MC. And there’s no way he wouldn’t beg for MC not to leave him if he ever screwed up🤷‍♀️

4. Delicate

This ain't for the best

My reputation's never been worse, so

You must like me for me

Ethan stood by MC’s side throughout the Ethics hearing, when her reputation was completely smeared, and people only saw her as a patient murderer. He didn’t know about the sabotages, but he would’ve definitely supported her if he had known.

We can't make

Any promises now, can we, babe?

Commitment-phobia🙃

Sometimes I wonder when you sleep

Are you ever dreaming of me?

Sometimes when I look into your eyes

I pretend you're mine, all the damn time

They spent so much of time apart, not able to be with each other, so the least they could do was dream of being with each other all the time.

5. So It Goes (an underrated af bop)

What can I say... it’s a sex song, okay? Don’t make me go into the details😂 Just listen to the lyrics, and all will be clear.

6. Gorgeous (Tumblr won’t let me put any more links)

MC’s eternal anthem to Ethan.

Whisky on ice, Sunset and Vine

You've ruined my life, by not being mine

We all know Ethan loves Whiskey, and the second line? C’mon!

You're so gorgeous

I can't say anything to your face

'Cause look at your face

And I'm so furious

At you for making me feel this way

But, what can I say?

You're gorgeous

Ethan Ramsey is famous for two reasons. One: his smart brain, I guess😒 Two: HIS LOOKS!!! HE’S GORGEOUS, AND DON’T DENY IT.

And you should think about the consequence

Of you touching my hand in the darkened room (dark room, dark room)

Ah, the olden days of hand holding in the diagnostics office🥺

Ocean blue eyes looking in mine

I feel like I might sink and drown and die

No explanation required.

You make me so happy, it turns back to sad, yeah

There's nothing I hate more than what I can't have

You are so gorgeous it makes me so mad

The wonderful will-they-won’t-they saga. The frustrating hot-and-cold behaviour. The ‘We can’t’, ‘It’s unethical’ and ‘It’s complicated’. MC deserves an award for her patience😓

7. King Of My Heart

I'm perfectly fine, I live on my own

I made up on my mind, I'm better off bein' alone

Ethan ‘I don’t believe in soulmates and nobody’s waiting at home’ Ramsey.

And all at once, you are the one I have been waiting for

King of my heart, body and soul, ooh whoa

And all at once, you are all I want, I'll never let you go

King of my heart, body and soul, ooh whoa

This could be from both Ethan and MC’s perspectives. The love they share isn’t something that you get easily. It’s something that MC has waited for her whole life, and something Ethan never knew he needed, but now can’t live without🥺

Late in the night, the city's asleep

Your love is a secret I'm hoping, dreaming, dying to keep

Change my priorities

The taste of your lips is my idea of luxury

This was definitely Ethan throughout book 2, after he finally gave in. He let go of his previous rules and regulations, especially during the time of the attack. He was clearly affected, and once MC was alright, his main priority was her, and her alone.

Is the end of all the endings?

My broken bones are mending

With all these nights we're spending

Ethan’s been burnt a lot in the past. But all those wounds are now healing thanks to MC.

Up on the roof with a school girl crush

Drinking beer out of plastic cups

They act like lovesick teenagers around each other, like, that’s literally their description if you choose to kiss Ethan for the first time in Chapter 14 of book 2!😅

Say you fancy me, not fancy stuff

Baby, all at once, this is enough

We all know about his initial fear of his mother reaching out to him for the sake of his money. To him, MC not talking advantage of him is a pretty big deal, even though it’s never mentioned. You just know, you know?🥺

8. Dancing With Our Hands Tied

My, my love had been frozen

Deep blue, but you painted me golden

Again, Ethan doesn’t have the best experience with love. But MC changed that.

I'm a mess, but I'm the mess that you wanted

This could go both ways, cause they’re both piping hot messes😬 (but love each other anyway🥺)

The rest of this song could have made so much more sense for them if we had gotten some sort of a secret relationship storyline. But oh well, I’m definitely not complaining about the gala😌 (and definitely not believing any of the supposed cancelled storylines)

9. Dress

Our secret moments

In a crowded room

They got no idea

About me and you

I mean... pretty obvious😌

Even in my worst times, you could see the best of me

And I woke up just in time

Now I wake up by your side

My one and only, my lifeline

This is practically Ethan’s train of thought, and you can’t convince me otherwise.

As for the rest of the steamier lyrics... I’ll um... let you guys listen to it yourselves😁

10. Call It What You Want

I wrote an entire fic inspired by this song, so excuse me for the shameless self-promo, but go give it a read?🥺👉👈(totally fine if you don’t! I’ve probably made so many posts about this song that y’all know the meaning anyway😅)

11. New Years Day

Don't read the last page

But I stay when you're lost and I'm scared and you're turning away

I want your midnights

But I'll be cleaning up bottles with you on New Year's Day

MC has always stayed by Ethan’s side, even when he’s pushed her away. These lines perfectly explain how she wants his worst times, and his best, the midnights they spend staying up together, and the moments where it’s just the two of them, when everyone else has left, like the aftermath of a New Years party (still mad at the fact that we didn’t get to see the gang celebrate New Year together😭)

I'll be there if you're the toast of the town babe

Or if you strike out and you're crawling home

The above explanation for these lines as well.

Please don't ever become a stranger whose laugh I could recognize anywhere

Becoming strangers to each other would be their worst nightmares. Knowing that the other was out there in the world somewhere, but not being in their lives would kill them.

You and me forevermore

These two are each other’s soulmate, they know it, even if they haven’t said it yet. Forever wouldn’t be enough for them to shower each other with they love they hold for each other. But it’s a good start.

——————————

If you guys made it this far, then I honestly love you more than words can ever express🥺💙 Thanks for putting up with my Swiftie-Directioner-Ethan stan ass, cause I dunno if I’d ever be able to handle someone like myself. And if you read all the above stuff, then I hope you wanna know why this album means so much to me.

Reputation is perceived as a dark album, when in reality it’s truly about finding love amongst all the noise. This album, and Taylor and Joe’s story, taught me what true love actually is, and Ethan and MC cemented that. This album and these two couples (quite literally) saved my life.

The most beautiful part about both these relationships is that even though they never showed it openly, for the sake of their relationships, both Ethan(in the story) and Joe stood by the side of the one’s they loved, despite half of the people who they knew hating on them, or betraying them. And I think that’s what’s truly important. Forming a true relationship like that, be it platonic or romantic, is long lasting, and I hope everyone finds those kind of people to fill their hearts with. Sending much love, and sorry for being a huge sap😅💙

Tagging a couple of my Swiftie homies: @swiftlydarcy @nikki-2406 @dxnicaramsey @kaavyaethanramsey @caseyvalentineramsey @drariellevalentine @justanotherrookie

#open heart #open heart second year #dr ethan ramsey x mc #ethan jonah ramsey #ethan ramsey x mc #ethan x mc #mercy goes nuts #happy three years of Reputation🖤🤍🖤🤍🖤🤍🖤🤍🖤🤍🖤🤍🖤#ethan ramsey

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youarejesting · 4 years

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BTS365 Prompt.Week25

[Full Masterlist] [Prompt Masterlist]

Beta: @jung-hoseok-s-airplane

Please tag me in your work if you use my prompts. I want to see your work. Ever your Jester.

Tell me your birthday and I will tag you on your special day!

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June 18th - 24th

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Kim Seokjin - panic @absoluteyoongit (I am so sorry I didn’t get to post it on your birthday, but still Happy Birthday my love)

You were at the BTS concert. It took all your savings, a countdown timer and quick refresh skills and you had scored mosh pit tickets. The concert was amazing. The fans were shrieking, pressing you to the gates and you were a little annoying. Until you were actually elbowed in the face by a fan during Dionysus.

You fell forward over the gate and was grabbed by security, passing out with an apology.

You woke to ice to your neck, you were sat hunched forward, hands holding your shoulders and chin.

You blinked sitting up noticing the two medics were holding a bloody rag to your nose and you apologized taking the cloth and holding it.

"How are you feeling?" The woman asked.

"Uh my head hurts, some girl elbowed me during Dionysus, but I guess you couldn't blame her it's a really good song," it was awfully quiet and you had a nervous sick feeling, "what time is it, am I okay? I don't want to miss the concert"

"It is over," she said and you frowned.

"No it can't be over, I paid so much and I didn't get to even see them perform their new songs"

"I am sorry, but the concert is over, you can head home if you are ready just follow the exit signs," she said quietly you nodded holding your emotions in.

You grabbed your small bag and stepped out the infirmary, tears starting to flow. Following the exit signs the further away you got the more you broke down.

Until you bumped into someone re-injuring your nose and fell back onto your behind, openly crying as you sat like a child, shirt all bloody and nose bleeding once more.

"Oh I'm so sorry" the voice said, it was soft and unsure, "I didn't mean to hurt you?"

A figure crouched in front of you and tilted your head a little to look you over, "Are you badly hurt?"

"I missed the concert," you sobbed and wiped your eyes, “I used all my money for the best seat in the house but I was knocked out. I didn't get to see any of their new songs.”

"Hey shh, neoneun neui jigu, nege nan just a moon, me mameul baikyeojuneun neoui jageun byeol, neoneun naui jigu and all I see is you," he sang and you looked up to see the Kim Seokjin kneeling in front of you holding his handkerchief to your nose and smiling.

The only appropriate response was for panic to set in.

Min Yoongi - picnic

You were planning to have a picnic with your boyfriend of many years when he called and said he wasn’t able to attend but everything sounded suspicious especially the woman giggling in the background. So here you sat in the parking lot of a hotel with a picnic basket full of homemade snacks

You entered the lobby and made the trek to the front desk. The young man at the front desk looked up and laughed at your light sky blue sundress, mismatched red coat and picnic basket. “Hello, little red riding hood, how can I help you?”

“I am looking for my boyfriend,” you said seriously, giving him the name and his face fell looking at your concerned face. “Are you sure he is at this hotel, maybe I spelt his name wrong.”

“The idiot used my credit card, I know he is here with another woman. You will give me the key to the room I paid for.”

“With pleasure little red, I will come with you purely for your protection.” He grabbed the keys and sprung over the desk shouting “I am on lunch, Mister Seokjin!”

The two of you took the elevator up to the fourteenth floor, where he asked you about you and your partner. He asked you all sorts of questions and generally being nosey but he was funny.

“Who rents a room at midday to cheat on someone, psychopaths, I am glad you found out now before you got murdered or something.” Making you laugh and taking your mind off the present issues regarding your cheating and lying boyfriend.

“Listen little red, I finish work in less than thirty minutes. Let’s go on this picnic” He gave a cheeky smile showing all his pink gums. And for a moment you were happy with what had happened.

Jung Hoseok - sauntering

Hoseok was walking leisurely through Malta trying to find some souvenirs for the other boys. It was a hot day and he had lost Namjoon in a crowd, the music pulled Hoseok and when he looked back he was alone with only one cameraman. That’s when he saw you working at a restaurant, weaving through tables while dancing to the street music.

You moved so elegantly rolling your head to the side while placing plates down at the tables. You didn’t walk, you glided slowly captivating him, every movement was so simple and yet looked like you were an angel floating and inch above the ground.

In a way he was right, your six-inch heels kept you lighter than air on your feet and yet never let you touch the ground. Your hips swinging in figure eights exaggeratedly and seductively but it was your natural gait.

He adjusted his collar and hat and went to saunter over letting his body move to the music in hopes to impress you like some nature documentary where the male species must impress the female with their moves.

Kim Namjoon - juggling

The circus seemed like a fun idea, he thought the other members would enjoy the stunts and jokes and more. They were only in town for a week so he knew he had to get it over and done with before they missed out. It was a carefree night filled with ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ but then she appeared in a sparkly crimson leotard her lips as red as her outfit and she moved with grace to the music.

Lowered from the ceiling she unravelled herself like a present and he watched her move the lights hitting her figure just right casting a silhouette onto the back of the tent, she rolled her hips and danced on pointed to kicking her legs and she began juggling three became four became five, six, seven and she spun and danced never dropping a single one.

She started juggling both hands above her head and she slid into the splits and caught all the balls raising both hands into the air. He would be back.

Park Jimin - Daylight (this will become a story but the details of the scene and how the reader finds the elevator might be different)

You were being chased by a young woman trying to take your bag, you took a wrong turn in a shopping mall’s parking lot followed by at least four more until you reached an old abandoned floor below the basement you could hear her coming and you looked around finding a door with a faint glowing keypad, you pressed each number four times.

1,1,1,1. No.

2,2,2,2. No.

3,3,3,3. No.

4,4,4,4. Beep. Yes, the reset sequence works on most old pin code machines. You snuck inside and it locked behind you.

Inside the room was kind of dark, you saw small glowing arrows one pointing up the other down, pressing the down arrow the doors opened and light poured in.

It was an elevator and it looked like it was in good condition, stepping inside you pressed the button and headed down. What you saw shocked you; it was like an artificial world. It seemed to go on for a fairway, you could just see walls in the distance but there were lights that created an artificial daylight.

The roof had screens showing a fake sky, there must have been UV lights as the trees and vegetation were growing well. Then of course there was the elevator shaft you were in, the further you went down the more you saw, animals and buildings and people.

They turned to you watching the elevator come to a stop each holding weapons, it was then you noticed how big this underground ecosystem was and on top of that, the people were all handsome young men.

They all looked scared of you except one. Jimin looked at you curiously. He had never seen anything like you before, what were you, you looked like him and yet different?

Kim Taehyung - ring

Taehyung’s ears were damaged and he barely had any hearing left all except for the constant ringing. He decided to just use sign language and live his life that is until he met you. You were like a breath of fresh air and you could sign a small hearing aid in your ear brightly colored for your own enjoyment and for others to notice.

Jeon Jungkook - writer

Jungkook took his monthly wage and ran through the town, he passed a man with a long scar down his face which vaguely reminded him of the king. His thoughts were interrupted by a bearded man hitting him over the head with his fishing pole and Jungkook grabbed him by the collar and punched him.

The scuffle didn’t take long, as both parties had yielded blaming the man with the scar. Jungkook continued on his way and finally arrived at the postal service.

“Any letters for me Jimin?”

“None today,” he smiled, “you here to send another?”

“Only the best for my pretty flower.”

“What would you like it to say?”

“My dearest…” Jungkook poured his heart out and Jimin wrote it for him. And the letter was sealed and Jimin grinned, taking the small silver coin and handing back a few even bronze ones.

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4dtk · 5 years

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the five times i realised i loved you (johnny)

credits to @doyoungflower who did a johnny pov! (read hers here!) it was very cute and i decided to write one in y/n’s perspective (´ε｀ )♡ i love johnny very much and i hope that you guys enjoy it <3

seeing you tie your hoodie strings into little bows. it was a cute gesture — having it bundled up together since the strings were too long. you had baked a cake for a member, asking me to help since i was the best sidekick around. i quote unquote you that the “members will just be a distraction if they decided to help”, though i think you became my distraction when your face had scrunched up in frustration at your hoodie’s strings, the cute moment forever playing in my head. i realised that i wanted to see you do that even when i’m in your arms, or even having my own hands tie the little bow.

when you helped to change the water in the bedside diffuser. it was after a celebration for regular’s win — i was tired from the night and you accompanied me home after the alcohol intake, waving off the favour since you didn’t have a schedule the next day. it wasn’t any different from when you had helped me during our school days, but as you left to train, i didn’t have any friends like you who’d check up on me and drive me back home. i immediately peeled off my clothes in the bathroom, wanting to get the sweat and scent off. i crashed on the bed, cracking open an eye to see that you were filling in water for the diffuser my mom gifted me. it was the small little things that you do that had deepened my feelings for you.

singing off-key in the dorms with the members screaming their heads off. it was an off day for 127, and you were so happy that you woke up early to prepare breakfast even though no one asked you to. the day was fun-filled, with members making their trips with various friends or their parents, but then nightfall came and mark had suggested the one thing that made the whole dorm shake with the noise: karaoke. you had sung ‘if i ain’t got you’ like always, hitting the wrong notes purposely to make your members laugh. where everyone screamed and giggled, you were up there with the microphone, shining like a star with your distinctive laugh. that was the moment i think i realised i wanted to hear your laugh every day.

the time where your tears seeped into my shirt on the studio floor. your body was worn out having done the routine countless times, crashing on the floor once the camera had stopped filming. it was tiring for all the other members too, but you just felt frustrated at something that you couldn’t put your finger on. i’d been there sitting at the side and watching you refine your moves to no end even after the members filed out of the studio. it was hard to approach you when you were focusing on something, but i assumed i’d had to break your practice if i wanted you to drink water. when you had come back from the trance you were in, there were tears lingering at the corner of your eyes as you gulped down the water. you told me that it was so tiring to train like this, even before debut—you felt you ended up being pushed aside after practicing for years and i held you close as your sweat mixed with your tears in the bright studio. i wanted to tell you how much you meant to the fans and show you how much you were loved but it was hard. i wanted to do it for the rest of my life once your first tear had fallen.

when you taught me how to dance in the kitchen. i made the mistake of saying that the cherry bomb dance was fun to look at, especially since i’ve been sitting into your practices just to see how the dance progresses. i told you it was satisfying to see the boys grow and you asked me to only pay attention to you. it was in the dorms when you overhead me telling haechan that i loved the dance to cherry bomb. you shot up like a missile, immediately dragging my hand to the center of the room where you could teach me the main points of it. the way your long hair dropped over your eyes and how the blue of your undercut shone under the dorm light made me wish how you’d be like when you’d teach me how to waltz. and then you did when the dorm was stagnant during la la land. i had gone to the kitchen to get more food for the boys and you caught me almost eating your ice cream, catching my hand instantly and pulling me into a slow, messy waltz. we followed the muffled timing of emma stone and ryan gosling’s dance scene in the planetarium. we were in our own world and i was falling completely for you, not knowing you had, too.

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upontheshelfreviews · 4 years

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Whenever I discuss Sleeping Beauty with someone who doesn’t share my enthusiasm for Disney, they have an irksome tendency to get it muddled with Snow White; their excuse being “it has the same plot”. I’ll admit, there are some surface similarities that even the most casual viewer can pick up on: a fairytale where a princess is forced into unconsciousness and wakes up with some necking, the comic relief and villain being the most beloved characters, a little frolic in the forest with animals, the antagonist plunging off a cliff, you get the idea. In fact, Sleeping Beauty even reuses some discarded story beats from Snow White, mainly our couple dancing on a cloud and the villain capturing the prince to prevent him from waking his princess. Yet despite that, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty are two wholly different movies shaped by the era and talents of the time.

I’ve discussed how Walt Disney was never one to stick to a repeated formula, no matter how successful it was. He must have noticed the parallels between his first movie and this one, but decided to make one crucial change for Sleeping Beauty that would forever differentiate the two: the look. We all know the traditional Disney house style: round, soft shapes, big eyes; charming as it was and still is, Walt was sick of it after several decades. Meanwhile, artists like Mary Blair and Eyvind Earle were producing gorgeous concept art that rarely made a perfect translation into the Disney house style.

Walt wanted to make a feature that took the pop artistry of their designs and made the animation work for it instead of the other way around – which brings us to another animation studio that was doing well at the time, United Pictures Animation, or UPA.

UPA didn’t have the kind of budget Disney normally had for their animated projects, but what they lacked in fluidity they made up for in style. Watch The Tell-Tale Heart, Gerald McBoing-Boing and Rooty-Toot-Toot to see what I mean. UPA were pioneers of limited animation, taking their scant resources and creating some striking visuals with bold geometric designs. Through this, they defined the look of 50’s animation. Though perhaps unintentional, Sleeping Beauty comes across as Disney’s response to UPA, or what would happen if UPA had the funds they deserved. The characters’ contours are angular but effortlessly graceful, defining their inherent dignity and royalty. And the colors, ohhh the colors…

Because of the immense amount of work required to animate in this difficult new style (and in the Cinemascope ratio, no less) as well as story troubles and Walt barely supervising the animation studio now that he had his hands full with live-action films, television, and a theme park, Sleeping Beauty had a turbulent production that lasted the entirety of the 1950s. For a time, Chuck Jones of Looney Tunes fame was set to direct. Director Wilfred Jackson suffered a heart attack partway through production and Eric Larson, one of the Nine Old Men, took the mantle from there before Walt Disney replaced him Clyde Geronimi. And even after that, Wolfgang Reitherman teamed up with Geronimi as co-director to get the film finished after no less than three delays. Also, Don Bluth got his foot in the door as an assistant animator for this feature, beginning his short-lived but impactful tenure at Disney. Did all this hamper the movie, or did they succeed in what they set out to accomplish?

Well, one of the reasons why this review took so long was because I had a hard time not repeating “MOVIE PRETTY” and “MALEFICENT AWESOME” over and over. Make what you will of that.

The story begins as most fairy tales do with your typical king, Stefan, and his queen suddenly blessed with a baby girl after years of wishing for a child. They christen their daughter Aurora (middle name Borealis, localized entirely within their castle) and throw a huge celebration in her honor. People come from all over the kingdom to pay homage to the princess and OSMKFKSBFHFGILWBHBFC…

Movie pretty…

MOVIE PRETTIEEEEEE…

John Hench, Academy Award-winning special effects man and art director, turned Walt on to the idea of basing the look of Sleeping Beauty on classic medieval artwork. Thanks to him and Eyvind Earle’s insanely detailed designs and backgrounds, this is one of Disney’s most visually distinct and beautiful films. A single still from this feature wouldn’t feel out of place up in The Cloisters.

Among the party guests is King Stefan’s old friend King Hubert (Bill Thompson) bringing his young son Prince Philip. Stefan and Hubert wish to unite their two kingdoms and formally announce Philip’s betrothal to the infant Aurora.

“We were going to do it during the second trimester, but we decided to wait until she was more mature.”

By the way, your eyes are not deceiving you. That is Aurora’s mother, Queen Leah, alive and well and named. And frabjous day calloo callay, she even gets some lines! The most common joke about Disney princesses is that they don’t have moms (even Ralph Breaks The Internet went out of its way to highlight that), so as a hardcore Disney fan who often has to put up with this generalization, Leah’s existence leaves me feeling vindicated.

Once that happy revelation is out of the way, we’re introduced to our main protagonists.

Oh, you thought I was referring to Philip and Aurora? Nonononono, my friends. THESE are the true heroes of Sleeping Beauty, the Three Good Fairies.

The fairies started off as one-note side characters sharing the same personality. Think pre-Ducktales-reboot Huey, Dewey, and Louie in dresses. But the studio had a difficult time giving Aurora more depth and was having a lot more fun developing the fairies. Naturally, they became so fascinating and appealing that more screentime was given over to them. Now the story’s carried by three wonderfully fleshed out ladies who are distinct in both looks and personality: Flora’s the pragmatic tradition-adhering leader, Fauna’s the sweet scatterbrain who mediates, and Merryweather’s the feisty young upstart.

With the plot now focused on characters who held a traditionally minor role, it’s easy to read this as a perspective-flipped version of the fairytale, but there’s more to it than that. Remember in my Clash of the Titans review how I mentioned the gods literally play chess using the heroes as pieces? I tend to view the main conflict of Sleeping Beauty in the same way. The Three Fairies and Maleficent are in a constant game of good vs. evil, moving Aurora, Philip, and the rest of the royals as pawns in their plans. There’s plenty of plotting and intrigue, with both sides constantly guessing and second-guessing the other’s next maneuver, and even if you’re already familiar with the story’s trajectory you’re still left on the edge of your seat as it inches towards the fiery climax.

And dare I say it but…the fairies and their power dynamic make this Disney’s most feminist film. Yes, really. You could argue that some of the other animated movies from the Renaissance and Revival period have more notable, stronger female protagonists, and many of the live-action remakes try to be woke without really grasping the concept, but consider this: The cast of Sleeping Beauty is mostly female, the leads aren’t objectified in any manner (that is if you count Aurora as a supporting character), nor does their gender factor into their competency, each one differs in age and body type, and most of them are working together towards a common goal as opposed to against each other. Name a movie in the past decade that does the same and still manages to be entertaining (no, really, I’d love to see it). There’s even one scene that unintentionally provides great commentary on the divides in the feminist movement, but more on that later.

Flora and Fauna bless the baby with beauty and song respectively which are accompanied by a short chorus and some sumptuous graphics. I don’t think I need to reiterate that when this movie goes extra with the visuals, it GOES EXTRA with the visuals. Next comes Merryweather with her gift. To this day, no one knows what Merryweather intended to give Aurora. Flora’s the most traditionally feminine of the three so her giving Aurora beauty comes as no surprise. By comparison, Merryweather is the most forward (or unconventional, depending on your point of view). I wouldn’t put it past her to favor Aurora with intelligence, or humor, or passion, or creativity or humility or confidence or decisiveness or physical fitness or great swordsmanship or telekinesis or ice powers or one million YouTube subscribers or comfort in her female sexuality.

Me personally, I think I’ve got the best gift of all:

“O Princess, my gift shall be…getting all reviews posted on time for once!”

Alas, before Merryweather can bestow such a wondrous quality upon the child, she’s interrupted by a horny party crasher.

Maleficent. The Mistress of All Evil. Chernabog’s right-hand witch. The Disney villain all Disney villains strive to be. She has it all – the looks, the poise, the power, the laugh, the cunning, the ruthlessness! She doesn’t even need to sing a song because she’s already awesome enough without one. Marc Davis’ gothic design cuts a fine figure and Eleanor Audley’s subtle icy voicework is trés magnifique. As much as I enjoy Audley as Cinderella’s evil stepmother, Lady Tremaine was but an appetizer in comparison to the four-course banquet of pure villainy that is Maleficent.

This leads to a small point of contention some viewers have with Maleficent in spite of hitting top marks elsewhere: her motivation. Putting a hit out on a child for not getting invited to a measly party? Not exactly compelling, is it? And yes, it isn’t a deep motive…is what I would say if I wasn’t well-versed in folkloric tradition. In the original fairy tale and the movie (though it isn’t outright stated in the latter), the party for Aurora isn’t just your average royal kegger, it’s a christening. Back in ye olden days, christenings were very big deals. To not receive an invitation to one was a grave insult, so not extending an invite to your semi-omnipotent magical neighbor is just asking for trouble. In the fairy tale’s defense, no one had seen the evil fairy for years and assumed she was dead, though I can’t imagine how nobody thought Maleficent wouldn’t find about it eventually.

“You dare to deny me, foolish mortals? Very well, then! I shall have my own christening! With blackjack! And strumpets!”

Maleficent is proof that sometimes you don’t have to have an elaborate backstory, a god complex, a tragic past or the unfortunate luck to be on the wrong side of a conflict. Sometimes all you need is some magic, brains, class, and a whole lot of flair to be a perfect, intimidating, and unquestionably iconic villain.

Basically what I’m saying is these movies never happened. Got it?

Maleficent is disarmingly polite over being snubbed, even after Merryweather bluntly tells her nobody wanted her to come. She even brought her own gift for the baby – sixteen years of life cut short by the prick of a spinning wheel spindle, because why change into a dragon and destroy everyone all at once when you can draw the torture out over an agonizingly long time and deliver the coup de grace in the prime of a young woman’s life? That’s how Maleficent rolls, baby. She could dole out capital punishment when she has to without batting an eyelid, but causing human suffering is her bread and butter.

Stefan begs the fairies to undo Maleficent’s curse, but it’s too strong for them. Flora and Fauna insist, however, that Merryweather can use her gift to lessen the spell’s potency. Now instead of dying from that fatal prick, Aurora will sleep until she receives True Love’s Kiss™. Stefan’s not one to throw caution to the wind though, so he orders all of the kingdom’s spinning wheels to be burned in the meantime.

I just pray his kingdom’s economy wasn’t based on textiles otherwise they’re screwed.

As the peasantry celebrates Guy Fawkes Day several centuries early, the fairies ponder their next move. They’ve been around long enough to know that removing spinning wheels from the equation won’t put a damper on Maleficent’s scheme. This scene is incredibly effective in establishing two things:

Maleficent’s near-omniscient presence in the film

How well the fairies’ differing personalities play off each other

Maleficent rarely miscalculates her opponents, and that guile puts her one step ahead of the heroes, making her one of the few Disney villains to nearly reach their goal. The only mistake she makes in the entire movie is trusting her henchmen to do their jobs when she isn’t directly supervising them, though that’s more on them than her. The different methods the fairies propose to deal with Maleficent fantastically illustrate what kind of people they are. Fauna believes she’s just a miserable soul who could be reasoned with if they talk things over. Merryweather would rather take the fight to Maleficent and turn her into a toad. Flora, however, is wise enough to know Maleficent’s too wicked to plead to, too clever to bargain with and too strong to face head-on, so their best course of action is to focus on protecting Aurora through any means necessary. Her initial idea is to enchant the princess into a flower (her namesake is her specialty, after all), but Merryweather reminds her that Maleficent enjoys creating bitter frosts just to kill her flowers.

“Well we could try that but stick her in a castle with a beast for a while…nah, that’ll never work.”

Yet never one to give up, Flora alters the plan so they’ll raise Aurora as a peasant girl out in the woods. This means disguising themselves as humans and giving up magic for sixteen years so as to not attract Maleficent, but that amount of time is like twenty minutes to the fair folk. Stefan and Leah reluctantly agree to the plan, and the fairies spirit little Aurora away from the castle that very night.

Sixteen years later, Maleficent is infuriated that her minions have failed to locate Aurora, even more so when one reveals that they’ve spent the whole time looking for a baby instead of a maturing woman. In an interview with the Rotoscopers podcast, Don Bluth called Maleficent a very flat antagonist because she surrounds lackeys dumber than her so she could be the smart one among them and, again, her supposed lack of motivation. But come on, let’s not entirely condemn the bad guys for having too much faith in their underlings. It’s difficult to find minions smart enough to carry out orders but dumb enough to stay unquestioningly loyal. Usually you have to register as Republican in order to get some.

Maleficent gets her anger out in the most therapeutic way – throwing lightning bolts at her orcs, awesome – then leaves the job of finding Aurora up to her trusty raven Diablo. We then finally see the grown-up Aurora herself, whom the fairies renamed Briar Rose as a nod to the Brothers Grimm version of this tale.

I know I’ve made the occasional case for the princesses from Walt’s era compared to the present day, and yet I have a hard time defending how…I don’t want to say bland. Bland would mean there’s nothing interesting about Aurora, and that’s a lie. She’s gorgeously designed and drawn, and even in her peasant dress she has an air of elegance and sophistication. She carries herself like a queen; her innate royalty reveals itself in her graceful movements. Mary Costa also gifts her with an excellent set of pipes. Hearing her song echoing through the forest is nothing short of magical. She’s a flower child who can talk to animals. She has dreams of escaping her adopted aunts’ loving but stifling care and being allowed to grow up, see the world, actually talk to people, and even find a life partner. She has some strong potential. It’s not that Aurora’s boring, she’s just not quite as developed as we’ve come to expect our animated female protagonists to be. I’m grateful for what we’ve got, but I only wish we could have more. What was her childhood like? How did she learn to communicate with animals? When did the fairies trust her enough to let her spend time out on her own? Did the fairies ever subtly teach her lessons in royalty through lessons and games? Heck, nobody bothers to keep her informed about Maleficent or her curse, and they act surprised when she’s shocked to learn she was a princess the whole time. I want to see what Aurora could have been like if she had known the truth already and what kind of steps she would take to defend herself. Blame the source material for this; it’s difficult to write a compelling main character when she’s supposed to sleep through most of her story.

The fairies send Aurora on a fetch quest so they can plan a surprise birthday party for her. Merryweather wants to bring their magic wands back out for the job, but Flora insists on taking no chances now that they’re in the home stretch. Fauna gets to live her dream of baking an elaborate cake (it’s thanks to her referring to a teaspoon as a “tsp” that I do it too), and Flora insists on making Aurora a gown fit for a princess using Merryweather as a dummy. And we also get one of the best burns in the Disney canon:

Merryweather: It looks awful! Flora: That’s because it’s on you, dear.

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The fairies fall into reminiscing over raising Aurora and get teary over having to let her go soon. I see where they’re coming from, they’re the ones who raised her for sixteen years. They must have so many fond memories, not to mention they put all that work into learning to properly raise a child let alone live like normal human beings seeing how two of them still can’t sew or cook without magic. I wonder what that was like –

No, NO, you CGI abominations DO NOT exist! Go back to the fires from whence you came!!

“Ugh, I’m gonna need something strong to expunge that from my eyes.”

There we go.

Aurora wanders through the forest, drawing out the usual bevy of cute woodland critters with her singing. She also catches the attention of a grown-up Prince Philip (Billy Shirley) who’s more dashing and considerably less blonde than he was sixteen years ago.

By this point, the Disney animators were far more confident in their ability to draw realistic but expressive leading men, hence Philip’s expanded role from the story. He’s also the first Disney prince to have a personality; not a terribly deep or defined one, but it’s a step up from his nameless plot-device predecessors. There are some signs of him being a hopeless romantic, he gets a few funny lines here and there, has a sturdy friendship with his horse Samson, and is fiercely determined when it’s time to kick some ass. He does have the same problem as Aurora in he randomly decides to stop talking for the rest of the movie once he reaches the midway mark (at least Aurora has the excuse that she’s sleeping for that remainder), but I suppose you could chalk this up as to him wanting to spite Maleficent with his silence.

The animals steal some of Philip’s clothes so they can pretend to be Aurora’s dream prince. Aurora plays along as she sings the movie’s standout song, “Once Upon a Dream”. Philip and Samson watch until he smooths his way into the dance. Once Aurora discovers the switch, Philip gets a little too up in her personal space for my liking, constantly grabbing her hand so she doesn’t run off and pulling her closer to him. Not as horrible as what the prince does to the sleeping princess in the original story (a questionably consensual kiss is a trifle compared to how the scumbag of a prince treats her there), but still a bit iffy.

“It’s a good thing my aunts taught me to never go anywhere without a loaded pistol taped to my back.”

But once Philip backs off a little and joins in her song, they both dance together and OEHSGBJSGBLL…

I think I’m going to need surgery to get my jaw off the floor back into its proper place thanks to this movie.

As per Disney tradition, Aurora and Philip’s waltz means the two are head over heels in love with each other. But when it comes time to finally exchange names, Aurora panics and runs away, though she sticks around long enough to tell Philip to meet her family at the cottage that evening.

Back at home, the party preparations aren’t proceeding as planned. Flora’s dress looks as good as my attempts at dressmaking, and Fauna’s dessert wouldn’t feel out of place on Cake Wrecks.

A fed-up Merryweather reads Flora and Fauna the riot act and convinces them to finally take up their wands again. This produces more desirable results, though Merryweather still gets stuck with cleanup duty.

Enchanting a broom to come to life and do your dirty work? I don’t see this going wrong in any possible way.

Things start to go south when Flora and Merryweather argue over the dress color and it escalates into a full-blown wizard’s duel. This gag was supposedly based on the animators’ arguments over what was Aurora’s proper dress color. I think they should have compromised and combined both colors to make purple, which would go lovely with Aurora’s violet eyes, but what do I know. I’m just the illustration major writing a blog. Unfortunately, while the fairies remembered to cover every door, window, and crack that could expose their magic, they overlooked the fireplace. The sparkly residue of Flora and Merryweather’s fight fly up the chimney, alerting Diablo to their hideaway.

Going back to what I said earlier about this movie providing some commentary on feminism, consider this: Flora is obsessed with pink, a traditionally female color, and she gives Aurora an attribute that is oft preferred in a woman but not the most important quality, beauty. Merryweather, on the other hand, is all about blue, a color usually geared towards boys, and she has much more common sense and practicality about her. Though Merryweather and Flora are able to put aside their differences in personalities and approaches for a common goal, it’s when they refuse to compromise and begin prioritizing which color – ie. which ideology and extension of themselves – that they want Aurora to step into that they lose sight of what’s important, and allow everything they worked for to collapse on itself. It’s played for laughs very well, sure, but if not’s symbolic of the dichotomy between traditional femininity and modern sensibility that tears apart the feminist movement then I don’t know what is.

The fairies manage to fix their messes in time for Aurora’s return. She’s thrilled with their gifts but shocks them all when she announces her new boyfriend is coming over for dinner. They come clean about her heritage and betrothal to Prince Philip, and Aurora runs up to her room in tears over the fact that she’ll never see her one true love again. That and her entire life has been a lie and she’s being carted off to meet parents she knows nothing about to marry a man she’s never met and rule an entire kingdom with no prior experience or knowledge. But mostly the true love thing.

Meanwhile, Stefan and Hubert are making wedding plans over wine with “Skumps”, the preferred toast between me and my friends. Also adding to the humor is a minstrel who keeps stealing sips until he literally drinks himself under the table.

This was also his way of getting through the Black Plague, co-opted by the rest of the world six hundred years later.

Philip returns and Hubert goes to greet him. He thinks his son is thrilled at the prospect of marrying Aurora but is disappointed to learn that he’s fallen for an anonymous peasant.

“At least tell me if she’s royalty in disguise so you don’t elope to Sicily!”

Philip rides back into the woods for his big date, leaving Hubert with the unenviable task of breaking the bad news to Stefan. As for Aurora, the fairies smuggle her into the castle and prep her for her homecoming. She’s still blue over having to ghost her forest hubby though, so the fairies give her some time to herself.

Biiiiiiiiig mistake.

So imagine you’re me, growing up watching this movie on tape on a television set with a very standard but not spectacular sound system. Then years later you download the remastered soundtrack and give it a listen while you’re falling asleep. You’ve got the whole score memorized, the volume is nice and low, it’s all good.

And then, just as you’re drifting off, you hear a ghostly voice singing in your ear “Auroraaa…Auroraaaaa…”

That reminds me, I haven’t had a chance to talk about the music yet, haven’t I? Forgive me for waiting so long to do so but my reaction to it is equivalent to the visuals. The score is taken straight from the Sleeping Beauty ballet by Tchaikovsky, the same composer as The Nutcracker, and it is lush, sweeping, sumptuous, just…

While George Bruns was mostly faithful with how the score was represented within the context of the ballet, at certain points he took the same approach as The Nutcracker Prince and rearranged the music order to underscore totally different scenes to staggering effect. The beautifully ominous music where Maleficent appears as a ball of green flame and leads the hypnotized Aurora to her doom? It’s from one of the ballet’s divertissements where Puss in Boots dances with his girlfriend. But tell me which is more fitting for a musical composition such as this – two cats pirouetting around each other in a crowded ballroom, or eerie pitch-black spiral staircases illuminated by green fire as a cursed princess inches closer to her dark destiny against her will?

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The fairies realize their error and frantically search the maze of secret passages for Aurora. Though the princess resists Maleficent’s commands for only a moment, they are still too late to save her from fulfilling the curse. Maleficent gloats and leaves the fairies to wallow in their failure. It’s made even worse as the merrymaking from the oblivious revelers below ring out while they put Aurora to bed in a tower and mourn over her. It’s heartbreaking: they raised and loved her as if she were their own daughter, and they still couldn’t protect her. Everyone talks about “Baby Mine” and Bambi’s mom as huge tearjerkers, but why is this scene constantly forgotten?

Stupid onions, stupid stupid onions…

Fauna and Merryweather can’t even begin to imagine how heartbroken Stefan and Leah will be, but Flora has a solution: put the kingdom to sleep along with Aurora until she is woken up. I understand her wanting to spare Aurora’s family some pain, but conking out an entire principality for god knows how long to cover up their failure? AND at a time when Europe was all about invading and conquering itself? Are we sure this isn’t just part of Maleficent’s overarching plan for revenge? This sounds more like something she would come up with instead of the leader of the good guys.

“So what happens if one of the neighboring kingdoms decides to attack while everyone’s sleeping?”

“Then we’ll put them and their armies to sleep, too.”

“And once Aurora is saved, both kingdoms will immediately wake up to find themselves thrust into a war they’re barely prepared for, is that correct?”

“Oh, you’re right, that’s a terrible idea.”

“Finally, thank you.”

“I’ll just turn them all into flowers.”

“THAT’S NOT AN OPTION!!!”

The fairies flitter about the castle grounds spreading their spell over the unwitting royal court, even putting the candles and sconces out. We have another reprise of the “Gifts of Beauty and Song” chorus now altered to sound like a lullaby, providing an interesting bit of symmetry between it and its earlier use in the film. Whereas it first underscored their blessings upon Aurora, now it plays as the fairies are giving the “gift” of sleep to the entire castle.

While Flora knocks out the throne room, she overhears Hubert muttering about Philip eloping with a peasant girl and she makes the connection. The fairies speed to the cottage just as Philip arrives there. But once again Maleficent beats them to the punch. Her goons ambush Philip and she watches them wrestle and bond him with fiendish glee.

You magnificent, kinky bitch.

Maleficent was only out to capture the one man who could break Aurora’s curse; the fact that he’s really the son of her nemesis’ allies is just icing on the cake. Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather resolve to rescue him from Maleficent’s fortress in the Forbidden Mountain.

Some movies reach the brink of greatness only to falter when it comes to the final act. Sleeping Beauty is not one of them. Everything that happens from the moment we slowly zoom in through the purple mist on to the Forbidden Mountain itself up until the storybook closes is perfection. The perfectly paced action, the animation, the music, Maleficent’s hideaway in all its decaying glory (I swear it’s like Jean Cocteau meets Frank Frazetta meets Giotto) all make for the climax of climaxes.

The fairies shrink to insect size and silently sneak through Maleficent’s creepy domain, narrowly running into guards and gargoyles at every turn. They traverse the stronghold until they find her overseeing a hellish bacchanalia in honor of her supposed victory.

“My old gaffer would have a thing or two to say if he could see us now.”

Soon Maleficent gets bored and goes to “cheer up” her captive. Then we have it: The Moment.

I’ve talked about this before, that one small, devious step further the villain takes to make themselves more heinous in our eyes. It’s the Wicked Witch taunting Dorothy with visions of Aunt Em. It’s the Beldam hanging Other Wybie’s remains. It’s virtually everything Heath Ledger’s Joker does. And it is this simple scene where Maleficent details what she plans to do with Philip. She spins “a charming fairy tale come true” of Aurora sleeping without aging, waiting for her prince to come to wake her. And Philip will escape the dungeon, ride to her rescue and prove true love conquers all – in one hundred years, when he’s a broken old husk of a man on the brink of death. DAMN. If you want to know why Maleficent is considered the best of all the Disney villains, it’s not just all her previously praised qualities, it’s her sheer sadism and the pleasure she takes in it.

The fairies enter and free Philip once Maleficent departs. The course of true love never runs smoothly though, so they arm him with the Shield of Virtue (licensed by Carefree Maxi-Pads), and the Sword of Truth to aid in his escape.

“So, why’s it called the Sword of Truth?”

“Anyone who’s subjected to it speaks only the truth…as they bleed out and die, of course.”

“Cool, cool. On an unrelated note, I think I’m gonna go to DC for my honeymoon.”

Diablo sounds the alarm and the Battle With the Forces of Evil kicks off with Philip slashing his Sword of Truth through Maleficent’s goons.

“I steal lunches from the break room fridge!” “I broke wind last Tuesday and blamed it on the dog!” “I cried like a little girl during The Good Place finale!” “I only wash my hands for NINETEEN seconds at a time!”

Philip makes his getaway on Samson and the music reaches truly operatic levels as Maleficent does everything in her power to end him. Yet Philip soldiers through it like a boss. Crumbling mountainsides, Maleficent hurling lightning from the sky and summoning a forest of thorns to block the way? Fuck that shit, he’s gotta go save his girl.

Then, as Philip cuts his way through the briars, Maleficent looks at her watch, realizes it’s No More Fucking Around O’Clock, zooms over to the castle, throws down the most intimidating challenge ever –

“Now you shall deal with me, O Prince, and all the powers of HELL!!”

– and with that, she takes her final form: a massive fire-breathing dragon.

Every Disney villain who’s gone kaiju in the final act owes everything to this gorgeous terrifying beast. The dragon is an awe-inspiring unholy fusion of style, power and darkness. There’s a reason why she’s the final boss in Fantasmic; the chance to watch a live dragon battle is too cool to pass up.

Speaking of battles, Maleficent’s dragon form was animated by Woolie Reitherman, who previously brought us such gargantuan monster clashes as the T-rex brawl in Fantasia and the escape from Monstro The Whale in Pinocchio. And when you have a dragon confronting a fairytale prince, well, you know what’s coming.

Maleficent backs Philip on to a cliff surrounded by flames, leaving him only one desperate shot. With a little extra magic from the fairies, he throws his Sword of Truth at Maleficent and it plunges right into her heart.

“I liked…Frozen 2…more than the first one…”

Maleficent’s spells die with her, clearing the way for Philip. He gives Aurora that wake-up smooch and everyone in the castle slowly rouses, owing their inexplicable simultaneous twenty-minute blackout to the unusually strong wine.

He can attest to that fact.

The royal families are happily reunited, and the film ends on Flora and Merryweather fighting over Aurora’s dress color yet again as she and Philip waltz together on the clouds using animation Beauty and the Beast would borrow thirty-two years later.

Sleeping Beauty is a movie I can never have on in the background because the moment I look up from my work I am spellbound by it. Do I need to elaborate on how this is one of the most beautiful looking and sounding movies Disney’s ever produced? Sleeping Beauty is the swan song of Disney’s first golden age of animation. For better or for worse, their animation process would switch to the rough, cost-cutting Xerox process starting with their next feature, 101 Dalmatians, and few films would reach Sleeping Beauty’s level of gorgeousness ever since.

Though a massive financial and critical hit on release, it wasn’t enough to make up for the monstrous production costs, not unlike Fantasia. Thankfully, home video sales revived interest and made it Sleeping Beauty of the top-selling VHS tapes of the decade, cementing it as a bonafide classic. It’s one of my favorites from Disney for its stunning visuals, gorgeous music, phenomenal villain and overlooked but great cast characters. Revisit it if you haven’t already.

Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this review, please consider supporting this misfit on Patreon. Patreon supporters receive great perks such as extra votes for movie reviews, movie requests, early sneak-peeks and more! Special thanks to Amelia Jones, Gordhan Rajani and Sam Minden for their contributions!

Artwork by Charles Moss.

Screencaps from animationscreencaps.com

March Review: Sleeping Beauty (1959) Whenever I discuss Sleeping Beauty with someone who doesn't share my enthusiasm for Disney, they have an irksome tendency to get it muddled with Snow White; their excuse being "it has the same plot".

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theydontknowaboutusimagines · 5 years

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Outside the Rain - Harry styles Series (Part 18)

Part 17

You groaned rolling over on the other side of your bed. Your body was stiff and you were still exhausted, but the urge to pee was preventing you from staying asleep. You pushed yourself up and out of the bed, moving slowly with half closed eyes walking towards the bathroom. When you were finished, you sleepily made your way back to the bed. The morning sun was shining in through your window and you sighed knowing you were due to get up in a little over an hour.

You laid back down in the bed, when you realized something. You sat up, rubbing your eyes, and looked around your room. Harry’s bags were over in the corner of the room, his clothes from the previous night were laid on the chair, yet he wasn’t in bed or in the room. Now, you were confused, had his things not been in the room, you would have thought you dreamt him being there.

Knowing you wouldn’t be able to fall back asleep, you decided to go ahead and get up, despite still being tired. Your muscles ached from the previous night’s video shoot and you knew your body would only be put to the test when it came to the performances you had lined up and tour next year.

You tried taming your hair a bit before you walked downstairs in search of your boyfriend. He was nowhere to found. You were just about to check your phone, when you saw Harry at the door with a bag and some to go coffee cups in his hand.

“So, that’s where you went,” you laughed when he walked inside.

“Sorry, I was hoping to be back before you woke up, but I got stuck in traffic,” he said.

“It wouldn’t be LA if you didn’t get stuck in traffic,” you laughed taking the coffees from him and heading over to sit down.

“How are you feeling this morning?” He asked.

“Like I got hit by a truck,” you sighed. “These rehearsals and everything are really taking a toll on me. I can’t believe I’m this out of shape. I workout at least five times a fucking week.”

“Yeah, but I’ve seen what you girls do and that’s braver than any marine or anything one can do at the gym,” he said pulling the breakfast sandwiches out of the bag. “And you only workout like what an hour and call it quits. But yet what you’re doing now is like three or more.”

“You did not just meme me,” you laughed.

“I did and you laughed!” He pointed at you.

“Because I can’t believe it,” you pointed at him.

“Yeah, yeah,” he said taking a bite. “I’m funny and you know it.”

“You wish,” you smirked.

“Would you like to finish that sandwich?” He asked. “Because I won’t hesitate to take it out of your hands.”

“And I won’t hesitate to kick you in the balls,” you said.

“Don’t joke about that,” He winced.

“Don’t joke about my breakfast sandwich,” you said.

“You know sometimes I wonder which you love more, breakfast sandwiches are me,” he joked.

“Definitely breakfast sandwiches,” you answered with a mouthful.

“Glad to see where I stand,” he laughed.

Later that morning, just as you were about to get ready for your lunch meeting, you got an email saying it was postponed until tomorrow, which you were super happy about. Not only because you didn’t feel up having a meeting, but because Harry was there and you wanted to spend time with him.

“So, I’ve got some great news!” You smiled walking into the living room, where Harry was searching around on Netflix. “The meeting has been moved to tomorrow, thank god.”

You walked over sitting down on the couch next to Harry.

“Then I guess that means I have you all to myself for the rest of the day?” He asked wrapping his arm around your shoulder.

“That you do, until I fall asleep,” you laughed.

He smiled kissing your head and wrapping a blanket around the two of you. You laid your head on his shoulder, wrapping your arms around his torso as you two watched a random movie. Your eyes started to feel heavy and you couldn’t control it more before giving in and falling asleep.

Harry knew you would fall asleep as soon as your head hit his shoulder. He could tell you were exhausted and to be quite honest it worried him a little bit. You were only just getting back into the scheme of things with the group and you were already pushing your limits. He knew what that was like and while he loved every minute of it, it was also from taxing on him physically and emotionally.

He knew you were happy with how things were going and being back with the girls, but he could also see you would hit a breaking point soon. There were bags under your eyes, you were looking a smidge bit skinner due to the rehearsing schedule sending your metabolism into overdrive, and when you weren’t working, you were spending your time with him.

Part of him wonders if him surprising you was actually a good idea or not. Had he not been there, then maybe you would actually get the proper rest you needed. He didn’t want you to feel like you had to entertain him the entire time. He looked down at you as you slept softly and peacefully at his side. He repositioned himself, so that he could move and let you sleep more comfortably on the couch. He ran his fingers through your hair as he watched the movie before eventually falling asleep himself.

Later that day, you woke up to the smell of something in the kitchen. You were still on the couch in the living room and music was being played softly in the background. You sat up, rubbing your eyes before getting up and walking into the kitchen. You instantly noticed the sunset and you couldn’t believe you slept the entire day.

“I’m sorry,” you sighed looking at Harry who was stirring something in a pot on the stove.

Harry turned around, “For what?”

“For sleeping so long,” you said walking over to him.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said wrapping his arm around your shoulder. “You need the rest.”

“Yeah, I did,” you nodded. “I feel a little better now.”

“And that’s all that matters,” he smiled kissing your head.

“What are you cooking?” You asked peeking over into the pot.

“Soup,” he smiled.

“Interesting,” you said. “I didn’t even know I had anything to make soup with.”

“Well, you didn’t, so I went to the store,” he laughed.

“God, Im such a horrible girlfriend,” you sighed. “You came all the way here to surprise me and I’ve not spent anytime with you.”

Harry sighed turning to look at you taking your hand into his, “You are not a horrible girlfriend, far from it, actually.”

You wrapped your arms around his waist, placing your head on his chest, “Thank you for being here.”

“Anytime,” he smiled wrapping his arms around you.

You looked up at him, puckering your lips, “I want a kiss,” you laughed.

He laughed placing his hands on your face as he leans down pressing his lips against yours.

It was the next day and you all had a quick rehearsal run through before your meeting at lunch. You still weren’t feeling 100%, but sleeping he prior day and having Harry there to take care of you definitely helped. After you two ate the soup he made for dinner, he ran you warm bath to help relax you before you both laid down in the bed, cuddling while watching another movie.

Speaking of Harry, he attended the rehearsals, wanting to see what you were working on. You had a few appearances coming up and you all need to practice for them. You were dripping with sweat and you only had been running through the routines for half an hour. You just finished another song, when you started feeling a little dizzy. Luckily, there was a quick water break, so you sipped on some water and tried calming yourself down.

“Okay, we’ve got enough time to run through it, one more time,” Daisy said.

You nodded wiping sweat from your forehead. Harry looked up from his phone, eyebrows furrowed as he looked over at you. He was really concerned about you, but he didn’t want to make a big scene about it. Plus, i was only one more time, so surely you would be okay after it.

However, halfway through the song, when you were doing a turn, you lost your balance as your knee gave out. You dropped to the ground in pain holding your leg as you cried out. Everyone stopped what they were doing and rushed to your side.

“Y/N!” Daisy said. “What’s wrong?”

“My fucking knee,” you cried. “Fuck.”

“Get some ice,” Daisy shouted. “From the cooler.”

“Should we call an ambulance?” Rachel asked.

“No,” you groaned.

“Can you even move to walk?” Jess asked.

Harry darted over with a small bag of ice, placing it on your severally swollen knee, “Baby, we need to get you to the hospital.”

“It hurts to move,” you sniffled. “Fuck me, this hurts like a fucking bitch.”

Harry grabbed the keys to you car from his back pocket, “Here, go unlock the car, while I pick her up and carry her,” he told Jess.

She quickly took them from her and headed straight for the parking lot. Harry placed his arms underneath you before gently picking you up causing you to wince.

“I need you to hold onto me,” he said. “And hold your leg out straight.”

You cried into his chest as he carried you out of the studio and to the car. Jess already had the car door open, so he placed you inside as gently as he could before putting the icepack back on your knee. The pain was so severe you started feeling nauseous.

“Maybe we should call an ambulance,” Daisy sniffled.

“We don’t have time,” Harry said. “Can someone ride with us? And the rest follow behind.”

“I will,” Daisy said getting in the car.

Harry nodded getting into the driver’s side as he flew to the hospital. He knew while this injury was serious, it wasn’t life-threatening. However, hearing your wails and curses of pain, broke his heart because he wanted nothing more than to take it from you. When he finally pulled into the parking lot of the Emergency Room, he helped get you out of the car, carrying you inside until he a nurse brought over a wheelchair.

“What happened?” She asked.

“Knee injury,” he said quickly. “While dancing. It’s swollen pretty badly and she’s in a lot of pain.”

“I think I’m going to be sick,” you groaned.

“Let’s get her back to a room,” the nurse said, luckily the ER was not super busy during that time.

Harry and Daisy went to follow the nurse, but she stopped them, “We need to get her settled and run some tests,” she said. “We will come get you when she can have visitors.”

They both nodded, walking over to the waiting room. Harry sat down, his legs bouncing up and down as his nerves took over his body. Tears filled his eyes, so he quickly wiped them away.

“She’s going to be,” Daisy whispered. “It’s probably just a sprain.”

“God, I hope so,” he sighed.

He hoped and prayed that the injury wouldn’t be all that serious and would only take maybe a few days or weeks to recover from. Because he knew if it wasn’t, and it affected the upcoming tour and appearances you all have worked so hard for, you would be extremely upset and felt like you let everyone down.

He also blamed himself, he could see you were exhausted and your body needed a break. Maybe if your schedule wouldn’t have been so hectic with dance rehearsals, then your body would have been under so much pressure. But it was too late to worry about what if’s and what could have been done differently. All that matter now was you being okay and it not ruining everything you had worked so hard for these last few months.

Uh-Oh! Poor Y/N!

Also, don’t forget to send in any ideas you might have for my new Christmas Series, Someone Special, by Friday night! :)

#One Direction Imagines #Harry Styles Imagines #Outside the Rain

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sillyfeathers · 5 years

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Butterfly (Maximoff Siblings)

Butterfly Warnings: mention of character deaths Relationships: Wanda Maximoff x reader, Pietro Maximoff x reader, Steve Rogers x reader Summary: you’re the youngest sibling of the Maximoff family. Set after the events of infinity war, and mourning the loss of both your older siblings, Steve finds you one night remembering what your life was like before Wakanda. Words: 2,250

A/N: This was meant to be a short, normal tickle fic but it escalated into something... more. I enjoyed writing the reader character, and I think I’ll turn it into a series! Flashbacks are in italics, and are set pre AoU, post CW and during IW respectively. Also there’s nowhere near enough Maximoff tickle fics so I shall provide ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Just for a minute, not even, you closed your eyes.

You rested your head on your folded arms, pushing away the papers and textbooks, and you closed your eyes.

Just for a minute, you told yourself.

Just a minute.

“Just a minute!” you called out to your sister, Wanda, scrambling to grab your things. You, Wanda and Pietro were taking advantage of the warmer weather to go to the park and have a picnic. Your parents had even said that you could go alone, given that you went to the park and only the park.

“Y/N, hurry up!” you heard Pietro yell, and you turned to run out the door; before skidding to a halt as you felt your backpack break.

“Oh god, oh god,” you mumbled under your breath, dropping to your knees and trying to shove everything back in, hoping the tear wasn’t big. But it was as though someone had taken a knife and sliced all the stitches loose: it was useless.

You blinked back angry tears, curling your hands into fists. Even though the bag was a few years old, you knew that your parents had paid good money to get one that would be able to last you through school – and now you’d gone and broken it.

“Y/N, what’s taking so long –” Wanda paused, seeing your hunched over frame through the doorway. You heard her walking over slowly, in the silent way she did when she didn’t know what to say, and you wiped your tears hurriedly.

But all the same, you felt a hand squeeze your shoulder. Wanda assessed the situation without a word, taking note of the fruit and napkins spread across the floor and what was once your backpack discarded in a corner.

“It’s alright, Y/N,” she said after a minute. “Pietro and I still have some room in our bags.”

You shook your head, biting the inside of your lip so you didn’t cry. “Mom’s gonna have to buy me a new one,” you managed. “You know we don’t have that kind of money.”

By this time, Pietro had approached the sisters from behind, and you sensed him bend down on your other side, ruffling your hair.

“I’ve got an old one you can use in the time being, butterfly,” he reminded you, nudging you gently. You softened at the nickname, and offered him a weak smile. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

You took a deep breath and stood up, rubbing your eyes. You were still feeling a little upset, but you managed to keep it hidden; at least, you did until you heard the thundering of rain against your roof.

That was enough for a frustrated sob to force its way out of your throat. Even though you knew it was impossible, you somehow felt like it was your fault.

"Hey – hey, it's okay, we can have a picnic inside!" Pietro suggested, the eagerness in his voice a little too forced. But you managed a nod all the same, turning away from him so he wouldn't be able to see the disappointment on your face.

"C'mon, butterfly, cheer up," Wanda said softly. "Forget the backpack – we have the house to ourselves!"

As she spoke, you felt the ghost of a hand running up your side, and you flinched, hiding a smile.

But before you could protest, Pietro had grabbed your wrists and was holding them behind your back, and Wanda was scribbling her fingers up and down your sides. You tried to resist, but soon dissolved into giggles.

"I'm – okahahay!" you squealed, falling to your knees in an attempt to get away from Wanda's fingers. But your siblings acted like they hadn't heard you, Pietro pinning you against the couch as your sister spidered across your stomach.

"Cheer up, butterfly!" Wanda teased as she crept her fingers up your sides to your armpits. You squirmed, a blush rising to your cheeks as you giggled. This playful side of Wanda was one that rarely was seen, and it made you happy to see her like this.

“Hehehey!” you giggled as Wanda fluttered her fingers around your ears. She smirked, but let you go. You fell back into Pietro with quiet laughter, burying your face in his shirt as you felt your face heat up.

“Mean,” you mumbled, your voice muffled. Your brother squeezed your side, and you yelped.

“You love it, butterfly.”

You jolted awake, your hands clutching at your own shirt. You could feel something damp against your cheek. You touched it gently, despite already knowing that you’d been crying. You felt a sob rising in your throat, and while your instinct was to push it down, you were alone, and your heart was aching, and so you just cried.

It started off as soft cries, but you were soon fully sobbing, your body jerking with each breath. Your tears stained the paper, smudging the work you’d done, and you found yourself grabbing it, ripping it to pieces. You didn’t remember what it was; you didn’t care. You were sad, and angry, so, so angry, because your family, your sister, everything you had was gone.

You felt yourself starting to lose control, your vision fading in and out and a ringing beginning in your ears. You pushed yourself away from the desk, but you weren’t prepared for the strength that surged through your arms and you sent yourself flying back, into the door.

No.

Into someone.

“Y/N?”

Steve.

You spun, pummelling your fists into his chest. You didn’t want him to see you like this, so lost, so broken, and so you fought.

But no matter how much brainpower you thought you were using, it was half-hearted, and you soon found yourself wrapped in his arms, sobbing into his shirt.

You emerged from the bathroom, rubbing your arms. The shower in the bunker only had two modes; an ice cold drip, or a scalding jet. You’d opted for the latter, but now your arms were covered in red marks from where the water had hit.

You didn’t know how long it had been since Germany.

You used to keep track of the days, and the places you’d been since Steve broke you all out, but you’d lost count a while ago. All you knew now was that the tiny bunker you were all in for the next few days was cold, damp, and lonely.

You were wearing one of Nat’s tops – an oversized nightshirt – and a loose pair of sweatpants. You found yourself collapsing next to your sister, wincing.

“Dumb shower,” you mumbled, more to yourself than anyone else. Wanda snaked an arm around your waist, pulling you closer to her. You curled into her side, closing your eyes and resting your head on her shoulder. It was late, and everyone was slowly dozing off. You felt Wanda gently tracing her fingers over your skin, and you relaxed into her, smiling slightly at the sensation. “Cut it out,” you whispered, biting your lip. She feigned innocence, tilting her head down at you. “I’m just making sure my butterfly isn’t in too much pain,” she replied, lightly tickling your stomach. You muffled your giggles against her chest, too exhausted to fight back, and if you were totally honest with yourself, you didn’t hate it.

It didn’t take you long to fall into a rhythm, giggling softly into your sister’s shirt as you drifted off to sleep. You weren’t sure when, or really how, but at some point you fell asleep and woke to Steve gently shaking your shoulders.

You blinked your eyes open. Wanda must have set you up with a pillow and blanket, because you actually felt quite warm. As your eyes adjusted, you saw that she, Steve, Nat and Sam were all awake, sitting around a low table in the middle of the room. Their hands were all wrapped around bowls – cold oatmeal, like every other morning – and you could see one for you, a space left between Steve and your sister.

They picked up a natural conversation as you joined them, crossing your legs and squeezing Wanda’s hand in greeting before starting your breakfast.

“How’s your skin feeling?” Wanda asked after a few minutes. Her face was innocent, but her tone had a teasing lilt to it, and you blushed.

“Fine.”

You’d both finished your breakfast, and it was almost too easy for your sister to gently take you by the waist, pulling you towards her as her fingers slipped under your loose shirt and began to dance across your sides and back. You were overwhelmingly aware that while the rest of the table seemed to be engrossed in conversation, if you made a noise then they’d notice you and your ticklish fate.

You were still pretty weak, and couldn’t get away without making a scene, so you buried your face into the crook of Wanda’s neck and giggled, melting at the gentle touches.

Despite your best efforts, the inevitable happened, and you were soon aware of the silence that had fallen across the room as they all watch you squirm in Wanda’s arms, the older girl laughing lightly at your predicament. She let you go after a few more seconds, but you stayed where you were until your face cooled down, internally cringing at the fact that your secret had been let loose.

When you resurfaced, conversation had broken out once again, although everyone was smiling a little more than before.

“I miss her.” It was the first words you said to Steve, still pressed against his chest in bear hug. He squeezed your shoulder comfortingly.

“I know, Y/N. But we’re going to get her back. All of them.”

You just nodded, hugging yourself closer to Steve as your brain slowly equalised everything. You both stayed like that for the next few minutes, in silence.

“Is there anything I can do?” Steve eventually asked.

You pulled back from him, shaking your head.

“I just want to forget.”

“Hey.”

Your sister had her back turned to you, but when she heard your voice she turned around with a weak smile.

“Hey, butterfly.”

You sat down beside her, taking her hand.

“Why didn’t you tell me where you were going?” Your voice was small, and you avoided her gaze. You felt the cushions shift beneath you as Wanda sighed.

“I’m sorry. I should have told you. Vis and I just wanted to get away from it all, but…” she gestured out behind her, to where they’d just been discussing how they were going to handle Thanos and the Mind Stone. “It didn’t turn out so well.”

You hesitated, before leaning over and resting your head on her shoulder. “It’s okay.”

“Yeah?”

“Mhm.”

There was a moment’s silence, but you couldn’t stop yourself any longer.

“I’m really scared, Wanda.” Your voice trembled, and you were only just holding back tears.

You felt her pull you closer, and you closed your eyes, pretending, just for a moment, that Thanos didn’t exist and that you were back in Sokovia, with Pietro, cuddling on the couch before dinner.

“Is there anything I can do?”

You shook your head. “I just want to forget.”

You pulled away from her, a sudden anxiety coursing through your body as you stood up, pacing around the room.

“I wish this never happened,” you continued. “I want to go back to Sokovia, with Pietro, and mom and dad, I want to go home, Wanda.”

Your voice broke, and you were sure you couldn’t hold back the tears anymore. But for whatever messed-up reason, you just couldn’t cry. All the emotion was there, you could feel your chest and throat burning, but the tears just wouldn’t flow.

You cried out in frustration, digging your nails into your palms. You felt arms wrapping around you, pulling you close, and it was only when you were pressed up against your sister, with her whispering in your ear and squeezing your hand, that you found you were able to cry.

You sat down on the end of your bed, and Steve, on instinct, sat down beside you. He felt helpless. He’d seen you like this before, but he’d always had Wanda, or Sam, to go to and seek advice. But right now it was just you two, and he felt useless.

Well, not entirely.

He did have an idea, but he wasn’t sure if it was appropriate. You were clearly hurting, and he didn’t think it was the best approach.

“Y/N, do you want to talk about it?” he asked gently.

You shook your head.

He paused, then carefully curled an arm around your waist, his fingers just brushing the skin.

“Do you want me to…” he faded off, unsure of how to finish the sentence. You knew what he was talking about, and you hesitated for a moment. You didn’t feel like laughing right now.

But you didn’t want to be crying right now, either. All you wanted was to forget.

And so, slowly, you nodded.

Steve pulled you even closer, and you relaxed into his side as he started to gently run his fingers down your sides. You closed your eyes, allowing a smile to pass onto your face, occasionally squirming or even letting out a tiny giggle as he continued.

It soon became less like tickling, and more comforting, and it didn’t take you long to fall into a rhythm.

You weren’t sure when, or really how, but at some point you fell asleep.

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angrylizardjacket · 6 years

Text

the things we do for likes {Joe Mazzello/Reader/Ben Hardy}

Anon asked: lol ben and joe having instagram wars on who can post the most embarrassing content of reader

A/N: again, written on my phone because the writing demon possessed me at 2am. I'm probs gonna have this as a series akin to B/R/R, aka disconnected vignettes in the same universe. Lemme know if you wanna be tagged. A case of the mondays is a McElroy reference, before you ask. 😊😊

It starts when Joe wakes up to an empty bed and noises coming from the kitchen; noises being footsteps, a loud bang, and some half coherent swearing. There's silence for a moment, then the opening and closing of the fridge. As soon as he's got his wits about him and realises it's just you in the other room, he opens his phone.

"So I wake up to no girlfriend and noises in the kitchen," Joe says after a minute of searching through his closet for his baseball bat, ready to film a bit for his Instagram. As he makes his way to the kitchen now, he holds the bat in frame, "I'm ready to rescue her if it's robbers." He assured the camera, voice still quiet and rough with sleep. Once he gets to the kitchen, however, he stops dead at the sight before him. There's a very long couple of seconds where all that the camera catches is his surprise.

"Why do you have a bat?" Your voice is muffled, as if you're speaking around something, and that's when Joe seems to remember he's filming, he changes to his front facing camera and turns on his phone light, exposing the fact that you're sitting cross legged on the kitchen island, eating a banana with a carton of juice in your other hand. You hiss at the light, arm coming up to sheild your eyes. The light doesn't move, and after a beat you shift your arm so he can see your face scrunched up where you're squinting at him, clearly unhappy about this intrusion into your snacking time. You take another bite of banana.

"Why are you on the counter?" He breathes, a little flabbergasted, and you chew, looking down at where you're seated, as if it's only just occurred to you that it's not exactly a normal chair. After a beat, you shrug, and raise the juice carton to your lips taking a long swig. You were so focused, so deliberate, and so obviously tired and half asleep that Joe couldn't help but laugh.

"Seriously, why do you have a bat?" And you finished the banana and put the peel down beside you with far more delicacy than it reasonably warranted.

"I heard noises and you weren't there, so I thought I'd come protect you from robbers." He explained, moving forward until he was standing next to you by the counter. You gaze into the middle distance for a moment as you contemplated his words.

"I was the robbers." You say, nodding sagely as the realisation comes to you. As if to prove this point, you reach out blindly for the fruit bowl that you'd already accosted once, picking up a lime and trying to fit the whole thing in your mouth. The last thing the video catches is Joe lunging forward to pull the fruit from between your teeth with a surprised exclamation before the video cuts off.

It's there that he realises that you're not half asleep, you're completely asleep, and sleep-eating at that. You're compliant enough when he leads you back to bed, though you adamantly refuse to let go of the juice, and you sit it triumphantly on your bedside table before promptly falling back into bed. Despite everything, Joe can't help but be endeared as he settles in beside you.

The video goes up the following morning after he shows it to you for your approval.

@joemazzello @yourinstagramhandle: "I had a case of the Mondays!" Me: "What does that even mean?"

@benhardy1 there's so much to unpack here

@benhardy1 also @yourinstagramhandle caught red handed drinking straight from the carton

@joemazzello @benhardy1 listen it was a lot to take in but youre right @yourinstagramhandle there was a cup right beside you!!!

@gwilymlee what is happening over there??

@benhardy1 @gwilymlee i know, im gone for one week......

@yourinstagramhandle I HAD A CASE OF THE MONDAYS!! 😂😭 @benhardy1 @gwilymlee @joemazzello

@yourinstagramhandle dont bully me @benhardy1 i miss you x

@benhardy1 @yourinstagramhandle 😘😘

@joemazzello @yourinstagramhandle @benhardy1 gross (im kidding, come home)

@benhardy1 @joemazzello 🙄🖕 (😘)

It becomes a thing, much to your chagrin, 'a case of the Mondays' becomes a meme the moment Ben posts a video from set, of him walking into his trailer where you'd been waiting for him, only for him to find you laying on his sofa under a fluffy blanket, watching Netflix with a face mask on.

"You took too long, now I'm having me-time." You announced. In the background, the Friends theme song starts.

Ben captions the video 'when you're hit with a case of the mondays', and tags you.

Not fifteen minutes later, Joe responds with his own video posted to his Instagram story captioned 'are mondays contagious? asking for a friend'. The video seems to have been taken not long after Ben's since you're still in a facemask on his sofa in the trailer, the difference is that Ben's in a face mask, and you've got your feet in his lap. The video starts in the middle of a heated argument, and it takes a few moments for the two of you to realise Joe is there, filming. Ben's the first to reach out to him.

"Monica's the worst Friend, right? Back me up here." He asks, and before Joe can even think about answering, you groan loudly, rolling your eyes.

"Ross is obviously the worst Friend, are you kidding me? He's manipulative, he's mean, he's-" you start, carefully extracting yourself from beneath the blanket as you spoke, peeling off your face mask.

"He's a terrible boyfriend and brother, yeah, but he's not the worst Friend," Ben elaborates, following behind you, and Joe quickly takes your spot on the sofa while you're in the bathroom. The argument continues as you wrinse your faces, you taking it in stride easily when you realise your seat's been usurped, sitting yourself in Joe's lap while Ben takes back his original seat. Finally the two of you look to Joe who had been waiting for this moment. The Friends laugh track goes off in the background.

"Well, you're both wrong; the worst Friend is Phoebe." He announced very matter of factly, like it's something he's been sure of for a while. After a beat, both you and Ben groan in unison, you even going so far as to move from Joe's lap to Ben's. That's where the video stops.

You update your Instagram story not long after with a picture of Joe in a face mask, grinning like an absolute fool, captioned 'we got him'.

There's more videos, more pictures, all showcasing you in the worst lighting or weird situations, and all of which you approve before they're posted, despite how embarrassing some of them may seem. Despite all of this, you don't care; it's posted because you're comfortable enough to share yourself with them, even in less than flattering situations, and when you look up, their gaze meeting yours where they're grinning behind their cameras, you can see in their eyes the fondness, the 'yeah, this is the fool I love'.

Ben posts a candid video of you recreating the Risky Business sock-slide scene when the song comes on your Spotify while folding the laundry. The moment you spot him, he stops filming however, because he sees the mischief in your eyes, and the way your hips are moving as you step towards him; you're feeling silly and sexy, climbing into his lap on the sofa, still dancing, though it's more grinding now, and singing the half remembered words. That's not for the rest of the world to see.

Joe posts a series of photos chronicling you forgetting to use an oven mitt to check on the frozen pizza you'd chucked in the oven, and even goes so far as to draw a red circle around the mitt that was literally sitting on the counter beside the oven as you sulked in the foreground of the final photo, holding a bag of frozen peas to your hand. He doesn't post about how he sits you down in front of the TV and brings you a proper ice pack, how he finishes getting dinner all ready and how he and Ben spend the rest of the night doting on you as much as they gently tease you.

They post dumb, nonsense arguments, but not sleepy morning kisses; your reaction to trying food that's way too spicy, even for you, but not how you smile so sweetly over desserts; the way you nap in the weirdest places, bit not how cute you look when you fall asleep on one of them. That's by design. From the outside the relationship is fun and chaotic and bright, but you don't owe the world a confirmation of just how much you love these men. But honestly, the world seems to understand, and somehow that doesn't make you uncomfortable. Though even the small snippets the three of you have shared, it's clear you love and trust each other.

And it comes out in other ways too, other cast members, not that you really mind.

"Tell us about Ben, Joe, and Y/N, are they actually sappy on set?" Gwilym reads out a question during an Instagram live session he's hosting in his trailer to kill time between scenes. "Listen, I'll tell you what, they're worse on set," he tells his audience with playfully annoyed expression, getting up. "Joe's trailer is right next to mine and if I check-" leaving his own trailer he takes his phone with him, knocking on the one next door as the comments of his live show go absolutely nuts, "I bet all three of them are in there." He mused.

Joe opens the door, yawning and rubbing his eyes, clearly having just woken up. "Keep it down, man," Joe mumbles before he sees the phone in Gwil's hand.

"Sorry I woke you, say hello to Instagram, Joe." Joe grins, giving a wave when Gwil holds up the phone. "They were asking about you three," he knows without having to ask that you and Ben are with him. Whenever you came to visit the set the three of you stuck pretty close together.

"They're still asleep," Joe steps aside to allow Gwil to peak inside. As promised, you and Ben were draped over each other on the sofa, though your feet have clearly been moved where Joe had to extract himself to answer the door. The UK Office is playing on someone's laptop. You yawn in your sleep and nestle in against Ben further, even Gwil's heart melts a bit at that.

"Alright, sorry to wake you," Gwil smiles and retreats as Joe stifles a yawn and assures him it's no trouble at all. When he's back in his own trailer, Gwil takes a breather before going back to looking at his live stream.

"They're cute, it's disgusting at times, how cute they are, and yeah, no, they don't show a lot of that in public, but they do really care about each other." He paused, shrugging, "and sometimes they're just weird. I saw Joe dare Ben to try and eat a whole apple in one bite, and he tried, and Joe video called Y/N when it got stuck, but it turns ou her solution was for her to eat a whole apple in one go too, to see how to get out of it; it just got stuck. They all seemed surprised by this, and it was just one of those times where I was like 'ah, yes these people make sense together', you know?" He shrugged, grinning as he read a few comments, "yeah it really did feel like they all got hit with a case of the mondays."

Taglist: @cosmicsskies

shoot me a message and I'll add you xx

#ben hardy #ben hardy imagine #joe mazzello #ben hardy x reader #joe mazzello imagine #joe mazzello x reader #the angry lizard writes #gwilym lee #borhap cast imagine #borhap cast #bohemian rhapsody imagine #borhap imagine #bohemian rhapsody #borhap #bo rhap #ben x reader x joe #ben hardy x reader x joe mazzello

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imaginejamesandsirius · 5 years

Note

Can you write a fluffy fic, where James has been planning to propose Sirius on his birthday with all the candles and stuff, but gets drunk on Halloween and blurts it out, and spends the next three days grumpy till Sirius proposes him on his own birthday just as James had planned, please?

James checked the list, ranked from most important to least. Not to say that the bottom half of the list was expendable, but having the ring definitely ranked more vital than having his hair done properly. Ring check, menu and ingredients check, dessert check, candles check, outfit check. He still needed to get a few decorations prepared, but they were all things he could summon. All he really needed to do was make sure he could cast the spells properly so that it would match the rest of the theme.

He was going to propose on Sirius's birthday, which was yet another step in his 'Make Sirius Like His Birthday' plan. They probably wouldn't get married on his birthday since Sirius deserved to have as many days to celebrate during the year as possible, but proposing on his birthday would make it all the happier. It doubly worked because this way Sirius wouldn't get suspicious about all the decorations, so James didn't have to worry about the surprise of it.

Not for nothing, but he had been planning this proposal for a month and a half straight. Everything was going to be one hundred percent perfect, and Merlin help whoever tried to stop him.

They were drinking because it was Halloween and that was half the point of the holiday. The other half was dressing up. James didn't particularly care about his costumes, but Sirius tended towards skin-tight and/or revealing and James ate that shit up with a spoon. Sirius had dressed up as a cat this year, cackling every time he thought about it. James thought it was pretty funny, and again skin tight outfit-- he wasn't going to complain. James was some witch from a muggle tv show, the partner to whichever specific cat Sirius was being. He didn't understand it, but at the end of the night when they flooed home in a giggling pile, James had a half-naked Sirius in his lap and he was all about that life.

He reached up and tugged off the fake cat ears, tossing them aside and running his hands through Sirius's hair. "You're so preeeetty," he said, words slow and slurring from the fire whiskey. "So so pretty and you're alllll mine."

Sirius was a little bit more sober than James, and as such was grinning and basking in all the compliments James was giving him.

"I can't believe I get to marry you."

"Marry me huh?" Sirius repeated, amused.

"Uh-huh. There's gonna be candles and glitter and, and a ring just for you and it's very pretty."

"It sounds great."

"Yeah but shush-sh," James said clumsily, putting a finger to the center of Sirius's lips, "it's a surprise."

Sirius smiled wider. "You are so adorable. Come on, let's go to bed."

James woke the next morning to a warm bed and the smell of breakfast being made. He sighed happily, burrowing further in the covers. He was never leaving this place, he decided, very assured with this in his sleep addled brain. This was what heaven felt like, and he wasn't leaving it. He well and truly wasn't.

He laid there for a few minutes. He wanted to kiss Sirius, but Sirius was not in the bed. James frowned and crawled out of bed. He surely liked like a gremlin with the way he was hunched over and shuffling around, but wakefulness was for those that actually wanted to be up, and that did not include him right now. He managed to make it to the kitchen and planted his face on Sirius's shoulder while whimpering pitifully.

Sirius's hand came up and pat him on the head. It felt quite nice, and James managed to get his hands up enough to put them loosely around Sirius's waist. "Why weren't you in bed?" he asked.

Sirius laughed. "I have no idea what you're trying to say sweetheart."

Okay so maybe it was more like a mumbled smush of sounds instead of words, but he'd meant to ask Sirius why he'd left their warm, cozy, haven of a bed. "Mmph," he said grumpily.

"Is that any way to talk to your future husband?"

James froze. "What?"

"Remember? You told me last night that you were going to marry me."

James let out a breath slowly, awake and very unhappy. His arms slowly fell to the side and it felt like all the energy had been drained out of him. He'd worked so bloody hard on this plan, and he'd managed to ruin it with four days left. "I told you about that?"

"Mentioned it in passing more like. Fried potato?" he offered, holding a forkful near James's head.

James lifted his head, took the bite, then laid his forehead back on Sirius's shoulder pitifully as he chewed. This sucked. Not the potatoes-- the potatoes were good, as always-- but the plan. He had the main list, and a secondary list for what order he needed to do everything in so that he wouldn't run out of time. There was a third list, just to make sure that he'd gotten everything done. And now, all of that was useless. He sighed.

"That bad?"

"The food's great," he said, turning his head to the side and kissing Sirius's neck. "Just hungover."

Sirius hummed, and that was that.

It was Sirius's birthday, and Sirius had insisted that James should go get the cake they'd ordered because it was his birthday and he shouldn't be doing anything but basking in the glory of being a full year older than the last time he'd had ice cream cake-- his favourite muggle indulgence.

James was juggling the cake and the bag of chocolates that Sirius had mirrored him to ask for on his way home, trying to open the door. He could have put the bag on the ground and then opened it, but he was James fucking Potter and he wasn't going to do this the easy way when he'd struggled this much. He managed to get the door open after only twenty seconds, and thankfully nothing-- like the expensive, irreplaceable cake-- fell.

He kicked his shoes off and started for the kitchen, only to slow to a stop. There was glitter on the ground. There were candles lining the pathway and flower petals dancing atop the flames. James narrowed his eyes, following the pathway to the kitchen suspiciously; this was his plan. This was the set-up he'd outlined for the beginning of the proposal. When he walked into the kitchen, Sirius saw him and beamed. James looked around the small room, seeing everything exactly as he'd planned. The food, the lighting, even the decoration on the chairs, which he'd planned on transfiguring for the occasion. He set the cake down on the counter dumbly, looking at the scene. It was... perfect. Everything was exactly where it was supposed to be, according to James's vision.

"Hey sweetheart."

James looked over to him. "How did you do all this?"

"A little magic and a lot of time. Lots of magic and lots of time, to be honest," he said, even though that isn't what James had meant. Sirius crossed the room in a few steps and kissed James softly. "Hungry?" He opened the oven-- which was turned off-- and pulled the put-together plates out of their stasis charms. He set them on the table with a small bow and a flourished hand gesture.

"Si..." James trailed off, swallowing down the emotions that were threatening to overwhelm him. "You didn't have to do all this."

"Excuse you, Mister Potter, but this is my birthday and my favourite person in the world has been telling me that I should celebrate it. This is a purely selfish dinner, I don't know what you think it is but think again."

James chuckled, shaking his head. "Whatever you say, love." When Sirius gestured for him to sit, he did, grinning stupidly as Sirius pushed his chair in and brushed a kiss to his cheek before going to the other side of the table to sit.

They ate, making idle chit-chat as they cleared their plates. James knew what was coming. Of course he did, he'd planned this to every detail, but it still hit him hard when-- after setting their plates on the counter-- Sirius knelt by his side instead of taking his seat again. Smiling warmly up at him, Sirius took one of his hands, rubbing his thumbs along the thin lines of bones on the back of James's hand. "How long have we been together?"

James smile widened. "Oh a few years I think."

"Yeah. Feels like a lot longer though, like we've been together forever."

"And like we might as well agree to be together for the rest of forever since we've made it this far. I wrote this speech Sirius, I know how it goes."

"Sure but that doesn't make it any less true for me," Sirius countered, looking more in love than ever.

"You can't propose with a speech you stole."

"Stole? What proof do you have of that Mister Potter?"

"I'm the one that wrote it."

"Perhaps," Sirius said, removing one of his hands from James's to reach inside his pocket and pull out a piece of paper, "but I'm the one with the draft of it right here."

"That's my handwriting," James laughed.

"What's yours is mine, and with possession being nine tenths of the law, I think that makes this proposal all mine."

James just continued to laugh, leaning down and pressing a kiss to Sirius's mouth. "I love you. So much. Thank you for doing this."

"No problem," Sirius said, nuzzling their noses. "I know how disappointed you were at it not being a surprise. You've been moping for the last three days straight; I'm glad you're over it now."

"Getting engaged to the love of your life will do that to a bloke."

"Technically you didn't say yes," Sirius pointed out.

"Technically you didn't ask."

"It was implicit."

"I don't think implicit works for most proposals."

"Well then you just have to answer one question: is this most proposals?"

"No," James said quietly, the air heavy like a blanket in the winter.

"Which would mean?"

"That my fiancee is a a trickster who managed to turn this around on me."

Sirius grinned. "Guilty as charged. If it makes you feel any better, I don't have a ring. The jeweler said he couldn't do it on such short notice."

"Does that mean I win this proposal?"

"We just got engaged; we both win."

"Life is a competition," James said, "and I'm in it to win."

"You're ridiculous," Sirius said, pressing a quick kiss to James's lips. "And a winner."

#prongsfoot #marauders #sirius black #james potter #fanfic #filled #established relationship #no voldemort au #post hogwarts #siriuslystarbucks #farah4422

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goodproofingwater · 5 years

Text

Wildfire Records: Breaking America - Chapter Ten

Word count: 2373 Playlist: hope is a dangerous thing for a woman like me to have - Lana Del Rey press play when you see the *

Victoria woke alone. The curtain had been pulled closed for her and she wondered who it was who had taken care of her like that. Would Josh have even thought enough to do that for her? Would he have come back and fell into the same dreams as she had had but from a different perspective?

She was glad to see him alone in his own bunk when she pulled the curtain back, his gorgeous blue eyes meeting her own with a smile as his looked up from the ipad.

“There she is…” He smiled, pulling the covers away from himself before moving into her bunk and holding her against his bare chest, ipad and jealousy forgotten as he kissed her. She had been stupid the previous night surely? She had just been jealous and there was nothing to worry about? His hands against her, slipping underneath his shirt which adorned her body told her that she was right, that he wanted noone but her, and it wasn’t until she heard the other girls voice on the bus that the horrible feeling in her chest returned.

It helped that Josh barely moved from where he lay on top of her for a few moments, that he continued to press soft kisses all over her face and on her lips until the very last moment.

“Josh-oh..” Jess averted her eyes as she saw him lying on top of his girlfriend in her bunk, and both Josh and Victoria chuckled at her reaction. He kissed Victoria once before he climbed from the bunk, and the redhead immediately missed the weight of him on top of her.

Maybe she should have spoken to him about it, maybe she should have mentioned that she felt a little jealous, but it was hard to have that conversation when he had been so wonderful that morning. Besides, Victoria had convinced herself that her mind was running away from her, that she had nothing to worry about. If Jess still wanted to be with Josh then there was nothing she could do about it, and she would have to get used to others wanting to be with her boyfriend considering the sheer speed of how their fanbase was growing. Josh had done nothing to make her believe that he still had feelings for his ex, and while she knew that she had to be careful, that there would always be a soft spot just like she would always have a soft spot for Andy, she knew that she had no right to be jealous.

“Sorry..” Josh spoke, and Victoria bit her lip as the man sat on the edge of her bunk with a blanket covering his lap, the kisses and intimacy having had an effect on his body which would have been more obvious if he stood. “Give me a minute.”

“Hi Jess..” Victoria smiled up at her, pulling down Josh’s shirt on her body and moving to stand up, “Can I get you a coffee or something? Must have been a long drive?”

“Yeah that would be nice actually..” Jess spoke with caution, unsure of how to react to how nice Victoria was being to her. The blonde girl knew what she was doing, had never gotten over Josh and was trying to make that obvious to his new girlfriend, and so it was strange that she was being so welcoming now. “Drive wasn’t too bad, although I can imagine it was much better for you guys, being able to sleep through?”

Victoria smiled as she moved to the kitchen area and put the kettle on, the feeling of Josh’s lips ghosting across her face filling her heart with enough joy that she could barely feel the jealousy. Unfortunately that joy was short lived.

Josh spent most of the rest of the day with Jess, and while Victoria did her best not to be jealous the only way she could think to remedy and take her mind of the situation was to drink. Juliet and Danny has taken time to themselves for most of the day and so Andy sat across from Victoria in the dining area, a bottle of whiskey sitting between them.

“You realise that I can’t drink a lot, right?” Andy spoke, and Victoria was proud of the responsibility in his tone. The Andy she had known previously would have jumped at the chance to drink half a bottle of whiskey with her, but the man sitting in front of her was so different, was looking after himself and was doing so well.

“It’s fine, you don’t have to drink a lot. Just don’t want to drink by myself..” she eyed Josh and Jess who were in the living area at the back of the bus playing call of duty as she poured whiskey into glasses for the two of them, Andy's significantly less.

“You sure drinking is the best thing?” Andy spoke, looking over his shoulder at the pair, his brow furrowing at the scene. He had been good friends with Jess too before they moved over, and he was trying his best to stay out of whatever was going on, but it seemed fucked up to him that Josh was spending so much time with his ex.

Victoria looked at him with a small smile and shrugged, “probably not, but it will stop me being even crazier I guess..”

Andy's eyebrow quirked, remembering the times they had gotten drunk together and the messes they had ended up in. Victoria couldn’t help but laugh at his expression and she shook her head, “there was a lot of cocaine when we went crazy like that, remember.”

“Mhmm…” he nodded, chuckling as he sipped his whiskey on ice, declining the coke mixer that Victoria topped hers with. “Just be careful alright?”

She nodded, pulling out tobacco and the weed which Danny had somehow managed to get his hands on, “can you smoke this?” She questioned, laying out the long skin on the table as she placed the tobacco carefully along it.

“Uh..” he scratched the back of his head, knowing that he probably shouldn’t but desperately needing something. He had spoken to his doctor about weed who had obviously told him not to, and the 12 step programme would advise him not to, but he had never had an issue with weed. “Let me see how I feel when you’ve lit it..” he grinned, and Victoria nodded, hoping that she wasn’t going to lead him off the path he had been so successful on.

Once it was rolled, the two stepped off the bus together, Josh’s eyes darting from the screen for a moment to watch them walk off. He knew that he had no right to say anything about them hanging out together, that Victoria could do what she wanted and it made sense that she felt uncomfortable hanging out with him and his ex, but it didn’t stop him being worried. He would have said something if it was the Andy from before, the Andy who would have taken this opportunity to ensure that she knew he was still an option, but the man had changed so much that he couldn’t help but trust him.

After beating Jess on four more games, the two moved to the kitchen area and started drinking too, Andy and Victoria sitting with Juliet and Danny in the seats at the front of the bus. Victoria couldn’t help but feel a pang of jealousy as she looked back and saw Josh and Jess drinking together, and just when she was about to get more upset, Andy wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

“You’ve got nothing to worry about y’no..” he smiled and Danny nodded, Juliet’s eyes dancing between the two redheads, the only one acutely aware of just how comfortable Victoria and Andy were together.

“It’s hard to know that…” Victoria spoke, sipping her whiskey and coke and Danny glanced at Josh and Jess before looking back at his friend.

“He loves you more than he ever loved her. It’s obvious, the two of you are soulmates. She was just someone that he got with along the way.” Danny spoke and Juliet smiled at him, her fingers slipping into his own as her brow furrowed in awe.

“You’re so cute..” Juliet smiled, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek and he grinned. Victoria’s heart swelled at the sight of her friend so happy, although it made her even more uncomfortable that she wasn’t that way with Josh. She had always put it down to them just moving faster and being together longer, but what if the real difference was that Josh still had feelings for his ex? As her brow furrowed, Andy squeezed her shoulder, tapping her glass as a reminder that the alcohol was going to cause her mind to run away with her.

She smiled at the redhead, resting her head on his shoulder as she sipped her drink once more, and Josh’s brow furrowed as he caught the intimacy.

The rest of the day was spent apart from Victoria, Josh choosing to spend more time with Jess as the time was limited. While it made the most sense to Josh, Victoria could only see it as him preferring to spend time with his ex over his current girlfriend, and so she proceeded to get more and more drunk both before and during the show.

“Babyyyy” She slurred as Josh came off stage, his expression turning to one of amusement as he saw just how drunk she was. “You were ‘mazing..”

Her arms wrapped around his neck as she draped herself on him, strong hands gripping her waist and holding her upright as she began to kiss softly at his neck.

“Babe—babe..” Josh chuckled, “I’m all sweaty and gross..”

“I don’t care…” she spoke, pulling back and looking at him with bedroom eyes, desperate for his attention after being denied it all day. “Let’s go back to the bus… I wanna fuck you…”

Josh bit down on his lip softly at such a proposition, and he almost took her up on it before he glanced over at Jess who was hugging Danny, “later baby, alright? I’d feel rude leaving Jess..”

The words hit her like a tonne of bricks, the alcohol making them feel worse and she immediately wished she had taken Andy's advice and stayed away from it. “You’d feel rude leaving Jess after you’ve spent all day with her? What about me?”

“Come on V… she’s a guest…” Josh spoke, eyes running over Victoria’s features and rolling his eyes as he saw them contort to anger. He had thought she wasn’t the jealous type - obviously he had been wrong.

“Fine. But don’t come crawling back to me tonight when you want your dick sucked. You can suck your own dick.” She spoke with less authority than she wanted and then downed the drink that was in her hand, Josh’s brow furrowing as Andy followed her to the bar.

*Victoria got more and more drunk, rage now fuelling her to the point where she was drinking straight whiskey and almost falling off the bar stool by the end of the night. She was angry and upset and honestly just wanted Josh to care for her, to show her the attention than he had starved her of to feed Jess.

“C’mon let’s get you to the bus..” she heard his voice as he hooked an arm around her, and she reluctantly went with him, pouting like a child the whole way. It didn’t help that Jess came with them, the condescending look on her face making Victoria want to fight her but she could barely walk let alone throw punches.

Josh lay her down in her bunk, pulling off her shoes while Jess stood resting against the wall, the look on her face telling Victoria just how pathetic she looked laying there having her boyfriend undressing her. But still she had no regrets, at least not until she was laying tucked into bed with her eyes closed and she could hear Josh and Jess talking in the kitchen area.

“She’s a bit of a mess isn’t she?” Jess joked, her tone disgusting and Victoria almost got out of bed until she felt the room spinning faster.

“She’s not usually like this…” Josh sounded exasperated, like he had had enough of Victoria when this was the first time she had done anything like this.

“Maybe she feels threatened by me… I mean we were together for a while” The females voice wracked through her, the warm chuckle that it elicited from Josh making her heart break. She was desperate for him to stand up for her, for any kind of sign that he wasn’t enjoying this attention from her.

“We were….” he spoke, and Victoria clenched at the tension that she could feel from where she was laying, her heart running at a thousand miles a minute as she willed him to break the silence. And he did. “I miss you all the time y'know…”

Painted lashes blinked painful tears, her heart feeling like it was going to fall out of her chest at the longing in his voice. She had been right this whole time. He still liked her, still wanted to be with her. Victoria has been nothing but a fling while he was in the U.K.

“I miss you too Josh…” she spoke, and she was thankful for the whoosh of the door to the bus opening, Danny’s loud voice singing How Far I’ll Go from Moana punctuating the silence as Juliet chuckled and tried to sing along with him.

“What the fucks going on here?” Danny slurred, “where’s Vic”

“I had to put her to bed, she was so drunk it took two of us to get her back.” False. Josh had carried her and Jess had come along when she saw the opportunity to be alone with him.

“Hmmmm” Danny spoke, his eyes narrowing as he looked between this two friends, focussing on the girl as he shook his head, “don’t you hurt Vic now.” Her heart warmed as she heard his drunken ranting, “you’d be a fool to let her go..”

#wildfire records #lauren writes #original story

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brien-odylan · 6 years

Text

Oops, baby, I miss you - Dylan O’Brien

Author: @brien-odylan

Pairing: Dylan O’Brien x OC

Word count: 14.5k

Warnings: a little bit of angst, mentions of sex, cursing, World Cup, Brazil losing, some fluff.

A/N: I can’t believe it’s finally done! *inserts hallelujah chorus here*. This story has been on the made ever since the enf of June, over the course where I had to go through a dryspell, where I couldn’t write anything for days. But it’s finally here now and man... Just knowing that it took me a little less than a month makes me want to kill myself.

Anyways, this was made as part of @disbestiles writing challenge in celebration of her 600 followers, using the songs Oops, by Little Mix and Miss You, by Louis Tomlinson. Let’s a great deal of it, having my back when all I wanted was to give up writing this story and everytime I changed what it was going to be about. See, miga, I finally finished it! Shoutout to the amazing @mischiefandi for proofing some of it and to @malia--stilinski @mf-despair-queen for yelling at me. And also to my best friend that doesn’t have a tumblr but was totally my inspiration for the very last scene. Enjoy it!! xxx

A shrill sound was what woke Ananda up that Sunday morning, her eyes trying to adjust to the clarity of the room. She tried to close her eyes and muffle the sound, but for as hard as she tried, the noise wouldn’t go away and seemed to be coming from inside her head, going off for countless minutes until it stopped.

Slowly, the girl opened one eye and looked around. She was back in her room, the sunlight entering through a crack on her blinds on the window on the opposite side of her bed and she just wished she was dead. Her head was pounding strongly against her skull, as if someone had dropped an anvil on her head or hit her until she went unconscious.

Once again, the annoying noise came back and she felt something vibrating against her skull. Trying to understand what was going on, she reached beneath her pillow only to find her phone ringing insistently on her palms. She had the vague idea of throwing it on the other side of the room, her trembling arm already shaking in anticipation. She was in no condition of talking to anyone at that time of the day after the night she had had.

It has to be the worst hangover ever, she thought to herself as she tried to make out the letters on her caller ID to no avail. It was going to be impractical to try to figure out who was disturbing her at that time, so she just rejected the call and turned the phone off. I’m never drinking again, she added.

It was an empty promise and Ananda was well aware of it. She had lost count of how many times she had said that only to get hammered the following weekend.

There was a movement behind her, the sound of her sheets being ruffled by someone getting her attention. It was probably just her best friend trying to get more comfortable during her sleep, her lazy self trying to find some more hours of sleep. Ananda half expected to hear her groaning at the sound of the ringing phone, but she must’ve been dead to this world.

With a sigh, Ananda closed her eyes once again and pushed the covers over her head in order to block the light in the room. She was going to spend the rest of the day in bed while begging Let to ask for takeout. It was a day to be lazy and get cured, she would understand.

However, things went slightly different, because soon enough Ananda felt something slightly different in the sleeping arrangement. First of all, Let seemed to be taking way more space than she usually did. They were about the same size and there was always a gap between the two girls, something that seemed nonexistent that morning. The second thing was a muscular arm draped over her body, pulling her closer to its owner and it made Ananda freeze in her place, dread icing her veins as she tried to understand what had happened the night before.

Because, obviously, she had ended up sleeping with someone and that was not Let, her best friend.

Sweaty bodies danced scattered around the dancefloor, the beat reverberating through the walls, hips swaying from one side to the other, people getting drunk all around the deck, the lights blinking as the DJ started another song, this time with a more powerful bass echoing around the surroundings, an obvious change in the atmosphere, causing everyone to shout in excitement as the music started.

From where she was standing, her bare feet in contact with the soft fabric of the booth she was designated to, Ananda threw her head back, her hips already dancing on their own accord, following the new rhythm, the words to the song coming out of her mouth as if it was her own creation. In her intoxicated state, she could feel the sound booming through her veins, her closed eyes intensifying the feeling and before she knew it, she was screaming at the top of her lungs the words to the song, her hips swaying, shyly at first.

That’s how things always started for her. She would claim she couldn’t dance, that she was way too shy to do it in front of anyone, but everytime she went out with her friends, she would end up giving all she got on the dancefloor, not caring if anyone was seeing it or not. Of course there was always a great amount of alcohol involved, but she wasn’t the type of person to drink and forget everything; she would just let go of her inhibitions, secretly saying a ‘fuck you’ to herself. It was fun to watch. You could see she was having a good time coming out of her shell and attracting looks from a few guys around.

And of course it couldn’t be any different that day. It was her birthday, all her friends were present and she even got a VIP section of her favorite night club, not to mention a free champagne bottle to celebrate it. She was having the time of her life, dancing on top of the seat, not a care in the world with her hands on her knees, her ass stuck up in the air, moving from one side to the other almost in a broken way to whoever saw it, but she was in complete control of what she was doing, the sharp motions of her hips forming, slightly, what could be remarked as a geometric shape as she kept singing loudly to the song.

Ananda could see, by the look on her friends’ eyes, that most of them had no idea what the music was saying or what kind of moves they should do and she just shrugged it off, telling them to do what felt natural. There was no correct way of dancing funk. You just had to feel the beat and do the most provocative moves you could muster, that’s how she went.

She felt a sharp tug on her arms, her movements halting immediately as she looked at whoever had stopped her, the bewilderment expression she had softening as soon as she saw her best friend looking at her with the biggest smile on her face.

“He’s here!” she heard through the song. Two little words that sent her heart in a frenzy, completely forgetting to follow the music’s beat to a rhythm of its own, almost as if it was racing against her eyes, which had already darted to the entrance searching for someone.

Ananda was sure he wouldn’t make it, she was sure she was going to spend another birthday without him, without the guy she considered her best friend. It was weird, to be honest, that he had become someone so close to her. They had shared one meaningless class back in freshman year, done one unimportant seminar together and yet he kept on being by her side, talking to her throughout the rest of the college years. Not to mention when he moved to the same building as hers.

In the end, they had accepted that they were destined to be in each other’s lives; they had far too many things in common, not to mention how they worked perfectly together. And now, five years after they had met, she was glad they had decided it.

As soon as her eyes fell on his frame, his spiked hair, the infamous blue shirt and khaki pants he wore everywhere - she really thought those were the only clothes he owned and once offered to go shopping with him. What was his problem? - and those warm honey colored eyes, she felt a squeal erupt from her mouth, her legs pushing her through the mass of sweaty bodies, making her way to the man she was expecting.

“Dylan!” she screamed over the noise, her much smaller frame colliding against him, her arms circling around his neck as she stood on the tip of her toes. “You made it!” she beamed, her eyes staring at him intently as he shook back the confusion he was in once he felt someone run into him.

He let out a loud laugh, a smile on his lips as he hugged her back, his arms wrapping tightly around her waist and picking her up a little bit, her feet dangling a little bit. “I wouldn’t miss my best friend’s birthday, come on!”

“You missed the last one,” she looked at him sternly. He was not going to pull that kind of crap on her. Not on her birthday.

“It’s not my fault you decided to have your birthday when the semester is almost over,” he defended himself.

“It’s not my fault you struggled with your grades. You should study harder, Dylan.”

Whoever watched their interaction from the distance, wouldn’t actually see how their dynamic worked. Dylan was the laid back one, doing everything he deemed possible to achieve what he wanted, but never stressing himself over it, hence the moments he needed to ditch his best friend to stay in and study for his finals. It was just how he worked, pushing things back until he couldn’t get away from it anymore and it was amazing how he always ended up being at the top of his class or having the best job offer ever. On the other side, there was Ananda: a hard-worked, over-achiever, stressed student who was always trying to make the best of her time and classes. Maybe it was the fact that she was living through what felt like her only shot of winning in life, like if she ever stood a toe out of line, she was going to be sent back home and say goodbye to her much dreamed graduation. Maybe she felt like she had to prove herself all the time because she was from another country; maybe she felt like everyone was judging her, as if it wasn’t her place and she needed to prove them wrong.

How those two ever ended up close to each other was a mystery, but it worked perfectly well. They balanced each other’s lives.

“Well, I’m here now,” he said with a smirk. “Just in time to see you twerking, something I never thought you would do.”

Ananda scoffed. She couldn’t believe he would compare her sharp hip movements to something so simple and silly as… twerking. She had spent hours and more hours practicing her movements, the positions of her legs, how her hips had to swerve from one side to the other in a fluid movement with her ass stuck up in the air.

“Don’t ever compare my quadradinho to twerk,” she shouted over the song, her eyes rolling. She wasn’t going to stand there and be offended like that. Ok, it wasn’t like that and she was being a little bit over dramatic, but the amount of alcohol in her system wasn’t helping much.

Dylan laughed at her and put his hands up in a surrender motion, accepting what she had said. He had no idea what she was talking about or what the hell a quadradinho was, but he would accept it. She seemed like she was having fun and that was enough for him.

After that, everything seemed to go in a blur. A shot of tequila turned into four and he had ingested more caipirinhas than he would have thought healthy. Damn those Brazilians and their need to make something so sweet and tasteful, making you drink more than one in a hurry thinking it wasn’t too strong. When it hits, it hits you hard, he thought. But it was already too late. He was already in the middle of the sweaty bodies taking the space of the VIP section designated to Ananda, his mind all fuzzy, his steps a bit faltering, but never stopping moving to the rhythm of the music.

And that was pretty much how things went all night long. At some point, Ananda turned around, her glazed eyes trying to focus on a black figure sat right in front of her. Of course it was Dylan, she though with an internal roll of eyes. She knew he had already drank more than he should, but she couldn’t stop smiling at the way his head rolled around, trying to keep an eye on everything that was going on around him. They had always joked about visiting Brazil together. She said she would show him everything worth seeing and not just Rio and what people thought that was Brazil.

Well, that night club was something he would see in a night club in the latin country: people dancing around, having the time of their lives, shouting the words to every funk song while dancing to it.

She didn’t know who had started it, but when she realized it, both of them were extremely close to each other, Dylan out of his seat, his frame towering over hers slightly as he tried to keep his face in a serious expression while watching her dance, her back turned to him as she bounced her hips, slowly going up and down, her movements never faltering.

He was hypnotized. His eyes couldn’t avert from her as she laughed, her hands lacing around his neck. That was it. That was what made him lose all his sober thoughts as she turned around, her face inching closer to his as she grinded against him, her chest pressing entirely to his, her breath fanning against his neck.

It was hard to see where Dylan stopped and Ananda started. Somewhere along the song, they had become one.

No. No no. No no no no no. It couldn’t be, right? That was just a drunk mistake, she had only kissed Dylan and then walked away from him to find someone else. Some tall, blonde stranger, something completely different from the brunette she called her best friend. Because that was the right thing. She couldn’t have walked home with him and slept with him.

She took a deep breath and poked her head through the covers, almost too afraid to turn around and see who was behind her, snoring softly and completely lost to this world. She had to do it. She had to make sure that she hadn’t jeopardized years of friendship because of a wild night out. And then, with a hammering heart and completely neglecting the pounding in her head, Ananda slowly turned around, her body shifting swiftly against the sheets as she tried to see who was in bed with her and the first thing she noticed was a mop of brown hair contrasting with a pale skin.

And if it weren’t enough to send her heart in a frantic rhythm, the face her eyes came into contact did. Because there was no way she could mistake those long eyelashes against that cheek or the constellation of moles that dotted that beautiful face. She had watched them closely a thousand of times, trying to memorize every little speck of color, how they looked under the natural light, how they contrasted against his skin and how she loved when he was wearing a beard, but hated the fact that it hid the dots she had grown to love. Purely platonic, that is.

And it was amidst the realization that she had slept with her best friend that she couldn’t ignore the fact that she liked seeing Dylan like that, his face free of any worries, his eyes rolling from one side to the other behind his closed eyelids, the soft snores coming from him, almost melodic and sending her back into a slumber, the way his chest was raising and falling, the way that the morning light hit his warm skin, giving it a new shade. He seemed so peaceful, so innocent and pure that Ananda found herself gazing at him, her finger itching as she tried to not outline the contour of his jawline.

She was incredibly scared of what would happen when he woke up, but she couldn’t stop looking at him and admiring the man beside her. He was gorgeous; his pale skin looked amazing against hers - a little bit more tanned -, his strong arms, something that she had watched grow over the years, felt so secure and soft that she couldn’t help but wonder what it was like to be held by them. And it hit her that she probably had been trapped between those same arms the previous night and what startled her the most was the fact that she couldn’t remember much of it.

There was a lingering thought on her mind, something telling her that she had been in there. It was almost a memory, completely blurred and confusing, but she had a feeling that it had been amazing. For as long as she knew Dylan, she had failed to know something he wasn’t good at. She had heard things about him in bed, of course, having talked to a few girls that had been in his life and some rumours that went around the campus. If any of them were true, she must have felt in heaven.

In the complete stillness of the morning, where no sound could be heard coming from the closed window she had on her bedroom, the annoying sound her vibrating phone caused startled her one more time, her eyes tearing apart from the sleeping figure besides her, her body almost jumping out of the bed and away from his as she tried to reach for the buzzing device to quiet it hurriedly before it disturbed Dylan from his sleep, but it was already too late.

Dylan stirred on his side of the bed, his eyes opening and closing rapidly due to the clarity of the room he was in, his head screaming at him while he tried to make sense of what was happening. He could feel a commotion going on beside him, someone talking hurriedly into a phone words he couldn’t make out and the ruffling of sheets. Where the hell did he spend the night?

Slowly and carefully, he opened one eye flinching slightly at the bright light, his hands reaching down to pull the duvet closer to his chin, suddenly too self-conscious for his liking.

The voice - it was a girl, that he was sure of - cut the call short and turned around, her eyes finally meeting his.

Saying that life is full of surprises is an understatement; you can prepare yourself to a lot of things, but waking up, naked, in a bed with your best friend when you can’t recall what happened the previous night, is something that you can never be prepared for and something that can never cross your mind. And that was exactly what was happening to Dylan that Sunday morning.

His eyes stared wide open back at the Brazilian girl by his side, her smaller frame enveloped in the duvet they were sharing, her small hands tugging at the ends of the fabric trying to get more of it around her body while he could just sit there, too stunned to say or do anything. How could they ever walk away from this situation?

“Do you…” he started, his voice caught in the back of his throat. Fuck, how do you even start a conversation? “Do you remember anything from last night?”

Ananda stared at him blankly, her head shaking, her eyes focused on the wall behind his head. That was it. The perfect friendship had been reduced to a big pile of nothing because of a drunk mistake. What were they thinking of? Well, they weren’t.

“Do you have any idea how wrong this is?” she asked, her voice barely over a whisper. She was mortified.

Maybe, to anyone else, it might have seemed like they were just being over dramatic, that it wasn’t that big of a deal and that it was bound to happen at some time, but when it came to friendships, Ananda didn’t like to see hers being ruined, much less with the only guy she had in her life, the one person she could count on at any given time. Of course she had other friends, Let for instance, but it was different. Dylan knew her the longest, he was aware of her deepest secrets, he could read her like the back of his hand and to have him there, in the same bed as her after a night of sex, it seemed like she couldn’t look at him without wanting to die.

“Ok, don’t freak out,” he started, one of his hands slowly reaching to grabs hers in a soothing way. If he was thinking straight, he would’ve realized it wasn’t a good idea, but he was set on trying to comfort his best friend. “I know this is weird, but come on, Nanda. It’s just us.”

“Of course I’m freaking out, Dylan!” her hand slipped out of his, holding the duvet closer to her. “You’re my best friend! I have the right to freak out! Oh my God, what have we done?” she rambled, her eyes falling to her lap as she tried to think of a way to walk out of the awkward situation. “I need an aspirin,” she mumbled, her legs finding the side of the bed, steading her descending self as she clutched the sheets around her. “Don’t look!”

It was then that Dylan realized he had not only been looking at her, but gawking. He was transfixed on a point over her shoulder, how the skin there seemed so tender and soft, something he would like to feel again, to refresh his memory, to run his fingers through it until he reached the pulsing point on her neck. She was extremely beautiful, something he hadn’t failed to realize in all those years, but it had a different meaning now. Because he was actually seeing her, all her walls down.

Some people would wake up and grumble, roll out of the bed and start their day with a roll of eyes, but not Ananda. Despite having a real shocker that morning, Dylan could see that she was doing her best to let it slip from her mind and not ruin her day. He saw her walking up to the window, the light hitting her skin and adding a golden tone to it. Her hair waved down to the middle of her back, the sunlight making it look lighter than it actually was. And he kept watching, almost too scared to say anything, almost too scared of moving and making her scurry away from him. He watched it like it was forbidden, like he was stealing glimpses of her and storing it in his memory before it was too late.

She was beautiful and it hit him like a brick. He had fucked it up.

A week had passed. An entire week in which Ananda had done her best to avoid any kind of interaction with Dylan or any conversation about what had happened. She knew it was ridiculous because they had to talk it out at some point, but she just couldn't bring herself to look at him without feeling utterly mortified.

It was a crazy feeling, something she never thought she would feel towards him, but she couldn't help herself. She had been out of herself enough to sleep with him and that was not something she did. She was the calm one, the one who always thought things through and avoided all kinds of crazy thoughts. Why had this happened and with him?

No, she wasn't repulsed by the idea of sex with Dylan, because he was amazing. He was gorgeous and had a body that she could stare at for hours - something she actually did when he was running around the room and putting his clothes on - but it was also her best friend. She was repulsed by the idea of throwing herself at him, completely out of her normal state, her drunk haze making her act like someone she was not. That was her problem with the whole situation.

And, if things weren’t already hard enough, she had to deal with her Let being all over her, asking things she wanted to forget, trying to make her remember things that were forever lost on her sucky memory, something she was glad for for the first time in her life.

“You know you’re acting really childish, right?” Let asked as she moved around the kitchen, her hands gripping tightly the dishes as she put them back in the cabinet. The two girls had just walked home from a long and exhausting day at work, ready to call it a night and order takeout. “You two slept together, so what? Everyone does that.”

Ananda rolled her eyes. She was tired of having that same conversation, tired of saying everything she had already said, but her best friend wouldn’t give up. She wanted to talk about it all the time, almost like she was rooting for it to happen again and soon. The truth was… She knew Let had always wanted them to be together, had always hinted at that fact and had always secretly rooted for that to happen. Ananda was really surprised Let hadn’t shouted it to the whole world yet.

“But it’s not something I do,” she sighed. “I don’t want to jeopardize everything I have with him because of a mistake, ok? I like him, he’s my best friend and I don’t want to give it away because we were too drunk to do the right thing.”

There was a lingering silence in the kitchen, the only sound coming from the dishwasher working in the background and the occasional sound of the chair scraping against the floor as Ananda rocked herself back and forth, trying to think of a way to walk out of that conversation.

“Well, you two have to talk,” Let said with a final tone, her eyes rolling at how things were being treated by two grown ups. She expected them to be more mature about it all, she thought they would look at each other, have a laugh and move on with their lives. Deep down, she thought it could mean something, that they would finally be together. It was just a matter of time. “Meanwhile, you could do the laundry,” she added, a smile playing on her lips as she hinted to the big pile of dirty clothes they had put aside.

“Yeah, I’ll do it tomorrow,” Ananda rolled her eyes. Yes, it was her turn. No, she wouldn’t waste her night doing something she hated.

“But you gotta do it today,” Let pressed, her hands firmly gripping the girl’s hands and pushing her up. “I’ve got a meeting tomorrow morning and I want to wear the black pants I lent you Monday. So you gotta do it now.”

There was something to it, Ananda thought as she went through the laundry, separating the clothes she was going to wash first. First because Let wouldn’t be so adamant on making her wash the clothes, second because the following day was a Saturday and Let didn’t work on Saturdays and third because she knew Ananda didn’t like being on her own on that room. It was all gloomy and eery. The sound of the plumbing always managed to scare her, it didn’t matter how many times she had been in that basement.

Either way, the Brazilian girl found herself all alone in the room, praying for nothing to happen as she put all her color clothes into the machine, internally rolling her eyes at how silly she was being. She was a grown up and didn’t have time for irrational fears. Resigned, she shook her head, set and started the machine, adjusting the earphones in her ears hitting play on her playlist as she waited for the cycle to be done sitting on a chair with her legs up, her back to the door.

Of course, had she been sitting differently or not using the earphones to block the sound coming from the plumbing, she would have noticed the door had opened and someone had walked into the room with her, their steps not so light as they stumbled on their own feet due to the amount of things they were carrying, blocking their vision. Had Ananda been paying attention, she would have noticed when the figure walked up to her, let go of the basket with clothes and detergent and looked at her, a smirk on their lips as they watched the girl singing happily to whatever she was listening to, her eyes closed and her head thrown back, completely lost to the world around them.

Dylan chuckled to himself. It was such a normal thing for her, to sit back and relax, listen to her random playlist and forget about everything else. She looked so relaxed and carefree, a smile playing on her moving lips, the words escaping from her mouth echoing around the almost empty room, reaching his ears and making him smile. He loved when she sang; her voice was melodic enough to carry a song on her own, her tone causing some kind of effect within him. His heart, somehow, felt lighter at the sight of the girl in front of him combined with her sweet voice.

He knew she was trying to avoid him ever since the weekend and he couldn’t understand why. Well, he could, but he thought it was just a little too much of her to do something like that. It wasn’t that big of a deal and despite the fact that she thought it could be something to ruin their friendship, neither of them remembered what actually happened. They could pretend it never did and move on with their lives, be the best of friends as they had always been, but she had chose to ignore him and he had let her. He gave her the space she thought she needed, he respected that and at that moment, as his brain screamed at him to walk away from the room and leave her alone, another part of him - he wasn’t sure which one - was telling him to just walk up to her and question the girl on her actions.

It could be a little selfish, he thought, but he didn’t want to be apart from her anymore. He missed her, the way her accent rang on his ears when she said his name or tried to say some word she thought that was difficult to say. He missed her rambling on and on about the upcoming World Cup, he missed her trying to teach him things from her country. He missed his best friend. So, shutting up his brain and acting on the behalf of his heart, Dylan slowly turned to her, his hands reaching out to gently grab her shoulders and snap her out of her daze.

What followed after was a cacophony of sounds, the metal chair scraping against the floor, Ananda’s legs hitting the side of the washing machine as a piercing scream left her mouth, echoing around the nearly empty room and probably reaching the first level of the building. Her heart was hammering wildly against her ribcage, her head pounding and her veins turned to ice. That was how she was going to die. All alone, doing laundry while listening to some poorly chosen songs. Fantastic.

With her body shaking from head to toe, she opened her eyes and slowly looked back, her eyes finally coming in contact with the culprit of her heart attack, seeing Dylan standing there, eyes and mouth wide open, his already pale skin even paler and his breath uneven. On the process of being scared, she had managed to scare him back, nearly making the young man going deaf.

“Filho da puta,” she shouted, her hands reaching her accelerated heart as she tried to calm it down, her head tilted down, her free hand resting against her forehead. “Son of a bitch.”

Dylan kept looking at her, his eyes still wide open, but his mouth had turned into a smirk. “You've got some lungs, huh?”

She looked at him wanting to be able to murderer the man. He knew very well that she didn't like being in there all by herself and he went and scared her? Ok, maybe he hadn't meant it, but what could you expect to happen when you sneak behind someone's back and they've got earphones on?

With her heart calming down, but still beating too rapidly for her liking, she reached down and threw some of his own clothes at him, rolling her eyes as he laughed at her. She hated him. She really hated him.

Dylan could only laugh. “What are you doing here?”

Ananda looked from him to the working machine, back to him and crossed her arms over her chest. It was an obvious question and she couldn’t actually believed he had asked it. “Laundry,” she limited herself on saying. “This is the laundry room, right?”

Dylan surely had missed her sarcastic ways. The way she would look at him whenever he made a dumb question, her eyes struggling to not roll, her lips pulled in a scowl and how her nostrils seemed to inflate as her annoyed expression came on her face.

“I meant a, you don’t do your laundry on week days and b,” he paused scooting closer to her, the smirk still on his lips. “You hate being here all by yourself.”

The girl couldn’t deny it. He knew her like the back of his hand. He knew every little thing that was on her mind, before she even knew it herself, and that was what sucked the most about that friendhship. Because she wanted nothing more than to just roll her eyes at him and ignore him for the rest of her life, but since he knew she was doing it, he wouldn't let it happen.

“Well, Mister Know-It-All,” she started, her legs kicking her off the chair and leading her to the side of the machine, her body leaning over it as her elbows pressed against it. “For your information, I needed to do it today. Let has a meeting tomorrow and she lent me one of her pants, so I’m washing it right now.”

“Are you sure?”

Ananda blinked a couple of times. What did he mean she was sure? Of course she was. She had just talked to her best friend, whom she shared an apartment with, and she had just being told that said best friend had a meeting on the following day and she needed the clothes she was washing at that exact minute. Did that week away from her had caused Dylan to develop some kind of conditional disease that made him act weirdly?

“What do you mean I’m sure? Of course I am. She just told me.”

Dylan, who at this point was already unloading all his clothes into another machine, not caring about mixing them up, stopped and looked at the girl. She was leaned over her machine, her brown hair didn’t look as shiny as he knew they were under the incandescent light hanging from the low ceiling of the room. The brick walls contrasted greatly with her now pale skin, so much different than when she first arrived there. She was in great need of a tan to go back to the olive skin he knew that looked so great on her. He wasn’t going to lie: she looked perfect in anyway.

“Well, then why did I get kicked out of my own apartment because your best friend is there to celebrate her anniversary with my best friend?”

She didn’t have an answer. Let hadn’t said anything about it being that Friday. If she remembered well, Let and Tyler’s anniversary weren’t for another whole week, so why were them already celebrating it?

And then it hit her like a brick. “You think they planned it?”

“I’m sure they did,” Dylan said with a roll of eyes. He knew it the moment he saw her sitting with her back to the door, but he didn’t want to be the first one to bring it up. He also quite of agreed with their friends’ decision. They needed to talk. “Tyler keeps telling me we need to talk and I told him it’s kind of hard when the person you need to talk to is ignoring you.” There was a long pause this time, like he wanted her to react to what he had said, but all she could do was stare at the wall in front of her, never meeting his eyes. “What happened to us?” He pressed. “Do you remember anything?”

“Not really,” Ananda sighed. She didn’t know what she was doing, but she felt compelled on talking to him. “I can’t tell if they’re actual memories or just my imagination. You?”

“Kind of the same,” he said coming closer to her tentatively. “I remember enjoying it, though.”

The blood rushing to her face was thankfully hidden by the poor light. Never, in a million years, Ananda would have thought she was going to hear those words coming out of his mouth. It was going to be completely weird to hear it from any other guy, to hear it from Dylan was even weirder. It caused a mix of feelings to swirl in her, like her mind was trying to navigate through a vortex of thoughts and sentiments. She tried to reach for a surface, but there was nothing she could grab onto.

“Is this how it’s going to be for us now?” His voice sounded shallow, like he was tiptoeing around her, speaking carefully so he wouldn’t send them down the hole again. Dylan didn’t want to be away from her anymore.

“What do you mean?”

“Damn it, Ananda, we can barely be alone now,” Dylan said. He was tired and frustrated from everything that was going on, so much he couldn’t put into words. He always knew Ananda was too headstrong, but he never thought it was this much. “You don’t talk to me anymore, you don’t look at me, you don’t answer my texts or calls. I miss you.”

“I miss you too,” her voice was so low he thought he had misheard it, but the truth was there. She had said those words.

He smiled for real this time. “So can please put it past us? We don’t even know what really happened,” she gave him a pointed look. “Ok, we know, but we don’t remember. We can move on with our lives and pretend it didn’t happen. How about that?”

“I guess that would be fine.” Ananda, for as much as she liked to pretend that she wasn’t, was an emotive person. She was slowly fighting back the urge to start crying right there.

“I miss my best friend, ok?” Dylan said, his body completely next to hers now. “And the incredible person that she is and I don’t want a drunk mistake to be the thing that puts us apart.”

“Me neither,” she sighed, finally letting go of her stiff position and turning to him, a small smile playing on her lips this time. “You know what? Maybe this was for the best.”

“How?” Dylan scoffed. “How having our relationship shaken up was for the best?”

Ananda bit her lips and shook her head. They weren’t that shaken up, that she knew. Somehow, it just had made them realize how important they were for each other and how much they really cared about one another and when she voiced those thoughts, she saw Dylan’s eye color change slightly. They weren’t so dark anymore. There was light in them again.

“I don’t regret it, though,” he said silently, catching her attention. “Sure, I don’t remember it, but I don’t regret it. If anything, I’m glad it was you. You’re amazing and the level of intimacy we have surely went up by a hundred percent now, and I have yet to find a better girl than you.”

“Are you trying to make me die out of embarrassment?” Ananda was outraged. Did she really hear what she thought?

“I just wish I could remember, ok?” Dylan sighed his body leaning closer to hers. “Because, that way, I would’ve known how it felt, but I can only guess…” His eyes dancing from her eyes to her lips, the tip of his tongue running through his own lips. There was something else in the air, the tension thick. “Or maybe…”

“Maybe what?” she heard herself whispering, her eyes focusing on his for the first time ever since he walked into the room. The sound of the machines was the only noise in the air, but it was completely neglected by them. It was like nothing around them mattered anymore, like the two of them were in a trance.

Their breath mingled, their eyes danced around each other’s faces and their bodies kept leaning into one another. It was pure bliss surrounding them, the rhythm of their hearts beating to the same beat, the anticipation cursing through his veins.

Suddenly, Ananda felt like she was at the end of a first date, that feeling you get when you reach your porch and don’t know what’s to come next. Was he going to kiss her? Would she let him do it? Would it mean anything?

She didn’t know about the first one or the last one, but she was sure about the second question. If he tried, she would let him do it, hell she would even reciprocate. She couldn’t deny that there was a curiosity lurking her mind ever since the previous weekend when she woke up with him by her side, but it was more than that. It was the way he was looking at her, it was the way his eyes flickered when he laughed or how his voice sounded. It was every little thing that she hadn’t paid attention to. It was his smell, the way his hair fell on his forehead, the feeling of his beard against her face. She wanted to have all of that again and remember it this time.

And that was why she didn’t fight back when he finally closed the distance between them, his lips slowly and tentatively pressing on hers, like he was afraid of what her reaction was going to be. It felt like he was having his first kiss all over again, the way his hands were shaking and he didn’t know what to do with them, but he managed it, just like it happened all those years before. And it was blissfully good. The way her lips smoldered against his, so softly at first that he wasn’t sure he was awake.

He didn't want it end; He realized, with a sorrow in his heart, that he didn’t want to let her out of his arms any time soon and that sucked, but he was going to be just great.

Of course nothing was great. Everything was so far from being ok that Dylan wanted to scream at the walls until his thoughts would leave his mind, mostly because it was his fault. It was him who initiated the kiss, it was him who wanted to do that and it was him that couldn’t take it off his mind. And how he hated it.

Things weren’t bad between them, far from it. It felt like they had moved past that week and that everything seemed to go back into place, but while things did look like it on the outside, Dylan was dealing with a lot on the inside. Because there wasn’t a single second he didn’t remember about that kiss in the laundry room or the small smile she had on the second they pulled apart and it was eating him alive.

His day had started like any other and the walk to his work had been nothing but boring, with the same boring people looking at the same boring way. Everything seemed to be grey, like any presence of color had suddenly been forbidden. Even the sky wasn’t in its usual shade of blue. Or maybe it was just him, maybe it was his dark mood affecting everything he touched, because as soon as he pushed the door to the vet clinic open, a radiant smile came into contact with his eyes.

“Good morning, sweetie,” chirped Mrs. Olsen, the receptionist. She was a very adorable lady, with her bright blue eyes and almost completely grey hair. Dylan had yet to see a day she wasn’t smiling at everyone walking through that door no matter what and he had known her for three years.

“Morning, Mrs. O,” he mumbled not even finishing his walk to his office, plopping down on one of the soft chairs in the waiting room, his eyes closed, his arms crossed over his chest and a big sigh leaving his lips. “But nothing’s good coming out of it.”

Had his eyes been opened, he would have seen the old lady send him a quizzical look, her brows scrunching up as she looked at the pile of clothes he had been reduced to. He was always a very charming, very energetic boy and she was used to seeing him oozing excitement every time he walked in, so seeing him mopping was somewhat affecting her.

“What’s the matter, son?” she asked walking from behind her desk, her light footsteps leading her to his side, her small hands brushing the hair from his forehead. “Are you sick?”

Dylan opened one eye, a small smile making way on his lips as he stared at the woman he had come to love as his second mother. She was so genuine in everything she said and expressed that he couldn’t help but be happy at the thought of her being worried about him. He knew that, if needed, she would send him back straight home and not hear a word of his complaints. But that wasn’t the case. He was sick, but not from something that could be cured with a good night’s sleep or some medicine.

“You could say that,” he sighed, his body curling up against the chair as best as he could. “Tell me, Mrs. O, have you ever done something that you shouldn’t and then keep thinking about it all the time?”

She gave him a suspicious look. “Is it something illegal?”

“No, it’s not,” he chuckled. “Though I think it should be.”

Mrs. Olsen eyed the boy, taking her time to try and understand what he was saying. She had been close to him pretty much ever since he had started working in the clinic, automatically making his way through her heart. Dylan was a kind soul, acting respectful towards everyone, never mistreating anyone. He had always been a ray of sunshine in the clinic, so seeing him so down like that morning was not okay with her.

She was certain something had happened over the course of the past week, with his excitement dwindling down each day, but she thought he was just tired and stressed, and thought all he needed was a good rest over the weekend. Now she was rethinking everything. He had bags under his eyes, his hair was a little disheveled and it looked like he hadn’t put any effort into dressing up in the morning, with his black shirt wrinkled.

Although there were a lot of things that could lead Dylan into that state, she also noticed how he hadn’t walked in holding a cup of coffee or his phone in his hand, something he always did. It was customary of the man to have breakfast with a girl she thought very pretty, but he had sworn they were just friends. She guessed it wasn’t the case anymore.

“Is it about a girl?” she asked again, a small smile on her lips. Of course it was.

Dylan sighed and nodded. It wasn’t about any girl, though. It was about a girl he should never think of that way given their previous status and when he told her everything, from the waking up next to her to kissing her on that Friday night, she looked at him like he was talking the most ridiculous things in the world.

“Have I ever told you how my husband and I met?” she had turned completely to him, her small frame fitting into the chair perfectly. “It was in 1969, when we were in high school,” she smiled. “We had the same group of friends and we used to hang out in this diner after school and we somehow ended up being great friends. Everyone thought that there was something going on between us, you know,” she chuckled lightly. “But the truth was that we were such great friends that we could talk about pretty much everything. When his brother died in a car crash, I was the first one he ran to when he found out. When my mom fell sick, I could only find comfort on him and his friendship. It wasn’t until the end of 1970 that I realized that I liked him more than just a friend,” she squeezed his hands in reassurance. “Those feelings, Dylan, the ones that hit us after a while, the ones we never really knew we were looking for, are pretty powerful. They shake us to the core, make we go to hell and back, but they’re usually not wrong. She tried to avoid you, right?” he nodded. “She must have been scared of what she felt. I remember how Howard was scared to tell me he had feelings for me and it literally took him two of our friends to make him do it,” she laughed a little, her eyes scanning Dylan’s, trying to convey as much courage in them as she could. “Talk to her. If you’re scared it might drive her away from you, she wasn’t that good of a friend, but chances are she feels the exact same way.”

He looked at the woman in front of him, his thoughts running a hundred miles per hour as he went over everything she had just told him and he tried to compare it to everything they had lived so far, all the times someone had asked if they were together, how he felt at ease when she was around, how she was always running to him whenever she felt homesick, how they always had fun together and liked to be in each other’s presence more than anything.

Dylan thought of all the times he had wanted to just cut off communication with the rest of the world after a long and exhausting day at work, but then he would see her smiley face and puppy brown eyes, just begging for some kind of attention, a movie night or just talking, and he would give up. He would give up pretty much anything just so she could be happy and he knew she would do the same, she had done the same countless times, and then he smiled.

“You’re right, Mrs. O,” he said, a new found resolution within him. He was going to walk out of that door, march up to Ananda and tell her that everything hadn’t been a mistake. At least not anymore.

But it was so much more easier said than done.

As the days rolled by, Dylan found himself trying to come up with that courage that had invaded him during the conversation with Mrs Olsen, but whenever he saw Ananda, her brown eyes and smiling face, he would start to rethink everything, every life choice he had made so far and his brain would stop working, freezing all of his functions as he just stared at her and tried his best to not act like a complete fool. It was hard, he was pretty sure she was aware of how he could barely talk to her anymore and it pained him.

There was always a lingering silence between them, a thick tension that no one could cut through and it ruined everything. As much as both of them tried to come up with a light conversation, it would soon be over with an uncomfortable smile and their faces turning the other way.

Things weren’t going that differently that night. Dylan had come home a little earlier from the clinic, his shoulders down and his mind set on relaxing for the rest of the night, but the sight of Tyler walking out of his room ready to go out made him hault. He really hoped his best friend wasn’t going to make him go with him.

But, of course, it hadn’t been the case.

“You know how much I had to bargain for that, Dyldo?” he asked, still trying to convince the man. “Let wasn’t keen on letting me have a night out with the guys, but I managed it, and you’re not going to ruin this for me, man. You’re going.”

Dylan sighed. “You go without me, man.”

“I don’t think you’re understanding the situation here,” Tyler grabbed him by the shoulders and, with a stern look, he spoke real slowly. “You’re going with me whether you like it or not. It was one of the terms I had to accept.”

“What?”

“Come on, Dylan,” Tyler rolled his eyes. “I’m not asking for much. You go out for a little while, we have fun, you distract your mind from work and you’ll be home soon enough to spend all the time you want with Ananda.”

Funny how one simple name could make everything change, Dylan thought. Not that he wanted to go out and forget about the girl, but he really needed a time out to think things through. Maybe all he needed was a little bit of alcohol to make his mind clearer and finally understand what was going on with him. How that would work, he had no idea, but he was willing to try.

And that was why the brown eyed man found himself fully dressed, hair styled and ready to leave in no more than 30 minutes, his fingers cracking in anxiety as he waited for Tyler to say goodbye to his girlfriend, her small frame leaned against their counter as she said, one more time, all the things she expected from him and the man, like a well trained puppy, nodded at each word she said. It was funny to watch their interaction, the way she said everything and how Tyler paid attention to every word.

“You take care of him for me, ok, Dyl?” she said to him, a smile on her lips as she made her way to the front door. “And I’ll take care of Ananda for you,” the girl completed walking into the hallway and never looking back, leaving a perplexed Dylan as he tried his best to shout a come back to her.

There was no need on taking care of her for him. They weren’t anything. They didn’t have anything. Sadly.

That was not how Ananda thought she was going to be spending her night.

When Let said she wanted to have a girls’ night, she imagined them going out, shopping, having dinner somewhere or even having a walk down the park, not staying home and watching old movies and eating chinese. They were young, they had worked their asses off the whole week and they deserved to do something, anything at all, that didn’t involve being home, but she had chosen a 84 year-old best friend, by the looks of it.

It was probably the third movie of the night, but she wasn’t paying close attention to it, her mind going back and forth, distracted by the low chimes of her phone whenever a text came through. By the time she had lowered her head to look at her phone for the tenth time during the first five minutes of that movie, Let looked up at her, a scowl on her face as she kicked her friend’s leg from the other side of the couch.

“Who is it that demands so much attention of you?” she asked with a roll of eyes.

Ananda let out a small chuckle and turned the device to the girl, a video of Dylan and Tyler illuminating the screen. They were standing back to back, both men holding a pint glass on their hands as they chugged it down, voices chanting their names in the background as they did their best to finish it first.

“You have got to be kidding me,” Let mumbled, her head shaking. “I told them to be responsible and that’s what they do? I can’t fucking believe it.”

“Come on, Let,” Ananda smiled. “They’re just having a bit of fun. It’s not like you’ve never done it.”

Let blinked a couple of times and shrugged it off. Yeah, she was being a bit of a hypocrite in that situation.

“And why are you seeing these videos?” She asked after a moment of silence, her mind finally catching up on the fact that she hadn’t received any message.

“One of the boys sent it to me,” the Brazilian shrugged. “So we wouldn’t be worried, as he said.”

She hadn’t exactly understood why someone would send her that, but given the fact that Tyler and Let were dating, they assumed all of them were pretty close and wanted to make sure no parts were left out of what was going on with the two boys. At least that was what she thought, until she received another message, a picture this time, of Dylan smiling smugly at Tyler, his hands up in the air as he celebrated his winning. His shirt had ridden up, showing some innocent bit of skin on his stomach, the path leading down to his pants and suddenly her thoughts weren’t so innocent anymore.

But what intrigued her the most, was the caption of the picture. There, in bolded letters, had been written Your boyfriend won.

It wasn’t the first time and it wasn’t going to be the last one. She had lost count of times people had said they were a couple, that they should be a couple or that they would end up being a couple and she was tired of it. They were best friends. Best friends who had slept together after a drunk mistake. Best friends that had kissed one night where no alcohol was involved, but best friends nonetheless.

Ananda couldn’t deny the fact that there was chemistry between them with the playful flirts over the years and knowing what to do around each other, but that was it. They were platonically involved, nothing more. And yet, she couldn’t deny that she wished there could be a little more, that was why she was so scared when she first woke up next to him.

Because she remembered walking in that one class they had shared, looking around and finding him sitting by the end of the third row, his head down reading some book. And then he looked up and she could’ve sworn she felt like she had been knocked off her feet. It was silly, but she felt like his eyes could pierce into her very soul and bring out her darkest secrets. They held so much light and life within them that it seemed just impossible to steer away from it. And that was why she felt compelled to sit next to him, starting then and there something that would lead up to their friendship and unrequited feelings of the present.

She huffed in annoyance at the caption, tired of having to explain to everyone that they were dating.

“Don’t,” was all Let said, her body suddenly behind Ananda’s, her head poking through her shoulders as she read the text still showing on the screen.

“Huh?”

“Don’t be a hypocrite,” she explained. “Why do you think everyone thinks you two are together?”

“Hm… Because we have some incredibly noisy friends that like to say those kind of stuff,” the Brazilian girl replied in provocation, but her best friend wasn’t having any of it.

“We can see the way you look at each other,” Let said with a roll of eyes. “Don’t deny it, you like him.”

“Of course I do. As my best friend!” Ananda insisted.

“Ok,” Let sighed, a thought running through her head. If Ananda wasn’t going to admit willingly, she was going to force it out of her. “So you’re telling me you don’t mind he’s out now, having a good time, checking girls out and being checked out?”

Ananda felt something changing inside of her, a slight turn in her chest as she thought about it. There was nothing wrong with Dylan being out and checking girls out, right? He was single, he was free. “Of course not,” she said with certainty.

“You don’t mind that there might be a girl eyeing him up and down and thinking ‘that’s some fine ass’ because it is?” Let pressed.

She could almost picture it. Some girl watching him from the other side of the pub, a low cut dress showing more than it should, her luscious lips adorned in a red lipstick, her pearly white teeth showing as she smiled down at Dylan maliciously.

“Nope,” she mumbled.

“And you don’t mind if she walks up to him, with a smile on her lips, and her hands start to trace his shoulders and arms, going dangerously lower?”

She was walking to him now, more like strutting, making the whole distance between them her runway, her eyes set on him. And he couldn’t take his eyes off of her, too entranced on the beautiful girl in front of him, with her long legs and tall figure, her feet graciously balancing themselves on stupidly high heels, her hair waving back her shoulders. She finally reached him, her hands slowly touching his shoulders as she leaned forward, giving more view of her cleavage, whispering something on his ear, his eyes changing to a dark color as he listened to it, hands grasping her waist.

But it was all in her head and yet she couldn’t shake the feeling that it was going on as the two girls spoke, Ananda’s hands slightly shaking from what she was feeling.

“No,” she said through gritted teeth, her hands balling up in fists trying to contain the sudden urge of punching someone that had overwhelmed her.

“Then it’s fine by me,” Let finally let go, a smirk on her lips as she watched the expression on her friend’s face change from soft to a scowl.

But it was already too late. The imagine was burning into the girl’s mind and she was fighting every instinct inside of her, every fiber of her screaming at her for changing into something more suitable and going after him. But why would she? She thought in a moment of lucidity. He could be with anyone he wanted and she was only his friend, nothing else.

And it was at that very moment that Ananda realized that maybe, just maybe, she needed him more than she thought she did.

However, things weren’t going exactly as the girl had pictured it as Dylan was being dragged out of the bar by his friends with a black eye, a cut on his lips and his knuckles bruised, not to mention the little blood that had found its way to his shirt.

It all had happened way too fast for his liking and when he realized it, he was already at the table next to the bar, his fists flying to the guy’s nose, cutting his story short as he bragged about everything he had done. Dylan had aimed to hit it so hard he hoped it was broken, and by the amount of blood that oozed out of the guy’s nose, he was sure he had done his job perfectly, making him grin to himself. He had wanted to do that ever since he met the guy, years ago.

The poor bastard - not so poor but a bastard nonetheless - was Logan Hersey, a football player back in college that Dylan had the displeasure of meeting after he started dating Ananda. It was hate at first sight for both of them. Logan couldn’t stand the fact that his girlfriend spent too much time around a guy that wasn’t him, always begging her to stop being friends with Dylan, which only added to the hatred the brunette guy felt for the player. For months, they were like water and wine, never really mixing but walking side by side because of the girl and Dylan couldn’t be happier when they broke up.

The guy was a total prat.

And the moment Dylan saw him walking into the pub, he knew his night was going to be ruined. It was like that guy brought grey clouds into the room every time he walked in with his obnoxious friends and the vet warned his friends as soon as they saw the group walking up to a table close to them and did their best to ignore whatever was said in the douchebag’s table - as they had called it - but one can only have enough.

“I date a girl once,” Logan said, his voice carrying over the loud music playing on the speakers, his neck craned to the side in an obvious attempt of making Dylan hear what he was talking about. He had been doing that the whole night. “She was wild,” he laughed. “Brazilians, man, I’m telling you. They do everything you tell them to.”

Dylan knew what was coming and why he was doing that. Logan had some kind of comfort on knowing that he could affect the man when talking about Ananda and he always did that when he was close. Every other time, Dylan had restrained himself because of his best friend, but this time she wasn’t there and they weren’t dating anymore. If Logan said one more thing, he was going to act.

It didn’t take longer than five minutes. Logan was already laughing and bragging about his sexual encounters with the girl once again, his eyes moving to the group of men behind him every now and then, making sure they were listening to everything he was saying.

“Maybe you should have a little more respect,” he heard from behind him, a firm hand clasping on his shoulder rather forcefully, but didn’t back down.

“Oh?” he smirked at Dylan, his head tilting back and looking at the man from upside down. “O’Brien, man, didn’t see you there,” Logan laughed. “It’s been a while.”

Dylan squinted his eyes, choosing not to enter whatever game the other man was playing and said nothing.

“Oh, come on. You can’t be mad at me after all these years,” Logan chuckled. “You can’t get over the fact that the girl chose me over you?”

“I wasn’t aware there was a competition,” Dylan limited himself to say, his face still pulled in a frown.

“Oh, but you see,” Logan smiled and turned in his seat, his front now facing Dylan. “There was a small thing I like to call ‘Win yourself a girl’ and you lost, my friend,” he finished dramatically, his army of friends laughing along adding fuel to the burning hatred Dylan was boiling inside of him. “You can’t be mad at me for scoring the slut, O’Brien. I was going to play dirty to get that hot ass.”

And that was when Dylan felt himself pulling back his arm only to slam it back against Logan’s nose, his fist curled up in a ball, blood oozing out of the other guy and splattering against his shirt. What followed next was a ruckus of chairs being scrapped against the floor and bodies getting up, trying to understand what was going on.

Logan, from the floor, held his nose with both of his hands, tears prickling in his eyes as he tried to understand where he was and what had happened.

“What the fuck?” he shouted, his voice completely muffled by his hands. “Are you fucking crazy, O’Brien? You’re this mad about some whore? You’re too butthurt she didn’t sit on your dick?”

What followed next was a blur of bodies launching at one another, Dylan hitting Logan one more time before one of his gigantic friends pulled him off, hitting him on the lips, a cut busting open almost immediately, which made Tyler and his friends dive into the mess that was going on, fists flying everywhere, occasionally hitting something or someone.

It took four of the securities men to break them apart, Dylan holding Logan’s shirt in his hands as he went for another punch, hoping to crack the asshole’s skull open, but he came into contact with nothing but air, as a big man pushed him away, yelling at both groups to get the hell out of the pub and never come back.

“Damn, Dylan,” Thomas gasped out, his British accent echoing down the empty street as he tried to calm his erratic breathing. “What the hell was that?”

But Dylan couldn’t answer anything. He was still too furious about everything he had heard, his hands still shaking from all the adrenaline coursing through his veins. He couldn’t believe he had done it. For the first time in his life, he had been in a fight and, hadn’t him been stopped, he was pretty sure he would’ve beaten the crap out of Logan. There wasn’t a hint of regret on him, the jackass deserving everything that happened to him and maybe more.

Tyler groaned at his side. “Fuck, man. Let is gonna kill me,” he said as he looked at his reflection on a shop window. His jaw was severely bruised, a big purple on his eyes and some swollen lip. That was far from the quiet night he was hoping on having.

The doorbell was ringing unceasingly, waking up not only the owners of the apartment but also some of the other people living on the same floor, much to Dylan’s annoyance. He didn’t need anyone peeking through their doors and seeing him and Tyler all bruised and looking like they had just taken the worst beat ever. They were winning the fight.

The door finally opened, the light from the living room illuminating the hallway, making the two of them presentable to a very frightened Ananda, who had taken in their appearance and closed her hand over mouth, trying to contain a loud gasp. From behind her, it was possible to see a distressed Let, her eyes widening in worry as she looked at her disheveled boyfriend and imagined what had happened.

Tyler walked into the apartment, not even waiting to be asked him, and plopped down the couch, his head resting against the back of it as he closed his eyes and took deep breaths. Dylan, on the other hand, was still waiting by the door frame, his eyes searching for Ananda’s who could only look back at him not understanding what was going on, worry flooding her system.

She took hesitant steps forwards, her hands slowly reaching out for Dylan, waiting for him to flinch. When he didn’t, she grabbed his hands and pushed him into her, her arms closing around his middle in a tight embrace, feeling his calm heartbeat against her ear.

“What happened?” she asked slowly, her head tilting back in order to give him a better look, but all she found was a lack of response from him, his eyes set on Tyler, as if telling him to keep his mouth shut. “What happened, Dylan?” When he didn’t say anything, the girl turned to Tyler, her eyes pleading for an answer.

The man sighed, looked at his girlfriend and then at his friend before shaking his head. “We had a run in with Logan and some of his friends.”

Ananda blinked a couple of times before turning to Dylan, her eyes squinted at him as he tried his best to avoid her gaze.

“Logan Hersey?” she asked, but she already knew the answer to that question. There was only one Logan that could provoke such primal instincts on Dylan. “Oh, please tell me you didn’t have a fight with Logan Hersey, Dylan.”

She looked furious and rightfully so. She had lost count of how many times she had asked him to forget about that guy and ignore everything he had to say, but, apparently, she was asking for too much.

“I can’t believe you fucking had a fight with him,” she was fuming, her arms no longer wrapped around him as she paced around the living room, looking at him as she tried to give sense to why he had acted that way. “I told you to not pay attention to anything he has to say, Dylan, that he’s an asshole and wants to get a reaction out of you, but do you fucking listen to me?” Her accent was all over the place now, becoming too thick when she was mad about something and all he could think about was how he found that beautiful. He was screwed.

“He was talking shit about you!” he shouted back, his brain finally being able to function. “I wasn’t going to let him say those things, you know?”

“Oooh,” she laughed sarcastically. “My knight in a shining armor. I don’t fucking care, Dylan! For all I care, he could say that I’m a fucking whore and I wouldn’t mind. Because I don’t mind what his friends think of me, ok? I mind about what you think of me.”

“Well, I care when people talk shit about you, Ananda. Fuck!” Dylan let out, his shoulders relaxing as he walked up to her, grabbing the girl by her arms to make her stop walking around. “I hate it when I have to hear anything bad about you. And it killed me to hear him talking about you like you were a disposable thing,” he took a deep breath, his eyes finally looking into hers. “Fuck, I care way too much about you to let anyone say those kind of things when I’m around, ok? You have a problem with it? Deal with it, because I won’t stop caring about you or about what people say about you.”

The girl stood there, frozen on her spot, her eyes gazing the man in front of her, her thoughts way too confused to think of anything else to say. Of course he would care, he was his best friend, but there was something else lingering between them and she could feel it. She could see it in the way his chest was raising and falling as his breath came out in large puffs of air, the way he was holding her down and looking at her, almost begging for her to understand his reasoning. It was more than what she had bargained for. It went completely beyond their friendship, the platonical feelings they had for each other. Those were long gone now and there was only this vibrant new feeling between them; stronger, burning hotter than ever before.

What broke them apart was Tyler coughing from the couch, reminding them that they weren’t alone. It was possible to see Let rolling her eyes at him before grasping his hands and pushing him down the hall leading to the rooms, annoyance written all over her face as she tried her best to not hit him on the head.

Ananda sighed, her eyes casting down, seeing the bruised knuckles on Dylan’s hand, slowly reaching for them and softly tracing the outline of the wounded skin.

“Does this hurt when I touch it?” she mumbled.

“Just a little bit,” he said with a small chuckle, trying his best to not make a face and betray his words.

“Liar,” she smiled. “I’d hate to see the other guy.”

“Oh, he ended up looking horrible,” he laughed and shrugged, his eyes falling on hers once more.

“Come on,” she tugged on his right hand. “I need to clean your knuckles and cut lip.”

The way to the kitchen was short, but they never let go of each other, not even when Ananda had to open the refrigerator to grab a package of frozen carrots so Dylan could put it on his black eye, or when she had to reach for the top shelf in the cabinet, where she stored the first-aid kit. It caused a little trouble, but neither of them thought about disconnecting their fingers.

“It’s gonna sting,” she said after a while, turning to him with a piece of cotton soaked in antiseptic, right after cleaning the cuts with distilled water. “But you’re gonna be fine.”

The first reaction he had was to close his eyes and wait for the contact that was to come, internally flinching at the pain that was to come. He had done that countless times to a huge variety of animals that came into the clinic, but never had it done to himself, at least not when he was a grown up and after a fight. But he soon learned that he didn’t have to worry about it. Ananda’s touch was so gentle, almost like a caress and the small stinging sensation on his lips was nothing he couldn’t endure.

Almost as soon as it started, it was over. Dylan opened his eyes and came in contact with a void, his good eye trying to find the girl that was in front of him not even a second before, only to find her throwing away everything she had used on him.

“Thank you,” he whispered. He didn’t know why he had, but the atmosphere around them seemed so peaceful that he didn’t want to disrupt it.

“Thank you for defending my honour,” she smiled poking his cheek slowly, making sure she didn’t hit his cut lip or his eye.

“I would do that anytime.”

And maybe it was the calm air around them, or the overwhelming feeling of doing something that pressed at his chest, but Dylan found himself leaning in to the girl, his eyes holding her stare, trying to find any sign of reluctance on them, but when didn’t find any, he finally closed the distance between them, his lips pressing hers in a tender way, not moving as if too afraid it was just a dream and he would wake up without her.

It was Ananda who moved first, her lips slowly sliding against his in a slow kiss, her skin prickling and tingling at the sensation of his chapped lips moving against her soft ones, his hands holding her by the waist, pulling her flush against him. It was all a new feeling, something neither of them had ever felt, not even with the shy kiss they had shared in the laundry room.

Her arms wrapped around his neck, her hands running up and down his hair, something she had always wanted to do, involuntarily pushing him harder against her, their lips pressing with more force, making Dylan whimper and pull back.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” she bit her lower lip, her eyes scanning his face for any indication of pain.

“It’s fine,” he chuckled and pecked her lips one more time. “But maybe we should lay back on the harsh kisses.”

She smiled, her eyes cast down, her cheeks in a pink hue as she thought about his words. It meant there was more to come, it meant he wanted more from her.

“So where does that leave us?” she mumbled, a bit scared of knowing what his answer was going to be.

“Where do you want it to?” he asked back, his eyes sparkling in the flourescent light of the kitchen, but there was something else too. Hope. “Because I’m right where you are, baby.”

Ananda decided she liked the way the pet name rolled off his tongue and reached her ears. She liked being called that and the fact that he was the one to call her that.

“Are you sure you want this to happen?” she asked cautiously, a glint of mischief on her eyes. “I mean, the World Cup is almost upon us and you know how crazy I get over football.”

“First,” Dylan chuckled. “It’s soccer. Second, I think I can handle you being a little crazy.”

“It’s football because you play it with your feet,” she sassed. “Take it from the girl who comes from the country with 5 titles,” she winked.

The past two hours had been a rollercoaster of emotions, with people screaming at the TV, offenses thrown at the ref and popcorn flying everywhere. Ananda had her head pressed against Dylan’s chest, her eyes closing every now and then, too perplexed with everything going on, too saddened to see her beloved team struggle. It wasn’t what she imagined that would happen and she wanted to just curl up in a ball and cry her eyes out.

“Do something, Dyl!” she mumbled against his yellow jersey, the five green stars taunting her mockingly.

“What do you want me to do, babe?” he murmured back, his hands stroking her back and caressing her head.

“Get on the field, do something!”

Dylan could only shield her eyes from the TV, shaking his head at her as he tried to think of ways to cheer her up. He had seen her upset over a game, yes. Mad and pissed off too, but never this sad. It was like the other team was a horde of Dementors sucking her soul away and all the happiness the bubbly girl once had.

And then the ref blew the whistle and the air around everyone stopped, no sound coming out of anyone, except for the TV, loud cheers coming from it, but it was the wrong color celebrating.

A wave of red chanted at the top of their lungs, their screams only meaning they had done the unthinkable: they had beat the odds and smashed the team that was seen as the favorite one, crushing the dreams on 200 million people, Ananda included.

All eyes turned to her, hers glued to a point behind the TV set, her frame frozen on the spot, her face stuck on a horror expression. It couldn’t be possible. She was having a nightmare and she was going to wake up any minute now, at the comfort of her own bed without her hopes being left down, because it just couldn’t be.

The girl felt everyone looking at her, their breaths held as they waited for her to say anything, an outburst of any kind, but they only met a complete void, she was just petrified. It was like all her blood had turned cold and her mind buzzed, replaying all the last two hours of her life.

And it was then that the tears came; all at the same time, leaving her eyes like a waterfall glistening under the sunlight, cascading down her face and washing away all the yellow and green makeup she was wearing, her hand reaching her mouth trying to contain the sobs that threatened to come out of her. Her whole body was shaking, fighting back the urge of shamelessly crying in front of all her friends over something as silly as soccer.

Only it wasn’t just that to her. It was a long desired wish, something she wanted so bad to happen, to claim as her own, but now it was out of their reach. Once more, Brazil’s national team had disappointed her and it seemed unfair, because this year they were playing way better than in 2014 and they couldn’t reach as far as they had before. And everything sucked.

She felt herself being pulled against her boyfriend, her face hidden in the jersey she had bought for him, her makeup smearing on the fabric, not a care given as he cradled her in his arms and whispered sweet nothings into her ear, trying his best to make her forget all about it.

Slowly, everyone seemed to vanish, their steps echoing around the small apartment, some even walking out of the place and into their own houses until there was only Ananda and Dylan in the once packed living room, the TV turned off, flags and horns abandoned serving as a reminder of what happened not even 15 minutes before.

“This is so ridiculous,” she mumbled, her hands running over her eyes, wiping away the tears and glitter on her face. She probably looked like a mess at the moment and she cringed at the thought of anyone seeing her like this.

“Oh, come on,” Dylan smiled. “It wasn’t that bad. So you cried because your team lost. Mine wasn’t even qualified.”

“That’s because your team sucks, mozi,” she grunted, a long sigh echoing around the room as she stared ahead, thinking about all the missed opportunities of scoring a single goal and buy some more time into the competition.

“Now, we welcome you into our home and that’s how you thank us?” he poked her side, trying to sparkle a laugh out of her. “That’s not nice,” he tried one more time.

She looked at him and laughed a little bit, but a small tear rolled from her left eye, stopping on her cheek as Dylan reached out and wiped it, holding her face in a sweet way.

“I’m sorry, babe,” he said sincerely. “You know that if I could, I would do something, right?”

Ananda smiled at him and nodded. He had been nothing but supportive of her during that half of a month, not caring if she was a little over the top or when she started to curse in Portuguese at everything. Soccer brought her ugly side and she knew that, she was just glad he didn’t mind it.

“You’re the best, you know that?”

“Me?” he scrunched up his face in doubt, holding back a smile when she poked his face.

“Yeah, you,” she laughed.

“That’s because you make me want to be the best.”

And that was nothing but the truth. While they were just getting started on that relationship, there was nothing they wanted more than to be the best versions of themselves for the other. Much more than when they were friends, and much more each new day.

They had, unknowingly, been reaching for that ever since her birthday when they first overstepped the boundaries of friendship and turned it into something else. Because, suddenly, they weren’t just friends who knew everything about each other. Suddenly they were something else, something that craved more and more of each other each day and while it scared them, making them - mostly Ananda - put barriers between their new found feelings and what was to come, it also made them realize that they were never just friends. They could never be just friends.

And it was in the light of the sun streaming through the window on that very sad yet very happy day, that they finally saw how much they meant to each other and how much they had missed all those years.

Forever tag: @disbestiles, @malia--stilinski, @darlinganthony

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