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the-roo-too · 23 hours

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messy -> best friend! kang haerin

-“don’t ruin this for yourself.” as if she could do so more than she already did. what would happen to her friendship? what about her members? what about the group’s future? “play the part, date for a month. go on three dates and wait until they have a comeback. you can break up after that.”

warnings: haerin briefly has a boyfriend; foul language

genre: crack; friends to lovers

notes: i kinda yolo’d this, not proofread

*ೃ༄

haerin’s date didn’t exactly go as planned. her now ex-partner dropped her off at her dorms after the short outing, making the atmosphere even more awkward.

“so…” he made a finger gun gesture at her and smiled softly. “we’ll still keep in touch?”

haerin almost felt bad then. she was, after all, the one who broke things off. keeping in touch with your ex could go many ways, especially in this industry. “we’ll see. i told you, i think im gonna have to focus more on being an idol, kim…”

before the boy could say another word, she slammed the doors in his face. was it a nice thing to do? nope. but she was tired, with the comeback still fresh she couldn’t see herself being in a legitimate relationship.

“kim? is that your boyfriend’s last name?” haerin jumped upon hearing hanni’s voice. she swiftly swept past the older girl, hoping to close the conversation quickly.

“no, he’s not.”

“sure he isn’t.”

the older girl clearly missed the way haerin stormed off grumpily, consumed with the thought of catching her bandmate and her partner. if only she knew.

that night haerin texted her best friend—kim y/n. another idol, a member of young posse. the two used to be trainees together back in the day, before y/n decided her luck at a different company, and debuted soon after.

her phone set to the lowest brightness, it was still almost blinding.

haerinnie

u up?

y/n 🩷

yesssss

y/n 🩷

shouldn’t you be asleep tho?

y/n 🩷

i talked with yoona unnie the other day and she said you guys would be appearing on music bank

haerinnie

i know

haerin hesitated a little. not even her best friend knew of her (now ex) boyfriend. their relationship was extremely short—maybe two months? only her manager knew of him, as she had to mention going out and meeting ‚a kim’. fortunately there’s a lot of kim’s in the industry.

haerinnie

i guess i just wanted to talk with my best friend

y/n 🩷

omg

y/n 🩷

are you admitting in your best friend

haerinnie

im informing you

y/n 🩷

i’m honoured

haerinnie

you should be

y/n 🩷

that’s the main reason you texted me?

haerinnie

wanna hang this week?

y/n 🩷

omg yes

y/n 🩷

we’ll get over the details in the morning now go eep

y/n 🩷

ily

haerinnie

ilyt

*ೃ༄

a couple days pass after the breakup. haerin met with you two days after that, just a cutesy hang out in a cafe. now, haerin woke up to minji shaking her shoulders in disbelief.

“it was a girl?!”

the younger newjeans member rubbed her eyes in confusion. “wha… girl?”

“the kim!”

“what kim?”

at that moment, hanni ran into the room the younger shared with their ‘leader’. “why didn’t you tell me it wasn’t a boyfriend!”

haerin sat up slowly, glancing at her both members like they grew a second head. “what.”

“the guy? girl! a couple days ago your girlfriend dropped you of! i think?” hanni was definitely being delusional. maybe this was all a dream?

“what is happening…?” she asked in a small voice, looking lost in the whole situation. minji pulled out her phone, opening x and her private account. she pulled up a post and haerin’s eyes widened.

KANG HAERIN AND KIM Y/N SPOTTED ON A RUMOURED DATE.

there was a whole article, but the most important part were the pictures someone took of you two on that outing. she couldn’t believe her eyes.

that wasn’t the end of it though.

ADOR CONFIRMS THE DATING RUMOURS BETWEEN NEWJEAN’S HAERIN AND YOUNG POSSE’S Y/N.

haerin’s soul left her body. she must’ve been dreaming. how does one wake up to their company confirming an untrue rumour?

“manager-nim wants you to go with him to the company. you’re gonna have a meeting there, but we expect an explanation too.” minji snapped her out of her head, gesturing to her and hanni.

“y-yeah, sure…” the rest of her getting ready went by a blur. her members had questions, but she was debatably even more confused by the whole situation.

later on during the meeting, haerin could barely get a word in. there was so much happening all at once. her manager was just sitting there, his head in his hands, some pr specialist was drafting up a whole plan of where to go and when while she just sat there, mindlessly listening to the conversation.

why did they confirm the rumour?

“why was the rumour confirmed…?” she finally spoke up. all heads snapped in her direction and she winced internally.

“is that not what you would have wanted?” haerin’s manager gestured to his phone. she then remembered how hard normally coming out would be. could this be considered a hard launch? “you’re everywhere. and most idols dream of having the chance to go public with their relationship.”

“i’m not in a relationship.”

her manager blinked slowly. she could almost see the wheels turning in his head. “what?”

“i’m not in a relationship. especially not with y/n.” that last part felt forceful. they might’ve gotten the wrong idea. haerin wasn’t homophobic or anything—she just really wasn’t in a relationship with the girl.

one of the coordinators held up his pen, pointing it at the photo dispatch got of her and you. she could silently admit the picture was cute, if it wasn’t for the circumstances she’d send it to you. “you two were on a date.”

“we’re friends. i meet up with her every couple weeks.”

haerin almost jumped at her manager standing up all of a sudden. he placed his hand on his forehead in a gesture of defeat before speaking. “…it was a boy, right? the kim you were meeting lately.”

“yes.” she nodded slowly. “we’re not together anymore too. but it was a boy, not y/n.”

dots slowly connected with her head. kim y/n. how stupid of her to foolishly believe her manager would just forget about the person she told him she’d dated. and for her best friend to have the same last name?

“it’s not like we can suddenly deny it. we have to send some representatives to dsp media though. we’ve confirmed it, so we’re gonna get a bad image if they deny it. get someone to look into that. meeting concluded.”

shortly after that, people started leaving the room. haerin still sat there, awkwardly fidgeting with her phone, ignoring her manager’s gaze on her.

“i can text her, right?” it wasn’t a secret relationship or anything. well, it wasn’t a relationship to begin with. why would she call it that? “i mean, does she know?”

“i’m sure y/n knows, as you do. it’s not like news like that are dismissed by the public.” her manger pointed out the obvious. he had an annoying habit of doing that. she fought the urge to roll her eyes. “you know that, don’t you.” of course she did.

“what about my members?” minji would have her head. hanni too. danielle too, probably. maybe hyein not. maybe? no, her too.

“what about them?” haerin wished she could just disappear. what an absurd situation to find oneself tangled up in. “as far as everyone is concerned, you’re in a happy relationship with kim y/n, young posse’s member. if only she was a boy.”

“why would she need to be a boy?” she knew. of course she did. all that nonsense about queer people in the industry.

“you know that.” she couldn’t argue, even if she’d tried. “i do.”

“don’t ruin this for yourself.” as if she could do so more than she already did. what would happen to her friendship? what about her members? what about the group’s future? “play the part, date for a month. go on three dates and wait until they have a comeback. you can break up after that.”

they just had a comeback, haerin thought. stupid dispatch. “i’ll text her.” her. what about her ex? she should feel bad, now it looks like she was cheating on him because they broke up a week ago. “what about…?”

“about?” a pointed look from her made the manager nod in understanding. “the boy. i’ll look into it. solve what you have to do.”

there’s a lot of things to resolve here.

*ೃ༄

colour drained from your face the moment you woke up in the middle of the night (to be fair, it was more around 4), your phone buzzing with notifications. safe to say, you ran to meet with the ceo as quickly as you could.

to make matters worse, haerin wasn’t replying to your texts. you were so lost in that moment—what dating rumour? why was no one saying anything?

“so.” you looked up, wincing internally at the glare your manager sent your way. god bless the others were still asleep. how could you explain this later though? “got any thoughts you want to share?”

“yeah.” you slowly leaned back in the chair, trying to relax. nothing big, just your first scandal. maybe you could play it off, that shouldn’t be too hard? “this feels like i’m being scolded by my teacher…”

“this is not the time, y/n.” your ceo spoke up. you slowly nodded your head, that might’ve been the truth. it wasn’t your fault you reacted to stressful situations with awkwardness.

“i don’t- me and haerin aren’t together, i don’t even think she’s…” it doesn’t feel like it, does it? she’s only ever showed you pictures of ‘cute boys’. “you know.”

“maybe-“ your phone buzzing aggressively for the second time that day cut you off. you glanced at the other people in the room, quietly apologising for the disturbance.

“no, check it. maybe it’s a follow up to the dispatch post?” nodding to agree with the ceo, you checked the notifications and your face went pale.

“they… ador confirmed it…?” your phone was snatched out of your hand as your manager hovered over you. “what’s going on?”

“they sure did.” the ceo placed his hands on his temples, rubbing them gently. the situation was starting to look worse and worse. what on earth was happening? “get someone to contact hybe. it’s still early, so we should be able to play off not responding right away. and you-“ his glare settled on you, making a shiver run down your spine. “contact that haerin. ask her to sort out whatever the fuck this is.”

“yessir.” oh yeah, haerin had a lot of explaining to do.

*ೃ༄

as it turned out, resolving all of that had to wait until you could peacefully leave your dorm. just a couple hours after ador confirmed the news, a bunch of (concerningly old) bunnies gathered outside your dorm. damn sasaengs. scratch that, damn creepy adult newjeans’s fans.

your manager was arranging some additional security to drive you away from the dorm, but he told you to play along with the rumour for now. that meant lying to your members. you were sneakily glancing through the window when the leader of your group suddenly appeared behind you.

you jumped slightly at sunhye’s sudden appearance. “i told the rest not to bother you for now. must be hard, huh?”

“…” your eyes followed her figure as she leaned on the windowsill next to you and also observed the crowd below you. “aren’t you mad?”

“i’m frustrated. partially with you, but i understand it’s not your fault, y/n. i just thought you’d tell us if you were in a relationship.” she gave you a pointed glare and you hummed softly. sunhye was getting suspicious of the whole situation, but you’d let her. haerin first—then you could argue with others.

“we didn’t mean for it to go that way. the relationship was still fresh too…” that was your best bet. you could play it as if you two only recently started dating.

“okay.” sunhye nodded her head with a small sigh before a soft smile appeared on her lips. “i’m happy for you. the girls-“ she gestured with her head subtly towards the bedrooms. “i’m sure they’re happy too. just be careful, okay?”

“i will, unnie…” your phone buzzed, information you of a new message. it was your manager telling you to take the lift downstairs and wait for him there. “i have to go..”

“good luck.”

“hm.” you rushed to the elevator, grabbing a face mask, pair of sunglasses and a cap on your way out. would hiding your face now change a lot? no, but it was still better to be safe than sorry—oh, the irony.

you saw a green mark appear next to haerin’s icon, signalling she was finally active. three dots appeared next to her user as she started typing. you sighed softly, pressing the ground level button in the lift.

haerinnie

we have to meet up

y/n 🩷

we sure do?

y/n 🩷

you’ve got some explaining to do.

haerinnie

i know

the elevator doors slid open with a small ding and you were greeted with your manager waiting for you. behind him stood a couple guys and a girl you’d recognise as your makeup artist. you quirked your brow softly before glancing at the man.

“public appearance.” he replied shortly before ushering you to move.

haerinnie

meet me at xxx in 20? i promise we’ll talk there

y/n 🩷

see you there

you gave your manager the address and before you knew it, your small group (meaning the security, manager and makeup artist) were all loaded into a car. somehow you managed to slip through the sea of newjeans fans.

the girl immediately told you to take off your mask and the rest of your ‘identity protection’ gear so she could start working on your face. when you gave a questioning look to the manager, he sighed and replied. “you’re going on a date for all the media knows. your relationship just has been confirmed. ador sent out representatives to talk to as just after the meeting and it might’ve been an honest mistake on both sides, but the both of you will have to keep it up.”

“honest mistake?” how can someone confirm a relationship and then call it an honest mistake.

“young posse will have a comeback sooner than we initially assumed.” he licks his lips before continuing. “you’re free to break up then. the scandal will keep both of the groups relevant for now, even if the event was a mistake.”

by the time you realised how absurd all of that sounded, you’ve arrived at the meet-up place. you could see haerin sitting inside, as as her best friend you could recognise her in the stupidest disguise.

“keep in touch. we’ll leave as not to attract any more unnecessary attention.” you nodded at the manager weakly and sneaked inside the little cafe before anyone could try to spot you.

haerin lifted her head before giving you a weak smile as your approached her table. “hi there…”

“what the fuck?” you realised there was a better way to approach the subject, but you were too tired to give a damn. “why would ador confirm the news?“

“it’s my fault.” with the way she groaned and hid her face in her hands at your reaction, you must’ve looked like you were about to murder someone. “your last name is ‘kim’. i used to date this boy who’s last name was also-“

“you had a boyfriend?!” you didn’t know if anything could surprise you anymore. your best friend had a boyfriend she never told you about and now she was in a supposed relationship with you. how crazy could life get?

“we broke up.” she nervously avoided your gaze as she spoke. “we were together for only a while… i thought we might click but he wasn’t really all that. and i wanted to focus on my career. but we’re besides the point.”

haerin pulled out her phone and showed you the article again. the header presented both of your full names.

“my manager knew i was dating ‘a kim’. i never told him who it was just because i thought it was too soon to introduce him officially. when this-“ she gestured to the article again. “came out, he just assumed it was whom i was meeting the past couple weeks. they didn’t consult me, just confirmed everything quickly.”

you slowly nodded along to everything she said. her explanation made sense and it wasn’t technically her fault, like you initially assumed. the situation was brutally messy, but knowing your best friend didn’t loose her mind made you feel better.

“what do we do now?” you finally asked. she fidgeted with her hands before looking around the cafe. of course there must’ve been a camera here—someone was always on the lookout for gossip. haerin leaned close to your face, from the side it looked like she was kissing your cheek.

“we play along.” she whispered. “give it some time. people will forget and then we can ‘officially break up’.”

sure. that sounded fair.

*ೃ༄

there was a small flaw in the plan as it later turned out. for starters, people didn’t forget. on the contrary—after the initial shock died down and you stopped getting random threats on the internet, the fans started showing you two a lot of love. #y/nrin and #y/n&haerin were trending all over the social medias.

that meant you two couldn’t just hope for them to move on and then break up.

there was also another small problem. see, while haerin told you she wasn’t truly interested in any relationship now, you were quite the opposite. a hopeless romantic, if you would. and your best friend was such a caring fake girlfriend…

it wasn’t entirely your fault you fell for her. she wasn’t making this easy. deep down you knew she was most likely straight and wouldn’t go for you. you did the best thing you could come up with—distance yourself from her.

the consequences of your actions came to bite you sooner than you’d expected as after three days of ‘postponing’ your fake dates with haerin, you found minji angrily banging at your dorm doors.

a little groggily, you let the leader of newjeans inside before she basically slammed you against the doors. “y/n!”

“w-what?!” her semi aggressive behaviour made you wake up fully. she looked pissed and you made a mental note not to ever anger her like that again. “what happened?”

“haerin is sad because of you.” she said simply, as if expecting you had a good explanation.

“huh?” you tilted your head to the side and minji looked like she wanted to be anywhere else but there. “what do you mean…”

“she let it slip that you’ve been ghosting her, y/n. now i don’t know the details but you don’t get to hurt my band made just because.” you nervously grinned at her. haerin was sad because of you? sure, you were her best friend, but before all of this, you’d only meet up every couple weeks.

“i’ll talk to her-“

“you better.” minji let you go and left the dorm as quickly as she appeared there. you decided that you owned her this much at least. it was better to come clean, no? maybe you two could have an actual reason to ‘break up’ if you talked with haerin.

y/n 🩷

meet me at our cafe in 10? please?

it took a couple minutes for haerin to reply. you didn’t know if she was purposely ignoring you to give you a taste of your own medicine.

haerinnie

why should i

y/n 🩷

please

haerinnie

you’ve been ignoring me

haerinnie

why should i agree to something for you

y/n 🩷

i’ll explain myself, i promise

y/n 🩷

just come there?

another two minutes passed and you were starting to lose hope. maybe she got more annoyed than you initially assumed.

haerinnie

be there in 10

you hurried to the cafe too. saying it was a 10 minutes walk from your dorm was a stretch, but your friendship was on the line. your leader yelled something after your when you were leaving the dorm, but you didn’t hear her. there were more important things than being an idol in that moment.

the bell above the doors dinged quietly when you finally made it inside the small coffee shop. you saw haerin sitting there, but she didn’t bother looking up at you.

“you’re late.” her tone was a little colder than usual. the same voice she used to talk with everyone—but you weren’t like everyone, you were her best friend.

“i’m sorry…” she finally looked up when she heard you practically hyperventilating. you ran there as fast as you could, and now you needed a moment to regain your breathing. “i-i should’ve said 20 minutes…”

you saw a ghost of a smile appear on her lips before she cleared her throat. “i ordered your favourite… it should be here soon.”

you plopped down on the chair in front of her, nodding your head in a grateful manner. even annoyed, haerin was a caring individual. “i’ll pay you back later.”

“no need.” she straightened in her seat. haerin wanted answers and she wanted them now. “just tell me. what did i do?”

“what?” she wasn’t seriously thinking it was because of her, was she?

“did i hurt you or something?”

“no, haerin! i-“ you leaned your face on your palms. it was hard to explain without bluntly giving yourself away. “you didn’t do anything wrong. i swear on my group.”

“then what is it. i know you, y/n. you don’t just do shit like that unless something happened.”

she knew you too well for her own good. did she knew you liked girls too? did she knew she was the prettiest girl in your eyes? “haerin, i don’t… i don’t want out friendship to end because of this.”

“hm?” her eyes widened subtly. she tilted her head to the side, looking like a cat. oh how you hated how cute she was sometimes. “i’m not following.”

“haerin… i like you.”

“i like you too.” she nodded to herself. “you’re my best friend. dani almost got mad over the fact that i said you’re my best friend and she’s-“

“haerin.” you placed your hand on hers, gently drifting her attention back to you. she looked into your eyes, and you saw a sudden flash of understanding. “i like like you. i don’t want to fake date you.”

she stayed silent. her eyes slowly blinking at you as if she was processing the information. that wasn’t the response you were hoping for. she was supposed to say something. anything. you felt your eyes stinging, tears slowly appearing in them before she spoke up.

“okay.” haerin nodded to herself again.

“okay?” what kind of response is that?

“is this a date then?”

“haerin, i just confessed to you-“

“okay.” she repeated, this time with a small smile on her face. “you’re easy to fall for, y/n. or at least i think that. i don’t know if i like like you yet… but i think i want to date you too.”

“…really?” you couldn’t stop the grin from appearing on your face. “100% serious?”

“yes. but i’m paying for the date.”

“i asked you out tho!”

“and you were late.”

*ೃ༄

141 notes · View notes

estapa-edwards · 1 day

Note

hi can you do jack hughes x brother bsf

like they need to sneak around because they don’t want quinn/luke to know and quinn/luke suprised them having sex. then their relation ship end and the relationship with the bsf too. you can be creative with the ending i love your work

SECRETIVE - J . HUGHES

Jack Hughes x reader

word count: 1.8k

requested? yes

warnings: use of y/n. slight smut

*¨¨* ≈☆≈ *¨¨*:·..·:*¨¨* ≈☆≈ *¨¨*:·..·:*¨¨* ≈☆≈ *¨¨*:·..·:*¨¨* ≈☆≈ *¨¨*:·..·:*¨¨*

It was a humid summer evening in New Jersey, and I was sprawled out on the living room couch at the Hughes’ house, my best friend Luke Hughes by my side. We were flipping through TV channels, trying to find something interesting to watch. The rest of the Hughes family was scattered around the house: Quinn, Jack, and their parents. But my mind was elsewhere. It was with Jack, Luke’s older brother and the person I had been secretly seeing for the past few months.

Jack Hughes was everything I had ever dreamed of and more. His charm, his skill on the ice, and his genuine kindness made it impossible for me to resist him. We had met through Luke, and it didn’t take long for sparks to fly between us. The problem was, Luke had no idea. Neither did Quinn, Jack’s older brother, and I knew it would be a disaster if they found out.

Luke had always been protective of me, and Jack and Quinn had a brotherly bond that was unbreakable. The last thing I wanted was to come between them or cause any tension. So, Jack and I decided to keep our relationship a secret. We had become experts at sneaking around, stealing kisses and moments whenever we could, but it was getting harder and harder to hide our feelings.

Tonight, Jack was supposed to be out with some of his teammates, but I knew better. He had sent me a text earlier, telling me he would find a way to see me later. My heart raced at the thought of being alone with him, even if just for a little while.

Luke turned to me, breaking my train of thought. "You okay, Y/N? You seem a bit distracted."

I smiled, trying to appear casual. "Yeah, just tired, I guess. It’s been a long day."

He nodded, accepting my answer without suspicion. Luke was always so trusting, and it made me feel a pang of guilt for hiding the truth from him. But I knew that what Jack and I had was special, and I wasn’t ready to give it up just yet.

--- --- ---

As the evening wore on, the Hughes family slowly retreated to their respective rooms. Luke yawned and stretched, glancing at the clock. "I think I’m gonna call it a night. You staying over?"

"Yeah, if that’s okay with you," I replied, trying to keep my voice steady.

"Of course it is," he said with a smile. "You know you’re always welcome here."

He gave me a quick hug before heading upstairs, leaving me alone in the living room. My heart pounded in my chest as I waited for Jack’s text. It didn’t take long for my phone to buzz, and I quickly opened the message.

Jack: Meet me in the backyard in five minutes. Can’t wait to see you.

I slipped on my shoes and quietly made my way outside, careful not to wake anyone. The night air was cool and refreshing, and I took a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves. I spotted Jack near the edge of the yard, partially hidden by the shadows. He looked up as I approached, his face lighting up with a smile that made my heart flutter.

"Hey," he whispered, pulling me into his arms. "I missed you."

"I missed you too," I replied, my voice barely audible.

We stood there for a moment, just holding each other, the world around us fading away. Being with Jack felt like a dream, and I never wanted to wake up. He leaned down and pressed his lips to mine, and I melted into his kiss. It was passionate and full of longing, a reminder of how much we both wanted this.

Just as things were about to reach their peak, I heard a noise behind us. I froze, my heart pounding in my chest, and Jack pulled back, his eyes wide with alarm. We turned to see Luke standing there, his face a mask of shock and betrayal.

"What the hell is going on here?" he demanded, his voice shaking with anger.

I scrambled to cover myself, my mind racing with panic. This was exactly what I had feared, and now it was happening. Jack stood up, trying to shield me from Luke’s furious gaze.

"Luke, I can explain," Jack began, but Luke cut him off.

"Explain what? That you’ve been sneaking around with my best friend behind my back? How long has this been going on?"

I felt tears welling up in my eyes, the guilt and shame washing over me. "Luke, I’m so sorry. We didn’t want to hurt you."

Luke shook his head, his expression one of utter disbelief. "Hurt me? You both lied to me. How could you do this?"

Jack reached out, trying to placate his brother. "Luke, please. It’s not like that. We love each other."

"Love?" Luke spat the word out like it was poison. "You call this love? Sneaking around like this?"

The tension was unbearable, and I felt like I was going to break. "Luke, please," I pleaded, "Just let us explain."

He looked at me, his eyes filled with hurt. "I trusted you, Y/N. You were my best friend. And you," he turned to Jack, "You’re my brother. How could you both do this to me?"

Before Jack or I could say anything else, Luke turned and walked away, leaving us standing there in the darkness, our secret exposed. I felt like my world was crumbling around me, and I didn’t know how to fix it.

--- --- ---

It had been a month since that fateful night when Luke caught Jack and me in the backyard. The memory of his shocked and betrayed expression haunted me. Jack and I had broken up that same night, knowing we couldn't continue hurting Luke. I had lost not only my best friend but also the boy I loved.

Every day since had been a struggle. The Hughes household, once a place of laughter and warmth, now felt tense and cold. Luke barely spoke to me, and Quinn's disappointment was palpable. Jack and I avoided each other, the pain of our separation still too raw. I tried to stay strong, but every moment without Jack felt like a piece of me was missing.

Summer turned to fall, and I threw myself into my college work, trying to distract myself from the aching void in my heart. Luke and I still lived together, but our interactions were minimal and strained. It was like walking on eggshells, and it broke my heart to see the distance between us. We used to share everything, but now, there was an unspoken wall that neither of us knew how to break down.

One evening, as I sat in my room studying, I heard a knock on my door. My heart skipped a beat, hoping it might be Luke wanting to talk. But when I opened the door, it was Quinn.

"Can we talk?" he asked, his expression serious.

I nodded, stepping aside to let him in. Quinn and I sat on the edge of my bed, an awkward silence hanging between us.

"Y/N, I know things have been tough lately," he began, his voice gentle but firm. "I just want you to know that we're all hurting. Luke feels betrayed, and Jack... he misses you."

Tears welled up in my eyes, but I blinked them away. "I miss him too, Quinn. But I don't know how to fix this."

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Sometimes, there's no easy fix. You and Jack made a mistake, but you need to decide if your love for him is worth fighting for."

His words hit me hard. I had been so focused on the pain and guilt that I hadn't allowed myself to consider what I truly wanted. Jack and I had something special, and despite everything, I still loved him deeply.

--- --- ---

A few days later, I gathered the courage to text Jack. My hands trembled as I typed out the message.

Me: Can we talk? I miss you.

The response came almost immediately.

Jack: I miss you too. Meet me at the park in an hour?

I agreed, my heart racing with a mixture of hope and fear. As I walked to the park, memories of our time together flooded my mind. The laughter, the stolen kisses, the way his eyes lit up when he looked at me. I realized how much I missed his presence in my life.

Jack was already there when I arrived, sitting on a bench and looking as anxious as I felt. When he saw me, he stood up, and for a moment, we just stared at each other. Then he took a step forward and pulled me into a tight embrace.

"I'm so sorry, Y/N," he whispered into my hair. "I never wanted to hurt you or Luke."

I clung to him, feeling the familiar warmth and comfort of his arms. "I'm sorry too, Jack. I miss you so much."

We sat down on the bench, holding hands and talking about everything that had happened. Jack told me how much he regretted the way things had ended and how he couldn't stop thinking about me. I told him about the emptiness I felt without him and how much I wanted to find a way to make things right.

Jack and I agreed to take things slowly, to rebuild the trust and love we once shared. We knew it wouldn't be easy, but we were both willing to try. The hardest part would be facing Luke and Quinn and trying to repair the damage our relationship had caused.

The next day, Jack and I sat down with Luke. The tension in the room was thick, and I could see the pain in Luke's eyes as he looked at us.

"Luke," Jack began, his voice steady but filled with emotion, "we're so sorry for everything. We never wanted to hurt you. But I love Y/N, and I want to be with her. We want to make this right, but we need your help."

Luke looked at us for a long moment, his expression unreadable. Then he sighed, rubbing his temples. "I don't know if I can ever fully forgive you," he said, his voice strained. "But I see how much you both care about each other. If you really want to be together, you need to be honest with me from now on. No more secrets."

Tears filled my eyes as I nodded. "Thank you, Luke. We promise."

It was a tentative truce, but it was a start. Over the next few weeks, we worked on rebuilding our relationships. Luke and I slowly mended our friendship, and though it wasn't the same as before, it was a new beginning. Quinn, always the peacemaker, helped to ease the tension and encouraged us to move forward.

#hockey #nhl x reader #new jersey devils #nj devils #jack hughes x reader #jack hughes #jack hughes x y/n #jack hughes blurb #jack hughes imagine

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babyangelsky · 1 day

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My Favorite Expressions in Love Sea Ep. 3

I wasn't gonna write about the expressions this week but then I got all my Fort-induced crazy out and had a meal and came to my senses, so I decided to write about them this week and every week.

Won't always be in depth like the last one but I do wanna point them out because as @prapaiwife said, Fort and Peat's acting deserves to be appreciated.

This scene is shadowy as all hell but there's just enough light to appreciate the faces that Mut is pulling in this scene. There's a mixture of annoyance and frustration here. He's narrowing his eyes, he's pursing his lips and setting his jaw a little bit. But it also looks like he's trying not to smile and there's a sparkle in his eyes that tells me he's enjoying seeing Tongrak get pissy.

That's the face of a brat tamer if I've ever seen one.

I also loved seeing how Tongrak got all smiley and fondly amused when Mut said he was beautifully handsome.

But then there's this smile after he tells Mut about his family. It's sad and resigned and doesn't reach his eyes. It's different from the last one, and Mut can see that, which is why he tells Tongrak not to smile like that. We're not done talking about this man and smiling but hold that thought, we'll come back to it here in a sec.

This look and the quickness with which Tongrak says no when Mut asks him if he wants to try love break my heart. There's more resignation there and something else, too. Certainty of heartbreak or maybe just plain old fear.

I, too, am struck dumb when I see Fort's smiling face Tongrak's just like me fr.

It's the shift from soft, open vulnerability to sheer annoyance for me. It's a face that says, "this infuriating man is so fucking annoying, I have to fucking kiss him about it fuck him" and I love it. This kiss also made me think of @chicademartinica and her love of tropical eroticism.

We can't see Mut's eyes here but that same sentiment applies to this face, too.

I love the look Tongrak gets when people say nice things about Mut. He may not realize it--or admit it if he did--but he's so fond of Mut already.

I have nothing insightful to say about these expressions, I just wanna make ya'll appreciate the mole Fort has on that giant fucking arm of his and how normal I've been about it this whole time.

Also more stretch marks. But we're getting off track.

Look at the face Mut makes when he realizes Tongrak's gonna be leaving in a couple of days. He looks crushed. You can tell that up until now, he hasn't really thought about Tongrak eventually going back home.

And Tongrak hasn't thought about it either. You can see him mentally going through his calendar. Neither of them have thought about it, but they both know exactly when he's going to leave and neither of them look happy about it.

Mut says "could you not leave?" without thinking and Tongrak is very obviously surprised but that's all it is. Surprise without anything negative attached to it. And maybe a teeny bit of hope?

He tries to play it off as a joke but Tongrak doesn't let him. He just says "try asking me". Something about his tone and the way he's looking at Mut and stroking his hair and his face really made me feel the difference in their ages. Tongrak looks and sounds so patient and gentle.

I love how often Tongrak's face answers before he does. He was always going to say yes but I like that he told Mut to try asking and teases him a little bit to get him there. Sometimes we have to be brave and find the words and ask for what we want so it'll be given to us. That's how good communication works.

I don't know about anyone else, but I could practically hear Tongrak thinking, "I'm sorry you had to grow up so fast and alone."

Seeing Mut be giddy and shy for the first time since we met him and seeing unabashed joy on Tongrak's face for the first time since we met him are two of my favorite things about this episode.

Making Mut ask Tongrak to stay wasn't about ego or being a brat, it was about a man who doesn't believe in love wanting to hear that his presence was wanted and a man who isn't used to receiving things without offering something in exchange being told that he doesn't have to change who he is in order to be given what he wants and that he's loved appreciated exactly the way he is.

#rakmut #love sea #love sea the series #meta

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starringthesturniolos · 10 hours

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The triplets are on stream and y/n is just laying on Matt’s bed (probably reading idk idk) and the whole chat explodes and begs for Matt to bring her to the stream.

He pulls her into his lap, wrapping his arm around her stomach and they’re being all cute for the rest of stream. That is until what happens after….

“come on y/n, we have to give the people what they want” he smirks but you just curl further into his comforter. your not one of those people that like being on camera and never have been. you’d kinda been in a mood the whole day anyway, and to your embarrassment, it was because you are so incredibly horny. matt has been so busy this week that you guys have almost had no time this week to do it. to make matters worse, today was supposed to be his free day, a day to spend just you and him, but him and his brothers insisted they do a suprise stream for the fans. so to say you could care less about what the fans want right now is an understatement.

“tell the fans i’m tired of their bullshit, matt.” you roll your eyes. “and im getting tired of yours too.” you roll over so your back is facing him and wrap his comforter over your head. he’s probably going to be a couple of hours, might as well take a nap.

you go to close your eyes when your phone pings with a notification from matt. you turn your neck to look at him, confused why he’s texting you when your in the room with him, but he’s just facing his pc. you turn back around and click on the message.

loose the attitude and behave.

then i might just give you what you want baby.

your thighs squeeze together at the thought of matt giving you exactly what you want. your practically drooling at the thought. when you go to respond to him, theres an image waiting for you already. its a picture of matts hard buldge encased in his sweatpants. his veiny hand rest right beside it and you want nothing more than to replace his hand with yours. all hatred for the stream aside, you practically skip to matt. he smirks and grabs your waist. he slides his chair out to give you room and you see his boner for the second time today. he gives you a knowing look and pulls you onto his lap right on top of it. with both your legs now straddling his hips, he thrust his hips up, and to the fans it probably look like he’s just trying to get comfortable, but you both knew it was just way to get you more worked up. at this point your so wet, it has to be leaving a stain on his pants, and he is loving every second.

“here she is.” he coos and the fans blow up the chat. you rest your head on his chest and prepare to relax because you know he’s still going to be a while. you sigh at the thought and he kisses your head in response. he mutes his mic for a second and he pulls his head down so his lips meet your ear. “being such a good girl, so patient for me. gonna take such good care of you.” you whine at his words and he grabs your hips to stop the onslaught of movement he knew you were about to make.

seeing how riled up you are makes him even more desperate to have you ride him into oblivion, so he relents. “hey guys, its been cool but i think i’m going to log off right now. see you guys next week, have fun with nick and chris” he says and immediately ends the stream. not even a second after he ends it, his mouth is on yours. the kiss is hot and passionate, matt bites your lips slightly and you allow him access into your mouth. you reach both hands up into his brown hair and tug slightly and he groans into your mouth. he pulls back and holds eye contact with you while moving your hips against him. the eye contact made everything more intimate and you loved it. with both of your mouths agape, he starts grinding you down on him harder and thrusting up slightly. your panties are ruined and you can hear the slooshing sound it makes against him. “are you ready for me baby? i can hear how wet you are” he whispers in the husky tone you loved so much. “yes, matt” you moan back in response. his pupils dialate and he picks you up and places you on the bed. he gently pulls your pants and panties down before rubbing your slit. you writhe against his hand and his breathing gets heavier watching your body move. “tell me how much you want it” matt mutters in a trance. “please matt, i want you inside me. i need you” you say batting your eyes at him the way you know drives him insane.

he groans and pulls his pants down, lining his huge dick to your opening. “who am i to say no to my baby?” he says as he slides into you. both of you let out a pornographic moan. he ruts into you at a fast pace, wasting no time and you can feel your cunt start to tighten around him. “jesus, keep squeezing me like that and im going to fucking lose it” he says breathlessly. he leans his head into the crook of your neck and inhales your perfume. he groans into your ear and you whine at the overwhelmingness of it all. his body on yours, his pretty blue eyes watching you, and his cock deep inside you. then all of sudden he pulls out of you. “matt- what?” you say tears starting to form in your eyes. you were in your submissive state and matt felt bad because he knew you needed him. so he wasted no time telling you what to do.

“don’t worry, im still going to take care of you sweetheart. just want you to ride me until your cumming and screaming my name.” he strokes yoir hair and places a light kiss on your cheek like he hadn’t just said the dirtiest thing he could think of. “that sound good to you?” he whispers with your faces inches apart. “yes, matt please” you say desperately as he lays down. he taps your thigh and you swing it over his hip. he helps guide you down on his dick and holds your hips there so he can get a hold of himself. once he lets go, you take that as a sign to move and you begin to bounce up and down on him. your tits bounce with you and your face gives off the pleasure your feeling as you bounce harder and faster. “so pretty, baby. i love seeing you like this” he groans and you sit all the way down on him. you start to whine on his dick and he whimpers which means he’s close. “cum with me, pretty” he grips your hips harder and moves you faster against him. with your clit rubbing against his stomach and his dick deep inside of you, its enough to push you over the edge. “matt- mm- fuck matt.” you moan louder than you have the whole night. “thats it baby. thats it” he coos as he fills you up and helps you ride out your orgasm.

after both of you wind down, you flop down next to him. he chuckles and pushes your hair out of your face. “what happened to you, kid. looks like you just got ran over” he jokes kissing you before grabbing a towel to clean you up with. he climbs back into bed with you, spooning you and placing soft kisses all over your neck. you look over and see his phone lighting up.

“nick’s calling” you say while giving him his phone. matt puts it on speaker and nick starts yelling immediately.

“YOU NASTY FUCKS, YOU DO REALIZE THE WALLS ARENT SOUNDPROOF, ME AND CHRIS COULD HEAR EVERYTHING. CHRIS LITERALLY LEFT BECAUSE OF IT, YOU GUYS SHOULD BE ASHAMED” he yells without pause

you and matt break out laughing and nick continues to yell at you guys for being nasty.

this is the good life

A/n- thank you for the request, loved it! if you want me to write something else im down, love yall

@bbernard-03

@sturnthepot

@hoeformatt

@sturtriple16

@faygo-frog

@sturniol0s

@katie-tibo

@l34n

@sturnslimited

@chrissv4mp

#sturniolo triplets #chris sturniolo #matt sturniolo #chris sturniolo x reader #nick sturniolo #chris sturniolo x you #matt sturniolo x reader #matt sturniolo smut #matt sturniolo x you #chris sturniolo smut

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ssahotchnerr · 3 days

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aaron would never admit it, being a man who loves his children equally, but there’s just something about ellie that’s always made him worry more. his career mainly focusing on female homicides certainly doesn’t help, but he swears it’s just something different. something shifted in him the day he held ellie for the first time, an innate desire to shield her from a kind of harm jack wouldn’t have to worry about.

the first time ellie proves her capability to aaron, she’s 9, sat between you two in the principal’s office. her knee is scraped, wild curls springing loose from her french braid, her (aaron’s) brown eyes glaring at her principal analytically, almost as if she’s trying to jumpstart her profiling career in her grass-stained soccer uniform.

the principal explains the severity of why the two of you had been called in—ellie had kicked a boy 5 years her senior in the shins, then had to be pulled off of him by one of the assistant coaches.

“eleanor odette hotchner,” aaron starts, “do you have ANYTHING to say for yourself?”

ellie looks right at him, unwavering.

“he picks on jack all the time. he’s the reason he came home with a bruise the other day. i saw it happen, dad. no one did anything about it, even after jack and i came in and told you.”

you and aaron look at each other, taken aback, and then to the principal as he sputters out an explanation.

“wait,” you interrupt, your own profiling skills kicking in, “is that why you and jack were late that one day coming home?” you look to aaron again, “jack said he hung back to ask a question about his science project.”

ellie shakes her head.

you two look back to the principal again, flushed red at the gaze of two identical sets of brown eyes glaring at him.

“you two have to understand, coach carter is one of the best JV coaches-“

“carter?? as in nathan carter’s dad? the same nathan carter who bullied jack so bad we had to switch classes in the middle of the school year?” you connect the dots, anger rising at the man in front of you.

the principal remains silent, sighing as he pinches the bridge of his nose.

ellie leans over to aaron, lowering her voice, as if telling him a secret.

“it’s called nepotism. uncle spencer told me about it.”

when the three of you leave that day, ellie is still suspended for three days, as opposed to the week she had been eyeing originally.

he saves the story till the perfect time arises, only a few days later. it’s a tense moment on the jet, when everyone is exhausted from a long, grueling case.

he starts it with an offhanded comment about how ellie has been on suspension, and 5 sets of eyes and ears perk up.

“ellie? our ellie? what happened?”

he hits the story’s climax right as dave is taking a sip of his whiskey. at the mention of nepotism, he laughs so hard it comes out of his nose.

ellie’s gonna be fine, aaron tells himself. as long as she doesn’t give her old man a heart attack first.

oh my god?????? yes. yes yes yes yes YES

not only does ellie favor aaron’s traits, she’s just as fiercely protective.

plus, aaron and jack have always been coming to her rescue whenever she needs it — her being the ‘baby’ of the family, being more vulnerable in different instances, they love her and want to protect her. so when the time comes for her to do the same, she does not hesitate. it’s what they would’ve done for her.

and of course she knows better — fighting is never the solution, doesn’t solve anything (and the fact she’s now on nathan’s and all his friends radar) — she was not about to be a bystander and let her big brother take a beating. absolutely not. so as she’s sitting in the principal’s office waiting for you and aaron, she’s extremely nervous, but regardless of what follows, she doesn’t regret what she’s done.

and while aaron has to be Dad and not condone fighting, he’s so incredibly proud of her. ellie apprehending a kid who’s twice her size — his little ellie???

it settles a bit of his worries. like, he’ll always be worried due to what he sees everyday, but ellie has proven can defend herself (at just 9 years old) and he has to give her more credit. she’s not some little weakling — she’s a hotchner.

and the bau finding out??? incredibly shocked, but just as aaron and you — proud.

#i’m SCREAMING THIS IS PERFECTION #THANK YOU FOR WRITING THIS 😭#ellie hotchner <3 #aaron hotchner #criminal minds

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laylaysdelusions · 14 hours

Text

I heard you like magic(paige bueckers x reader)

Summary: you walk in on Paige touching herself

I got a wand and a rabbit!!(Chappell roan fans anyone? No just me ok..)

Today was one of the worst days of the week for Paige, it’s one of the days your job requires you to work from the office. She is so attached to you she has crying spells everytime you leave. She’s just a big baby to you and you wouldn’t want that to change.

She missed you badly, so bad in fact she couldn’t stop sniffing your pillows and rubbing her thighs together. Ok so maybe she didn’t just miss you..she was horny for you.

You had set rules for her one being no touching yourself. You told her to wait until you’re available. Paige knew that rule all too well she remembers last time when you fucked her so hard she couldn’t even remember her own name.

Even though it was risky Paige was considering getting off by herself. What you don’t know can’t help you right?

She finally gives in.

She throws her sweatpants and her t-shirt to the end of the bed with urgency. Paige whimpers when the cold air hits her privates. “Mm” she mutters as she sits over the purple pillow of yours.

She brings her hand up to fondle with her nipple and she sighs in pleasure but she needs more.

She lines up her pussy with the edge of the pillow and begins humping at a slow pace. “Fuck” she sighs at the feeling of her pink pussy against the silky smooth pillow. She starts to move faster and her pink nipples bounce up and down and little whines escape her lips.

All she can do is moan your name and imagine your warm hands sliding down her body and gradually moving towards her inner thighs. She imagines you rubbing her puffy clit and kissing her deeply. “Oh shit” she whimpers as she gets deeper into her fantasy.

So deep in fact that she didn’t hear the door creep open. She had no clue she was caught in the act so she continued to hump your pillow like it was life or death.

Instead of interrupting her, you stand there with no expression, just observing your blonde, pathetic girlfriend. Eventually she began to get frustrated with herself because no matter how good she felt she wasn’t close to cumming. Only you have ever held that power.

The longer you saw her the more you started to feel bad that she was struggling. Poor baby. You decided to step in but instead of punishing her you were going to help her get relief, just because you felt nice.

You quietly approached the bed and grabbed Paige’s hips, making her stop. Her eyes shot up to look at you with fear and nervousness behind them. It made you truly feel bad.

“It’s ok Paigey I’m not gonna punish you” you told her with a comforting smile. Her expression changed to a look of confusion. She’s too sweet.

“Sweet girl, I’m gonna help you ok?” You told her as you sat down next to her and pulled her into your lap.

“I know I usually punish you for something like that but you were pitiful, just struggling to feel good” you pout at your blondie. Her cheeks like up red and you chuckle at her shyness. She was too shy to say anything and you let it slide tonight.

You grab her face and bring her into a kiss. She looked so pretty when she’s horny and needy for you. When she whined you slipped your tongue into her mouth and she didn’t even battle with you, she gave into you instantly.

After a couple minute make out you pulled away, making her face drop. “ don’t complain or you’ll get nothing” you tell her sternly.

You found pride in your ability to make your 6,0 d1 basketball player girlfriend crumble underneath your touch.

You tilted her head to the side and started leaving kisses down her neck with your lip gloss leaving spots.

Her lower lip trembled as she waited patiently for the pleasure she was about to receive.

Your kisses started going lower and lower until you found yourself licking her abs. “Mommy?” She looked down at you with puppy dog eyes. “Yes sweetheart?” You loved that she trusted you enough to refer to you as that. “I’m sorry but I can’t-” she cut herself all with a whine.

“Hm” is all you say before ending up between her thighs, directly in front of her soaked pink pussy, so needy for you.

Before she can bitch and moan more you lick a stripe up her folds. She cries out with pleasure tears already rising.

Now you’re lapping at her pussy like an animal, you just can’t get enough of her taste. Her moans are so loud you’re certain the neighbors can hear every word falling from her mouth. “Mm fuck- so good” she whines with her mouth open. She’s so cute when she’s getting fucked.

Her clit is puffy from stimulation and her nipples are swollen from them being sucked and bitten. “Close?” You ask as you hear her signature whine. “Mhm-” she cries as her legs shake and her eyes roll back. Her slick is all over the bed and you both. She squirted.

“Aww baby you squirted” you coo at her and she covers her red face. “No need to be embarrassed Paigey” you rub her back before going to prepare a bath for you both.

You love really love Paige bueckers and she really loves you.

———————

I felt like feeding yall with sub Paige for now

Anyways I love you whores!!

#fanfic #i need her #paige bueckers #paige x reader #paige buckets #wlw post #smut

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ibetonlosinghuskies · 20 hours

Text

patience and pleasure pt 3

summary: after dealing with a tough injury, azzi is just hoping for some stability. after their plans fall through, paige finds a creative way to give her just that.

warnings: angst, suggestive language, brief mention of injury.

disclaimer: as always everything i write is fictional!

word count: 2.9k +

author's note: sorry for the long wait, thank you for being patient. i tried something a bit different here, i hope you all enjoy <3

~Flashback to November 2023~

azzi’s pov:

i know everyone loves to believe their best friend would do anything for them, but paige really would.

i knew it from the day i tore my acl. the way paige was crying for me, i thought she got hurt.

i’ll spare you the details but recovery was hell. the worst part was seeing how much of it paige took on. she was at every physical therapy appointment and check up. she called me every night to make sure i was doing my recovery exercises.

between school and practice, paige managed to check in on me at any opportunity.

and the crazy part is...she made it all look effortless.

i didn't want paige to feel like all her hard work was going to waste, so i refused to let her see me when things got really bad. which as of recently, has been the case.

it felt like i was losing years of progress day by day. sometimes i'd lay down and physically feel the time and dedication being stripped from my body. i poured myself into this sport just for everything to be taken from me in an instant.

everything except her.

i remember one night in particular so vividly. i’d spent all day resting and watching enough reality tv to numb my mind.

paige called me every chance she got. seriously, you would’ve thought she was the one injured.

“AZZI, HOW WE FEELIN TODAY,” she yells through the phone.

“oh i’m doing great, p. thanks for asking,” i said sarcastically.

“you know what day it is right?” she asks, her excitement rising.

every year, we’d pick a day in the fall to drive out to my favorite restaurant, charlie’s. they have this amazing fresh basil pizza that i would (no lie) kill somebody for.

the tradition started after paige and i tried to learn how to cook at my house and almost burned down the place. after that, we agreed we'd just make the trip at least once a year. the only bad part was that charlie’s was about two hours away.

“yes, paige. how could i forget?” i say trying not to let her hear my smile through the phone.

“just making sure, i’ll pick you up in an hour,” she responds.

i started getting ready, carefully avoiding my leg. i wouldn’t say this to paige but i’d really been struggling. as much as having her here was great, playing with her was when the magic happened. so i’ve been really looking forward to this, at least some things didn’t change.

i was almost done getting ready when i got another call from paige.

“hey…azzi, bad news,” she speaks softly as if she might scare me. “charlie’s got shut down last month.” she sounds almost as disappointed as me.

“oh,” i respond. it feels as if my world had just collapsed.

i can’t think of anything else to say.

“i’m so sorry azzi, we’ll do something else. i know how hard everything's been recently,” she pleads frantically. she almost sounds like she’s gonna cry.

“nah p, it’s fine really,” i try to sound happy.

“hey i’ll talk to you later, k?” i hang up before she can hear my voice break.

god, why does everything have to be so terrible right now.

paige’s pov:

when i found out about charlie’s, my heart broke for her.

i'd been visiting or calling azzi almost every day since the accident. i know she's gotten annoyed by my overly enthusiastic phone calls but it's the only way i've been getting a smile out of her.

i still remember the first time we went together. from outside, charlie's didn't look like anything special. just another hole-in-the-wall joint tucked between a pawnshop and a laundromat.

but my god, the way her eyes lit up when we stepped inside.

the small interior illuminated by the warm glow of an excessive amount of lamps and chandeliers. none of which followed any cohesive style.

vintage southern soul records croon from the speakers with a gritty authenticity.

i wasn’t a fan of the food to be completely honest, the basil pizza azzi raved about tasted like...pizza to me? the real beauty of charlie's was the ambience.

azzi was the air that breathed life into this place.

a honeyed glow kaleidoscope refracted on her face, her smile still brighter than the surplus of lights. while we ate, azzi gushed over the art covering the wall. effortlessly naming different artists' with the ease of a soul singer.

despite looking like they hadn't been watered in years, resilient dark green vines twisted around bookshelves and counters. the rebellious desire to bloom.

a pale imitation of my admiration for her.

the drive back home was my favorite. a peace seemed to have washed over her, clearly satisfied with our trip. with a special kind of softness only azzi had, she'd hum to herself.

i'd sneak looks at her while driving, watching as the sun flickered on her face through the trees. a slight breeze carrying her curls. the drive was long and boring but moments like this made it all worth it.

so when i found out about charlie's closing, i knew exactly what i needed to do.

it only occurred to me after i'd been deciding between tomato sauces for a half hour, that i might have a thing for her. i stood in the aisle, comparing two nearly identical cans, scanning ingredients like a mad man.

get it together, bueckers. its just pizza.

but it wasn't. it was the way her eyes darted around the room. the slightly higher pitch she took on when she talked about it. the velvety texture of her laugh.

it was her.

i just want everything to be perfect. she deserves it.

i bought both cans just to be safe, plus i needed an extra just in case i burn the first batch.

i must've looked like a crazy person, repeating the list of ingredients under my breath. finally snapping out of my trance, i locked eyes with a bouquet of flowers. the same kind of flowers she'd put in her hair when we went on vacation.

a postcard from simpler times, laced with her careless joy.

without a second thought, i threw them into my basket. the hard part would be what came after. i can't cook to save my life.

after countless attempts and enough youtube tutorials to last a lifetime, i finally had something. a misshapen pizza in the vague form of a heart.

at the very least, it'll make her laugh.

the second hard part was picking an outfit. i usually had no trouble finding an outfit to fit any event but tonight was different. it felt like i had sifted through my entire closet when i finally spotted it– one of azzi tank tops.

would it be weird if i showed up to her house in her clothes?

all things considered, i think it'd be the least strange thing i've done for her tonight. i lifted the top over my head slowly, letting myself catch a hint of her perfume. an earthy vanilla haze coating my thoughts, heat rushing to my face. i'm almost jealous of the damn thing for getting to be so close to her.

if i focus hard enough i can almost feel her touch.

despite my own preferences, i left my hair down. shaking out my roots so my curls fell a bit out of place.

she'll fix it for me anyways. she always does.

i know her. her warm brown eyes will scan my hair and she'll try to ignore it until she can't anymore. she'll let out a big dramatic sigh and roll her eyes then tuck one of my loose curls behind my ear. maybe even throw in a comment or two about charging me for being my personal hairstylist. but behind her sarcasm, azzi's touch carried a kindness i'd never seen before.

i tapped my fingertips anxiously against my steering wheel when i pulled into her driveway. i took a sharp deep breath before stepping out of the car. i'd been to her house hundreds of times, but there was something different about this.

i just hope i did everything right.

my hand shakes slightly as i ring her doorbell.

azzi's pov:

my body flinched when i heard my doorbell. i had been trying to take my mind off of charlie's closing by finally reading one of my favorite thrillers. a bit paranoid after reading so much suspense, i took a deep breath before walking to the door.

i swear if it's another one of those salespeople again. like how many times do we gotta say we're not gonna get solar panels? and at this time of the night? that's some persistence.

as i swing the door open, and my words catch in my throat. paige stands there, fighting off a soft smile. in one hand she carries a small glass container, her nervous fingers fidgeting with the foil on top. in the other hand, golden yellow and red flowers peek out from behind her.

she didn't.

"i just thought i'd– " before she can finish her sentence i fling my arms around her neck nearly knocking both items out of her hands.

feeling her arms wrap around my waist, i nearly cry. my eyes sting and i take a steadying breath into her ear.

paige might just be an earth angel.

my heart swells in my chest, a sweet ache. with my head on her shoulder, a familiar scent wafts toward me.

was that my perfume?

i hug her for a beat longer when i finally pull away, her fingers trace my waist.

she wears my clothes like they were made for her.

"you could've told me you were gonna get all dressed up," i tease eyeing my shirt.

"we always get dressed up for charlie's," she shoots back with a smile.

and just like that, i'm okay again.

holding the door open for her, i get a good look at her outfit. my gaze lingering on her curves, the fabric melting around the rough edges of her muscles.

even in my porch light, she looked like a supermodel.

watching her plate the food, i felt something deeper than my usual admiration for her. she carefully finds a vase for the flowers. she could navigate my kitchen blindfolded. her fingers sorting through my silverware, a domestic intimacy. things were always so easy with her.

for a moment, i could see our future– not as a new vision, but our inevitable path. a kitchen of our own, shared tableware, late night cooking. i felt a claim to this future like it was promised to me.

shit– i've been staring at her this whole time. i should help her with the food.

i bend over the counter to grab the plates, letting my body drape over her forearm for a moment. i feel her eyes trace my body, a nervous awareness of my movements. straightening my spine, i caught her eye. a carnation-pink dusting her cheek, she snapped her eyes to the floor.

oh, i'm definitely gonna have to catch her staring more often.

as she unwraps the container, i finally get a good look at the pizza: an irregularly shaped crust, with slightly burnt edges.

is that supposed to be a heart?

a giggle bubbles up in my chest and i turn my face to hide it.

"paige, what happened here?" i say between laughs. my eyes softening out of genuine sympathy.

"hey!" she's immediately defensive. "this is a piece of modern abstract art, you're into that stuff anyways," she pokes my side smiling.

"ah, yes. was picasso an inspiration for you in this piece?" i tease.

the fact that paige can't microwave popcorn without setting off the smoke detector but managed to make a whole pizza for me is...impressive to say the least. i almost don't believe it was her.

did she really learn how to cook for me?

my heart swells at the thought of her checking the oven anxiously, flour dusting her cheek. the image is so sweet, it makes my head hurt.

"well, i think it's perfect," i finally let her off the hook.

"that's not all either," she grabs her phone out of her pocket.

a playful smile tugs at the corners of her lips as she scrolls. finally tapping her phone, a few familiar notes of a song plays. it takes me a moment before i recognize it– "loved by you" by kirby.

oh god, she wouldn't–

but of course, she would. grabbing a wooden spoon as a microphone, she belts in right before the chorus.

"cause i heard that heaven ain't easy to get to…" her voice cracks but from the look on her face she's completely tone deaf.

i take a seat, raising my eyebrows at her while holding in a laugh. she beams at me, dramatically taking a deep breath before the next line.

"closest i'll get might be right next to you," she drags out the last note. her wooden spoon microphone in one hand, she cups my face with the other. i can't help but flash her a smile, her thumb falling into my dimple.

a loving warmth radiates from her touch, i have to resist the urge to lean into her palm.

only paige could look this gorgeous while being so ridiculous.

there's something so special about seeing her like this. dancing around my kitchen with the confidence of veteran performer. unabashedly herself, pouring out her heart just to make me laugh. this is when she looks the most beautiful.

"paige, my neighbors are gonna think i'm torturing small animals in here," i taunt.

"boo, you're such a hater," she laughs between verses, still singing.

her hair falls out of place slightly, just adding to her beauty. standing up, i take the strand and tuck it behind her ear. her singing softens to a whisper when she feels my touch.

breathless, her eyes flicker to my lips, and i swear i could hear her heartbeat race. i search to meet her eyes but they remain intently on my lips. her sweet nervous breath tingling against my cheek. she sways ever so slightly, and my breath hitches, thinking she's gonna close the gap.

"azzi–" she closes her eyes briefly.

she's so close to giving in, i can see the indecision on her face.

"how have you been, like really," her eyes open, filled with tender worry.

her question catches me off guard. i thought i'd been doing a good job keeping all this to myself.

she sees right through me.

after everything she's done for me tonight, i owe her a bit of vulnerability. i take a deep sigh before answering.

"it's been... tough. yeah. i haven't been doing great." i respond, recalling countless days i've spent wishing i could get back to normal.

"you know, i'm here for you, right?" her words carry intention, i know she means it.

"i know, i just didn't want to be a burden," i feel my words catch in my throat. my eyes start to water.

"oh, azzi–" she pulls me into a deep hug. "never say that again."

paige has this amazing ability to make my worries disappear in just a few sentences.

i melt into her hug, my body going slack in her arms. a few tears land on her shoulder. i can't think of the right thing to say, caught between thanking her and apologizing.

"whatever you want, okay? i'm here. even if it takes a million of those little picasso pizzas," she laughs softly, stroking my back.

"speaking of which, they're probably getting cold by now," i pull back collecting myself.

she nods, giving my hand a squeeze before letting go. despite its shape, the food is great. dare i say it may even be better than charlie's, but i wouldn't tell her that.

like always, we fall into an easy conversation. in just the span of a dinner, i can feel weeks of heavy apathy fall off my shoulders.

how did i get so lucky?

paige's pov:

seeing her smile was the highlight of my night. even if it was just for a few hours, i'm glad to have my girl back.

empty plates sit forgotten on the counter as we lounge in her living room. sitting as still as i possibly can, azzi's head rest on my shoulder. her breath slows to a sweet hum. i watch her chest rise and fall like waves crashing on the shore as she dozes off.

of course, she also looks pretty when she sleeps.

i hate to interrupt this beautiful moment, but it was getting late.

"azzi," i whisper to her, trying to wake her gently.

"hm," she whines, slowly blinking.

"i should probably get going," i say, hoping she can hear the reluctance in my voice. knowing if she said stay, i would.

"okay..." she responds finally sitting up. "just one more thing."

anything. whatever she wants.

"yeah, what's up," i try to sound nonchalant like i wouldn't drop everything for her in an instant.

"can you help me take my brace off so i can change clothes?" she sounds almost embarrassed for having to ask.

"yes, of course," i respond, failing to hide my eagerness.

she stands in front of me, using my shoulders for stability. my fingers work at the straps gently. my movements are deliberate and careful as i grip her hips. as she changes, i find a spot to stare at on the floor respectfully.

"better?" i ask.

"yeah, thanks" she replies bashfully.

i stand to hug her goodbye. i swear it hurts a little more each time i leave.

"thank you...for all of this," her breath tickling my shoulder as she speaks.

"always." i hope she knows i mean it.

loving azzi was the easiest thing i've ever done in my life.

#Spotify #paige bueckers #azzi fudd #pazzi #pazzi fics #i bet on losing huskies

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s-u-m-i · 1 day

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JASON TODD doesn't get jealous. or at least thats what he told himself as you launched into the cave. a perfect sight really; body hugged in all the right places by the costume you had on and gorgeous hair rushing behind you. as you landed in front of him, jason couldn't help his eyes from wandering; scanning every part of the gorgeous woman in front of him.

"jeez big guy, you ever gonna say anything?" jason's face dropped as soon as he saw his brother emerge from behind the flawless silhouette. DICK GRAYSON wasn't supposed to be here. grayson made it abundantly clear that bludhaven was HIS territory, so why did he need to be in gotham.

"oh come on jace, we both know you missed me. plus i had to come see my favorite girl," dick swung a lazy arm around your shoulders, "poor things been having to spend so much time with you, i thought she could use the break." at this point jason wouldn't be surprised if he was literally smoking. your small giggle was the only thing that snapped him out of thoughts contemplating the various ways he could exterminate the nightwing infestation.

"why are you here dick?" jason's tone was stern. all week he had been looking forward to this. a patrol, just you and him. it wasn't much, but when the majority of time jason got with you was accompanied by the rest of the family, he'd savor every second he could steal.

"well i just tol-"

"cut the bullshit grayson. why are you really here?" jason couldn't miss the sly smirk on his brother's face. he may have died, but he wasn't born yesterday. dick had turned you into a competition, which jason hated. you were gorgeous, no one could deny that. so the first day you came strolling into the batcave, the brothers knew that it would be a dogfight to get you on their team.

"i told him he could come red," your voice cut through the tension, "we've been talking about those weapon shipments and think they might be coming through bludhaven first."

"thank you," grayson took a small (yet somehow extremely dramatic) bow, "see jace, i'm only here to help, so lets talk." the acrobat strolled past jason stopping only to whisper in his ear, "you can give up now if you want... no shame here."

"fuck off grayson, you're here on business. thats it." the red vigilante snapped back,

"i guess we'll find out tonight if it's just business, or at least i will." as the older walked away, every instinct that jason had told him to turn around and rip dick grayson a new one, but a soft hand on his forearm stopped him,

"please just hear him out red, i know you guys don't get along but we really need this intel," your eyes were mesmerizing, jason would've said yes to anything you could've possibly asked. however you still sweetened the deal, "i promise i'll make it up to you, anything you want and it's yours." jason tried not to drool at the thought.

"ok, fine."

JASON was seething. plain and simple. there was no reason for him to be at this stupid fucking meeting if all grayson was going to do was hit on you. bludhaven's vigilante had spent more time leaning over your shoulder and whispering in your ear than he had looking at any sort of lead being offered up.

"sorry guys, i just have to run to the restroom quickly. i swear i'll be right back." you excused yourself quickly and rushed out of the room, leaving the brothers to catch up. it was quiet in the room, tension thick in the air. a question of who would speak first rather than if they would speak. the boys locked eyes from across the room, leading dick to spread a smile across his face,

"do you want me to tell you how she is tomorrow? nevermind, stupid question, i'm sure you'll hear us tonight." jason wanted to smack that look off his face. he could've jumped the table and pummeled his brother, but the door to the meeting room swung wide,

"hey gorgeous! welcome back," grayson quipped.

"oh, thanks? i hope i wasn't gone long, we should try to wrap this up soon." you strolled through the room back to your seat, both boys eyeing you the whole way, "so dick, if you're able to put a tracker..."

jason quickly lost interest in the inner workings of the operation, instead opting to keep a close eye on how his predecessor was acting around you. jason watched as he savored, savored every move you made, savored every word out of your mouth, every smile you gave, savored everything that should've been jason's. jason watched as dick hooked his foot at the bottom of your chair, pulled you next to him, then snaked his arm around your waist. grayson leaned into you and continued like nothing had changed.

jason liked to say that he was not a jealous man. however jason todd would never claim to be a patient man, and his brother has just crossed the line.

the large man shot out of his chair in milliseconds.

"get the fuck out of here," jason was pratically growling at this point. he watched as his the flustered man attempted to quip back, but he had heard enough of this loudmouth tonight, "you can walk out now, or i can send you back to bludhaven in a fucking bodybag grayson."

with the threat in place, the brother stood up,

"we were about done here anyways, don'tcha think?" your eyes flicked away from one brother to the next, seemingly looking for a reasoning from jason. with a blank stare from him you turned back to his brother.

"yeah, i didn't have anything more to add," you both watched the showboat walk out of the room, eyes following him the whole way. when the door snapped shut, you shot up and spoke immediately,

"jason, what the hell was that?" you were visibly irritated, taking a few strides towards the man, "i'm trying to get something on this case, and-"

"you're joking right," jason spat, "you're telling me you didn't know he was hitting on you the whole fucking time?"

"i knew he was flirting, but-"

"jesus christ, what was the fucking point of me being here? so you can flirt with my brother and rub it in my face?" jason pointed his finger at you, taking a large step towards you, "i get it! you want him, not me! just next time-"

"let me finish my damn sentence before you start jumping to conclusions," you yelled, "i knew he was flirting, but i was putting up with it so we might be able to get a lick of info about these weapons"

"oh"

"yeah, 'oh'," you smiled up at him. the proximity was going to make jason sick. you stood no more than a foot away from him, staring up at him through your eyelashes. he was firmly under your spell.

"are you jealous?" your voice was just barely above a whisper, "because if you are," your hand snuck its way up his arm, leaving a trail of goosebumps in its wake, "you don't have anything to worry about."

"i don't get jealous, sweetheart," you cocked an eyebrow at jason

"oh yeah?" he nodded quickly at you, "HEY GRAYS-"

jason's mouth quickly covered yours. his warm lips moving against yours with a sense of desperation. as his hands sank onto your hips , yours ran up the nape of his neck and into his hair, you gave a small tug to what you could reach eliciting a low, heavenly groan from jason who let his stature crumble into yours.

as you finally broke away from each other, gasping for air, jason's hands found their way to the back of your thighs, where he tapped gently. you looked up at him hesitantly.

"come on baby, i gotcha," he spoke gently, a tone you had never heard from him before. you jumped cautiously, he caught you and immediately pushed your lips back together. his kiss was heavenly, sending warmth throughout your body. his tongue lapped at your bottom lip, seeking entry, which you granted eagerly.

while your tongues intertwined, jason had sat you down on the cold conference table. his hands wandered upwards, breaking away from you, he looked for permission. at the moment of your nod, his hands began roaming your chest and his mouth trailed kisses from your jaw to where he was now pulling on the zipper of your costume.

the door to the meeting room swung open,

"did you need some- oh shit," dick grayson stood there, dumbfounded. jason, realizing who it was, dropped his head to roll his tongue around your sensitive nipples. letting out a sultry moan of jason's name, you turned your head to a very red in the face dick,

"want him to tell you about it in the morning? or are you staying to listen?"

#jason todd #red hood #nightwing #fanfic #jealous #batfam #batfamily #dick grayson #tropes #smut

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philtstone · 2 days

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title: check yes, juliet

Summary:

It doesn't matter that Juliet is a freshly-minted, top-of-her-class field agent (alright, so she hasn't actually been in the field yet) or one of the few women working for the Federal Bureau of Investigation's cutting edge check fraud department (just last week, their 20-year-old coffee maker broke and they ran out of number two pencils to mark up their overhead projector notes with): every time her mother calls, all she does is lament that her beautiful, intelligent daughter isn't meeting any eligible bachelors.

“Maybe that’s for the best,” Maryanne sighs eventually. “All O’Hara women fall for liars, Julie. It’s our curse.”

Juliet has to wonder if she didn't scoff at her mother's claim a little bit too soon.

my brother & i had the earth shattering realization a month ago that the plot of "catch me if you can" (2002) is almost to a tee just a mildly alternate psych timeline and that thought has lived in my head rent free to such an insane degree that eventually 14 thousand words poured out of me in au fic form. im posting it so as many other people as possible can see the vision. and also because im sure theres one person other than me who revels in early seasons shawnjuliet's frankly insane levels of chemistry, lol. enjoy!

READ FULL FIC ON AO3

Excerpt:

“Your average bounced check would be routed to the bank it originates from, so you’d only really have a few days in one place before you were discovered. This guy’s been filing off the routing numbers, changing ‘em somehow – so cleanly and neatly that it’ll take a real sharp eye to notice. It’s all about the branch you’re cashing it in. A check cashed in at Chase Manhattan with the one changed to ten’s gonna bounce halfway around the country before anyone figures out it’s rotten, and by that point this asshole is long gone. The numbers go East, Central, West – you see how they cover 0-60, 70-80, and of course they require a special kind of ink to be recognized as real checks, which you’d all know if you’d read the report I circulated …”

Juliet doesn’t notice the full cup of orange juice in front of her until it’s too late.

Her head’s still full of Carlton’s two hour long briefing this morning, during which she learned more about check fraud than she’d have ever thought a single person could in one lifespan. Certainly not Juliet, who’d originally studied literature at Florida State. Then again, back then she’d have never expected to end up an FBI agent, either.

Then there’s the wired, tense feeling in her gut that probably won’t go away ‘til this sting is over and they bring in the pathetic local guy Carlton’s been tracking for the last week. His MO is pretty girls in pastel dresses, which made Juliet the right man – woman – for the job. At least maybe doing this’ll help the guys in the office take her seriously as a field agent. And, well … she does love a nice peachy pink cardigan. The color goes well with her complexion.

“This idiot’s no real con man, he’s just a clown who can’t be bothered to work an honest job. Child’s play compared to the real thing. ” Carlton tends to pause here, angry that he’s got to acknowledge it like that – the real thin g. “ You know what they’ve been calling him in the papers these days?”

Him . Always him. They don’t have a name on the subject yet, despite over a million cashed in fraudulent checks. Juliet hums and nods so her partner feels acknowledged.

“ The skywayman . Pathetic. Like he’s some magician or something, instead of a two-bit liar who thinks he’s smarter than me. ”

“This isn’t personal, Carlton��,” Juliet says tiredly. “ It’s not like he knows who you are to be deliberately toying with you.”

“Oh yes he is. I know he is. I know him .”

Her hands aren’t quite shaking, because that would be stupid; this guy, their local guy, shouldn’t have a gun on him, and if he does he’s not the type to shoot a woman. Juliet focuses on the paper in front of her and tucks a lock of her hair behind one ear. A window of ten minutes – that’s what Carlton said. Unlike Carlton’s unsub nemesis, they know plenty about this one. He’ll come in, dressed like the middle-aged schlub he is, loose tie probably, gray slacks, thinning hair. He’ll notice her, buy her a soda she’ll accept with a faulty check and then pick her pocket for the cash. The string of pearls at her neck makes her a sweet college girl whose parents have money. She mentally forces herself to stop chewing her lip and instead moves her right hand down to her lap, where she can pick at her nail polish without anyone seeing.

“Well, obviously we wanna catch him,” Agent Dobson says, when they’re a third of the way through the morning briefing and half the room is asleep or dreaming of lunch. Juliet, of course, has been furiously taking notes. He means the Skywayman; he means the real thing. “But you gotta admit, Lassiter, there is a bit of a magic show to a good con, isn’t there? The press has that one thing right.”

“It’s not magic. It’s lies and deceit and a healthy helping of audacity, and a damn good typewriter. O’Hara, write that down. We’re gonna go through that list of makes and models again, see what we can come up with.”

Deep breath. Her purse, orange to match the cardigan, is in her lap. The gun’s in the purse. She’ll draw it, but not to shoot. This is the kind of work she’s begged the Chief for, and she’ll be just fine.

Maybe Juliet would feel less desperate to prove herself if this diner wasn’t in Miami, and her father didn’t gift her the only string of pearls she owns.

A voice clears itself quietly above her.

“Uh, excuse me? Hi, yeah, hi. That’s my seat.”

#my writing #psych #psych (2006)#juliet o'hara #shawn spencer #shawn x juliet #shules #carlton lassiter #burton guster #catch me if you can #shawn and juliet really invented having the worlds craziest convergence of daddy issues & i love that for them so much

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philosophiums · 1 day

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hi sam!! 1, 2, 6, 8, 12, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 30, 42, 43, 44, 45, 47, 50, 51, 55, 57, 66 (lmhs), 71, 72, 76, 78, 79 😊 i just love picking another writer's brain hehe

KSJDBVJKDFBV MARIAM IM CRYING HELP 😂 *cracks knuckles* okay let's gooooo 💜 (there's gonna be a read more somewhere)

questions from here!

1. Do you daydream a lot before you write, or go for it as soon as the ideas strike?

Truly depends on the length of the wip! For short stuff that I'm confident will be under 10k, I just go in swinging. For longer stuff, I'm daydreaming constantly, even during the writing process. When I had a desk job, I would spend Work Time thinking and then write stuff out in my notes app, but now that I operate a moving vehicle for 7+ hours a day, I just spend the majority of that time Daydreaming, Thinking, and Planning for LMHS.

2. Where do you get your fic ideas?

It's about a 60/40 split between original thoughts (as much as anyone can claim to truly have original creative thoughts that are 100% not inspired by anything else) and ideas that are based on or inspired by the premises of other fics or by fanart (sometimes not even from the same fandom).

6. What’s the last line you wrote?

From LMHS, last line of chapter 3: "Sun shining on their backs, sweet snacks in their stomachs, and laughter in the air, the three of them take off together, venturing once again deeper into Changyin’s busy streets."

8. Post an out-of-context spoiler from a wip.

Not written out yet so I can't post a snippet, but in LMHS, water is so important to Megumi's character, way beyond just bending.

12. Do you outline your fics? If yes, how detailed are your outlines? How far do you stray from them?

Sometimes! I did outline LMHS, though that was mostly an attempt on my part at keeping track of all the thoughts @hinamie and I were throwing at each other. It's not very detailed at all, just a bullet point list of things like "they travel to [location] - remember that [this character] is with them" or stuff like that. It's a guide for the like... movement™ of the fic, but less so the nitty gritty details, which I kind of enjoy discovering as I go (be it while I'm writing or while Hina and I are talking). But the last long fic I wrote (250k) did not have an outline. I just followed my heart and the vision I had of the end of the fic <3 The back half of that fic did have a canon timeline to follow, though, which made it easier.

14. What is your favorite location and position to write in?

SJKDBJKSDB I do about 95% of my writing in a big leather wingback armchair in my living room, usually with one leg hooked over an arm of the chair. The other 5% is bleary-eyed, 2am in bed, notes app, half-finished sentences with just the worst spelling you've ever seen.

15. What’s your favorite time to write?

It used to be between 1am and 3am, back when I was unemployed/working a job I didn't have to properly sleep for. Now, the only time I seem to be able to write is from about 8:30pm to 11pm. It takes me forever to unwind after coming home, so I can really only get myself to focus way at the end of the day. 100% if I went back to a desk job or stumbled into a pile of money that could let me stop working, I'd be right back to typing away well after midnight.

17. Do you have a writing routine?

Sit down > open word doc > reread last paragraph > dissociate > walk away > come back three hours later and write SKJDVBDKJBVJKDFBV

18. Do you enjoy research? Which fic of yours required the most research?

I don't necessarily enjoy it, mostly because when I'm researching, I tend to get pulled down a rabbit hole of stuff I don't need to know and will never use. However, I do find that I end up doing impromptu "shotgun" research a lot while writing. Literally while writing the first chapter of LMHS, I had to pull up some research on trees just to make absolutely sure I was describing something correctly. It's 100% an inconsequential detail, but at least I know I wasn't pulling it completely out of thin air KSJVDBDKJVB I don't think I could honestly say which fic required the most research. If we include the amount of time I spent on the respective fandom wikis for character/canon details, then Swallow the Stars for sure. But if it's only for Other Stuff™, then I think they're all about equal.

19. Do you enjoy creating OCs or do you prefer to stick solely to canon characters?

I love making OCs in general, but not really for fanfic. I'll make an OC for an inconsequential side character no problem (did this a couple times in Swallow the Stars), but, for the most part, I prefer to stick to canon characters. I've never written a fic from the POV of an OC, and I doubt I ever will. I would much rather explore the dynamics between canon characters than insert a new main character into a story that already has one.

22. Do you title your fics before, during, or after the writing process? How do you come up with titles?

Depends! I've done all three before SKJDVBDKJVBF Sometimes, a title comes to me right away, and I can sort of circle around it while I'm writing (this is more common for me with short fics). Sometimes, I get a few thousands words in, and have played with the themes long enough to have it just sort of come to me. Other times, I'm fully edited and just staring at the words begging a title to appear so I can post KSJDVBDKJFVBDFV LMHS had a title before I even started writing, because I wanted to have a title when I posted the fic announcement. As far as how I come up with them, I've pulled directly from words in the fic, I've gone on random quote generators and pulled from those, I've sat down and literally just strung words together based on a theme or a single specific word I wanted (LMHS, for instance, came from a desire to use the word "haunt"). It just kinda depends and is different for every fic!

23. Is writing the beginning, middle, or end of the story easiest? Hardest?

The beginning is easiest because it's fun character introductions and scene setting, not a lot of plot yet. The middle is by far the hardest because that's where the plot is beefiest and where a lot of the transition spaces are, and at the same time you're starting to gather up the threads you want to tie off at the end.

24. How do you choose whose POV to write in?

I choose based on whose thoughts I'm imagining most when I'm first thinking of the story! When I'm new to writing for a fandom, I will sometimes have to start a fic 2 or 3 times to find the voice that comes easiest to me, though. I have a tendency to lean towards the quieter characters, but that's not always true! For example, Andrew Minyard's POV is easier for me to write in, but I have more fun writing Neil, so I tend to gravitate towards Neil for AFTG fics.

25. What’s your favorite part of the writing process (worldbuilding, brainstorming/outlining, writing, editing, etc)?

World building my beloved..... I love coming up with Reasons for things that I want to happen, tying things into the setting and the history and making sure it works for the characters as well. The moment when everything connects is so magical.

26. What’s your least favorite part of the writing process?

Writing KJDBKJDFBVJKDBFV Words are just.... so hard 😭

28. What area of writing do you want to improve in?

Detailing! Descriptions! I am constantly fighting with myself over how much detail I actually need to include in my descriptions, because on some level, I want to describe it as much as I possibly can so that it can be envisioned easier, but on the flip side I know for a fact that no matter how much I describe something, no one will ever see it exactly the same way I do. And so then I pull back too far, I think, and keep my descriptions bare minimum, which I think is just as unhelpful. I need to work on finding a balance. Maybe metaphor can be my friend here.....

30. How much do you edit your fics? Do you edit as you write or wait until you finish the first draft?

I usually go through for edits a minimum of two times and a maximum of 4 times. I always do an initial read-through for details that I missed or clarifications I need to make or continuity problems, stuff like that. Then I'll go through for grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, etc. If I end up rewriting a lot during that second edit, I'll go back through yet again just to double-check everything. And, more often than not, I do a last read-through right before I post. Though, inevitably, there's always something that I don't catch until it's already posted KJSBDVKDJBV

42. What’s your favorite title that you’ve come up with?

I'm really quite keen on Like the Moon Haunts the Sun !! It's longer than what I usually go for with titles, but it's sooooo thematically fitting and just really really pretty imo. But, This Is What Hollows holds a special place in my heart because it's a bit different and yet perfectly fitting for that fic. Plus, it was titled loooong before I came up with a way to include it in the actual writing of the fic, and I felt like an absolute genius when I managed to do that organically.

43. Is there a trope or idea that you’d really like to write but haven’t yet?

I have a world mostly built for a fantasy setting with dragon gods and stuff that I've planned out all the lore for and yet cannot for the life of me actually think up a plot that would be interesting to write SKJVBDJKVB I have characters, I have setting, I have themes, but a plot? Evading me. And it's been haunting me for like 7 years.

44. What is your favorite genre to write?

Urban fantasy 100%!! I love writing magic systems without having to do historical research SKJBDVKJDVB Also just the idea of magic in a place that we live in is so special to me like... there is magic everywhere in the world, but sometimes that magic really does come from a spell book like Yes Please.

45. What genre/trope do you tend to write the most?

Found family trope my beloved,,,,,,,, don't look too closely at it; it doesn't say anything about me as a person I Promise.

47. Is there a trope that you’ve written before but are now sick of?

Not a trope, but when I was younger and Working Through Some Shit, I included a, I guess, circumstance™ that I will not actually say (bc it's like. triggering) in just about every fic I wrote, but I'm past the point now (thank god) of needing to vent through it, so I truly don't think I'll ever include it in anything ever again.

50. How would you describe your writing style?

HHHHHHH I have no idea. I think I am incapable of looking at my writing objectively enough to describe it.

51. Does what you like to write differ from what you like to read?

Very much so! I love reading prose that is rich in metaphor and simile, but for the life of me I can't write like that. I don't have the gift of constantly being able to turn a phrase so beautifully, but god is it gorgeous to read.

55. Have you noticed any patterns in your fics? Words/expressions that appear a lot, themes, common settings, etc?

I don't even want to think about the words and phrases I overuse because I'm sure there's plenty JSKDBVKJDFVB I do have a recurring theme of like... healing, though. This deep inner struggle of the characters to get to a better place is just... so important to me. I want them to heal, but more than that I want them to want to heal.

57. How conscious are you about including symbolism or foreshadowing in your fics?

I'm certainly conscious of it, but less so on the first draft. I think foreshadowing has a way of sneaking into my writing naturally (especially because I write chronologically), and then I can really hammer it in during the edit. Symbolism is purely being brought in during the first edit unless it's something so important that it was underlined a lot during the drafting/planning stage.

66. What’s a fun fact about LMHS?

It started as me just randomly thinking about ATLA and sending a question to Hina about what she thought the main trio's bending elements would be, and it just tumbled out of control from there SKJDVBDJKVFB

71. Do you spend more time reading or writing?

Writing, which is... saying something because I really don't spend a lot of time writing on a day-to-day basis. But I haven't read a published book in.... 4 years? And I don't read fanfic very often either, despite my bookmarks tab being overflowing with fics that I would like to read at some point. I just feel like I never have the time or energy to sit down and read.

72. What’s your favorite writing compliment you’ve gotten?

I have gotten a similar comment from multiple people that is about my characterization of canon characters within AUs and how it still feels like the canon characters but with realistic changes based on a different setting, and in fic writing I can't think of higher praise. Like... that's exactly what I want. I don't want the characters to be exactly the same as canon because their circumstances have changed, but I still want them to be recognizable. That's always what I'm striving for, and it makes me happy that people notice and think it's executed well enough to comment on.

76. How do you deal with writing pressure, whether internal or external?

Poorly KDEJVBKJDEFVBJKDFVBJF Really though, I struggle managing pressure when I'm writing. And it's always internal, because external pressure on fics just makes me petty since it's Free Labor, and people who complain about a slow upload schedule or whatever just make me Mad. But internal pressure is HHHHHHHHHH I am Going Through It with LMHS. I want it to live up to expectations, but I also want to finish it quickly, but I also want it to be lush and complete, and there's always this voice in my head telling me I'm not writing fast enough or good enough. Mostly I work past it by reminding myself that the time will pass anyway and that it's a miracle that I can even write ~1k words a day with how tired my job makes me. And on the days when that doesn't work, I have loud music KSJDVBDKJVBJDKFV

78. What motivates you during the writing process?

Up to the point where I start posting (for my last long fic, I was >100k in before I uploaded the first chapter), the motivation comes from a simple desire to write that particular story. For me, it can't come from anywhere else. If I don't want to write on a fic anymore and I haven't uploaded yet, I'll just stop. However, once I start posting, comments and general interaction with the fic gives me a huge bump in motivation. Engagement and talking about the story and the characters and the plot just makes me so excited to keep going so that I can drop the next plot twist or cliffhanger and read everyone's reactions. This time, for LMHS, I am very very lucky to have my own personal cheer squad of one (Hina) motivating me daily through memes and character discussion and new pieces of art and other various things <3

79. Do you have any writing advice you want to share?

The best actual constructive writing advice that I can give is: Do Not Edit Something Until You're Done. And yes, I mean the entire story - do not go back and reread/rewrite until you're done with it. Nothing will make your forward momentum disappear faster than going back to edit. If you're too hung up on details and perfection right away, you're never going to get done. You have to just write and accept that things will need to be reworked. Make notes for yourself on things to fix later or whatever, just do not scroll back up and start editing before you're done with something. It will only make you disappointed that where you pick up again isn't going to look as nice as what you just edited.

#this took me all weekend and it's currently well past my bedtime but i wanted to post this!!!!#so i finished all of them KJSDBVKJDBFV #i still can't believe u sent me so many tyyyyyyy <3 #just gonna tag lmhs as well since a bunch of this is in reference to it #lmhs

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askthe-r-m-au · 2 days

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I'm sick and it's the middle of the night...

Yall know what that means...

R-M FIC TIME!!!! :D

Uhh yeah It's been a while since I did chapter 1 (link right here) so I think nows the time to continue!

Man I wish I could just copy paste stuff from my brain-

Uhh so ye let's go

[The Ring-Misstress Chapter 2: A Promotion]

Several days have passed since Pomni and Caine became "coding buddies." Or- since Pomni made her ultimate plan to find the exit. Other than that, it was actually kinda nice. The more time she spent fixing things around the circus, the less time she'd have to spend alone in a room that wasn't hers. Just doing mundane things... heck, maybe that's all she needed...

☆Well then, looks like we're done for the day!! Great work as always, Pomni!☆

And just like that, the mundane was over.

♧Oh... uh, thanks...♧

☆I best be off for now then! Oh-! Don't be late tomorrow morning, because I have some news for all of you!!☆

He looked up to see the Jester walking away, giving a weak thumbs up.

☆Alright then, goodnight, my dear!☆

Pomni shut the door behind her and crawled into bed. She lay there, staring at the ceiling as she recollected the days events. She thought about the last thing Caine brought up. "News? What was so important that they all needed to know??" Part of her kind of dreaded it, but...

Another part of her didn't.

Meanwhile, Caine slowly flew down the circus hall. He, too, reflected on the work they got done today. He was proud of it, really he was!! But... he wondered what caused these sorts of bugs in the first place. He thought about the first time pomni fixed a line of code. What even happened to bubble that day?? He's never seen him glitch like that before. It almost looked like a-

°○ Hi boss...○°

Speak of the devil...

°○All these new textures sure look shiny...○°

Bubble chimed, staring at the wall and licking his lips.

☆Bubble, if you so much as Touch a PIXEL, I-☆

Bubble began gnawing on the wall, ignoring Caine's sterness.

"Pop!"

The ringmaster let out an annoyed sigh, snapping his fingers to fix the wall.

"Just how is he going to deal with Bubble now?! With the big important stuff coming up, his behavior certainly wouldn't do..."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The next morning, Caine eagerly woke everyone up, including Pomni. They all quickly gathered to the main stage, ready for whatever nonsense Caine had to give them today.

☆Good morning, Superstars!! Now, you are all aware that I have some very important news today!!☆

•Yeah, yeah, we get it. What's soooooo important dentures?•

☆I'm glad you asked, Jax!! As you may have noticed, the graphics look much more polished now!☆

Everyone collectively looked around. He was right. The circus did look more high-quality.

◇Yeah, and?◇

☆As you are also aware, this place is usually inactive. BUT, I've noticed more of these enhancements, AND, some developers' notes! (Which I haven't found in a while actually) Seems like the game is finally being published!☆

The crew were confused for a moment, but then it hit them. How could they forget this was a kids' game? This place was about to get a lot more crowded... with children nonetheless! They could barely survive this place, let alone could kids!!

This was not good...

♧Uhh, exactly how much time do we have before the game launches..?♧

☆Probably within the next couple of days. So, we should have a little bit of time to-☆

The group was interrupted by a loud "Thud," followed by glitching noises coming from the hallway.

☆... I... I'm gonna go investigate. Pomni, mind if I pull you aside for a second?☆

The Noises in the Distance didn't sound like any normal code bug... but what choice did she have.

They followed the glitching sounds to the hallway entrance, Pomni jumped slightly when Caine suddenly froze to a stop.

☆...Bubble?☆

At the end of the hallway stood Bubble, only larger and heavily corrupted, covered in glitches and code. He kept biting chunks of code from the wall, making him increase in size.

☆My, how did this happen??☆

Bubble didn't reply and continued eating away at the code.

☆Uhm, hello??☆

♧CAINE I DONT THINK NOW IS THE TIME TO ASK QUESTIONS...♧

☆Ah, of course! Now... let's fix this up!!☆

Caine snapped his fingers to no success.

☆Okay, Pomni, any ideas?☆

♧Me? Uhm...♧

She noticed an odd looking piece of code in the center of Bubble's corruption

♧K-keep him distracted! I think I have an idea!♧

Caine followed orders, snapping the walls fixed, making Bubble eat them again, and then He'd fix them again, so on so fourth.

As He kept Bubble Occupied, Pomni snuck behind Bubble and Snagged the strange line of code. Bubble slowly returned to normal size but remained slightly glitchy and corrupted.

♧Got it!!♧

She held it up for Caine to see.

☆Hold on a second... are you sure that's what caused it??☆

♧Well, yeah, I-♧

Caine cut her off, sounding almost confused.

☆That's... That's his central code... he's always had that...☆

Pomni thought for a moment... "That's weird... it looked an awful lot like a virus code..."

☆Well, now what??☆

Pomni stood in silence for a second... she wasn't sure how Caine would take this. But they didn't have much choice.

♧Looks like you're gonna have to pop him one last time...♧

Caine slowly reached his index finger towards Bubble.

"Pop!"

The glitching stopped. And the stray peices of code faded away.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

•Man, where on earth are those two?!•

◆Hey, I'm pretty sure it takes em a while to fix things◆

•Well yeah, but it definitely shouldn't take more than 20 minutes! I'm outta here.•

◇Honestly, this is the one time I agree with you.◇

Just as the crew were about to go back to their rooms, Caine and Pomni made their return.

♧Heheh... we're back...♧

☆Apologies for that, superstars...☆

•Well it's about time!! What happened back there??•

The pair stood in silence for a long time...

☆So... Bubble is dead.☆

A few of the cast simultaneously gasped, visibly confused, and surprised.

♧L-let me explain. Turns out Bubble... was a virus. He was eating the place inside-out, so we kinda sorta had to...♧

•Eh, whatever. I never liked the guy anyway! He was pretty annoying. Good on you two.•

The others collectively chattered to eatch other.

☆Well, now that that's out of the way... that's really all I have for you. You're all free to go. I have plenty of work to do!☆

The cast all started towards the hallway to their rooms, as usual. Pomni began to follow them when Caine stopped her.

☆Pomni... I have one more favor I need from you.☆

♧Hm?♧

Caine seemed strangley less energetic.

☆I know this is on rather short notice, but... with my- lack of an assistant... I was thinking...☆

He snapped his fingers, and in front of Pomni was a new string of code

☆How would you like a promotion??☆

♧...as what??♧

She examined the jumble of numbers in front of her.

☆As my Co-host!!☆

♧...Gee, I dunno... I don't think I-♧

☆May I add, being my assistant, has its benefits!! You'd share my capabilities! You'd be able to help fix things full time and help with making future adventures!!☆

She thought about it for a moment... she wouldn't have to go on any adventures. Just make them. Also, this gave her a chance to get closer to Caine. Again, to get answers about the exit...

☆Well..?☆

She looked down at the code again... this could be her chance...

She reached out and touched the Code...

With a quick flash, it suddenly disappeared. Or so she thought at first.

She looked down at herself to see that her model had changed. It was a lot higher in quality. Her Jester hat had decreased in size and wrapped around a larger yellow top hat, similar to Caine's. As well as blue and red stripped leggings and a splitting coat tail. Next to her floated a red and blue striped cane (or more of a wand in size). She looked down at her new features and looked back up at Caine.

☆How do you feel?☆

♧... Well, it definitely does look nice.♧

☆Now that's the spirit!!☆

Caine beamed at his new assistant. He then looked down at his own model.

☆Heh, suppose I need an upgrade too!☆

With a snap of his fingers, his model was also polished. Brighter, bolder colors, and star embroidery on his hat and the back of his coat.

☆Well, we've got the looks right! Now, let's get to work kn adventures!! Any suggestions??☆

♧Hm... Maybe we can start making them a little more... mundane...♧

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Holy moly this was waaaaaaaay longer than chapter one-

This was alot-

I feel like crap rn-

Uhh, yeah, you know the drill. Ask Caine Pomni and Voz, ask me maybe, check out my main acc [ @dayseedrawz2 ]

Buh bye chat

#[R-M fic tag]#tadc #the amazing digital circus #[ring misstress au]#tadc caine #tadc pomni #caine x pomni #tadc showtime #showtime #pomni x caine

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garysvault · 2 days

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a little smopkins fic i’ve been working on, it’s still a work in progress… so sorry that you’re kinda gonna get left on a cliffhanger. i titled the fic "Where’s Gary?". i know it’s plain, but my goofy ahh couldn’t think of anything better. i will gladly take suggestions for what to call it

Jimmy was currently sitting in English class. He didn’t even know why he came, he completed all of the work. But that wasn’t what was bothering him. He hadn’t seen Gary in over a week. Not in the hallways. Not in the cafeteria. Not in class. Where could he be? Jimmy constantly eyed the door, hoping it would just fling open and Gary would walk in, but that never happened.

He sighed, he was beginning to accept the fact that the door was never going to fling open. "Mr. Galloway. Can I be excused?"

"Considering you’re finished with my class. Yes, you may be excused, Hopkins." Galloway responded, smiling as he did.

"Thanks, sir." Jimmy said, getting up off of his chair and walking out of the classroom.

The first thing he did was walk downstairs, questioning students if they had seen Gary anywhere. To his surprise, everyone said no. It made him even more worried than he was before.

But then it hit him. The only place he hadn’t checked was the dorm. He facepalmed. How could he be such an idiot? Obviously if Gary was nowhere to be seen in school, he would be in the dorm.

Jimmy walked out of the school and headed to the boys’ dorm and walked inside, heading straight to Gary’s room and knocking on the door. "Gary?" he called out, hoping there would be an answer. He just wants to hear his voice. Even if he was mad, sarcastic or bitter. He didn’t care. Hearing his voice would make his day 10x better.

"Come in." Gary said. Although his voice sounded different. Too different.

Jimmy did just that. He opened the door and walked in. His face dropping. "Gary, you look-"

"I know, moron. I’m not stupid. I can see it. Infact, feel it!" Gary bitterly spitted out.

"Okay, man, chill." Jimmy sighed, walking over to his bed and sitting down on it. He looked at Gary, got a really good look at him. He was pale. Far paler than usual. At one point Gary was looking at him too, but he looked away. This kind of upset him. Despite their rough past, Jimmy wanted to help him. Gary didn’t have anyone else.

Gary had crossed his arms, giving him a quick glare before looking away once again. "I don’t even know why you care. Not like you can click your fingers and i’ll automatically be the way i was."

"Gary… I don’t know if you’ve noticed or not, but you don’t have anyone else. And I know that no one else in this hellhole would check on you, that’s why I decided to." he said, going to grab his hand but stopping himself.

Gary quickly eyed him. He was getting suspicious. "Why? What could possibly make me more important than whatever shit you have left to do?" he stubbornly asked.

"Because you’re my friend! I don’t care about what happened between us in the past, I still care about you and i don’t wanna see you in bed looking half dead!" he hissed, not even realising that he raised his voice.

"We aren’t friends, Jimmy. We never were," he snapped, gripping onto his bedsheets.

Jimmy glared at him, "Stop lying to yourself," was all he said before grabbing Gary and pulling him in for a hug.

it’s not perfect, i’m still not entirely sure if i’m proud of it or not but whatever. i will gladly take any criticism. if things need to be changed and so on. it would really help for when i continue to write it :)

#smopkins #gary smith #jimmy hopkins #bully game #bully scholarship edition #bully canis canem edit #canis canem edit #bullworth academy #fluff?#angst?

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jazziejax · 3 days

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𝐀𝐛𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐭 𝐄𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲

𝐌𝐬.𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥

Pairings- Black!OC x Abbott Elementary Cast, later Black!OC x Manny (Can be read as x Reader though!)

Summary- S1E1-Light Bulb with Naoya Lovel

Warnings- Swearing, kids, mixed race reader( those aren't warnings really, just what to expect)

Jazzie'sNotes!- let me know what you guys think!! I've been really obsessed with Abbott Elementary recently and I'm contemplating if I want to write S1&S2 just to get to the Manny season. I want to get there fast but I know what won't be possible with two seasons worth of writing. Let me know what you guys think I should do.

Word Count- 5,680

“Ten seconds!” Jacob yelled over his shoulder at the people in the room. Melissa and Barbra rushed over to the sitting area in front of the television that played the action news. Naoya sitting the opposite of them on the small couch.

“Oh, we love Action News! Get in early just to watch it.” Melissa said to the cameras. “It just really calms you down after wanting to take a wrench to someone's side mirror in traffic.” She beamed as if what she said was totally normal.

“But the Philadelphia region continues to suffer, temperature in the mid-90s with a heat index approaching 100…” The television said as they all sat and watched.

“Now I’m a proud married Christian woman and I love my husband. But there’s something about that Jim Gardner.” Barba gushed to the cameras. “That non-regional diction.” The woman was practically blushing just at the thought of the man.

“It is so important to support and acknowledge local journalism, okay?” Jacob started. “There’s no agenda here. This is—This is one going, in the streets, powerful stuff.” He explained seriously.

“I get in early just to see my aunt Magnolia on the screen. She’s a news anchor and I like telling her what I like and dislike about her outfits every morning.” Naoya nodded nonchalantly.

“Wouldn’t want to see that dog in traffic.” Jim Fardner said as they all laughed while watching a little Pomeranian dog drive a toy car.

“Yes, Jim.” Barbra agreed, not seeing the confused look Noaya gave her from the side.

“I like the news because that’s when I can say whatever I want and nobody asks any questions.” Mr.Johnson told the cameras with a smirk.

“I’m taking a personal day.” The old man said as he entered the room, looking at the backs of everyone’s heads as they continued to watch the morning news. “Going fishing with my friends. Anyways, toilet papers in the closet.” He said before walking out.

“I hear him.” Naoya nodded, giving the people behind the camera a small smile. “I hear everything. Plus he is a hilarious old man and I wanna know all his secrets. I am this close to cracking him.” She said with an evil smirk making its way into her face as she lined her fingers together to indicate a small amount.

“I saw Jim Gardner once. At the Chipotle.” Barbra smiled bashfully, not taking her eyes away from the television. “Ooh, he orders a bowl so handsomely.” She gushed. Naoya gave the older woman another look, this time more concern than confusion.

It was only a moment later that Jacob was going through the break room fridge, poking around for something. “Who’s branzino is this?” He asked, holding the fish dish in his hands. “This is a very powerfully smelling fish to put in a shared fridge.” The boy complained as politely as he could, closing the ice box with a disgusted look on his face.

“Don’t touch it,” Melissa said looking up from her phone. “I’m making it right at my cousin Annette’s.” She made her way over to have a seat in her usual spot next to Barb. “She thinks she’s the best cook in the family. I’m gonna show her in a non-threatening way. Imma look cuter than her too.” She smirked.

“I have a distant cousin named Annette,” Naoya said, finishing up the delicious breakfast sandwich that she had every morning. “She was psychotic though, used to put poison in the condiments at restaurants.” The younger woman stated, looking off in thought as the rest stared at her in disbelief. “I haven’t seen her in ages. Don’t want to either, she was butt ugly.” She then took a sip of her orange juice.

Just as she finished, Janine walked into the room, putting her bag down on the table in front of Melissa and Barbra. “Guys, the lights in the back hallways have been out for weeks.”

“Thank you for the update,” Melissa said as she applied more makeup.

“What are you wearing?” Barbra asked, looking her up and down.

“And we need to do something about it. Okay?” The short woman tried to sound demanding but it didn’t come off that way. “Uh, Melina, from your class.” She started, pointing at Melissa. “Yeah, she was afraid to come to school this morning. Said it looked like “The Shining.” And I don’t even get how she knows that reference.”

“She loves “The Shining,” Melissa stated.

“It’s a classic movie.” Jacob chimed in.

The camera panes Naoya’s way, who looks at them at their movements. ‘Never seen it.’ She mouthed with a shrug of her shoulders.

“This isn’t okay, alright?” Janine stressed. “And I already talked to Mr.Johnson and he said that there isn’t anything he can do.

“What do you want us to do about it?” Barbra asked the girl tiredly.

“I mean, it can’t be hard. It’s just screwing in a few new bulbs.” The small woman stated.

“Janine, just worry about what can be controlled.” Barbra cut her off.

“Exactly.” Melissa agreed. “All we can do on a hot day like this is our own jobs, anyway.”

“I know what’s right,” Ava said as she barged into the room and made her way over to the coffee machine. “Why is it February and hotter than the devil’s booty hole outside?” She asked.

“Climate Change.” Jacob and Naoya said at the same time, causing them to point at one another in recognition while Ava shot both of them a tired look. “We are living in the middle of its disastrous effects. The permafrost in Russia—” He was about to rant before Ava cut him off.

“Nerd.” The woman said between coughs, which sounded more like a laugh. Naoya rolled her eyes while Jacob just turned back to what he was doing.

“Ava.” Janine started, walking up to the woman who was still laughing from her childish joke. “Can someone from the city come and check on the back hallway lights?”

“Girl, no.” The woman answered, her usual judgmental look on her face. “Do I look like the Kool-Aid man?” She asked, halving around the room. Her eyes stopped on Naoya, who raised her eyebrows in question. “Don’t answer that.” She pointed at the woman, who just shrugged it off. “I don’t have enough juice to manipulate the inner workings of city hall.” The principal continued, looking back at Janine and scoffing before making her way out. “They’ll probably come in the summer.” She said as the bell rang.

“I’m the summer?” Janine asked after doing a double take at her words. But the woman was long gone and the others were making their way out of the room to their classes.

“Tough break. Want some egg white bites?” Jacob asked, easing closer to Janine and holding out a plate. The solemn woman looked up at him with a new determination. “No. I don’t have time to eat.” She said before walking out. Jacob was mid-bite when he turned and faced Naoya, who was putting her bag over her shoulder. And before the man could even speak, the woman stopped him. “No, I don’t want your peasant food, Jacob. It’s insulting that you would ask someone as cultured as myself such a question.” She started before strutting out of the break room. Jacob stood there in disbelief.

“It’s just egg white bites, you put them in the microwave.”

▣▣▣▣▣▣▣▣▣▣▣▣▣▣▣▣▣▣▣▣▣▣▣▣

“Janine, what on earth are you doing on that thing?” Naoya asked as she rushed down the hall to the smaller woman who stood on a ladder. She had just come from using the restroom and leaving a class of a bunch of nine to ten-year-olds unattended for even a few seconds could lead to chaos. She didn’t know that chaos would be the grown woman who was the height of a nine to ten-year-old.

“I’m going to fix this broken light.” The woman said determinedly, only a step above the floor in the heightening tool. Naoya made it next to her, seeing the woman wasn’t doing much movement. She placed her hands on her hips, a smug look on her face. “Janine, you are not meant to go to those heights. God gave you your stature for a reason. Plus you’re terrified.”

“I am not terrified.” The woman said, shooting a glance at her. At that, Naoya gave her a knowing look before ushering the woman to go ahead. Janine nodded and looked back at the matter, fear gripping her. She gulped looking back at Naoya. “Okay, I am terrified but I’m gonna do it because I’m on a mission.” She said before carefully making her way up the ladder.

“If this backfires, you buy my dinner,” Naoya asked, after checking in on her classroom through the glass door, seeing them still doing their reading time. At that, Janine gave a confused look to the air, since she was too scared to look down. “Uh, no. This bet is not in my face, at all.”

“Well, at least have some faith in yourself, goodness gracious.”

At that, Janine continued, taking the cover off the lights and continuing to tweak at the wires. “See, look at this. It was just a loose wire.” The woman said, briefly glancing down at the people below her. She then connected the wire with another one, watching as the light stopped flickering. But it didn’t stop for long, the bulbs brightening before bursting in her face.

“Oh!” The woman screamed as she ducked:

“Janine!” Naoya yelled from below her, hosing her arms out in case the woman fell. Instantly, all the rooms were filled with the sounds of confusion and discomfort. The doors opened as the teachers exited.

“Oh, God! Can someone please help me down?” Janine asked, her voice shaking from the fear of the height she was at and the bulb exploding before her.

“And why would we do that since you caused this situation?” Melissa asked as she propped her door open.

“Okay, I didn’t know doing this would cause all the power to go out.” Janie tried to justify, still clutching onto the ladder.

“Well, the power is not all out,” Barbra stated. “It’s on in some places and off in others.”

“It’s off in my room,” Gregory said.

“On in the gym.” The coach said tiredly, slugging up to the group.

“Yeah, it’s off in my room,” Melissa spoke back up. “Thank God we got the A/C or we’d all be meltin’ already.”

“Okay, well before anyone freaks out, the best thing to do in these situations is just stay calm and—” Naoya started as she looked around the group but was silenced by the frantic voice of their terrible and terrified principal.

“Okay! This is it, y'all! The End Times!” The woman said as she rounded the corner in a hurry, a light strapped to her head. “It’s three months early, but it’s happening!” She said, as she closed in on them, giving the closest thing to her a tousle, which happened to be the very thing that was holding Janine up.

“Aah, don’t shake the ladder.” The smaller woman yelled from up top.

“Gregory is the only person that can stay in my bunker, so stop asking.” The crazed principal continued. Naoya’s head jerked back at her words, shocked at the woman’s blatant advancements that were harassment at this point.

“Ava,” Barbra started, holding her arms out in a non-offensive manner to calm the woman. “It is just a partial power outage. Alright, listen up everyone—.”

“Listen to Barbra, y'all!” The doomsday woman yelled, still latched into the latter out of fear.

“Are you kidding me?” Janie asked, clasping at the top of the ladder for support as it shook again.

“This is what we’re gonna do.” Barbra started again. “Everybody without power, please, head to the gym.”

“Head!” Ava chimed in again.

“We will conduct classes there until this is all fixed. It is not ideal—.” She stressed, looking up at the culprit on the ladder. “But it will work.”

“You hear her. Let’s go!” Ava demanded with a nod.

“Guys!” Janie called from the top of the ladder, causing them all to look up at her. “I-I just wanna I-I’m sorry, everybody.” The woman said nervously. “I just thought if I could get up here and get this done then we wouldn’t have to wait and..”

“And look where it landed us, baby girl.” Barbra cut in. “Everybody please head to the gym. We’ve got bigger fish to fry now.”

“Oh, Jesus! My branzino! Everybody out of the way. Out of the way!” Melissa yelled as she sprinted down the hall filled with children.

“Well, if someone can please help me! I feel like I’m one wobble away from death!” Janie begged from where she fluted the top of the ladder. At that, Naoya walked closer, raising her hand to help guide the woman down but was intercepted by Gregory's large arms. The two people glanced at each other, unexpected by the other one's move. Naoya waved her hand, signaling him to help instead. “Thank you,” Jannie said, too spooked to even pay attention to the odd interaction before her. “Okay, give me your hand. Take your time.” Gregory soothed, his large hand latched onto Janine’s. When he was turned away from her, she gave the camera an odd look, scratching the back of her ear. “Whenever you're ready.”

“Okay.” Janine sighed. There was a moment of silence between them all as they waited. “Am I doing it?” Janie asked, just standing there.

“No, honey,” Naoya spoke up, raising an eyebrow at such an odd question.

“Okay, let’s do a count of three.” Janine reiterated, adjusting herself to prepare.

“Okay,” Gregory started. “One, two…three.” He finished and the woman still wasn’t moving. “One more time.” He said.

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“This is all my fault,” Janie said as she looked around the gymnasium at all the students. The shock clock then went off, the constant noise startling Gregory, who paused his class to speak to the woman. “Yeah, you probably shouldn’t have tried to do the job of a newly graduated DeVry student, but this is okay.” The man sassed, with an awkward smile as she gestured around the room. Melissa was teaching her kids the best she should with something in flashcards, while Barbra was teaching her students to tell time.

Naoya was on the other side of the room, all her students sitting in rows with their eyes closed and taking deep breaths, with her in the front as a group meditation process. She chose this alternative instead of their gym scheduled gym activities, so the kids weren’t accidentally hitting four-year-olds in the head with basketballs.

Janine sighed, going to pick up her phone that pinged. She read the messages she got from Tariq, and that pissed her off even more. Well, it wasn’t helping her attitude for today.

“I made this mess, and I need to fix this.” She said again, looking around at the distressed room of teachers.

“Okay, but fix this how? Gregory asked her. “It seems very outside of your skill set. You should probably just wait for somebody to get to it—.” He tried to reiterate what Barbra had been saying all along and Janine was not having it.

“I don’t want to wait for someone to get to it!” Janine hissed. “You know, our children have needs that deserve to be met. And I’m going to fix this. Nothing is going to get in my way.” She said determined.

“What if you have to climb another ladder?” Gregory finally asked. “Those seem very tricky for you.”

“No.” That was all Janie gave him. “Not today.

Sometime later, the bell rang, signaling to everyone that it was much time.

“Aren’t you going to lunch, Janine?” Melissa asked as she, Barbra, Gregory, and Naoya made their way to the gymnasium doors.

“Uh, no, I’m actually gonna stay and help the lunch ladies with lunch.” The shorter woman tried to find a reasonable excuse.

“The lunch ladies don’t like you, Janine. They never say hello back.” Naoya said, crossing her arms as she looked at the woman across from her. “So, is that what you’re really doing?”

“Yes!” She answered. “And maybe trying to get the lights back on.” She rushed out at the end, hoping no one heard. At that, the two older women groaned.

“Would you give that a rest?” Melissa started. What do you want? To make the whole school blow up?”

“No!” The woman said as she folded her arms. “Plus, I can’t. Luckily the school was built as a bomb shelter in WWII, so…”

“Let it go.” Barbra practically begged the girl before her before she and the rest of the teachers started walking away.

“Okay, I will.” The woman told them, watching them exit. She and Gregory held long eye contact, both knowing the truth deep down. After they were gone, Janine looked back down at her phone, not paying attention to her friends next to her.

“You’re not gonna let it go, are you?” Jacob spoke up.

“No, I’m not gonna let it go, Jacob, okay?” She said, giving the two of them a look. “I need to right my wrongs.”

“Okay, we’ll count me out.” He said, waving her off.

“I never counted you in,” Janine said to him, confused about where he got that from.

“Well, then count me in.” He restated. “Because I don’t have any lunch plans.”

“Okay.” She sighed. She then looked at the woman next to him, her purse on her shoulder. “Weren’t you going to lunch?” She asked.

“You owe me lunch, remember? Your plan backfired.” She reminded the woman from earlier with a shrug. Janine sighed, turning away from them and walking, knowing they would follow. “That’s not how bets work, Naoya. Both people have to agree.”

“That’s how my bets work and you owe me food, woman!”

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“This is just like the one in my apartment, this is going to be easy,” Janine stated as the three of them made their way to the breaker box that was in the custodian closet. “Me and Tariq have to go in that thing like three times a month.” She said them behind her, Jacob holding the flashlight above her head.

“Maybe you should move.” The man suggested.

“Yeah. Tariq says he is “practicing” his credit score.” Janine struggled out and she pushed to get the metal box open. “Apparently 380 isn’t a good—.” She continued to struggle, her words getting lost in her. “Let me try,” Naoya said as she softly nudged the smaller woman out of the way. She gave the box a pull and the thing popped open. She turned and smiled at the two. “I loosened it,” Jannie said, trying to save face.

“Sure, Jan,” Naoya said, going back to looking in the box. “Oh..” she said, looking at the jumbled mess of wires and switches.

“Oh, no,” Janie said, looking at the same thing. “Don’t touch. Not even a little bit.” She read out loud, giving the camera a certain look. “Uh, okay. What’s that say?”

“End of the Road? It’s so hard to say goodbye?” Naoya read out loud, looking at the labels next to some of the switches. “What? Motownphil—These are Boyz II Men songs.” She deadpanned, turning to the rest of them.

“Why?” Jannie asked, moving to stand in front of the box herself.

Jacob chuckled. “It’s ironic ‘cause I’m on Bended Knee.” He joked, giving the camera a brief look. Naoya genuinely snickered while Janie just laughed awkwardly. “Heh. Okay.” She said before going back to the wires. “Oh God, why is that one hot?” Offering them a glance of concern. “Let me try this one.” She said and just a flip of a switch caused a giant spark to erupt, the trio screamed and jumped back to dodge the sparks as best as they could.

“What in the world.”

“What going on?”

Melissa and Barba exclaimed as she entered the hot and dark school building with children running around. “It’s so hot I’m gonna frizz.” Just then, Janie and Jacob came out of the appliance closet, their hair a mess from the static they endured. The three teachers who left for lunch automatically knew who the culprit for everything was.

“Janine! What did you do?!” Barbra asked, quite fed up with the younger woman. “Looking like ‘who shot John.’”

“Barbra, look, I know you told me to let it go, but I couldn’t. Jacob and Naoya—.” At that, she looked back to see where the woman was but she was nowhere to be found. “Jacob helped me open the breaker.” She was quick to accuse.

“I ran away as soon as the sparks started flying. I was looking out for myself.” The woman shrugged as she leaned against the wall next to her. “Plus, I wasn’t about to get yelled at by Barb for this whole mess.”

“It was a chance to support a strong Black woman.” The man next to her breathed out, in a state of shock, quite literally.

“The breaker?!” Melissa asked. “Janine! You can’t do this stuff! What had you come to work today and lose your mind?”

“Look, I—.” She tried to find something to say. “I just have—she gulped—I feel lightheaded.” She said as she swayed.

“Ohh, okay,” Barbra said worriedly as they all closed in on the smaller girl.

“Did you eat today, because I know you didn’t have lunch,” Melissa asked the girl worriedly.

“And you didn’t have any breakfast,” Jacob stated, his tone showing his concern for the woman’s wellbeing. Janine couldn’t even say anything, her balance was off and her mind was delirious.

“Okay, we’re losing her,” Melissa yelled, easing up on the girl. “Do I have your consent to slap you?” At that, Janine fell backward into Gregory’s arms just as Ava and Naoya rounded the corner. “There she goes,” Melissa said over the shocked screams of her colleagues. “She’s out.”

“Yall feel this heat?” Ava asked, just now seeing the sight of the woman on the floor before her. “Oh my God! She’s pale like a zombie! You know, they eat the hottest people first, let me back my tasty ass up.” Ava said, going back to where she came from down the hall. At her stupid words, Naoya was tempted to follow her but snapped out of it when she saw Janine on the floor.

“Uh, okay! I’m gonna go see if I can get some water out of the fridge. Hopefully, it’s still cold.” Naoya said before running off.

“Oh my God, my branzino!” Melissa yelled, moving to push Barb back.” “Excuse me, Barb. She’ll be okay!” She yelled as she pushed the older woman out of her way and jumped over the unconscious woman.

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Once Janine woke up from her little coma, the coach told her that all the kids and teachers were outside. She walked out to see all of them playing in the water that was sprouting from the fire hydrants while the teachers lunged in chairs. “Oh, look who’s back in the land of the living,” Melissa said once she saw the small woman exit the school.

“Who opens the fire hydrant?” Janine asked

“Well, as Melissa would say, snitches get stitches,” Barbra said.

“It was Naoya,” Jacob whispered to his shorter friend, pointing over at said woman who was playing in the water with the children. She had her bat at her side, leaning her weight on it as she splashed the kids who came near her to throw water her way.

“That is correct.” Melissa started again. “But I am not talking to you on account of you killing my branzino.” She said, before leaning back in her seat. Barbra gave her a look and cleared her throat. Melissa looked at the woman from under her shades and sighed a little before sitting back up. Barbra then got up from her seat, allowing Janine to take it.

“So that’s it, huh?” Janine asked, looking around at the kids. “I , uh, gave it my all, passed out, and ruined the school day?”

“Oh, you tanked,” Melissa told her. “You tanked Janine. You took the whole school down with you. It was impressive.” She pressed, knowing she was pushing the woman’s buttons.

“Look, I know. I should’ve stopped. I’m sorry.” Janine sighed. “I just felt so bad when I saw that look on Melina’s face this morning.”

“You don’t think it kills us to see those faces in the morning?” Melissa asked her. “What, are we made of stone? You’re not the first person to feel things, kid. We care.”

It was silent for a moment as Janine thought over the woman’s words. “How do you and Barbra stop yourselves from caring too much if that’s a thing.”

“Because it’s the opposite.” Melissa smiled at the girl as she took off her shades. “We care so much we refuse to burn out. If we burn out, who’s here for these kids? That’s who you gotta take care of yourself.”

“Yeah, what’s with you today Nini?” Both women jumped at the sound of Naoya’s voice, while the woman just stood behind them with her bat. “You’re normally bananas, but…” She trailed off, waving at the girl's aura.

“Uh, I don’t know. Just some stuff at home, I think.” Janine shrugged with an answer.

“Oh, okay,” Melissa said with a nod. “See, that’s the other thing me and Barbra learned. All that at-home stuff—you gotta leave it at the door. Otherwise, you open up a whole nother Panera’s box of problems.”

“I think you mean Pandora’s box,” Naoya told the woman sitting in front of her.

“Nah, I’m pretty sure it’s Panera’s box.” She nodded, while Janine and Naoya both gave the camera a look.

Later on that day, Naoya was in her room in the process of changing the clothes she had on into some that she kept in her closet. She enjoyed playing in the water with the kids but she was not going to go home wet. As she was in the process of changing, she got a phone call. Looking down at her phone, she saw the contact and quickly answered the phone.

“Hello, Adona.” The girl sighed into the phone as she pulled a new shirt over her head.

“Oh, well don’t sound so pleased.” The feminine voice over the phone said to her. Naoya rolled her eyes, as she opened the drawer of her desk and pulled out a plastic store bag. She offered the camera a glance, knowing they were probably thinking as to why she kept so many plastic bags in her drawer. But all she could offer them now was a shrug as the voice over the phone continued.

“Anyways, how are you?”

“What do you want, Adona?” Naoya spat, stuffing her semi-wet clothes into the plastic bag.

“What? I can’t see how my own sister is doing?” The woman said over the phone, the hurt in their voice obviously sarcastic.

“No, but I know you. And I know that you only call when you need money. Money for something other than your child.” The younger girl snapped over the phone. All she got in response was a sigh and some shuffling from the other end.

“You know, you don't have to rub it in.” Adona started, and Naoya rolled her eyes at the woman’s words, knowing this conversation was about to go to the argument they always had. “This all would have been so much easier if the rest of us weren’t left out of her will.”

“That’s not my fucking fault, Adona. I tell you that every time you call. Do you think I want the burden of you and the others calling me every month for some fucking bill for me to pay? Not to ask how I’m doing?” Naoya spat at her sister over the phone. She could feel her eyes start to sting, she was never the best at arguing when it came to her family. She’d been called sensitive all her life and it rang true every time she talked to her siblings.

“ “The others”? That’s what you call us? You’re family?” That was all Adona could say back. Naoya rolled her eyes and let out a scoff, pulling the phone away from her face as she sniffed and held her head back, trying to stop her tear flow. After only a few quick seconds, she brought the phone back to her face. “Uh, I can already see where this is going, so I’m gonna end it here. Just send the amount and I’ll talk to you some other time. Take care.” She said before pressing the red button on her screen to end the call.

She placed her phone in her back pocket and moved around her room to gather her things, trying her best to occupy her mind from what just ensued. She was so in her head that she forgot the cameras were there. And she didn’t hear the voice of Gregory at her door.

“Naoya?” He called out to her.

She looked up at the sound of his voice as she placed her things into her bag. “Oh, Hello Gregory.” She smiled, her face showing none of the emotions she was feeling.

“You’ve eaten?” He asked, just standing in the doorway of her classroom.

“Uh, no, actually. Janine was supposed to buy me lunch because I bet that her plan would backfire.” The woman said as she placed her things in her arms. At that, Gregory gave her a questioning look. Naoya raised her hands in surrender. “I know, I sound like a terrible friend. But it’s not that I don’t believe in Janine, I just know how to black a bet. Get it from my father.” The girl shrugged. She and Gregory both laughed lightly. And when it died down, they just started at one another, the air between them oddly peaceful.

“But, uh, are you offering?” She asked, looking at the man before her.

“Uh, yeah. I was going to ask Janine too.” He said, pointing his thumb in the direction of the said woman’s room.

“Cool! Let’s go.” She said with a genuine smile, causing the man to smile at her as well. They walked out and over to Janine’s room, where it looked like the woman was doing something on her phone. Gregory knocked on her door to get her attention. “Hey.” He said.

“Hey,” Jaimie said, looking at the two.

“Have you eaten?” He asked.

“Oh. No. The um, lunch lady gave me that can of peaches but no can opener, so, no.” She chuckled, pointing at the can on her desk.

“What? No fair! You’re so lucky. Well, besides the whole can opener situation. ” Naoya said jokingly.

“Alright, we’ll, you wanna go get something to eat? With me?” Gregory said before Naoya lightly cleared her throat. “With us?” Gregory was quick to reiterate. Naoya nodded, offering the slightly flustered older man a brief look.

“Oh,” Janine said, looking between the two. “I was gonna wait for my boyfriend to finish his show to eat…” She said. Naoya nodded at her words, understanding where she was coming from. Well, understanding as best as she could because she’d never wait to eat for a man. But maybe that was love. She caught the way Gregory’s posture changed at Janin’s words out of the corner of her eye. She didn’t say anything but she did give me a crazy side-eye, hoping he noticed.

“But…no.” The shorter woman started back up with a laugh. “I’m hungry now, so I should eat now, right?”

“That’s typically how hunger works, yeah.” Gregory played along.

“Right! Normal people eat at normal times, like…4:00.” She said, pointing over at the clock on her wall.

“Yeah. All true.” Gregory said with a nod before smiling. “So, let’s go eat.”

“Let’s. Okay.” Janine said with an equally large smile before moving to grab her things. At that, Naoya turned around to head out the door, not wanting to be in the middle of an obvious love fest. She gave the cameras outside a knowing look, a large smirk on her face.

Seconds later, the two of them walked out of the room, Naoya joining them to go down the hall. On their way, they ended up meeting Jacob.

“Oh, hey guys, what up?” The man said.

“We’re just headed to get something to eat,” Gregory answered.

“Oh, great, I’ll join.” The man just inserted himself, not catching the looks thrown his way by the three. “After school crew.” He continued.

“Ooh, “After School Crew.” I like that.” Janine smiled. They all ended up stopping at the lights coming on within the school. They looked over to see Mr.Johnson in the supply closet, standing next to the breaker machine in his fishing gear.

“You touch the lights, didn’t you, Janine?” He asked, shooting an accusatory look the woman’s way.

“Yes,” Janine answered with a defeated look.

“Good thing I got me a system.” The man told her, flicking the breaker box closed. “I’ll make love to you. Like you want me to.” He continued to sing. This caused them to all sigh and continue walking. Naoya stayed behind, a fond smile on her lips as she watched the old man. When he caught the sight of the woman still there, he paused and looked at her.

“You have a good fishing trip?” She asked the man, crossing her arms over another. The man looked at the girl kind of shocked that she asked and that she knew.

“Yeah. Yeah, I actually did.” He said, offering her a smile of his own. Naoya nodded at his words before walking away, following the crew that left her. Mr.Johnson looked at the spot she left, a fond smile on his face as she continued to sing the song.

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