#yeah addie you’re totally right actually

[lulu2992]

Based on your last post how do you think the cult would have turned out and what do you think would be different if the seeds had the chance to heal from their trauma?

So, let’s imagine this is a perfect world in which they’ve managed to completely heal and put their traumatic pasts behind them. Let’s also consider the Voice is still real and asked Joseph to save at least 3,000 souls from the Collapse because I want to keep the prophetic and supernatural aspect of the story (and also justify the cult’s existence). But, since the Seeds finally have a chance to get better in this AU, let’s also say the Voice didn’t ask them to do anything violent; I don’t want it to ruin everything!

I’m going to start with Faith because… would she even be in the Project? If she had had access to professional help, she could have overcome her drug addiction and regained a taste for life without joining a cult. Maybe she wouldn’t even have come to Hope County to “detox”, as some NPCs say. I also imagine she would still be best friends with Tracey, who would have healed too. It’s a bit unclear which Faith created the Bliss and the Angels but, in this scenario, I don’t think the cult would need them anyway because they wouldn’t brainwash or torture anyone.

While I can see Jacob still training people in case they need to survive in harsh conditions or defend themselves, he wouldn’t “cull the herd” or experiment on living creatures anymore. No more sacrifices, no more conditioning, no more trials, no more brainwashing, no more Judges; just a group of people getting ready for the apocalypse. I guess he could still teach them how to use weapons because it seems everyone owns and shoots guns in Hope County anyway, at least for hunting. I think the Whitetail Militia existed before Eden’s Gate arrived (but was a bit different), so I guess it wouldn’t be considered abnormal for cultists to have a small army too; its members just wouldn’t terrorize the rest of the county. Actually, since we know Eli helped Jacob design and build bunkers, maybe they would still be “friends” and the Whitetails would be part of the cult.

John could still be The Baptist, people could still need to be Cleansed before joining the Project, and maybe he would hear their Confessions too, but because he wouldn’t have such an unhealthy relationship with sin and pain anymore, he wouldn’t make others suffer, psychologically and physically. No more tattoos, no more cutting people’s skin out, and maybe no more “Power of Yes”, either, since this obsession also came from his adoptive parents’ torture. I hope he also wouldn’t have such a fragile ego and a constant need for validation anymore, so he wouldn’t want to impress Joseph all the time or need his approval to convince himself he’s worth something as a person.

Finally, while Joseph would still hear the Voice in this scenario, he wouldn’t have sacrificed his daughter because “God” wouldn’t have asked him to do it. She would have died in the hospital shortly after her mother’s accident… or she would still be alive, and maybe he would have never created “Faith Seed” for this reason! His family members could still be his Heralds, and the cult would have built bunkers and started stockpiling food and supplies, but they wouldn’t have lost so many potential converts in Jacob’s trials, so they probably would already have enough followers. Because they would also look less “weird” and scary, I suppose more people would have wanted to join them, too. And they would still have John’s money, so they could have used it to buy enough food and supplies instead of brutally stealing everything during the Reaping! Maybe the rules (no alcohol, no drugs, no fornication) would still apply because Eden’s Gate remains a religious group, but I suppose cultists wouldn’t be so aggressively obsessed with “sin”.

Now, I don’t know what the Deputy’s role in the prophecy would be. In this perfect world, they would have no reason to arrest Joseph, so that wouldn’t trigger the Collapse and the Reaping (which, maybe, wouldn’t even be necessary). I suppose they could still join the Project and be saved, though, and so could everyone else in Hope County.

I’m aware this is a very idealized scenario but, if the Voice still existed and the Seeds had totally healed from their traumatic pasts, I think that’s what Eden’s Gate could look like. They would still be preppers and technically a cult, but a surprisingly (and, I suppose, unrealistically) wholesome one.

[darling-i-read-it]

The Mistress

Harry Gardner x fem!reader

Word Count: 2k

Warnings: smut (blowjob), cheating, sex in a public bathroom literally while his family is in the other room (who am i) 

Author’s Note: Hi love! Sorry this took so long! I feel like I went with the slightly creepy route straight into a bj lmao so I hope you like it. I don’t know how I feel lmaoo

Requested by anon, Happy to hear you're doing well, hun! I'm so excited to see your upcoming pieces because these most recent two are absolute gems 💗(I'm a big GTA and RE fan what can I saw I was overjoyed to see them 🤭)

Don't mind me with another Harry request (my sincere apologies, I'm obsessed 😌) I had this potentially spicy plot in mind - Harry x fem!reader. When he sees her being flirty with someone but cannot let his jealousy show since his wife is like RIGHT there. But still makes sure to let her know how much she upset him later on 😉 Take your time with this sweetie and if you don't feel like writing it that's totally ok too! 🤗 Thank you for gracing this site with your lovely works and making my day with them as well. Take care and have a wonderful day/night ~ Addie ❤

I don’t own these characters. They belong to author/director/creator

(not my gif)

Harry’s love for his wife was obligatory. The love he had for her was necessary, to keep their family going. He had created a space where he could comfortably do his job and be seen as successful. He had the wife, the house, and the kid. He had the room to grow and the means to do it. 

But you…you were not a want. You were a need. You were alluring in his worst times, gorgeous in his best. He could watch you move for hours and wonder what it was about you that entranced him. He could picture you from the bed as you slipped your clothes on and the memory filled his entire eyesight. He could see nothing else but you when you were there. 

You were like one of the people he wrote about. You were unreal. He couldn’t live without you now. 

“You’re starring,” your voice broke him from his thoughts. Sometimes he forgot you were actually there. You sat on the side of the bed, arms moving with grace down to your feet. You put your socks on, side eyeing him. “Everything alright?” 

“Uh huh.” He was in a shitty motel with sheets that he knew hadn’t been washed in far too long. 

“H?” You sat up straight. He grabbed your hand, shaking his head. 

“I’m fine,” he promised. You pursed your lips, nodding slowly. 

“You have to get back.” The time schedule he was on was brutal. Sometimes he wondered if the life he had was even worth all this. Couldn’t he just live here with you forever? The misery of his demonic child and his never ending wife seemed like a hell he had trapped himself in. When had he wanted that? “Henry.” 

“I’m here. I swear. I just don’t want to leave you.” Your face read the emotions he was feeling. You didn’t want to leave either but someone had to. If this thing was to be sustainable, you had to go. 

“I never thought I’d be here you know,” you muttered. Even your voice sounded melodic. “In bed with a married man. Jesus. What would my mother say?” He felt a pang of guilt but not for the person who he should’ve. He had put you in this position. You could’ve been living a life with a free man, someone to show you off to the world. Instead you were in shitty hotels by the ocean, the salt coming in through broken window frames. 

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. You shook your head. 

“It’s alright. We’re in this boat together, hm?” He grabbed your hand and held it. The hand that had just been all over him, the hand that had felt every inch of his body. You must have been thinking about it too because you kissed him gently. A goodbye kiss. He wanted to curse, to beg you to stay. He didn’t. 

“I need to write you into a story,” he said against your lips. 

“Oh yeah? The girl who never got what she wanted?” 

“The girl who could get whatever she desired.” 

“That sounds better than my thing.” You smiled gently. “I’ll see you later?” He nodded, a promise he was sure to keep. He hoped he wouldn’t see you around town before that, for the sake of his life. For the sake of yours! You stood up. “I’m excited to read what you write me into. Hopefully a better situation than this.” 

You thought about the character of you and envied her. You would be her one day, you hoped. 

-

She was like fire if it never spread. Her silence was dangerous, the presence of her was terrifying. Electrifying was an understatement. She was the lightning that made electricity. She was the origin, the start, the very being that could bring down trees with a touch. She was-

“What’re you writing?” Doris’s voice was like nails on a chalkboard. His initial reaction scared him a bit and he tried to be more caring. 

“Nothing. Nothing, I don’t think anyway.” He shut his computer. 

“Are we still going out to dinner?” 

“Yes. Yeah, sorry, time got away from me.” He got up from the chair. Doris was standing beside Alma who had her coat and shoes on already. She was giving Harry a look of disinterest, similar to her mothers. But Doris at least tried to cover it with a feign emotion, one he couldn’t grasp. “Coming.” 

They piled into the car and were quickly arriving at a small diner. The small diners in Provincetown were stereotypical and uninteresting. There was little local color and little locals. He saw you the second he walked in, like you had attracted his eyes like a magnet. You were sitting at the counter, a milkshake between your hands. Your hair fell in front of your eyes a bit as a smile played on your face. His eyes followed to the waiter you were speaking to. A man about your age, sharing your smile. The jealousy in him was surprising. He didn’t own you. 

But he wanted to. 

You hadn’t seen him yet. Maybe he could convince Doris to leave and go somewhere else. 

“Right here. You’re the newer family right? Big house on the water?” Their waitress said, gesturing to the table. Doris had been speaking and he hadn’t even noticed. 

“Yes ma’am,” Harry responded. 

“We don’t get lots of visitors here, except for the writers.”

“My husbands the writer,” Doris explained. At the mention of the topic, you turned your head ever so slightly. Your eyes locked for just a moment, zero panic in your face. It was like you didn’t even know him. You turned your head back to the waiter behind the counter. 

“What kinds of things do you write?” the waitress asked. 

“Screenplays.” “Anything I’ve seen?” 

“Not yet,” Doris promised. You were too distracting. He couldn’t stay here with you. His phone buzzed and he knew it was you. He checked it obsessively, turning it towards him so that Doris and Alma couldn’t see. 

I’m sorry, you texted. He didn’t answer. 

“Can I get you started with some waters?” 

His eyes flickered to you. Smiling at the waiter, a gentle comradery. It made him sick. 

“Yes please,” Doris said. She watched him and his discomfort but couldn’t find the source of it. The waitress left, leaving them alone, without a buffer between him and you. He opened up his phone again, staring at the message. You should leave. Why weren’t you leaving? “Everything okay?” 

He couldn’t hear what you were saying but he could see your hand brushing the waiters. Closer to your age, likely not married. Attainable. You could have something attainable. He glanced at Doris and nodded curtly. 

“I just need to go to the bathroom.” He got up, loudly. She scoffed, nodding. 

“Okay.” He pushed past you. Your eyes followed him as he turned the corner. You looked back at the waiter. 

“If you’ll excuse me, I have to use the little girls room.” You slid off the stool with a small smile and left your milkshake. You turned the corner and knocked on the men's bathroom door. It opened quickly. It was the type of bathroom that was private, without stalls. Just two rooms. 

Harry grabbed your hand and dragged you inside. He shut the door and locked it behind you. 

“I didn’t know you would be here,” you argued. He was standing so close to you, practically pining you to the door. 

“Who was that?” 

“Who was who?” 

“Don’t act coy,” he spat. You had never seen him so angry, jealousy practically dripping from his eyes. 

“The waiter? He’s a friend.” 

“That all?” “Harry, we can't do this right now. Your family is outside. Come on, we’ll talk later.” You made no movement. He starred, at you, at your features, the ones he could always find comfort in. He grabbed your wrist. “Harry?”

“Get on your knees.” 

You raised an eyebrow but the look in his eyes was too alluring to argue. He was usually gentle and guiding through sex, always careful with you even when he was rougher. You didn’t mind the demanding tone in his voice. You slinked down the door, onto your knees. You looked up at him. 

He was gazing down at you, his hand cupping your chin. You waited to see what he would do. Was he being so daring because his family was out there? Had you crossed a line neither of you had dared to verbalize? 

You put your hands on his waistband. He nodded, ushering you along. You undid his belt and fought with his jeans to pull them down. It didn’t take long for him to get hard at the adrenaline of the moment and you sitting before him. You pumped with your hand, staring up at him still. 

You wanted to tell him the waiter meant nothing. But actions spoke louder than words. You wrapped your lips around him, eyes locked, a glaze over his. He was staring at you like you were a meal. As you moved up and down, bobbing your head back and forth, he grabbed a fist full of your hair. He started to guide you more forcefully, a jealousy lacing his touch. 

You came up for air as minimally as you could. He lasted too long. His family was going to miss him. They would see your lone milkshake and wonder which of you would leave first. There weren’t enough people in this diner to not connect the dots. 

His precum was drooling down your chin. He wanted to fuck you. He knew he didn’t have time. Instead he let you make him cum, swallowing everything you could, making an erotic gagging noise as you did so. His moans came out muffled but clear, head tilted back in pleasure. 

You wiped your mouth, leaning your head against the door. 

“Feel better?” you asked. He scoffed. He helped you up, catching you as you stumbled. He kissed you, tasting himself among your lips. He could stay here with you forever and starve happily. “You go out first,” you muttered. “I’ve gotta wash up.” 

He nodded. He stared at you for a moment longer, brushing your hair out of your face. You locked eyes and the intimacy filled up the bathroom. You wanted to kiss him again but knew you had no time. You would have to let him go, just this once. 

“Thanks,” he muttered under his breath. 

“Anytime H.” You slithered away from him. “Pull your pants up and go back to your family.”

[oflights]

my top 5 books of the year + why 💕📚

hello! as my mutuals on goodreads know (feel free to be my friend there if you’re interested), i read 40 books this year, which is a number grad school allie would scoff at but one that adult ADHD professional allie is very proud of. i want to highlight my top 5 reads on here as a sort of book rec post. 

i have extremely picky tastes and about a dozen weirdo hangups about what i read; that’s either a disclaimer or a selling point of this reclist! your choice! i’d love to hear from you guys if you’ve also read these, or might plan to, or might have similar recommendations. 💕📚

in no particular order:

5.  The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue (V.E. Schwab)

This isn’t exactly an unpopular rec, and I’m definitely late, but in case anyone else needed a last nudge to try this, please do! I did not expect to love it so much, and I’m actually not as crazy about this author’s earlier books despite recommendations. This one, though, is worth the hype. The writing builds such discomfiting, mundane dread and tension; you just want Addie to find a place, set up somewhere, be safe in the most minimal, barest of ways, and the narrative denies you that for so very long. It creates this really unique sense of timelessness (or rather, too much time, there’s just so much time in a day to fill when you don’t have a place to call home) that encapsulates how bleak immortality can be. The ending is phenomenal, one of my favorites ever, and Henry reminds me so much of Harry what who said that also it would take Draco about six months to achieve what Addie vows to do at the end. Tops and yeah, just read it. Trust everyone else who’s told you to read it. 

4.  All the Seas of the World (Guy Gavriel Kay)

I love Guy Gavriel Kay. He writes the perfect blend of historical fiction with a touch of fantasy that hit me right where I live; my extremely Italian ass is in love with Batiara, his analog for Italy. He writes so many big, beautiful moments that make your throat tight. More than that, he portrays every single character in his books (and there are a lot, huge ensembles with POV switches) with so much depth of kindness and care that I love them as much as he does, inevitably. This book is no exception. If you want to give it a try, I do recommend reading A Brightness Long Ago and/or Children of Earth and Sky either before or after this one, because it makes the world he’s created that much richer. If you’re totally new to GGK, I’d also recommend The Lions of Al-Rassan, which is simply one of my favorite books of all time. 

3. Do Not Say We Have Nothing (Madeline Thien)

This is one of those sprawling, multi-generational family epics that spans from the present day, the Cultural Revolution, and the Tiananmen Square protests. It’s really, really dense, but the way it weaves music and family and memory together is just really exquisite. I read this in two long, anxious gulps and had to think about it for a long time, but if this is the kind of historical fiction you like (like I do), highly recommend this one. 

2. Lent (Jo Walton)

The twist in this is just...perfect. It’s so fucking good. This follows a 15th century monk who can see and cast out demons, and I think that’s all I’m going to say about the plot because you should just read it. But the real reason this is on here, beyond all the theological horror that I adore, is that it’s a love letter to Florence, one that hits really, really deeply. There’s such a beautiful sense of place and culture and history in this book that I love to bask in. 

1. She Who Became the Sun (Shelley Parker-Chan) 

Again, this is in no order, so I won’t call this my favorite book read this year...but man did I love this one. It’s another historical epic with fantasy elements but I kind of think it wasn’t marketed properly; there’s a lot of depth of character and plot complexity, and what it says about desire and how insidious, important and destructive it can be is really, really well done for me. This is another one that’s been hyped, and I can’t recommend it enough to anyone on the fence about it. 

Honorable mentions: This is just a list of other books I really enjoyed for various reasons!

Under the Whispering Door (Klune)

Paladin’s Grace (Kingfisher) + its sequels were really fun

The Faerie Hounds of York (Powell)

 Lavinia (Le Guin) 

Foxen Bloom (Foye)

Nettle & Bone (Kingfisher) 

Sistersong (Holland) 

[whadd-up-babie]

✨🥺🥰 Sykkunos Sister 🥰🥺✨

Part One

Author's Note: Fuck time lines. I don't care if time lines don't add up. I mean on any other occasion I would care but right now at this exact moment in time, I couldn't fucking care less.

Word-count: 4k

Warnings: idk

~~~

You walked into your new apartment, your two roommates and life long friends by your side.

You smiled and turned to the two, “You see this ladies?” You said with a satisfied smirk on your face, “All of our hard work finally paid off.”

“I can’t believe we’re actually here.” Addie said with stars in her eyes. “A couple of years late maybe, but still here in L.A”

You chuckled “I can't believe we wanted to move here as soon as we got out of highschool.”

“Yeah imagine how horrible that could've gone?” Your other friend Selena spoke up.

You visibly shuddered at the thought of how bad that could've been. You felt a buzz in your back pocket and looked down at your jeans.

“Me and Selena are gonna check out this place before we start bringing the boxes in.” Addie told you as her and Selena walked off.

You nodded your head as you pulled out your phone from your jeans. It was a text message from one of your brothers' roommates.

Toast Are you in L.A yet?

You Yeah, I just walked into my new apartment

You quickly typed out and hit send. You’ve been in contact with your brothers’ friends for a while now. You haven’t seen Thomas, or Sykkuno, in years and you wanted to surprise him during one of his streams.

He was streaming Proximity Chat Among Us with; Toast, Lily, Poki, Rae, Ludwig, Dream, Brooke, Jacksepticeye and Corpse. You were a fan of all of them.

You lived a couple blocks away from your brother and his friends which was very convenient for you, considering as the younger of the both of you it is your duty to be the most annoying human being possible. So random pop ups at his home would be much much easier.

Toast I told the lobby that I ordered delivery so they expect an interruption

You Ooooh big brain moment

Toast But I did actually order pizza, it’s pick-up so can you do me a favor and pick it up on your way

You I revoke my “big brain moment”

Toast sent you the address for the pizza parlor and the OfflineTV house.

“I’m gonna go surprise Thomas.” You called out into your apartment, “I promise I'll be back to help unload the stuff.”

“You better, considering you're the strongest one here.” Selena responded.

You chuckled and walked out of the door and into the hallway that led to the exit of your new home.

Your apartment only had two floors, you were lucky enough to score the bottom floor. It was two bedrooms and two bathrooms. The three of you slept in the smaller guest room. You had bought two bunk beds from Ikea that you planned on placing in that room.

In the master room was where everything Important was. Selena wanted to be a streamer, so her gaming set-up was in that room. Selena wasn't one of those well known streamers but she had a following. Addie wanted to be a model, so the majority of her clothes were in the master bedroom closet, whilst you and Selena shared the smaller closest in your shared room.

You on the other hand wanted to make music. All of your instruments were in the master bedroom. You owned an electric keyboard, a guitar, a bass guitar, a cello, and you just started learning how to play the ukulele.

The room set up plan was simple. You had two desks on opposite sides of the room. Selena would get the wall with the window if she ever planned on using more natural light. Selena's desk would hold her gaming set-up, she currently had two monitors, but she's saving up to buy a third.

Your desk had the latest IMac, it was a moving away gift from your family, everyone pitched in. You had an inexpensive but high quality microphone to record vocals.

In between the two desks you had a futon and coffee table gifted to you guys by Addie's grandma. Noise cancellation foam pads would coat the walls.

But you haven’t done any of that stuff yet considering everything was still in the U-Haul truck.

You walked out of the apartment whilst typing the address to your brothers home in your Waze app, you added the pizza parlor in as a stop.

You got into your SUV and started the car. You connected your phone to the bluetooth and shuffled one of your Spotify playlist.

White Tee by CORPSE began to blast through your speakers. You bopped to the rhythm and began to lip sync the lyrics.

~~~

It took you 30 minutes to collect the pizza and drive to your brothers house. You stood outside the door with the pizza balanced in your hand as you attempted to ring the doorbell.

You texted Toast beforehand so you hoped he was prepared and wouldn’t make you wait outside. You didn’t like being outside, it meant that people could see you. And you didn’t like that.

You stood outside for a couple of seconds before Toast finally opened the door.

“Finally!” You exclaimed as you pushed past him to enter his home.

“Welcome.” He said sarcastically.

“Where’s my brother's room!?” You asked excitedly.

Toast pointed you towards the direction of Sykkunos’ room and you went running.

You stood outside of his door all giddy and happy, apparently they were playing proximity chat among us. So if Sykkuno was next to anyone in- game they would surely hear you, as well as the rest of the offlinetv house.

You took a deep breath and shouldered the door open.

“I’VE GOT A PIZZA DELIVERY FOR THE BESTEST BIG BROTHER IN THE ENTIRETY OF THE WORLD!” You all but shouted, scaring him off of his chair.

He turned to look at you and his face of fear quickly morphed into one of pure happiness.

“I call him Thomas but apparently his stage name is Sykkuno. I wonder where he got that from.” You said, this time more calmly.

“Y/N!” Sykkuno said happily. He quickly got himself off the floor and tackled you in a hug.

“You know I would hug you back but like… I’m holding a pretty big pizza.” You told him. The smile on your face was so big it began to hurt your cheeks.

Sykkuno brought his hands to your shoulder and held you at arm's length. He looked you up and down.

“You’ve really grown.” He told you.

“Yeah.” You agreed, nodding your head, “You still look like a ten year old.” You said jokingly.

You laughed and he joined in. You placed the pizza down, and he led you towards his set up.

“We’re gonna need another chair.” He said looking around.

“No we don’t,” You said plopping down into his chair.

He gave you a weird look.

“I’m the guest.” You said waving your hand.

He didn’t say anything, he just looked you dead in the eyes. Right into your soul.

You felt a shiver run down your spine.

“I don’t like it when you do that.” You said as you stood from his chair.

“I only ever do it to you.” He said as he walked by you to reclaim his chair.

“That’s why I don’t like it.” You grumbled.

A couple of minutes later you got your own chair, they were even nice enough to give you a water bottle. You sat next to Sykkuno with one of his earbuds in your ear so you could hear what was happening in his game.

So far you’ve run into Rae, Poki, Toast and Lily and you told all of them about your relation to Sykkuno though Toast and Lily already knew.

Sykkuno passed by Jack and you were about to scream in the mic, but someone reported a body.

“Well now I’m disappointed.” You mumbled to yourself.

“The body was i-“

“What! Toast is dead!” You said shocked, “We were just with him.”

There was a moment of silence within the game.

“Who’s that?” Jack asked.

“Yeah,” The other players muttered in agreement.

“That’s my sister, Y/N.” Sykkuno said.

A gasp could be heard from almost everyone

“Sister!” Ludwig shouted over the gasps, “Sykkuno you didn’t tell me you had a sister. I thought we were best friends.”

“I’m not really his sister.” You told them.

“Yeah she’s my foster sister.” Sykkuno explained.

“When I was younger Sykkunos' family was my foster family, until I was adopted by a lovely couple in Chicago.” You said.

“We haven’t seen each other since her adoption.” Sykkuno continued.

“And that was. What? 10-ish years ago?” You finished turning to Sykkuno.

“Yeah around that time.” He answered.

You brought your water bottle up to your lips and began to drink.

“Well it’s great to meet you Y/N!” Brooke said excitingly.

A chorus of “nice to meet you” entered your ear, but a very distinct “what up baby” caused you to spit your water back into its bottle.

“What’s wrong?” Sykkuno asked as he looked towards you.

“That did something to my stomach.” Was all you said.

“The water?” Sykkuno questioned further.

You felt your face heat up.

“Yeah.” You said nodding your head. “It’s totally the water. It couldn’t possibly be for any other reason.” You said bring your hand up to hide your smirk with your knuckles.

You turned your head and saw the chat exploding with the word SIMP in all caps.

~~~

You were at Sykkunos house a couple of days after that incident. He was streaming Proximity Chat Among Us with the same lobby again. They were playing in Polus.

Corpse was telling the lobby about his day when you thought to yourself, “I wanna wake up to the sound of your voice.”

You scrunched up your eyebrows wondering why it got quiet all of a sudden before Sykkuno bursted into fits of laughter as well as the rest of the lobby.

It finally dawned on you that you said that out loud. Your eyes widened and your face began to heat up.

“That sounded so suggestive, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know I was speaking out loud.” You began to laugh with the rest of the group and Corpse joined in quickly after.

The game started and you were all calmed down.

“I still can’t believe I said that out loud.” You announced to the group. A few giggles left their mouths as well as your own.

“No but just imagine waking up at 7 am to Choke me like you hate me but you love me! Every single fucking day.” You said before bursting into laughter, the lobby joining in soon after.

Sykkuno was doing his tasks in O2 before he announced to his stream he had to use the bathroom.

“I’ll watch the game for you but I won’t play because… I don’t want to.” You told him as he muted his discord and got up from his chair.

“That’s fine.” He said and left the room.

You turned to his chat. They started bombarding you with questions.

“What’s your Instagram.” You read aloud.

“Oooh shameless plug, follow me on all of my socials @y/n, also subscribe to my YouTube channel “Y/N L/N” I make music…sometimes.” You answered.

“Do you simp for Corpse.” You read another.

You pursed your lips. “I’m not gonna answer that question, but I will confidently admit that I simp for Rae and Poki.” As you finished that statement, Corpses avatar walked into the room.

You reached over to Sykkunos Keyboard and un-muted his mic.

“Hey Corpse!” You chirped.

“Hey Y/N.” He replied. “Where’s Sykkuno?” He asked you.

“What, am I not good enough?” You asked with mock offense

He chuckled before speaking up. “No, I was just wondering.”

“He’s in the bathroom.” You answered. “I’m all by my little old self. Minus the stream of course.” You turned to smile at Sykkunos camera before focusing your attention on the game.

“Would you like some company?” He asked.

“I would love some company, thank you Corpse.”

He brought his Avatar to stand by Sykkunos.

“How’s your day?” He asked.

“Not very fun.” You answered thinking back to what happened this morning. “We were finishing building the second bunk bed, but I dropped one of the heavier parts on my foot, so that hurts.”

“Oh that sucks.” He stated.

“I know. How’s your day?” You asked him.

“Very uneventful, just writing some potential lyrics and stuff.” He said.

“Oh yeah you write your own music.” You responded. “How did I forget that.” You mumbled to yourself.

“What do you like to do for fun?” He questioned.

“Oh I make music, or do covers. Depends on how lazy I’m feeling.” You told him.

“You make music?” He asked. You could hear the shock in his voice.

You hummed in response. “Yeah I dabble in music production. I write a nice chunk of the music, but I have some other musical friends help me with other stuff. It’s not enough for me to be noticed by the big producers or record labels though.”

“You think you could show me some of your stuff?”

“Yeah!” You said excitedly. “Do you want me to send it through Discord, Insta or Twitter.” You said as you fished your phone out of your back pocket.

“Do discord.” He told you.

“Got it.” You pulled up your discord app as Sykkuno got back from the bathroom.

You already friended the lobby Sykkuno was playing in after your first meeting.

Sykkuno got back in his chair. “Alright I’m back.”

“I unmuted your mic by the way.” You told Sykkuno, your eyes glued to your phone. You had to send Corpse the perfect snippet. So far all your options were shit.

“Oh hey, Corpse!” Sykkuno said once he got situated.

“Hi Sykkuno.” Corpse replied, “I was just talking to Y/N, she’s great company.” He complimented you.

“I am good company,” You said looking up from your phone, “I wish my roommates thought that.” You muttered to yourself, apparently louder than you thought because Corpse began to chuckle.

You smirked slightly. The sound of Corpses’ laugh caused a blush to spread to your cheeks.

“Shouldn’t you two finish your tasks.” You coughed up, trying to hide your blush. “I mean you’ve wasted enough time already.”

“Does anyone ever do their tasks when they play proximity?” Sykkuno asked.

“Exactly.” Corpse agreed.

“I’m a very work oriented person so I probably would.” You told them. You finally found the perfect audio file to send Corpse.

“I hope he likes it.” You thought to yourself. You sent Corpse the file the same time a body was reported.

“I found Luds’ body in decontamination.” Rae said.

“Sykkuno and Corpse did nothing in o2 practically the whole round.” You told the lobby. The lobby has gotten used to you speaking up while they played.

“I was keeping a new friend company that's not exactly nothing.” Corpse said, trying to defend himself.

“It meant nothing to me.” You said, you were quiet for a few seconds before you spoke up again, “I’m sorry! That was mean! I didn’t mean it! Thank you for disregarding your tasks just to keep me company!”

The lobby broke out into laughter while you continued spewing out apologies.

~~~

The game ended quickly, turns out Poki and Rae were the imposters. You decided then to make your departure.

“I should probably head home.” You told the lobby, “The only food the girls know how to cook is pizza rolls, pizza bagels and ramen. And we promised each other we would start eating healthy.” You got up from your chair as the lobby was saying their goodbyes.

You exited Sykkunos room and walked towards the exit. You ran into Michael and Lily and said goodbye to them on your way out.

You reached your car and pulled out your phone, checking for notifications. You usually stay off your phone whenever you watch your brothers’ stream so you never know what's happening.

It turns out you had 10 missed calls from Selena, and over 100+ messages of her asking you to answer the phone.

You quickly got into your car and called your roommate.

The phone only rang twice before she answered.

“YOU'LL NEVER BELIEVE WHAT I JUST DID FOR YOU!” She screamed into the phone.

You brought your hand away from your ear and cringed at how loud she was being.

“That’s fun.” You muttered to yourself. You put your phone down in one of the cup holders and put it on speaker.

“What did you do exactly.” You asked aloud as you put your key into the ignition.

“So you remember that cute guy we ran into-” She began but you interrupted.

“NO!” You shouted. “I am not in the mood to go on dates. We are here in L.A to focus on our careers. I don’t have time for dating.”

Selena was quiet for a few moments before she spoke up.

“Okay, but if you meet him and start catching feelings but it's too late, just know it's not my fault.” She said before she hung up.

You sighed to yourself. You were not ready to go out on dates. Especially not after your last relationship.

You drove in silence for the majority of the way home until you got a discord notification on your phone. You waited until you reached a stop light to look at it. Apparently it was from Corpse.

CORPSE I loved the vocals I honestly wasn't expecting this type of music from you

You quickly typed out a reply while still paying attention to the road ahead of you.

You Thanks! I just thought you would like that type of sound so I decided to send that one

You hit send right as the lights turns green. You placed your phone back into the cupholder and began to drive. You got another discord notification, you assumed it was Corpse.

“He can wait 5 minutes.” You thought to yourself. Corpse may have peaked your interests but that doesn't mean you were willing to get into a car crash for him.

You quickly pulled into your apartment complex and ran into your home, phone in hand. You had gotten 3 discord notifications whilst you were driving. You quickly sat down on your couch in the living room and propped your feet onto the coffee table.

CORPSE I like how this is mixed and produced You have a great tone throughout the song Would you want to collab sometime?

You felt your heart leap into your throat.

“This couldn't possibly be happening.” You thought to yourself.

Corpse was very relevant in the music industry, he had told you during one of the Among Us games that many labels were reaching out to him. This collaboration with Corpse could make you a star!

You A collab with one of the most trending people in the world? Count me in!

CORPSE Great! we can meet up whenever you want to work out some lyrics

You smiled to yourself thinking of how many doors this could open for you. This could make or break your career.

“Holy shit.” You mumbled under your breath.

“Me and Corpse are making a song together!” You thought to yourself.

“What kind of Wattpad fanfic is this?” You said out loud as Selena and Addie came out of the Master Bedroom.

“Oooh what about Wattpad fanfics?” Selena asked, as she headed towards the kitchen.

“My life is a Wattpad fanfic.” You told her. You furrowed your eyebrows in thought, “Is this my existential crisis?”

“What?” Addie asked, very confused as she sat down on the arm of the sofa.

“What am I rambling about.” You turned to your roommates. “You’ll never believe what I just scored.” You told them excitedly.

“What?” Selena asked as she exited the kitchen a bag of chips in her hands.

“I’m going to do a collaboration with Mr. Corpse Husband himself.” You said proudly.

“No way!” Selena shouted, dropping her bag of chips on the floor. “You lucky bitch.” She said.

“You guys have only known one another for like 3 days.” Addie said.

“We’re making a song, not getting married.” You told her.

“Yet.” Selena said with a smirk.

“I’m going to bed.” You told them as you stood up from the couch.

“What!?” They said in unison.

“But it’s like 8 o'clock.” Addie finished.

“I know but I’m not in the mood to put up with the both of you.” You said as you left the living room.

“I only said one thing!” Selena complained.

“One too much.” You told her.

You walked down the hall and entered your shared room. You sat down at the foot of your bed and sighed.

“This is not at all what I expected when I told mom I was moving to Cali.” You threw yourself backwards.

“How are we gonna go about this?” You asked yourself. Were you and corpse gonna work together in person, were you gonna work over a discord call? You haven’t seen his face, you’re not sure if he’s seen yours yet. All these thoughts came and went inside your brain, it was starting to give you a headache.

You grabbed your pillow and brought it down on your face. You made a noise somewhere in between a groan and a whine when you heard you got another discord notification from your phone.

You reached around for your phone until you finally grabbed it and brought it up to your face. It was another message from Corpse.

CORPSE For making the song I was thinking maybe you could come over to my apartment because I remember how you once told the lobby that your roommates are very loud

YOU They are very loud And thank you for the invitation, I was just starting to wonder how we were gonna work together

CORPSE Here’s my address and number Wanna meet up on Sunday 3 o’clock?

“Sunday, Sunday, Sunday.” You thought to yourself, You’re pretty sure you don't have any plans that day. You typed out a quick reply before turning off your phone and going to sleep.

~~~

It was Sunday 12 o’clock you left your house with a nice hot cup of joe in your hands. Corpse lived 2 hours away so you wanted to leave early to hopefully grab some breakfast.

The night prior you placed your guitar in the back of your car, knowing you wouldn't remember to do it the morning of.

You got into your car and pulled out of your apartment complex. It was a long drive filled with random songs. You pulled into the first McDonalds you saw and ordered your usual.

When you were back on the road you had about 30 minutes before you would arrive at Corpse’s house. Which meant, using the power of mental math, you would get there 30 minutes early.

You grabbed your phone out of your bag keeping your eyes on the road. You opened up your contact list and scrolled through looking for Corpse. You found his name and gave him a call. You put your phone on speaker and put it into your cup holder. The phone rang about eight times before he answered.

“Hello.” He answered, his voice was deeper than usual.

“Did you just wake up?” You asked as you turned off the highway.

“Yeah, I got a good… 35 minutes.” He told you with a chuckle.

“Make yourself some breakfast. I should be there in about 30 minutes.” You told him with a smirk.

“Yes ma’am” He told you before he hung up.

“This is gonna be a long day.” You muttered to yourself.

~~~

Sykkunos Sisters Master list

Story Snippets/Master list

Taglist:

I couldn’t tag some people, if you are one of those people message me so we can hopefully tag you successfully. If you want to switch lists just ask :)

All Corpse fics:

@carlosoliveriaownsmyass, @cookiewhoree, @zunmie, @phriendophphrogs,  @i-love-stamps-blog, @cupidsloverr, @cassie12435, @fivedicksinatrenchcoat, @mythicalamphitrite, @wiseflamingoqueen, @cherry-piee, @mono-has-a-gun, @ilovepizzaandimhot, @rambling-rabbit, @thecanterburywitch, @daisiesandmarvel, @brooklyn22, @and-claudia, @captainbuckyy

Sykkunos Sisters:

@punnypuppylove, @emsies-dream, @bbecc-a, @soft4kei, @penflop

[mypoisonedvine]

You know what, my request is a second part to that heiress Zemo request because I need to know what happens. 😤

(Please and thank you, I am just very much on the edge of my sit, ma’am. 🥺💕)

alright... I can take a hint lmaooo (first part here!)

“De mama?” Addy asked in that sweet little voice of hers, tilting her head as she looked up at him.  Her Sokovian was coming along well, though not quite as fast as her English since that was all her mother ever spoke to her.  And of course, that’s who she was asking about now, and even though it was adorable, it was a bit heartbreaking, too.  Is this what it will be like when the contract expires? he was forced to wonder.  Will she ask where she is every day, until someday she forgets she ever had a mother?  What kind of father would I be if I let her live like that?

“Vona na prohulyantsi, skoro povernetʹsya,” he answered with a shrug.  She’s on a walk, she’ll be back soon.  How would he ever find the heart to tell her the truth someday, if he didn’t fix this soon?  She’s gone forever, I cast her away because I chose my pride over my love and your happiness.

No wonder he was so relieved when you got home, and he couldn’t help but smile as Addy reached up for you and you scooped her up into your arms with a smile.  “Oh, you’re getting big,” you cooed at her.  “How’d you get so big so fast, huh?”

Now was his chance to ever so casually bring up the contract and see how you reacted.  Part of him was hoping that if he just never mentioned it, you’d just forget about it and things could stay this way forever.  Unfortunately, that was nearly impossible, and it didn’t even really solve his problem fully because if things stayed this way forever then it meant he would never be with you again as he so longed to be; if things stayed this way forever, he would keep being a man desperately in love with his wife and powerless to do anything about it.  

He wanted to touch you again, so much he couldn’t stand it.  These days the only time you really spent together was when it was the three of you.  It was so painfully obvious that the only love for him you had was the love you had for your child, extended to him as the father.  You were only accessible when Addy was involved, you barely even looked at him when he wasn’t holding her.

It was actually rather cruel.  Especially at times like this, when Addy wanted to be read a story and it ended up with her on your lap and you between his legs on the floor, forcing him to reach around all of you to hold the book open as he read.

You were right there... but a million miles away.  If he had any courage he would just turn his head and kiss your cheek or bury his face in the crook of your neck.  Instead he was paralyzed, and he could smell your hair from here which was adding insulting to injury at this point.

“Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess, who lived in a tower,” he read aloud, watching his daughter’s tiny fingers trace over the illustration of the princess on the page.

“Pryntsesa,” Addy mumbled to herself as she looked at it, and he felt pride warm his chest to hear her speaking Sokovian to herself.

“You’ve been teaching her without me,” you realized as you turned back to look at him with a smirk.  God, your face was so close now that it was almost more work to not kiss you, especially when his eyes couldn’t help but dart down to your lips for a moment.

“She’s going to learn Sokovian whether you like it or not,” he reminded you.

“I’m not saying I don’t like it, I’m just saying I wanna be there for it,” you explained.  “We can teach her together.”

Another co-parenting activity, another way you could get close to him only under the pretense of being with Addy.  He needed to find a way to get you alone because this was going to drive him crazy.

“What happen?” Addy frowned, and both of you seemed to realize at once that he’d totally forgotten to keep reading.

“Oh, um,” he stammered, turning the page as you faced forward again.  “A brave knight wanted to scale the tower to see the princess, but he didn’t know how.”

~

When he entered the bedroom, he wasn’t expecting to find you there, changing into your pyjamas.  His first instinct was to look away and step back, pulling the door partially shut again with a mumbled apology.

“Helmut, you can come in,” you laughed.  “I don’t mind if you see me changing, you’ve certainly seen much worse than this.”

He cleared his throat and stepped back in, gaze sweeping up over your exposed back.  “I, uh, wanted to ask you something before we go to bed.”

“Yeah?” you prompted, pulling your nightgown over your head and walking to the bathroom where he followed you as you applied some sort of night cream to your face.  He stood behind you, meeting your eyes in the reflection of the mirror.

“You mentioned teaching Addy together,” he remembered.  

“If you just want that to be just a dad-daughter thing that’s fine,” you shrugged.

“No, it’s fine, I like the idea,” he nodded, “I just thought... well, I wondered...”

I wondered if you would go on a date with me.  Why was it so hard to get it out, to his own wife, to the woman carrying his last name and wearing his ring?

Of course, it was hard to get out because when he thought about you with his name and his ring, all he could think was for how much longer?

You waited patiently with raised eyebrows, and he sighed.

“Nevermind.”

“Wait, what is it?” you chuckled, following him when he turned away and sat on the bed.  “Now I’m curious.”

He glanced down at the bed he was sitting on, running his fingers over the quilt.  “Why do we even share this bed?” he mumbled to himself.

“What?” you whispered.

“I mean, does it even matter?  Are we just trying to look like something we’re not-- a normal couple?”

His eyes darted back up to your face when he heard your voice waver.  “Are you asking me to sleep downstairs?”

“No,” he corrected instantly, standing up and stepping closer to you even as you tried to hide the way your eyes were watering.  “No, darling, I just-- I don’t want you to feel like you have to share a bed with me.  I may not be the best bed partner.”

“Oh, you’re quite the bed partner, if memory serves,” you blurted out, and his eyebrow raised suddenly.  You seemed to regret it right away, turning to go back to the bathroom and examine yourself in the mirror.

“Hey, wait,” he followed you, turning you with a hand on your arm.  “Let’s not let go of that topic so quickly.”

“It’s nothing.  That’s over now.”

“What’s over?” he pressed.

“The part of this where we... did that,” you explained.  “It was just a necessary process, to get pregnant in the first place.  And then it happened a couple of times after I got pregnant, but that was just... I don’t know, you were so high on finally getting what you wanted and now--”

“What I wanted?” he repeated.  “Explain to me what it is I want.”

“An heir!” you answered immediately.  “Duh!  That’s what this is all for.”

“I’ll tell you what I want,” he shot back sternly.  “I want a family.  I want this family.  I want...” he took in a slow breath, afraid to say it aloud, “I want to hold you again.  I want to call you my wife not because we both signed a contract but because we’re both in love.”

You blinked up at him, eyes wide and wet, and he tried to stay calm as he continued.

“Most of all, if that’s not what you want, then what I really want is for you to... pretend, please, just for a day.  An hour, even.  Pretend it’s real.  Pretend it’s not just a show for our child, pretend you could really love me back.  And then you can go.  I don’t know how either of us will live without you, but, if you don’t want to be together then I don’t think I can take much more of this.  I need to have you or I need to let you go because... because I’m too selfish to let Addy keep her mother while I lose my wife, I’m too weak-- and I can’t fucking do this anymore!”

He didn’t raise his voice often.  Honestly, this was probably the first time since he met you.  And it wasn’t quite yelling, but he was still terrified that it would scare you.

You didn’t look scared, though.  You looked... peaceful, you even looked almost happy as you reached up and placed your hand onto the back of his neck and pulled him closer until your foreheads were pressed together.

He could smell your hair from here, and he took a deep breath in case it was the last time.

“Tell me what you want, darling,” he requested softly.

Your eyes fell shut before you took a deep, shaky breath.  “I want you,” you whispered, making his heart stop.

He swallowed quickly.  “Is that all?”

“I want another baby,” you added.

Carefully, he pulled you closer as he nodded, pressing his lips to yours.  All this time he had spent convincing himself that kissing you wasn’t as good as he remembered... and he’d been a liar all along.  It was just as perfect as he’d been imagining.

“I can give you both, right now,” he whispered against your lips, and when he felt you nod he wrapped his arms around you and pulled you into him, carrying you to bed.

He did his best to make up for lost time that night, though it would take a lot more than one night to overcome years of running from his love for you.  Thankfully, you had the rest of your lives to try.  

Although one of the great accomplishments of it all was finally being husband and wife, rather than just parents, you were both ecstatic when you were due to become parents again.  No contracts required, no need for an heir, just a new addition to the Zemo family that would hopefully love being a part of it as the rest of you did.  And the soon-to-be big sister got to help pick out a name:

Abigail | feminine

origin: Hebrew

meaning: My father’s joy

[dream-a-little-bigger-x]

The Perfect Night | Charlie Gillespie

Requested by anon: Can you please write a fanfic with Charlie Gillespie x reader where you're taking him with you as a plus one to your high school reunion because you don't have anyone to go with but then they realise they really like each other

Pairing: Charlie Gillespie x Female!Reader

Warnings: a few curse words like bitch, fluff 

Words: 2,622

High school wasn’t your favorite. All the bullies and the stress to fit in. Everyone laughing at you because you were the nerd with all the stories piled up on your computer and the fantasy of a child in your head. You’d thought you left all of that behind. But then came the reunion. You’ve only graduated five years ago from high school and only last year from college. Though you had an amazing job as screenwriter and some really great friends, you didn’t have a date to bring to that reunion, and you knew all those people would pick on you for old time’s sake because you didn’t have a date. “Hey, you okay? You seem stressed,” Charlie’s voice shakes you awake from your anxious thoughts about the reunion. You look up at him and offer him a nervous smile. Charlie Gillespie is your co-worker, and along with the rest of the Julie and The Phantoms team, one of your newest friends. Yes, you were on the writing team for Julie and The Phantoms, and you had just finished a table read for season 2. “Yeah, I just—there’s this high school reunion tonight and I really don’t want to go.” “Not a fan of high school?” he asks as he falls into step with you, the two of you walking out of the building. “Not at all…” he gives you a curious look, “Eh, they used to bully me because I was a writer and spent my time writing books instead of going out to parties or spending time with friends,” you give him the synopsis. Charlie doesn’t need to know about the nights you spend crying in your room or going to your therapist. You were close, just not that close. Besides, you’d rather forget about your past. “And now you’re a part of the writers’ team on a popular Netflix show?” he tries with a smile, but you just give him an unimpressed look. “Come on, Y/N! This is an opportunity to show them what you made of yourself! Brag a bit about how amazing a job you have!” You shrug, still not convinced. “I just don’t want to face them alone…” you mumble, staring at your moving feet when suddenly a thought pops into your head and you stop in your tracks, looking up at him. “Do you want to be my plus one?” He halts too, raising his eyebrows at you. “Nope, you’re right, that’s stupid!” You start walking again, Charlie following your example. “No. No, it’s not stupid. I just didn’t think you’d ask me?” “You’re one of my best friends here, Charlie. It’s just logical.” He smiles at that. He really has become your best friend since meeting him a couple months ago. “Okay! So, am I playing your boyfriend? Husband? Just a best friend?” You furrow your eyebrows at him, glaring at him questionably. “We could make something fun out of this, Y/N!” He’s almost bouncing off the walls with excitement. That’s the Charlie you know and love. “Okay… Uhm, let’s pretend you’re my boyfriend. I bet they wouldn’t expect the antisocial nerd to have a boyfriend.” The giggle that comes out of his mouth is too adorable to handle. “How did we meet?” he asks, making sure you got the story straight. “Uhm, here?” you suggest. He rolls his eyes at the obvious answer but goes with it. “Okay! Uhm, let’s – let’s say I fell for you when you bossily told me how I should say a line in the dialogue you wrote?” You nod your head slowly. That sounds kind of cute. “What was our first date?” “Uhm, I don’t know? Movie and dinner?” He scrunches his nose, shaking his head. “No, girl… Charlie Gillespie doesn’t do basic dates!” You chuckle at this, stopping in the hallway of the building to check out. “You like hiking, right?” You nod your head, signing your name on the paper at the front desk. “I took you on a hike on the Eagle Bluffs trail in Vancouver and we had a romantic picnic on the mountain with a gorgeous view over the Cabin Lake.” You nearly melt away at the thought of him taking you on a date like that. “That’s a cute date,” you tell him, impressed, and trying not to show what it’s really doing to you. “And I kissed you on that mountain top.” He raises an eyebrow as an amused smirk pulls at his lips. “No one at my school would ever think I’d be the one to take that step.” “And our first ‘I love you’s were accidental slip ups at work!” He sounds way too excited and he’s getting way too into this. “Like, I’d accidentally completely mess up the punch-line of the joke you wrote, and you’d get annoyed and angry, and then I accidentally said “Okay, sorry, thank you, I love you”.” You giggle at his ideas as the both of you exit the building together. “Anything else we need to discuss?” you ask, grabbing your car key. “Don’t think so…” he trails off, really mulling it over. “Oh! Is there a dress code?” “Yes! It’s formal,” you reply, hoping that wouldn’t be too much of trouble so last minute. He thinks about it for a moment, going through his own wardrobe in his mind. “What are you wearing?” he questions. “Not sure, a red dress, I think…” “You think?” “Yeah, I might change my mind if I don’t like it.” He nods his head understandingly. “What time does it start?” “Seven. It’s about fifteen minutes from my place.” “I’ll pick you up at twenty minutes before then,” he suggests. You nod your head in agreement, then say your goodbyes and go your separate ways. That night, Charlie’s eyes widen when you open the door in your red, tight-fitting bodycon dress with spaghetti straps. He’s not used to seeing you out of your comfy mom-jeans and T-shirts or sweaters. “Uh… Okay… First of all,” he gestures to your body, “Wow!” You laugh at him, feeling a blush creeping up your cheeks. “Second of all… WOW!” “It’s not too much?” you ask, shyly. “No! No! Not at all! I’m very glad I get to play the boyfriend of a goddess like you.” “Oh, shut it, Charlie!” you slap his chest playfully before grabbing your clutch and leaving your apartment. “You look pretty wow yourself, by the way,” you say, approving of the suit he’s wearing. He bashfully smiles as you exit the building. He opens every door for you, like a true gentleman. You’re pretty sure no one has ever done that for you before. You always thought it would be so cliché, but it’s actually really nice. “Hey, how far are we going to go with PDA?” he asks when he gets in behind the wheel. “You know, holding hands and stuff…” You blush a little at the thought alone. Being single for so long almost made you forget that was a part of it too. “Uhm… Just improvise,” you shrug. “You’re the actor after all.” You go over the story again with Charlie, making sure neither of you will forget and give everything away. “You ready?” he asks as you’re standing in front of your high school. Terrible memories flood back inside your mind, sending shivers down your spine. As if on automatic, you grab Charlie’s bicep for support – both moral and physical. “Let’s do this.” The two of you walk inside the school and find the gym where they’re holding the five-year reunion. The music’s blasting, lights are flickering, and people are mingling, reminiscing over their high school memories. You already spot a few people you know, but much rather not talk to. “If you ever feel overwhelmed and want to leave, just tell me, and we’re out of here,” he whispers in your ear. You can’t help but smile at his words. A true gentleman.   “Thanks, Charlie,” you whisper back. He takes you straight to the bar where he gets you your favorite beverage. “How’d you know?” you ask when he hands it over. “You always order a G&T at the crew parties,” he tells you nonchalantly. “How attentive of you,” you compliment with an endeared smile plastered on your face. This man keeps surprising you with the smallest thing, and it’s the cutest thing you’d ever witnessed. It gives you the feeling of being seen and appreciated and respected. For the first time in your life. “Oh my God! Y/N!” you hear the shrill voice of Ella, one of your classmates from back in the day. One of the biggest bullies from your senior year. “You look amazing! How are you doing?!” she grabs the hand your not holding your drink with and presses a kiss to your cheek. “Hi, Ella…” you greet, putting the fakest smile you can muster on your face. “I’m good! How are you?” Charlie watches you to find any sign of uncomfortableness. “I’m good! You know, recently engaged.” She shows you her hand, which is decorated with the shiniest, biggest diamond ring you’d ever seen. “Oh, wow!” you glance at Charlie, “Look, babe, she’s engaged!” If he’s surprised by the sudden pet name, he doesn’t show it. “Congratulations, Bella!” You know he’s butchering that name on purpose, and you have to try your hardest to stifle a laugh. “You have a boyfriend?” Ella asks, clearly bitter over either him butchering her name or you, having such an attractive boyfriend. “There’s nothing on Facebook about that?” she chuckles awkwardly. Charlie wraps a protective arm around your waist, pulling you closer towards him. “Uhm… Yeah… We’re keeping it lowkey, you know?” you reply as convincingly as possible. “He’s an actor, so…” you trail off, hoping that would impress her. Ella’s demeanor changes all of a sudden. She goes from total bitch to flirty bitch. “Really?” She twirls a strand of hair around her finger. “Y/N?” Another voice chimes in, this one belongs to Addison, Ella’s bestie. “Hey, Addie…” you greet, clutching your glass really hard. Charlie can feel you tensing up beside him and starts rubbing circles on your hip. “Y/N has an actor boyfriend,” Ella informs her. Addison’s eyes widen as they dart from you to Charlie and back. “How’d you meet?” Addison questions, intrigued by this entire story. The two of you glance at each other, trying to determine who’s going to tell the story. “At work, actually,” you start. “I’m on the writers team of the show he plays in.” “Yeah! She bossily told me how to deliver the line she wrote, and I’ve been in love with her ever since.” He looks down at you with the most endeared smile on his face that makes you melt like ice cream in the sun. “Aw! That’s adorable!” Addison clutches her heart as if it’s about to burst out of her chest. “When did you fall in love with him, Y/N?” You glance at Charlie for some assistance or some inspiration. “When he suggested that instead of a boring movie and dinner date, we’d go hiking together. I just knew he was the one for me at that moment.” You’re not going to lie, Charlie taking you on a hiking date would totally make you fall in love with him. Ella’s and Addison’s noses scrunch up in disgust. “Also…” she adds, then leans in closer to the girls to whisper, “His arms! The boy has guns, I tell you!” The two girls gasp, scanning Charlie entirely from head-to-toe. He snickers, then pulls you closer again. “You did not fall in love with me for my arms,” he tells you, shaking his head with an amused look on his face. You look up at him, eyebrow raised. “I do see you every day with those muscle tees, babe. You really think I wouldn’t swoon for that?” You couldn’t lie. Charlie’s arms were killer. But obviously not the only thing that made him attractive. “If you don’t mind, ladies. I’m going to take my lady for some food,” he nods towards the other side of the gym where food is stalled out into a banquet. Addison and Ella bid their goodbyes, and the two of you make your way to the catering. “I hate them with a passion,” you grumble as you take a plate to fill with canapes. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone as fake as them, and I’m an actor.” You giggle at his comment and reach for the mini-pizzas at the same time he does, your hands touch, making both of you freeze. “Sorry,” you both mumble, pulling away, flustered. “Hey, Y/N!” A voice you really didn’t want to hear sounds from behind me. “Kill me now,” you mumble, earning a worried look from Charlie. “Ex-boyfriend.” Charlie takes your plate from you and places it onto the table, leaving you a little confused. “Do you trust me?” he asks, hushed. “Yeah, wh—?” before you can finish your question, Charlie presses his lips to yours, pushing you gently against the wall behind you. You’re startled, at first, but then melt into the kiss as your stomach starts to do flips and turns. You didn’t realize until now that this is what you’ve wanted all along. You always wondered why your eyes always automatically darted to his lips. Now you know why. “Ooh! Get it, Y/N!” you hear your ex’s best friend shout. Nothing about high school has changed. Except now Charlie’s here. He pulls away and stares at you for a moment, equally as overwhelmed as you. “You want to get out of here?” he whispers. You simply nod your head, running your tongue across your bottom lip as though the taste of his lips is still there. Charlie grabs your hand and pulls you to the door of the gym. As you pass your ex and his friends, you offer them a wave of your slender fingers. For the first time in years, you feel powerful in this gym, like you can conquer the world. Charlie takes you into the hallway, and pushes you against the wall of lockers, kissing you again. You can’t help the smile tugging at your lips as your hands tug at his suit jacket. “I wanted to do that for so long,” he whispers when he pulls away for a second, pressing his forehead against yours and tucking a strand of hair behind your ear. “What do you mean?” you ask, keeping your voice down too. “You really think I made all of that up in there?” he chuckles. “I really did fall for you when you told me off about delivering that line wrong.” Your mouth drops open before your lips turn up into a surprised smile. “It was incredibly hot.” “And I do swoon every time I see you, by the way,” you admit for the first time to yourself. “And I would really love that first date you imagined for us.” “Good,” he replies, “Because I was going to ask you to go this weekend.” Your eyes widen, and Charlie notices a sparkle in them that he’s never seen before. “Thank you for tonight, Charlie,” you whisper, pushing a strand of hair from his forehead. He has that Patrick Swayze hair he had a couple of times in Season 1 of Julie and The Phantoms, the hairstyle you find way too attractive. “No, thank you.” He smiles down at you before connecting his lips to yours again in a deep, passionate kiss. Tonight, you not only conquered your dreadful past, but you also found the love of your life in your best friend. And you couldn’t possibly ask for more. This was a perfect night.

Taglist: @hannahhistorian92​ @marinettepotterandplagg​ @thequirkybookaholic​ @parkeret​​ @lukeys-giggle​ @gingerxarmy​ @lovesanimals​ @bookdealer5​ 

[hockeyboistrash]

dreams | n.p

summary: you and nolan are best friends. over the summer it becomes something more.

The sun kissed your skin as you laid on the towel, enjoying the sun and the heat that the summer has blessed you with. You heard the splashing of water and giggling from your friends but you paid no mind to them that was until someone came and stood in front of you, blocking the sun. You didn’t need to open your eyes to know that it was Nolan and that he had a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Don’t even think about it." You warned.

"You look like you need to cool down a bit." You could hear his grin and knew he was up to no good.

"I’m perfectly fine here." You told him but it fell upon deaf ears. You felt a pair of hands hook underneath your legs, picking you up bridal style. "Nolan! I swear-" You exclaimed out of surprise, wrapping your arms around his neck so you wouldn’t fall even though you knew he wouldn’t drop you. "Put me down!"

"Okay." He grinned at you before letting you go into the lake. You tried to glare at him when you came back to the surface but you couldn’t help the smile creep through. You loved Nolan's laugh and you couldn’t deny that the water was nice and cooling.

"Will you help me get out." You huffed, feigning annoyance. The moment he held his hand out for you though you pulled him into the lake, laughing. "I can’t believe you fell for that." You said between giggles earning a splash from Nolan. You retaliated with your own starting a splash fight between you.

Laughter filled the silence around you that going out the lake brought. This is what Nolan liked. The carefreeness that spending the summer with you brought. He didn’t have to think, have to be Nolan Patrick drafted second for the Philadelphia Flyers, he could just relax and be himself around you. You didn’t expect any different from him. You just saw him as your best friend Nolan who you went to school with.

"We should probably go inside and help with dinner." He sighed, noticing your friends have gone inside now. He drew circles where he held your hips, enjoying the quiet moment between you.

"You’re right. We don’t want the place to burn down when we’ve got a few more weeks left here." You giggled, brushing his hair out of the way. "Come on."

Nolan reluctantly let you go, following you out of the water. He stayed close though, his hand brushing yours as you both made your way inside, grabbing a towel along the way.

The hushed whispers stopped when you and Nolan walked in. Addy grinned at the two of you while Dylan went back to attempting to cook. "So you two finally decided to join us." While she didn’t directly say anything, you knew by her tone that she was insinuating that something more happened out there. It didn’t though.

"Someone needs to make sure this place doesn’t burn down." You said, leaning against the bar. Nolan mumbled something about going to get changed which you acknowledged with smile before turning back to your friends who quirked their eyebrow. "What?"

"Nothing, Y/N." Dylan jumped in before his girlfriend had a chance to meddle in yours and Nolan's relationship. You reluctantly accepted that as an answer, knowing that Addy was bursting at the seams wanting to say something. You didn’t press any further, mumbling that you were going to get changed too, disappearing around the corner to your bedroom.

-x-

You and Nolan were the first ones up so you decided to start breakfast. The two of you worked seamlessly together, passing each other things that were close to you. It felt very domestic. The humming, the giggles, the conversations about anything; it all felt like something more. It was unspoken though between you, always has been since the spark in high school that Addy never let you live down.

Someone clearing their throat brought you and Nolan out of you little bubble. You both turned around to see your two friends wearing amused grins. "Good morning."

"Morning." You mumbled. "Coffee's already brewed so help yourself." Dylan thanked you, immediately getting himself and Addy a cup before sliding back beside her, holding her hand again.

"We’ve actually got some news." Addy said, smiling at Dylan.

"You’re pregnant?" You gasped, your mind immediately going to that route.

"What? No!" She shook her head. "We’re getting married."

Silence fell between the group, the only thing heard was the 'shit' Nolan mumbled from burning his hand on the toast that had just popped up. You looked at him to make sure he’s okay to find him already looking at you, a surprise look on his face matching yours.

"Congrats, guys!" You said, finally finding your words after realising that neither you or Nolan have actually said anything. "When are you thinking of having the big day?"

"That’s what we actually wanted to talk to you two about." Dylan started. "We were hoping you could help us... this Saturday."

The sip you just took spluttered everywhere. Nolan instinctively rubbed your back to help alleviate the choking. Saturday. That was too soon. You weren’t one to put a timeline on love but less than a week to be engaged and plan a wedding was insane; and you were certain that they haven’t been engaged longer because Addy can’t keep a secret, especially one this big.

"Is everything okay?" Addy asked.

"Yeah just went down the wrong hole." You lied, your voice hoarse from the choking. "This is amazing news and we’d be happy to help." You said which was how you ended up spending the rest of your week with Nolan, wondering the streets of Winnipeg trying to find a last minute cake, flowers, decorations, and things to wear.

You were stood queuing in the flower shop, not that you minded as the air conditioning was welcomed from the heat outside. Various flowers covered the shop, it felt small and welcoming. You picked up your favourite flower giving it a sniff before putting it back, out of habit. "Have you thought about marriage in the future?" You asked Nolan out of nowhere, curious to see what he sees his future entailing.

"Can’t say I’ve really thought about it." He said after pausing for a moment to think about your question. "What about you?"

"Probably. I mean it would depend on if I found the right person, you know?" You answered and Nolan nodded in agreement knowing what you meant. "I’m also fine with not getting married. As long as we are happy and together it doesn’t really matter to me." You felt heat rise to your cheeks seeing that Nolan was looking at you intently, listening to what you have to say.

The moment was interrupted by the little old lady, who ran the shop, clearing her throat to let you know that she was finished with the previous customer. "What can I help you with?" She asked with a welcoming smile.

You began to tell the lady what you were after and the time constraints that came with it while Nolan just stood there. He wasn’t complaining though as he got to spend time with you. She nodded and went to look at what she’s got for you and Nolan. He was glad you weren’t standing too close as you would probably hear his heart rate speed up when you started humming to whatever song was playing on the radio, a smile gracing your lips as you tapped your fingers to the beat.

"So how long have you two been together?" The lady asked, surprising you both with her return from the back room.

"Oh, no- we- we’re just friends." You and Nolan both stuttered out, shaking your heads. You didn’t know why but your stomach dropped when Nolan said that, even though you also said it.

The woman was quick to apologise but the awkwardness had fallen upon the small shop. You excused yourself to take a phone call, for the cake and for a breath of fresh air, leaving Nolan and the owner alone. She smiled at him nodding towards the flowers you had smelt earlier. "You should get them. I think they’d like them." He looked at your favourite flowers and remembered how your face lit up when you saw them. He grabbed a bunch and went to add more cash to the total when she stopped him. "On the house. Go get them."

Nolan thanked her, ignoring her little comment about 'getting you'. He already had you. You’re one of his best friends. He couldn’t imagine his life without you.

"The cake is-" You started, stopping when you saw Nolan holding a bouquet of flowers. "sorted."

"They’re for you. I noticed you liked them and thought you deserved them for putting a wedding together in less than seven days." He mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck out of nervousness.

"Well thank you, Nols." You thanked him, smiling into the bunch of flowers. "You have to let me buy dinner now though."

"Come on." He grinned at you and you hooked your arm through his walking to your favourite place to eat.

-x-

The backyard overlooking the lake was beautiful. Fairy lights were strung up around the trees with flowers intertwined between some of them. Music flowed through the space for Addy's and Dylan’s first dance as husband and wife. The ceremony was simple yet tear jerking, with Nolan having to give you his pocket square. It was just you two as witnesses, your friends not wanting to make a big deal out of there commitment for each other which you got.

Nolan had his jacket off, flung on the nearby fence, with his sleeves rolled up while the two of you swayed to the music. His hands were on your hips while your arms were crossed around the back of his neck. "You look beautiful." He said, heat rising to your cheeks.

"You don’t look too bad yourself." You returned. "I don’t get to see you in a suit. You’re always in them ridiculous shorts."

"Those are great shorts." Nolan grumbled while you giggled.

"I admire them, you know." You said after a moment of silence, looking at the couple laughing together before turning back to Nolan. "They just went for it, didn’t think about the consequences or whether they’ll last as a couple. They love each other right now and that’s what matters. Them two, not the forces around them."

When you finished, it felt like everything shifted. That there was an underlying meaning to what you were saying and maybe there was. Nolan seemed to have picked up on the change as he breathed out your name. You couldn’t look at him though, your thoughts full from all the times in your friendship that was something more than friends.

"We’re going to call it a night, guys." Dylan said, interrupting the two of you. Addy gave you a concerned look, noticing the change between you and Nolan but you just gave her a short shake of the head not wanting to bother her with your problems. "See you at the party tomorrow?" You nodded before following them back into the lake house.

"Y/N..." Nolan called after you. You didn’t turn around though, not wanting to face it, whatever it was, tonight. You were confused and Nolan deserved more than that.

-x-

"Okay, spill." Addy said, coming up to you with a new drink in her hand for you. You were moping around the party avoiding everyone. You came to support your friends announcing their marriage to your other friends but that also meant Nolan would be here and you have yet to talk to him since last night. "You’ve been moping all night and so has Nolan. What happened between you two? Everything was okay at the wedding and then it wasn’t."

You played with the cup in your hand thinking about what happened. She placed her hand on top of yours making you look up at her. "We were just talking, well I was, and I said something and now it’s weird between us." Addy didn’t say anything, wanting for you to clarify. "I was saying how I admired you two and how you didn’t think about the consequences of getting married, that you just did it."

"And you were thinking about Nolan while you said it." Addy finished, putting two and two together.

"I didn’t though." You insisted but your friend wasn’t having any of it.

"Look, you and Nolan aren’t stupid. You both know there is something more between you. That there has always been something between you. You’re both scared to do something about it though."

"Tha- that’s not true. We’re just friends." You said, your voice lacking conviction.

"Please, he mumbles all the time except when he’s talking to you. You do the exact same thing. You both look forward to this time of you and you miss him when he’s gone and before you say anything it’s a different kind of missing him then me and Dylan do."

You sighed, no longer able to fight all the feelings you have pushed to the side, knowing Addy was right. Deep down you knew but as with any friends to potential lover situations you were afraid of ruining your friendship, as cliche as it was. "It doesn’t matter anyway. He’s going back to Philly soon."

"And you don’t have a job yet." She simply said. "Just talk to him first. Don’t let this be the last thing that happens between you before he goes."

"Married life made you wise." You joked earning a loud laugh and a playful shove from her. She nodded her head in Nolan's direction telling you to go to him.

You looked at him properly for this first time all night. Like you, he was moping in the corner with an old drink in his hand, sending forced smiles whenever someone came to talk to him. You sent him a text asking if you could talk to him. Nolan looked over to you and nodded, following you to a quieter part of the party.

"I’m sorry for leaving like that yesterday." You started, not giving him a chance to sit down on the bed.

"It’s okay. I’m just confused more than anything. What did I do?" Nolan asked, his eyebrows furrowed.

"You didn’t do anything. It was me." You assured him. He wrapped his hand around yours making you look up at him. His expression had softened, something it did when he was around you, you had noticed. "I said those things and it got me thinking..."

"About us." Nolan filled the silence. You gave him a short nod. He thought about what he was about to say. It was something that has been playing on his mind all summer. "I can’t stand the thought of leaving you again. Come with me."

"To Philadelphia? I-I don’t have a job, or a place to stay, and I don’t know anyone." You rambled.

"You can find a job while you’re there and you can stay with me. You know me and the team are really nice." He said, his hands moving to cup your cheeks. "Please come with me. Let’s figure us out together."

Your nose brushed his as you tilted your head up. Moving your entire life to another country for a guy was insane to you only it wasn’t just any guy. It was Nolan. Your best friend and the boy you loved. "Okay."

[keanureevesisbae]

The alluring charm of Henry Cavill - Chapter 5

Summary: After a short two day break, Adelaide finally comes back to the cottage. During their next challenge however, things don’t go to plan. 

Henry Cavill x Adelaide Park (ofc)

Wordcount: 7.9k (I know, this is a lot, but I don’t know what happened to me

Warnings: Descriptions of a haunted house and what can be found in them.

Masterlist // Previous chapter // Next chapter

I’ve been here in Italy for a week and a half now, but I have to take a small break, because the I had to travel to Switzerland. It was only for two days, to sign some papers and meet up with the director. The filming process isn’t starting for three more months, but it’s nice to know a bit more about it and to finally see the director in real life.

Plus it felt like I finally had time to breath, when I’m not being surrounded by camera’s. Henry and I prerecorded our challenges, so the schedule isn’t messed up.

Two days ago, the second episode aired and I actually liked the way people write about us and me. For once I’m not the ditz, but I’m the daredevil and actually quite smart.

I’m in the back of a taxi, as the driver soars over the roads. Thankfully he can’t hear me because of the plastic that separates us and from the looks of it, he doesn’t want to talk to me. That’s a good thing, because I see my dad wants to FaceTime me. ‘Hi,’ I say when I pick up.

Ever since I have been making a lot of money, he started to look even better and better. Not because I’m paying for his botox, but because he finally can relax. Years of overworking himself, stressing over me and my mom, it took a toll on him. Though he still works hard to make sure my mom is happy, it’s nothing compared to what he had to do.

The smile on my father’s face when he sees me is priceless. Even when I was younger, his entire face would light up when he saw me. I’m happy to know that I still have that effect on my dad, even when there is an ocean in between us and we’re on FaceTime. ‘You look so pretty,’ is the first thing he tells me.

He is an absolute sweetheart. ‘Thank you.’

‘Where are you?’

‘I’m in a taxi, appa. I went to Switzerland for my new movie. Now I’m on my way back to Italy, to the cottage I’m staying at.’

‘Right,’ he says. He tilts his head. ‘You okay?’

‘I’m totally fine,’ I tell him. ‘Why? Don’t you like the show?’

He smiles, holding his phone very close to his face, as if he is closer to me then. ‘I do, but you look tired.’

I simply shrug. ‘I’m okay. How is eomma? She likes the show?’

Dad nods. ‘She is resting now, but she loves the show. Tell me, you like this Henry guy?’

Why am I blushing? What a way to give yourself away, Adelaide Park. ‘I like being around him, yes.’

‘Don’t lie,’ he says. ‘I taught you better than to lie to your appa. You like like him, right? I can tell, you know. Your smile when you’re with him tells me enough and you do that thing.’

My brows furrow together. ‘What thing?’

‘You touchy.’

‘That sounds perverted,’ I say. ‘And by the way, I’m not touchy.’

‘You are,’ dad tells me and this man is dead serious. ‘You touch his arm in your sleep. You always do that when you sleep, touch the other person. I remember when you were little girl, maybe five, and it was summer. It was very hot. Normally at that age, you always lay next to me, very close, because you were scared. But it was too hot, so you only placed your hand on my arm, because you couldn’t sleep without psychically knowing that I was there.’

I’m so grateful that there are no camera’s around, because this is one way to get exposed.

‘Also, you are happy around him. I haven’t seen you like that in a long time,’ he says with a smile.

I lean my head against the head rest. ‘I’m always happy,’ I tell him. ‘Not just because of him.’

He simply nods. ‘I see you don’t want to talk about it. That’s okay, I understand. You don’t want to talk about your love life with your appa.’

‘This is barely a love life,’ I chuckle.

‘It’s more than you have now.’

I purse my lips together, to not burst out into laughter. ‘Thanks for putting it into perspective.’

‘You take good care of yourself?’

‘Yes, dad.’

He nods. ‘I’m very proud of you,’ he says in all seriousness. ‘Only a daughter of mine eats fried spider like it’s nothing.’

I keep thinking about that challenge. It was disgusting, sure, but it’s true what I said: I can eat anything. One time, we didn’t have anything to eat and my dad was desperate. After spending an entire day at school, with only half an apple, I was starving and crying. It was pretty rough weather outside, so he couldn’t go on his usual round of finding food behind the restaurants, something he did when it was a situation like this. He went to the garden and found us some earthworms. My mom refused to eat it, after dad sort of made a meal out of it. She told him she wasn’t going to accept that we were that poor that we needed to eat earthworms.

What was next? He was going to snatch the snails out of the yard? He was going to catch a pigeon? Go fishing in the lake a few kilometers from our house?

They started fighting. My mom was mad at my dad, my dad thought she was being ungrateful. Just to stop them from fighting, I ate the fried earthworm and despite it being disgusting, I was too hungry and needed something in my stomach. It instantly stopped them from fighting and my dad was proud of me eating it. My mom even ate one, because she didn’t want me to think any less of her, she told me years later.

We talk for a bit and then he has to hang up, since he needs to do some groceries. I stare at the picture he send me yesterday. We don’t have many pictures of us from when I was younger, but he actually found the only one we have of the three of us. It was during Christmas. Both him and my mom were home when I was seven and the neighbor came over with her polaroid camera. She made a picture of us and during a clean up session, my dad found it again.

I remember what he texted with the picture: I loved you when you were born, I loved you when you were my little princess and I still love you now you are my hardworking princess. I’m so proud of you.

I’m pulled out of my thoughts, when I see that Henry wants to FaceTime. I answer the call and see his handsome face appear on my screen. ‘There you are,’ he says, a grin spread across his face. ‘Are you almost home?’

Home. I never had a place that I called home. It was always the people that made a place home. My parents were my home and since I moved out for my career in the acting industry, I have an apartment where I stay, but it’s never a home. I can’t seem to turn it into a home.

But staying in this cottage with Henry, felt homey, but I didn’t dare to call it a home, not wanting to come across weird or desperate.

However Henry does it now and it makes my heart skip a beat.

I look at the navigation screen and say: ‘Forty minutes.’

‘I miss you,’ he admits.

This shouldn’t make me blush like it does right now. I can’t stop my smile. ‘You miss me?’ I teasingly ask.

‘A whole lot, Addy. The place is so quiet without you here.’ He flashes me a dashing smile and sits outside on the doorstep, in the nice evening sun. ‘How was Switzerland?’

‘It was okay,’ I tell him. ‘The place where we are going to shoot is beautiful.’

‘Did the director have someone in mind for the love interest?’

I nod. ‘Yes, he is thinking about asking David Castañeda again. We also starred in another movie together and he liked our chemistry.’

When I told Henry about what the movie was about, he simply raised his eyebrows. It’s about a woman who goes to Switzerland, she is a journalist and needs to write a story about a mysterious man who owns way too many dogs and no one seems to understand him.

I don’t really need to explain how the rest of the movie will go, since it’s still a romantic comedy, thus pretty self explanatory what is going to happen.

‘But if David says no…?’

‘We’re back at square one,’ I say. ‘You sure I can’t pursue you?’

‘You, Addy, can pursue me any day.’ He winks at me, but I don’t understand the joke. ‘I think you wanted to persuade me, not pursue me.’

Oh shit, this is embarrassing. I’m tempted to open the car door while we’re going this fast, simply to throw myself out. ‘Yeah, I meant persuade. Sorry, English is hard.’

Henry smiles, but it disappears when he looks at me on his screen and he tilts his head in the process. ‘Are you okay?’

‘I’m fine.’

‘You have watery eyes.’

I clear my throat, before I blink away the tears in my eyes, because I indeed have watery eyes. ‘Really, it’s fine.’

‘Sure?’

Though I want to tell him a bit more about my private life, the words never roll out of my mouth. Like something is physically stopping me. However, now I say: ‘My dad called me. Just wanted to know how I was.’

Henry nods. ‘When was the last time you saw him?’

‘Think eight months ago. I just miss him a lot, just like I miss my mom.’

‘Understandably so.’ He leans against the doorframe, while he simply stares at his screen. ‘What did they think of the show?’

‘They liked it, but they like every single thing I’m in. They rewatch interviews, movies and episodes of Remembering High School when they miss me.’ I smile, thinking about the millions of videos that my dad send me of them rewatching episodes. He would film himself and say sweet things about how his daughter is the most talented one on the screen, or that his daughter is the prettiest. I know that he sends those videos to me, but he also sends them to friends. ‘I think I just realized now how much I miss them.’

‘That’s totally understandable,’ Henry says. ‘Are you going to visit them once this is over?’

‘I think so.’

Henry smiles. ‘Well, they can be proud of you and they should be. I am proud of you too,’ he says. ‘I mean, you totally put me to shame with that food challenge. I even got a message from Angela Bassett, saying how you are by far the coolest and that I’m a wimp.’

I chuckle. ‘That’s sweet and she is right.’

We talk for a while and those forty minutes fly by. The taxi stops in front of the cottage and Henry stands up with a bright smile. He always looks so happy to see me. The chauffeur hands me my bag and after I thanked him, he gets in again and drives off. Henry walks over to me and snakes his arms around my waist, lifting me up after he pulled me close to his body. ‘I’m happy to know that you aren’t going to leave me here again in this cottage,’ he says. ‘It felt like every second went by at least seven times.’

Sure, what he said was sweet, but I can’t seem to focus on those words, since this is the tightest hug someone has given me, apart from my parents of course. This is actually the first time he is hugging me. I press my nose in his shoulder, taking in his familiar scent and I close my eyes.

I’m really home now.

He lets go of me way too quickly. ‘I made you dinner.’

‘Really?’ I ask. ‘What did you make me?’

‘Pasta bolognese. When in Rome, right?’ He points a daring finger at me and says: ‘Don’t you dare say we aren’t in Rome.’

‘I wouldn’t dare,’ I chuckle. He holds out his hand and I give him my bag, before we walk into the cottage. During dinner, I tell him more about the movie and how beautiful the little town was where we’re going to film.

‘Isn’t it tiring, though?’ Henry asks. ‘To constantly play in romantic comedies?’

He asked me this before, but I didn’t know him that well to answer truthfully. Now I do know him well enough, to at least be sort of honest, without sounding like an ungrateful bitch. I simply shrug. ‘Sometimes I wished I would get other offers, but I guess I just have the face for romantic comedies.’

‘What kind of genre would you like to play in?’

‘Like a thriller or an action movie,’ I say. ‘More serious, you know? Maybe even Lara Croft one day. That would be amazing.’

‘You would nail Lara Croft,’ he says. ‘I feel like you have a lot of potential to play in tons of different movies. You would do great in a drama too, but a thriller is something I would like you to star in. Really different from what you do now.’

‘Don’t you ever want to play in a romantic comedy or something really serious?’ I ask him. ‘A drama for example?’

‘I would like to try it out one day,’ he says.

‘I think you would be great in a romantic comedy. You have that charm that women fall for.’

Henry cocks an eyebrow. ‘A charm you say?’

‘Yeah, exactly.’ I smile at him, stirring through my pasta. ‘What is a role you really want to portray one day? I mean, you already played Superman, that was pretty awesome.’

He nods. ‘Maybe James Bond one day.’

‘Why would you want to do that?’

‘I mean… It’s James Bond. That’s almost every men’s dream.’ Henry takes a sip of his water, as he clearly is studying my face. ‘Why? Don’t you like James Bond?’

I shake my head. ‘My mom hated the movies with a passion when I was growing up. It’s kind of sexist, really. I feel like, if you should ever play a movie with something like that, you should look into a movie where they create a whole new legendary character. Just like Keanu Reeves is the start of a John Wick legacy, you could be the start of something else.’ I smile at him, before adding: ‘You deserve better than to portray James Bond, Henry.’

He plays with his food for a second, before he looks at me again. ‘You think so?’

I nod. ‘Of course. I wouldn’t lie to you.’

Henry smiles. ‘Well, I’ll consider it.’

After we finish our dinner, I take a shower and get dressed in my pajamas. Despite the fact that I only drove back to the cottage today from Switzerland, I am really tired. Before I would go to bed early, simply to avoid falling in sleep in front of him, but now we usually get in bed together. We talk about tons of stuff before we actually fall asleep, still with the wall of pillows between us.

My mind is nearly in Dreamland already. I turn on my side and wrap my leg and arm around the pillows, my fingertips accidentally caressing his soft skin. ‘You don’t mind me doing this?’ I groggily whisper, still remembering my dad’s words that I’m apparently doing that thing.

‘I don’t,’ Henry says. ‘I think it’s sweet.’

I open my eyes for a brief second and I see him already looking at me, a smile toying on his face.

‘Go to sleep, Addy. Tomorrow you and I go swimming in the morning, remember?’

‘Oh right,’ I yawn, closing my eyes again. Somehow my hand finds his and I hesitate for a second. Should I pull my hand back or just leave it here? Thankfully I don’t have to think about that, because Henry wraps his fingers through mine and whispers: ‘Good night, Adelaide.’

‘Good night,’ I mumble, slowly drifting off to sleep.

◎ ◎ ◎

The next morning, I’m back in the insanely cold pool again with Henry. We’ve done this two times before now, but I still don’t trust myself enough to do something alone in the water. Even if it’s just holding the edge, as I’m sort of swimming by myself, Henry close by. I know that even if I do that, he wouldn’t let anything happen to me.

‘No, no, no,’ I quickly say, when he suggests that same idea, for the second time this morning. ‘Don’t let go of me, please.’

‘Addy, have I ever let go of you, when you didn’t want me to?’ he asks me. He decides to answer his own question. ‘No, I have never done that, so I’m not going to do that now. I’m just going to remove one hand from your waist to hold your hand, okay?’

‘No,’ I whine.

Henry starts to chuckle. ‘What’s up with you today?’ he asks. ‘You’re shaking. Is the water that cold or are you scared?’

‘I’m scared,’ I admit. ‘I know that I have to do it myself one day and at least try a bit alone, but not today. Please.’

‘Okay, not today,’ he assures me. ‘You seem a bit tense. Is everything okay?’

I sigh. ‘I just got a text from my dad this morning,’ I whisper, but loud enough for him to hear it, maybe not loud enough for the “hidden” camera’s that are stationed in the garden to pick up. ‘It’s just that my mom has a cold and that always worries me.’

‘Why?’ he asks, as he stops walking in the water.

I don’t want to tell him, but I know that I eventually will. My arms are wrapped around his shoulders, while his fingers are circling on my skin. It’s such a small, yet caring gesture from his side. ‘My mom is paralyzed from the waist down,’ I tell him. ‘But… She… After she got paralyzed, she never got back to her old health, if that makes sense. She is very prone to colds and a simply cold can turn into a nasty flu and that can result into her needing to go to the hospital. She ended up in the emergency room a few times and each time I wasn’t home. My dad always tells me not to worry about her, just like my mom tells me not to worry, but it’s hard. I worry a lot about them all the time, especially when she’s sick.’

Henry doesn’t say anything, he simply studies my face. ‘I had no idea,’ he tells me. ‘Come here.’ He pulls me towards his body and I nuzzle my face in his neck. ‘I’m so sorry, Addy. I understand you worry a lot about them, but… I just have to ask: why don’t you tone it down with the movies, so you can be with them?’

I pull back and say: ‘Because… I want to provide for them.’

‘Why?’ His blue eyes almost look innocent. I have to hold myself in, not to brush the wet curls out of his face, not to press my nose against his cheek, to kiss his jaw, feeling the short hairs puncture my lips. I can’t stop myself falling in love with him. He is everything that I was apparently looking for in a man. He is kind, he is patient and he is caring. He knows how to cook, he can read me like the back of his hand and yesterday, the way he held my hand when I went to sleep, is making me feel all sorts of things.

But there is one thing that I know: if he ever becomes a bigger part of my life, he should know more about me. I have been dodging it for too long now, but I should tell him. And even if we don’t become an item, I know that we will end up as friends. I know that after the Celebrity Project ends, I don’t ever want him out of my life again.

‘When I grew up, we were very poor,’ I say. ‘Like, my dad had to work long hours in a factory, my mom became a live in nanny and I had to raise myself. My dad barely ate after a long day of work, so mom and I could have most of it, when my mom would be home to eat it. I went to one of the only schools that was close by and was free. It wasn’t a great school, I don’t even think my teachers remember me at all. We couldn’t afford testing for me, something that my parents didn’t even know about, because they couldn’t miss a day at their jobs and I did my own parent teacher meetings.’

‘Geez, Adelaide,’ he says. ‘I’m so sorry.’

I clear my throat, because I don’t want to cry. ‘When I was nineteen, I was working at a diner, to help meet ends back at home, since I couldn’t go to college, my mom was hit by a car and left paralyzed. The medical bills were out of the roof and she needed physical therapy, but we couldn’t afford it. And that’s the whole reason I started acting in ‘Remembering High School’. I had zero acting experience, but I needed the money. After I made that money and my year on the show was up, I got offered two different movies. A romantic comedy or a thriller, but from the looks of it, the romantic comedy would definitely make more. Thankfully I chose that movie, because the thriller was a big flop. Every penny I earned from that movie and a few after that, went to my parents, for their bills.’

Henry nods and removes his hand from my waist, so he can wipe the tears of my cheeks.  Not that it helps, since his hand is still wet from the water. ‘You are amazing,’ he says. ‘I think you are by far the most amazing woman on this earth. Do you still do that? Give your money to your parents?’

I nod. ‘I don’t really know what I should do with it and my parents worked so hard for me. This is my way of thanking them.’

Henry pulls me closer to him, his arms around my body and I let out a tiny sob that I was holding in, when I bury my face in his strong shoulder. ‘It’s okay,’ he whispers. ‘If you want to go home, you just go home, okay? I totally understand. Your family is more important than this show.’

‘I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before.’

‘No, no, no, don’t say something like that. I understand. It’s very personal and this isn’t something that you just tell people. You are amazing, Addy, please remember that, okay?’

I nod, before slowly pulling back, so I can look at him again. Henry is smiling. ‘What?’ I ask.

‘You just keep on surprising,’ he says. ‘And in these days that I’m spending time with you, I’ve gotten to know you in a way that I never thought would be possible. Angela spoke so highly of you, though she barely knew you. Now I know you quite well and I can’t speak anything but highly of you.’

I let out a nervous chuckle. ‘You don’t have to.’

‘But I will anyways,’ he smiles. ‘Let’s get out of the pool now, you are freezing.’ We go to the edge and when I climbed out, I grab my towel and wrap it around me. Henry’s perfectly shaped body, with the right hip-shoulder ratio… I can’t help but look.

‘Henry,’ I say, causing him to look up. ‘Thank you.’

He chuckles. ‘Not a single problem, Adelaide.’

◎ ◎ ◎

Dad: No need to worry. Eomma will make it, it’s a tiny flu.

Adelaide: Sure?

Dad: More than sure. Enjoy your time.

Dad: I love you 😘

Adelaide: I love you too 😘

I keep thinking about my dad’s texts. I mean, he tells me that it will be alright and I should believe him. Back in the day, he was always right and that shouldn’t change now.

After our little swimming adventure, Henry and I got ready for the day and now we’re standing in front of a haunted house, waiting for the host of today to get ready. What exactly the challenge is for today, I don’t know, but I’m not looking forward to it at all.

The rest on the other hand seem to be totally fine. Henry places both of his hands on my shoulders and I look back, placing the top of my head against his chest. Even upside down, he is beautiful looking. I bet I look like a moron. ‘Are you okay?’ he quietly asks.

‘I’m fine.’ Thankfully over the course of the years, I have become a better liar, which I think is a skill thanks to my acting career. I have always been a master at hiding my emotions, but when people get closer to me (just my parents, but nowadays Henry too), it’s harder, because they see right through me.

And right now, I’m not fine. My mom is sick and I don’t know how she is doing as we speak. We have to go through the haunted house and I’m afraid that they are going to make us go individually. I really want to go with Henry, because then I can just hop on his back, bury my face in his neck and not look.

However, this show is the stupidest thing I’ve ever participated in, because we have to go through the haunted house all by ourselves, while even doing some challenges while we’re inside.

My heart is racing and I can’t even look at the big screen outside of the house, without jumping. Henry is still standing behind me, with his hands still on my shoulders, his thumbs pressing into the tight muscles to make them less tense. ‘Relax,’ he whispers, when someone else is going inside. ‘You’re going to be fine.’

But I can’t believe him. I’m not going to be fine. Justin screams his lungs out when someone pops up in front of him, as he is trying to solve a Rubik’s cube. Jennifer is hiding in a corner, while she is singing one of her own songs. And when it’s Henry’s turn, he has to solve a sudoku, but he jumps at every little sound and that is really not easing my mind. If a man like him, who nearly tripped over his own feet because I moved the fried tarantula in his face, screams like this when he hears water drip on the floor, how the hell am I supposed to do this?

After watching everyone else go, it’s time for me. I feel like my petite frame reminds them of a kindergartner, because they all wish me extra good luck. Jennifer even pulls me into a motherly hug and whispers that I’ve got this.

But do I have it in me to finish this?

I push open the door and I step into the house of horrors. I could eat the most disgusting looking snacks and people called me a daredevil. I can manage this. This isn’t that terrifying. It’s just fake, it’s like acting.

Only this set looks scary as hell and there is no one out here to say cut.

The lights start to flicker, something they didn’t do before. How am I supposed to read and answer eventual questions if I have to do that? I take a step forward, but my heart is pounding so loud, that my eardrums hurt.

The steps are minuscule, but at least I’m taking steps forward. Every door, every corner, every closed window… It makes me hesitant, but so far, nothing has happened. Maybe the actors that work here feel sorry for me.

I could crawl over the floor, I think to myself. Maybe that would be—

Something falls down from the ceiling and bounces on the floor. I jump backwards, letting out a scream that is more a high whistle note. When I finally can open my eyes again, I notice it’s a head and just a head. ‘It’s fake,’ I tell myself out loud. ‘It’s fake.

But then the head starts to scream, causing me to scream and a tiny sob escapes my lips. No, no, no, this can’t be happening.

I quickly jump over it and hurry myself through the rest of the hall.

Because I’m simply just walking and not paying attention, I bump into a wall and I go left, but someone with a fucking knife comes out of the door and I stumble backwards. Thankfully this person keeps standing in the doorframe and I crawl past them, but he or she keeps standing in the doorway, not attacking me. ‘Thank you,’ I squeak, my throat tightening, almost like someone is physically choking me.

Okay, I managed this and I see a clipboard with some questions on a table. I press my back against the wall, so I can see everyone.

What is the capital of Russia? Easy peasy, lemon squeezy, I think to myself. If these are the questions, I’m out of here within a minute.

I hear footsteps and the light that was flickering two seconds ago, is completely out. It’s dark. Oh no, oh no, oh no.

I can’t see anything, but I hear screams and dark voices. I try to catch my breath, when the light come back on and I’m surrounded by a bloody nurse, a creepy clown and oh my, is that not one, but three zombies? They are really close to me and I can’t help up but scream bloody murder, as I hide my face behind the clipboard. ‘No, go away, go away!’

Is that a fucking chainsaw?

I open my eyes for a second, only to see that someone who looks like Chucky is really close now with a chainsaw. This doesn’t seem fake anymore. This seems way too real and my brain is going crazy. What is happening? Am I dying?

I start to cough, as the tears run over my cheeks. ‘No, stop, please!’

I hear something, but the pounding of my heart is too hard for me to hear what is happening. All I can do is cry, shake and cough as the tears nearly make me choke.

‘Addy, I’m here,’ I hear a voice say, but I keep hiding my face in my face, kicking my feet and I hit something. ‘Ouch, no, no, it’s me, Henry. Don’t worry, it’s all over.’

I peek through my fingers, to see the lights are on and all the scary people that cornered me, are gone. The only one I see now, is Henry. My cheeks are flushed and my eyes hurt from crying. I try to say something, but my breathing is all over the place.

Henry holds my hands and places one on my own chest and the other on his. ‘Try to breath with me, Adelaide,’ he says to me. ‘Now breath in deeply.’ He takes a deep breath, holds it for a second, before slowly breathing out. I try to copy him, but my breathing is too erratic. It takes at least ten times before I’m finally sort of managing. ‘Very good,’ he says in a soft tone. ‘Very good.’

‘Is it over?’ I whimper.

Henry nods, holding my hand tightly in his. ‘It’s all over. I’m so sorry that this happened to you and I’m sorry I didn’t come in here way sooner. I should’ve noticed that this was too much.’

‘Did we lose?’

‘Doesn’t matter,’ he says sternly. ‘You shouldn’t worry about that.’ Henry stands up and pulls me with him, but my legs feel like jello and simply give out, because of all the adrenaline that is breaking down. I cling onto his shirt, as he holds me up by my waist.

‘I can’t anymore,’ I cry, as I bury my face into his shirt, not caring about wiping my tears on the fabric. ‘I’m so scared.’

‘I know,’ he sighs. ‘Fuck, I know.’ He hoists me up in his arms, guiding me into wrapping my legs around his waist. ‘Don’t look,’ he tells me.

I don’t even want to look at this awful, awful place anymore, so I bury my face into his neck, as he walks out of the haunted house. He places me on the soft grass and he runs his fingers through my disheveled hair. ‘Addy, listen to me,’ he says, ‘you’re breathing is good, but you need to make sure that it stays like this okay?’

I simply nod. ‘I’m just so embarrassed.’

‘There is absolutely no need to be embarrassed,’ he tells me. ‘You can stop with this program if you want. I mean, I totally understand that you want to quit.’

‘I think I just want tomorrow off,’ I whisper. ‘And do nothing.’

‘I understand,’ he says. ‘You want to go home?’

Home. ‘As long as you are there.’

Henry smiles, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. ‘I’m not leaving you, Addy. Not after this.’

◎ ◎ ◎

When Henry and I are home, I feel disgusting. I could actually use a shower, but I’m too afraid of standing in the shower cabin by myself and I don’t want to shower with Henry (our friendship is too fragile for that), so a simple washing cloth should do the trick.

The producers of the Celebrity Project gave me the next day off and depending on how I feel after tomorrow, I will decide whether or not I’m staying here. I don’t want to give up and I think I can overcome this.

Henry sits next to me on the couch, as we both stare at the television. We have been watching Mamma Mia, simply because of the ABBA songs and the story line is predictable and predictability is exactly what I need right now. ‘You want something to drink?’ he asks me, when the credits are rolling on the screen.

I shake my head. ‘No, thank you.’

‘How are you feeling?’

‘I don’t know,’ I whisper.

‘Do you want to go to bed?’ he suggests. ‘We could do that. I bet you are tired.’

I am tired and the fact that he said that we could do that, must indicate that he is going to stay with me, right? I simply nod and he says he is going to close off. To be alone is not what I want right now, so I follow him around the cottage like a puppy.

When we’re in bed, I ask him if he wants to leave the light on his nightstand on. I still sit up straight in bed, my arms wrapped around my knees. Henry places a hand on my back.

‘I’m scared,’ I whisper, as I feel my heart pounding painfully in my chest.

He sighs deeply. ‘I know. Is there anything I can do for you?’

I turn my head to the side, so I can look at him. ‘Can… Can you… Can you hold me, please?’ Tears burn in my eyes. ‘I’m so scared, Henry.’

He throws the pillows from the bed, before I crawl into his inviting arms. I place my head on his chest, my arm wrapped around his waist. ‘Breath, Addy,’ he whispers. ‘It’s all okay now, I’m right here with you. Nothing can happen to you now.’

However, the tears come again and they aren’t stopping. His large hand cups my cheek, his thumb caressing the skin right underneath my eye. He lets me cry, even though I have been crying a lot for the past few hours.

I force myself to stop, because I’m out of breath and I’m just too tired to cry anymore. Henry pulls me closer to his broad and heavy frame.

‘There, there,’ he says in a soft tone. ‘You are all okay now.’

‘I’m so sorry,’ I whisper.

‘No need to be sorry, Addy. You just try and go to sleep, because you are really tired and after this day… You should just sleep, okay?’

During the night, I wake up a few times, but every single time I’m closely tugged into Henry’s protective arms. Sometimes he is behind me, his face buried in my neck or my hair, our hands linked. Sometimes I have my head on his shoulder and then my face is nuzzled in his neck. But every time I wake up, he is still awake. ‘Go back to sleep,’ he whispers, his fingers drawing soothing circles on my skin.

And as if his voice is working like hypnosis, I drift off right back to sleep.

◎ ◎ ◎

The next day, Henry has been nothing but a sweetheart to me and halfway through the day, I feel a whole lot better and decide to stay here and finish the competition. I don’t care that we are last and that we are probably going to lose anyways.

The two of us decide to take a walk through a large orchard, with trees filled with apples and oranges. We end up on a lovely field and I plop down in the grass. The sun is burning on my skin, but I chose a spot near a tree, so we can alternate between sitting in the sun and the shadows.

Henry and I lean against the tree when the sun is too hot for us to sit in, as we stare ahead of us. ‘You know,’ he says, ‘I was wondering something.’

‘Tell me.’

‘You kept your personal life very private over the course of the years. Why was that?’

‘I thought it wasn’t anyones business.’ I look to the side and chuckle. ‘That’s the I try to be really tough-answer, but the truth is: I was embarrassed. No one at school knew about my situation at home and I certainly didn’t want the entire world to know.’

‘You didn’t have any friends?’

I shake my head. ‘Yet again: I was too embarrassed to share this with anyone. Besides, I was the weird girl who wore the same clothes for three days on end.’

‘Kids can be cruel,’ he says, referring to his own past.

I wrap my arms around his strong one, pressing my cheek against his bicep. ‘They can.’

‘Can I ask something else?’

‘You can.’

‘Have you ever dated?’

I place my chin on his arm, so I can actually look at him again. ‘No, I have never.’

‘You have played alongside quite a few single guys. Was there not a spark in real life?’

‘Goodness gracious, Henry, you sound like you’re in a retirement home. A spark in real life? Really?’

He chuckles. ‘You get what I’m saying.’

‘I do,’ I say with a smile. ‘But to answer your question, no, there wasn’t. I mean, I remain in contact with some of them and we’re still friendly, but I never let them in. Not like how I’m with you.’ I place my cheek against his bicep again, but one of my hands slides down his arm. He intertwines his fingers with mine and his thumb draws soft figures on my skin.

Henry nods. ‘You know,’ he says, ‘you are really one of a kind.’

‘Why?’

‘Because you do something that no one else does. You haven’t mentioned my appearance once since we are here.’

‘Really?’ I ask frowning. ‘I thought about your appearance quite a few times.’

He smiles. ‘But you never voiced it. You know, it’s flattering that people comment about my appearance, but you don’t do that. You comment about my personality traits and I don’t want to become all sappy, but… It means a lot.’

‘You are sappy,’ I mumble, causing him to laugh. ‘But since we are being sappy with one another, I should tell you that… You are one of a kind too. You give me a chance. I remember one of the first times I was having issues with speaking and you didn’t fill in the rest. You just waited till I could finish my sentence. That means… a lot. Also, Henry, you… You ran into the haunted house for me.’

‘How…’

‘I saw the footage,’ I say with a smile, remembering what I saw this morning.

He was standing outside, his arms crossed in front of his chest, a deep frown between his brows. ‘Can you just leave the lights on?’ he asked. ‘Flickering lights make it harder for Adelaide to concentrate.’

But there was no response. He shook his head, clenched his jaw and eventually he simply walked away. He went in the haunted house, pressed the “Stop” button, before rushing towards me, pulling some of the actors away. ‘It’s over,’ he told them. ‘Get the fuck out of here.’

After seeing the footage, it made my heart swell like crazy. ‘Quite romantic, really,’ I chuckle.

He laughs, but it sounds more nervous this time. ‘Well… It was nothing.’

‘It meant the world to me,’ I retort. And because of that, I think I’m even more in love with you than I already was. However it doesn’t leave my lips. I don’t want to scare him off.

‘This never happened to me before,’ Henry says. ‘Feeling about someone like this.’

‘Like what?’

‘Like how I feel about you.’ He squeezes my hand, before continuing by saying: ‘I care so much about you, Adelaide. Before you told me about your life, after you told me about your life. Even if we don’t win this contest, I did win something else. I won the privilege to get to know you.’

‘You care for me,’ I repeat, letting those words process for a bit. But that’s not falling in love with me.

‘And,’ he continues, ‘I’m slowly falling for you too.’

I resit, so I don’t strain my neck when I look at him. ‘What?’

He holds my hand tightly in his, as if he is afraid that I might slip away. ‘I’m falling in love with you, Adelaide Park.’

I bite my lip. ‘You are?’

‘I am,’ he confirms. ‘Even if we don’t win this show, I want to figure out how we can manage after this. Maybe you can even tone it down with your movies.’

I chuckle, hiding my face in my hand. ‘Maybe I can do that.’ I look at our linked hands and I whisper: ‘I’m falling love with you too, Henry Cavill.’

‘You are?’ he asks with a smile. ‘Lucky me.’

We don’t say anything. I just look into his eyes, trying to figure out what he is thinking. I can see him staring at my lips, before he moistens his own. ‘When I kiss you,’ he says, ‘there is one problem. I fear that I can’t stop then, but I also want us to remain a little secret. For time being of course.’

I nod. ‘Then you don’t kiss me.’

‘But I want to,’ he chuckles.

‘You have to pick one of the options.’

‘What do you want?’

‘I mean…’ I purse my lips together. ‘I wouldn’t mind if we kissed.’

Henry pulls me closer by my hand. I lose a bit of my balance, so I fall against his chest. ‘Careful now, Addy,’ he chuckles. ‘We don’t want any injuries, now do we?’

‘Shut up.’ I finally place my hand on his cheek and as my thumb is slowly caressing his soft skin, I accidentally graze over his velvety lips. He turns his head, to kiss the palm of my hand.

‘Can I kiss you?’ he asks against my skin, as he places his hand on mine, so he can press another, but more firm kiss on the inside of my hand. ‘You can say no.’

‘I want to kiss you,’ I hoarsely whisper. ‘Badly so.’

‘Badly so,’ he repeats with a self fulfilled grin on his face. He leans in closer to me and teasingly kisses my cheek, the tip of my nose and even my forehead. ‘Where?’ he whispers. ‘Where do you want me to kiss you?’

‘Right here,’ I whisper, before pressing my lips on his. They fit perfectly on each other. I cradle his face in my hands, as he pulls me closer to his body, though my legs are in the way. Without even thinking about it, I sit on his lap, causing him to smile underneath the kiss.

‘Badly so it was,’ he mumbles against my lips, his hands slipping underneath my shirt. He opens his mouth and carefully his tongue invades my mouth. I whimper, as his fingers dig into my back, his thumbs softly circling my stomach.

How many on screen kisses have I done?

Billions.

How many felt like this?

None.

I pull back, so I can catch my breath, but he is not giving me a break. He buries his face in the crook of my neck, pressing wet kisses on my delicate skin. ‘Can we stay here forever?’ he asks against my collarbone. ‘I don’t want to go back to the camera’s.’

‘Me neither,’ I whisper. I place my pointer finger underneath his chin, lifting his face. ‘How are we going to do this back at the cottage?’

‘Well,’ he chuckles, ‘we are already behaving like a cute couple, so we don’t have to change a lot about that. Just have to hold back the kisses.’

My fingers run through his curls, messing them up a little, but he doesn’t seem to mind. Henry simply smiles at me. ‘I think we can manage that,’ I say, smiling back at him.

‘Can I have another kiss?’ he asks.

‘You can,’ I whisper, before he captures my lips again. This kiss is even more intense and my fingers toy with the buttons of his shirt, when we hear someone clear their throat. We look up, to see a little boy staring at us, while his grandmother is screaming something in the back. ‘Maybe we should find another place,’ I suggest, stepping off his lap.

‘Yeah,’ Henry says, ‘maybe we should.’

◎ ◎ ◎

Adelaide: You were right.

Adelaide: I like Henry a lot

Dad: I’m always right

Adelaide: And I kissed him.

Dad: You didn’t?

Adelaide: I did, but please keep this a secret.

Dad: I can tell your eomma right?

Adelaide: Yes you can

Adelaide: I love you 😘

Dad: I love you too, future mrs. Cavill

Adelaide: Please, don’t.

◎ ◎ ◎

Taglist: @thelastsock​ // @jolly-polly​ // @henrythickcavill​ // @maan24​ // @diegos-butt​ / @agniavateira​ // @onlyhenrys​ // @turkish276​ //

[maybankiara]

PHONE SWAP (DREW STARKEY)

01: NICE TO MEET YOU

summary: Addie Mallory is just your average economics student when she meets Drew Starkey at her local Target in Atlanta. This is where the story is supposed to end – a short meeting and a picture to go – except Drew accidentally leaves with the wrong phone, and the story begins, instead.

w/c: 2k

a/n: it’s finally here! the first chapter! this one is written as real life and introduces us to our three main characters. let me know what you think! also, this is in no way affiliated with either drew or creators of obx. if you want to be on the taglist, either shoot me a message/ask, or fill out the tag list form!

series masterlist | tag list

read on wattpad

Addie thinks she must be wrong. Of all places, he can’t be here.

  It all begins with Addie’s roommate waking up to no bread, no milk, no cereal, and an abundance of an alcohol-induced mess. It was the brunette’s rare night off to party, so Marianne woke up to quite literally nothing. Now, it’s almost noon, and Addie’s got a nasty headache right behind her eyebrows, an odd taste in her mouth, and a nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach. 

  ‘Food,’ demands Marianne. ‘I’m starving.’

  Addie pokes her head out of the bathroom, holding up two fingers. Marianne just rolls her eyes and drapes herself over the couch with a groan that Addie drowns out with her toothbrush. 

  She splashes some cold water onto her face, rubbing some moisturiser into it afterwards. Doesn’t do much – her eyes are still bloodshot, under-eye circles dark, skin dry and lips chapped even with lip balm on it. Addie just sighs. This’ll require sunglasses which, in turn, will require contact lenses. 

  ‘Two more minutes!’

  Another groan from Marianne. ‘Merde, Addie!’

  First contact in. She blinks it into place, ignoring its dryness. ‘I’ll be back before you know it.’ Second in. ‘And I’ll bring you some chocolate.’

  ‘Aw. You will?’

  ‘Yes. For emotional disturbances.’

  Marianne beams at her from the couch. Noon sun shines on her through the window as she basks in the light, looking all fresh and ready to take on the day. 

  Addie envies her. Not like she’d ever admit it, though. 

  ‘You’re a godsend,’ Marianne tells her. ‘When you’re not the devil’s menace, obviously. Today shall be your lucky day.’

  ‘Shall it?’ Addie quirks an eyebrow at her, grabbing a purse from the drawer in the hallway with a smile dancing in the corner of her lips. 

  The blonde-haired girl hmms, her eyes closed and arms raised up in the air. In the tiniest voice, she says: ‘I am throwing my blessings at you now.’ She outstretches her hands in what looks to Addie like a kung-fu move, fully accompanied by a half-breathed half-voiced ‘HA!’

  ‘You done?’

  Marianne grins. ‘Yes. Now please go get me some food.’

  ‘Tea for when I’m back?’

  ‘Yes, ma’am. The finest the British Isles have to offer.’

  ‘You’re not even British.’

  ‘Half,’ says Marianne. ‘Half is enough.’

  ‘Yeah, but the other half is French.’

  Marianne just rolls her eyes, and Addie revels in the fact that there'll be a hot cup of tea waiting for her when she comes back with the groceries. Equipped with her iPhone and earphones, a foldable IKEA bag, some money, and sunglasses big enough to cover her hungover mess of a face, Addie leaves the small apartment. 

  Summer in Atlanta is something Addie hasn’t experienced before. People get a lot more vibrant, there’s more joggers than usual, and people with dogs and kids venture out of their homes more often. There’s also the filming aspect, increased during summer, which generally means that there’ll be at least one street blocked for public per day – an inconvenience that made her be late for class more than once. 

  To Addie, it’s starting to feel like home. Warm and filled with a light breeze, the place lively and bright. 

  Or, possibly, it’s just that she starts to listen to music that makes her feel that way. 

  The local Tesco of Rockdale county is on the main road, and it takes Addie five songs to get there. It’s busy as always, and Addie gets herself a plastic basket at the entrance, pulling up the grocery list on the notes app. It’s mostly food – they ran out of almost everything the day before, and drunk Addie finished whatever little was left, so this is going to be half a week's worth of shopping. 

  Addie rummages through the isles with ease, almost on autopilot. Memories from last night resurface, blurry and hazed, and she rubs her temples with the heels of her hands. 

  last night was something else, she thinks. The music in her ears is loud and she glances up as she’s about to turn the corner, basket full of veggies so far, and she makes eye contact with a person that looks vaguely familiar. 

  She looks away. 

  Then she looks back at them, an almost unnoticeable frown on her face. He’s tall, with dark blonde hair underneath a baseball cap, and it’s not until he leans forward to grab something off the canned goods section that she realises who it is. 

  holy fucking moly it’s drew fucking starkey

  Addie freezes in place as her brain computes the visual in front of her and attaches it to the memory of his face, on her projector screen, in her and Marianne’s living room. 

  It doesn’t seem right to see him here, shopping at Tesco, looking so different from the person she’s used to seeing that she almost didn’t recognise him. However, it’s still him, so Addie gathers all her courage and walks into the isle across from hers, until she’s right next to him.   

  ‘Hi,’ she says. ‘Sorry, I don’t mean to bother you, but – you’re Drew Starkey, right?’

  Her voice is hushed, and it’s on purpose – she’s fairly certain neither of them would like a bunch of people to come over here. Addie doesn’t know how big the fanbase is, but if she managed to recognise him (almost) off the bat, it’s highly likely there'd be at least a few more people knowing him. It might be just a few months since the show’s release, but it’s gathered quite a bit of attention. 

  The moment seems to unfreeze, and the guy in front of her nods, almost reluctantly. ‘Yeah, that’s me.’

  ‘Oh, cool. I really liked what you did with Rafe. I don’t know anything about acting and all that, but you gave me chills in the scenes where Rafe is losing his mind, and I can’t even hate him because of how sorry I feel for him.’

  Drew watches her with a bland, cautious expression on his face for a second, until he breaks out into one of the biggest smiles she's ever seen. It’s a nice smile – he looks like the boy next door, or the one guy who would be popular in high school (probably a quarterback), or someone she could just trust. 

  Damn.

  ‘Thanks,’ he says, finally. His shoulders don’t seem as tense anymore despite still being about a good half-foot taller than Addie, the difference doesn’t seem as drastic anymore. ‘I’m glad you liked it. You are supposed to hate him, though.’

  Addie scoffs, shaking her head, even though there’s still a smile on her lips. ‘Come on. His freaking dad hates him, his friends are all sixteen or whatever. No wonder he’s so messed up.’

  ‘But he is messed up.’

  ‘Oh yeah, he should rot in jail, totally.’ Addie makes a vague waving motion with her hand. ‘That’s my point, anyway. I hate him but I feel bad for him and I don't think I would’ve if you weren’t so good at what you do.’

  Drew’s smile just grows and he laughs, a little. It’s a fleeting moment, but Addie likes it. Quite a bit, actually. Shame he doesn’t get to do that often as Rafe. 

  ‘Thank you so much, honestly. I thought people would hate me because of Rafe.’

  ‘Are you kidding? Are people actually like that?’

  He makes a vague gesture with his hand (a lot like the one she did earlier) and sighs. ‘You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.’

  ‘Damn.’ Addie shakes her head. ‘Well, um, I should probably get going. It was nice meeting you.’

  ‘We didn’t actually meet,’ he says, with a face that is waiting for her to clock it, except she doesn’t. ‘You haven’t told me your name.’

  ‘Oh! Oh my god, yeah, sorry – It’s Addison. Addie, for short.’

  Drew extends his hand; it’s warm when she takes it, and his grip is as firm as hers. ‘Nice to meet you, Addie.’

  ‘You too, Drew.’

  It’s the moment that their hands fall to each their own side that Addie notices the beginning of awkwardness in the situation. She smiles at him and tells him goodbye, ready to let him go, until she starts thinking about how Marianne is going to flip her shit and won’t even believe her and then—

  ‘Drew! Hi. Sorry again.’ 

  Addie’s got a hand on his shoulder and taps it twice, just enough for him to turn around with the same kind smile. She’s got half a second to wonder if it’s because he knows she’s not some wild fan, or because he’s just like that. 

  ‘It’s okay, don’t worry.’

  She gives him the best apologetic face she can muster. ‘Can we take a photo? My roommate isn’t going to believe me otherwise.’

  Drew laughs, and something falls off of Addie’s chest. He agrees to it, she takes the selfie—cursing the way she’s going to look on it considering she had to put her sunglasses on top of her hair when she entered the store—and his arm’s curved around her shoulder, pulling her close.

  ‘Thank you!’

  ‘It’s really no problem.’ They look at the photo—it’s as good as they get—and Drew lets out a breathy laugh. ‘Shit, we got the same phone.’

  ‘Seriously?’

  ‘Yeah, look.’

  He fishes his phone out of his jacket and, true to his word, they look exactly alike. It’s just a plain black iPhone, but neither of them has a case or anything attached to it, and the two of them laugh. Drew even takes them both and compares them to one another, showing that the only actual difference are the lock screens. Marianne and Addie for hers, and Chase making a grimace for Drew. Someone walks behind them, eyeing them uncomfortably, and Addie sees Drew tug his hat lower. 

  She really hopes she didn’t disturb him by all this. If he’s to be believed then she didn’t, but she can never know. 

  ‘Okay,’ she says, ‘I’ll actually get going now.’

  Drew nods. He recovers in a flash and there’s not a trace of discomfort on his face. ‘Nice meeting you again.’

  Addie just laughs, takes the phone he’s handing her, tells him bye, and walks away. 

  Without turning back, this time. 

  The rest of her shopping goes smoothly. She wants to message Marianne, but she’s also kind of freaking out, or her hangover is acting up, because she’s feeling nauseous and excited and her heart is definitely about to destroy her ribcage. What she does is just keep going on with her shopping as usual, and focus on the things she actually needs. 

  But when she reaches into her pocket to look at the shopping list, it’s Chase’s face that stares back at her, and her heart doesn’t leap out of her chest – it sinks all the way into the hangover-shaped hole in her stomach, and a wave of anxiety rushes through her. 

  Addie looks for Drew all around the store for a solid ten minutes, but she can’t find him. She asks the workers, all of them, and she’s almost ready to give up, when one of them tells her they’ve seen him walk out of the store, shopping bags in tow. 

  She leaves her things in the store, sets the basket aside, and runs through the checkout and onto the parking lot. She calls his name, over and over again, but he’s not here anymore. 

  He left. With her phone. 

  So Addie does the only thing that will soothe her anxiety to a moderate level – go back inside, take her basket, and continue what she came here for. She’ll only be able to deal with the phone situation when either Drew comes back for it (possibly?), or when she texts the number from Marianne’s phone. 

  Drew doesn’t come back, so Addie comes home with an insane story, a phone to find, and no chocolate for Marianne.

   ◇

02: MESSAGE ME ON INSTAGRAM

tagging. @jjmaybanksbaby @taiter-tots @sacredto @snkkat @drewswannabegirl @yeslifeofateen @rudypnkw​

[starr-fall-knight-rise]

Humans are Space Orcs, “Family Drama.”

I did not sleep in today, and have written you a story.

Warning: there are a few mentions of drugs and addiction, but not a ton

He had never felt so defeated.

As the Taxi door opened, and he stepped out onto the quiet residential street he had to hold back his shame and kept his head high. What would his family think? Should he even tell them? Well of course he should, that wasn’t an option anymore. If he wanted to make them proud he was going to have to make himself ashamed for a little while. 

Waffles whimpered at his heels.

He looked down at her with a small smile, “Alright, alright, you’re right, I’ll shut up.”

He rubbed her ears and walked up the concrete stepping forward onto the grass as a group of kids whirred past on hover-skates. They turned upon seeing them, voices suddenly raised pointing and waving at him as they rolled past.

He raised a hand to wave back, but quickly turned to the front door.

There was no way he was ready to interact with people that weren’t his close family.

He walked up the step and held out his implant to the door, it would open when it knew it was him.

The lock clicked, and he reached forward ready to finally relax and let off some steam.

The door clicked open, and he was immediately assaulted by a wave of sound.

“ADDIE!” He was grabbed around the shoulders and pulled into a massive crushing hug. It took his brain way longer than it should have to figure out what was one person, but then again, there was only one person he knew who called him Addie…. Like a fucking dog.

“Uncle Ben?” he grunted 

The man set him down on the floor and slapped his back. Below him Waffle growled nervously, but she was ignored, “It's been YEARS. We had no idea you were coming.”

The sound of kids screaming reached his ears and a t least five of them came rushing into the hallway.

“Hey that’s not fair, I wanted to be a pony too!”

“But I was one first, you can pick something else.”

Uncle Ben turned, “Hey everyone! Guess whose back!” His legs swiveled uselessly under himself as he was dragged through the hallway and into the living room, where the entire extended family seemed to be crammed. 

He blinked as the group turned into an uproar upon seeing him.

“What is that on his face?”

“Did you really lose a leg?”

“It’s been so long?”

Aunt Marry got up, “Lost all your baby fat finally.” He winced as she grabbed him and pinched his cheek, which wasn’t really for pinching anymore, or honestly had never been, but when he had more of a baby face she had always done that.

“Tell us about space!”

He was shoved onto the couch with Jeremy on one side and Grandma Vir on the other.

Jeremy gave him a look.

He grimaced back as Waffles crawled under his feet resting her head on Jeremy’s shoe.

“Where is dad?” he muttered to Jeremy, and his older brother leaned in to whisper, “where do you think. Hiding in the garage while mom entertains.”

“Coward.” Adam replied with some amusement.

That was just like their dad to avoid all extended family, even his own.

“Wait, wait, everyone calm down, our little Addie is Commander of the UNSC. You all remember when he was just a little guy who used to believe in flying saucers.”

Adam crossed his arms over his chest. Uncle Ben had always made fun of him as a kid.

His grandma looked at him from across the room, “What is that on your face?” She repeated.

He sighed, “An eyepatch grandma.”

“Why are you wearing an eyepatch.”

“Because I lost my eye.” He sighed.

She put a hand to her chest just as his mother came walking into the room, a Trey in one hand an apron tied around her waist and her hair pulled back in a messy bun. She looked more than a little frazzled.

“Martha, why didn’t you tell us he lost an eye!” She sighed, “Because I didn’t want to worry you mom.”

“How is the army still allowing you to command a ship with a missing eye?” Uncle Andy wondered 

“He flipped up the eyepatch and the mechanical tech hopped to life nearly freaking out as it tried to track all the faces in one place all at once.

Gasps, “IS that a mechanical eye!”

“Yes.”

His other grandma put a hand over her face, “and he used to have such pretty green eyes. Now look at them, he looks like one of those cyborgs! Did you know some of those people intentionally cut off their limbs to look more like that.”

Martha sighed, “That’s not how it works mom.”

His Mother’s sister waved at him from across the room. He smiled back, he had always liked her, “I love your eyepatch, it looks cool.”

Her husband grinned, “Space pirate.” he nodded sagely.”

Adam tilted his head across the room where he found  David and Jordan squished against one wall sitting on the floor Jordan mostly sitting in David’s lap as they tried not to take up any space.

His brother grimaced at him, he grimaced back.

His mother's father leaned forward his steel grey hair and serious face set, “So tell me Adam, what are exactly your duties in the UNSC.”

The entire family rolled their eyes at once, some not even discreetly. He only got involved in conversation if he considered it “useful” and that meant all of the thing other people didn’t want to talk about, money, religion, politics, family history…… 

“Er, well Uh.”

“After commanding an entire fleet of ships you would think he’d be better at public speaking.” Uncle Trevor announced from where he was hidden behind the piano.

Adam frowned and cleared his throat, “I am fleet commander of fifteen UNSC deep space vessels for both exploration and military combat, but my primary directive is to foster good will with alien races , and save others from destruction, subjugation and slavery while expanding our knowledge of the universe through prolongued deep-space exploration.”

“Ohhhh his directive!” The rest of the family oooooed as well, but it was mostly sarcastic in nature.

His niece, Kimver walked into the room and crawled up to sit with him and Jeremy leaning against both of their arms as she played on her handheld. Kimber’s new obsession seemed to have shifted into vintage gaming. Glancing over her shoulder he could see her throwing tiny white and red balls and strange looking animals and a very pixelated screen.

“Have you met any sexy alien ladies.” Ben butted in

The rest of the family raised their eyes to the sky. Grandma looked almost offended.

“Ben would you stop with that.” His wife muttered from where she sat on a chair in the corner.

“What the whole LFIL thing is legal now, so he totally could have met some sexy alien babes.:

“It’s not a joke Ben, those people had a rough time of it the past few years.” David piped up from the other side of the room.

“Why the GA decided to legalize that behavior is a mystery to me. The world really is getting more wicked.” Grandpa muttered,

Adam clenched his fists, “Actually, Grandpa, I convinced them to lift the ban.”

The room went very quiet very suddenly.

Adam wished he had just shut his mouth.

“You what!”

“Look I spent a lot of time around LFIL members when I was securing the GA hall from protestors. I met a lot of them, and they are just good people who want to be left alone to do what they want. So yes, because of my position I was able to walk into the GA council chambers and convinced them to lift the ban.”

They stared at him.

“But what they are doing is wrong, it’s like bestiality.”

He felt his fists clench, “Grandpa if you ever met an alien you wouldn’t say that. They are sentient being that can consent, and if they can do that than it isn’t bestiality, and also stop calling my friends animals. My ship is staffed by some of the best alien crewmembers I know, and I wont have you comparing them to cattle or dogs or whatever else you want.”

The room went quiet.

Grandpa stepped out in a huff.

HE sighed and leaned his head back against the wall with an audible thud.

His mother walked over and handed him a stack of cookies with a smile on her face that said: Sorry about that.

He took the cookies greatfully shoving one completly into his mouth to avoid saying something else stupid. 

“So, does this mean you DID find a sexy alien girl.” Ben wondered and was immediately elbowed in the ribs from two sides  producing a grunt of surprise.

“So Jeremy, how long have you two been dating.” Adam looked over Jeremy’s bulk towards where a petite red haired woman with grey eyes and a sprinkling of freckles across her face was squished into the other side of the couch.” 

Sensing him looking, she waved a hand with a bright smile, and he waved back.

“Almost a year now.” Jeremy beamed putting his arm around her.

“Should we be expecting an announcement from you two soon?’ 

Everyone groaned, “Grandma!”

Jeremy’s girlfriend took it like a champ and continued to smile unaffected.

“Speaking of relationships.”

Dear god please descend from heaven and rapture him straight to hell, not that, that's how it worked but anywhere but here would have been great

“Adam, when are you finally going to settle down, how old are you now 25?”

He wondered if he prayed to satan hard enough he could summon a demon to swallow his soul whole.

“I know have you ever even dated anyone”

“Kissed anyone?” “Kissing is fun, you should definitely try it sometime.”

“You're grandmother definitely needs more grandkids.”

Oh the irony, the thought bitterly to himself.

At his feet the dog whimpered.

“You know there is this really pretty girl who works down at the corner store, I think she might do really good for you, a very down to earth girl. You could get promoted into a better paying desk job at the UNSC work 9-5 it would be a dream.”

Jeremy placed a hand on his shoulder, “Actually, Adam is more of an action guy, right Adam/”

Adam gave a weak smile, “Yeah.”

“Oh, he’ll grow out of that, besides you wouldn’t want to put a family under that kind of stress. It’s like you’re never home.”

“Space is my home.” He grumbled 

“Don’t be silly, humans weren’t meant for that sort of thing, besides your obsession was cute as a kid, but now that you’re older, you really need to start thinking about the future and having kids before you’re too old.”

He wanted to scream and bash his head against the wall.

“You know what though, how about that cute younger guy that works at the DMV, he looks about your age Adam.”

“I’m not interested in having a family right now!”

The room looked at him quietly, “You asexual or something?” Uncle Ben piped up awkwardly.

Adam felt his face go red, what kind of question was that? No, no uncle Ben I am not horny, or yes, yes uncle Ben I would love to find some hot person to plow just not right now.

And in front of the entire family?

Because he really wanted to have an extended discussion about his sex life with his entire extended family.

Waffles whimpered at his feet.

And then like an angel she descended from the sky to save him, either that or a billowing superhero cape like the saint she was. He couldn’t decide, angel or superhero, but decided on both.

Supermom, and part of her costume is angel wings and a halo.

“Adam why don’t you take waffles outside, she sounds a little nervous. Maybe take her out through the garage?”

He nodded and bolted to his feet like there were rockets firing from his ass, and hurried towards the door with the dog trailing at his heels.

Voices faded behind him, and he quickly hurried through the door and into the garage, where he found his dad sitting with Thomas on a set of lawn chairs drinking cold sodas and watching the clouds pass overhead.

They turned as they heard the door open.

“Adam! We didn’t know you were coming, pull up a chair.” 

He did so and unfolded it between the other two men sitting down as Thomas handed him a drink.

“They drive you off too?” Thomas grumbled 

Adam looked at his brother. Thomas was looking a little better than usual. His hair was only a little bit scruffy and his scraggly beard was at least trimmed. The tract marks in his arms had faded to pale scars on his arms.

“Yeah, uncle Ben asked about my love life in front of god and all his creatures. You?”

“Rehab. “

“I thought you were out of rehab.”

“I am, which is why I would rather not talk about it.”

“You doing good?”

“Yeah, got a stable job now, so that’s nice, go to meetings twice a week. One more month and I'll be six months sober.”

“Awesome, congrats.” He paused, “You know what, bet I could get you a job as a stuntman if you wanted.”

Thomas laughed, “Maybe I'll take you up on that. Once this job bores me to tears, which it will.”

“Did grandpa bring up LFIL.” Dad asked turning to look up at him

“You know he did.”

“He’s been meaning to ask you. He’s worried that spending so much time up in space has confused you.”

Adam snorted, “Don’t stargaze to long dad, the stars will make you extrial.”

“So that’s what dark matter is.” Thomas muttered and the three of them laughed. Waffles had climbed up on the chair with him and curled up on his legs to fall asleep.

“So what are you doing back here?” Dad wondered, “I thought you had just taken time off.”

He sighed, “Yeah… but things got complicated….” He paused, “Ever feel like no  matter what you try to do you keep failing at it.”

Thomas raised a hand “You mean my life.”

More laughter.

Then he got serious again, “Been so stressed lately that I can barely function as a person, has the UNSC questioning whether they should ground me or not. My friends set up an intervention, and it turns out that I am a raging control freak.”

“Could have told you that.”

“You got that from your mother.”

He glanced over at thomas, “What do you mean, could have guessed that?”

He shrugged, “Come on Adam, did you ever do anything you weren't sure you could do properly. Like riding a bike, or swimming, or how you threw a fit if we moved literally anything in your room, or how you had to have everything arranged on your plate before you ate it, or….”

“Yeah yeah ok. But I’m a fighter pilot, that's kind of not-”

“Yeah that is the most control freak job ever. You have to be in so much control that traveling at more than three times the speed of sound won’t kill you. Imagine the amount of control you need to fly in formation without killing everyone.”

“Alright I get it.” He grumbled.

“So what, you try to do everything yourself?” dad grunted 

He turned to look at the older man, “how did you know?”

“Every school project you ever worked on in a group, but you just ended up doing the entire thing.”

“I thought that’s just because the other kids were lazy and weren’t going to do their jobs.”

“Or because you wouldn’t let them and they just gave up on trying.” Dad responded 

Adam sighed and sunk back against his chair, “I had no idea.”

“Welcome to personal growth, how may we kick you in the balls.”

He sighed, ‘I just, how can I be a leader without losing my identity and becoming boring and stuffy. How can I still… I don’t know, be happy and have fun when I have a job like this…. Or am I just not meant for it.”

Dad waved a hand, “You were born for it, but you need to remember that while, most of the time, you can be friends with the people you work with sometimes you need to stop being their friend and be their commander, which entails doing some things that aren’t so friendly. At the end of the day it is a ship, so you have to make them and allow them to do their jobs, fun comes later.”

“How am I supposed to reduce the stress?”

He glanced at thomas who shook his head, “If I knew the answer to that, I wouldn’t be a recovering heroin addict.” 

“You just have to find something you love doing, and then take a little time every day to do that thing which you love. Don’t worry, you’ll figure it out.” 

He sighed and looked out at the deepening sky.

He really hoped so 

[izzielizzie]

Hey I know you mentioned once or twice that you’ve read kingdom keepers and really liked it. I’m new to the fandom but I’ve been following you for a while so I know your opinions are solid. Did you ship Willa and maybeck at all? Like they have potential but I know Willa ends up with Philby and they seem kind of... unhealthy?

yes i reread the series like a month ago actually so i can actually answer this without scrambling for my books and honestly... i kind of agree with you? I mean anyone who knows me knows that I’m a sucker for Ron and Hermione and Philby and Willa give me serious Ron/Hermione vibes but I just can’t imagine many of the canon couples together? 

I mean Finn and Amanda? Sure yeah they’re adorable I love them, not gonna change them at all. 

Maybeck and Charlene? Came out of left field tbh. I didn’t realize that Charlene was crushing on Maybeck and vice versa until literally Maybeck said “I thought you were crushing on me” like since when??? When?? When did they interact? 

Also I kind of wish Charlene stayed single. She struggled with unrequited love and not just being the “pretty cheerleader” and she had the potential to grow into a single badass (kind of like Addy Prentiss from the One of Us series). And if you want something really crazy she and Jess would be kind of cute. But, alas, girls are one dimensional in the series. 

And Willa and Philby? I can’t seem to wrap my head around them sometimes. He was cruel to her, worse than Ron ever was to Hermione. He ignored or mocked her and Willa is just too pure for the way Philby treated her. I’m not saying they’re not adorable sometimes (the cheek kisses and the fact that he thinks of her to go all clear is just too cute) but occasional cuteness doesn’t excuse unhealthy treatment every other time. 

Also I always think of Philby as either ace, aro, or both. He and Charlene could have been single best friends and it would have been amazing. 

On to couples that should have been, yes you’re right: Maybeck and Willa for the win. They were understanding of each other and they were the “artists” of the group - Willa the musician and Maybeck the artist. Willa would gush about how amazing his pottery is and how he’s such a good photographer and he would just slowly fall in love with the way she softly sings when she’s happy or the way she can play any song he requests on the piano. And Maybeck would be amazing with Willa’s brothers and Jelly would love Willa. Also Willa would totally work at Crazy Glaze and Maybeck would just watch her work with the kids with the goofiest smile on his face. She’d be the only one he confides in about his parents and she’d talk about her dad’s accident and they’d bond about how hard it is to be a person of color in a state/society that doesn’t value them. They’d hold hands during meetings and he’d pick her up and swing her around when he’s happy and she’d lean her head on his shoulder when they need a little support and it would be great.

Also, in the earlier books, it’s kind of easy to imagine that Ridley was going for Willa/Maybeck before he transitioned into the cannon couples (”that’s an old joke” “i’m an old soul” ahhhhhhhh).

Also, my favorite non-canon couple after willa and maybeck? Jess and Mattie. 

[storiesforallfandoms]

facing it alone ~ 10k;z nation

word count: 2537

request?: yes!

@colsondaddybakerxx​​ “Yeah.. is it okay if you use my name? It’s Alison (it’s okay if you can’t) and she spent mostly all of the apocalypse alone but then she runs into the crew (basically the main characters in z nation) and they helped her and toke her in, then she Mets 10k.. at first he really shy but when he opens up to her she realizes they both have a lot in common?? And he very very protective over her, making sure no zombies is even close to her and protecting her mostly all the time.. and eventually he asks her out? Pls try and add some zombie scenes haha x also if it’s to hard to get all the crew in the story it’s okay.. just at least add doc and warren xx”

description: after facing the zombie apocalypse alone for some time, alison ends up running into some survivors, and finds herself bonding with the youngest of the crew

pairing: 10k x female!reader

warnings: swearing, violence, mentions of death

masterlist

Facing the zombie apocalypse alone was much easier than having to face it with people. Being with people was just asking for heartbreak. Eventually they would die, whether it be of old age or other causes, and then they’d turn into a zombie and have to be mercied before they turned completely. Too much emotion, that’s the last thing you wanted during the apocalypse.

That’s why I travelled alone, except for the German Sheppard I found not too long after I started travelling alone. He was the only companionship I really needed, plus I managed to train him to detect when Zs were coming and to be able to fight against them himself.

It had been days since our last meal, and since we last found decent shelter, and I could tell both of us were starting to feel it. I hadn’t slept in days, I only had a few small foods that I was had to share with Hunter and they were starting to become scarce. I had no idea when we’d find another place to stay, or when we’d find food. For the first time in a very long time, I was genuinely afraid that things were going to end for me soon.

Hunter stopped suddenly and started to growl. Without hesitation, I positioned my gun to point towards where Hunter was looking. I waited to hear the familiar growling of a Z and to see one starting to approach, however I was shocked when I saw that it wasn’t a Z, but a totally healthy human, also with a gun raised and pointed at me.

“Hey!” came a female voice. “Are you bitten or otherwise unhealthy?”

“No ma’am!” I responded. “Yourself?”

“Not that I know of.”

I slowly started to lower my weapon. Hunter was still on high alert, although now he wasn’t growing at much. “Go check her out, boy, make sure she’s not dangerous.”

Hunter approached the woman slowly, knowing not to fully charge at a human unless he wanted a first class ticket to Dog Z-dom. She lowered her gun as well as she saw him approaching. As if knowing what he was about to do, she put her hand out and allowed Hunter to sniff her, before giving him a brief scratch behind his ear. That was the number one way to get on Hunter’s good side.

As if to tell me everything was fine, Hunter barked. “Yeah, yeah, I see you getting the best petting of your life, I’m coming.”

I was still cautious as I approached the woman, and she seemed to be as well.

“Lieutenant Roberta Warren,” she said, holding a hand out to me.

“Alison,” I responded, shaking her hand. “And this is Hunter.”

Hunter barked when he heard his name. Roberta smiled at him, petting his head again. “Nice to meet the two of you. Are you travelling alone?”

“Yes ma’am,” I responded. “Just the two of us for at least a year now. What about you?”

“There’s an...accidental team of us,” she responded. “Eight of us as of right now, travelling in a truck back that way.” My stomach chose that moment to make a loud noise, giving away my dire hunger. “When was the last time you ate?”

“Couple days now. We have snacks, but it’s not a lot.”

“You wanna come with us? We’ve recently gotten some food, and we’re looking for shelter for the night. What’s a ninth person, and they’re adorable dog.”

I looked down at Hunter. He looked up at me excitedly. Although I was sure he didn’t understand the situation that much, he definitely understood the words “we have food”, and he understood that he, too, was hungry.

What other choice did I have? Besides starve to death and become a Z. I sighed heavily and placed my machine gun over my shoulder. “Show me the way.”

When Roberta said they had a small team, she really meant a small team. All eight of them were armed to the teeth with guns, knives, spikes, and more. It definitely made my lousy machine gun look obsolete.

“Guys,” Roberta announced, “meet Alison. She’ll be joining us for a while. Alison, this is Doc, Garnett, Addy, Mack, Cassandra, Murphy, and 10k.”

I raised an eyebrow at the younger guy that Roberta addressed last. “10k? Like...ten thousand? That’s...your name?”

He looked at me for a minute before looking down at the ground without a response. I raised an eyebrow at him, amused by the reaction.

“That’s his name, don’t wear it out,” the older man Roberta introduced as Doc spoke. “Nice to have you along with us, and your cute lil pooch.”

Hunter whined happily at the attention he was starting to get.

“Climb in,” Garnett told us, nodding towards the back of the truck. “We should keep moving.”

Everyone got into the truck. I jumped into the pan and whistled for Hunter to join me. He jumped in effortlessly and laid between myself and 10k, resting his head on 10k’s lap. 10k looked startled at first until I laughed at his expression.

“Unless you’re a Z he’s harmless,” I assured him. “You can pet him if you want.”

10k tentatively put his hand on Hunter’s head. Hunter poked 10k’s head with his nose and gave him a quick lick before resting himself comfortably on 10k’s lap. I watched 10k relax and smile as he began to scratch behind Hunter’s ear. I couldn’t help but smile myself, but quickly pretended that it had never happened.

I couldn’t let myself get too close. Once I’ve eaten and gotten some shelter, it would be time to go again. I couldn’t stay around, I couldn’t get attached. Not again.

~~~~~~

We found a lovely house that seemed to belong to a big family once upon a time. It was Z free and had enough space for everyone to be able to sleep comfortably.

Despite finally having a safe place for a night, I found myself unable to sleep. So instead of lying on the floor and keeping up all night, I decided to go outside to get a breath of fresh air. I had taken a room on the second floor of the house, so I opened the window and reached out to take hold of the roof, pulling myself up with ease.

I exclaimed with shock when I saw that I wasn't the only one with this idea. My sudden appearance also shocked 10k, as he jumped and nearly dropped his gun.

“Sorry,” I said. “Didn’t know anyone else was up here. Mind if I join you?”

“You’re already here, I feel like it’d be rude of me to say no now,” he responded.

I chuckled. “I guess you have a point.”

I pulled myself up onto the roof and settled myself next to him. Although he seemed relatively relaxed, 10k still held on to his gun as if his life depended on it. In some ways, I guess it did.

“Why do they call you 10k?” I asked as I laid back on the roof, looking up at the starry night.

“I called myself that, actually,” he told me. “It’s a nickname I came up with when everything started.”

“What’s the meaning of it?”

“It’s how many Zs I’m gonna kill.”

“And what’s your total at now?”

He paused a moment to think before responding, “Two thousand, one hundred eleven.”

My eyes widened. “Holy shit! That’s impressive. What do you have, like, super accurate aim?”

“Basically. I rarely, if ever, miss.” I made a face, impressed by his accuracy. “Why do you travel alone? Were you with someone?”

My body tensed up at the question. Sure, it was innocent enough, and an obvious question to ask someone who had been travelling by themselves.

“I was...once,” I admitted. “A long time ago.”

“What happened to them?”

“It wasn’t a them, it was a him,” I responded. “An old friend of mine, we grew up together. When I was out looking for survivors, he was the only one I came across. We travelled together for months, we found Hunter together and trained him to be as he is. About a year ago, we were fighting some Zs and one...one bit him. Got him pretty good before I could shoot the fucker. We both knew I had to kill him, but neither of us wanted me to. Before I could get the courage to do it, he took my gun and mercy shot himself. It’s...just been me and Hunter ever since.”

10k looked at me with pity and sadness. I kept my eyes trained on the sky, but I could see him out of the corner of my eye.

“I’m sorry.”

I shook my head. “No, don’t be. It was a long time ago. I’ve gotten over it."

There was a stretch of silence between us. 10k raised his gun and a shot rang out. I sat up to see a Z falling as 10k cocked his gun.

“Two thousand, one hundred twelve,” he declared.

“Showoff,” I chuckled, bringing my knees to my chin.

“I had to kill my dad,” 10k said, surprising me suddenly. “It was just the two of us, too, and he started to turn. I was forced to mercy kill him, stabbed him through the head. I was alone until I met the people here, too. They’re nice, I prefer to travel with them than to travel alone.”

“They seem nice,” I agreed, although even I could hear the unease in my tone.

10k looked at me. “You’re...gonna stay with us, right? It’s safer to be in a pack.”

“Not if one of you die and become a Z, or if you have to kill someone,” I pointed out. But when I looked up at him, 10k looked kind of upset by my response, like he wanted me to stay. And there was just something about that look that made it hard to say no. “But...maybe it will be better for me and for Hunter if we stay for a while.”

His face lit up, and I couldn’t help but smile as well. The sound of Z groaning could be heard down belong. Luckily, it was only two Zs. I took 10k’s gun without hesitation and shot them both between the eyes with ease.

“I’d say that’s at least two thousand for me,” I noted, passing him his gun back. A smile crept across his face, and I couldn’t help but smile back.

~~~~~~

“A while” ended up becoming a few weeks, and a few weeks extended into a month, and before I knew it Hunter and I were welcomed into the team as if we had been one of their own all along. We constantly moved together, on the fast track to get to California with the hopes of coming up with a cure to the virus with the help of Murphy’s blood.

As to be expected, it wasn’t an easy task to get from point A to point B, but hey, what’s an adventure without some conflict?

After finding more shelter on one particular day, 10k and I were sent out to look for food and water as our supply was starting to get dangerously low again. As per usual, Hunter was right on my heels as we walked.

“Run ahead a little to check the area out, Hunt,” I told him. “But not too far that I can’t see you.”

He happily trotted along ahead of us, scoping out the area as he went.

“He’s pretty well trained,” 10k commented as he watched my faithful pal run ahead of us. “How did you do it?”

“Honestly, he sort of trained himself,” I admitted. “I mean, we fed him treats to praise him for being so good, but he figured out almost everything on his own; how to sense Zs, how to fight them, what we were asking him to do. Dogs are smarter than people think, you know.”

We were both quiet again for some time. Hunter circled back around to let me know he was still there before trotting off yet again.

10k’s arm almost shot out suddenly to stop me from walking before pointing his fun and shooting. He hit two Zs, with ease just as Hunter started barking furiously in front of us. The two of us raised our guns and started firing as the Zs came into view.

I noticed my pup waiting for instruction, so I brought my fingers to my lips and whistled, the signal to attack. In seconds, he was going after any Zs that were nearby, ripping them to shreds and mercying them.

While my guard was down, a Z managed to grab hold of me. I spun around, hitting them with my gun. Before I could shoot them, 10k finished them off. I looked over at him and offered him a small smile, which he returned.

When we finally finished with the Zs, I took my water bottle from my bag and poured some in a bowl for Hunter, who trotted over excitedly with Z blood still dripping from his muzzle.

“That was something,” I sighed. “Thanks for the save, by the way. I appreciate that. I definitely would’ve become Z chow if it weren’t for you.”

“I won’t let that happen,” he assured me. “I won’t even let you ever be changed.”

I looked up at 10k, my eyebrows furrowing together. “I know you won’t, and I appreciate that you have my back dude.”

10k looked down at the grass under his feet, now stained with Z blood as well. “I don’t just mean it like that, though.”

I tilted my head like a confused dog. “What do you mean?”

10k slung his gun over his shoulder and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “I know this isn’t exactly the best scenario to ask this, and I totally understand if you say no, but I’d like to maybe...try and be in a relationship with you...if you want that is.”

He couldn’t meet my eyes after he said that. I looked at him for a long time, waiting for him to take it back. I thought maybe this was some dumb joke, maybe Murphy put him up to it in order to try and embarrass me. I wouldn’t put that past Murphy.

But 10k’s face said he really meant it. 10k was too nice of a person to do something like this, and was definitely awkward enough to act this way if he really meant it.

I took his face in my hands and pulled him for a kiss. He seemed taken back at first, like he was unsure of how to respond to such an action. But he soon warmed into it, placing his hands on my arms and leaning back into me.

I pushed him away after hearing Hunter bark at the two of us. I couldn’t help but giggle at 10k’s dreamy smile on his face.

“That’s a yes, by the way,” I told him as I put Hunter’s bowl back in my bag. “Now, let’s get going. We can’t have a relationship if we’re eaten by Zs.”

[ashintheairlikesnow]

Trust: Jake

CW: References to violence, beating, blood, noncon/dubcon, domestic abuse, child abuse, and all the other gross that goes along with the Box Boy universe

The final installment of this mini-narrative I’ve been working on where Jake and Chris took over my brain. I’m going to take a writing break for a couple of days and hopefully will start posting again on Monday! See my other BBU writings here.

Tagging @burtlederp, @finder-of-rings, @endless-whump, @whumpfigure, @stxckfxck, @slaintetowhump

This piece features @deluxewhump‘s Alex, from her Frathouse Box Boy series - highly recommended reading! Alex is used with permission.

His fucking mugshot is all over the place.

Jake only barely remembers that part - it’d been on the second day, maybe, after he’d already been beaten and shocked and awake for nearly twenty-four hours. He has a vague knowledge of standing in front of lights, the sound of a camera, being made to turn. That knowledge comes alongside the memory of a pounding in his head, his knee, of zip-tied wrists dripping blood on the floor while the two men in front of him joked about something on TV the past weekend.

He’d forgotten it as soon as it was over - there were worse things going on in his life than having a photo taken of his black eye and busted-up face - but when he came back to school two weeks later, Jake discovered that just about everyone he spoke to had seen his mugshot on the local news website, with Public Intoxication, Criminal Assault, and Resisting Arrest listed as his charges.

It doesn’t matter that only one of those charges is real. It doesn’t matter that it’s not going to stick, and Nat has already told him that the lawyer who works with the safehouse pro bono is fairly certain they’ll drop the charge since no one can prove Jake resisted anything and the ‘cop’ in question is nowhere to be found.

It doesn’t matter, not any of it, because by the time all of that goes away - by the time he’s healed up enough to go back to class, and Chris has stopped panicking at the idea of him leaving the house, Jake is already known as the guy who got arrested for a drunk barfight after punching a cop.

He doesn’t bother telling anyone what actually happened. He doesn’t care enough about any of these people to try and change their minds about him. 

He doesn’t know who he can trust with the knowledge, either. No matter that the guys had given he and Nat two different stories on how they’d been found out, and it’s possible neither one is totally true, Jake is pretty sure it had to be someone on campus.

He goes early on Tuesday, feeling like shit but kind of wanting a break from Chris’s nervous clinging, just… just for a while. He’s done more comforting and caring for Chris than taking care of himself, and it feels good to be back home - and it is home, isn’t it? At some point it became his real home - but he could use the space to just breathe, and feel sorry for himself.

He hasn't spoken to Addie since the night before the raid. Just texted after he got back to let her know an emergency had come up and they'd talk again when he could. 

It’s not fair to her, but on the list of things that changed right before he got turned in… meeting Addie is the only big one. 

The idea that he got turned in by his fucking girlfriend seems so fucked-up and cliché and weirdly old-fashioned, somehow, that he refuses to think too hard about it. But… if it was her… if she would have sent Chris back to that motherfucker… he has to know.

He’s staring off into space over a cappuccino in the student center coffee shop when movement in front of him catches his eye.

“Um. Hey.”

Jake takes a deep breath at the familiar voice, raising his eyes to see… the frat guy. Alex Something-Something. The one that came and asked him about ways to get a Box Boy to pass because he wanted to take his frat’s human mascot or whatever out in public without people knowing what he was. 

The guy looks half-awake, a coffee in one hand and the other resting on the strap of the backpack hanging off one shoulder, wearing a big hooded pullover with his frat’s symbol on the front and blue jeans. 

Jake stares up at him, and thinks, you fucking bought one. A bit of anger twists in his chest, but Jake’s too fucking tired to hold onto it. His frat had bought a person, sure, but he couldn’t stay mad at someone who had really been trying to learn. Jake had messages on his phone from some friends who said there was a frat guy kind of nosing around for more info while he was gone, maybe going to join the movement.

It wasn’t fair to judge him by what he’d allowed to happen if he was going to try and do something about it now. What matters is that you leave, he reminds himself, thinking of his mother and Nat and the conversations he’s had, again and again, with people who had to fight between standing still and putting themselves at risk, even in small ways. What matters is that you choose, once or twice or four times or however many times it takes, not to watch it happen again.

He couldn’t hold on to anger when he saw the signs of someone wanting to change. He was too exhausted, carrying too great a weight on his own, and too scared that his one attempt to open up and meet someone had resulted in putting the lives of Antoni and Leila and Chris at risk.

He’d been the one having nightmares, the house turned upside down again and Chris dragged into the middle of the living room, a knee jammed in his back, screaming and screaming for help that Jake couldn’t give because his fucking girlfriend held him down. 

If it had been Addie all along, Jake would never date again. He honestly feels like the stupidest asshole on earth for having taken the risk at all. He needs to call her again, he needs to set up a meeting or some kind of dinner date or something. He needs to tell her that he’s scared.

Instead, he’s here way too early on a Tuesday morning, trying to figure out how scared he gets before he’s brave enough to take the risk of letting someone new in.

“Hey,” He says, buying himself a little time to think by taking a sip from his cappuccino, ruining the little heart the barista had drawn into the foam. “You’re on campus early. No house party last night?”

The guy gives him a weird look - like he’s looking for the insult and isn’t sure if he’s found it or not. “Last night was Monday.”

“Since when does that stop a frat house?”

There’s a pause, and the guy quirks kind of a half-sided smile, rolling his eyes. “Yeah, okay, fair enough. Some of the other guys had a couple people over to play COD, so I guess technically you’re right. Don’t be a dick about it, though, okay?”

“Sorry,” Jake says, and honestly, he kind of means it. This Alex guy’s pretty nice, and the longer he’s thought about it the more Jake is certain that he definitely isn’t the one who turned them in. Even if he’d been kind of complacent in stuff, he just… isn’t that kind of person. Jake can tell, deep in himself, that he’s not. “Sorry. I’m kind of an asshole, I probably should have warned you.”

“You, uh. You did, Jake.”

Jake raises his eyebrows, surprised the frat guy remembered his name at all. “I did?”

“Yeah, like… the first time we ever spoke, man. It was maybe the third thing you even said to me, that you’re an asshole about, uh… the stuff. You know. That we talked about.”

“Oh.” Jake clears his throat. His voice was back to normal - the first week it’d been hoarse, the screaming had turned the inside of his throat into raw meat, barely able to swallow the warm tea that Antoni brewed in massive amounts with plenty of honey. He’d made soup with carrots and ginger and some kind of yogurt and Jake had had to insist Chris not try to feed him like his hands were broken, not just bruised. “Sorry. I’ve had, um. It’s been a weird couple of weeks.”

“Yeah, I heard about that.”

Jake’s eyes narrow as the guy sits down in the chair across from him, sipping his coffee, gripping onto the cup nervously. “Did you?”

“Uh. Yeah. The, um… you know, someone I knew showed me… your, uh. We were talking about it in class last week.”

Jake closes his eyes, slowly. Even after two weeks of rest, it’s hard to open them again. “Of course you were.”

“I mean… man, it’s not every week someone who sits three rows down gets arrested for fighting cops.” 

“I wasn’t-” Jake cuts himself off, his hands tightening around the cappuccino. “Never mind.”

“Nah, man, I’m teasing you. Look, I was going to hit up the library before, um, before our Ethics class.” 

Jake snorts. One possibility - the handler had told him it was the Ethics in Political Philosophy professor who turned them in. Could be him. Could be the landscaping company guy down the street, like they’d told Nat. Could be Addie. Could be the fucking yoga instructor who smiled at Chris and complimented his fucking posture, could be-

He catches his thoughts before they can take off, drag him down into depression again.

“I’m about to go beg for mercy before that class,” Jake says, dryly, and watches Alex smile in response. “Since I missed, what, four classes. And he’s not exactly known for being nice about that shit. Can’t exactly say my grandma died when the whole fucking campus has seen my face all bashed up, huh?”

“Oh. Uh, well. You don’t… actually, that’s why I’m glad I saw you so early.” Alex sets his coffee down - he’s been sipping it steadily - and reaches over to unzip the backpack currently sitting at his feet, digging around inside of it. “I figured I’d catch you before class started, but this is better. Um.”

“Why? You want to help me beg?” 

It’s Alex’s turn to snort. “No thanks. I try not to ever look him in the eyes, let alone ask him for anything. No, I wanted to talk to you because… here.” He pulls out a stack of papers more than an inch thick and sets them on the little table between them.

Jake blinks, and looks down. “What is this? Is this the shit I gave you? You’re… giving it back?”

“Fuck, no. No way, man. I… no. I want to keep those. This is, uh, this is two weeks of notes.” Alex pats the top of the paper like a car salesman patting the hood of a car, grinning at him with  kind of absurd, sweet pride in his eyes. “I talked my adviser into printing me a list of your classes, found some people I knew in them, and, uh. Here we go. That’s notes for every single one of your classes for the past two weeks, plus copies of the assignments.” Alex pauses, then pats the pile of papers again. “Man, you are taking way too many classes.”

“Yeah, well. I have a lot of shit to do on all the other days, I kind of have to load them…” Jake leans forward, barely able to believe it as he picks up the stack and flips through it. Different handwriting and little encouraging notes in the margins, copied assignment papers. He just… keeps blinking at it. 

“Yeah, I, uh. I know. I talked to some people when, you know… when it came out about the, um. Your face.” Alex waves his hand around, as if emphasizing his own absolute lack of injury. 

“Who’d you talk to?” Jake is still staring at the notes, feeling and unfamiliar flutter of something like… like real gratitude. He tells himself to say thank you, and for just a second, the words stick in his throat.

It’s been Jake and Nat versus the world for so long, it’s hard to believe the world just expanded to include a whole new person he barely knows. 

“Some people. You know. That, uh. Know you. I… I know it wasn’t a barfight, Jake.”

Jake’s fingers grip tightly onto the papers, and he raises his eyes to meet Alex’s sincere expression of real concern. “You do?”

“Yeah. I, uh. I had no idea shit like that even happens now… we never heard anything on the news-”

“Yeah, and you won’t.” Jake thinks of the Governor standing in the corner, hidden behind glass and shadows, laughing as they hit Chris across the hands to stop him from tapping, hit him again and again and again, the awful soundtrack of his cries layered over the top of that fucking pervert’s laughter. He’s going to fucking kill that man one day.

“Uh, Alex, I just-... you didn’t have to do this, man, that’s… really cool of you. Thanks.” He has to force out the word, but he wants to, he wants to say it. He never expected this. 

He’s spent so much of his life insisting he doesn’t need charity, he doesn’t need help, and his mom will get on just fine, thanks. No, those bruises aren’t because of things at home. No, he doesn’t need to talk to the guidance counselor, no, no, no no no-... but here it’s just been done, the mercy, the kindness. None of that bullshit how are you? with the overly exaggerated concern and sadness. Alex just… helped. It throws Jake off-kilter, the same way learning how every single neighbor they had had come together to care for Chris while they were gone throws him off-kilter. “How’d you get everyone to take notes?”

Alex shrugs, drinking his coffee again, supremely pleased with himself. “I just asked, Jake. You can get a lot of stuff just by being nice to people, you know.”

What if we had told the neighbors what we were before the raid? Would they have helped us?

“I wouldn’t know. You just… asked? God, no wonder you’re Poli Sci. You’re gonna make a hell of a politician one day.”

Alex’s smile, if anything, widens. “Yeah, I hope so. Maybe I can do something about this shit, then.” At Jake’s surprised expression, he rolls his eyes. “I read your stuff, Jake. I read every single page. I’m kind of in it, now, sort of. It’s hard to know it and not, uh, think about it. So, can I ask-... your cousin, the one that you brought to class for a while-”

“Yeah.” Jake takes a chance. He takes a risk. He goes stepping voluntarily off a cliff, maybe taking Chris along with him. Somehow, though, he can’t stop himself. He’s tired of feeling alone when he’s here. He’s kind of just tired of feeling alone. “He’s a rescue.”

“Is he a… you know.” Alex’s face darkens, and he clears his throat, looking almost ashamed of himself just for saying the words. “A, uh. Where they… refurbish them? I wish I knew a better word for it.”

“There aren’t any better words for when they pull that shit on people. And… No. He’s not.”

“Oh, okay. Um. What, uh, what kind was he-... I was reading about the different, uh, kinds-”

“I don’t want to talk about that.”

Alex nods, slowly, looks down at his coffee, looks back up. “Sorry. How old is he?”

Jake’s jaw tightens - not at Alex, but at the memory of the boy in the video, shaking and terrified, whimpering I’m eighteen to a room full of adults who all knew he wasn’t. “I don’t know.”

“He looks really young.”

“He is. I don’t know how young. Alex, if you… if you tell someone about this shit, about him, they’ll take him away and send him right back. You get it?”

“Yeah. I get it. Except… d’you mind if I tell, uh, my, um… our… my friend? That I talked to you about before? If it comes up that getting, uh, rescued is a, uh, a thing? That, that maybe… I don’t know, maybe he could… go home with somebody. Have a home, like that kid has with you.”

“The kid’s name is Chris,” Jake says, quietly. “He picked his name himself. There’s a couple more where we live. When they’re ready, they move out, and they start new lives. Chris, it’ll take him a while.” If ever. “Look, I, um, this was… was amazing, what you did, getting all those notes put together. I don’t know how to thank you for it, really, saying ‘thanks’ just feels like it doesn’t really cut it, you know?”

Alex nods, finishing his coffee up and setting the empty cup down on the table, decisively. “It’s no problem, man. I get it. I’m just, uh. I’m just glad everything worked out.”

Did it? Is that what happened?

“Me, too,” Jake says, aware of how heavy his voice sounds, how false the sentiment. “Look, I, uh, I can’t bring Chris on campus anymore. There’s a possibility we were… found out… because of that.” His voice catches in his throat, but Jake pushes down the guilt. He has time for that later. “So… you won’t see him anymore.”

Alex is silent, for a long moment. Then he says, almost hesitantly, “What about meetings?”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“What if I… go to meetings? Do the, um. The… you called them ‘rescues’? Do they go to meetings? If I go to them, if I start, uh, going to them… would I see any? Be able to talk to them? Or…”

“Yeah. Rescues go, sometimes. They give talks about their lives, and everything. Antoni - sorry, I have a, uh, there’s one I live with right now named Antoni - he’s given talks on his life as a Domestic before. I don’t know about Chris, though, he, um... Chris struggles with-”

Chris would go into dark corners with anyone who smiled and touched his face and I don’t always trust the very people who are risking themselves to help us. Not with him. Not when he’s so easy to hurt, and easier to convince that you didn’t.

“That’s okay,” Alex says quickly. “It was just. He seems like a cool kid, I saw you guys over at the yoga class a couple times.”

Finally, Jake’s smile is genuine and real. He thinks of the mussed-up strawberry blond hair spread across the pillow when he woke up this morning, Chris mumbling to himself and shifting into the warm spot Jake’s body had made when he got out of bed. One arm flinging out to search for human contact. How young and soft and sweet he looked, in that moment, like a kid ignoring his alarm clock.

He should be in high school right now.

“He is,” Jake says, gathering up the papers from Alex, finishing his cooled cappuccino in a few quick drinks, setting it back down empty. He sticks the papers in his own bag. “He’s fucking amazing, Alex. He’s been through so much-... they’re all… they’re all fucking amazing. Do you get that? They’ve survived so much bullshit and they come out the other side and they still want to figure it out and get better. They’re amazing.”

“Yeah,” Alex says, softly. There’s a weird look on his face, one Jake can’t quite read. “Yeah, you know… they are.”

“You want to meet Chris sometime,” Jake says, pushing his chair back and standing up, pulling his backpack on over his shoulders. “You let me know. I think… I think I’d let him talk to you. Just… don’t hug him too much.”

“Does he not like that?” Alex looks up at him without standing up yet. “Ours, um, my-... the guy that lives with us… he really likes being touched. And it seems like, when Chris was coming with you…”

“No, he likes it. But he wouldn’t-... he can’t tell what kind of affection is safe, yet.” It’s as close as Jake’s going to get to explaining what Chris has been through, at least here and now. He catches someone pointing at him out of the corner of his eye and sighs. 

“No, ours. Uh. Ours can’t either, exactly.” Anger flashes on Alex’s face, distant and thoughtful, and then he just shrugs. “Look, just. I hope those papers help you, man. From what Meghan said, your place was basically trash from top to bottom. I guess she talked to some people who talked to your, uh, your boss or whatever.”

Jake and Nat still haven’t talked, not really. Two weeks later and they’re still drifting past each other, tense and uncertain, each waiting for the other to be the first to bring it up. He feels his shoulder hunch slightly at the mention of her. “Yeah. It was. They left-... You know what, I don’t, um. I don’t want to talk about it. Yeah? Is that okay?”

“Yeah, man, that’s fine. Not a problem. But… if you need help again, will you, uh. Text me or something?” Alex takes a deep breath, meets Jake’s eyes, his jaw set and the open, friendly face set in an expression of stubborn determination. “I want… I want to help you.”

Alex, Jake realizes, is also walking off a cliff, hoping there’s something other than rocks at the bottom. He’s also taking a risk. He’s got his own future, and he probably never saw it including this.

“What are you, um, able to do?” Jake asks, and there’s more to his words than just the surface. A depth he knows Alex can hear. What are you willing to do?

Alex shrugs, standing up finally, giving him that bright handsome smile, politician-to-be through and through. Jake almost wants to shake his hand and the guy’s younger than he is. “Don’t know yet. But, hey, sometimes all you have to do is ask, right? Sometimes it’s just about, like, trusting people not to be utter shits for five seconds.” He moves past Jake, walking away, and calls over his shoulders, “Next time, Jake, trust me, okay? If you need help, just ask.”

He leaves, sliding out through the set of double-doors that leads in from outside, and Jake just stands there, watching him go.

Just ask.

Easy for him to say. 

Harder, so much harder, for Jake to do.

He picks up his phone, staring after Alex’s backpack until it disappears into the morning, until he turns a corner down the walkway, behind a stand of trees, and is gone. 

Jake hasn’t trusted anyone who isn’t a rescue since he was a little kid. No one has ever been someone he could rely on. It’s never, not once in his life, been safe to trust the people who told him to trust them. Right from the start, the people who were supposed to give him a solid foundation had been the quicksand dragging him down.

Jake dials a number and holds his phone up to his ear. After a second, Addie’s warm voice picks up, blurry with sleep. “Jake? Hey, I haven’t… you haven’t called me in a couple of weeks, are you-... what’s up? Did you get your emergency thing sorted?”

Jake swallows, hard. “Can I… can I meet you for lunch during my long break today? I have something to ask you.”

Was it you?

“Yeah… yeah, sure. I missed you, Jake.”

If it wasn’t, can I trust you to know? 

“I missed you, too, Addie. A lot happened, and I just-”

“Yeah, I saw the mugshot, it’s all over campus… are you okay?”

Can I trust you to protect the rescues?

“I’m fine. Now. But, uh. There’s kind of more to it than that… I’ll tell you at lunch. Vegetarian wraps at 1:30, that sound okay? I’m buying.”

There’s a pause, and a smile in Addie’s voice. “Of course it’s okay. I can’t wait to see you.”

Can I trust you to protect Chris?

Jake hangs up, heading out himself, to look over the notes before his first class starts. Alex’s words ringing in his ears, a weight against his back. He’s never going to forgive himself for letting a fucking frat guy be more self-aware than he is. 

If you need help, just ask. 

Trust people.

Ask.

[natesmotorcycle]

Writing Tag Game

Thanks to @izzielizzie for tagging me in this!

How many works do you have on AO3?

5

What’s your total AO3 word count?

25,230 words

How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

I’ve definitely written for quite a few fandoms, but the only ones I can truly remember are:

One Of Us Series

Debris

Social Media personalities (not being specific lmao)

What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

1. Addy Is Always Right

2. You’re a Dork

3. The Waitress and The Cook

4. Pretty Little Bratty Mouth

5. Thanks For Everything

(Forgive me, I don’t know how to link the stories on here. I tried and it failed miserably.)

Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Honestly, I don’t really check AO3 comments at all, so I don’t really ever see what people comment. But, I probably will at some point in time.

What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

None of them, to be honest. I personally use angst to kind of build the story up and create tension, but I always resolve it by the end. I don’t know, may I should write a story with an angst-filled ending.

What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

I want to say Pretty Little Bratty Mouth, but frankly, I’m not even sure about that lmao.

Do you write crossovers? If so, what is the craziest one you’ve written?

I don’t write crossovers, and I’m really not planning to, but they do seem cool if played out correctly.

Have you ever received hate on a fic?

As far as I remember, no.

Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yeah, I do. I’ve written and published smut in the past, but it obviously wasn’t that good. I’ve written smut just for fun or maybe to practice a little if I ever plan on writing more. I recently released a story that had some sexual content, but not full blown smut. If I do get better, though, I might actually just write full blown smut.

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

No, at least I don’t think so as far as I know.

Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope, but that does seem awesome!

Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No, I haven’t. But, I wouldn’t mind doing it sometime, if I have the time to, obviously.

What’s your all-time favorite ship?

I do have a lot, and I frankly don’t even know if I can call this my “all-time favorite ship,” but Natasha Romanoff and Steve Rogers are definitely one of my favorites. I also used to very much obsess over Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe from Anne with an E, or Clarke Griffin and Bellamy Blake from The 100.

What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

I currently don’t have any.

What are your writing strengths?

I want to say grammar. I know it sounds silly, but grammar to me is very important. I get turned off by reading fics with incorrect grammar.

What are your writing weaknesses?

When I take forever to write a story because of writer’s block.

What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

That’s great if there are characters that speak other languages. It could definitely help someone feel included if they’re reading the story and see that a character speaks their language. I know I’ve felt it when I read books that have phrases in Italian.

What was the first fandom you wrote for?

It was definitely a social media personality that was big on Musical.ly/YouNow at the time back in 2016.

What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

I want to say my Instagram One of Us series on Wattpad because it’s very unique and different from what I usually write. I’ve always enjoyed reading stories like those, and I had a blast making it.

Tagging

@daydreaming-everyday @bookish1me @stranger-ann @somanyfandomsonly1username @natewynoou @shistersnackwack forgive me if you’ve already been tagged lol.

[let-it-raines]

for catch me if you can, I want to see the proposal! I really thought that was going to happen in the epilogue (which I looooooved), but since it didn't, I need to see it now please!!!!

This was literally the first Catch Me If You Can prompt I got after I posted the story (with several other requests for this coming after because you guys apparently really wanted to see this), and last night I finally got the story that was in my mind out into words! So, I hope you all enjoy this one! Thank you for being so kind to me and letting me explore my favorite little universe some more ⚾️ 

Found over on ao3 with all of the other words | here |

-/-

November 2020

“Oh my God.”

“What?”

“Oh my God.”

“What? Emma, what?”

“Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit.”

“What the bloody hell is wrong?”

Emma tosses her phone at Killian and then sits up in bed, kicking away the comforter and getting her foot caught before she not-so-gracefully rolls out of bed, nearly landing face first on the rug. Or the hardwood. Yeah, she definitely would have hit the hardwood.

Probably knocked out her front teeth, too.

That would be attractive.

Oh my God.

This is happening. It is. It’s really, really happening, and Emma doesn’t know what to do. Does she actually want it to happen? Of course she wants it to happen. She’s wanted this to happen for what feels like forever. She’s waited and bided her time and written report after report and dealt with sexist men, including her boyfriend.

Okay, well, he’s a special case, but it still happened. There were still repercussions from that, and most men don’t see the error in their ways like Killian does.

There are still repercussions from all of it, from being a woman.

The hoops she’s had to jump through have been insane and unfair, but she did them anyway. She watched tapes and kept stat sheets and analyzed them and has freaking notebooks on every player on the Yankees as well as every other team in the American League.

Oh shit.

But does she actually want this?

It’s a change. She likes where she is now. She likes what she does. She likes traveling with the team and being out on the field and…

No.

No, no, no.

Fuck all of that.

She’s always wanted to be more than the pretty girl on the sidelines. She loves her job and admires every woman who has it, but she wants to be in the big leagues. She wants to break that damn glass ceiling with a baseball bat.

“Holy fuck, Swan. Is this what I think it is?”

Emma stops and turns on her heels to look at Killian as his eyes shift between her and her phone. His mouth is hanging open, and she can’t really imagine what she looks like.

Ridiculous.

Definitely ridiculous.

“It’s my offer for a final interview.”

“To be a full-time booth commentator for the Yankees?”

She bites her lip and nods her head. “Mhm.”

Killian chuckles and drops the phone to the mattress. “You’re a badass, love.”“I am a badass.”

“You’re an amazing, talented, intelligent, witty, beautiful badass.”

“Please, keep flattering me. I’ll take all of the compliments. You can make me blush.” 

“And I can see that blush all the way down.”

Emma laughs before looking down and oh shit.

She’s naked.

Like, completely naked.

She got offered a final interview for her dream job while not wearing any clothes, and how is she going to tell people that?

Well, she probably doesn’t have to tell them that. She can omit that part.

“Twenty-nine, I think I’m losing my mind,” she mumbles before walking across the room and picking up Killian’s shirt from the night before, slipping it over her shoulders before she walks back over to the bed and straddles Killian’s lap. “Is this real?”

His hands run over her shoulders, little sparks of electricity shocking her, before he’s tucking her hair behind her ears. “It is indeed.”

“I’m so excited.”

“I’m so proud.” He leans forward and softly presses his lips into hers, and she instantly melts into him. She’s vibrating with nerves and excitement and the slight desire to vomit, but Killian takes all of that away in the movements of his mouth and the curl of his tongue with hers. She has so much to do, so much to prepare for, but that can wait for at least this moment. “I am proud no matter what happens going forward.”“Yeah, well, that’s because you’re far too supportive.”

“Hmm,” he mumbles before wrapping his arms around her until he’s shifting her onto her back. “Now, you really shouldn’t have put this shirt on.”“And why’s that?”

Killian looks up at her and winks. “I think we both know the answer to that.”

-/-

Emma doesn’t sleep for two weeks.

Killian probably doesn’t sleep because she tosses and turns throughout the night.

It might be the least amount of sleep she’s gotten in her entire life, and that’s certainly saying something considering her childhood and the amount that she doesn’t sleep when she’s traveling for work.

There might be less of that soon.

Or not.

She doesn’t know.

She has to be a shoe-in for the job, but there’s this part of her that still doubts that the networks are going to make the right decision. So many men still think women don’t belong in sports, especially male-dominated sports, and she has been told one too many times that her job is to be a pretty piece of ass in a tight skirt.

What if they don’t want her doing anything other than that?

What if they don’t even let her go back to that?

“Go back to bed.”

“What?”

Killian rolls over and wraps his arms around her waist, pulling her back to him and pressing his nose into the back of her neck. He’s so damn warm. Maybe that’s just the way her heart is pounding with her thoughts.

“Go back to sleep,” Killian murmurs. His lips flicker across her skin, and she shivers. “You’ve got an early morning, and you need to go to sleep.”

“You’re a pot calling a kettle black.”

“That’s an old-fashioned saying.”

“I’m an old-fashioned girl.”

Killian snorts into her neck and spreads his hand out over her stomach. “That’s a lie if I’ve ever heard one.”

“Shut up.”

“I would if you would go back to bed. I know you’re nervous, but you can’t be tossing like that. You’ll be dead in the morning.”

“I can’t sleep.”

“You can,” he whispers. “I promise. In eight hours, it’ll be over, and then we can celebrate.”

“I’m not going to know if I get it right after the interview.”

“We’ll celebrate the possibility. I think a pie is calling your name.”

“Oh, so you’re going to be stress baking while I interview?”

“Absolutely.”

“At least pie will come out of it.”“And your dream job, Swan. That too.”

-/-

She nails the interview.

Or, at least, she thinks she does.

She’s honestly got no idea, and if she replays it in her head enough, she’s going to convince herself that she completely and totally screwed it up.

She didn’t she couldn’t have.

Hell, at least Killian made pie.

And at least it’s the off-season after the shittiest season in the world, and they can sit on the couch and catch up on all the TV they missed and mope together. That’s all that really matters anyway.

“This is really good,” Emma murmurs as she scoops some of the pie out of the pan. “I don’t think I’ve eaten in weeks.”

“Well, now you’re free to eat and sit on the couch as much as you want.”

Emma leans over and presses her lips to his cheek.

“Good.”

-/-

She gets the job.

She gets the freaking job.

And words and emotions and everything else in the world can’t really describe how excited or emotional she is. This is her dream. This is what she’s always wanted. Well, not always. Bit for the past decade? This is what she’s wanted.

And she got it.

She got it, she got it, she got it.

-/-

“Oh, come on, come on,” David laughs as he stands from his chair and whistles. “Everybody take a moment and listen to me.”“What if we don’t want to?” Will shouts out.

Out of the corner of her eye, Emma sees Belle playfully shove Will and Liam do the same thing.

“I guess you’re out of luck then,” David continues. Killian wraps his arm around Emma’s shoulder, and she rests her head there. David really shouldn’t be giving some ridiculous speech when everyone has been here for approximately two seconds. He also really shouldn’t be giving one because she specifically said no to that. “Emma is probably dying inside because she told me I wasn’t allowed to do this, but I am her brother and love to embarrass her. But I will keep it short, though. Emma has worked hard for this, has had crazy situations thrown at her from every direction, and I could not possibly be more proud of her and the life she’s created for herself. So, here’s to Emma.”

That was a hell of a lot shorter than she thought it was going to be. Thank goodness.

“To Emma,” everyone echoes.

“To you,” Killian whispers into her hairline.

“Alright,” Elsa claps, “who wants to eat?”

“I do,” Addy screeches as she climbs up onto the counters. “I want pizza.”

“You act like you haven’t eaten in weeks, Addy.”

“You made me wait for Emma to get here, and now she’s here. I want pizza.”

“Come on, Els,” Emma laughs. “Give the girl some pizza. More importantly, give me some pizza.”

“It’s your night. You can have all of the pizza you want.”

“Really?” Addy squeals.

“No. You get two pieces, kid. Emma gets all the pizza she wants because she’s a grown-up and we’re celebrating her getting a new job.”

“Is she still going to be on TV?”

“I am, kid,” Emma sighs. “You get to hear my voice even more when you watch the games on TV now, and I’ll be home more even when Killian is away.”

“Good,” Addy says as she gets her plate of pizza. “You do better braids than him.”

“Oi, that’s harsh right there, mate,” Will mutters.

“It’s the truth,” Liam agrees as Emma snickers. “Emma does do better braids than Killian, but I obviously do the best.”

“I’m feeling attacked,” Killian mutters as he slides around Emma and starts filling his plate. “I’m sorry that I wasn’t taught how to braid here. I will have to endeavor to learn so I’m no longer bad-mouthed at celebrations that are obviously about braiding skills.”

Everyone starts getting into the pizza and chips, the vegetable platter staying unsurprisingly full, before spreading out across the main floor of Liam and Elsa’s house. If Anna were here, she’d be appalled by the fact that they’re having pizza instead of a homecooked meal to celebrate, but she doesn’t know how damn good this pizza is.

Or how good the conversation is.

Or how good it feels just to know that this year, with all of its ups and downs, has turned out to be a lot better than she ever could have expected three weeks ago. And she gets to still think that with the horrible season they just finished and all of the other shitty stuff that happened this year. She gets to think that because she deserves this for all of the shit the baseball world has put her through.

She’s never thought that the world owes her anything, but maybe for just this once she deserves this.

She deserves it because she’s damn good at her job, and she earned this.

“Watch out on how much pizza you’re eating, little brother,” Liam starts, “wouldn’t want you to have to work off a bunch of weight when your off-season is over.”“Liam, be nice,” Elsa sighs.

“I think Killian’s good on the being fit situation,” Emma promises as she pats his stomach. “I could give you more details, but I feel like that would freak you out.”

Liam groans as Killian chokes on his food. “Swan.”“What?” Emma laughs. “I’m just saying. I think you can have all of the pizza and beer you want.”

“I’m driving tonight, so I’ll hold back on the beer. The pizza, though, I’m taking home with us.”

“So much pizza talk tonight,” Ruby groans. “I thought we were more interesting than that.”

“Oh, see,” Elsa starts, “I can quote all of Play Paws, so I’ve been boring for a long while. Liam, too. Actually, Liam more than me.”

“Hey.”

“What? It’s true.”

“You all need hobbies,” Ruby says. “Oh, oh, oh. We should go out. Like, to an actual bar. We can get babysitters for all of you guys who have procreated, and it’ll be great. Just imagine Mary Margaret dancing.”

“Rubes, stop. She’ll hear you, and you do not want her trying to prove otherwise.”

“Oh, no, I do. It’s my favorite thing in the world.”“You know,” Graham starts, “you’re not necessarily the best dancer either.”

Ruby holds her finger up. “If I get a few beers in you, you’d never know that.”

“This is going to be a thing, I can feel it.” Killian leans over and presses his lips to her temple. “They obviously don’t know about how you dance.”

“Oh my God, stop. I’m a horrible dancer.” Emma takes another bite of her pizza. This is probably her fourth slice, and she’s definitely going to regret it in the morning. Not right now though. “But I do think we can agree that the person we most need to see dance is Will because he talks a big game, but I have seen videos from spring training.”

“Oi,” Will shouts from across the room, “don’t judge me by your boyfriend’s Instagram stories. I am better than every person in this room.”

“Better at what?” Mary Margaret asks as she walks in the room with Ariel trailing behind her.

Emma groans and hides her face in Killian’s shoulder as Ruby starts laughing.

“Dancing, love,” Killian explains because he’s apparently a glutton for punishment.

“Oh, we should totally get babysitters and go out,” Ariel squeals. “I’d love a night away from Morgan.”

“That’s a brilliant idea,” Mary Margaret agrees.

Emma lifts her head from Killian’s shoulder and stares Ruby down. “See, I told you.”

“Oh, come on,” Killian laughs, “we should let them have their fun. Besides, we might have a little fun, too.”

“Let’s go next week,” Mary Margaret suggests.

“That sounds perfect, love.”

“Wait,” Emma laughs as she turns to face Killian, “we’re going to Spain next week.”

“Exactly,” Killian winks. “We’ll be safe and far away from the horrible dancing.”

-/-

“Oh my God,” Emma sighs as she falls back against the front door, “I’m exhausted. I shouldn’t have worn heels tonight. That was dumb just to hang out at your brother’s place.”

“I thought it was a great decision. Your ass looked fantastic.”

“You’re such a man.”

Killian chuckles and leans into her until his nose is pressing into her neck. “What can I say? I like the things I like.”

“Are you attempting to seduce me, Jones?”

“I was going to give it a shot.”

Emma hums as he rubs his scruff across her skin. She used to hate that, but now she enjoys the pleasant burn. It often feels weird when he’s shaved it all off. He did that last week, and she was not a fan.

It felt weird running her hands over his cheek or kissing him.

“I’m too tired, but if you play your cards right, maybe in the morning.”

“Promises, promises.”

She pushes back on his chest, and she can see the smile on his face, tired but genuine just like hers. They both definitely ate too much pizza tonight, but not enough that she doesn’t want dessert.

“I do promise. Now, let me go change, and then I want to eat some leftover pie in bed.”

“Let me guess. I’m in charge of heating up the pie.”

“You’re so smart. I knew you were learning something in college.”

Killian chuckles before playfully slapping her ass and nudging her toward the bedroom. “Go change, Swan. It’s your night. You can have whatever you damn well please.”

“Oh, I like the sound of that. Can I have nights celebrating me more often?”

“As long as you don’t let it all go to your head.”

“I would never.”

“That’s a lie, but I’ll take it. Which pie do you want?”

“The peanut butter chocolate one you don’t like. On the bright side, though, you don’t have to heat that one up.”

Killian mockingly bows, and Emma has to bite her lip to keep from laughing. The idiot.

As he makes his way to the kitchen, she heads back to the bedroom and to the closet, kicking her heels off before tugging down her jeans and pulling off her sweater and her bra. She really wants to leave all of her stuff on the floor, but Killian has done so much for her today. The least she can do is not make a mess, especially when she’s going to steal one of his t-shirts to sleep in.

God, why is hanging clothes up the absolute worst? Her side of the closet is a disaster while Killian’s is perfectly organized, and she’ll never understand how those parts of their personalities are compatible.

Seriously, he organizes his t-shirts by age, which is a lot when the man owns over one hundred Yankee-related shirts from an eight-year-career.

She wants one of the bigger ones, so she goes to the bottom drawer when he used to wear things that weren’t so form fitting to find an old, worn in shirt. She finds one, pulling it out, and then beneath it is a small black box.

Oh boy.

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy.

Emma knows what’s in that box. It could be earrings or another charm for her necklace or anything else, but somewhere deep in her gut, she knows that it’s none of those things.

Holy shit.

They’ve talked about this. They’ve had a million vague, slightly terrifying conversations, and then one or two serious, definitely terrifying conversations over whether or not they wanted to get married or if they were okay simply being together.

They both said they were fine with either.

They also both knew which one they preferred.

She just didn’t know that it was happening now.

But it makes sense. They’ve been together for a year and a half, which isn’t really that long, but it feels like it’s always been this way. It feels like it’s always been the two of them and a team of idiots traveling across the country to play baseball and talk about baseball and eat pizza at two in the morning in hotel rooms.

It feels like this is the way it’s always supposed to be, and at no point in her life did she ever think she would feel that way.

Emma was never the girl who got to have this many good things, and this part of her does still think that if she blinks, it’ll all go away.

Slowly, she closes her eyes.

One, two, three.

When she opens them, the ring box is still there, and because she knows there’s no way in hell she’ll be able to keep her mouth shut over finding it, Emma takes the box out of the drawer and carries it with her into the bedroom where Killian is already in bed and has a piece of pie waiting for her on her bedside table. She immediately walks over to him, crawls onto the mattress, and straddles his thighs.

“So, don’t be mad at me.”

His brow arches. “Oh, it’s always a good thing when you say that.”

Emma wrinkles her nose and leans forward to kiss his forehead. “I mean it. You can’t get mad at me for what I’m about to do.”

“I feel like that is a promise I can’t keep, but for you, my love, I’ll try my best.”

Emma sighs before taking a deep breath. This is the right thing. This has to be the right thing.

She can’t not tell him she knows.

“So, I was getting a t-shirt to sleep in, and I found this.” She holds the box in front of her, and Killian’s shoulders immediately tense. That’s probably not the best sign. “And that’s why I don’t want you to get mad at me. I haven’t looked at it. I promise. I didn’t want to do that without you, but I knew that there’s no way I could see this and then not act like a total freak. So, just, if you were waiting because you were hesitant of my answer, you should know it would be yes.”

Killian’s hand moves from her thighs to her hand, and he takes the box from her. She can’t seem to look away from his eyes, though.

“I was going to wait, Swan,” he softly explains. “You were never supposed to find this, and you certainly weren’t supposed to find this when we’re in the middle of celebrating your career. This wasn’t supposed to be happening today.”

“Wait. How long have you had this?”

“A few weeks.”“And when were you going to use it?”

“The day you got the email for your interview. I had this whole big plan.”“Yeah?”“Mhm.” He reaches up to tuck her hair behind her ear, and she turns her hand to kiss his palm. “I was going to cook dinner, but I wasn’t going to make it obvious that something special was going to happen. It was simply going to be us in the living room, the lights turned down and a movie on, and I had a speech.”

“Did you?” Her heart is beating a ridiculous rhythm. “Can you say it now?”

Killian clicks his tongue. “See, if I say it now, I’m afraid it will sound forced, and we wouldn’t want that, now would we?”

Emma softly laughs and leans forward to rest her forehead against his and cup his cheeks.

“I think I would.”

“I already took so much of your spotlight away in big moments of your career. I don’t want to keep doing that.”

“Killian Jones, you have never taken anything away from me. You’ve only added to those moments.”

“Careful now. You’re starting to sound like me.”

“Count it as a good thing.”

His eyes flutter closed, but then his nose is burrowing into her cheek and she can feel his lips move as he speaks. “I remember the first day you walked into the locker room as a reporter. You were strong and confident and took no shit from any of the players. I think right then and there I knew you were a force to be reckoned with, even if I had never spoken to you.”

She had no idea he remembered that day. Absolutely none. There’s no reason he should, but he does somehow. It’s easy to forget how their lives have been so intertwined for years when neither of them put too much thought into it.

Ships passing in the night.

At least back then.

“Emma, every thought I had on that day has been proven time and time again. You are bloody brilliant in every way, and I’m a better man because I have you by my side. I don’t ever want that to change.”

“I don’t either,” she whispers. “I can’t believe you remember my first day. I didn’t even interview you.”

“Yeah, well, I’ve been known to have a good memory.”

“Much to my dismay sometimes,” Emma laughs. Her heart is still beating far too quickly to be healthy. “You make me better, too. I didn’t ever think – I – ”

“I know, love. I know.” Killian’s lips press into hers, slowly, softly, reverently. “Will you marry me, darling? Will you marry me so that nothing in our life will change except for the fact that I can walk around obnoxiously calling you my wife all the time?”

Emma barks out a laugh, and her heart finally settles because this right here is everything it was every supposed to be and she feels calm about it.

“Yeah, I think I’ll marry you, twenty-nine.”

“You think?”

“Just shut up and kiss me again. You knew my answer was always going to be yes.”

“It’s nice to hear it, though.”

“Then yes, Killian,” she whispers before kissing him. “Yes.”

-/-

-/-

cmiyc peeps: @mrtinski​ @bluewildcatfanatic @killianswannn @dorisquinn​ @onepunintendid​ @authorarsinoe​ @stunningswan​ @eala-captian @galaxyzxstark @xellewoods @mariakov81 @ultraluckycatnd @royalswan @shey-starsfury​ @superchocovian​ @sals86 @iam2307 @ashley-knightingale @karenfrommisthaven @scientificapricot @captswanis4vr @ultimiflos @jamif @idristardis @nikkiemms @resident-of-storybrooke @tiganasummertree @bmbbcs4evr @onceuponaprincessworld @jennjenn615 @mayquita @captainsjedi @teamhook @notoriouscs @kmomof4 @ekr032-blog-blog​ @cs-forlife @andiirivera @jonirobinson64 @qualitycoffeethings​ @carpedzem​ @tornadoamy​ ​

[fourdaysofrain]

Of course iron man is peter’s favorite avenger, but tony can’t know /that/. That would be like admitting your dad is your favorite person in the world, and dad’s can’t know /that/. Too many dad gloating rights given. (Prompt? Maybe?)

I had fun with this one :) Thanks for sending it in!

Read on AO3

Peter drops his head over the edge of his top bunk so the rest of his room is upside down. “Yeah, no, I get that he’s all about doing good, but he did beat me up.”

“But he fights for what’s right!” Ned’s tinny voice says as it comes through Peter’s phone.

“Ignoring the whole beat me up of it all, isn’t that all superheroes?” Peter kicks his feet up to touch the ceiling. ”Like, that’s kind of the whole point.”

Peter can hear Ned’s sigh over the speaker. “He’s from the 40s!”

“Yeah so is the Holocaust, I’m pretty sure,” Peter says absentmindedly as he places his free hand on the ceiling and lifts himself off the top bunk. 

“Well, without the suits Iron Man’s just a dude.”

“I totally get that.” He crawls to the center of his ceiling and drops his hand so he’s standing completely upside down. “But you can say that about anyone. Without the serum, Cap’s just a dude. Without the bow and arrow, Hawkeye’s just a dude. Without the spider bite, I’m just a dude. We’re all just dudes doing good.”

Ned snorts and Peter swears he can hear the sound of a page flipping in a notebook. “Okay, let’s review. So far Iron Man is better than Hawkeye, Hulk, Black Widow, and Captain America. Here’s the big one: Iron Man or Thor?”

Peter switches the phone to his other ear and scrunches his brows. “Wait, is this against some HR thing? I think they’re like my coworkers.”

“Uh… No, this is fine.”

“Yeah, that sounds convincing enough. I’m gonna say Iron Man is better because I haven’t actually met--” 

Peter’s cut off by a gasp coming from his door. He looks over to see May with a hand on her chest that she quickly lowers. 

“What did we say about walking on the ceiling?”

He grins sheepishly as he lowers himself down by a hand. “Did we say we liked it?” May’s glare is answer enough. “Sorry, May.”

“Dinner’s on the table,” she says as she walks back to the kitchen. “And there better not be any footprints up there!”

Peter huffs out a laugh and puts his phone back to his ear. “Sorry Ned, I gotta go eat dinner. I can call you after?”

“Don’t worry about it, it’s clear your favorite is Iron Man.” Peter’s thankful Ned can’t see his blush through the phone. “I mean, he did make you a suit, which is pretty awesome.”

“Yeah, he’s… cool.”

Ned laughs. “Oh my God, you totally have like, a Peralta and Holt thing going on with him. Dude, your life.”

“C’mon, man,” he says through an unconvincing scowl. ”I gotta go.”

They quickly make plans to meet up before school the next day as Peter struggles to find his phone charger from where it’s hidden in his backpack. He finds it just as Ned hangs up and plugs his phone in before heading out to the dining room for dinner.

“Sorry May, Ned and I were just talking about who’s the best Avenger. Which is stupid, because it’s obviously--” He finally turns the corner to the dining room to see Tony leaning against the wall and softly chatting with May as she sets the table. “Mr. Stark!”

At that, Tony turns to him and smiles. “Hey, kid. Don’t let me interrupt, who’s the best Avenger?”

“No, I--” Peter huffs out a breath. “What’re you doing here, man?”

“Tony is joining us for dinner tonight,” May cuts in. “I told you this morning, weren’t you listening?”

Peter thinks back to when he was trying to hide the remnants of his concussion when May woke him up for school and shakes his head. “No, I guess I must’ve still been waking up.”

“We’re changing the subject, here.” Tony points between May and Peter. “Let’s circle back to who’s the best Avenger.”

May rolls her eyes and says, “We need more napkins. He’s all yours, Peter.” With that, she retreats to the kitchen. 

“Well.” Peter swings his head over to make eye contact with Tony. “Ned and I finally agreed that it was Dr. Banner, obviously.”

“Obviously?”

“Yeah, he’s got like, seven PhDs.” Peter slides into his chair. “And he’s done a lot of game-changing research on the effects of gamma radiation.”

Following his lead, Tony joins Peter at the table. “There wasn’t anyone else revolutionary that came to mind?”

“Well” Peter struggles to keep a straight face, “We fought between Dr. Banner and Black Widow for a while, ‘cause she’s crazy badass.”

“And you couldn’t think of anyone else?” Tony scratches his eyebrow. ”Maybe someone who’s both badass and a scientist? Also a large number of PhDs?”

Peter manages to force himself to look confused. “What, like-- Oh! Oh, sorry, Mr. Stark. We actually kind of… forgot you were an Avenger?”

“Okay, well now I know you’re messing with me.”

May comes back with a small stack of napkins. “Please. You should see him when he gets back from your lab visits, it’s like he’s a little 8-year-old again.”

“May!” Peter pleads, his voice jumping up an octave or two. “Embarrassing!”

Tony laughs and leans forward as May sits in her chair. “No, by all means, May. Go on.”

“You should have seen him when he was 8.” She smirks at Tony. ”Hardly left the house without his Iron Man mask on. He couldn’t wear it to school, so we had to buy him plenty of Iron Man shirts or he would just cry and cry.”

Peter groans and drops his head in his hands. “I could easily jump out the window right now. The only thing keeping me here is my good manners.”

“Having good manners means no elbows on the table,” May chides, and he obediently lifts his head back up and puts his arms in his lap. She turns back to Tony. “Iron Man has always been his favorite, you don’t need to worry.”

“Aw, kid. Don’t look so sad.” Peter carefully looks over to Tony to see him beaming with a wide grin. ”I’m my favorite Avenger too.”

“I’m gonna do it,” Peter says to himself as he looks at his lap, purposefully loud enough so the rest of the table can hear. “I’m gonna be the one to kill Iron Man.”

May laughs as Tony claps him on the shoulder. “Don’t be like that, Pete.” Tony sighs dramatically. ”If you had to ask me who my favorite non-Avenger superhero was, it’d be you.”

Peter scoffs. “Yeah, well. Same.”

“Look at the two of you,” May says warmly as she leans back in her chair. “I’m going to get you matching sweaters for Christmas.”

That finally breaks the tension and they all laugh together. They even think she’s joking. 

Tag list: @ironfamjam @addi-is-amazing @mysterio-is-a-little-bitch @wellplacedbanana @night0seven