#you guys who stayed during my 2 days frantic rambling

[videcoeur]

and now to wait years before s2

[xoxo-teddybear]

Nothing But a Bet - Bakugou Katsuki- pt.2

Bakugou x f!reader

Warnings: Angst, Cursing, Fluff, not spell checked

Summary: Bakugou has been so broken. Nothings been the same for him but he’s been doing everything he can to get you back...but when will it be enough to win you back?

BAKUGOU’S MASTERLIST

Pt.1 Pt.2

“Hey..Y/N it’s me...please answer your phone.”

“Hi Princess..I saw you during your training session..you did amazing like always..take care of yourself..And I love you.”

“Hi...I was wondering if you wanted to talk about this whole thing...please?”

“Teddy Bear I’m so sorry for what happened but just please let me explain everything before you make any final decisions.”

“Y/N please come back to me.”

“...I miss you.”

Bakugou sent voicemail after voicemail, text after text, and letter after letter. He tried to call you hundreds of times in the past week but they all went straight to voicemail. He tried to reach out to you through social media but you blocked him everywhere. He was lucky that you didn’t block his number. You were both hero trainees and if an emergency were to happen, you would need every resource available and Bakugou might be one of them so you had to keep his number.

Bakugou’s been so fucked for the past week. When you left him that night, he cried into your pillow. He fell asleep in your room to have some sort of comfort that night but awoke to nobody. He looked around the room and saw the previous night’s disaster date and cried some more. He even waited a few more hours in your room before he came to the conclusion that you wouldn’t return until he left. You probably hated his guts right now and Bakugou couldn’t even be mad at you. You had every right but at least let him explain everything. Please.

“Bakugou, you can’t keep doing this every night man.” The red head said. Kirishima had been walking into the common room when he found his friend on the couch again for the 7th night in a row. Bakugou’s been doing everything he can to talk to you but you’ve always brushed him off. Even so, he still waits for you to get back from training every night just in case you would break one day and allow him to speak to you. Unfortunately, that night hasn’t come yet, and Bakugou still waits to hear your voice speak to him.

“....I’m gonna get her back,” Bakugou said as he continued to stare at the door, waiting for it to open.

“But what if she doesn’t want you anymore?” Kirishima argued.

“She does!...I know she does..she left me because I did something stupid, not because she doesn’t feel anything towards me anymore.” Bakugou took a breather as he felt tears pool into his eyes once more. He shook them off before he spoke again. “..She has to still love me...I won’t be the same if she doesn’t.”

Kirishima looked towards his friend with sad eyes as he heard the slight break in his voice. His friend really hasn’t been the same since the horrible breakup and it’s been worrying him. Getting his dream girl back is the only way to fix Bakugou Katsuki.

After a few minutes, the door opens up to reveal your beauty. You walked in to find another waiting Bakugou and watched as Kirishima left as he knew what was coming. You looked at the blonde with a nonchalant face as he ran up to you.

“Y/N! Hey! ...” he never really knew what to say after that. He was always too nervous to say anything else in fear of upsetting you. You rolled your eyes at him before you attempted to walk away but he ran in-front of you to stop you from going. “Uh..do you need help with that?”

He pointed to your workout bag but you just shook your head ‘no’ as you continued to walk but before you could get far, Bakugou spun you around to speak to you again.

“Hey! Did you know..uh, there’s this great new place that opened up. I wanted to know if you want to...um..go there sometime..maybe we could talk about what happened and-“

Before he could continue you walked away again. Bakugou grew frantic as he didn’t know what to do. This would be the 7th night in a row where you just ignore him and he doesn’t know if he could go through with more disappointment tonight. He could feel himself begin to shake as his heart grew nervous. Out of fear he grabbed onto your hand before you could get away. You didn’t turn to face him but you did allow him to continue.

“Please don’t go...please talk to me and please let me explain everything. I miss you so much Teddy Bear and I lov-“

Your body stilled for a second and you ran away to your room before he could finish that sentence. You couldn’t forgive him. Not yet. You ran with tears in your eyes as you tried to shake away the thoughts filling your heard. You left behind a crying Bakugou as he watched you run away. He didn’t even try to go after you. He knew it wouldn’t make any difference. He dropped his head and sniffled as he allowed the tears to fall. He walked his way back to his dorm and cried into his own pillow when he checked the time. 9:14. It was a school night and he had to get up early tomorrow. He would have to try again the next day. And so again, with a heavy heart, he went to bed without his Teddy Bear in his arms.

—

It was morning. Another day another sad Katsuki. The blonde rose out of bed with tired bags under his eyes. He looked horrible and anyone could see that. Shit just hasn’t been the same for him. Not without her. He got up and got dressed in his school uniform and went straight to class. He just had to see you again. The more he saw you, the more chances he got at getting you back.

Bakugou didn’t really have a plan on how to get Y/N back. He just worked and tried everything he could on the spot once he saw you. Once he sat down in his seat, he awaited for your arrival. You always came in pretty early and so the second you walked in he was up on his feet.

“Y/N! Hey!”

You watched as the blonde came up to you. You looked around and noticed there were only a few students in the room. So even though this would probably hurt you in the end, you decided to drop the silent treatment.

“.....Hi..Bakugou,” you said as you both continued to stand. You gave him a quick smile before dropping it and looking everywhere but at him. Bakugou smiled at the sound of your voice and grew excited.

“..Uh- I was wondering..if you wanted to..train after school? You know like we used to?” You looked at him with a raised brow and crossed arms. Did he really think you would wanna train with him?

“It’s just- I noticed you’re reflexes have been a little off,” at that you raised both brows at him and that’s when he panicked and began rambling, “no, no, no, no! I didn’t mean it like that! You’re great! Amazing! You always are dumbass- Y/N! I meant Y/N...yeah..yeah but the point is-“

“Okay, if I say yes will you let me go to my seat?” You quickly asked.

“YES! Ehem, mm, I mean yes. Yes, I’d like that very much and I will let you..take your...your seat...” he said awkwardly but surely. You just nodded your head slowly and walked by him. Bakugou quickly and silently celebrated behind your back but stopped once you looked at him. Seeing him all excited just to hang out with you made you laugh to yourself but you quickly shut that down as you remembered who it was you were laughing at but your smile and laughter didn’t go unnoticed by the blonde. He sat down in his seat and continued to stare at you like a happy puppy.

Soon enough, more students came into the room. The bell finally rang and Aizawa walked in to let class begin. Time went by and eventually, lunch came and you can definitely guess that Bakugou, once again, tried to get you to sit with him. This time, instead of ignoring him, you simply said “no,” and kept walking.

This of course put Bakugou into a mood but he didn’t want to be stingy. You had already agreed to train with him and you always kept to your word. He was grateful but he couldn’t hide the sadness on his face.

He and the rest of the Bakusquad sat at their table and spoke amongst each other but they of course noticed their sad friend. Now everyone knew Bakugou and Y/N had broken up but only Kirishima had known why. So questions came up and Kirishima thought it would be a wise idea for Bakugou’s other friends to help.

“What’s up with McBlasty?” Sero asked, not even earning a snarl from Bakugou at the crude nickname. “Still not over the breakup?”

“It’s not a breakup!” Bakugou countered. “It’s just...a break okay?”

“Right, cuz a break involves her giving you the cold shoulder,” Mina added on. “What happened to you guys anyway? You seemed like the perfect couple.”

Bakugou cringed at her words. They were the perfect couple. And he missed his perfect girlfriend. He looked towards Kirishima to see that he was giving him the same look he always did when it came to the Bakusquad. He wanted him to tell them the truth. Bakugou sighed as he realized it was probably time for them to know.

“Y/N left me because she found out about the bet.”

Kaminari and Sero looked at each other in shock and fear. They remember exactly what happened. They were speaking on their relationship and the bet when they heard Y/N’s door slam shut. They realized she probably heard what they had said but assumed everything would be okay! They didn’t think it would cause a breakup! But who knows!? Maybe Bakugou was speaking of a different bet.

“Umm..what bet?” Kaminari asked but Bakugou only looked at him with a confused face. How could he not remember?

“The bet we made almost a year ago. The bet that ruined my perfect relationship with the love of my life. The bet that you gave me! You know? The bet where you told me to date Y/N and not fall in love with her, which I obviously failed.” Bakugou said as he straightened up at the memory. He noticed how the two idiots remained oddly silent and how they looked like they were cowering (more than usual) at the sight of him. “Why’re you acting like that?”

The boys stayed silent before Sero spoke up. “Bakugou..we have something to tell you.”

At the tall boy’s words, the whole table gave him their attention but Kaminari only looked at him with wide eyes, hinting at him to stop what he was about to do. Sero only punched Kaminari in the shoulder as the electric blonde finally gave in.

“Bakugou,” Kaminari said, “Sero and I are the reason why Y/N found out it was a bet.”

In that moment, Bakugou’s face dropped. His eyes grew wide and silence grew around the table. Bakugou’s face went from extreme shock to extreme anger. He quickly stood up and went to attack the two boys but Kirishima was quick to hold him back.

“Let go of me!!!” Bakugou screamed.

“Bakugou! You need to relax!” Kirishima realized he wouldn’t be able to hold Bakugou back himself and called for reinforcements. “Midoriya! Todoroki!”

The two boys came running and at once glance at the situation, they knew what they had to do. Midoriya and Todoroki grabbed onto Bakugou, hooking their arms under his shoulders while Kirishima stood front. The whole scene grabbed everyone’s attention, including Y/N’s.

“This is all your fault!” Bakugou screamed with slight tears in his eyes. “I lost Y/N because of you idiots! All because you couldn’t keep your mouths shut?! What the fuck is wrong with you?!” Bakugou said fighting against his human restraints.

“We’re sorry! We didn’t know she heard us! It’s not like we intentionally tried to ruin you two! It was an accident!” Kaminari said behind the protection of Mina.

“I DONT GIVE A FUCK! You fucking idiots ruined everything for me!” Bakugou said as his hands began to spark. He sent an explosion their way but Y/N was quick to react and get in the middle. She used her quirk to stop his explosion and everyone settled once they saw her.

“Y/N...” Bakugou whispered out as he stopped fighting. He stood still but the three boys still kept their hold on him just in case.

“It doesn’t matter how I found out or who told me Bakugou. The only thing that matters is that you and Kaminari used me as part of a bet. Do you understand that I felt like I was just a piece of a game?” Y/N explained.

“But you’re not Y/N! You’re so much more than that!” Bakugou argued.

“So then why was I even considered to be part of that bet?” You asked. The entire room grew silent as Bakugou let his tears fall. He had no answer for you. “Right.”

You picked up your bag and walked by the group, Bakugou never taking his eyes off of you. “I’ll see you in the gym later, Bakugou.” And with that, you walked off.

Bakugou shoved the 3 boys off of him as he glared at Kaminari and Sero. The boys kept their heads down as a way of apologizing to their friend but they realized they would have to do much more than that to truly make it up to their friend. As the bell rang and everyone was dismissed, Kaminari and Sero walked out together and discussed their apology plan.

—

Bakugou had skipped out on the rest of the day. He didn’t know if he would be able to hold himself back if he saw Kaminari or Sero again. He had decided he would give himself some time to cool off before he had to meet with Y/N in the gym.

At that memory he decided it was best for him to look on the bright side. He got to train with Y/N again. It would be just like old times and who knows? Maybe she’ll finally listen to him and what he has to say. Maybe she’ll take him back. Bakugou had set an alarm for himself and in the meantime took the opportunity to rest up.

—

*beep* *beep* *beep* *beep* *click!*

Bakugou woke up from his nap and looked at the time. 1:55 p.m. Just about 20 minutes for him to get ready and meet with Y/N in gym gamma. He got up, changed into a sleeveless hoodie, sweats, and some combat boots. He grabbed his gym bag and went down to find Y/N.

Just as he stepped out of the dormitory he saw Y/N walking his way. Was he still dreaming or is that actually his dream girl walking up towards him.

“Hey, Bakugou, at least wait for me to get ready.” You said while hooking both your arms. Bakugou held a shocked expression as he looked down at where you both were linked and looked back up towards you.

“Uh..H-Hey Y/N! Uh..sorry, did you want me to wait for you?” He said still shocked.

“Uhhh yeah? I won’t take that long, c’mon Blasty.” You said so naturally as you dragged him to your room. Bakugou blushed at the old nickname but smiled as he was quick to walk by your side. On the way to your dorm, he tried to make small talk and this time you actually spoke back! You laughed with him (or more so at his shaky and nervous behavior) and smiled more. He waited for you on the outside to get ready and you guys walked back to the gym. Again, on the way there you both had fun loving conversations. It was almost like nothing changed.

You both entered the gym and began stretching.

“So what exactly is the problem with my reflexes, Blasty?” You asked while stretching. Bakugou froze mid stretch as he realized he lowkey disrespected Y/N by saying her reflexes had faltered. And he didn’t even mean it! He just said it because he didn’t know what else to say.

“Umm...you know...I’m not saying that- that there’s something wrong with your reflexes. You’re perfect!” He laughed out but froze at what he said again. He snapped his head towards you and saw you paused your stretching to give him a look. “No! Not perfect! Your reflexes are perfect! You know? You’re not perfect, your reflexes are!”

Again, you gave him another look and he froze up again. “No, no, no! I mean-“

“You just wanted to get me in here with you?”

“Yup.”

“Mm,” you said as you nodded your head and continued warming up. Bakugou sighed as he dropped his head back and groaned towards the ceiling. He hated how being around you now turned him into a pile of bleh.

You guys finally began a little sparring match. Bakugou may be a mess around you but you can always be sure that he has his head in the game. You were always a calm, cool, and collected person no matter what happened so your fight style never weakened.

You and Bakugou had been going on for awhile. You threw punches, kicks, and quirks and it was 3 to 2, with you in the lead. You guys had several rounds with different rules. No quirks, quirks only, stealth matches, and even a no rules battle.

Finally, it was the last fight and you and Bakugou were clearly exhausted. Bakugou wanted to end it now due to exhaustion and so he ran towards you and pounced. You failed to stop him and just allowed him to drop you. You both ended up tumbling around until he finally pinned you down with his face close to your.

“I-.....I win...” he said with a tired but victorious grin. He stared at your face as you did that cute little nose-scrunch thing that he loved whenever he beat you.

“What-...whatever. I let you win..Blasty,” you breathed out as he just laughed at you. You began to laugh too and you both stayed there for a little until his gaze remained on yours. You both stared at each other in awe and want as Bakugou released his hold on your wrist and placed his hands on the ground at the side of your head. He leaned in a little and you allowed your hands to wrap around his neck. You pulled him in until your lips met and softly danced across each other.

Bakugou slightly opened his eyes to look down at you and smiled as he realized you finally gave in. He closed his eyes once more and just enjoyed the moment. The kiss would’ve gone on forever if the need for oxygen didn’t exist. You both separated with a hazy look in your eyes. A string of saliva connected you both as your heavy breaths grew and a blush covered across your faces.

“..heh...” was all that Bakugou said as he sat up on his knees and allowed you to sit straight. He sat down next to you as silence filled the room. “Soo...that happened..”

You remained silent as the blush on your face remained and you got lost in thought. Bakugou looked at you in concern as he thought you were regretting the kiss until you spoke up.

“...I’ve missed you Katsuki....and...I forgive you.”

Bakugou’s eyes went wide as he smiled. He stood up and brought you along with him. He picked you up and held you in his arms as he spun you around. You squealed in excitement and joy as Katsuki held you tight and once he placed you on the ground again, he gave you a quick kiss.

“I’m not saying I don’t like whats happening but...why?” He asked with a smile and confused look in his eyes. You only smiled at him and settled down before you spoke.

“..Sero and Kaminari came and talked to me. They told me everything.” Bakugou’s eyes went wide at the mention of the two morons who ruined his relationship. But he smiled as he realized they were the reason you were talking to him again. He would have to thank their dumbasses later. “They’ve been telling me how upset you’ve been and how you actually did love me.” You explained.

“Did and still do,” he corrected and you laughed at his reply.

“Right. Anyway, I’m not gonna lie, it was wrong for you to place a bet on me but..you spent almost a whole year with me..and they told me it was only supposed to be for a few weeks. I guess that means...”

“That I really do love you? That I really do want to be with you for the rest of my life? That I do need you in my life as mine to be sane? Yeah, I know.” He laughed as he wrapped him arms around your waist and held you closer while you giggled back.

“Heh..yeah.” You said. Bakugou pressed his forehead against yours as you both reveled in the comforting feeling of each other. You stayed in the loving embrace of his arms as you smiled even more.

“I’m so sorry for doing that to you, Y/N. I should’ve never placed some stupid bet on you but I’m kinda glad I did....it brought me to the perfect one for me. I really, really love you, Teddy Bear.”

Bakugou softly kissed the crown of your head as he whispered loving words to you.

“You’re mine again.”

“Yeah Suki..I’m yours.”

A/N: I’m sorry if the ending felt rushed😖 I feel like this could’ve been better but I think im reaching a writer’s block. 

[thegrantwater]

how the team handled reid's addiction/recovery

//tw for mentions of drug abuse, addiction, overdose, recovery; gonna be a bit of a long one//

~ reid knew that gideon, no matter how much he cared for him, would never do anything to help him. everything with frank was haunting his mind, and he was far too distracted to really notice how much reid was struggling, but gideon knew that he was using

~ after about 2 weeks from his abduction, he'd been using steadily every day, and hotch was the first member of the team to notice him slipping to the bathroom more than usual during the day.

~ that night after the rest of the team had left, hotch went to gideon and asked if reid had said anything about the abduction, to which gideon gave a noncommittal grunt of "he's stressed, he just died. cut the kid a break"

~ so hotch kept an eye out, off-handedly mentioned that he was there for reid if he ever needed anything

~ 3 weeks and 4 days after he spoke to gideon, he was woken up at 2 am to a frantic call from reid, saying hankel was in his house and was going to hurt his mom. he can't remember the last time he drove that fast, but when he got to reid's apartment he saw the other man shaking and crying on the floor of his bathroom, the tourniquet still tied around his arm and a near-empty bottle of dilaudid next to him. he immediately went into dad-hotch mode, got him a glass of water and just sat with him while he cried.

~ reid wrapped himself around hotch and sobbed, begging him not to report this to anyone because "you guys are my family, i can't lose you, you're all i have" and hotch just lets him, petting his hair and promising him that he won't say anything

~ from then on hotch became the person reid called if it ever got too bad, because he was the only one who he was certain wouldn't judge him. he knew the others would be more than willing to help, but it scared him to be so open with even hotch, let alone the entire team.

~ and hotch keeps his word, he never says anything outright to anyone else on the team. but he does mention to them, on a day reid called in sick, that he's struggling right now and they all need to be there for him. gideon knows, but he never speaks up.

~ penelope and derek were the first after hotch to step up and see what they could do. penelope was the one to finally realize he was using, and when she proposed the theory to derek it took everything in him not to go up and grip reid by the shoulders, shake some sense into him and beg for a way to help him get better, because he just couldn't stand seeing his best friend so hurt.

~ so instead of being overly dramatic about it, they decide that they'll invite him to their weekly movie night and snuggle up on penelope's couch and watch shitty comedies that derek rented from blockbuster until 1 am. spencer falls asleep between them and sleeps soundly for the first time in months, his hand still in the popcorn bowl.

~ after them was emily, who knew all too well what a drug-addled young man looked like. she saw traces of matthew in reid, and was determined to make sure that he didn't turn out the same, because this time she would do something.

~ she started to bring him coffee and danishes in the morning, knowing that he likely wasn't eating nearly as much as he should've been. it was more casual at first, only once a week or so saying "they made extra at the coffeeshop" and placing it on his desk before he could argue. but before long, they were eating breakfast together every morning, and some days even meeting up at a cafe or diner to talk about an obscure french novel they'd both read.

~ jj was the last one to notice something was off about reid, struggling with her own trauma from hankel. she was still blaming herself for him even getting taken, so despite her best efforts to look out for him she barely even noticed when he got bad. after hotch said something to them at the roundtable, she kept a closer eye out for him.

~ she wasn't even sure that she completely understood what was really going on with reid, she just knew that her friend was struggling and that she needed to help him in any way she could. so she started letting him ramble on whatever topic his brain focused on that day, and she did her best to try and understand what he was talking about. she even asked penelope to look up some of the science theories he was talking about so that she could talk about them with him too. seeing how he lit up when someone actually listened made her heart burst.

~ spencer had a feeling, deep down, that they all knew what was going on with him. he also knew that hotch never said anything, just that the people he worked with were incredibly talented profilers and no matter his best efforts to hide from them they'd always know what was going on with him.

~ in fact, hotch never said anything outright to him either, after that first night. but he'd come and stay with reid on the really bad nights, and was the one to set him up at NA meetings, to get him a sponsor. he never made a big deal out of anything, but spencer knew that he probably cared the most out of anyone else on the team

~ and once he got better, started the recovery process, he slowly repaid the team for their kindness. he started paying for breakfast with emily, and hosted movie nights at his house every few weeks. he even watched a soccer match with jj, since that was something she cared about. he never had to do anything for hotch, because he just knew that nothing would ever be enough to show his gratitude. but he'd watch jack so he and haley could go on date nights, and picked up extra paperwork at the office. and it was enough.

//god this one hurt but it needed to be done, idk why but the only way reids recovery makes sense is if the team knew but just kept it on the dl for him and helped him in small ways, ways to make sure he knew they cared//

[claynine]

Unforgettable crime

Suna x F!reader

Summary: He was your Clyde, but you weren't his Bonnie.

What you didn't expect nor want to see when you walked into your apartment was your boyfriend making out with a girl on the couch, your couch.

It was a good memory. Two teenagers that moved in together at only 18, found a small couch on the street during what seemed like a moving of a house nearby. It was fun, grabbing it while nobody looked, put it on the back of your dads truck that you used to drive and took it home.

You never thought you would do suck a thing, and the ones you did after. You were a 'good girl', good grades, was never late, never surpassed curfew at home. You remember your parents telling you he wasn't worth it, that you two were young and stupid, that it was too soon to give yourself away like this to a guy. You didn't listen; if only you would have listened.

They clearly didn't notice your presence in between their heated kissing session, her shirt gone as his hands roamed her torso mindlessly.

He made you change, made you a troublemaker, hell, maybe even a criminal. But, being a criminal with him was the best. Stealing snacks from a convenience store, getting caught, almost going to jail.

You believed he was Clyde and you were Bonnie. And yet, living and dying together wasn't an ending for you two.

Embarrasment filled you, as if hundreds of people stood around you watching you with pity and jugdment. No tears in sight as your bag slipped and fell creating a thumb that interruped their steamy moment.

Their faces were almost comical, she was shocked as she got up grabbing her shirt and throwing it on. Her hands frantically looking for her purse as she walked towards and past you leaving the apartment.

"I guess they were right," you said nonchalantly as you looked at him.

He was like a deer caught on headlights. He quickly got up and stood before you.

"L-listen, I can explain everything-"

"I'm sure you can, but I don't wanna listen," your eyes stuck to his chest.

He made you do things you never thought you would do, and things you would never forget.

Sneaking into a pool inside a house at 2 am while drunk. Riding a car without the hood as you let your hair fly in the wind. Did parties that your landlord would reprehend you two for. Memories that will forever be stuck in your memory.

Like this one.

"I won't ask you why you did it," you finally spoke after a few seconds "Just, let me know what I didn't do"

Your words surprised him, maybe even yourself. The room fell silent.

"What...?" He whispered, panic rising.

"I became your accomplice, but, there must have been something I didn't do, right?" You looked him in the eye "What was it?"

Suna didn't know what to say. His eyes watering a bit at your statement and the was your eyes quickly overflowed with your own set of tears. His hand tried to grab yours but you kneeled to grab your bag as you turned around.

"I guess we'll never know then"

"No! You did everything, it was me the one that fucked up! Just-" he rambled trying to get you to stay "-let me fix this"

"Back when my parents tried to warn me about you, i didn't listen," you slightly turned around, looking at him from over your shoulder "I guess we both deserve this sentence, me for not listening, you for manipulating me, and honestly, I don't know which one is worse"

With that you turned around and left.

It was funny, the was you gave him 4 years of your life, your youth, your innocence, yourself as an alibi. He was indeed Clyde, but, who were you? You weren't Bonnie, she hadn't come into his life yet.

He would probably have a sentence of a few weeks, mostly months. He would forget after that and find himself a new accomplice. You would have a sentence for years probably, maybe one day you would once again become a willing accomplice to somebody else.

To you, he was the criminal you followed. Like a lost puppy following the owner that abandoned them.

You could only hope that he got enough time for lying to you, manipulating you, using you. No matter what, you were the worst crime he commited.

To him, you could only hope that out of everything you did together, everything he did before and after you, that you were his favorite crime.

[tloujm]

Part XI: Are We OK?

Author’s Notes: As mentioned in the first paragraph, this takes place a month after the last chapter. Speaking of the last chapter, this one was kind of difficult for me to write as well. Trying to tap into that vulnerable, emotional Joel, when we really didn’t see that until TLOU 2, wasn’t as easy as I thought. And Naughty Dog barely gave us that side of him before they killed him off so...I’m down for straying away from canon, but I wish there was more Joel material to go off of. Maybe if we cry loud enough, Naughty Dog will hear us and we’ll get a DLC with more flashbacks in like 7 years. I already got it planned out, the next chapter will have a new genre, HORROR, just in time for Halloween, then I’ll get back to the smoother-you-with-romance Joel x Reader. 

Genre: An order of Joel Miller, heavy on the angst, with a side of fluff, hold the smut.

Summary: You and Joel find out if the two of you are expecting. Jackson is introduced to a strange newcomer

Ship: Joel x Reader

A month and some change had gone by which meant that you were late. Life had gotten particularly busy, so you didn’t notice how fast time was flying, but Joel did. He knew you were late, but he wanted to see if you would bring it up first. 

“How you feelin’?” Joel asked, gently nudging your shoulder as the two of you walked together.

“I’m fine.” You answered. It was your default answer, but after realizing that he was still looking at you, reading your face, you understood what he meant. Throughout the month he would dote on you a little extra to make sure you weren’t feeling faint or nauseous. “I really am fine, Joel. I haven’t gotten my period yet, though.”

“Ok.” He said as he breathed out. He looked forward with those doe eyes.

“That doesn’t mean anything yet. My periods were never really consistent in the first place. Let’s just wait a little longer and see.” What you said was true, but you also weren’t sure if you were ready to admit to yourself the possibility of having a life inside you. 

Joel took your hand in his and gave it a squeeze. “Ok.”

One day while out on patrol, Joel convinced his group to make a detour and check out a small plaza. It had a boutique, veterinary office, post office and, most importantly, a pharmacy. While the others started at the boutique to find new clothes, Joel snuck off to get a head start at the pharmacy. He secured the location before pacing up and down the aisles. His eyes bounced around the shelves as his hands randomly skimmed the items on them. They have to be here, he thought. It's not like they were in high demand during a pandemic. Soon enough, he’d found what he was looking for and stuffed his bag with a few boxes just as the group was catching up with him. Joel explained away his departure with ease and joined in scavenging for medical goods. 

As soon as they’d passed through Jackson’s gates, Joel bee lined it to your house. He let himself in as he usually did and called out your name. He wasn’t sure if you were home but he was too anxious to try and track you down. Luckily, your footsteps were heard from the other room. He waited as patiently as he could for you to meet him in the living room. 

“You’re back!” You exclaimed. “What happened out there? I thought you were going to be back in time for lunch.”

“Yeah, I know. I’m sorry. We stopped at some small plaza. It was off-map.”

“I hope you guys found some good stuff.” You commented while throwing on your jacket.

“Yeah, we did.” He quickly replied before furrowing his brows. “You going somewhere?”

You nodded. “I was gonna go help Wendy out again today. You can come too, but It’s ok if you’re too tired. I know you just got back.”

“(Y/N),” He began, leaving your name to hang in the air with suspense. He slid his backpack off of his shoulders and dug around for the contents that he found at the pharmacy. 

“What’s wrong?” You noticed the strange look on Joel’s face. Mind racing, you grew afraid of what he was going to pull out. You watched as he placed three narrow boxes on your coffee table. You took a step closer to inspect them.

“There was a pharmacy there, so I figured why wait and see when we can know now.” His voice was as casual as ever, but he gazed at you with those pleading, doe eyes that you were still growing used to. Your own eyes bounced between him and the items on the table. You read the single word on the face of the boxes with its pretty, pink font, “Pregnancy”. By the picture of the stick, you already knew what it was, but the “P” word was unavoidable. 

“Joel,” You started softly. “I started my period. I didn’t notice until after you left this morning for patrol.”

“Oh.” He looked between the tests and your shoes, avoiding eye contact.

“It probably just came late because of stress; you know living in this world ain’t a piece of cake.” You awkwardly chuckled to lighten the mood. “A cycle could be thrown off because of a change in diet. Different foods affect hormone balances. Or...or...um...when women spend time around each other, their cycles link up. I know it sounds weird, but it’s true because...um science.” You ramble on, trying to fill the silence.

He stopped you before you could speak again. “It’s ok, (Y/N). Guess we don’t need these.” He picked one of the tests up and inspected it before throwing it back in his bag. 

Joel focused on his actions after you told him the news. He didn’t want to seem disappointed. He’d be lying to himself if he said that he wasn’t, though. It was probably for the best, he thought to himself. He couldn’t imagine outliving another child or losing his love during childbirth. He scoffed at his own thoughts as he wished that storks delivering babies on doorsteps were a real thing. Maybe the two of you could share a pet. Joel made a note to put effort in befriending a stray cat or dog the next time he came across one.

You were more worried about Joel’s feelings than your own when you saw the dark red stains on your panties that morning. Neither one of you were explicitly against having a baby together, but you were afraid that he would get too comfortable with the idea of you actually being pregnant. You offered to stay in with him, but he declined and insisted that you go. He left out the door behind you and walked silently by your side until it was time for him to turn down his street. His eyes were focused on his front door, wanting nothing more than to walk through it and sink into the couch. Suddenly, he heard a voice speak up on the walkie-talkie. He had forgotten to put it back after patrol because he was so anxious to see you. The voice belonged to Dean, a watchtower guard and he sounded frantic as he called for help at the gate. Always having a radio on him, Joel knew that Tommy would have heard the message as well. Joel quickly turned on his heels and jogged up to the main gate of Jackson just in time to meet the other people who heard. Dean explained from the tower that there was a little girl on the other side of the gate covered in blood. She was unresponsive when he questioned her. Dean didn’t know whether she was the bait in an ambush or just a lost little girl who needed help. Maria made the decision to open the gates. She stepped through first, followed by an armed Tommy and Joel. The two brothers kept their eyes peeled for signs of anything suspicious in the distance. Maria approached the child and tried to talk to her herself. She appeared to be in a catatonic state. Maria deduced that she had just experienced something extremely traumatic. Joel watched as Jackson’s leader gently reached out to check her body for any wounds, having been unsure if the blood was hers or not. The girl only looked past her, but didn’t flinch when touched. Joel holstered his gun before taking off his jacket to wrap it around her. Maria mouthed a thank you in his direction before ushering her into the settlement. 

Joel and Tommy decided to stay with Dean at the watchtower as a precaution just in case anyone was following her. Maria immediately walked the girl to the daycare center. She wanted to try again, but if there was anyone who could connect with a child, it was Wendy. 

You were bringing snacks into the play room for the kids when you heard faint voices coming from Wendy’s office. You slowed down as you passed in front of the cracked door. You recognized Maria’s voice. Wendy’s tone was soft and gentle which made you assume that a child was in there as well. What would Maria want with one of the kids? Did one of them get in trouble? You finished handing out the snacks when Maria entered the playroom.

“(Y/N).” Maria called out from the corner of the room. She gestured with her head for you to meet her. “We got a newcomer in today.” She began to slowly shake her head. “I don’t know what to make of her. She won’t talk to anybody. Wendy is in there currently trying. You’re trained in first aid right?” She asked.

“Yeah, but it’s not like I’m a nurse or anything.”

“Our only doctors are operating right now. You’re all we got.” She looked at you with pleading eyes. “I did a once over on her before bringing her in, but I’d appreciate it if you could look her over and make sure she’s alright.”

You looked back at the kids peacefully eating. “Let me get one of the older kids to look after them and I’ll go back there with you.” Maria nodded before watching you go outside to pull one of the big kids off the playground. 

“This way.” Maria guided you back towards Wendy’s office. You grabbed the basket full of uneaten snacks since the office was on its way to the kitchen.

“I’m assuming she’s a child.” You stated to which Maria nodded. “She showed up by herself?”

“As far as we can tell. Joel and Tommy are currently on lookout to see if she was followed. Dean said he found her approaching the gate covered in blood.”

“Jesus.” You exclaimed in a whisper. “When was this?”

“I just brought her over here from the gate.” Maria said before opening the office door for you.

Wendy was crouched down in front of the little girl, speaking to her in her softest tone. She remained standing after ignoring the older woman’s offer of a chair. Wendy turned to the two of you when she heard the door open. She seemed at a loss after making no more progress than she did when Maria left. You recognized the jacket wrapped around the child’s small frame and you expressed a tiny smile at the thought of Joel’s generosity. His clean, warm jacket was a stark contrast to the blood and grime covering her body. You walked up to her and sat the basket of food down at her feet. Silently, you picked up half of a grilled cheese and held it out for her to take. For a few moments, she did nothing but stand there. Her eyes were glued to some object past your head. Finally, she glanced down at the still warm sandwich in your hand and weakly reached out for it. She brought it up to her mouth and took a little, mousy bite. To help support the sandwich, she brought up her other hand to hold it, revealing that she was missing the last two fingers on that hand. You could tell by the redness that they were severed fairly recently. You would need to take a closer look, but it didn’t seem infected so far. You watched her for a moment before stepping back, giving her space to eat in peace. When she finished, she wiped the crumbs with the back of her hand and reverted back to her prior stance. Tenderly, you removed the jacket and circled around her to get a better look at her body. She was really skinny; probably nearing malnutrition. It made it difficult for you to estimate an age. Especially during developmental years, the lack of proper nutrients could stunt the growth of a child. Seeing how docile she was with the others, you confidently picked her up and sat her on a table that brought her to your height. There you took off her exterior layers to get a better look at her skin for wounds. Like Maria, you guessed that she had been traumatized. Seeing a child that you could only assume was born after the outbreak be put through so much was heartbreaking. After a more thorough check, you determined that none of the blood was hers. You were relieved to see that, but at the same time wondered what situation she had to have been in to get all of that on her. 

“You’re ok. You’re in a safe place, now.” You finally spoke to the girl. She made eye contact, but did not verbally acknowledge your words. “How would you like to get in a nice, warm bath and relax? I’m sure you came a long way to find yourself here. We can make you more grilled cheeses to eat when you get out.” You pleaded. Again, she was silent, but as if on cue, her stomach growled loud enough for everyone to hear. As if embarrassed, she looked down at her feet.

“I’ll get right on those grilled cheeses.” Wendy said, leaving her office. You took the girl’s hand and led her out as well. Maria followed you two to one of the bathrooms. You sat the girl on the toilet seat before Maria beckoned you to meet her at the doorway.

“I’m going to go check on the boys at the gate if you’re ok here.”

“Yeah, me and Wendy will be fine.” You glanced back at the little girl. To your surprise, she was watching you.

“Okay, good. Let me know if you need anything.” Maria said before stepping out.

The girl watched as you ran the water into the tub. Bubbles formed and steam floated off the surface of the water. It was enticing, even for you, especially since it was still winter. You helped her out of the rest of her clothes and walked her into the tub. You watched her face flinch as she adjusted to the temperature. 

For the next half an hour, you gave her a sponge bath and washed her hair. She was good as new by the time you were done with her. Before you brought her back into the office, you cleaned and bandaged the stubs on her left hand. Wendy brought the grilled cheese and tomato soup in so the girl could eat in peace. 

“It would be so much easier if we just knew what to call her.” Wendy spoke in an almost whisper as the two of you sat in the office with her. 

“Yeah.” You sighed. “It’s getting late and she’s probably tired.”

“Oh, I bet she is. She probably walked very far to get here. I’ll take her home with me tonight. We have that extra bedroom now and I think she’ll get along nicely with Kevin and Marnie. They’re about her age.” Wendy spoke about her adopted children. “Maybe she’ll feel more comfortable with someone her own age and open up with them.”

“Yeah?” You genuinely questioned.

“Worth a try.” Wendy shrugged, not knowing what else to do. “She just needs some time is all. She’ll see we’re good people soon enough and she’ll be playin’ with the rest of ‘em.”

You took her plate when she was done and checked on the rest of the kids before calling it a night. Your feet were accustomed to the path that took you to your house, but you really wanted to see Joel. Walking up the driveway, you noticed that all of the lights in the house were off. Still, you entered the house and called his name. You followed his voice and orange glow to the living room where he was sitting by the fire. You sat next to him on the floor and leaned your head on his shoulder. It was a cozy feeling. 

“I heard you were in the watchtower today.” You began.

He exhaled. “Yeah, me and Tommy and Dean. So you know about the girl?”

“I fed and bathed her. Maria brought her over to the daycare so I could take a look at her.”

“How was she, nurse (Y/L/N)?” He playfully asked.

“None of the blood was hers. No cuts. There were some bruises though. I hope she feels better now that she’s all cleaned up.” He grunted in approval before falling silent. “Are we okay?” You spoke up.

“’Course we are. Where is this coming from?” Joel asked.

“Well, when I told you I wasn’t pregnant---”

“It’s ok, (Y/N). I meant it when I said it wouldn’t change anything. I love you.”

You smiled. “I love you too and listen, I would be honored to have you as my baby daddy,” He chuckled. “But I don’t think I’m ready now. Are you?”

He gently nodded for a moment. “I think so, yeah.”

“You think you could wait for me? ‘Til I’m ready?”

“This is something I want only with you, so I’ll do whatever you want.”

“Oh is that so?” You teased. “I’ll be sure to remember that.

“Bet you will.”

[mordoriscalling]

48 Weeks (4/4)

(Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3)

Throughout the 48 weeks that Geralt and Jaskier spend apart, their relationship develops.

Aka, part 3 of the Singer and the Sailor AU no one asked for but I wrote anyway. The events of this story happen after Stay or Sail Away but before Homecoming.

Weeks 37-48

Week 37

“I think I’m gonna write a book,” Jaskier announces.

“What about?”

“I’m not sure.”

Geralt snorts.

“I definitely have a story in me to tell,” Jaskier says defensively, “I can feel it. My music is about stories too, but I’m not ready to write a book yet.”

“When you think you’ll be ready?”

Jaskier smiles in a way that doesn’t bode well. “Maybe after my dear White Wolf tells me of all his sea adventures.”

Geralt does not like the implications of this. “No.”

“Geralt!” Jaskier whines, “You wound me! First you bewitch me body and soul, and now–”

“Don’t quote Pride and Prejudice at me, it’s not working.”

Jaskier pouts. “At least one little story? Pretty please?”

Geralt sighs. He still hasn’t learned to deny Jaskier anything.

Week 38

“I know this is a weird question but... is Eskel straight?”

Geralt feels a chill down to his very bones. “What?”

“I just... need this information. I don’t want to jinx it so I won’t say anything more for now.”

Geralt clenches his jaw. Eskel’s only two months older than him and in some ways, the two of them are all too similar. “He isn’t”, Geralt answers, “he’s mostly into women but there’re some men who catch his eye.”

Jaskier smiles like a cat that got all the cream. “That’s fantastic.”

Geralt grips the phone so hard his knuckle go white. “Indeed,” he grinds out.

Jakier’s face falls. “Geralt, what’s–”

“Have to go.”

He hangs up without another word and tries not to let this hurt him. He did see this coming. Yet, all the moments he and Jaskier shared, all the songs Jaskier sent him, everything of this is right there, painful like hell.

He misses home more than ever.

Week 39

“Geralt, what’s wrong? Talk to me.”

Geralt doesn’t want to. He didn’t reply to any of Jaskier’s frantic texts since the last video call. He only sent a message about when he would be able to talk this week and sure enough, Jaskier called at that time. Geralt wishes he didn’t. He wishes Jaskier just left already.

“Not bored of me yet?” he asks bitingly, all the bitterness of the past week coming up to the surface again.

Jaskier blinks. “I don’t understand.”

That angers Geralt even more. It’s not that hard to understand that he’s fucking hurt. “Stop fucking playing with me,” he growls, “Just say you want Eskel and leave me the fuck alone.”

“What.”

“You seemed happy to hear that he’s into guys,” Geralt answers, “so fuck off and go to him.”

Jaskier’s eyes widen. “Oh gods,” he says, then starts laughing.

“This isn’t fucking funny,” Geralt spats, furious now. Rejection is bad enough but ridicule is so much worse than that.

Jaskier stops giggling abruptly. “Oh no. I hurt you.”

Geralt grits his teeth and doesn’t reply.

“I’m so, so sorry.” The look in Jaskier’s eyes seems sincere. “I asked about Eskel’s sexuality because I have a plan to set him up with my friend Essi. I was happy to hear that he’s mostly into women because Essi is most definitely a woman, and a wonderful one at that. I’m trying to talk them into a blind date because I’m just sure they’d hit it off.”

Geralt suddenly feels like an idiot.

“I didn’t want to give you that impression,” Jaskier goes on, “I apologize, dearest. Eskel’s great but I love you.”

Geralt finds he can’t say it back today; Jaskier is too good for him. Instead, he musters an apology. Jaskier accepts and slowly, the tension between them eases, but the hurt lingers for some time.

Week 40

“Lambert is such a prick.”

Geralt huffs a laugh. “I see the first meeting went well.”

Lambert returned from his deployment a few days ago. Jaskier met him and Aiden yesterday.

“Well enough, I suppose,” Jaskier replies, “We called each other names but that was the fun part.”

Geralt chuckles. Jaskier rambles on about what’s going on back at home: Ciri's doing good at her piano lessons, Yennefer still tolerates Jaskier, Eskel and Essi have agreed to go out together. As Geralt listens to the cheerful chatter, his chest tightens.

Christmas is in two days. Spending the holiday on the ship isn’t bad – their celebration is almost like home – but Geralt hasn’t seen his loved ones in nine months. Usually, he would be on his way home around this time. Nine months is how long his deployments typically last. When they’re longer than that, being away from home starts getting unbearable again.

The sea can’t soothe him today.

Week 41

It’s their last video call of the year and Geralt wants to come clean.

“My hair used to be dark brown, even darker than yours.”

“Geralt, you really don’t have to–”

“But then in went white in a matter of a few weeks.”

Jaskier says nothing for a while. He looks unsure but Geralt waits for him to ask. Finally, he does. “What? How?”

“Blaviken.”

“Blaviken?”

Geralt swallows hard. His hands start sweating but he makes himself go on. “That was the name of the ship. I was twenty-seven, only a lieutenant. There was a sub-lieutenant there, Renfri. She and I... we had an affair, but we broke it off before we got deployed. During the deployment, she... she wanted to take revenge on one of the officers in command who harassed her in the past. She had a few of the guys on the ship on her side. They... took one crew member hostage, demanding the officer’s immediate resignation.”

“Holy fuck,” Jaskier breathes out.

Geralt’s heart is hammering in his chest. He forces himself to continue. “I was ordered to reason with Renfri but I didn’t succeed. She told her guys to attack me. I defended myself and knocked them out. Then Renfri attacked me herself because I ruined her revenge, and I...” He takes a deep breath and takes in Jaskier’s face for what he knows is possibly the last time. After drinking his fill, he looks away and confesses, “I hurt her too. Really badly. She never fully recovered and left the Navy the moment she could. I faced trial, it was a miracle I didn’t get expelled. People started calling me a Butcher and I was so fucking...” He trails off because his eyes are starting to prickle. The cruel disillusionment of that time – when he realised he would never be a hero after what he’d done – hits him all over again. It haunts him, even now, just like the way Renfri’s body went limp in his arms.

When he can speak again, he only adds, “After everything, my hair went white.”

He can’t even glance at Jaskier. A mixture of self-hatred, shame and remorse rises up his throat like bile. He listens to the ringing silence, waiting for Jaskier to finally say that it’s over.

Jaskier’s words are quiet and sorrowful, “I’m so sorry you went through that.”

It’s such a shock that Geralt can only stare. Jaskier’s eyes are brimming with compassion, which he never got from anyone but his family. No one else cared what truly happened on Blaviken. He was reduced to the Butcher, hated and feared. His infamy followed him like a shadow and Geralt wanted to out-run it more than he ever wanted anything in his life. And so, he worked himself to the ground to prove himself, then to keep his job because Ciri came into his life.

Eventually, he got promoted to lieutenant commander, then to commander three years ago. From the Butcher he became the White Wolf, known not for how he had hurt people but for how he cared about crew safety, demanding complete adherence to the rules. He’s now feared for his strictness, and it’s said that he could even become a Royal Navy captain.

Yet, Geralt noticed that he'd started drifting away from his family, especially Ciri, he slowly understood that enough was enough. The sea is what Geralt knows and finds solace in, but he wouldn’t be where he is now without the support of his loved ones. He’s been choosing the sea over them for long enough. 

And now, somehow, Jaskier has become one of them. It’s irrational and too quick but Jaskier tells him he loves him even when he knows about Blaviken. Geralt decides he wants to keep him in his life indefinitely.

Week 42

“Happy New Year, my love.”

“Happy New Year,” Geralt replies, a smile tugging at his lips. He’s sure the year will be happy, with Jaskier there.

“I have a song for you,” Jaskier says, “to kick this year off with something good. It’s just... what I wish for us.”

“Something good” doesn’t begin to cover it. The song is slow and sensual, and it speaks of being in love. Of Jaskier being in love with him, loving and admiring him despite and because of knowing him well. Geralt listens to the song on repeat until he dreams of it, wishing that it was true.

He suspects that Jaskier has a wrong idea of him – an ideal which he won’t be able to live up to once he comes back. There’s a good chance that he’ll let Jaskier down and what they have won’t last.

And yet, he’s selfish and wants it to be real.

Week 43

Jaskier turns thirty-six today and Geralt has only one thing to say.

“I wish this too, Jaskier.”

Jaskier’s smile is watery and beautiful. “Happy birthday to me, indeed.”

Week 44

“Ciri keeps talking about that boy –”

“What boy?”

“You know, the new one in her class? Dara?” Jaskier looks at him expectantly. After a moment, the name rings a bell. He nods and Jaskier goes on, “I think she likes him.”

Geralt freezes. “Likes him?”

“Well, not likes him likes him but... they’re attached at the hip already. It’s great to see her make a friend like that, you know.”

Geralt hums in understanding. Ciri is friendly but other children are a bit hard on her. Many teachers are fond of her and the kids are jealous, thinking that it’s because Ciri’s parents are of high status. Ciri did earn her position as the favourite but it is true that no teacher would want to get into the black boots of a high-ranking government official and a Royal Navy commander. Now, Jaskier entering Ciri’s life only added fuel to fire in this aspect.

Sometimes Geralt thinks he shouldn’t have fought Yennefer tooth and nail when she wanted to send Ciri to the poshest school they could afford at the time. Geralt didn’t want his daughter to grow up in that environment but Yennefer wanted her to receive a top-quality education. In the end, Ciri went to a state school with high educational standards, but when the problem with other kids’ treatment of her appeared a few years later, Geralt regretted his stubbornness.

At least Ciri has always taken it in stride. She’s even more stubborn than he was, refusing to let it get to her, and Geralt adores her for it. It’s a relief, though, that she’s finally made a close friend.

“Thank you for looking out for her,” he tells Jaskier.

“Honestly, Geralt, I’m honoured that you allow me to do it. Yennefer would never let me.”

Geralt chuckles. “She wouldn’t.”

“And yet, despite her clear disdain of me, I’m starting to like that witch-bitch.” Jaskier sighs dramatically. “Alas, it appears she’s actually admirable and has a good taste in everything. Especially men.”

Geralt rolls his eyes.

Week 45

“Essi and Eskel are now a couple!” Jaskier exclaims excitedly in lieu of greeting.

“That was... fast.”

“That’s because they’re a perfect match!” Jaskier boasts with a grin, “I knew exactly what I was doing, I’m one of the best matchmakers out there.”

“What does it make Lambert?” Geralt asks.

“What do you mean?”

“He did matchmake you. With me.”

Geralt can clearly see the moment the realisation hits Jaskier.

“God-fucking-dammit, I’ve been bested!” he laments, "By fucking Lambert!”

Geralt quickly regrets pointing that out. Jaskier refuses to shut up about it.

Week 46

It’s Geralt’s forty-first birthday. The crew sang him happy birthday to his utter disgust, at which the fuckers were delighted, and now it seems that yet another person wants to celebrate his existence.

“I have a gift for you, love,” Jaskier says with a smile.

He props the phone against what Geralt assumes to be the music rack. When Jaskier sits down, Geralt gets a great view of his face as he starts playing.

The slow piano melody entrances Geralt at once. After some time, Jaskier starts singing, his voice low and soothing. The song is full of gentle, loving, grand promises. Geralt’s breath is taken away as he watches Jaskier sway to the music with his eyes closed, basked in the afternoon sunlight, looking like a creature from another world.

All the songs Jaskier’s written for him speak of such a strong feeling that Geralt is afraid to reach for it when he returns. If it were to crash and burn, the disaster would be spectacular. All his previous relationships ended badly; he knows he should be cautious.

And yet, Jaskier lures him in. He’s bright and full of life, ridiculous and annoying, warm but sharp. Jaskier feels like safety, he has from the start. And so, Geralt lets himself have this.

“Siren,” he murmurs after the last notes of the song die down, “thank you. It’s a beautiful gift. You are a gift.”

“Godness, Geralt,” Jaskier breathes out, “don’t say such things.”

“Why not?”

“I can’t be responsible for my actions when I hear you say something like that.”

“Maybe I don’t want you to hold back,” Geralt replies, “You are a gift.”

Jaskier’s gaze darkens. “Just you wait, Geralt Rivia,” he says huskily, “the things I’m going to do to you–”

Week 47

“All right, young lady, time to show off!”

Jaskier angles his phone so that the camera shows both him and Ciri as they sit by the piano in his house. Ciri smiles at Geralt and waves in greeting. Geralt smiles back, giving her an encouraging nod, and she places her fingers on the keys.

“Ladies and gentlemen, and everyone in-between and outside of that spectrum,” Jaskier says in an announcer voice, “I present to you Cirilla Vengeberg-Rivia, who will play Chopsticks for this esteemed audience!”

Ciri snickers and then begins. She plays slowly, yet to Geralt’s untrained ear, she keeps the rhythm and doesn’t miss any notes. The song lasts only a minute or two but Geralt is still very proud of her.

“Good job, Cub,” he tells her, making her smile.

“Indeed!” Jaskier seconds, “You’re a talent, sweetheart.”

“Maybe I got it from dad,” Ciri jokes.

The joke warms him to his very core but he snorts because the very notion is beyond ridiculous. “I wouldn’t be able to play well if my life depended on it.”

“Have you tried, though?” Jaskier asks with a smirk that bodes trouble.

Ciri grins like a brat she is. “We could learn together, dad.”

“A splendid idea, Ciri!” Jaskier exclaims. “Now, how can we talk your dad into it?”

Geralt faces two pairs of bright eyes and matching mischievous smiles, and he knows he can’t say no.

Week 48

“Tomorrow?”

“Yes.”

“I can’t believe it.” Jaskier lets out a small laugh. “Am I dreaming? Just... it’s been so long.”

“Hmm.”

They don’t talk much, only smile at each other. Geralt can almost sense Jaskier’s excitement through the screen, and he shares the feeling.

Tomorrow, he returns to his family. Very soon, finally, he comes back home.

To Jaskier.

*** 

A/N: Thank you for reading! If you’d like to revisit this fic as a whole, you can do so on AO3. 

The list of "Jaskier's" songs in this fic: Vor í Vaglaskógi by KALEO Movement by Hozier Wish That You Were Here by Florence + The Machine Pass Them By by Agnes Obel Muddy Waters by LP Venus by Sleeping At Last Coming Home, Pt. II by Skylar Grey Angels by the xx I Hold You by CLANN

It would be... a hell of an album.

[slowly-writing]

I Guess it was Fate

Part 2 of Coffee Shop

Peter Parker x Romanoff!Reader

Word count: 1911

Requested by anon: Could you do a part 2 to coffee shop? I really loved it!!!

After that fateful day you start spending a lot of time at Peter’s apartment. The compound doesn’t allow very much privacy. You have your own room, of course, but you’d have to be crazy to think anyone in that building would allow Peter in your room. Even when they weren’t sure of your relationship status. Half of the agents stationed there remember when you were barely big enough to chase your uncles around, and they still think of you as that little girl.

So now you're here, escaping to Peter’s as often as possible. You know your family knows your exact location, Uncle Tony put a GPS tracker on your phone before it was even given to you, but they respect private property, can’t really have the Avengers being arrested for trespassing.

“Hey, y/n can you pass me my history book?” Peter asks, pulling your attention from the geometry homework you’ve been working on.

“Can we take a break? I have to leave soon and all we’ve done is study,” you beg Peter and he smiles, casting his homework aside to scoot closer to you slightly.

“Of course we can,” a faint blush paints his cheeks as you take his hand, “we can watch a movie or something?”

“Sounds good,” you subtly scoot closer to Peter as he turns on the TV. By now you're practically sitting on his lap, but neither of you mind. Some action movie begins playing on the screen but you’re not paying. All you can focus on is how warm Peter’s hand feels in yours. After a few minutes he gently lets go and you let yourself be upset for a moment until he wraps his arm around your shoulder. You're about to rest your head on his shoulder when your phone goes off, causing you both to jump. You mumble a quick apology before reaching forward to check the messages.

“You don’t have to be sorry. Is everything alright?” Peter asks and you roll your eyes, not at him but at the message.

“Yeah. My moms asking when I’m gonna be home. It’s family dinner and I’m not allowed to miss for any reason,” you say with a sigh.

“That’s sweet. I always wanted a big family to have stuff like that with,” he says with a sad smile and you gently take his hand.

“I got really lucky, but believe me it has its downsides. If I had a small family maybe we’d actually be able to go to my house every now and then,” your laugh draws one out of him as well and you smile.  

“The grass is always greener I guess. I’ll walk you out,” he pulls you up and pauses at his front door.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” you say smiling down at your joined hands.

“Yeah, text me when you get home safe,” Peter says and you nod. Before you can step away he leans in, placing a quick kiss to your cheek. You both blush but smile nonetheless.

“Bye Pete.”

“Bye y/n.” After his words you step away, walking towards the stairs. You don’t bother texting anyone, you know your mom is definitely waiting in a car downstairs.

xxxxx

“They keep asking questions,” you say quietly to Peter. The two of you are sitting on the bleachers after school.

“About us?” He asks and you nod. “We can tell them you know? Whenever you’re ready.”

“I’m just scared. You know how crazy they can get. And I’ve never had a boyfriend before. What if they’re mean to you? What if it gets so bad that you don’t wanna be with me anymore,” your eyes are glued to your own hands and Peter gently turns your face towards his.

“Y/n, I promise no matter how they react I’ll be right here. I know you’re scared and I know they’ll probably threaten to put me in some blacksite I’ll never return from, but that doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter because I care about you and I want you to be happy. I know this is tearing you up, and I want you to feel better. If that means telling them, then we tell them.”

“And you’ll do it with me?” You ask and he nods, “okay. I think I’m ready.”

xxxxx

“Hey guys,” you say to your family as you walk into the kitchen after school. They’re all gathered around the table going over plans for their upcoming mission, but all sound stops when they see the boy next to you.

“Hey kid, who’s your friend here?” Tony asks and Peter squeezes your hand gently, giving you the courage you need.

“This is Peter. He’s my...boyfriend,” you say softly, waiting for someone to say something. The silence draws out for what feels like hours but is probably little more than half a minute.

“It’s uh...it’s nice to meet you guys. I’m a big fan of your work…” Peter trails off awkwardly as your mom rises from her chair. Even surrounded by men twice her size she’s easily the most intimidating as she steps towards him.

“You better treat her right,” is all she says and Peter frantically nods.

“Yes ma’am. All I want is for her to be happy,” Peter says quickly and you see Steve crack a smile and Clint try to hide a laugh.

“Make sure she stays that way, and we won’t have any issues,” Tony says and you grin.

“Can Pete stay for dinner?” You ask and your mom nods. You turn to Peter and smile, “you said you wanted a big family dinner, get ready.”

xxxxx

“Peter watch out!” You call as you see a spoon flying towards the back of his head. His hand shoots up to catch it before he turns his head and your jaw drops.

“Uh...did somebody drop this?” He asks awkwardly and Clint gives the two of you a sheepish grin.

“Sorry Peter. I was aiming for Tony,” he says taking the spoon back.

“I guess these dinners are wild,” Peter says to you and all you can do is nod. You’re looking at him skeptically, that was a really lucky catch.

xxxxx

“Wanna go hang out on the field? It’s a really nice day,” you ask Peter and he smiles.

“Yeah, lead the way,” you take his hand and start dragging him through the winding halls of the compound. You step out the door smiling at the warmth of the sun. Before you can take another step Peter’s hand is around your waist, pulling you backwards against his chest.

“What the-“ you’re cut off by a drone flying in front of you where you had just stood.

“Sorry,” Peter lets go of you and you turn to look at him.

“How did you see that?” You ask and he shrugs. You notice the way he’s avoiding eye contact and the nervous twitch of his jaw, you were raised by spies after all.

“I don’t know. I saw it out of the corner of my eye.” You want to question him more but Tony is running over to apologize so you have to let it go.

xxxxx

Over the next few weeks you notice some things about Peter. Some similarities to the friendly neighborhood hero who operates near his apartment and never seems to be out and about during your dates.

“Pete!” You call, tossing your notebook in his direction and waiting for him to catch him effortlessly, despite the fact that he has his back to you.

“What am I doing with this?” He asks with that adorable smile and you falter for a second, you didn’t think of an excuse .

“Uh...can you check my science homework? You’re so much better at it than me,” you say after a moment and he furrows his brow. You’re both acing the class but he just shrugs and begins looking it over for you.

“It looks good,” he says, handing it back to you and you smile at him.

“So...have you heard of that new hero? spider boy or something?” You ask as casually.

“It’s Spider-Man!” He says quickly and you can and you see him tense up. “He’s kinda cool I guess.”

You try not to laugh at Peters failed attempt to look nonchalant, “whatever you say.”

xxxxx

It’s been two weeks since that whole spider boy incident and things are just getting more ridiculous. So far Peter has caught the notebook, the backpack, and the soccer ball you threw in his direction. He won’t come clean and you’ve decided to take things into your own hands after this one last test. You don’t say anything out loud, but you're silently praying you’re not wrong, as you toss his desk chair towards Peter. It took quite a bit out of you to throw it across the room but he spins around and catches it effortlessly.

“Whoa. That was a lucky catch,” he says and you roll your eyes.

“Seriously Pete? You’re still on that train?” You say exasperation clear in your voice

“What train? I’m not on a train. I don’t have anything to hide.  Why’d you throw that at home anyway?” Peter starts rambling as you glance around his room. You pick up the baseball bat sitting by his desk and poke at the attic door, prompting a suit to fall which Peter quickly tries to hide.

“What was that about having nothing to hide?” You ask Peter. You’re a bit annoyed but there’s no real anger in your voice.

“I was gonna tell you,” he mumbles and you sigh.

“When Peter? It’s been months,” you take his hand, pulling him to sit next to you on his bed.

“I was! I just had to work all the kinks out. The people you live with? Your family? They’re the big leagues. I didn’t want to say anything to you until I knew I could at least start to measure up to them. I didn’t want you to think it was stupid,” he’s avoiding eye contact at all costs and you gently cup his cheek, bringing his head to face yours.

“Peter I could never think you were stupid. My mom has been training since she was little, and everyone else has ridiculous head starts. You just got into this game, but you’re trying to help people. That’s all that matters. You are using your abilities to change this work for the better, I could never think that was stupid,” you tell him firmly and you can see the tears shining in his eyes.

“You really mean that?” He asks and you nod.

“I do. You’ll get to the big leagues one day. For now just keep on being the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man that I know and love.”

“You love me?” He asks, a wide smile taking over his face. All you can do is nod and try to suppress the blush creeping across your cheeks. “I love you too.”

When you pull away from the kiss you smile, staring into his warm brown eyes. “It is kinda weird.”

“What is?” The nerves are back in his voice but your smile doesn’t falter.

“That the girl raised by superheroes fell in love with one,” you say and he grins.

“I guess it was fate.”

tag list: @rvgrsbrns @rororo06 @freerebel @prizmix-and-friends @m19friend @worlds-in-words @5aftermidnight @riotmaximoff

[ddixons-angel]

Fated: Season 2

Summary: Gloria Rhee narrowly escapes Atlanta with her brother as the outbreak reaches the city. Luckily, they find a camp outside the city and together, they fend through encounters with the living and undead.

Starts a little before Season 1 and then follows the main storyline of the show.

Pairing: Daryl Dixon x Glenn Sister!OC

Warnings: major TWD spoilers, language, violence (the typical TWD stuff), self-harm

A/N: So I found out this morning that I just hit 104 followers, thank you to everyone’s support! I really really appreciate each and every one of you and I hope I don’t disappoint you guys with my writing. Anyway, enough of my rambling, on to Chapter 7!

Chapter 7

Gloria wakes up in Daryl’s tent, only to find it empty as she looks around. They had moved his tent back closer to the main camp the night before. Gloria puts on her jean jacket over her army green tank top then gets out of the tent, finding the crutches on a tree right by the tent. She hops over on her good leg to the tree and mounts the crutches. She sees Daryl over by Shane’s truck as he’s getting ready to go out and look for Glenn, Rick, and Hershel. The sound of a car zooming onto the property catches everyone’s attention. Hershel stepped out of the car first, relieving everyone that they were all back, safe.

“Patricia, get the shed ready for surgery.” Hershel calls out.

Gloria frowns at this, “surgery... that can’t be good.” she makes her way to the car, letting out a breath of relief when she sees Rick and Glenn come out seemingly unharmed.

Glenn looks over towards Gloria and nods to her, wordlessly telling her that he’s fine, she smiles and nods back. Maggie runs over to Glenn and hugs him tightly. 

“Who the hell is that?” T-Dog asks aloud, pointing to the blindfolded teenager in the backseat.

“His name is Randall.” Glenn answers simply, pushing Maggie gently off him. 

He makes his way over to help Rick carry the semi-conscious Randall into the shed where Hershel had already walked off to. Sitting around the dining table, they all discuss what to do about the newly found stranger. 

“He’s a threat, his friends shot at Rick and Glenn, we need to get rid of him.” Shane voices out his opinion.

Rick nods at this, “I agree, he is a threat. We’ll drive out with him blindfolded so he can’t find his way back here, leave him out there with supplies to get by for a bit.”

“No, what if his group finds him here before he heals up?” Shane argues, regardless of Rick agreeing with him at first.

“They’re not looking for him, they left him for dead.” Rick assures. 

“And you’re sure he won’t be able to find his way back to the farm?” Gloria asks, referring to the first plan Rick had explained.

“We brought him here blindfolded and we’ll do the same when we drop him out there. He won’t know where this place is.” Rick says confidently.

With Rick’s plan being the final decision, he and Shane wait for Hershel to finish with the surgery before consulting with him and to their surprise, he agrees to the idea. They take the now unconscious Randall and load him up in the trunk, making sure to tie him up and blindfold him beforehand. 

Hershel goes off to check on Beth, and Gloria follows him, “she had a fever before, but it’s gone down a fair bit. We made sure to keep her fed and hydrated until you came back.” she updates him.

Her words make Hershel look at her, “do you have any background in the medical field, young lady?”

“I studied in Health Sciences and interned for a few years at a hospital.” she shrugs.

A pleasantly shocked expression spreads on Hershel’s face, “well then, how come you didn’t bother to help me with the surgery?” he chuckles.

“I didn’t want to overstep my boundaries, especially with everything that happened in the last week.” Gloria explains.

Hershel nods, smiling softly at her, “I’m glad you’re this thoughtful, completely different from a certain individual in your group.”

Gloria chuckles, “Shane... he hasn’t always been this way, although I can’t say for sure since I only met him a few months ago.”

She glances over her shoulder as Maggie walks into the room, a serious and disapproving look on her face as she looks at her father. Sensing the tension, Gloria excuses herself and hobbles out of the room, giving the father-daughter some privacy. Gloria makes her way down the steps and to the main camp where she sees Glenn, looking rather distressed. 

“You look stressed,” she calls out, “what’s wrong?”

He sighs, “Maggie told me she loves me.”

Gloria blinks at this answer, confused, “shouldn’t you be happy about that?”

“Maybe if we were still living in a world where we aren’t always in danger or fighting for our lives.” Glenn says, shaking his head. 

“Sit down.” she sighs, then takes a seat beside him as well, “talk to me, bro, what happened?”

He takes a deep breath, “when I was with Rick and Hershel at that bar, we had a run in with Randall’s people, had a shootout and Rick and Hershel were depending on me to help them get out of there but... but I froze, I was scared.”

“Hey, it’s normal to be scared during a gunfight.” Gloria tries to comfort him.

“It’s not that simple.” he sighs again, “I wasn’t scared for myself, I was scared for Maggie. I was scared that if anything happened to me, she’d get hurt. I never have to worry about you like that because you’re the badass in the family, yeah sure you’ll hurt for a bit but you’ll get over it, but Maggie isn’t the same.”

Gloria looks to the ground, she ponders whether or not to tell him that it would kill her if anything happened to him, but decided against it since Glenn was relying on her to comfort him, “Then you go in guns blazing and make sure you make it back in one piece. Be extra careful, that’s all there is to it.”

Glenn rolls his eyes at that, “that’s a lot easier said than done.”

“Glenn,” she looks at him seriously, “do you love Maggie?”

He blushes slightly at the question then nods, “I do.”

“I think you should tell her.” Gloria smiles, happy for him.

Glenn shrugs, “I’ll think about it.”

“What is with you guys and saying you’ll think about it when you know you’re already gonna do it.” Gloria rolls her eyes and scoffs. 

“What?” Glenn raises an eyebrow, “who else are you referring to?”

“No one, just talking in general.” she says, leaning her arms on her knees. 

Later on in the day, Glenn had left Gloria at the tents to go keep Dale company with T-Dog on top of the RV. Maggie and Andrea were supposed to all be in the house looking after Beth who had woken up as she was emotionally unstable. Hershel was tending to his crops with Patricia. Gloria watches from the tents as Maggie comes out of the house and shortly after Andrea comes out of the house as well. She frowns at this as she wasn’t sure where Lori was and someone was supposed to keep an eye on Beth at all times. Grabbing her crutches, Gloria hobbles to the house and makes her way up the steps, struggling slightly but still making it. 

“Beth?” she calls out as she enters the house, making her way into the room she was supposed to be in. 

Gloria gets to Beth’s room and frowns when she sees that it’s empty, she hears footsteps from behind her, “where’s Beth?” Maggie asks once she also sees the room is empty.

“I don’t know, I saw you and Andrea leave the house so I just got here to check up on her.” Gloria explains. 

Maggie’s about to say something else when they both turn at the sound of glass shattering from the closed door of the bathroom. Panicked, Maggie runs to the door and starts trying to open it, banging on the door and calling out to Beth. 

“Beth? Beth, sweetie, open the door, please! I’m not mad, come out Bethie, I’m not mad.” Maggie desperately calls out for her sister.

The commotion causes Lori to come into the room, immediately realizing what’s going on; she whispers that she left her with Andrea. Lori frantically looks around and quickly grabs a crowbar leaning on the wall by the fireplace. Lori ushers the two others to move as she pries the door open, revealing a crying Beth as she holds onto her bloody wrist.

“I’m sorry.” Beth sobs out.

Maggie tears up and whimpers as she enters the bathroom, attempting to soothe her younger sister. Gloria turns to Lori and asks her to go get Hershel, she nods and heads out. Maggie, Gloria and Lori are outside on the porch as Hershel stitches up Beth’s wrist, Gloria and Lori trying to comfort Maggie. Andrea had made her way to the porch, rushing as she heard what happened. 

“Where the hell were you?” Maggie walks up to Andrea as soon as she sees her.

“I heard, is she alright?” Andrea asks, breathless.

“If you stayed with her, then she would be.” Maggie crosses her arms, “where were you?”

Ignoring her question, Andrea asks, “how bad is she?”

“Not that deep.” Lori tells her, as Gloria eyes the blonde. 

A smile grows on Andrea’s face, “she chose to live.” 

“Beth just tried to kill herself, my dad’s stitching up her wrist right now!” Maggie says, furious.

“She’ll live.” Andrea says arrogantly, and that was the last straw for Gloria.

She throws her crutches down the porch, startling Lori, and makes her way down the porch and grabs Andrea’s arm, pulling her away, “What the hell is wrong with you?”

Annoyed now, Andrea yanks her arm out of Gloria’s grip, “I did nothing wrong! Beth made her choice and she chose to live!”

Gloria scoffs at this, “are you stupid?! Do you actually believe that you did the right thing by leaving her alone?!” 

“I do, I am right, because Beth now wants to live, she realized that she wants to live.” Andrea still adamant on her answer. 

“Do you have any idea how lucky you got with that?” Gloria says, glaring at Andrea, “What if she really did want to die? What if she did die? Or what if she wanted to take it back, realizing she wants to live only when it’s too damn late?! What if she cut too deep and Hershel wasn’t able to stitch her back up, did you ever think about that?! If Beth died today, her blood would be on your hands. Now you look me in the eye and tell me you can take responsibility for that.” 

Andrea looks down, ashamed and defeated, she cowers, giving her answer to Gloria’s last question as a silent no.

“Yeah, I didn’t think so.” Gloria backs off, “stay away from Beth and Maggie.”

Embarrassed and ashamed, Andrea turns around and walks away from the house. Lori and Maggie had gone back into the house. Gloria picked up the crutches she had thrown out of anger and mounted them again, making her way to the tents, not wanting to swarm Beth since there were enough people in the house. 

---

Rick and Shane had returned from their trip to drop off Randall, however, they had brought him back to the farm as they had learned that he knew who Maggie was. This made him an even bigger danger to the group now because even blindfolded, he knew how to get back to the farm. He could potentially lead his old group to them, possibly for vengeance towards Rick as he had killed some of their people. Daryl was in the barn where they had imprisoned the teenager, interrogating him. The others were waiting for him to come out at the tents. Gloria was leaning on a tree, keeping her eye on the barn and once she saw Daryl coming out, she pushed herself off the tree, mounting her crutches. 

“Boy there’s got a gang, thirty men. They got heavy artillery and they ain’ lookin’ to make friends. They roll through here, our boys are dead. And our women, they’re gonna wish they were.” Daryl explains once he gets close enough to the group, his eyes glancing to Gloria as he says his last sentence. 

Rick nods at the information gained, “That’s it, he’s a confirmed threat and he has to go. I’ll do it, tonight.” 

Daryl escapes to his tent as Gloria heads over to Dale’s RV where she kept her first aid kit. She’d noticed that Daryl’s knuckles were bloody after interrogating Randall. She hobbles her way over to his tent and sits down beside him. He was fumbling with his crossbow when she got to him and he stops moving when she holds her hand out to him.

“Hand.” she says simply.

Daryl squints at her, “What, are ya treating me like yer dog now?” 

Gloria rolls her eyes at his reluctance then chuckles, she reaches over and gently grabs his hand, placing it in her lap as she opens the first aid kit. She starts to clean the wounds from dried blood and dirt, then patches them up with bandages. 

“I’d hate to see the other guy.” Gloria jokes as she finishes up with one hand, then moves on to the other. 

Daryl smirks as he watches her work, “hey... stay away from him, ya hear?”

“Honestly, I was thinking of going to see how he was doing after I was done patching you up.” Gloria tells him truthfully, her professionalism getting in the way.

“Nah, ya ain’ goin’. I don’ want ya near that piece o’ shit.” Daryl scowls. 

“I’ve dealt with worse, Daryl. When I worked at a hospital I’ve patched up gangsters in the ER, they were much more dangerous than this kid, I can handle him.” she says, placing the last of the bandage on his hand.

“Ya ain’ goin’ near that damn barn!” Daryl raises his voice, making her look up at him, “ya ain’ a nurse no more, ya don’ need to be a damn professional. Rick’s gon’ kill him tonight anyway so what’s the point of patchin’ him up?!” he tries to hide the hint of jealousy in his voice, Daryl’s blood boiled at the thought of Gloria patching up anyone else but him, Glenn being an exception. 

Gloria sighs and nods, “you’re right. I guess I just wanted to make myself feel more useful.”

“Ya are useful, even if ya don’ patch the kid up.” Daryl takes his hand back from Gloria once she’s done treating him, he wraps his arm around her shoulders and pulls her close to him, kissing her temple gently. Gloria smiles shyly, staying in his embrace as she wraps an arm around his waist.

---

Next Chapter

I had the hardest time trying to find this specific gif haha but it was worth it! Yep so Daryl is pretty protective of Gloria now, which I think is very sweet~ And the little moments of fluff at the end, aren’t they cute?? :D 

I hope everyone stays safe and healthy, please don’t panic, we will get through this!

And as always, I would really appreciate any comments left for me! I’ll be replying to any comments in a new post because this is a sideblog!

Taglist (please let me know if you’d list to be added/removed!):

@twdeadfanfic​ | @fandomfanatic97​ | @crossbowking​ | @watchmeaspire​ | @spidergirla5​ | @kamieshep​ | @letsstarsfalling​ | @molethemollie​

[kimeuchi]

a new way to fly (pt 1)

Part one of a multi-part haikyuu x reader. Not determined on a single character because I’m planning on closing the fic with multiple endings (much like a choose-your-own-ending)! I saw this idea used in different fandoms but not for Haikyuu so I thought I’d give it a shot^^ First chapter takes place sometime before Karasuno’s match with Aoba Josai for the Spring InterHigh Qualifier (towards the end of season 2). Reader is a first-year student, and is referred to with gender neutral terms. Please enjoy!

Chapter I

(L/N) (Y/N), Class 1-4

Yamaguchi Tadashi picked up the familiar math workbook and turned the cover page. Neatly marked on the inside cover of your copy, which he had found abandoned and face-down on the gymnasium floor, he read aloud the name softly. Tsukishima overheard and cocked his blonde head up curiously, but his gaze remained focused on his phone. “(Y/N)? From our class?” He quipped with a dull tone in an attempt to cover up his interest. (L/N)…Tsukishima repeated your name secretly as he thought. You were also in the college prep class and the two boys were only vaguely familiar with their own classmates. You were quiet and reserved, and they never reached out to anyone beyond their duo, so you never really crossed paths with them. You were just another unknown figure whose name only conjured up a fuzzy image of someone in the Karasuno school uniform. Your workbook was somehow found next to the team members’ drawstring bags and water bottles, and Yamaguchi had just noticed its presence.

After school hours, the gym was only used by sports teams. It was unlikely that you carelessly brought your workbook to gym class earlier in the day. So then why..?

“Yeah,” Yamaguchi replied. “Her workbook. I wonder why it’s here.” He voiced exactly what Tsukishima was also thinking as his slender fingers traced the black, inked characters of your name.  

“Oi, Yamaguchi!” Hinata’s cheery bright voice resonated throughout the gym. “Studying during our one and only break during practice?” He teased lightly. Though he would never admit it, Hinata was slightly envious of the academic strengths of the other two first-year students on the volleyball team. But they did seem to have more stress regarding their grades compared to the average student, as well as a more intensive workload.

             Tsukishima looked up from his phone with a shit-eating grin. “No, but you should. Your grades and IQ could use some help.”

             “Tsukishima…your words are too harsh—” “—That’s not a fair comment—" The older members of the volleyball team awkwardly shook their heads in disapproval at the typical interaction between their juniors. Hinata let out a gurgled yelp of offense as he approached the duo. Before he could come up with a comeback, he caught eye of the workbook in Yamaguchi’s hand, noticing the name on the inside cover. “Oh (L/N) (Y/N)? They’re in your class, right? What are you doing with their workbook?” He asked.

             “I don’t know. We just found it on the ground. We have an upcoming assessment so they must be looking for it,” Yamaguchi replied.

             “Oh no!” Hinata piped up. “They must have dropped it before practice!”

             This time Tsukishima replied. “You know them?”

             “Yeah, we’re friends! We went to the same middle school together! They used to help me with schoolwork all the time! We kind of parted ways in high school because of how we got placed into different classes. They stopped by to say hi before practice today, but they got here before me, so they were waiting for me, studying right here!” He pointed to where Yamaguchi was sitting. “I thought it would be funny to serve a ball right at their book bag. I aimed well! But I guess the bag was open or something…” He trailed off. “Oh no! The book must have fallen out when my awesome serve hit her bag. Ah, and you said that there’s an upcoming test…they must be stressed! They get so nervous about their grades..!” Worry washed over his face as his hands grasped at his orange hair. “It’s all my fault…I’m sorry (Y/N)-san…”

             Tsukishima let out a tch, amused by Hinata’s long ramble. So you two knew each other. That’s why your workbook was here. But he still didn’t know who exactly you were…

             “Everyone! Break is over,” Daichi’s voice echoed throughout the gym as he clapped two beats to get everyone’s attention. “Gather ‘round! Our next match for the Spring Inter-High is around the corner!”

             Hai! Everyone scurried back to the court where Coach Ukai and Daichi were waiting. Just before the captain could get into more detailed announcements, the gym doors flung open, an aggressive THUD demanding attention from all those inside the gym.

             You were tired from running to the gym (first to the classroom, then the second floor bathroom, then the bathroom next to the library, then the...and so on..). The panic from noticing that your workbook was missing had fueled your frantic search. You were studying in the library for the upcoming exam until you realized that your workbook was missing. You had retraced all your steps: the classroom, the bathrooms, and the now gym, the last destination. Panting, your hands clutched your knees as you struggled to catch your breath; you definitely got your 10,000th step of the day from the hunt around the school. Your head was bowed over as you inhaled and exhaled, your hair curtaining your face. You had yet to realize that you disrupted the Karasuno boys’ volleyball team practice—and very loudly at that. All eyes were on you.  

             When you finally looked up, warmth crept onto your cheeks from embarrassment. “S-Sorry to disturb you all…I’m just looking for something…” You nervously choked out.

             Almost instantly, two boys, a taller one with a shaved head and a shorter one with a bleached tuft of hair swarmed up to you. “What are you looking for?” The shorter one asked excitedly. “Perhaps a boyfriend?” The taller one added. Your cheeks only got hotter. How did they get here so fast?

             Tsukishima turned to Yamaguchi, who was already walking towards you. So that’s (L/N) (F/N). They’re kind of…cute…The once-blurry figure that your name previously conjured up was now replaced with a new schema.

             “Excuse our senpais. I found your book earlier.” Yamaguchi handed over your workbook and relief washed over you.

             “Yamaguchi-san!” You instantly recognized him by his freckles. “Thank you so much!” As if transferred over, Yamaguchi was suddenly bashful and a blush tinged his face. Your friendliness caught him off-guard, and it sure did not help how cute you were. You accepted the book and bowed your head gratefully. You added a swift nod of acknowledgement to the other boys before turning around to exit the gym. How embarrassing…your own classmate saw how you disrupted their practice, and now you had to face him tomorrow in class.

             “Bye, (F/N)-chan!” Hinata’s voice cheerily called out.

             “See you, Shouyo-kun!” Not even looking back, you ran out, not wanting to draw any more attention, nor wanting to waste even a second more of the team’s practice time.

             “Eh, Hinata? You know such a cute girl?!” Tanaka asked. “Our kouhai knows other cute kouhais and didn’t even introduce us!” Nishinoya dramatically exclaimed.

             “That’s enough!” Daichi was annoyed. “Let’s get back to work!”

             Practice continued, but every so often, details of the mysterious person was exchanged from Hinata to the rest of the curious members. You were cute, everyone admitted. Of course all of the questions were from the excitable second-years, but Tsukishima and Yamaguchi did not miss a single word.

             (L/N) (F/N) of class 1-4. Middle school friends with Hinata. You two were fairly close and even lived near each other. You never dated anyone. You were shy. When you weren’t studying, you worked part-time at a bakery. You studied at the library after school when Hinata was at practice and would sometimes walk home together.

             “Are you guys walking home together today?!” Nishinoya asked.

             “Mm, not today, but tomorrow! They probably will stay quite late because of her exam. They always works too hard…”

             “Kouhai, I think you should bring them to Ukai’s convenience store tomorrow! Let’s all go there together!” Nishinoya commanded.

             And what a surprise it was to find the entire volleyball team waiting for you at the library entrance the next day.

[artificialqueens]

Tree House Kisses, Chapter 26 (Adorney) - Scorpio and Veronica

A/N: Click here for previous chapters. xoxo!

Chapter Summary: Summer!!!! Sleepovers, Pool Parties, Naughty Pictures, Amusement Parks, Truth or Dare, and more...

Chapter 26: Cool for the Summer

Courtney blew Roy a kiss as she shut the car door, skipping up the driveway. She was about to go inside when she saw Adore in her bedroom window, face illuminated by her computer screen. She pulled out her phone.

COURTNEY: Put away the porn and come over

ADORE: Dude how did you know

COURTNEY: It’s 1:30 am, lol

ADORE: lol see you in 2...or 5

-

“You know, I was only watching porn because I can’t work on my music when Bonnie’s trying to sleep.” Adore explained, pulling off her Ugg boots.

“Yeah, right,” Courtney grinned, slipping off her dress.

“It’s true! I was on a roll earlier tonight.”

“Really?” Courtney pulled on an oversized nightshirt and climbed onto the bed.

Adore nodded. “Yeah. I’ve been fooling around with the guitar again, ever since I had to teach Willam those chords for the play.”

Courtney punched her lightly on the shoulder, her face lit up with delight. “You didn’t tell me that!”

“Well, you didn’t ask, bitch!” Adore smiled shyly.

“That’s amazing! When do I get to hear?”

“Uhhhh…”

“Oh, come on! Please?” Courtney took a bottle of lotion from her bedside table and began to apply it liberally to her legs.

Adore did her best not to stare, looking instead into her eyes. “Maybe when they’re more finished. Anyway, what about your night? How’s my bestie Roy doing?”

Courtney grinned. “He’s alright. It’s so funny, even during the summer, he’s still all stressed about school. He couldn’t stop talking about these classes he’s taking at the city college and where he’s going to apply next year, and scholarships and test scores, and finally I just had to stuff his dick in my mouth to get him to calm down.”

Adore laughed. “You’re such a good girlfriend.”

“I know, right?” Courtney winked.

“Still using the Willam technique?”

“It’s proven quite popular,” she giggled, stretching. “And how’s your woman? Everything good there?”

“Uhhh...I don’t know. I mean, she’s cool and everything, but I think she might be getting bored with me.”

Courtney climbed under the covers, holding one side open for Adore to join her.

“Why would you say that?”

“It’s like...I don’t know, she’s working all the time, and so I barely see her. And then when finally do get a chance to hang out, she’s always talking about all this random shit I that’s totally over my head like Zen Buddhism and modernist cinema or new wave punk feminism and I’m like...what the fuck…?”

Courtney paused before carefully replying, “It sounds like you’re the one who’s bored.”

“I mean, maybe. But it’s not a total loss. She did teach me a lot of stuff.” Adore smirked.

Courtney raised her eyebrows, rolling over onto her side. “And here I thought you already knew everything, from your time with Miss Violet.”

Adore burst out laughing. “Uh, no. I mean, don’t get me wrong, Violet does a couple of things extremely well. But we were mostly just making shit up as we went along. I wouldn’t call her repertoire extensive.”

“Aww, I guess Violet and I have that in common, don’t we?” Courtney giggled.

“Guess so.” Adore didn’t fight it when Courtney snuggled up to her, slipping a leg in between hers, warm breath tickling her neck. She took a deep, shaky breath, trailing her fingers up and down Courtney’s back, feeling the blonde shift and let out a soft sigh.

“That feels so good,” she murmured, pressing her thighs together, fingers gripping Adore’s shirt.

Adore swallowed. “You know...my friends think our relationship is…kind of fucked up,” she said.

“Oh yeah?” Courtney lifted her head. “Why’s that?” her voice was airy, teasing. She looked at Adore with those big, glittering green eyes.

Fuck. There was, of course, no way for Adore to explain why without also admitting her feelings, and how the fuck was she supposed to do that? So she just shook her head. “They just...don’t get it.”

“Hmmm...well…” Courtney bit her lip, thinking for a moment, then she smiled and said, “Fuck ‘em.” She pressed a soft kiss against Adore’s cheek and laid her head back down on her shoulder, sighing deeply.

“Exactly,” Adore whispered back, running a hand through her hair, blinking back tears.

-

With not much else to do, everyone decided to meet up at Pearl’s to hang out for the day. They grabbed a few snacks, brought out the radio and settled poolside. Violet stretched out on a lounge chair, Fame and Adore on either side of her.

“Are you guys just gonna lay out tanning like some bougie white girls?” Trinity asked, raking her braids into a high bun.

“They are some bougie white girls,” Willam teased, causing three heads to snap in his direction as he added, “Valleygirls.”

“I’m Mexi-” “Actually-” Fame and Adore started at the same time, accompanied by an annoyed scoff from Violet, and Pearl chuckled in amusement at their defensive tones, feet dangling in the water.

“I know, I know. I was just joking. You're not white.” Willam dismissed the girls as he walked towards the pool edge. He raised an eyebrow, confusion etched into his features as he saw Trinity coming to join him. “I didn’t know you could get your hair wet?” Willam tilted his head as he watched Trinity tighten the band around her hair.

“Um, that’s fucking racist!” Trinity frowned at Willam.

“No, it’s not! Black girls don’t like to get their hair wet,” Willam said matter-of-factly, then swooping down, splashing Trinity in the face with water.

“Fuck off!” Trinity yelled, pushing Willam into the pool while he was still bent over and then jumping in after him.

“Trinity! Don’t drown him all by yourself, wait for me to help you,” Pearl laughed, sliding into the pool after them.

“Guys, don’t forget sunscreen,” Fame pulled a bottle out of her tote bag, squeezing an adamant amount in her palm.

“I’m too punk for sunscreen,” Adore pulled her t-shirt off, throwing it off to the side before reaching to turn on the radio.

Violet snorted, her and Fame rolling their eyes at Adore’s statement.

“You’re not too punk to get sunburned.” Fame said, applying the cold sunscreen to Violet’s back, earning a hiss from the girl.

“Sunburns are super punk. It means the sun loves me more,” Adore smirked.

Fame rolled her eyes again, continuing to massage the sunscreen across Violet’s skin.

“It means you’ll have a higher chance of looking like a raisin at 30.” Violet looked at Adore over her sunglasses.

Adore shrugged nonchalantly, saying, “I like raisins.” She closed her eyes and leaned back, enjoying the warmth of the sun on her skin, turning up the radio as Fame started rambling on about skincare, the sound of squeals and laughter from the pool becoming background noise. A small smile stretched across her lips.

“Adore! Did your boobs get bigger?” Violet’s voice cut through Adore’s tranquil state.

“What?” Adore nearly choked, turning to look at the doe-eyed girl.

“Never mind, it’s probably just the padding in your top. They look good though,” Violet smirked, pushing her sunglasses back up her nose.

-

“Pearl, are you sure your parents won’t notice?” Trinity whispered as the group snuck into Pearl’s kitchen to steal a bottle of liquor.

“I promise they won’t notice. My mom mostly drinks wine and my dad‘ll grab a beer before anything else,” Pearl tried to assure a hesitant Trinity.

“Why would they buy it if they don’t drink it,” Violet rolled her eyes.

“For when we have parties.”

They made Willam, Adore and Fame stay in Pearl’s room. Pearl’s mom had fallen asleep on the couch as Love Actually played on the T.V. and the last thing they needed was Adore tripping or Willam being a bit too loud and waking her.

Pearl slowly opened the cabinet, all three girls cringed when it squeaked, Violet watching Pearl’s mom from her spot in the doorway as lookout, making sure she didn’t move.

“What do you guys want?” Pearl whispered as she surveyed the different bottles in the cabinet.

“Just grab one and come on,” Violet hissed when Mrs. Lent shifted on the couch.

“Alright, alright,” Pearl grabbed a mostly full bottle of Captain Morgan’s rum. The three girls tried to make it quietly as possible past the couch to the hallway. Violet led the way, followed by Trinity and then Pearl, keeping one eye on her mother.

Suddenly, a loud bang (Pearl hitting her toe on the table beside the couch) made the girls freeze in place, their hearts racing in their chests. Her mother shot up, looking around frantically. Violet immediately hit the ground, pulling Trinity down with her.

“Pearl?” her mother asked, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, squinting at her daughter in the dimly lit room.

“Yeah, sorry I didn’t mean to wake you,” Pearl quickly passed the bottle down to Trinity, her and Violet turning and crawling the rest of the way back to her room.

-

Later, they sat scattered around Pearl’s room. Pearl and Adore were sprawled across her bed, Trinity curled up asleep in her chair in the corner, Violet and Fame cuddled together on the floor with their backs against the dresser, and Willam stretched across the rug. Everyone was listening (or half-listening, or not listening at all) to Fame drunkenly ramble on about when she used to live on her abuela's farm.

Violet seemed to be the only one listening intently, a look of adoration on her face as she stuffed handfuls of skittles into her mouth. Fame gestured wildly while she described one occurrence of a couple of chickens that had gotten loose and they chased them for almost an hour.

“It was crazy! Miles… him...he is a handful, but an absolutely gorgeous bird. I think I want to enter him into a contest when I go to stay this summer. You guys have to come visit too,” Fame looked at her friends, their faces a mix of expressions, from Violet nodding excitedly to Pearl’s face scrunched up in distaste as she scratched her stomach.

“Y-you want us to, you want me to,” Willam’s words jumbled on his tongue, “to come to your grandma’s farm in the middle of nowhere and chase chickens with you?” Willam raised a quizzical eyebrow to Fame.

“Well, we won't just be chasing chickens unless we have to… or you want to,” Fame shrugged, popping a chip in her mouth.

“Uh, I, I don't know. I think… I'm with Will-” Pearl started.

“Now, hold up!” Willam interrupted squeezing his way in between Violet and Fame, ignoring Violet’s pinch on his arm “Will there… be hot cowboys?” he asked seriously, leaning in real close to Fame.

Adore shook her head, letting her hair fall in her face, “or cowboys but girls.”

Violet frowned at the two.

“This s’not bout you, les-bee-an,” Willam slurred.

“Mhm, definitely,” Fame nodded.

“Well, I'm in. Not passing up the chance to fuck a cowboy.” Willam made a noise of finalization, before crawling over to Trinity and pulling on her feet, making her whine and lethargically slap him away.

“I don't know,” Pearl slurred, shaking her head.  “I was born with people. I'm a city girl. Chasing stinky animals is not fun.”

“But you’ve never been!” Fame threw her hands up.

“Sounds fuckin cool. I want to wrestle a pig, get real dirty, show ‘em what I'm made of,” Adore said, before letting out a dramatic moan as she reached for the bag of chips in Fame’s lap, that was just an inch out of her reach.

-

“Well? What do you think?” Courtney looked into Roy’s face, smiling coyly, biting her lip.

Roy’s heart hammered as he looked at the black and white photos nestled in the box. He covered it quickly, downing half of his water in one gulp.

Courtney pressed her thighs together under the table, pleased that the photos seemed to be having the desired effect. She picked up her champagne flute of ginger ale and sipped it daintily.

“Happy Birthday.”

Roy swallowed, then said hoarsely, “Court, I-I don’t think I can keep these.”

The corners of Courtney’s mouth turned down in a pout. “What do you mean?”

“This is...you can’t just...I mean…” Roy glanced around at the restaurant, a look of helpless despair on his face.

Courtney crossed her arms.

Roy lowered his voice. “You’re 16. Having these pictures is a liability.”

“A liability?” Courtney looked like she’d been struck.

“Yes. No! No, I mean…” Roy rubbed his eyes. “This is coming out all wrong.”

“It better be,” Courtney said, eyes dark.

Roy sighed. “You are so beautiful. You know that?”

“Mmhmmm…” Courtney tapped her nails against the table.

“And these are...like...it’s the sexiest thing anyone has ever done for me. Ever.”

“Uh huh.”

“But I just...it’s illegal. What if I run for office someday?”

Courtney looked at him, his face contorted in agony, and burst out laughing.

“It’s not funny!”

“Roy…”

“I’m serious, Court! I mean, who else knows about them? Who took them?”

“I took them! I used my mom’s camera, on her tripod.” Courtney shook her head, still laughing.

“And who developed them?”

“Oh my god, you’re crazy.” She got up from her seat and walked over to him, sitting down on his lap. “CVS, alright? At the kiosk.”

Roy buried his face in her hair. “What about the negatives?”

“It’s a memory card. Roy, listen. I was trying to do something nice for your birthday, not stress you out. So...you want me to take the pictures back? You wanna burn them?”

Roy shook his head slightly, ashamed, whispering, “I want them.”

Courtney giggled, cupping his face in her hands. “Well, okay then.”

“But can we destroy the memory card?”

“Of course, babe.” Courtney kissed his forehead. “You paranoid freak.”

-

Violet sat on one end of the porch swing, face bare of makeup, her hair down, beautiful ebony locks framing her doll-like face, a short white and lilac sundress on. She was picking the petals off of a bunch of wild roses that she’d pulled from the bushes.

Pearl sat on the other end of the swing, sketching the scene in front of her. Her pencil moved across the notepad, adding and erasing details. This was only the second time Violet sat for her, but it was 10 times better already.

Violet wasn't stiff and posed, but relaxed, in her element as she dropped petals at her feet. Pearl could draw her all day. In fact, she might have a folder with a few paintings, sketches and anything in between inspired by Violet.

Yeah, Shea was beautiful and fun, but Pearl’s brain insisted on drawing things that reminded her of the doe-eyed girl sitting across from her.

The vibrating of Pearl’s phone suddenly captured both girls’ attention.

“Who is it?” Violet asked, casually moving to pick up another flower. The smile that stretched across Pearl’s face as the blonde typed away on her phone caused Violet’s mind to turn in the worst way. “Your girlfriend? Does she know you're with me?” She arched a perfect eyebrow.

“Yes, actually, she does know.” Pearl sat her phone down, amused by Violet’s tone.

“Do I know her? Why hasn't she hung out with us? Thinks she’s too good for us?”

Pearl pressed her lips together, not wanting to laugh in Violet’s face. But a jealous Violet had to be the cutest thing Pearl had ever experienced.

Violet looked up from where she was now aggressively yanking the petals off the flower, into Pearl’s blue-grey eyes.

“No, you don't know her, and why would I bring her around...so you could torture her?”

Violet rolled her eyes, huffed, then threw the flower at Pearl, “Whatever, finish drawing me. I'm getting impatient.”

Pearl smirked then sent Shea a text saying that she'd come over later.

-

Courtney gripped Roy’s hand tightly in hers, stomach tight with excitement. Waves of adrenaline coursed through her body, all the way to her toes.

Roy looked over at her beautiful face, eyes wild with lust, hair whipping in her face, lips parted. He squeezed her hand back.

Suddenly, her eyes widened and she let out a delighted scream, as their car barreled down the track, hurtling through what seemed to be thin air, whipping around the curves, tossing them every which way.

After the ride ended, Courtney fell into Roy’s arms, dazed, chest heaving. “Omigod, that was amazing. Let’s do it again.”

Roy laughed, kissing her on the forehead. “We still have the whole park to get through, babe.”

“I know, but that one’s my faaaavorite.” She bit her lip, pressing against him. “I’ll make it worth your while…”

“Oh yeah?”

“I mean, after all, it is still your birthday week…” Courtney batted her eyes at him.

Roy cleared his throat. “So, I guess we’re riding Goliath again…”

Courtney grinned and took his hand, leading him back towards the beginning of the line.

-

“Pearl, I dare you to prank call Gia.”

“Ughh, that’s lame,” Violet threw her head back in a groan.

“Do you have a better dare?” Trinity looked at Violet expectantly.

“Of course I do. I… dare... you to crack an egg on Jamin’s windshield.” Violet smiled evilly.

The group tiptoed down the block and into a nearby cul-de-sac, where Jamin’s car was parked on the street. All of them were barefoot and giggly. Pearl’s fingers flexed around the egg in her hand, looking around for any witnesses.

She walked up to the old, beat-up car, hesitant because she knew by the time Jamin noticed the egg on his car, it'd be too late and the summer sun would have baked it into something truly disgusting.

“Don't be a pussy. Crack the egg,” Violet said, not believing Pearl would do it.

“Do it, new girl. Do it, this is your initiation. Are you cool enough to hang with the queer kids?” Willam crossed his arms, a dopey smile on his face.

“What? We've been friends for like, almost a year,” Pearl shook her head, before going back to mentally preparing herself to crack it.

Adore shifted nervously, arm intertwined with Trinity’s, looking around, hoping they wouldn't get caught.

“You think she gone do it?” Trinity asked. Adore shrugged.

“Just fucking do it!” Violet yelled, a bit too loud. Fame slapped her hand over Violet’s mouth, shushing the girl.

Pearl smashed the egg down where the roof met the windshield, yolk running down the window.

“Woo! New girl!” Willam yelled.

Suddenly a light turned on in the Ruhren house. In a panic, they all ran, pushing and pulling each other back into Adore's. Closing curtains and trying to slow their hammering hearts.

-

“Cuz…”

“Yeees?” Trinity drawled sweetly.

“Is it true that you have the answers to Monday’s quiz? Because if you do and didn’t give them to me, I will punch you. In the face. No questions asked.” Willam’s nails dug into Trinity’s thigh as he glared at her.

“That fucking sucks that your parents making you two take summer classes. They must hate you,” Adore commented, rolling over onto her stomach.

“I mean it, cuz,” Willam practically growled, ignoring Adore. “I need those answers.”

“I don’t have them!” Trinity laughed.

“Then why did you say that you’re guaranteed an A?”

“Because I’ve been studying. You should try it.”

“Booo, no way.”

“Guys, no one cares about your stupid class,” Violet said. “Trin, it’s your turn.”

“Adore…Is it true that you and Raja broke up?” Trinity asked.

“Yeah, we broke last night. It’s been weird since school ended, and we weren’t really seeing much of each other, so we called it quits.” Adore nodded.

“Told you! You owe me five dollars,” Willam held his hand out in front of Trinity.

“I don’t owe you shit,” she slapped his hand away.

“Uh huh, you made a bet and I want my five dollars.” Willam pretended to reach for her pockets and she slapped him some more, shrieking.

“Fame,” Adore said, anxious to avoid more bickering from those two.

“That’s my name,” she flipped her blonde hair over her shoulder, flirtatiously batting her lashes at Adore.

“Is it really?” Pearl asked.

“Wha- No!” Violet looked at Pearl with an incredulous expression.

“Who, in their right mind, would name their child ‘Fame’?” Willam threw his hands up, completely thrown off by Pearl’s question.

“Well, I don't blame her. You guys have some not so regular names.” Trinity sided with Pearl.  

“Well, you never know. Plus all the teachers call her Fame,” Pearl defended.

“Can we ignore her because she obviously doesn't have a brain? And just get back to the game?” Violet rolled her eyes.

“Hey, that was mean.” Pearl poked Violet in the ribs, pouting. Violet ignored her, but Pearl scooted closer, poking her again. Violet looked back, staring at those pouted lips a second too long before murmuring something under her breath and swatting Pearl.

“Okay,” Adore decided the name discourse was over. “Is it true that you’re still a virgin?”

“Yeah,” Fame nodded.

“Seriously?”

The group looked at her with varying levels of disbelief.

“Well, yeah…”

“But you and Patrick been dating for over a year now,” Trinity pointed out.

Fame shrugged, “There's other ways to enjoy people besides sex. We're not in any hurry. We're young and when the time comes, the time comes.”

“Okay, whatever, Fame’s a virgin, big deal,” Violet rolled her eyes. “Let's keep the game moving.”

“Okay, Vies.” Fame turned to her with a smug little smile and said, “I dare you and Pearl to go in the closet for seven minutes and make out.”

“That’s a lame dare,” Pearl rolled her eyes.

“Is it?” Violet raised an eyebrow at the blonde.

“Yeah, I mean come on, making out in a closet… How many times has that been done?” Pearl leaned back on her hands, shrugging.

Violet rolled her eyes, before looking at Adore. “Wanna make out with me?”

Adore thought for a second. It wasn't like they hadn't done it before. But she did convince herself that they were toxic together in any other way but friends. Using each other to forget about their real crushes wasn’t exactly a healthy coping mechanism. On the other hand, she missed fingers digging into her skin, pulling her impossibly close, teeth biting into her bottom lip and leaving marks across her skin. Raja had been all soft words and teasing touches, treating her like a princess; Violet was the exact opposite.

Fuck it.

Adore nodded eagerly, moving to follow Violet to her closet. Adore’s closet wasn't big and an absolute mess, leaving the girls no choice but to get close.

“Seriously? No one else thinks this is a lame dare?” Pearl crossed her arms, watching the two girls get situated in the closet. “I mean they used to fuck, so it’s not much of a challenge.” Pearl continued as the others ignored her.

“Do you guys have enough room?” Trinity asked. Adore nodded and Violet shrugged.

“Okay, setting the timer and closing the door,” Fame waved her phone, but before she could, Violet grabbed the door, closing it.

“So, whatcha waiting for?” Violet asked, pulling Adore closer by the band of her shorts.

The others looked at each other in amusement as they heard a soft thump from inside the closet; except Pearl who frowned, taking the phone from Fame, checking the timer.

-

“I dare you to run from here to my house and back in your underwear!” Pearl smiled devilishly.

“New Girl,” Willam stood up casually, complimenting, “that's the best dare all night. You've been holding back on us.”

He took his shirt off and tossed it in Violet’s face. She immediately balled it up and threw it back at him, missing.

The girls watched on excitedly, Trinity even readying her phone to record, as Willam jogged down to Pearl’s house in nothing but a pair of briefs.

Violet scooted up beside Pearl as they waited for Willam to come running down the street in his underwear.

“You should have had him streak,” Violet lightly bumped Pearl’s shoulder.

“Did you really want to see that?” Pearl pulled a face of disgust, “That would have blinded us.”

Violet threw her head back in laughter.

“You're right, you're right. That would’ve scarred us for life,” Violet agreed.

-

“Okay, so...don’t judge it too much, because it’s really really rough, alright? I mean, I just got back into it and it probably sucks and I’m only even letting you hear it because you won’t stop badgering me-”

“Adore!” Courtney interrupted from the beanbag chair, where she sat with a can of soda.

“Yeah?”

Courtney smiled encouragingly. “If you don’t want to, you don’t have to. But I would love to hear what you’re working on.”

Adore nodded. She turned a few pages in her journal, scrawled with nearly indecipherable lyrics, torn out pages, more crossed out than not. “I just don’t want to disappoint you.”

“Dory. You could never disappoint me.”

Adore stopped chewing her lip to glance up at Courtney’s sweet, expectant face. She cleared her throat and swallowed.

“Alright, well...I guess, here goes.” She began to strum the guitar lightly. “You really wanna freak me out, now don’t, don’t ‘cha turn out the lights. Something’s in the air, and I know we’re gonna, gonna hear a bump in the night.”

Courtney hugged her knees, resting her chin on them as she listened to Adore with a dreamy expression.

Trailing off, Adore shuffled some pages in the notebook. “So...yeah. That’s all I have on that one. I know it’s not much, but-”

“Are you kidding?! That was amazing!” Courtney exclaimed.

“Really?”

“Yeah! Do you have more?”

“I mean…” Adore flipped a few pages and began to play a little more. “Bright lights, bright stars, fame on every block. And I feel, the glitter in the air, why can’t we make it, why can’t we fake it right?”

She cleared her throat, suddenly self-conscious.

“I told you, I don’t have that much yet. I’m just fucking around with some melodies and-”

Courtney clapped her hands, flinging her arms around Adore in a tight, vice-like hug. “You are so talented, Dory. You’re gonna be a freaking rock star one day, I know it.”

“Thanks,” Adore giggled, accepting a sweet kiss on the cheek before sitting back into her own bean bag.

“You should bring your guitar to the beach this weekend, play those for everyone else too. I mean, if you want.”

Adore frowned. “The beach?”

“Yeah, remember, I texted you about it? Darienne is planning it, everyone’s coming.”

Sighing, Adore set her guitar aside. “I dunno, Court. I mean, you know I love you, but whenever I hang out with you and the neighborhood crew, it just turns out like…” She sighed again.

“Like what?”

“It’s just, I’m not really that close to any of them except you, and you’re just gonna be making out with Roy all day-”

“No I won’t! It’s not like that!”

“Please,” Adore scoffed. “The two of you at the beach?”

“Dory, I promise. Okay? Look, I get how you feel. The truth is...I mean, I love Roy. And I love Darienne, and I know I’ve been friends with those guys my whole life but...sometimes when I’m with them, I feel like…” Courtney looked away. “I mean, they all have these plans, you know? Like, they all know what they want to do and where they want to go to school, and it’s so…” she trailed off.

“You don’t have plans?” Adore asked, with a hint of surprise. She’d sort of pegged Courtney and Roy for the type to have their future all tied up in a neat bow. College, careers, 2.5 kids, white picket fence.

“I don’t...no, not really. I dunno, maybe I’m just being stupid and dramatic.” She shook her head. “But it’s just that sometimes when I’m with all of them, I feel really...alone.” She looked back at Adore, eyes slightly misty. “But when you’re there, I don’t feel that way.”

Adore reached forward and tucked a stray lock of blonde hair behind her ear, grazing her cheek. “Okay.”

“Okay, you’ll come?” Courtney asked hopefully, grabbing her hand.

“Okay, I’ll come. As long as you promise to keep the PDA to a respectable minimum.”

Courtney squealed happily, crawling into her lap and nuzzling her neck. “Wait, with him or with you?” she asked, fluttering her lashes flirtatiously.

Adore narrowed her eyes, shaking her head as Courtney giggled, hugging her tightly again.

“What, you’re the one who calls me a cuddleslut!” she simpered.

Adore kissed her forehead. “You’re hopeless.”

Courtney laughed, resting a head on her shoulder.

[thunder-birb]

The 5 times Tamaki accidentally confessed to Mirio and the one time he didn’t have to

Mini Series Part III

3.

I clutch the white envelope tightly in my hands, trying to think of anything else, but the red UA wax seal beckoning me to rip the thing open and see what it says. Mirio and I promised we would open it together, but Mirio also told his dad he would wait until he comes home from work. So, here I am pacing back and forth in my room, trying to hold on to the part of me that is refusing to freak out.

But let’s be honest, I’m never really good at that and after countless of hours practicing in my room, Mirio’s room, Mirio’s living room, the park, Mirio dad’s room, the gym after school and even at the Ramen stall- you get my point, the pressure just builds up that even my regular breathing exercises aren’t working anymore. So, I throw the envelope on the floor and crash face first on my bed. I stay there not trying to think of anything at all, but okay maybe just one thing--memory of my parents taking my oneechan, Mirio and I to a butterfly sanctuary.

My sister was actually the one who loved them to death--well that was until I saw them, as they fluttered about and chased the patches of sunlight that reflected from the diamond shaped glass of the translucent ceiling above us. It was spellbinding to watch how they lifted off a flower’s petals and spread their wings for take off. Their wings looked unreal and moved with a grace of elegance that I wished I had an ounce of.

It was unlike any time I visited conservatories or zoos with my family and the best part was when one of them even stopped to rest on my shoulder. It was black and purple and had yellow dots aligned at the edge of its wings. I only realized it was  sitting on me because Mirio happily snapped a picture on his phone and saved it as my profile photo.

The little one stayed with me for half of our journey around the glass house until it decided to plop for a minute on Mirio’s hair probably thought it was some variation of the sunlight like a couple of the butterflies did and then, it went on its merry way up the various flowers that encircled the stone pathways.

I also took a couple of shots on my phone and one of favorites was when a bunch of the butterflies hovered around Mirio and my sister as they merrily spun around them. It was blurry and out of focus, but that smile was there and I wish we were there now, so--

The affable sound of a seasoned guitarist plucking note after note to announce the arrival of the sun resonates in my room and my phone lights up from my computer desk. I let the first verse play out somehow finding solace in the soothing familiarity of the song and then, slowly make my way over there.

It’s crazy because just a minute ago, I was dying to know what the letter would say, but now that I am actually about to open it, I can’t imagine reading what it says inside. The unbearable wait has turned on me and now I don’t want to know at all. Yet, I pick up the call anyway because Mirio’s smiling face with the amiable butterflies is on my phone screen and I really need to talk to someone before I drive myself insane, favorably him.

“Oh good you answered! I was starting to worry and thought all the waiting around was gonna drive you mad…no offense” he adds careful and I almost laugh because he totally guessed that right.

“Too late, but now that you’re calling I actually don’t want to know and have decided to just live in my room until I die” l lean back on my black desk chair and tilt my head up to stare off at my glow in the dark solar system set plastered across my ceiling. Mirio thinks it will help distract me when I can’t sleep at night.

“Tamaki~” Mirio has this teasing way of calling my name, which I have no idea where it comes from or why he suddenly uses it, but it disarms me right away and I groan at him because I can never properly speak afterwards. “We made a promise and I would never let you rot in your room when you could be going to hero class with me” Mirio replies in such a way that I can picture him winking at me, all cool and sanguine because he’s just never been a downbeat kind of guy.

“Do I have to?” I cringe at how small my voice comes out, but even after all these years of knowing me, Mirio never sees it as a weakness. He thinks I’m brave for always speaking my mind when I’m with him, disregarding the fact that he’s really the valiant one for doing so in front of everyone.

“Well technically no. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. And I can wait. I don’t think I could cross this milestone without you” he replies back and honestly what do you even say to that? It’s not that he is intentionally manipulating me to open the letter because Mirio is not an unscrupulous sort. Far from it actually because he genuinely means every nice damn word he says and it’s absolutely maddening. But is also why everyone likes him.

“No, you’re right. I would never even have the guts to go after my goal of becoming a hero if you weren’t there believing in me every step of the way, so yeah. I guess I’m as ready as I’ll ever be” I say with my right hand clutching my shirt right above my heart, feeling it beat wild with resolution.

“And there you go proving just how fearless you truly are! Tamaki you’re courageous in your own way and let’s get to ripping this envelope up before you change your mind!” he laughs and I chuckle along with him because he’s right again. My bravery definitely has a time limit.

“Alright. Countdown?” I prepare myself and grab the envelope on the floor, shaking a little as I bend to retrieve it. I stand up, but then plop back down on the floor, deciding no matter what the letter says, it’s best to be on the floor already, then fall on my face from shock.

“You know it!” Mirio replies and I can picture him punching the air for emphasis.

“3-   2-   1-   GO!!!” We sort of scream and so does every cell in my body. I rest my phone in between my cheek and shoulder, while I tear the envelope open and nervously take out a gray circular device inside.

The thing lights up as soon as I place it on the floor and a holographic screen appears in front of me. Principal Nezu pops up with a friendly wave, paws moving left to right. My eyes travel to his projection and the green blackboard in the background.

“Hello Amajiki, Tamaki-san. As I am aware of your anxiety, I wanted to get straight to the point and congratulate you on being accepted into UA. If you look behind me we have listed your points during the Practical Exam as well as the Written Exam. You have demonstrated--” he continues to say more and even starts playing a video of my performance, but I could not hear anything past: You have been accepted into UA.

                                                        I GOT IN

                                                 I GOT IN TO UA

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHH” Mirio joyously yells on the phone and I readily scream with him. “TAMAKI YOU DID IT! Man I’m so proud of you! Principal Nezu is still showing me videos, so I started listening to what he was saying to you instead, but wait-- he’s about to---Ohmygod. OHMYGOD WE’RE GOING TO UA TOGETHER TAMAKI WE’RE GONNA BE HEROES!” he rambles even louder as I hear Principal Nezu congratulate him on the other end of the line.

Then, I hear his dad yelling with us and a loud smack, followed by more screaming and an “Oh crap Dad! My phone!” I want to laugh because I’m sure Mirio’s dad has tried picking him up again, forgetting how big Mirio has gotten and they’re probably sprawled out on the floor while his phone takes a fall. But I’m so overwhelmed with my own feelings that the wet tears continuously slide across my face and goes all the way down to my hoodie. All the tension living like a parasite in my heart spills out, leaving me bare and finally free.

           I actually made it! Me. Nervous energy Tamaki... This is crazy!

It does not take long before my sister comes into my room and sees me on the floor with my face wet from tears and the phone still pressed against my cheeks. Mirio and his dad are blasting party music on the other line and I can’t find it in me to separate from their buzzing energy just yet. She hurries by my side, probably worried, but she spots the letter from UA and the holograph of Principal Nezu.

So, she grabs the circular device knowing I won’t be able to speak no matter what the result and presses the middle button for it to play all over again. It starts with Principal Nezu greeting me  and then he segways into congratulating me for my admission to UA high school. She freezes upon hearing the news, turns her head at me, eyes wide with realization and soon enough she too, is screaming and hugging me so tight it is the only thing stopping me from floating away in a happy daze.

“TAMAKI!! YOU GOT IN!!” she screams into my ear and the phone that’s keeping me connected to Mirio and his dad, eyes welling up with tears. We all continue to yell because I don’t think we know any other way to react to such good news. They’ve seen us, day after day; with me eating and manifesting as many features as I can at the same time and Mirio with all his bruises from getting his face, arms, fingers, legs, chest and various body parts stuck in walls, doors, and windows of every kind. Every failure is another push to work harder and finally we have earned our first step.

“This calls for a celebration! I am calling your parents!” Mirio’s dad yells into the phone and my sister replies for me because yeah I still can’t form proper words.

                                                        🐙🐙🐙

After more frantic screaming and tight hugging, my mother calls all of my close living relatives and proceeds to plan a party with Mirio’s dad. It’s supposed to be a “small impromptu gathering” with my family and Mirio’s family, but that doesn’t stop it from being completely embarrassing and usually I would want no part of it. Yet, having the validation that my dream is an actually possibility even with someone as anxious and meticulous as me, just feels too good that I could hardly care.

My sister hands me a flower crown she’s made for me as a surprise with a purple paper butterfly in the middle. I start crying all over again because she’s really too nice sometimes, even though I just fidget and worry all the time. I hug her in gratitude and she messes up my hair in return, while calling me a crybaby. I hug her even tighter in retaliation and help my parents prepare the table, while she pushes me away to order a bunch of food.

In exactly 45 minutes, my obachan and ojichan come over to the house, followed by my aunts, uncles and cousins. The house is so full of people, I can’t imagine Mirio’s family fitting in somehow. But that is where I am wrong because Mirio’s dad and uncles come through the door with a large cake filled with sparkling candles, bottles of sake and all accompanied by their exuberant and excessively loud singing voices making the whole place light up like the Christmas markets in the city.

The Togata’s are like the happiest people you’ll ever meet. Just picture a bunch of Mirio’s entering a room each with a big smile on their faces and a skip in their step. They give off this brightness unlike I’ve ever seen before and each room is now booming with Mirio’s rich laughter and that captivating gleam in their button eyes.

It’s almost too much for me, so I keep my hoodie on and try not to be in a room with more than one of them, despite how they all approach me and trap me in the Togata’s infamous bear hugs.

I just want to be stuck with the actual Mirio Togata, but he’s being congratulated, picked up (without much success) and kissed by his family and mine. So, it’s been really hard to talk to him alone.

My sister also hands him a flower crown with a cut out paper Sun on it and he envelopes her in a bear hug shocker to show his gratitude. She laughs, looking so tiny in Mirio’s arms and now my little cousins hovering around them want to be picked up too. Mirio chuckles at the small hands tugging at his pant leg and proceeds to pick every single one of them up. I swear my family members are suckers for the Togata’s. There’s just something about them that’s hard not to like.

Then, things get more loud as the food finally arrives. Mirio’s dad keeps handing Mirio and I shots of sake to celebrate, which is only happening in the first place because my mom is not in the room and it’s really hard to say no to Mirio’s dad. I’m also sure it has something to do with the shots he has been sliding my otosaan’s way and how it’s making him forego his trademark austere nature and start singing a song to my mom, who is actually my uncle next to him.

“To our boys! After all their hard work and endless training sessions, they’ve finally made it one step closer to their dreams! Let this be an inspiration to all of us to never give up and go beyond! Say it with me now- PLUS” Mirio’s dad raises his glass, beaming like he did when Mirio could fully phase through a wall; so proud and like nothing could be greater than watching his son live out his dreams.

“ULTRA!” we all scream and I realize then that this is just as much about our family as it is about us. So, I take the shots less suspiciously, even though by the 3rd one, I feel a sudden rush of heat on my face, my back and my ears. It’s a weird sensation, especially since it’s not caused by my overthinking. It’s also making me slightly drowsy and lighter? I don’t know, I just feel like I could probably handle another shot or two and woah does takoyaki always look so-- round???

One of my cousins call out my name and I get up before my limbs are ready, so I stumble a little bit and then a lot. But, I somehow get up the third time, the second time was a mistake, give my uncles a couple of hi-fives because one is nearly not enough and all without tripping over myself, which is a feat that feels so great, I just have to go tell my mom in the kitchen.

However, the way to the kitchen seems a lot further than I remember, but if I can make it this far in life, then I sure as hell can walk to the kitchen; is what I thought at first, but man the way there feels like I’m on a suspension bridge with my mischievous cousins jumping at the far end. I also don’t quite remember why I’m walking this way anymore, so I take a quick detour to my room, which is so much closer.

I open the door to my room, take in the darkness, except for the stars glowing above and smile, realizing this must be what I wanted all along. I make long strides to reach my bed, bumping into a couple of things along the way and just as I am about to get there, I slip on my blanket, which is somehow on my bedroom floor.

The crash is loud and I have to shake my head a couple of times to stop the dizzying waves messing with my inner ear. I press my right hand on my forehead, slowly regaining the rational part of my brain back and use my left hand to push hard against the floor, hoping to pull myself up. But, the ground feels odd and warmer than it usually is, so I open my eyes and realize that there’s actually a person there, covered in my blanket.

I blink my eyes open and close a couple of times to make sure I’m not making any of this up and surely enough, I’m right. There is a human huddled under my blanket on my bedroom floor. I slowly drag the blanket down, curious to know who could it be when I see a familiar face covered in messy blonde hair, completely dead to the conscious world.

“Mi--” He turns over to my side before I could finish and grabs a handful of my blanket. Once he finishes fully covering his chest, he stays completely still and then, begins to snore lightly. His face is flushed in a deep red, all the way down to his neck and even his ears. I can feel the heat he is radiating and somehow that brings the color back to my face, too. I crouch lower, moving my face closer to his and watch his long hair fall into place, concealing most of his left cheek and eyes.

It takes all of my control not to poke him and ask why he’s on my floor when there’s a bed right next to us or move his hair out of his face. But, he looks so peaceful and settled in, and it just seems wrong to steal the bits of sleep he can finally have after our rigorous training. Not only did we have physical exercises, but also long study sessions, which he finds hard to concentrate on.

“So...Whatcha doing over there?” I spin my head towards the door and there stands my sister with a vexatious smirk growing bigger by the second that screams evil intent and could probably cause my demise.

My face reddens and I hurriedly jerk away from Mirio, scared that my sister will comment on how close I was to his face. “Not---nothing” I muster staring hard at my fingers and pray that she will be nice and not make any ridiculous observations.

“Maji? Because it looks like you’re about to eat a snack the way you’re eyeing Togata down there. I mean who can resist those muscles, amiright? It’s like they grew overnight!” she giggles, winking at me and I crumble.

“What-- NO I-- SHUT UP! Mirio’s my friend and--” I struggle to say something cohesive and not air out the panic ensuing in my mind, but it’s evident that I’m freaking the hell out.

“Okay, okay-- Easy there. Just teasing” she comes forward, looking a little concerned- “You might wanna wipe off that drool on your face if you’re gonna convince me otherwise” she sits on my desk chair, turning it around to face me and breaks into another laughing fit, as I reflexively move my hand up.

She’s snickering louder now and I fake like I am reaching for my hoodie, so I can cover my face. Judging by the way she is still laughing at me, she clearly doesn’t buy it and I sit there feeling so stupid and small in my own room running away from a party that is actually for me. I should’ve just went to the kitchen like I initially planned. Why did I come here?!

Then, to make matters worse, the door burst open and I’m beginning to question how I could possibly hear this and not my sister come in. Mirio’s dad walks through, footsteps loud and determined and I immediately see the obvious difference between them. She’s evil and up to no good, while he’s concerned and--

“Oh heyyyyy, there they are! And woah Mirio’s passed out isn’t he?” his dad approaches us, crouches down on the floor and ruffles his son’s hair out of his face with a fond smile. “I shouldn’t have sneaked him a few drinks before getting here, but I’m just so happy for him you know?” he continues to pat Mirio’s head, settling in the spot I was in earlier before my sister decided to kill me with her words.

“He’s like- the best thing I have going for me and---oh god! Here comes the dad tears” he laughs sounding just like Mirio.

“Sorry I’m such a sap” he apologizes as his eyes well up even more and the tears start falling on his cheeks. He sniffles loud and unconcerned, then he pulls the blanket up to Mirio’s chin. “Wake him up in 10 mins okay? I think we should start heading out before I get properly hammered too” he looks at Mirio one last time before he turns and gives me a hug, too.

“So proud of you both” his eyes are still watery and he ruffles my hair, before getting up, smiling at my sister and then closing the door.

I make a move to stand up, but my sister has other plans and directs the desk chair even closer towards me. She smirks again and I know she’s going to ruin that sweet moment just by the glint in her eyes. “Yeah Tamaki, wake him up in 10 minutes after you finish tracing his muscles with your fingertips” she teases and that’s it. I cannot be blamed for this. I manifest my arms into tentacles from the takoyaki I ate earlier and lift my sister off the chair.

She screams in terror, swinging her arms and legs around that I start to lose my anger a little bit and kind of second guess this. They’re going to hear us and come in here. Then, they’re going to think she did something to me, which is why I’m torturing her. After that, they’ll start asking us questions and I really don’t want to have to explain why.

In the midst of her yelling to be free and my consciousness spiraling into a black hole of terrorizing confusing emotions, I feel the blanket hover over my feet.

“Hey guys---” Mirio slurs as he slowly opens his eyes and looks at my sister up in the air and then at me. “Am I dreaming or is your sister floating in the air? I didn’t know she had two quirks” Mirio scratches his head and tries getting up, but his knees wobble and he falls.

Without even thinking about it, my left arm-tentacles reflexively lets go of my sister and tries to catch Mirio before he hits the floor. I have a strong hold on both, but Mirio weighs nothing like my sister, so I put her down near my bed and swing my right arm-tentacles over to Mirio to keep him up.

I move my foot back to get some space between us, but trip on the freaking blanket I forgot is still there and we go down. My sister tries to save us, but it’s too late and I plummet on the floor butt first. I groan, turning on my side, so my butt isn’t pressed against the floor and curse this descend to hell. Why does something bad always happens?

I open my eyes to glare hard at my sister, finding it easy to blame her for my pain, but then big warm arms are quick to wrap around the small of my back and pull me to an even wider and cozier chest.

I freeze, mind blank and heart pounding so hard against Miro’s. I slowly look up and Mirio has the most confused look on his face like he doesn’t understand how I even got there when he is the one who pulled me in. Wrinkles are forming on his forehead; a look he only has when he’s thinking really hard, which is rare and I want to make it go away, but my body is too busy buzzing with electricity to function.

“Tamaki--” his eyes widen and I gulp forgetting my sister is still in the room and now has more ammunition to torture me with for the rest of my life. “Did you know your eyes are purple-- like a really deep purple?” he smiles like he just discovered something monumental and not a fact everyone already knows. Great. He’s still being victimized by alcohol then--what with the number of drinks his dad probably gave him before the party and then after I wouldn’t be-

“Wooooshhhh~~~ woooooshhhh~~~~” He starts playing with my hair while making those sound effects as he goes. He’s getting really carried away and my hair’s becoming more tangled up like it isn’t a mess to begin with and I groan in perpetual suffering.

“Haha! Dude your hair is so messy! You should use a comb more often” he laughs like it’s not his fault it’s in this state and my sister giggles in the background. Mirio doesn’t seem to hear her and lifts my head up, so we’re at eye level. He inspects his work further, turning my head to the left and then to the right.

“Yup, it's definitely like the bird’s nest we found at the school yard that one time” he adds and then tucks my head against the crevice of his neck, while chirping like a freaking bird. Drunk Mirio is a mess.

“Mi--Mirio please let me go” I struggle against his arms, fighting for escape. “Mirio I can’t breathe like this” I try again since his hold is only tightening, the more I try to break free.

Mirio finally loosens his embrace and I make the mistake of looking at him because now his eyes are blown wide and lips pouting into a very dejected “kicked-puppy” look. “Do you not like me anymore Tamaki? Am I too lame to be your friend, now that you got in to UA?” he asks, frown creasing deeper, which makes no sense at all since he got in too, but KOs all my ability to breathe anyway.

“Yeah Tamaki, are we not cool enough for you?” my sister chimes in and I just want to jump over there and kick her in the shin, but I can kick her any time. Mirio’s fears though have to be addressed now, even in his drunken state.

“Mirio, no that’s not--”

“It’s okay if you don’t want to hang out with me. I wouldn’t want to hinder your progress. You’re doing so well with manifesting and handling your nerves these days that I couldn’t be prouder! Meanwhile, I can’t even phase through things for long and I take so much time too! Anyone can just strike at me and bam, I’d be done for!” he laughs, but it sounds so sad and resolute that I want to kick my own shin for making him say those things or think any of that stuff is close to the truth.

“Mirio listen to me-” I grab his face and dammit his eyes are so despondent, but I gulp down my nerves and forge on.

“You’re amazing! No one I know works harder than you do and deserves to be a hero! You don’t just help others out, but you also inspire them to keep fighting! You’re the brightest star of all Mirio, that’s why you got in to UA, or why everyone likes to hang around you or why I--- why I-- um-- you’re my--- I mean you’re the sun! You light up the world” I barely make it out and panic as soon as I finish because I know Mirio is probably too drunk to notice my slip up, but my sister surely will. And she’s definitely going to make my life miserable, especially since I lifted her off the chair.

I shut my eyes, shaking from embarrassment and slowly ease myself away from him. So, I can run away and hide in the bathroom forever.

“Tamaki, you’re way too nice to me I swear! But thank you man! You’re such a good friend” Mirio hugs me tighter before I can evade him, rubbing the tip of his nose against mine and my sister is now rolling on the floor laughing like a mad woman. Man, I should’ve kicked her when I could’ve. I try to manifest my leg to retaliate, but nothing happens and the door bursts open again. Doesn’t anyone know how to knock anymore?!

“Tamaki, is Mirio awake? His dad-” my aunt pauses as she comes in, and then my mom hurries past her, leaving the door wide open.

“It’s fine now.” Mirio yells, voice suddenly very deep, which turns all of the attention towards us not that it already isn’t.

“Why you ask? Because I. AM. HEREEE!” Mirio declares as he rises from the floor, raising me up like a freaking sacrificial offering with a big smile on his goofy face. And that’s all it takes for my mom, aunt and sister to howl with laughter.

                                                      Mirio, why

This eventually catches everyone’s attention, mostly because my door is wide open and the fact that my sister and aunt are smacking the floor from laughing too hard. So naturally, everybody else starts peaking in and soon they, too double up with laughter at how drunk Mirio is.

Then, my cousin has the brilliant idea of taking out his phone and starts taking pictures of us with me still up in the air completely mortified because; for one Mirio is drunk and we might fall afreakinggain and also this may be the worst moment of my entire existence. And now there is evidence for the whole family to bring up at any inconvenient time. Awesome.

Mirio’s dad joins in too. Both in taking photos and being in the photos, as he raises his arms next to Mirio screaming “Plus Ultra.” I bury my head deep into my hoodie and slip down from Mirio’s arms when the fatigue has finally caught up to him. I quickly descend to the floor and make a mad dash to the bathroom, locking myself in and refusing to come out. Small gathering they said. It will be a nice time they said. This is the absolute worst.

Part 1 2 of 5

Part 3 is uppp! Pardon the monstrosity that is this chapter hence the read more break off, especially compared to the humble beginnings that is the first chappie. I honestly don’t know what happened. This could even be a stand alone one shot... and I have a feeling the rest might be more or less long like this one, so yay us? Also, there might be errors here and there, but I was starting to get impatient and will scrupulously edit it again later. Thanks once again and I hope you hold out for the other 3 chapters coming up soon~

[nebulous-wanderings]

Tokyo Trip/Kurenai Enishi October 19-21, 2018

Wow look who procrastinated writing a blog post for this for 2 months (me). I made a mini-post when I got back but I didn’t really explain everything I saw and did in my 48hrs there so I’ll do that here. More pictures and me rambling about Tsukista below~

I only went on this little weekend trip because my friend and I had gotten tickets to see Tsukista’s 6th Stage Kurenai Enishi. I would’ve stayed longer but I wanted to save my vacation days for next year :P Luckily, my friend was able to meet me in Tokyo from the area of Japan she currently lives in and stayed with me for the weekend to watch the show.

I arrived Friday evening and checked into the hostel. It had the best prices for the area and was super clean and easy to check in and out - I would definitely stay there again! After that I met @lavendermintrose at Animate since I wanted to buy a penlight and shop around for a bit. We then made a spontaneous visit to the karaoke place with the Tsukista drink collab~

My other friend arrived at the hostel later that night, and we ate a late-night meal and were up until like 2am drafting fan letters on our phones to write onto stationary the next day.

On Saturday we went to Harajuku for breakfast (see first pic at the top) and scoped out the Tsukipro Harajuku Shop. We had timeslots to enter on Sunday, but we passed by it to take a look at how it was set up. After that we tried to get to the train station as fast as possible in order to get to the theater in time for the merch queue to start but Takeshita Dori was looking like this:

which is sooo much worse than Times Square so we were crawling at a snail’s pace back to the station. After the trainride, we got off in Shinjuku where the theater was and it was a bit complicated to find since Google Maps had us cross through and mall and back outside to find the theater (that’s also connected to a movie theater). The line had only opened up 5mins before we got there but there were already so many people ahead of us:

(the entrance is a little past that white sign board with colored rectangles). The wait didn’t feel too long ince they opened sales a bit earlier than the scheduled time and it moved pretty quickly.

My and my friend’s matching tsukiusas (+ my Sing Together Forever usa). I don’t do itabags so I at least brought these little guys.

The merch form~ They got stricter with the purchase limit for this stage (like one copy of each CD per person). (+ check out that girl's Aoi and Yoru itabag in the background)

The hallway to the merch sale tables/entrance to the theater was lined with Kurenai Enishi posters with art of the nenchuu by Jiku-sensei. They matched the red walls nicely lol.

(My face looks really weird in this pic so I covered it lmao) but I was super excited in line 😂 After buying all of out stuff there was a little over an hour until the show started so we got some food and the food court next door and started writing our letters:

My friend wrote one for Yuusaku and gifted local omiyage from her region. I wrote one for Yuusaku and one for Yuusuke. Technically my friend wrote it for me since my handwriting absolutely sucks and we were pressed for time (I would’ve taken forever to write the kana) but I wrote the whole message and she just copied the Japanese onto paper. I handwrote the English I included at the end and also signed it. I included some gifts I brought with me from NY to give to them as well.

We got to the theater as doors opened and placed our letters and gifts in the boxes then picked up the premium seat bonuses (2 group bromides and a shrine charm in the 3rd pic from the top). The charm was one of six color combos depending on which day it was and luckily for me that day was the Rui/Iku colors! Ours were in the 6th or 7th row off to the right. The stage was very wide and we were right in front of the little side-stage area where the actors come out from.

I won’t spoil the plot but I will say that people cried during one of the more dramatic scenes. I wouldn’t say it’s as sad as Yunemigusa though lol (I saw ver. Red btw). It was really cool seeing the new cast for the first time, and I think they all did a fantastic job!

The Mutsuki-kun higawari had Gaku (Haru’s actor) as some evil guy trying to defeat Kakeru who is trying to become a stronger ninja. At first it was just a pair of sunglasses talking while Gaku did the voiceover from backstage but then he appeared on stage in a white lab coat. It was really funny, but I can’t put my finger on what exactly his character was supposed to be referencing lol. Also random note: there was a reoccurring mushroom joke that I also found really funny lol.

The songs in Kurenai Enishi weren’t my favorite per se (I’m not a huge fan of slow songs) but they matched the mood and tone of the show very well. However, I do love the theme song since it’s catchy and makes me want to chant along with it lol.

Since I watched the Red version with Procellarum as the focus, the dance live was their group songs and solo character songs from the 2nd season of CDs. The background dancers were the Six Gravity counterparts from the same age group. Rui is my fave and Yuusaku was soooo cute performing “Oh… Yes!” Ryoki did a great job as Iku, and his dancing looked so pro I was amazed. I was really bopping to You’s “Manatsu no Summer” and he went into the crowd for fanservice as usual lol. For the entirety of Yoru’s song, I was just staring at Yuusaku’s face cuz he’s so bright and sparkly~ He had a big smile on just like Tani’s Yoru and looked like he was having fun. During Kai’s “Beast Master,” I was on the side Haru was mostly dancing on, and let me just say Gaku went IN on the hip movements and overall risqué dance moves lmao. Can’t wait to see that again on the DVD 😂 Taka had big shoes to fill as Shun, but he was great throughout the play and dance live (sasuga idols) and his Shun voice was even super similar to Tomoyuu’s.

At the end they performed “Tsuki no Uta” with both groups which was a lot of fun. I was debating whether or not to change penlight colors at each verse but it would’ve been too difficult lol. I had them on Rui and Iku for the whole duration of the song, but did all the name-yelling fanchants which was fun to be a part of (this was my first time at a jp live event). At the end when everyone runs back and forth on the stage waving goodbye, I was sitting close enough to the stage to tell who in the crowd they were looking at, and I got waves from Iku (who probably saw me frantic waving my green and brown penlights) and Kai! Kai also did a finger gun shoot to the girl 2 seats away from me (sitting next to my friend) since she had a Kai uchiwa and she was crying tears of joy all after that lol.

The closing message for that performance was from Yuusuke, and I could tell he was a bit nervous trying to get words out but he looked genuinely happy to be up there on stage. (Honestly, stan Akiba Yuusuke, he’s adorable).

After it was over, I wanted to watch it again, it felt so short! But we met up with Lavender for some more Tsukista collab karaoke and talked about the show and fangirled over stuff. I kept getting Shun coasters when buying the collab drinks, but in the end I ended up with a Rui at least so all was well. I need some more Growth fans to karaoke with so we can all harmonize on the songs 😂

On Sunday, we went to the Tsukipro Harajuku Shop, but I’ll include that in a separate posts since I hit picture limit in this one already. Overall, I had a fun time and I’m super glad I was able to fulfill one of my goals which was to watch a Tsukista show live! I landed back home at 8pm on Sunday and thankfully I was able to wake up in time for work the next day (due in part to me sleeping most of the plane ride back). 10/10 would do a weekend trip (or longer) again for a stage play or concert 👍

[clovked]

Unexpected Acquaintances - Peter Parker AU X Fem!Reader

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6

Summary: You’re starting to fall for Peter. And hard.

Authors Note: Enjoy my friends! :)

Warning: The FLUFF we all deserved!

Word Count: 2.4k

That kiss was the only thing on your mind for the past few days. You wished for it to happen again but now that you were aware of his ways, you weren’t all too sure.

During school he acted like nothing happened, the two of you continue to act like friends as you cracked jokes down the school hallways. On the flip side, whenever Peter would drive you home he would always have a hand on you, whether it be by actually holding your hand or by placing his right hand on your thigh, which you didn’t complain about.

It was Tuesday night and Peter had invited you over to work on your Chem project. He told you to come around four and that’s exactly what you did, around 3:45 you left for his apartment, enjoying the 15-minute walk over to his apartment building.

As the elevator came to a stop on his floor, you pulled your earbuds out of your ears and walked over to his apartment door. You softly knocked and waited a few seconds, excited to see the curly haired boy’s face once he opened the door.

To your surprise, the curly haired boy didn’t open the door. It was the complete opposite.

The door opened and a small lady with straight brown hair smiled at you, a large pair of glasses perched on her nose, “Hi, are you looking for someone?” She asked sweetly.

You stood there dumbfounded for a few moments before finally speaking up, “Oh, um, Peter invited me over to work on our chemistry project,” You explained, giving her a small smile.

“He’s not home right now but you can wait for him in his room if you’d like,” She offered, holding the door open wider for you.

You nodded, thanking her for the offer and followed her inside and into Peter’s room, “He should be home soon, if he isn’t you’re welcomed to yell at him all you want,” May said with a small laugh.

You smiled at her, thanking her once again before she closed the door. You looked around the room as you set down your bookbag by the foot of his bed. The room was a light grey color, making it seem a lot bigger than it actually was. Plastered across the walls were several Star Wars posters as well as posters from other movies, causing you to smile because you finally got to see the nerdy side of him. You also noticed a poster with the map of New York, a small star on the Queen's side of the city. Upon closer inspection, you saw that there was small handwriting next to the star. You are here! It read, causing you to crack a smile.

You turned around, your eyes scanning the room some more before your attention was caught by several little Lego’s on a shelf. When you looked closer, you realized they were characters from Star Wars once again, “This dork,” You said to yourself as you picked up the little Darth Vader Lego.

You pulled your phone out, deciding to mess with Peter. You lifted up the Lego’s arm with the lightsaber in it, placing it back down on the shelf before taking a picture of it and sending it to Peter.

Y/N: Darth Vader demands that you get home quick!

Not never a minute later, Peter replied back.

Peter: Wait, why the hell are you in my room??

You giggled a bit when you read his response, sitting down on his bed and typing back.

Y/N: Because you invited me over but you decided to not show up. And your aunt let me inside.

Peter: Shit! I’m at my internship with Tony Stark rn but I’ll be back asap! Get started without me though, sorry!

You smiled at his apologetic text but you couldn’t help but notice he mentioned that Stark Internship MJ was talking about. Is he still doing that? You thought to yourself before setting your phone down and getting your things out of your bag.

You had been working on the project for hours with still no sign of Peter. You got to his apartment at exactly four and it was currently almost seven, making you worry a bit.

Y/N: Hey, where are you??

Peter: Running late, I should be home soon. If you’re hungry, there’s a sandwich shop a couple blocks down called Delmar’s. I’m really sorry :(

You let out a small sigh as you finished reading his text, deciding to let it slide this time since he probably was busy at the internship. The rumble in your stomach qued you to get up and head to that sandwich shop Peter mentioned, letting May know that you were heading out.

You walked down the street, enjoying the nice weather as the sun set upon Queens this Tuesday night. The walk to Delmar’s was around ten minutes but it was enjoyable since it was fairly quiet on the street.

As you rounded the corner to enter the shop, you ran into someone, nearly dropping your phone as you stepped back in surprise, “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry!” You said, getting a firm grip back on your phone before looking up at the stranger. Except it wasn’t a complete stranger.

You stood there in shock as you glared at New York’s web-slinger, your jaw dropping slightly.

This is ironic. You literally run into the guy who is normally swinging off buildings.

He seemed just as flustered as you, the eyes of his mask widening as he stared at you, trying to get his words out, “Oh, uh, sorry miss! You okay?” He asked, his voice seeming to change as he spoke, getting a bit deeper.

“Uh,” You began, your cheeks becoming red. “I’m o-okay,” You stammered, mentally kicking yourself for being so flustered in front of him.

He chuckled a bit, the laugh sounding so familiar yet so different but you could help to let out a small giggle as well, “That’s good to hear! I- I have to go now but stay, safe?” He said, almost questioning himself.

You nodded, beginning to step forward before the two of you did that awkward shuffle as he tried to get past you. He placed a hand on your waist without hesitation, lightly pushing you towards the side. His touch felt somewhat familiar, his grip on your waist strong yet also gentle.

“See you around!” Spider-Man called, shooting his webs towards the building in front of him and swinging away from you, leaving you in shock.

“Oh my God,” You whispered to yourself as you watched him, “I have to tell Peter.”

You rushed inside Delmar’s and ordered two sandwiches, asking the man behind the counter what Peter Parker usually got. He told you what Peter normally ordered and you nodded, telling him you’ll order that.

You impatiently waited for the sandwiches to be made, taking a seat at one of the tables and frantically texting Peter.

Y/N: You won’t believe who I literally bumped into!!

You heard your order be called up, quickly shoving your phone into your pocket and taking the two bags of sandwiches.

You left Delmar’s and basically ran back to Peter’s apartment, hoping and praying that he was home so you could tell him everything that happened.

And you honestly were never happier to see his smiling face sat on his bed once you opened his bedroom door.

“You have to tell me everything,” He said, smiling from ear to ear as he held up his phone with your text message on his screen.

You let out a small laugh, setting the sandwiches down and basically rambling on and on about him.

“He was super nice!” You called out, your mind beginning to exaggerate the encounter, “He was also kind of awkward?” You said, questioning yourself since you weren’t too sure if it was just you being extremely flustered in that moment.

He laughed, watching you carefully as you spoke, “He was awkward?” Peter asked, leaning forward so that his arms were resting on his knees.

You shrugged, “I mean, I guess? He was probably just flustered,” You said, quickly changing the subject, “Wait! Do you know him?”

Peter’s eyes went wide when you asked that question. He immediately sat up straight and shook his head, “Nononono,” Peter quickly said, letting out a nervous laughter as he rubbed the back of his neck.

You frowned, cocking your head a bit at his sudden nervous state, “Well, you’re working for Tony Stark and Spider-Man is an Avenger, right?” You question, crossing your arms over your chest as you awaited his response.

Peter raised an eyebrow, almost realizing something as you said that, “Yeah, kind of,” He said, smiling a bit to himself.

You couldn’t help but notice that he was being a bit secretive, causing you to place your hands on your hips, “Peter, are you hiding something from me?” You asked, completely trying to tease him.

He was quick to catch on, a laugh escaping his lips as he stood up and walked towards you, “I promise, I’m not,” Peter said, taking your hands into his own. Little did you know, he was lying straight through his teeth, that red hue that was creeping up on his cheeks being from the guilt he suddenly felt when he lied to you. He wasn’t sure as to why but he didn’t want to question it right now.

You saw Peter’s eyes glance behind you before meeting your eyes again, “Can I show you something?” He asked, giving your hands a small squeeze.

You smiled at this charming boy before nodding, Peter returning the smile as he led you out of his room and out the apartment. Once the two of you stepped outside of the apartment, Peter’s free hand came up to cover your eyes, his other hand wrapped around your waist as he held you close to him.

You giggled a bit, closing your eyes as he placed his hand over them, “Peter, where are you taking me?” You asked, stumbling a little bit as you took your first blind steps but Peter was there to support you.

You could tell he was smiling, Peter not responding to you as the two of you continued your walk to this surprise location. You hear the small beep of the elevator before it started moving, beginning to get impatient and Peter could tell.

“We’re almost there,” He said quietly, practically whispering in your ear which sent shivers down your spine.

Once the elevator stopped, Peter led you closer to this place he was talking about. You were a bit surprised when he opened a door and a light breeze hit you.

Peter removed his hand from your eyes, “You can open your eyes,” He said softly, his hand moving from your waist to intertwine with your fingers.

You slowly opened your eyes to be greeted with the Manhattan skyline at twilight. The entire time you’ve been in this city you weren’t able to appreciate it at night and this moment caused you to smile from ear to ear, “Wow,” You said, letting out a breathy laugh, looking at the city's lights that looked like stars.

Peter was standing beside you, his eyes never leaving you as you stood in awe, “Pretty right?” He asked, still looking at you.

You finally looked up at him and smiled, “To say the least,” You replied.

He smiled back before pulling you gently forward as you crossed the roof of the building. He let go of your hand, pushing himself up so he was now sitting on the edge of the building. You glared at him, shaking your head as nerves began to make their way into you, the thought of possibly falling scaring you.

“I’ve got you,” Peter said, immediately sensing your nerves. He held a found out for you to grab onto.

You’ll be fine, you told yourself as you took Peter’s hand and sat on the edge of the building next to him. You glanced down in front of you, looking at the busy street below caused your body to tense up.

Peter let out a small laugh, his arm wrapping itself around your waist again as he pulled you close to him, “See? It’s not that bad,” Peter said, looking back at you as a small smile began to creep onto his lips.

You nodded nervously while you still stared at the road below the two of you. Peter tightened his grip around your waist, pulling you so close to him that there was basically no space between the two of you.

“If you keep staring at the ground it isn’t going to get any better,” He said softly, raising a hand up to turn your cheek to him.

When you looked at him you felt that anxiety fade away, your body immediately becoming less and less tense. And Peter noticed that but he didn’t want you to be tense at all. Peter moved his hand from your chin to grab your hand, slowly leaning towards you.

Different nerves filled you this time, your heart rate picking up as Peter inched closer to you. You’ve already kissed him, chill out, you told yourself but it was different this time. You had been longing to kiss him again all week and now you were finally going to get it. You were becoming jelly in his hands.

“It’s okay,” Peter whispered, his lips barely grazing yours before the two of you leaned in. It felt as if electricity went through you when the two of you kissed, dare you say it was better than the first time.

You didn’t notice before, but you were clutching onto his shirt for dear life. As Peter deepened the kiss, your muscles relaxed and your arms found their way around his neck, your fingers finding themselves in his hair.

Peter chuckled a bit when he felt you lightly pull at his hair, pulling out of the kiss. He gave you a teasing smile that was paired with a raised eyebrow.

You rolled your eyes, hitting him lightly on the back of the head before leaning back in to kiss him, “Shut it, Parker,” You said between kisses. You were falling hard for this boy.

Taglist:  @seperatefandome @myguccislides @6constant6concern6 @lilaholland2013 @itscaptaingally @savkova @sunnylovesspidey @bbtomholland @starkviibes @petraich @raised-by-fandoms @vagabcndia @hoevanauwuna @rose4958 @oh-dear-tommy @elianas-book-blog @okspidey @mermaidtatts @justalittlehappier @rosehollnd @spidreling @srinaadirah @tanyaolivar @hither-to-undreamt-of @tomhollandsmouthfr0g @tomhollandsmouthfr0g @mariarryx @juliagrubbs28 @if-only-i-were-her

[boneless-pineapplepizza]

Study Buddy

Series: Part 6

[Part 1]  [Part 2]  [Part 3]  [Part 4]  [Part 5]  

Pairing: Peter Parker x Reader (any gender)

Summary: (Y/N) is super popular, but has bad grades. Peter Parker is almost the opposite; a super nerdy kid who gets good grades. Out of desperation, (Y/N) asks Peter to be their tutor. But what if the one-on-one study sessions turn out to be something more?

Warnings: LMAO GET READY TO CRY FUCKERS THIS IS SOME MAJOR ANGST there’s also some bad language (as you can obviously tell).

A/N: Uhhhh I’m not responsible for the whale noises you make nor am I paying for any damage (physical and emotional). Smh I hope this isn't crustyyy.

You walked down the halls as you came back to school that Monday morning. You tried your hardest not to think about everything that happened over the past few days.

You thought that it would be simple: just a normal Academic Decathlon competition in Washington, D.C. for the weekend. That seemed nice, but if you had known that there was a possible chance of death, then you would have never let Liz peer pressure you into going. It was honestly a miracle that Spiderman was there in time.

You hated the recurring nightmare that played over and over your head. You remembered how your life flashed before your eyes as you fell down the elevator shaft. You shuddered just thinking about it.

But the one thing that stayed on your mind was Peter. He made you feel way too many emotions at once. It was almost impossible to keep up with all of them.

You hated how he messed with your head. You didn’t even think he was intentionally doing it. One moment, you wanted to kiss him; and the next, you felt like punching him the face. Sometimes, he’d tell you everything; and sometimes he’d keep his mouth shut.

It was ironic how you wanted to spend the weekend to think over your feelings, and decide what choice to make before even trying to pursue anything.

Now, you didn’t even know where to begin.

You opened the door to your locker and took out your Chemistry textbook, sighing to yourself as your thoughts bounced around your head.

“Should I tell everyone?” You heard a hushed whisper say behind you.

“No, dude. That's not a good idea,” Another voice said. You shut your locker and turned around, and saw Peter and Ned talking near the staircase. Of course they had to be there. You decided to swallow your melodramatic emotions, and started walking over to them.

“Hey Ned,” You said fondly. You looked over at Peter. “Hi Peter,” You said a bit quieter.

“(Y/N),” Peter acknowledge your presence.

“Hey, about the trip. What I said to you before we left-” You started to say.

“It’s ok, (Y/N). You were still freaked out about what happened. It’s not that big of a deal,” He said. Ned looked at you both suspiciously as he listened in on the conversation. The warning bell rang, signaling for you to get to class.

“Okay, come on, we'll be late to class,” Ned said, gesturing for you and Peter to follow him.

“I'm not going to class,” Peter stated.

“You're already in a lot of trouble for ditching the decathlon,” You said.

“I know, but there’s this thing I need to do, you know for-”

“The Stark Internship,” You and Ned both finished.

Peter sighed, “(Y/N), can I please talk to Ned for a second?” He put his arm around Ned’s shoulder and took a few steps away, turning their backs towards you.

“Dude, listen, I figured it out. The wingsuit guy is stealing from Damage Control. What he takes from Damage Control, that's how he builds the weapons,” You barely heard him whisper, “So all I gotta do is catch him.”

Catch him? What the hell was Peter talking about?

“But we have a Spanish quiz,” Ned whispered back, “Dude. You want to be a high school dropout?”

Peter scoffed, smiling as he backed away from you and Ned, “I am so far beyond high school right now.”

“Parker, my office. Now.” You saw the school principal as he stood before all of you. You could tell that he was not pleased. Peter hung his head as he walked towards the front office. He pointed towards your direction, “You two, go to class.” He turned around as he went to his office.

“Ned, what was that about?” You asked.

He shook his head, “Nothing you have to worry about, (Y/N). Just Peter being Peter.”

“But why all the secrecy?”

“I wish I could tell you,” Ned sighed, “But that’s up to Peter to tell you.” He patted your back before turning away. You stood in the hall for another second. Ugh. You wished you just knew what he was up to.

You walked to your class, and sat in your seat.

You counted the minutes that passed as your day continued by. The final bell rang, and the school day was officially over. You walked back downstairs to your locker, putting all of your stuff back inside.

You felt your phone vibrate in your back pocket. You took it out and looked at the screen. It was a text from Peter.

‘No study session today, sorry. In detention.’

You groaned, slamming your locker carelessly. You knew he had it coming to him, but you couldn’t help but feel bad for him. Maybe now was the best time to get him off your mind.

You walked down the halls of the school, making your way to the exit. You saw Liz as she stood on a step ladder, trying to put up more posters for homecoming.

“Hey, (Y/N)!” She said cheerfully, “Could you pass me that roll of tape on the ground.” You bent over and placed the tape in her hands. “Thanks.”

You smiled to her, “Even after D.C., you’re still working hard on homecoming preparations.”

“Of course,” She replied, “I’m not going to let that get in the way. I’ve put way too much work into this. I’m not giving up that easily.” Typical Liz. Always a hard worker, just like her parents.

“Well, I’ll see you around,” You said, turning to the door.

“Wait!” She called out for you. You turned around, and saw her get down from the ladder. “I wanted to give you this.” She handed you a small piece of paper. You looked at it closely, realizing that it was a homecoming ticket.

You gasped, “Oh Liz, I can’t take this. I was just going to pay for a ticket myself.”

“Don’t worry about it. Think of it as a thank-you gift, for helping us- the team- in D.C.” You took her in your arms, and gave her a hug. You thanked her before turning towards the door. You started your walk back home.

You opened the front door, greeting your parents. You went up the stairs and into your room. You placed your backpack on the floor and took out your homework.

You looked down at your math homework, trying to understand each equation. It felt weird doing your homework without Peter next to you. He’d always be willing to help you with anything. The quietness of your room was normal, but it felt strange. It had been a while since you’ve done homework alone.

Suddenly, your phone rang. You picked it up from off the floor and looked at the screen. May was calling you.

You picked up the call. “Hello?”

“(Y/N)!” She said frantically, “Is Peter with you?”

“No, he had detention at school so we couldn’t study together. I thought he already went home?” You spoke slowly.

“He isn’t here. I already called Ned, and he said the same thing. I called the school and the police and- and,” She stuttered.

“Hey, May. It’s going to be ok,” You soothed her, “Peter’s probably with Mr. Stark.”

“I don’t know, (Y/N). Something in my gut is telling me that something is wrong. Especially after he left detention and the ferry incident, I don’t know.”

“He left detention?” You asked “And what Ferry Incident?”

“(Y/N), I’m worried about him,” She continued, ignoring your question, “I don’t know where he is and I don’t know what to do…” Her voice trailed off.

“I’ll be over in a bit, May. It’ll be ok,” You reassured her before dropping the phone.

You grabbed your jacket before you took off. You ran down the street and boarded the train as fast as you could. Chills ran throughout your body. You tried keeping calm, but you couldn’t help but wonder if something bad happened to him. A million scenarios played in your head; none of them were good.

You ran out of the train and into the lobby. You waited impatiently as the elevator took you upstairs. You ran down the hall and stopped at Peter’s apartment door. You knocked on it loudly.

“May! I’m here,” You yelled out to the other side. The door swung open. The face of Peter Parker caught you by surprise. “Peter!” You wrapped your arms around him, pulling him into a tight embrace. His arms stayed by his side as you hugged him.

You let go of him and entered the home. May’s eyes were red. You could tell that she had been crying recently. You walked over and gave her a hug as well. You knew she needed it.

“You and Peter can talk alone,” She sniffed, “I’ll be in the shower.” May walked out of the room, rubbing her eyes. You gestured Peter to follow you into his room. He shuffled his feet into the room. You closed the door behind you.

“(Y/N),” He started, “I know you’re worried and confused, but I-”

“What the hell were you thinking?” You spat, “You can’t keep screwing around like this. You left detention, which by the way, will get you more in even more trouble than what you did during the D.C. trip. Not only that, but you didn’t even tell May. She called me trying look for you. ”

“I know,” He barely whispered.

“Peter, you have to tell me what’s going on,” You said breathlessly, “You can’t keep hiding things from me.” He stared into your eyes for a second before opening his mouth.

“I lost the Stark Internship,” Peter said quietly, trying to hide the fact that his voice was breaking.

You were at a loss of words. You watched him as he slowly sat on the edge of his bed and stared at the floor. You took a seat next to him, and placing a hand on him, you started rubbing his shoulder in attempts to comfort him.

“Peter, I’m so sorry,” You said softly. You looked at him, watching as the tears fell from his eyes. “What happened?

“I don’t know what I did wrong. I-I just thought that I could work really hard and he could-- he would--you know,” He rambled on, “But I screwed it up. I always screw up.”

You looked at him with disbelief. “Peter, you did not screw up. Maybe Mr. Stark just couldn’t see how amazing you are; just like how I see you.”

He smiled at your comment. His eyes still fixated on the ground. “Thanks, (Y/N).”

“And you know what?” You said with a little more enthusiasm, “Maybe you can start focusing on other things. You know, things that are more important.”

Peter paused, and looked at you. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“What?”

“What did you mean when you said that I should focus on things that are more important?”

“Don’t worry about it,” You said, “I worded that wro-”

“No, (Y/N),” Peter stood up from his bed, “What do you mean, ‘focus on things that are more important’? Because that Stark Internship was super important to me, and you know it.”

“Well, you haven’t been focusing on other things, Peter. All you talk about is this internship. You acted like it was all you had to look forward to in life,” You confessed.

He scoffed, “That’s because it was. (Y/N), I was nothing without that internship, and I will never be anything now that it’s gone.”

“Peter, that’s not true!” You stood up, “What about your friends? What about May? How about school? You have excellent grades and are probably smartest person in Queens. I’m certain that you can get into any college that you want to, but you keep messing around. That internship has interfered with your mind.”

“Oh really?” Peter crossed his arms over his chest, “What makes you think that?”

“You dropped out of marching band because of this internship. You haven’t even been spending that much time with your friends. Do you know how many times Ned has bragged to me about his Lego Death Star? Maybe if you actually paid attention to him, then he wouldn’t be up everyone’s ass about it.”

Peter stayed silent as he listened to you.

“Don’t even get me started with D.C., Peter,” You continued, “You left the group without even telling us. As much as I want to believe that you got ‘sick’, I can’t. Because if you were truly sick, then you would’ve stayed in your bedroom. When we got back to the hotel, you were in the halls, Peter. You even looked fine the day before the competition. How else do you explain that?”

“I-” Peter exhaled loudly, “I wish I could tell you, (Y/N).”

You rolled your eyes at him. “And there you are again with the secrets! Maybe instead of keeping me in the dark, you could actually try to let me know what’s going on in your life!”

“Do you even care about what’s going on in my life?” He yelled back, “I thought you only cared about the Cross Country team!”

“That’s not-”

“Don’t play innocent, (Y/N)! “He interrupted, “That’s the whole reason why you asked me to help you study right? To stay on the team?”

You tried to respond back, but every bit of you knew that he was right. “Maybe at first,” You admitted, “But I really enjoy your time. You’re my friend.”

He opened his mouth to say something, but you interrupted him, “And what about you, Peter? The only reason why you accepted my offer was because you wanted to go on a date with Liz! So what does that show?” You took a step closer to him, “Hm? Is it just a simple crush? Or maybe it’s because you care more about her than you have ever cared for me.”

“I do care about you!” He yelled back, “I care about you so much, (Y/N)! You’ve been my friend since forever. I just don’t believe you when you say that you care about me! Because if you cared, then you wouldn’t have hurt me like you did in freshman year.”

Silence overcame the both of you. You stared at each other, breathing heavily after all of the yelling. It didn’t surprise you that he remembered what happened. If anything, it surprised you more that he didn’t let it interfere with how he interacted with you.

“Peter,” You whispered hoarsely.

“It was our first high school party. We were going to start it off with a bang,” He half-heartedly chuckled, “But I guess it didn’t end up the way I thought it would.”

Tears flowed down your face as you listened to his words. Your heart ached when he brought up that painful memory.

“I always thought Flash would be our bully,” He continued, “I didn’t think you’d end up to be like him. Popular, self-centered, and not giving a damn about me.”

“But I’m not like him,” You said in your defense, “Peter, I care about you more than you think. I promised myself that I’d never hurt you like that ever again. Why do you think I’ve been avoiding you for the past two years?”

“Then how do you explain what I overheard in the hall last week? Am I really your friend? Or am I just a pawn in your little game?”

“What are you talking about?”

“I overheard you when you were talking to Flash last week. You said it yourself, you only needed me to stay on the team.” You felt your heart beat out of your chest as his words ringed in your ears.

“Why would I ever like someone like Peter?” Peter mocked, “I only need him to help me get my grades up before homecoming. It’s either the study sessions or I get suspended from the team.”

You could feel your face start to heat up. “I only said that because Flash wouldn’t leave me alone! You know that he’s been pursuing me since the beginning of freshman year! Besides, I didn’t want any rumors to spread.”

Peter rolled his eyes. “Right, because if the rumors spread, it would ruin your reputation at school.”

“Peter, do you really think I care about that?” You breathed.

“I don’t really know what to think anymore, (Y/N).”

Tears were welling up in your eyes, blurring your vision. You blinked your eyes in attempts to stop them from coming out.

“Just…” He looked away from you,” Just leave, (Y/N). Please.”

“Ok, Peter,” You said quietly. You slowly made your way to his door. You swung it open. You stopped your tracks before closing the door completely.

“You don’t have to study with me anymore. I’ll get you your date with Liz,” You said before shutting the door behind you. You rushed out of the apartment, wiping the tears away, trying to deny everything that just happened.

You took the train back to the station. You got off and started walking home.

When you finally got home, you opened the door to your room as fast as you could, and slammed it shut. You let your face fall into your hands as you slid down the door. You hit the floor, crying harder than you’ve ever cried before.

If only you hadn’t opened your fucking mouth. If only you hadn’t screwed up like you did during freshman year. If only you could rewind the clock and fix everything, but you couldn’t. You weren’t like Spiderman or the other superheroes you heard about on the news.

No. You were just a dumb high school kid.

Maybe Peter was right. Maybe you cared about your reputation more than you cared for him.

You picked yourself off from the floor and threw yourself unto the bed, not even bothering to change into your pajamas. You let your tears hit your pillow as you drifted off into sleep.

~

“C’mon Peter! We have to go to this party!”

Peter rolled his eyes as he flopped down unto his bed. “Forget it, (Y/N). It’s just going to be filled with alcohol and vape smoke.”

You groaned as you sat down next to him. “I promised Liz that I’d go, and she said I could bring some friends. Ned can come too!”

“Liz? The junior in our art class?”

You paused, “Well, yeah.” Peter responded by putting a pillow over his face and rolling over to his side. “Peter, this is our first high school party. Don’t you want to start freshman year off with a bang?”

“I’d like to sleep, thanks,” He mumbled from underneath his pillow.

“Please, Peter,” You pleaded, “Just this once, I promise. You don’t have to go to another party ever.” He removed the pillow from his face, and sighed as he stared up at the ceiling, thinking about his answer. “And, I’ll buy you ice cream at school tomorrow.”

He raised an eyebrow at you. “Sounds like a deal,” He said as he sat up on the bed. You both giggled as you walked out his room.

“Hey May? Can you drive us somewhere?” You gave her the address to Liz’s house.

You got in the car and drove to Ned’s house to pick him up.

Next thing you knew, you were in front of Liz’s house. You all stared at it, almost captivated by how modern it looked. Lights were coming out from every window from the house. You could even hear the booming music all the way to the end of the driveway.

“Wow,” You whispered loudly.

“Wow is right,” Ned agreed.

“Are you really sure you want to go?” Peter asked meekly, “This is a mistake. Let’s just go home.”

“Peter, you promised,” You whined.

“Yeah, yeah, I know. I just-” He stopped himself, “I’m getting a really bad feeling about this.”

“It’s going to be fine,” You reassured, “Let’s just have a good time.” Peter nodded his head before opening the door. You and Ned followed him, closing the car door after you got out.

“Have fun, ok? Call me when you’re ready to be picked up,” May called out before driving off.

You took a deep breath. “Ready to raise the roof?” Peter and Ned both looked at you.

“Raise the roof?” Peter asked, “What is this, the early 2000’s?”

“Shut up, Peter,” You replied. Ned and Peter both laughed at you as they followed you up the driveway.

You opened the front door, and saw Liz talking to one of her friends.

“Liz!” You waved over to her. She saw you, and made your way over.

“(Y/N)!” Liz greeted, “I’m so glad you could make it!” She eyed Peter and Ned up and down, “Who are your friends?”

“Ned,” Ned said as he shook Liz’s hand.

“Hi, I-I’m Peter,” Peter held out his hand for Liz to shake it.

“I'm so happy you guys came. There's pizza and drinks. Help yourself,” Liz smiled to you before walking away to talk to her other friends.

“Nervous much?” You teased Peter.

He shrugged his shoulders, “Just a bit.”

“We’ll be fine,” You reassured him once more. You looked around. It looked like Liz invited the whole school. “See, Peter? Even Michelle is here.”

He tilted his head to the side, “Yeah, you’re right. Let’s just have fun.”

You, Ned and Peter danced in Liz’s living room. You felt the eyes of everyone watch you, but you didn’t care. You only cared about your time with your friends.

All in all, the night seemed to be going well. You were honestly surprised that someone didn’t sneak alcohol into Liz’s house, but then again, you knew that she probably wouldn’t allow it.

You ended up sitting down in Liz’s dining room. You ate pizza and drowned yourself in soda as you listened to Ned’s ridiculous story about his aunt falling from the roof of her house when he visited her once in 6th grade.

“Wait, how did she not see the raccoon?” You asked between laughs, “It was right in front of her!”

“I honestly don’t know,” Ned laughed, “It was crazy.”

“(Y/N)!” Liz called out for you. You turned around and saw her standing with a group of other girls. They were probably juniors like her.You stood up from your seat and walked over to her with Ned and Peter. “These are my friends. They’re all on the Poms squad, except for Amanda. She’s a cheerleader.”

They all waved at you. “Hi, I’m (Y/N),” You greeted.

“Pleasure to meet you,” the one named Amanda said.

“Me and Ned are going to get more drinks. You want something?” Peter asked.

“I’m ok, thanks.” Peter and Ned walked away to the kitchen. You looked back at Liz’s friends.

“So who were those guys you were with?” One of them asked.

“That’s Ned and Peter,” You said plainly, smiling proudly that Liz’s friends had taken notice of yours.

“Peter? As in Peter Parker?” Another one piped in, “Isn’t he the boy who goes dumpster diving at the middle school?”

“Yeah! I think so! I think I saw him do it once in the back of the high school” Another one confirmed.

“I’m pretty sure he goes looking for food scraps,” One joked. They all laughed.

You forced a laugh. “Well, he actually goes looking for old computer parts-”

“Wait, aren’t you the kid who dumpster dives with him?” They all stared at you.

“Me? No-”

“Yeah, I’m sure I’ve seen you around with him before, right?” They all eyed you suspiciously.

“Um,” You hesitated. You didn’t want people to spread lies and rumors about you. You wanted to get a good impression with the popular kids.

“Haha, no. Me and Peter aren’t even friends. I guess he’s just some kid that follows me around,” You lied, “All he’s really good at is studying and reading.” You looked around, hoping that Peter wasn’t anywhere near you. “I mean, Peter Parker? More like Penis Parker, am I right?”

They all laughed uncontrollably at your joke.

“What’s so funny?” Peter smiled as he came back to the group with Ned. You bit your tongue as you looked down at the floor.

“I don’t know,” One of them sneered, “Why don’t you tell us, Penis Parker?”

Peter looked at the group as they continued to laugh at him. He furrowed his eyebrows. “What did you just call me?”

“Look everyone!” Flash came in out of nowhere, “Penis Parker’s in the house!”

Dammit! He must of overheard the conversation.

“Hey everyone!” Flash screamed, “When I say Penis, you say Parker. Penis!”

“Parker!” Everyone chanted back.

“Penis!”

“Parker!”

Peter looked around, mortified at the situation around him. “(Y/N), what happened when I was gone?” Peter asked you.

“I-” Words wouldn’t form in your mouth. “I didn’t know what to do, Peter. They were making fun of how you go looking for computer parts, and they asked if I went with you to do it, and I just thought-”

“And you thought you could make it better by making fun of me? By degrading me so they could think highly of you?” He raised his voice, “You’re my friend, (Y/N), my best friend. Friends don’t stab each other in the backs. If anything, they stab each other in the front.”

“I know, but Peter-”

“This party was a fail. Let’s go, Peter,” Ned grabbed Peter’s arm. You stared at him as Ned slowly dragged him away from the crowd.

“Have fun with your friends, (Y/N),” Peter said quietly before walking out the front door.

“Peter wait!” You pushed through the crowd, trying to catch up to him. You swung open the front door and ran outside, but stopped dead in your tracks when you saw him get into May’s car and drive away from you. “Peter!”

~

You woke up gasping for air. You sat up on your bed, looking around in the darkness of your room.

You whimpered as you held your face in your hands once more, realizing that Peter wasn’t here to comfort you of that damned memory from freshman year that came back to haunt you.

“Peter,” You whispered softly to yourself, “I am so sorry for everything.”

You lost him once, and when you were able to get him back, you let him slip through your fingers. How were you ever going to get him back now?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I feel evil for writing this, whoops...sorry?

~Awkward Moments

Study Buddy tags:

@heyjess-marie @ashleyhearto @aussie-mantle @mysteriouslyluckymoon @dianaxmarii @unicorn-sparkles123 @unicorngummybears @xxcxrolinexx @proxinge @redeyed-winchester @avian-feathers @hurricane--amelia @shoytai @kaelyn-lobrutto24 @angry-kylo @converseskyline @deadlyaffairs

@br0ken-smiles-and-fallen-angels @4ydan @dogdemo <-- (I feel so bad, the tags aren’t working! I’m not sure if I’m doing something wrong. Sorry!)

^^ It would mean a lot to me if you guys could help me out by messaging them and telling them about the next update! Thanks! <3

(Update: You guys don’t have to worry about telling them. People have already notified them! Thanks for the help tho!)

[5hfanfiction]

We Might Be Like Spaghetti

There are so many things about Camila that no one understands. Like the fact that she can’t walk a straight line properly without falling. Or that she can be a confident little vixen one second and a timid, awkward girl the next.

So instead of wasting her time trying to come up with a reason why she is how she is, she’d rather use a vague definition if they ask her to describe herself.

Weird.

Not like, weird to the point that she has to go to a mental hospital (despite what her friends say), she’s just… different from other people.

I mean, for one, she has an obsession with bananas. And I guess, at one point in life, we all do get obsessed on something. But this is different, she just loves them too much that her parents literally had to pry the fruit away from her grasp. They’re just scared that she might have potassium poisoning (and by the amount of bananas she eats, they’re actually surprised she’s still alive).

She’s also dorky. A cute one though, not the annoying one. Well, maybe she does get on someone’s nerve at times, especially when she wakes people up with her annoying little random facts. A recent one was when she told Dinah facts about saliva.

Chancho [3.26am]: dinah

Chancho [3.26am]: dinah

Chancho [3.26am]: dinah

Chancho [3.26am]: china

Chancho [3.27am]: did you know that in our lifetime, we could produce enough saliva to fill 2 swimming pools?

Chancho [3.27am]: lets dig a hole and fill them up using our saliva. our verY OWN SALIVA POOL.

Cheechee [3.28am]: Bish, why you disturbing my beauty sleep? Go disturb someone else.

Cheechee [3.29am]: And why the hell would you wanna make a swimming pool with our saliva. You know we could use a hose or some shit right?

Chancho [3.29am]: that’s not the point Dinah.

Needless to say, she’s pretty weird.

That same night, she also texted her other friends with other facts. (She likes to spice things up, she doesn’t repeat what she tells the others)

Camila is also a bit artsy fartsy. And sure, in this world, a lot of them are. But this is different (Not really).

She’s always on tumblr, saving aesthetically pleasing pictures of the cloud or some shit and poetic excerpt Tumblr users post. She sometimes even sends them to Lauren after, probably cause she’s, too, artistic and she always treasures whatever Camila sends her.

An opening to talk about what really matters now.

Lauren. (Well, Lauren and Camila)

Lauren has been Camila’s best friend since middle school. She’s cute, loud, funny, irritable and just, weird, I guess.. A different kind but all the same length.

How they first met was a bit cliche, but hey… Cliche are cliches for a reason, they attract readers.

Lauren was in all of her class in 7th Grade, including homeroom. Camila didn’t think of anything at first. Just a girl with an inviting smile who is oddly alone in the corner of the class.

Why odd? Well, for one, Lauren is pretty. And when Camila thinks she’s pretty, it really means that she is. Trust her.

She’s the kind of pretty that makes her seem approachable. Her skin is soft and it looks beauteously white. Definitely a huge from Camila’s tanned skin tone. Lauren also seems social; Camila has heard her talk in front of the class before and she knows from there that Lauren isn’t a shy girl.

Secondly… honestly, I don’t even need to explain why it’s odd that’s she’s alone. The fact that’s she’s mesmerizingly captivating is enough.

Camila even knows that it’s not just her who finds her attractive. She’s heard boys in her class and even in the hallway talking about how they wanna ask her out. It never happens though, they’re too much of a pussy.

Except that one time when this guy Keaton asked her out and she said no in front of the class, making all the other guys immediately back off in fear of rejection.

That stunt intrigued Camila, if she’s being completely honest. No girl has ever said no to Keaton before.

Since then, Camila has always wanted to talk to her. But she’s too much of an introverted wuss to even look her way for more than 10 seconds. So they don’t talk.

Until one day, their science teacher put them as lab partners.

During the first 30 minutes, they didn’t talk. They either listened to the teacher –mostly Lauren cause Camila felt like she was deaf, she could only hear her heart beating loudly she’s surprised Lauren didn’t make a comment on it– or copy what the teacher had written on the whiteboard in front of the lab. Again, mostly Lauren because Camila’s hand is shaking as she wrote a simple P for the word Penis.

(No, she wasn’t shaking because of the word, penis. In fact, she flaunts that word a lot to her friends because her friends are still uncomfortable with the word and she likes to make people uncomfortable… See. weird)

“Are you okay?” Lauren’s sweetly raspy voice traveled through Camila’s ear and into her… well… whatever her ear is connected to and into her brain.(Can you blame her for not knowing though? Biology sucks)

“Uh.. Huh?” Camila jumped at the sudden noise, causing her pen to slide down the table. Camila’s reflexes kicked in and she frantically (and awkwardly) tried to grab the pen before it hits the floor.

She caught it and that’s when she noticed that she was awfully close to Lauren since she had to lean to her side.

She cleared her throats and studied the porcelain skinned girl. And again, she wasn’t joking when she said Lauren was really pretty. She feels the need to push that fact.

“You’re kind of shaking..?” She smiled worriedly a bit and it made Camila’s heart swoon at how Lauren seems like she genuinely cares for Camila.

Lauren doesn’t seem intimidating at all, Camila thought.

Psyche, Camila is still scared shitless.

Camila moved away and straightened her back. She looked over to Lauren’s hand and tilted her head when she noticed how it was trembling too.

The green eyed beauty followed Camila’s gaze and laughed. A really melodic one at that. It sounded soothingly cherubic to Camila. “Yeah, I shake too. But it’s more because of my genetics than anything else. My hand can never stay still.”

Camila nodded and smiled nervously.

“Do you talk?” She asked, just at the same time Camila realized that she hasn’t said one word to Lauren.

“Uhh.. Yeah,” Camila croaked out, internally hitting herself in the head for not clearing her dry throat first. She swallowed her saliva (damn it, she wasted that when she could’ve collected that for the swimming pool) and repeated what she said. “Yes.”

Lauren laughed once more and that’s when Camila begins to smile as well. She also thinks that it should be a good idea to record it and play it before she sleeps, just so she could have a good night rest.

“I’m Lauren,” she introduced, smiling cheekily with her hand extended for Camila to shake.

“Camila- Karla- I mean- Some of the teachers still call me Karla but I prefer Camila- And my friends call me Camil- But you can call me Karl- Or anything really- I don’t mind. Actually, scratch that, Kar-” Camila started rambling.

Fun fact; when she’s nervous, she tends to ramble and stumble onto words.

“Camila? Breathe.” Lauren grabbed both of Camila’s shoulders with her hands and stared at her brown eyes with her green ones.

“I like your eyes.” Camila pointed out without a second thought as she continued to stare at Lauren’s mesmerizing eyes.

“Thanks… I like yours too. It looks warm and welcoming.” She smiled bashfully.

After that, they started to actually warm up to each other through the next few hours in class. They realized that they have a lot more in common than they thought they would’ve, and it immediately made Camila like Lauren more (platonically of course). When lunch rolled around, she invited Lauren to eat with her other two friends, Taylor and Selena.

They instantly clicked with her, just as she had with Camila. And that made Camila’s heart swell.

So okay, anyway, their friendships started getting stronger then and they soon became the best of friends.

They hung out a lot and Lauren later revealed that her friends had, for a lack of a better word, dropped her the second they found new friends.

And Camila immediately despised Alexa (her current bestfriend’s ex-bestfriend). No, not because she’s jealous or anything, it’s just that she hates how she’d unfriend a girl like Lauren without actually having a reason to.

Okay, who is she kidding, maybe she is a bit jealous. Can you blame her though? They were childhood bestfriends and from the sounds of it, Lauren still treasured her like Alexa did nothing wrong. Alexa has done nothing to gain Lauren’s trust and yet, she still trusts her the most. Camila, however, worked hard for it.

The next year, Camila got lucky when she found out that she’s gonna be in the same class as Lauren again. It sort of calmed her anxiety since she was scared that Lauren might find a better friend than her if they’re not together 24/7.

And yeah, Camila got territorial there, but it was purely platonic. Definitely.

When they were in 8th grade, Lauren started dating this guy, Luis. He was very shy and they barely talked to each other during the first few months into their relationship. Camila was surprised when the raven haired Latina told her that they’ve went on 5 dates already and got official.

Camila was a bit tilted at that. But, it was mostly because she doesn’t trust Luis and she doesn’t want him to break someone as perfect as Lauren’s heart. It wasn’t because of the fact that she might’ve liked Lauren just a teensy bit.

It also didn’t help Camila to feel better when she found out that Alexa was the one who set them up. But what could Camila do, honestly?

After they got official, the whole school found out about it. While the others swoon at how sweet they seemed, Camila spent her time watching out for Lauren by stalking him in every social media he has. Just to make sure he’s not a dick.

And while they were together, Lauren still had a lot of time to spend with Camila. Camila loves the fact that she does. Really, she does. But she doesn’t like the fact that Lauren’s always talked about Luis this and Luis that. Never really about weird things like they usually talk about.

((Camila doesn’t really remember most of the contents of what they usually talk about before Luis came into their life, but one of the discussion Camila vaguely remembers was when she articulately described what would happen if she could jump high that she could just jump to the moon. And Lauren laughed hard at that, that was why Camila remembered it most amongst the rest. (She’d like to take a trip to the cloud to say hi to Jesus before continuing her journey to the moon)))

But yeah, ever since Lauren started dating Luis, every odd conversation they had was replaced by that ugly ass excuse of a human being.

So okay, maybe Camila does loathe him. But Lauren doesn’t know that and Camila is convinced that it’s better that way. Less questions to answer, she thought. She also feels like it’s better if Lauren talked about him rather than them not talking at all.

They didn’t last long though. If Camila remembers correctly, they lasted for about 3 months. (She forgets why, mostly because its irrelevant to wherever this story is going)

When they broke up, Lauren was a bit down. Not because of him per se, just the fact that she never get to have someone to text and call to everyday anymore. And yeah, Camila’s heart broke a bit because Lauren didn’t see Camila as a candidate to have her sole attention.

But nevertheless, Camila took it upon herself to actually text her goodmorning and goodnight everyday and in between, she’d send weird memes when they weren’t together. You know what, we’re all honest here, Camila even sends them when they’re basically hip to hip. Camila’s weird like that.

Okay, so they do text, and although Lauren hardly replies, it doesn’t stop making Camila to hyperventilate when she gets a notification from Lauren.

But again, they’re all very platonic feeling. Camila isn’t into girls, and as far as she knows, Lauren isn’t too. She just feels some sort of a connection with Lauren, like they’re always on the same wavelength.

The next year though, it was very different, to say the least. For one, Lauren was no longer her classmates. Like, at all. In fact, she was on a different building from Camila’s classes. She should’ve seen this coming though, especially since she got lucky the year prior. The universe likes to fuck people up by giving them hope, only to disappoint them after they’re in Cloud 9.

Okay, well, at least Camila still had break and lunch with her right?

WRONG.

At the very beginning, they did hang out. But just like any normal friendship, they didn’t have time for each other anymore.

Well, that was quite dishonest if you ask me.

It was more like Lauren didn’t have time for Camila anymore, especially since Lauren got in the same classes with Alexa, making them bestfriends after only a month of being classmates. That sort of sucked for Camila because she had grown attached to Lauren. I mean, a year and a half of being together and basically inseparable, it’s hard not to.

To Lauren though, she thought that she did nothing wrong. Because to her, Camila was just another girl from her class.

So yeah. It sucked but whatever.

Lauren even started dating someone from Camila’s class, Brad Simpson. Quite attractive, Camila figures.

At one point, she actually tried to be his wingwoman.

Brad knows how close Lauren and Camila were once upon a time and one day, he came up to her and asked about Lauren. He seemed genuine about how he feels for Lauren, so she decided to give him a helping hand.

A mistake on her part.

She went to Lauren during lunch one time and she said nothing but good things about Brad, hoping that she’d buy all that crap.

And she did.

They went out and started dating. Again, everyone envied their relationship and to Camila, even if it kinda sucked, she was happy that they were happy.

Why it sucked? Well, they never really thanked Camila or anything to show gratitude about setting each other up.

But Camila’s not that petty, she really didn’t expect anything.

So fast forward to High School.

Oddly enough, Lauren, Brad, Alexa and I went to the same school. But still, Camila wasn’t lucky enough to be in the same class as her again.

Brad and her even stayed together through their high school years. Until the day before their senior year start that is.

This is when it gets sorta depressing.

Camila never really knew how their relationship were like. So she lacked the details and she might mess up a few storyline. And yeah, fun fact; this is based on true events.

So, some time during Christmas, Lauren and Brad had a huge fight. And when Lauren’s mad, she tends to say (aggressive) things that she doesn’t really mean. And well, needless to say, she said pretty mean things to Brad.

He took it to the heart and eventually broke it off on text. Yes, on text. Not even a phone call goddamn.

The sad thing was, she got too attached to him already. And they’ve been together for fairly a long time for someone so young. It almost felt like forever to her.

That was what she thought. She thought they were gonna last forever.

Unfortunately, when something doesn’t go her way, she gets sad. The kind of sad that makes you wanna hug her until she’s happy again, no matter how long it takes.

Of course, Camila didn’t know how bad their break up at firs, it wasn’t like they were close that time, so she assumed that Lauren was fine.

What she found later though, it was the opposite.

In New Year’s Eve, Brad went to a party while Lauren was bawling her eyes out in her room. She saw him drinking and partying and flirting with other girls through a video her friend sent.

Trigger warning… She eventually got depressed that night and cut her wrist with a razor.

That’s not the worst part though. What’s worse was the fact that she actually took a picture and send them to Brad.

No.

Actually, the worst part was the fact that Brad showed the picture to his friends. How she knew? His friends actually texted her and asked if she was okay. Brad, however, told her to stop it. He told her to stop trying to make him pity her.

(When Camila heard this, she regretted ever trying to play matchmaker with the two)

So of course, what Brad said stung Lauren and it only made her more depressed. She barely ate. She stayed at home, juggling between crying and sleeping in her room. She wasn’t as social as she had gotten during the first few years in High School.

She was a big ball of mess.

Alexa, her so called bestfriend, was never there for her. In fact, she actually sided with Brad, saying that even if she and Lauren are friends, Brad is still her friend too. Which is totally malarkey because the only thing mutual they had was basketball.

Camila hasn’t even seen them talk.

It was just the fact that Brad was popular and Alexa have an obsession with climbing up the ladder, not caring about who she steps on along the way.

So while Lauren was blamed for their breakup, Brad was given the crown for ‘trying’ to stay 'cordial’ with Lauren (fun fact; she never told anyone except for Camila about what he said to her that night). Why she was blamed, you ask? Well, it was originally because of that one simple slip up on Lauren’s part about how stupid Brad is. Only that it had more colorful vocabulary than that.

Through senior year, Brad eventually got a new girl and Lauren was still struggling to look happy for her friends, not wanting to seem like a downer to them. (Seriously, what kind of friends are they?)

Senior prom came and Lauren got asked by Brad’s best friend, James. She reluctantly said yes at first, but she thought, 'Hey!! Why the fuck not?’ So after a few days, she gave in and they actually started talking.

But sadly, Lauren and dating never really go well, do they?

She found out that James was talking to another girl and they fought. James broke it off just a few days before prom and asked a different girl, a girl that Brad was dating no less, as his date.

James’ date was stupid to accept James and not Brad honestly, seeing as Brad was the one she’s dating with at that time. Wait, you know what? I’m bitter, it’s just plain stupid of her to say yes to any of them.

So Lauren, once again, got fucked over by two douches. But she’s hopeful. Too fucking hopeful.

Brad was baffled too. His bestfriend literally went under his nose and got the girl he was in midst of courting.

So he made a ridiculous plan. A plan that included Lauren. He asked Lauren if he wanted to go fuck James over by going to prom together.

She said yes.

And there they went, Lauren looking beautiful in a blue dress while Brad wore a matching tie, surprising everyone at the event.

Camila was also surprised, even if she wasn’t there. (Camila actually had a date and she sort of canceled on him last minute)

After prom, Lauren and Brad started talking again. And Lauren was stupid enough to think that it might work out again.

A few months later, college days came.

Coincidentally, Camila and Lauren went to the same college, Lauren bringing Brad with her.

And that was how their friendship starts to blossom once more.

During orientation, they sat next to each other and just talked and laughed together, mocking everything the people did on stage. They also started to go out together. (Of course, Brad was there and Camila became the professional Third Wheeler)

One time, they went to this resort, only to find out that it costs more than their budget. So since they couldn’t stay there, they opted to at least watch the sunset before they go, only to groan in frustration when rain started pouring down at the same time they sat down.

It was quite a shitty day for all of them, but Camila wouldn’t trade that memory for anything. Lauren looks cute when she whines.

((And it wasn’t like Camila was lonely. Actually, she started dating quite a lot of guys since they started going to college. But unfortunately, no one really caught her eye to make her stay))

Camila and Lauren, once again, became inseparable.

And through those first few months, nothing really sparked Camila’s feelings towards Lauren.

Well… actually, one time, Lauren stripped to her underwear when she was in the same room and it did make Camila internally gasp as she subtly watched her through the corner of her eyes.

But that was about it, Camila felt nothing towards Lauren. And maybe the fact that Brad and Lauren were always attached helped her a bit.

Until, of course, Brad decided to move to U.K. to study there.

It broke Lauren into pieces, but this time, Camila was there for Lauren.

Camila was there when Lauren ranted about how much it hurt.

Camila was there when Lauren got depressed. But before she did anything, Camila is already outside her door with fastfood and Ben & Jerry’s on her hands.

And since Lauren and Brad already broke up, her friendship with Camila got tighter. (It’s not that it wasn’t at first, it’s just that Lauren had to share her attention to two of her favorite people before that. And now, it’s solely on Camila)

After class, either Lauren or Camila would drag the other to watch a movie together. Just the two of them.

One of the memorable one was this Korean zombie movie. Camila complained about how she’s not up for reading subtitles throughout the movie. But Lauren gave her one puppy look and Camila melted.

Camila also hates ghost movie and she promised herself to never ever watch it. But alas, Lauren made her change her mind.

Yeah, Camila becomes a weak ass bitch when it comes to Lauren. Or you know… whipped.

So okay, everything was fine and dandy as Camila and Lauren battled college education together, studying (more like gossiping) in a local cafe when their exams are around the corner, eating junk food in Lauren’s apartment when the both of them are free. They practically did everything together.

But what Camila never really noticed (or she does but refuses to acknowledge it at first) was the fact that she might have felt something for Lauren. Something that isn’t platonic.

That didn’t last long though.

She first noticed that something was different when she slept over at Lauren’s one time. They just finished watching The Notebook and were lying idly on the bed. The 1975 were playing in the background as they stared at the ceiling, a comfortable silence encapsulating both girls.

It might be nothing, they’ve done it countless times after all. But something about the sudden intimate atmosphere made Camila notice just how much she loves doing this with Lauren. 

She then realize that she wouldn’t mind spending all her life with Lauren like this.

Inevitably, she began to question why all she needs is Lauren. All her life, she had always wanted a romantic partner to accompany her as she grows up, but why does Lauren makes her feel… complete.

And that’s when she begin to register that maybe she wants that so called romantic partner to be Lauren.

Of course, being in denial, she shrugs it off at first.

But ever since that thought crossed her mind, there is this nagging voice at the back of her mind everytime she gets close to Lauren. It was like her mind, body and heart subconsciously want Lauren.

She starts pictures having dates with Lauren. She starts imagining how it would feel to kiss Lauren. She starts to think about how it would be living with Lauren 10 years later, doing domestic stuff at home like cooking and cleaning. She even begin to envisage Lauren walking at the altar towards her.

She realizes that she wants Lauren, not just as a friend. 

And it scared her. There she is, 18, and turning 19 soon, when she found out that she might be falling for her bestfriend.

Another fun fact; Camila likes to run away from her problems.

So quite inevitably, she ran. Not literally of course, she doesn’t wanna fall just yet. But she starts to distance herself from Lauren. Not quite far, but enough for Lauren to make new friends.

Being the greatest friend that Lauren is though, she introduced them to Camila.

And gradually, they subconsciously formed a group amongst themselves. Lauren, Camila, Dinah, Ally and Normani.

But still, no one could beat Lauren and Camila, and that made Camila glad. At least she didn’t push her too far.

Camila eventually got comfortable with Lauren again later that year.

That wasn’t the only thing that changed though.

Lauren also started dating this rich prick, Noah. Noah was in her Art class and one day, he asked if she wanted to go out. Seeing nothing wrong with him, she accepted it.

Don’t worry though, her heart by then was guarded with millions and millions of bricks.

And ironically, that was epitome of their relationship problems.

She never really opened up to him like she should and it frustrates Noah to no end. Then, everything seems to trigger him. Like the fact that she always cancels their plans to go out with Camila. Or the fact that Lauren has a lot of guy friends. Or even the fact that she never really introduced him to her friends.

Can’t really blame him though, it’s true.

(Of course, Camila knew everything about their relationship. But the other girls.. they knew nothing of him, just that they were dating.)

While they were having problems, Camila was able to suppress whatever she was feeling towards the green eyed girl.

Barely.

Being the naturally possessive girl that she is, she starts to claim Lauren. Subtly, of course.

It starts from holding hands with Lauren as they three walk around campus. Then, it escalated to Camila claiming the seat next to Lauren everytime they all have lunch (Lauren always brings Camila to their date, for some reason). She does everything Lauren wants; giving her flowers whenever she finds them, knowing just how much Lauren loves a single rose instead of a bouquet (she chokes back a laugh everytime  Noah brings Lauren flowers). She also knows that Lauren hates chocolate and with that, she couldn’t hold back the laugh bubbling on her throat when she sees Lauren’s nose scrunches subtly when he gave her just that. 

“Why are you laughing?” Noah asks Camila with an annoyed tone.

“Nothing.. Its just that.. You know that Lauren doesn’t like chocolate right?” Camila says mid-laugh. 

Noah looks back at Lauren expectantly and was irrevocably humiliated when he sees Lauren nod hesitantly. 

Needless to say, they had quite an interesting screaming contest when he called her that night. What he didn’t know was that Camila heard everything he said to her.

It made her pissed but she couldn’t do anything.

But all that was temporary. After some time, she realizes that she couldn’t destroy their relationship. What she was doing was selfish and despite how shitty he is, he does make Lauren happy sometimes.

So she also started dating to this guy, Austin. If she can’t get the person she wants, why not move on and date a guy she assumes is the best for her.

Get ready to more confused, probably.

She first met him through a mutual friend’s birthday party, Zara Larsson.

The two immediately hit it off since they kind of have the same kind of humor. He was dorky and playful and it made Camila feel like someone finally gets her. 

Don’t get her wrong, she knows for a fact that Lauren gets her. Its just that its mostly because they’re used to each other. In fact, in more ways than one, they’re quite different. But their kind of different is a positive one because they complete each other. What Lauren lacks, Camila fills and vice versa.

(Lauren, frankly, lacks sympathy while Camila has more to a fault. Camila teaches Lauren to take people’s feelings into account while Lauren teaches Camila to not let everyone in because most people are shit)

Theyre kind of like Yin Yang in a way. Or you know, the moon and the sun. 

Anyway, Austin was nice and that definitely helped Camila’s decision to try dating him.

When they first interacted, Lauren was there. She saw how Austin was basically attached to Camila throughout the night. Like, one time, when they were all in the dining room, Austin actually came up to Camila and sat on the same chair she was sitting on.

While Camila send him a inquisitive look, he shrugs and smiles.

“There aren’t any more chairs to sit on,” he said.

“There’s a chair beside me Austin,” Dinah pointed out. 

And if Camila looked at the right person clearly that time, she could’ve seen the person she’s in love with sigh in relief when Austin was basically forced to sit on the vacant chair.

But it didn’t mean that Camila wasn’t looking at Lauren. Hell, she probably looked at her more that a bestfriend should. She was always there next to Lauren, she remembers listening to Lauren laugh when she whined as her drink spilled because she danced around Lauren a tad bit much. She remembers Lauren dragging her to the toilet because she felt like it (she didn’t even pee).

But that night was apparently a long one. Because even if they were attached, Camila still had time to be singing in the karaoke room with Austin. She remembers walking to a vacant couch at a secluded area and Austin following after her (even if there were millions of seats he could sit on. Thats how she knows that Austin was somewhat interested in her). She remembers singing All My Life by K-Ci and Jojo with Austin and him looking at her as he sang. She remembers that it was pretty cliché and very High School Musical of them. 

Two days after the party, Camila received a text from a random number in midst of texting Lauren.

(Camila was sending her this cute ass joke that made Lauren laugh harder than she should.)

Unknown [7.03pm]: Hey, it’s Austin. Ummm, from Zara’s birthday party. 

Unknown [7.03pm]: I got your number from her. I hope thats okay?

Unknown [7.04pm]: I was just wondering if you want to go out with me sometime.

After she reads the text thoroughly for 10 minutes, she does the thing any normal girl does.

She asks her bestfriend.

Camz [7.16pm]: Remember that dude that sat next to me in the dining room for a sec?

Laur [7.20pm]: Yeah… Why?

Camz [7.22pm]: Well, he texted me.

Camila waited for a reply from Lauren, and she could see that bubble popping in and out when she did. But the text never came after ten minutes. Camila got tired of waiting so she called Lauren instead.

“Laur, what should I do?”

“Why are you asking me? He’s your problem, not mine,” Lauren says sharply, making Camila frown immediately at her shift in mood. Lauren seemed happy when they were texting.

“Are you okay?” Camila asks, and Lauren sighs defeatedly. 

There were shuffling sounds before Lauren answers. “Nothing, Noah’s just pissing me off.”

“Oh,” Camila say, buying the excuse immediately. Though she was just hoping that Lauren was annoyed at the idea of Austin and her and little did she know that it was completely why. 

(The difference between Austin and the rest of the guys she temporarily dated was the fact that Austin was the first guy Lauren knows Camila was mildly interested in after Brad left to go to UK.)

“Do you wanna talk about it?” Camila asks.

“It’s okay, it’s nothing you don’t already know,” she answers dismissively. Camila didn’t question it because she knows that Noah and Lauren always argues about the same thing.

“Okay well, since you clearly don’t wanna talk about him, what do you think I should do with Austin?”

Camila swears she can feel Lauren’s eye rolls through the call.

“What do you want?” Lauren asks. Camila could hear how strained her voice is, but she decides to not point it out since she doesn’t want to push her buttons.

“I don’t know. What do you think?” Maybe, Camila wants Lauren to convince her to not to associate herself with him. (And maybe admit that she wants Camila like she wants the older girl, but Camila shakes that thought off fast since she thought it was impossible)

“I don’t know Camila,” Lauren replies. Camila knows that she only says her actual name when she’s unhappy with her, “I mean, it’s not like you have feelings for somebody else, right?”

“Well… Um…,” Camila stutters, caught off guard with the question. “No.”

“Then why not?”

She hung up immediately after. And to say that Camila was hurt would be an understatement.

What she thought was that Lauren didn’t care about her. Not enough to talk about her current predicament with Austin. She’s been with Lauren through thick and thin. She had even gone as far as to drive her around in the middle of the night when she was sleepy as fuck because Lauren couldn’t sleep and was still hung up on Brad.

Anything that Lauren has a problem with, especially in terms of boys, Camila was always there to try to give her unbiased opinions, even if it kinda killed Camila a little bit.

She’s also selfless when it comes to Lauren’s happiness. For example, during Lauren’s birthday, she actually had a plan to surprise Lauren but last minute, she received a call from Noah that he already had a plan for her. Camila accepted defeat and took down everything she did. She even went as far as to help him surprise her.

Even if it hurt her.

Hell, she even canceled on a date she had with this random dude because Lauren wanted to watch a movie with her.

And now that she has something a dilemma she wants to fix, Lauren hung up on her.

It just sucks. So fucking bad.

At that time, she feels like Lauren doesn’t care about Camila like she does for her. Not gonna lie, even if it was improbable, Camila still lowkey hoped that Lauren has feelings for her, even if it was only a fragment of she feels for the older girl. But that idea was soon out the window and so, she accepted Austin’s proposal and they went on a date.

He was really sweet. They went on this Cuban restaurant and he did everything a normal gentleman would. They even walked around the streets for a couple of hours to talk about nonsensical things after dinner.

And for once in a million years, Camila finally felt like she could open up to someone romantically again.

So she went on a couple more dates with him.

Lauren… Lauren was somewhere. She sort of dropped from the face of the earth and if sort of made Camila worried.

Actually, she was more than worried.

She texted a couple times, only to receive nothing in return.

Just when she was walking to her car in campus, planning on going to Lauren to check up on her, she saw her walking with Noah with their hands intertwined and a huge smile plastered on both their faces.

It further aggravated Camila. While Camila was worried sick, Lauren was happy and having fun with Noah. She didn’t even bother trying to reply an “I’m okay” to her.

(And maybe, just maybe, she hated the fact that Lauren looked happy without her)

She wanted to talk to Lauren, but she didn’t want to cause a scene so she decided to wait for Lauren outside her apartment building.

You might be asking why Lauren has an apartment to herself and why Camila’s not actually living with her. It was actually because she already paid for my dorm room and she didn’t know that Lauren actually rented an apartment for the both of them.

She did say that Camila should make good use of the dorm that she paid for for a year and only then, she could move in with her. I mean, she didn’t oppose if Camila moved in early, but the campus didn’t accept refunds and the least Camila could do was try to stay there for her parents.

Camila waited for around two hours or so before she saw Noah’s sports car (he’s so flashy it’s annoying) stop in front of the building. Camila should’ve opted on texting her so she didn’t have to wait that long, but I guess she needed time to recollect her thoughts.

When Lauren climbed out of the car (he didn’t even get out of the car and open the door for her), her gaze immediately fell to Camila and to say that she was surprised would be an understatement.

“Cam-”

“I wanna talk to you,” Camila cut her off.

“Um, yeah sure. Hold on.” She turned around and waved at Noah before he drove off. “Let’s go up first.”

They rode up the elevator and into her home in silence, not sure of what to say. Camila wanted to talk about why Lauren seems to avoid her while Lauren didn’t want to talk at all, period.

But apparently, Lauren’s wish wasn’t granted when Camila asked her what’s going on the second they walked inside.

And Lauren being Lauren, she didn’t give in immediately.

“Lauren please, what’s going on? Did I do something wrong? I’m really sorry if I did. I just really miss you Laur.” Camila practically begged.

“It’s nothing about what you did. I promise. It’s just that I needed time to think about stuff and it just… I don’t know Camz. But I promise it’s not about what you did.”

“Do you wanna talk about it? You know, whatever it is that’s going on in your head.”

But for the first time, Lauren didn’t want to open up to her. And it bothered the brown eyed girl to no end.

But at least Lauren had the decency to try to divert the topic and just like that, it was enough to distract Camila from the tangible tension between the two.

And so they’re back to normal.

Only now, Lauren has Noah and Camila has Austin.

You see, Camila isn’t an oblivious girl like Lauren is in typical Camren fics. She knows that something’s going on in Lauren’s head.

Like, she knows that Lauren is annoyed whenever Camila starts talking about Austin. She also knows that Lauren hates it when Camila has to raincheck their plans because she already made one with Austin. Anything related to Austin just pisses Lauren off.

She is also almost certain that Lauren hates Austin.

But she doesn’t know why she does. She doesn’t know why Lauren always clings on Camila almost everytime now and when Austin is there, she doesn’t know why Lauren suddenly has somewhere to go or something to do.

Okay, so maybe Camila is a little bit oblivious. But hey, it’s kind of refreshing in a way, isn’t it? I’m putting an end on Lauren’s oblivious streak.

Anyway, Lauren had gotten quite hot and cold with Camila lately.

It gets weirder though.

Sometime in August, they were calling to check up on each other and Lauren pointed out that she doesn’t like it when Camila calls her by her name.

“I hate it when you call me Lauren or Laur.”

“What? Why?”

“I don’t know, it seems too formal. Like we’re close, why call me by my name?”

“But the girls call you by your name,” Camila reasoned.

“I know.. But you’re you. And they’re them. You’re different from them.”

“How?”

“I don’t know Camz.. I just don’t like it when you call me by my name.”

“Well, what do you wanna be called then?” Camila asked.

Lauren pauses.

“Baby,” she said cheekily, even giggling towards the end.

“What?” Camila said, a bit baffled.

“Baby, I want you to call me baby.”

“Why?”

“Cause I like it. It sounds cute. So why not?”

“Uhh..” Camila trailed off, not really convinced that she was serious. But for the heck of it, she said, “right, sure.”

“Say my name,” Lauren said suddenly.

“Uh- What?”

“Say my name.”

“Lauren?”

“No, not that. Say my name.”

“Umm.. Baby?”

Lauren giggled again when she heard Camila say it.

“Yes baby?” Lauren replied.

“You’re acting strange, but okay,” Camila deflected, a little bit uncomfortable. Sure, then flirting is a common occurrence, but this is just… weird. It’s making Camila’s heart beat faster than when Austin calls her baby. It’s making her stomach hurl because the butterflies are just flapping around the small space in her abdomen.

The next day, she didn’t think that Lauren would remember the conversation they had prior.

The girls, along with Ally, Dinah and Normani, had decided to have a study session in Starbucks after lunch.

Austin wanted to go out too that same day so Camila compromised by having lunch with him first then study with the girls after.

But then, she sort of lost track of time a bit and Camila realized that she was really late at the end of the lunch date.

So she opted to text Lauren.

Camz [3.52pm]: are you there already?

Laur [3.54pm]: I was, but since you’re not here yet, I decided to go home to change.

Laur [3.54pm]: I miss you :(

Camz [3.55pm]: Hehehehe, I miss you too.

Camz [3.56pm]: I’m on my way there though.

Laur [3.59pm]: Alright, Ill be there soon.

Again, it’s not that they’ve never flirted before. In fact, they do it so much that at one point, the three girls have asked them whether they were together or not.

They even joked about how hot they would be if they were 'lesbian-ing together.’ Their words not mine.

So the fact that Lauren just said that she missed her shouldn’t make Camila feel weird. But it does. Her heart did somersaults while the butterflies in her stomach for the same thing the day before.

30 minutes after Camila settled down and Lauren walked in with the brightest smile she has ever seen.

“Camziii,” she squealed, putting down her books to the table and hugged her.

“Lauren.”

“Wait, that wasn’t what you promised,” Lauren teased.

“Promised what?” Dinah decided to butt in, looking at both girls expectantly.

“I asked her to call me baby last night,” Lauren replied, her confidence unwavering. My heart started speeding up when she had confirmed it once again.

“Yeah, well then, hi baby..” Camila said awkwardly as she hugged Lauren again, still confused at what was happening with her bestfriend.

She just giggled in response and sat across from Camila.

That wasn’t the only weird situation Camila was put in that day. That same fateful night, Lauren asked something weird.

“If you were lesbian, would you stay in the closet?”

“Come again?” The pen cap Camila was biting prior flew out of her mouth. She thought she wasn’t hearing Lauren correctly.

“If you liked girls, would you stay in the closet?” The raven haired girl said slowly, making Camila’s eyes grow bigger.

“Oh.. Uhh.. Would you?”

“No.. Yes.. Honestly, I don’t really know.”

“Well, umm, I don’t think I’d hide my relationship. I think I’d actually flaunt her in front of everyone.”

Lauren smiled in response.

“If you could date any girl in your class, who’d you date?” Lauren inquired once more.

You, Camila thought. “Oh. Umm.. I can’t think of anyone right now. You?”

“Probably Ashley, she’s so artistic. It’d be cool.”

Literally, Camila could hear her heart breaking when Lauren said it. There goes her hope again.

Nothing weird really happened that week. And honestly, I don’t think Camila could handle it if Lauren were to continue whatever game she was playing.

The next few weeks, Lauren and Camila started being normal again. Maybe not normal like how usual bestfriends are, considering the tension, but it’s their kind of normal and that’s all that matters. They even continued on talking about boys again.

And then, she broke up with Noah.

That’s when shit started getting weirder between Lauren and Camila.

When Camila asked her why they broke up, Lauren vaguely answered the fact that she didn’t make time for him, and he got tired of it. (He actually noticed just how close Camila and Lauren were and he hates being out second)

Camila bought it.

Then, one time at lunch, the 5 girls went to this restaurant and they were getting quite rowdy.

Normani pointed out that she misses making out and that she’s desperate to find a companion.

“Since you miss making out so much, why don’t you make out with me?” Camila flirted with a wink.

That time, she and Lauren were holding hands under the table, and she could feel Lauren’s grasp getting firmer.

“I love you Mila, but I’d rather kiss Lauren.”

“Sori Mani, I wouldn’t kiss you if you were the last person on earth.”

Normani gasped and playfully threw a napkin to Lauren.

But the fact that Normani wouldn’t kiss her offended Camila, she pouted throughout the lunch time, not caring about what they were talking because she was disappointed. And that her ego was greatly bruised.

The desperate didn’t even want her, she thought.

Lauren saw Camila’s shift in mood and squeezed her hand to gain her attention.

“I’d kiss you Camz..” She whispered, making Camila’s body tingle with anticipation.

But lol, Camila was still with Austin.

A few days later, when Camila told Lauren about how she almost did it with Austin, Lauren literally said that she couldn’t handle looking at Camila and went off, leaving Camila alone.

Shits like that kept happening until at one point, Camila felt like she needed to talk to her about it. She was just so fed up with how Lauren was acting.

Even Austin mentioned about how flirty Lauren is to Camila. He asked her if Lauren was into girls or not. Camila asks why he’d think that and he said that he’s almost sure that the gazes Lauren throws at Camila was love.

Camila didn’t believe him.

Eventually, it caused them to argue. Camila argued that Austin was irrationally jealous and he got pretty pissed about that.

Then, they argued at the fact that Camila always sided with the raven haired girl if Lauren and Austin had were fighting.

Austin eventually gave Camila an ultimatum; Austin or Lauren. And Camila almost laughed when he asked that. Just thinking of choosing him over Lauren made her stomach hurl.

So they broke up after 5 months of dating.

And just then, Camila finally moved in with Lauren.

Throughout the week after Camila and Austin broke up, Lauren did the same thing Camila did to her after Brad. She brought back food and Ben & Jerry’s as Camila got sad over her break up.

(She wasn’t really sad, she just liked the attention Lauren was giving her)

Everything turned back to normal after. Camila being tortured by Lauren’s indirects and flirty comments.

And it throws Camila on a loop.

One minute, Lauren is talking about this cute guy she saw somewhere, the next she’s cuddling and saying cute shit like how she wants to live with Camila forever.

She was convinced that Lauren was playing with her heart. She thinks that Lauren knows how she has feelings for her, and now she’s just having fun toying her around.

So she decided that enough was enough.

“Laure-”

“Say my name,” Lauren cut Camila off with a smirk.

“Lauren.” Camila stood her ground. “What is going on with you?”

“Whatever do you mean?” She finally saw how serious the younger girl was and stopped reading the book that was on her lap.

“What’s going on with you?”

“What did I do?”

“You.. excessively flirting with me. What’s up with that?”

“I-” Lauren started. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Yes you do. I know you’re doing this on purpose. I know that you know that I have feelings for you. But you don’t ha-”

“Wait. Wait what?” Lauren perked up.

“I know you’re doing this on purpose?”

“No the one after that.”

“You don’t have to toy with my heart?” Camila asked questioningly, not sure where Lauren is getting at.

“No… no. Before that,” Lauren stood up then, walking over to Camila. Not that close, but close enough to hear Camila’s gulp.

“I have feelings for you.”

“Oh my God,” Lauren immediately wrapped her arms around Camila and hugged her for dear life.

“I’ve wanted to hear that since forever Camz.”

“Wait what? Really? When?”

“Uhh, I’m not so sure really. But after Brad, you were just so sweet to me and I couldn’t help but fall for you.”

“Hey hey now. No one talked about falling here,” Camila smirked. “I didn’t say that.”

Lauren laughed and she grabbed Camila’s face with her two hands, immediately planting a kiss on her mouth.

“I like you Camz,” The older girl admitted.

“I like you too Laure-”

“Ah! Say my name.” Lauren cut her off once more, the most cocky smirk plastered on her face.

Camila playfully sighed. “I like you too baby…”

Lauren immediately squealed and kissed Camila.

Finally, after years of trials and error, Lauren finally found the perfect guy for her. Only that it wasn’t a guy.

Sure, Lauren had her fair share of dating stupid boys. But needless to say, she wouldn’t change anything if it meant that she’d end up with Camila in the end.

And yeah, sure, there are still many things about Camila that they don’t understand, but at least now she can be sure of one thing.

It’s the fact that she’s not straight.

—

A/N

Lol. Idk.

I rushed the ending. Sors. But tell me what you think about the two.

It’s somewhat based on true story.

[scoutshonor56]

KWID DOH NO!

Our Kartoon Prezident

 Well, as year #3 of this torn and frazzled, circle-the-wagons administration comes to a close, it’s time to look back and reflect on the Little King’s record thus far.  After all, “some” say he’s the greatest president since Lincoln, maybe even better!  Well, OK, he does anyway… Oh Little Donny, you are one for the history books, you’re certainly right about that!

 In the short span of three years in office, due to your ego, stupidity, and gullibility, you’ve made our country a punchline and a bad joke to the rest of the free world.  You’ve soured relations with pretty much all the major democratic nations of both hemispheres and it’s become abundantly obvious that you prefer the company of despots and dictators, because they curry your favor and feed your ego while playing you for a sucker and a clueless rube.  You play international diplomacy not like a shrewd card shark, but someone who still gets confused when playing “Go Fish”.

 While your own top advisors, the CIA, and our National Security team strongly suggested you throw in the 4 and the 7 and take two cards, you said, “But I asked them, and they said they got nothing – I’m betting it all on what I have!”

 Did Putin rig the 2016 election?  “I asked him, he said no…”

 Does Kim Jong-un intend to stop his nuclear proliferation? “I asked him, he said yes…”

 Did Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman order the killing, dismemberment and disappearance of Washington Post columnist, Jamal Khashoggi?  “I asked him, he said no…”

 It’s just a theory of mine, but I suspect that you find the intricacies of democracy waaay too complicated; too much reading!  Whereas in Russia and N. Korea, it pretty much boils down to “the supreme leader makes the rules, and if you don’t like it, tough shit.” – see?  Simple is good!  

 Fuck it, what do my own hand-picked Intelligence team know anyways?  They didn’t write my best seller, “Art of the Deal”!  They lack my incredible business insight and my sharply honed negotiating skills; my intuitive judgement of character!  

 No argument there Mr. Prezident… well, except for the six former associates, cabinet appointees, and campaign advisors now spending their holiday in prison for a few minor offenses like tax evasion, campaign finance violations, lying to Congress under oath, lying to the FBI, conspiracy against the United States, obstruction of Congress, and witness tampering… oh, and your revolving door of high level appointees and cabinet members who pass through the White House like the line at a drive-thru McDonalds, or a frantic, rookie coach trying to stabilize his list of starting players as they drop one game after another on their way to another losing season.

 As a matter of fact, you’ve had more turnovers during your first three years at the helm than any other previous first term president during their entire four-year term - many of them replaced multiple times!  

 Hey, I get it – shit happens when you’re a “stable genius” big-time finance wizard like yourself, who built a huge casino in New Jersey primarily financed with junk bonds, ran it into the ground, stiffed all the construction contractors and workers out of millions, and turned Atlantic City into a ghost town.  

 Oops, well, and there are those six bankruptcy filings while you were in the private sector… and the bogus Trump “University” scam that you quietly had to settle out of court before taking the oath of office to run the country, paying out $25 million to the students (dupes) who showed up one day only to find the front doors locked and a sign taped to the glass…

 Oh, and the Trump “Charity” organization, which was recently sued by the New York Attorney General and found guilty of misuse of funds, funneling millions toward your election campaign and paying off business debts… oh, and the purchase of a huge $60K vanity portrait to hang in one of your exclusive country clubs. The “Charity” foundation was ordered liquidated and $2 million was dispersed among actual, non-affiliated charities… Whadda guy, am I right!?  A true philanthropist, with a heart as pure and genuine as his hair!

 Well, OK, but that’s all dollars under the bridge, now you’re in the BIG chair, running the whole show – how’s that federal deficit coming, the big hole in our national budget that in your 2016 campaign you promised to fill in eight years? Yikes!  Lotta shoveling still needed there, better roll up the sleeves, put down the golf clubs and get to work; looks like the federal deficit for this past year surged 26% from 2018 to $985 billion, and the Congressional Budget Office projects it will top a record breaking $1 trillion next year, primarily due to your 2017 tax cuts that overwhelmingly benefit the rich and mega-rich.  

 Speaking of golf, let’s return again to 2016 and your campaign rhetoric:

 “If I am president I'm not going to play much golf, because there's a lot of work to be done... Obama went golfing every day. 'Little Obama, go play golf every day.' He's played more than most PGA touring professionals play... I'm going to be working for you. I'm not going to have time to go play golf."

 You leave me speechless. There are whoppers and then there are WHOPPERS!  And we all know your whoppers are triple beef patty and cheese, hold all the green and tomato, extra bacon!  This past weekend, down in Par-a-Lago, you teed up for your 251st game at – of course - one of your own exclusive resorts.  Yup, the president of the United States owns twelve courses across the U.S., three in Europe, and one in the Middle East, with three others still under construction. You even wanted to hold the 2020 G7 Summit at your exclusive resort in Miami until your own party members quietly suggested, ahem, this might not go over too well with the rabble… could be seen as gratuitous and self-promoting.  

 You know, it’s not everyone who can get elected to president of the United States even after tapes are uncovered of him saying ten years prior to running, “Yeah, that’s her. With the gold. I better use some Tic Tacs just in case I start kissing her. You know, I’m automatically attracted to beautiful — I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet. Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab ’em by the pussy. You can do anything.”

 Damb!  J.F.K., Bill Clinton, sit down you amateurs!  You nervous, pimple-faced freshman at your first high school dance trying to cop a sweaty feel!  Donny was putting it to a well-known porn star just a year after his third marriage and just months after the birth of their first child, Barron.  His longtime personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, pleaded guilty to eight federal crimes, including making illegal contributions to the Trump campaign on the same day he admitted cutting a $130,000 to said porn star (AKA Stormy Daniels) to buy her silence before the election.

“I did not have sex with that woman.”  Oh, those were such innocent times, the ‘90’s!  A little hanky-panky with an intern, a cum stained blue dress… To date, Trump has 25 allegations of sexual misconduct against him, and those are just the women who came forward.

 I could go on and on… and on, but let’s stay with the big picture, the broad brush strokes for now, and start to bring this sordid summary to a close.  So, you’re the champion of coal and the petrochemical industry, and the chief spokesperson for the nostalgic days of big, gas guzzling cars.  You get a hard-on whenever you see a tank, sparking fantasies of military parades down our streets, you’re a climate change denier, think wind energy is produced by windmills that give you cancer, and are the Darth Vader to renewable energy in any shape or form.  Your target list also includes endangered wildlife and protected federal land and you are quickly closing in on 100 rollbacks (95) of any current environmental regulations.  You’ve essentially turned the EPA into a paper lion with missing teeth, a bunch of token federal workers down the hall who may as well show up whenever they feel like it, take long lunches, spend their days web surfing, and punch out around 3:00 for all the good they can do under your watch.

 Wow, what an impressive resume!  We haven’t even touched on the constant barrage of lies and fanciful fabrications that spill out of your mouth daily like food spray, the daily policy “briefings” conducted by Fox News, the obsessive tweeting, the complete blurring of truth and fact, the drastic rise of nationalistic, racist hate crimes over the last three years, the rambling conspiracy theories, the child-like pettiness and immaturity, the juvenile name calling and belittling, the paranoia, the preening and neediness of a textbook narcissistic sociopath…

 And now, to cement your place in the annals of history you’ve graduated to being only the third sitting U.S. president to face an impeachment hearing - bravo Mr. Prezident, bravo!  You sir are indeed one for the books!  A true piece of work never before seen, or even imagined, in our 224 years of American politics, and I salute you!  

 You let him in the game America; you wanted him, you got him! I can’t wait for the next four seasons of everyone’s favorite reality show, “Little Donny’s Playhouse!”.  And if his mentally blunt and rabid fans have anything to say about it, afterwards it will go into re-run syndication for years and years to come!

  HAPPY NEW YEARS EVERYONE, smoke ‘em if you got ‘em!