#//as someone from florida. all that said is true

[agalychnisspranneusroseus]

The sleepover scene always breaks my heart 😭 literally me at 12

[goldfades]

𝐅𝐋𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐃𝐀 𝐈𝐒 𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐋 𝐎𝐅 𝐀 𝐃𝐑𝐔𝐆 ─ LH⁴³

TRACK 8 ─── FLORIDA!!!

TTPD CELLY MASTERLIST !

౨ৎ ─ summary | after a fight with your longtime boyfriend, you escape to florida and find unexpected solace in luke, igniting a passionate connection amidst sun-soaked adventures. as your relationship deepens, the shadow of your past complicates everything, leading to a confrontation that forces you both to confront your true feelings

��� word count | 6k

─ warnings | NSFW (with a lot of plot) under the cut! read at your own discretion, p in v, praise, nothing too crazy. a lot of fluff, infidelity, pretty fluffy but angsty toward the end. no happy ending... sorry not sorry

You hadn't meant to come to Florida. Not really. It was one of those spontaneous, half-baked decisions that seemed brilliant in the middle of the night but questionable in the cold light of day.

Still, here you were, standing in the middle of the sand, the wind tugging at your hair as the sound of the waves crashed against the shore. After that fight—your mind flits back to your boyfriend's voice, the sharpness of his words still lingering—you needed an escape. Something far away, where no one knew you, where the ache in your chest could fade, even if just for a little while.

You hadn’t expected to find solace in someone else.

Yet, when you first saw that curly head of hair, lounging by the pool, sunglasses on; the weight of the world seemingly resting on his shoulders, something about him made you pause. He looked just as lost, just as far away from his life as you felt from yours.

You hadn’t planned on talking to him.

But then, he caught you staring. You tried to look away quickly, embarrassed, but it was too late—he smiled, that kind of easy, lazy grin that made your heart skip a beat.

It was supposed to be a vacation. A break from everything.

But now, as you sit across from Luke, sipping cocktails and laughing like you’ve known each other for years, you wonder if this wasn’t exactly what you needed.

Forget about the fight. Forget about him. For now, there’s just you, Luke, and the sun setting over the ocean.

Luke liked the idea of you.

It was refreshing, really. You had no idea who he was. Not in the way people usually did, anyway. You weren’t fawning over his hockey career or asking for photos to post online. You didn’t ask for autographs or drop little hints that you knew all about his stats. No, you just saw him—the guy sitting by the pool with the messy curls and tired eyes. The guy who seemed to be looking for an escape, just like you.

In fact, when he first mentioned hockey, you shrugged like it was just another random hobby, something people did on the weekends. You weren’t even a big fan of sports, which he found kind of funny, considering how much his life revolved around the game. Well—his entire life was hockey.

He didn’t mind. Actually, he liked it. It was a reminder that he was more than just a name on a jersey or a face plastered across sports highlights. With you, there were no expectations, no weight of his career pressing down on him. He didn’t have to be Luke Hughes, Devils defenseman. He could just be Luke from Michigan.

And for you, that was all he needed to be.

You weren’t sure how you ended up spending most of your days with him, but it felt natural—like falling into step with someone who’d been walking beside you all along. The conversation was easy, flowing from one topic to the next, never forced. Sometimes, you talked about your lives in vague terms, both of you dancing around the details of what brought you here, to this moment. He mentioned the pressures of his career, the endless grind, the expectations from fans, coaches, and teammates. You told him about the fight with your boyfriend, how things had felt off for months now, how you’d been trying to hold it together but didn’t know if you could anymore.

“I get it,” Luke said one afternoon, his voice quiet as you both stared out at the ocean, the waves crashing rhythmically in the distance. “Sometimes, you just need to get away from everything.”

You nodded, grateful for the understanding in his tone. It wasn’t pity, and it wasn’t judgment. Just an acknowledgment that life could be heavy, that sometimes it was too much to carry alone.

The days blurred together in the best way. Mornings were spent walking along the beach, the sand cool beneath your feet, the sun slowly warming the sky. Sometimes, you and Luke would rent bikes and ride along the coastline, the wind whipping through your hair as you laughed and raced each other. Evenings were for cocktails by the pool or quiet dinners in small, tucked-away restaurants, where the glow of candlelight made everything feel a little more intimate.

And in between, there were the little moments—the shared glances, the casual touches, the way his hand would brush against yours when he passed you a drink, lingering just a second too long. It was slow, almost unspoken, but you could feel the shift between you, like a tide quietly rising. The air around you seemed heavier when you were close, charged with something neither of you were quite ready to name.

One night, after a particularly long day in the sun, you found yourselves back at his hotel room. It wasn’t planned, just a natural progression after dinner. The soft glow of the room’s lighting reflected off the windows, casting shadows across the floor as you both collapsed onto the couch. Luke stretched out beside you, his arm thrown casually behind your shoulders, and you leaned into him, feeling the warmth of his skin through his yellow Michigan t-shirt.

“Do you ever wish things were simpler?” you asked quietly, your gaze fixed on the soft flicker of the TV in front of you. Some show was playing, but neither of you were really watching.

Luke tilted his head down, looking at you with a soft smile. “Every day,” he said, his voice low. “Especially now.”

You didn’t need to ask what he meant. You knew. The weight of expectations, the pressure to always be ‘on,’ it was exhausting. And for you, the constant strain of a relationship that seemed to be fraying at the edges had taken its toll. There was a comfort in the fact that, for both of you, this—whatever this was—felt uncomplicated.

“You make it easier,” you admitted, your voice barely above a whisper.

Luke’s hand slid down to yours, his fingers brushing over your knuckles, slow and gentle. “You too,” he said softly. “I haven’t felt this…normal in a long time.”

There it was again. That unspoken something hanging between you. The electricity that seemed to buzz in the air whenever you were near him. You could feel it now, stronger than ever, as his thumb traced idle circles against the back of your hand.

Your heart pounded, louder than the sound of the TV, louder than the faint hum of the air conditioning. You could feel the tension between you building, thick and undeniable. You turned to face him, your eyes meeting his, and for a moment, neither of you said anything. You just stared, your breath catching in your throat as the space between you felt like it was shrinking by the second.

“I think I need this,” you whispered, not sure if you were talking about the moment, the escape, or maybe just Luke himself.

His gaze flicked down to your lips, hesitating for a split second before he leaned in. The touch of his lips was soft at first, tentative, like he was testing the waters. But then, it deepened, a spark igniting between the two of you that made your heart race.

The kiss was electric—something you hadn’t felt in what felt like forever. It stirred something inside you that had long been dormant, like flicking a switch you’d forgotten even existed. Your stomach flipped in that way your friends always talked about, but you hadn’t believed in until this moment. Every nerve in your body lit up, a warmth spreading through you, hotter than the sun beating down on you earlier that day.

You leaned in closer, your hands instinctively finding their way to his shoulders, gripping the fabric of his shirt as if you were afraid to let go. Luke’s hand cradled the back of your head, pulling you into him, his other hand resting on your waist, sending jolts of heat through your skin.

It was intoxicating, the way he kissed you—slow and deliberate, but filled with a kind of intensity that made you forget where you were, forget the world outside. All that mattered was the moment, the feeling of him so close, and the way your body seemed to come alive under his touch.

You hadn’t realized just how much you’d been craving this—the feeling of being wanted, of being seen in a way that your relationship back home had long since stopped providing. The thought of your boyfriend flickered briefly in the back of your mind, but you pushed it away, buried it beneath the growing need, the pull you felt toward Luke in this moment.

His lips left yours for just a second, and you could feel his breath warm against your skin as he whispered, “You okay?”

You opened your eyes, meeting his, and the intensity there made you shiver despite the heat. You nodded, your voice caught somewhere in your throat, too overwhelmed by everything—the kiss, the rush of adrenaline, the way your heart hammered against your chest—to say anything coherent. But it didn’t matter. Luke’s thumb traced the edge of your jaw, his gaze locked on yours like he could read every unspoken thought in your mind.

He leaned in again, kissing you softer this time, slower. And that’s when it hit you—how different this felt. How different he felt. You couldn’t remember the last time your boyfriend kissed you like this, like you were the only person in the world. Like he didn’t want to let you go.

But Luke didn’t know. He didn’t know that you were still tethered to someone else. That your life back home wasn’t just messy—it was complicated, hanging on by a thread that you weren’t sure you had the strength to cut just yet.

For now, though, you let yourself get lost in it. Lost in Luke, in the warmth of his lips and the feel of his hands on you, in the way he made you forget everything else. Just for a little while. Just for now.

That was how most of your days were spent, now. You were completely lost in Luke.

Every morning started the same: you’d wake up to the soft glow of sunlight filtering through the curtains, your body still tangled in the warmth of his sheets. Luke was always there beside you, his arm casually draped over your waist or his legs intertwined with yours. It felt easy, waking up with him, like the two of you had done this a thousand times before.

There was a kind of comfort in the quiet moments between sleep and wakefulness, the way you’d lie there for a while, wrapped up in each other, the world outside his room feeling distant and irrelevant.

But it wasn’t just the mornings. The entire day seemed to revolve around Luke. Whether it was lounging by the pool, the two of you exchanging lazy smiles and playful banter, or taking spontaneous drives along the coast with the windows down and the salty breeze in your hair. Everything felt easy with him.

You talked for hours—about his love for hockey, the relentless schedule that had worn him down, and the expectations that weighed heavy on his shoulders. He never once mentioned his fame, never flaunted who he was. He didn’t have to. In these moments, Luke wasn’t the NHL player, the up-and-coming star, Jack and Quinn Hughes' little brother; he was just a guy who wanted to escape the noise, to find something that felt real. That was real.

And you were that escape for him, just like he was for you.

Your days were sun-soaked, spent laughing and talking about nothing and everything, with the kind of connection that felt rare, almost surreal. You explored the small coastal towns, eating seafood at hole-in-the-wall diners and watching the sunset dip below the horizon from hidden stretches of beach.

There was something intimate about the way he looked at you during those sunsets, his arm slung over your shoulders as you both watched the sky turn shades of pink and orange. It was as if the rest of the world didn’t exist, like it was just the two of you in this bubble, suspended in time.

But the nights—those were different.

At night, things shifted. When the sun dipped below the horizon, there was an urgency in the way Luke would pull you close, his lips finding yours in the darkness. The heat between you grew, the stolen glances during the day giving way to something deeper, something neither of you could deny. The connection you shared became more than just a distraction from your problems. It became a lifeline, something you both clung to, even though you knew it couldn’t last forever.

But you didn’t think about that. Not in the heat of his touch, not when his hands were on your skin, making you feel alive in a way you hadn’t in so long. Each night felt like a new beginning, like a fresh chance to forget everything outside this small slice of paradise you’d carved out for yourselves.

You found yourself falling deeper into Luke. The way he laughed, how his smile always reached his eyes, how effortlessly he made you feel like you were the only person that mattered. He wasn’t just a fleeting escape anymore. He was becoming your reality, a reality that was infinitely better than the one waiting for you back home.

Home.

The word weighed heavier on you with each passing day. You hadn’t told Luke about your boyfriend, hadn’t mentioned the fight or the messy relationship you were running from. And with every kiss, every shared moment, the guilt gnawed at the back of your mind. But it was easy to push it aside when you were with him. So easy to pretend like you weren’t still tethered to someone else.

With Luke, everything felt perfect. It was an illusion, you knew that. This vacation couldn’t last forever, and at some point, you would have to face the reality you’d left behind. But for now—for as long as you could—you let yourself get lost in Luke. You let yourself believe that maybe, just maybe, this could be enough.

───

Luke placed the cherry in your mouth, his fingers brushing against your lips, sending a jolt of electricity through you. You giggled, feeling the tension simmer between you two as you leaned back against the couch, your body sinking into the cushions. But the playful smile that curled on your lips couldn't hide the heat building beneath the surface.

His eyes lingered on your mouth as you bit down on the cherry, and something shifted in the air. The teasing, carefree vibe from earlier dissolved into something much heavier, more charged. Luke’s gaze was intense now, watching you in a way that made your heart race, your skin flush with a warmth that had nothing to do with the Florida heat.

You swallowed, the taste of the cherry lingering on your tongue, but the moment felt too thick, too heavy to laugh off. Luke’s hand rested on the cushion beside your thigh, so close that you could feel the warmth of him, but still not close enough. His body leaned forward just a little, his lips quirking up in that same lazy grin that had caught your attention by the pool days ago, but his eyes were darker now—filled with something you both had been ignoring for too long.

You held his gaze, feeling the weight of it settle in your chest, your breathing shallow as your mind raced. This was different. This wasn’t just lighthearted flirting anymore. There was something undeniable between the two of you, something you both wanted but had danced around, pretending it wasn’t real. But now, with Luke leaning closer, his fingers grazing the bare skin of your leg, it was impossible to ignore.

"Want another?" His voice was low, almost a murmur, but there was a playful edge to it, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly as he reached for another cherry, twirling it between his fingers.

You shook your head, biting your lip as you looked at him through hooded eyes. "I think you know what I want."

Luke’s grin widened, but it was slow, deliberate, like he was savoring the moment. His hand shifted, and before you could even process it, his fingers were tracing the edge of your jaw, his thumb brushing the corner of your mouth, wiping away a drop of juice from the cherry. The simple touch sent a shiver down your spine, your body reacting to him in ways you couldn’t control.

“Do I?” His voice was rough, teasing, but there was a challenge in his tone, one that made your heart skip a beat. He leaned in closer, so close that you could feel his breath on your skin, smell the faint scent of his expensive cologne lingering in the air between you. “Maybe you should tell me.”

You swallowed hard, your throat dry as his fingers lingered on your face, tracing the line of your jaw down to your neck, sending sparks through your skin. Your mind was spinning, torn between the guilt that flickered in the back of your mind and the overwhelming need that had taken over your body.

Your lips parted, but no words came out, just a soft breath as Luke closed the distance between you. His lips brushed against yours, featherlight at first, barely a kiss, just a tease that made you ache for more. You could feel the restraint in him, the way he was holding back, but the heat between you two was undeniable.

You tilted your head up, pressing into him just a little, and that was all it took.

Luke’s lips crashed into yours with a hunger that made your pulse race, his hand sliding up your neck, fingers tangling in your hair as he pulled you closer. The kiss was messy, desperate, full of need that neither of you could deny any longer. Your body reacted instinctively, leaning into him, your hands gripping his shirt as you tugged him down against you, wanting him closer, needing him closer.

His weight pressed against you, pinning you to the couch as his hands roamed your body, fingers tracing the curves of your waist, your hips, igniting a fire in your core that you hadn’t felt in what felt like forever. The world outside didn’t exist anymore. There was no fight, no boyfriend, no past—just Luke and the way he made you feel, like you were the only person in the world.

His lips left yours, trailing down your jaw, your neck, sucking softly on the sensitive skin just below your ear, and you gasped, arching into him. You could feel the tension in his body, the way he held himself back, trying not to move too fast, but you didn’t care anymore. You wanted him, needed him, more than you’d ever realized.

"Luke..." you whispered, breathless, your fingers tightening in his curly locks as he sucked lightly on your neck. Your mind was spinning, lost in the feeling of him, lost in the heat between you two.

He pulled back slightly, his forehead resting against yours, his breath coming out in shallow pants as he looked down at you. “Are you sure about this?”

You nodded, your lips brushing against his as you whispered, “Yes.” There was no hesitation in your voice now, no doubt. You wanted this. You wanted him.

Luke’s eyes darkened with desire, and before you could say another word, his lips were on yours again, kissing you like he was drowning and you were the air he needed to breathe.

You wrapped your legs around his waist, your lips still connected. Luke's hands explored every curve of your body, his touch sending shivers down your spine. His fingers gripped your hips, then traced your sides, pausing at your waist as if memorizing every inch of you. His touch was both gentle and hungry, like he couldn’t get enough of you, but was savoring every moment, every sensation.

Your heart was pounding, so fast you thought he might hear it, but the only sound filling the room was your ragged breaths and the soft, wet sounds of your lips moving against his. His weight on top of you, the heat of his body, the way his lips trailed along your neck and down to your collarbone—it was intoxicating, pulling you further into the moment.

“God, I need you so bad,” Luke murmured against your skin, his voice hoarse and filled with a rawness that sent a thrill through you.

He kissed his way down your neck, his lips warm and soft, while his hands slid beneath the fabric of your shirt, fingers brushing over your bare skin, sending shockwaves through your entire body.

You arched into him, a soft moan escaping your lips as his hands moved higher, his touch igniting something deep inside you. You felt the tension coiling, building in your stomach, an ache that only he could soothe. Your fingers tangled in his hair, pulling him back to your mouth, kissing him harder, your body responding instinctively to the desire coursing through you.

Luke groaned, his grip tightening as he pressed his hips against yours, and you gasped, your body reacting instantly to the friction, to the way his body fit so perfectly against yours. It was dizzying, the way your mind spun, your thoughts consumed by nothing but him.

“I want you, please,” you whispered, the words slipping out before you could even think, your voice thick with need. You hadn’t planned on saying it, hadn’t thought you’d feel this much, but the way Luke made you feel, the way his body moved against yours, it was undeniable.

Luke stilled for a moment, his forehead pressing against yours as he caught his breath. His eyes searched yours, dark and intense, like he was trying to read every thought in your head, to make sure you meant it. “You sure?” he asked, his voice low, the question a mix of concern and desire.

You nodded, your legs tightening around him, pulling him impossibly closer. “Yes,” you breathed, your voice barely above a whisper. “I’m sure.”

That was all it took.

Luke’s lips crashed against yours again, and this time, there was no holding back. His hands moved with purpose, tugging at your shirt, his fingers skimming across your skin as he pulled it over your head and tossed it aside. His lips followed, kissing down your chest, his touch sending sparks of pleasure shooting through you. You gasped, your body arching into him, your fingers gripping his shoulders as you pulled him closer, needing more, needing all of him.

The heat between you two was unbearable, the tension that had been simmering for days finally boiling over. There was no room for second thoughts, no space for anything but the overwhelming desire that consumed both of you.

Luke’s hands were everywhere, exploring, teasing, driving you wild with every touch. You couldn’t get enough of him, the way he felt against you, the way he kissed you like he was afraid this moment might slip away if he let go for even a second. And you kissed him back with the same urgency, your bodies moving in sync, every touch, every kiss pulling you further and further into each other.

Luke pulled away for a second, glancing to make sure you were alright. You gave him a small nod, breathless, pleading with him to hurry up. He slowly pulled down his pants, revealing his bulge. You were practically drooling at the mere sight, your head falling back.

You felt his hands graze your underwear, feeling the warmth underneath. His breath hitched at the feeling, his jaw slacking slightly.

“So beautiful,” he mumbled before moving your underwear to the side. You heard his heavy breathing, and you opened your eyes to meet his eyes as you nodded again.

“Please,” you sighed.

Luke led his tip to your aching pussy, groaning at the warm feeling despite not even being inside of you yet. He slowly pushed in, a relieved sigh leaving both of you. The world outside felt like it had faded into nothing, and all that remained was this—this moment, this heat, this connection between you and Luke.

“Oh, fuck,” Luke cried out as his head fell back. “Feels so good, baby,” he praised. He slowly bottomed you out, and you swore you could feel him all the way up to your throat,

You wrapped your legs tighter around his waist as you moaned, letting your eyes flutter shut in pure pleasure. As he began thrusting in and out of you, you swore you were seeing stars.

As he continued slamming into you, with more force and effort, all you could think about was him; the way he made you feel like you were the only thing that mattered in the world. It wasn't just sex, it was more—and you hoped he felt it, too.

The quick creaking of the couch and your moans were the only thing that could be heard in room. Luke leaned in, pressing his forehead against yours before pushing his lips against yours. One of his hands slid up your body, thinly wrapping around your neck as he began snapping his hips against yours.

“Baby, fuck,” he groaned into the kiss as he furrowed his eyebrows in concentration. “Shit, you feel so good.”

You felt the familiar knot in your lower stomach begin to form, causing your head fall back into the couch. “Oh, Luke, 'm so close,”

Luke's other hand found your clit, rubbing it harshly as he felt himself getting closer and closer to his climax. A few more deep slams into your cunt, and the two of you came with a shaking force.

And you realized it was more than just a distraction now, more than just an escape. Luke had become something you hadn’t expected—something real, something you craved, something that made you forget about everything else.

“Oh my god,” you cried out, letting the orgasm ripple out of you, gripping his biceps. “Oh, fuck.”

Luke didn't move—he stayed inside of you, letting the orgasm slowly subside. His forehead rested gently against yours, both of you still catching your breath, the heat of the moment slowly giving way to something softer. Luke’s familiar, boyish smile tugged at the corner of his lips, a mixture of satisfaction and a hint of shyness now that the intensity had faded. It made you laugh, a small, breathless sound that broke the silence.

You opened your eyes and met his, finding that same playful sparkle in his gaze, though there was something more in them now, too—something deeper, warmer. His expression made your heart swell in your chest, a strange sense of peace washing over you in the aftermath.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” you teased, brushing a strand of his curls away from his forehead, your fingers lingering in his hair.

Luke grinned wider, his breath still uneven as he shifted slightly to pull you closer, his arms wrapping around you like he didn’t want to let go. “Just... appreciating the moment,” he murmured, his voice low and soft. His thumb brushed over your arm in lazy circles, his touch gentle now, almost reverent.

You couldn’t help but smile at him, the warmth of his body, the way he looked at you like there was nowhere else he’d rather be. It felt easy, natural, like you’d known him for far longer than a few days. The weight of the world, the stress of your life back home, all of it seemed so distant now, as if this place, this moment, existed outside of reality.

“I think I like Florida,” you said with a chuckle, snuggling into his chest as his arms tightened around you. “Even if it was an accident.”

Luke laughed softly, the sound rumbling through his chest as he pressed a kiss to your temple. “If it brings you here, I’d call it a happy accident.”

You felt your cheeks warm at his words, but it wasn’t the same kind of heat from earlier. This was something different—a flutter of something that felt suspiciously close to contentment, maybe even happiness. The kind of feeling you hadn’t expected to find in someone else, especially after everything with your boyfriend.

But as Luke held you, his heart beating steadily against yours, you couldn’t help but wonder if maybe, just maybe, you had found something real in this unexpected escape. Something that went beyond just a temporary distraction.

And the thought both thrilled and terrified you.

Luke tilted your chin up, his eyes searching yours again, and for a moment, you could feel the weight of unspoken things hanging between you. He didn’t say anything, though, just smiled that crooked, boyish smile of his before kissing you softly, like he was sealing a promise neither of you were quite ready to say aloud.

Whatever this was, whatever it was turning into, you didn’t want to think about it too much. Not yet. For now, it was enough to be here with him, to share this space, this connection.

“Stay with me tonight,” he whispered, his voice gentle but full of meaning.

You nodded, your heart skipping a beat as you nestled closer to him. “I’m not going anywhere.”

You rested your head against Luke’s chest, feeling the steady rise and fall of his breathing, the warmth of his skin against yours. For a while, there was nothing but the quiet rhythm of your hearts, beating in time with one another. It was peaceful, comfortable, and for the first time in a long time, you felt like you were exactly where you were meant to be.

But even as you lay there, wrapped up in Luke’s arms, a small voice in the back of your mind whispered doubts. You couldn’t ignore the nagging thoughts completely, the flicker of guilt that had been lurking ever since you met him. You hadn’t told him everything. Not yet.

There was still him. Your boyfriend. The one you had come to Florida to forget.

The thought of your boyfriend felt distant now, like a shadow of another life, but it was still there—lingering. You and Luke hadn’t defined anything, hadn’t talked about what this was or what it could become. But the fact that you hadn’t told Luke you were still technically with someone… it weighed on you, even if you wanted to pretend it didn’t. Especially now, as he held you close, whispering promises you weren’t sure you deserved.

Luke ran his fingers lightly through your hair, his voice a soft murmur as he spoke, “You’re quiet. What’s going on in that head of yours?”

You swallowed, feeling the tension creep back into your body. For a second, you considered telling him the truth—about your boyfriend, about the fight, about why you’d really come to Florida. But you didn’t. Instead, you forced a smile, hoping he couldn’t see through it.

“Just… thinking,” you said softly, lifting your gaze to meet his. “About how lucky I am to have found you here.”

It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t the whole truth either. Luke smiled, his thumb brushing over your cheek in that gentle way of his, and the knot of guilt twisted tighter in your chest. You hadn’t meant for things to get this complicated. But now that they had, you knew it was only a matter of time before the truth came out.

And when it did, you weren’t sure what would be left between you and Luke.

───

“You had a fucking boyfriend, are you kidding me right now?” Luke's words were harsh as he threw your phone on the hotel bed, his expression nothing short of pissed.

You flinched at the sound of the phone hitting the mattress, the tension in the room thickening. He paced in front of you, hands tugging at his hair as if trying to physically keep himself from exploding. You stood there, arms crossed defensively, your heart racing with frustration of your own.

“It wasn’t like that,” you shot back, your voice rising in defiance. “We were on a break, Luke! It wasn’t serious anymore—he and I were practically over.”

“Practically over?” Luke echoed, his laugh bitter and incredulous. He stopped pacing and turned to face you, his eyes blazing with disbelief. “So, what? You just decided to hop on a plane and find someone else while you weren’t technically broken up? You should’ve told me. You lied to me!”

“I didn’t lie!” You snapped, your own anger boiling over. “I never said I was single, I just didn’t tell you because it didn’t matter. He doesn’t matter! He’s out of my life!”

Luke took a step toward you, his expression hardening. “That’s bullshit, and you know it. If it didn’t matter, you would’ve told me. You’re trying to act like you did nothing wrong, but keeping something like this? That’s the same as lying.”

Your chest tightened, heat rushing through your body as your defenses kicked in. “Don’t twist this on me, Luke. You’re acting like I cheated on you when we weren’t even anything official. We were on a break, for god’s sake. I was done with him.”

“But you didn’t tell me!” Luke’s voice cracked with frustration, his hands gesturing wildly as if trying to make sense of the situation. “You let me think there was nothing holding you back. That it was just us. That we… that this was real!”

You clenched your fists, trying to hold back the flood of emotions threatening to spill over. “It is real! I never wanted to hurt you, Luke. I came here to get away from that mess, not to drag it with me. I didn’t expect to meet you, to… to feel this way.”

Luke shook his head, his jaw tightening as he looked away, his hands gripping the back of his neck. “But you let me fall for you,” he said, his voice quieter now, but no less intense. “And all the while, you were still tied to him. How do I know you’re even telling the truth now?”

You felt a wave of frustration crash over you, your temper flaring up again. “Don’t act like I’m the only one here who’s screwed up! You’ve been hiding things too, haven’t you? You didn’t even tell me who you really are—that you’re this big shot hockey player. You kept that from me too!”

Luke’s eyes flashed with something like hurt, but the anger was still there, simmering beneath the surface. “That’s not the same thing, and you know it. I didn’t hide something that could hurt you. I didn’t lie about someone else being in my life!”

You let out a frustrated breath, taking a step back, feeling cornered. “Fine! Maybe I messed up. But don’t act like I’m the only one who made mistakes here, Luke. You didn’t tell me everything either.”

Luke’s gaze locked onto yours, both of you standing there, chests heaving with the weight of the argument. Neither of you willing to back down. Neither of you ready to admit defeat.

“You know what?” Luke finally said, his voice cold as he broke the silence. “If you’re gonna keep defending yourself, then maybe you’re right. Maybe we’re not what I thought we were.”

His words hit you harder than you expected, your breath catching in your throat. You stared at him, the fire in your chest warring with the sudden ache you felt deep inside.

“Luke—”

“No.” He cut you off, his expression hardening once again. “I need time to think. Alone.”

With that, he turned and walked out the door, leaving you standing in the middle of the room, your mind spinning with everything left unsaid.

↳ make sure to check out my navigation or masterlist if you enjoyed! any interaction is greatly appreciated !

↳ thank you for reading all the way through, as always ♡

[everythingne]

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ ➛ one and two, chapter three (ls2)

heading back home after silverstone is rough, for a number of reasons.

warnings/notes: alcohol mentions, yns dad being kind a dick to logan, me manifesting a logan to prema indycar move in this fr (guys lets see if i was an oracle, i wrote this on july 3rd LMAO)

You're sitting in the William's offices, legs propped up on the couch as the sim work Alex and Logan have been doing slowly wraps up. You've been a ball of anxiety all weekend, this is when Logan is supposed to announce his move to Indycar and you're not sure who he's told about it. Media's been swirling rumors for weeks.

You've been sitting on this secret for so long, it feels like its about to burst out of your mouth.

You turn your head to where Alex and Logan talk in a corner. The two look like they're in deep discussion, murmuring with hands over their mouths as if holding the words in their mouths will make them hurt less.

At the end, they share a tight hug, Alex whacking Logan's shoulder and murmuring something that has Logan tossing his head back in a laugh before they part ways when Alex's trainers come to grab him. Logan makes his way back to you, leaning down to steal a kiss before he takes you by the hands and drags you off down a hall.

"How'd it go?" You ask Logan, his hand intertwined with yours as you follow him to the little room where his bag is sitting. They've pretty much finished for the day, and you know Logan wants nothing more than to get back to the apartment so you can finish packing, so you just follow behind him.

"Sim was fine." Logan shrugs, "that thing does not perform like my car at all. I wish my car was like that."

"I know, baby." You hum, squeezing his hand, and the look you give tells him what he needs to know.

"Now Alex and Oscar know." He presses a kiss to the side of your head before detaching to grab his stuff, "I mean, I think Alex knew as soon as the rumors came out that they were true. He took it well, said he'd miss having me around."

"Well good thing he lives pretty close by," You smile when you notice Logan looks a little lost, reaching out to intertwine your fingers, "we can have him and Lily over during breaks a such, and you can go to races to support him when we aren't busy."

Logan smiles, squeezing your hand, "Yeah... yeah, thanks I just... I don't know. I knew leaving this was gonna be hard, because all of this is my dream... but..."

"But you get treated like a seat warmer. So, it's off to better ventures with Prema, right?" You smile and Logan nods, pecking your lips once again like he can't do it enough.

"Right." He sighs, smiling before he pulls you off and into the main halls. It's time to leave, and with your hand in his, you can tell Logan feels more confident now.

You land in Iowa for the Hy-Vee Homefront 250. It's nice to be back on home soil, but within moments your father is on the phone with you, breathing down your throat about everything. You're set to meet Logan's family on this short trip from Iowa, to Florida, to DC, and then back out to England for Logan to finish up his training before the second leg of the season.

So as Logan stands with some Indy drivers, shaking hands and laughing with them, you're stuck bickering on the phone with your dad. About what? Logan. Apparently, Logan's now not good enough for you.

"This is the stupidest thing ever," You hiss into the phone, glancing to make sure Logan's far enough away to not hear you as you snip back at your father, "I went along with your little arranged marriage, fell in love with the guy, and now you want me to back out?"

"He's a terrible driver, you deserve someone who's able to keep up with your lifestyle of being amazing at your work!" Is your father's response, and you can hear your mother scolding him in the back. Your father is quick to wave her off with a sharp hiss of some choice Italian words that would make your Nonna beat his ass.

"He's in a shit team that hates him," you overdramatize, "He is a good driver, he just needs a chance to show it. That's what IndyCar is gonna do for him. Okay?"

Your father sighs, "I just don't want you to be the only successful one."

"He made it to F1, is that not successful enough for you, Santino?" You huff at your father, leaning against the exterior wall of the Arrow McLaren motorhome that's housing you this weekend (a bit of a gift from Pato and Alex.) You rake a hand through your hair, knowing you're messing it up, but you just swallow and look away from where you can see Logan laughing with Kyle.

Your father comes up with some bullshit excuse that has you telling him to leave you alone for the weekend, since you'll be in DC on Tuesday morning, and you quickly shut off your call before slipping your phone in your pocket and laying your head back against the wall.

You take a slow breath and then push yourself off the wall, quickly making your way back to Logan's side to wrap your hands around the arm he had hidden in his pocket. He looks over, leaning down to peck a kiss to your head.

"Sorry for running off," you apologize, mostly to Kyle, "work calls."

"No worry, I get it." Kyle smiles, peeking over his shoulder at a few of the other drivers to make their way over. Logan and Alex sharing a quick fistbump in greeting as Pato happily gives you a hug, exclaiming how he's been told so much about you. By the end of the conversation, you've been roped into a dinner with the group, and Logan leans over to murmur,

"See, told you they'd be more welcoming."

And you can't help but laugh softly because, yeah, of course they were.

liked by premaracing, patoward, oscarpiastri, and others...

yn.fdotus: a red adventure for the off weekend ❤️ congrats to @ patoward and @ kylekirkwood on their wins this weekend in iowa !

thank you to both @ premaracing and @ arrowmclaren for hosting us this weekend

tagged: logansargeant, kylekirkwood, patoward

user1: they went to the indy race??

patoward: you better come back soon

user2: logan is going to prema. its real. yn said so basically.

kylekirkwood: see you soon !

premaracing: see you both very very soon at hq !

liked by yn.fdotus, logansargeant

Madelyn has been non-stop gushing over you since you and Logan had made it to his parents house in a small oceanside town a bit away from Miami. Between showing you the house and mass amounts of baby Logan (and by extension, Oscar) photos, you've been practically smothered by her love.

It's much later now, having spent most of the afternoon lazily tanning and spending time with the Sargeants poolside. Logan's father, Daniel, had made a fire with Dalton and his wife and kids, and you reap the benefits of their hard work as you braid your hair back in front of the warm fire.

Dalton's youngest watches you, jaw dropped before she wiggles off her chair and quickly runs around the fire to grab at your leg, "excuse me, miss yn..?"

You smile, tying off your braid as you look down at her, "Yes, sweetheart?"

"Can you make my hair look pretty like yours?" She asks, and her older sister gasped, running over too and begging for the same. You laugh and lean over, hoisting both girls into your lap and taking their little ponytails out. You brush your fingers through the youngests hair--Maddie's, quickly braiding back her hair in dutch braids and letting her watch as your braid her sister Dani's hair. Once your done, both girls hop off and run to go show their mother and you smile, shaking some loose pieces of hair off your hands before a blanket is draped over you and Logan pops down next to you on the little swing chair set up.

"You look so perfect here." Logan murmurs, pressing a kiss to your lips, "I love you."

"Love you too," you whisper to Logan, unable to hide the pure love in your smile as he grins and lets you lean your head on him.

liked by oscarpiastri, daltonsargeant, potus, and others...

logansargeant: coolest aunt and uncle award

tagged: daltonsargeant, yn.fdotus

user2: shut UP yn and logans nieces (?) im gonna scream

daltonsargeant: the girls want auntie yn back soon !

user3: crying. they are a fucking FAMILY.

oscarpiastri: how many baby photos were shown?

⤷ yn.fdotus: so many. I have an arsenal.

user4: AWEEE STOPP

user5: their relationship is so random i cant believe they arent arranged

yn.fdotus: best uncle forever <3

Your family is far more stressful than Logan's. You fly out with his parents to DC, knowing its time to prepare for the rest of your relationship with Logan. Apparently, you'd been able to convince your brother Santi to talk your dad off calling off the whole thing.

When you arrive in the White House, your father is in a meeting, so your mother spends her time touring around the Sargeant's and introducing them to the maids and such who will be helping them for the weekend they're in DC. And you and Santi sneak off to a hall while he gives you a tight hug.

"I know I'm normally on your case, but you've got yourself a good guy, and I'm actually happy for you." Santi admits quietly, a maid passing by with a drink cart to bring to one of the main rooms.

"Wow, my brother not being a dick?" You grin, punching his arm, "who would've thought."

Santi scowls, going to say something when the maid reappears, apologizng for interrupting before informing you lunch is served. You and Santi nod, thank her, and make your way into the lavish sitting room your mother has had all set up.

"This is wonderful," Madelyn smiles to your mother who thanks her, and you know your mother is just happy to have guests. Santi kisses his wife as he steps in, and you move to settle down next to Logan who leans over and murmurs,

"I now have baby photos to rival the ones my mom showed you of me." His grin is contagious and you can't help but laugh, punching his thigh as you lean into him with laughter. Your mother sharing a happy expression with Logan's parents, and handing out plates of food to the table.

And finally, your father makes his way into the room.

"I apologize for the delay," your father brushes imaginary crumbs off his suit, "politics wait for no one. But I should have the night clear."

He introduces himself to Logan and his parents formally, and you can tell Logan's a bit nervous about the whole thing. Your hand finds his under the table naturally, your other hand settled on the neck of your wine glass as you take a slow sip of the cool liquid. Logan squeezes your hand, settling into his chair.

You can see the way your father's eyes linger on Logan each chance he gets, and he dances around the topic of racing, instead devoting time to discuss how exactly you and Logan were going to act. It's pretty much just as you had been, the two of you were absolutely infatuated with one another, and were to continue acting like it. Luckily, for both of your sakes, no acting would be needed since you did truly love one another.

And then it comes to the ring. Your father declares he'll buy it, but quickly Logan clears his throat, "Actually I was wondering, uhm.." He falters, glancing to his mother who gives him a smile of encouragement, causing Logan to continue, "I have my mothers original wedding band. And my brother, Dalton, got engaged with my mothers original engagement ring. I... I figured it would be more... symbolic, I guess? To give Yn something from my family. Help to... seal the deal, y'know?"

Your mother awes, immediately exclaiming, "that's a wonderful idea, Logan! Don't you think so, Santino?"

Your father rolls the idea around, before Logan's mother grabs her purse and fusses with it, all eyes drawing to her as she takes out a box and slides it down to the table to Logan. He takes the box and opens it, turning it before you can see the ring. Your fathers eyes soften, gently taking the ring into his hands.

"I..." Your father hums, clicking the box shut and handing it back to Logan before turning to your mother, "I do agree, my dear. It's quite the beautiful ring. And very personal. The story behind it will help solidify the relationship."

"And then when should the engagement happen?" Logan's mother asks, fiddling with her wine glass as she smiles at her son. Your mother hums, tapping her acrylic nails on the counter before waving her glass at you in expression as she asks,

"What is the date you've been telling people you started dating?"

"I haven't been--" You start, but Logan cuts you off, "Ironically, July 4th, 2020. I said it was the last time I was able to spend July 4th home in the states because I wasn't really racing pro yet. And I said we went out with my family, and that night kinda solidified we were dating."

You turn to smile at him, happy the date is actually something with a super sweet meaning--and laughing a little because it's just so American to have your anniversary be the fucking Fourth of July.

"And it will be, what, four years of dating?" Your mother hums, "Four is my lucky number. Seems like a perfect time to me to get engaged."

You nod and Logan smiles, lifting your hand to press a firm kiss to your ring finger and you laugh, leaning into him. The rest of the planning revolves around who's going to help pay for the wedding, where it will be, when it will be, and who will be going. Your mother insists on helping you hire a wedding planner, which is fine with you, and you make a small list of bridesmaids while Logan makes a list of groomsmen. By the time the lunch is over, the plan is set solid, and the next years Fourth of July won't ever be able to come soon enough.

liked by potus, kylekirkwood, alexalbon, and others...

logansargeant: true patriots over here

user1: did they visit yns family???

user2: first logans family and now yns?? gonna CRY

yn.fdotus: imagine losing to the nationals. could be the marlins.

⤷ logansargeant: shut the fuck up?

user3: ur honor they are ENDGAME !!!

oscarpiastri: you couldn't be american enough, you had to date the first daughter

⤷ logansargeant: I am pretty patriotic

santino.fsotus: wow u made yn look tall?

flotus: so nice to have you logan!!

⤷ user4: OMG THEY MET LOGAN??

⤷ santino.fsotus: we've known logan for a while ..

taglist (still open, and thank you!)

@stinkyjax @kroissant-content @samantha-chicago @jpg3 @mickf1loverf2too

@nixisracing @h34rts4maisey @heartsfromtaeyong @a-beaverhausen

@purplephantomwolf @insanedeathwish @llando4norris @formulaonebuff

@vicurious28 @lady1505 @lozzamez3 @kqliie @barbsschumacher

[so-i-did-this-thing]

Hey trans Florida folks - things suck, but I want to make sure y'all have more info so you can better gauge the urgency and expected risk for a new bill.

This is another long post, but please read because a lot of folks are in a huge panic at some misleading info.

You've probably seen this by now:

This is misleading. Be incredibly concerned at the path we're on because it is bad, even plan to leave the state (I am), but drag isn't punishable by the death penalty:

From the Twitter screencap: "Florida has now: 1) made drag in public illegal as a 'sex crime against children'."

Misleading. SB 1438 censors drag in front of minors w/vague, subjective language and threatens misdemeanors, fines, and license revocation for violations. This is meant to scare businesses, and even cities. We are already seeing Pride parades canceled in Florida in response:

From the Twitter screencap: "2) made sexual crimes against children punishable by death"

Too broad. Sexual battery against a child is being made into a capital felony (aka, punishable by death) in the currently proposed SB1342 .

The bill says:

"A person 18 years of age or older who commits sexual battery upon, or in an attempt to commit sexual battery injures the sexual organs of, a person less than 12 years of age commits a capital felony".

If we want a definition of "sexual battery" itself, we can jump to Florida statues at:

https://m.flsenate.gov/statutes/794.011

"Sexual battery” means oral, anal, or female genital penetration by, or union with, the sexual organ of another or the anal or female genital penetration of another by any other object; however, sexual battery does not include an act done for a bona fide medical purpose."

Also of note in this statute:

"Serious personal injury” means great bodily harm or pain, permanent disability, or permanent disfigurement."

I am not a lawyer, but to me, this looks like less of an attack against trans people for existing (via conflation with anti-drag bills), and more a way to target those providing gender affirming care -- healthcare providers or even a child's affirming guardians.

Many states are already trying to set up "aiding and abetting" laws (from the anti-abortion playbook) to punish anyone offering any kind of gender affirming care (from general therapy to vocal coaching) to a trans kid.

Florida might be hoping someone applies the "injures the sexual organs of" component of SB1342 to gender-affirming puberty blockers. Yeah, it's a stretch, but I would not be surprised to see someone try it.

Because we are already seeing the HHS committee consider sending subpoenas to gender-affirming clinics:

"House Speaker Paul Renner said he wants the House to examine how the organizations adopted their recommendations. He questioned whether the guidelines were the result of scientific analysis or whether “the integrity of the medical profession has been compromised by a radical gender ideology that stands to cause permanent physical and mental harm to children and adolescents.”

Emphasis mine. Again, I am not a lawyer, but I would not be surprised to see someone try to hold a gender-affirming clinic accountable for "sexual battery" against a child.

All these separate actions paint a grim picture.

Back to our Twitter screencap: "3) Began allowing death penaltymsentencing at at 8-4 vote instead of a unanimous vote"

Yes, true. This one is scary all on its own because it makes it that much easier for the DeSantis administration to target political enemies.

Everyone should be terrified of this:

Back to making child sexual battery a capital felony & SB1342:

Could we eventually see bills proposed that further broaden - via deliberately vague language or otherwise -what kind of "sex crimes" are punishable by death, thus fully targeting trans people?

For sure, we will absolutely see fascists try to get away with whatever they can and I hope we see more resistance against what is happening now to prevent the escalation towards genocide.

But this specific bill isn't targeting drag and it's important we understand the current threat landscape so we can plan accordingly.

Like. I'm still working on my own plan to flee Florida asap (I am a trans man) but I don't feel at risk of the death penalty just yet, so my "leave asap" is "sell the house in a month" instead of "grab the bugout bag and get in the car NOW".

It is very, very important to understand the threats we face so we don't make rash decisions that could have permanent consequences for already vulnerable people. We need to plan and act on plans with haste, but afford ourselves every opportunity to make decisions with as much accurate information as possible.

What's the status of SB1342?

As I type this, still with the senate, but check for updates at the link below. If passed, it would enact October 1, 2023.

In closing

Again, be careful, be safe, be informed. I am not a legal expert; I'm just a little guy, but the risk landscape has enough threats trans people need to respond to without us thinking drag is currently eligible for the death penalty.

Every trans person in the United States, not just Florida, should be watching what is going on across the country and noting how all these bills connect and escalate. And what could become blueprints at the federal level.

Keep hope, but plan for contingencies that could threaten your job, your housing, your liberty, and possibly even your life. Watch the news, watch your local bills, and do your best at figuring out when you need to break that emergency glass.

My biggest advice to be better informed is to learn where your state posts bills and look them up when they hit the news:

Get used to reading bills and noting when they would take effect

Learn how to follow a bill on its way into law - the stages are usually through various committees, then both the House and Senate can file amendments and ultimately vote in separate sessions to approve, then the governor signs it into law

Understand that a lot of reporting on bills can make it sound like it has passed into law, when it might still just be in a committee.

Not all bills pass, and when they do, not all pass as originally proposed. (This can work for or against us.)

Follow trans political commentators like Erin or Alejandra for more context

Again, it all sucks right now and I don't want to underscore the danger so many transgender Americans are already in (and lord knows I am very lucky to be able to leave Florida). But knowing what we're up against is one of the few defenses we have right now.

I have more advice for trans Floridians here.

[gothamite-rambler]

Jason has not washed his jacket in a few months due to his hectic schedule… Roy wears a trucker hat.

Roy: I’m not getting in the car until he burns that jacket.

Jason (shrugging): I won’t wear the jacket if you don’t wear your hat.

Harley and Artemis groaned, Artemis visibly aggravated that this argument was happening again.

Roy (raising an eyebrow): What? What’s wrong with my hat?

Jason: You say my jacket stinks, so I argue that your hat stinks and makes you look like a trucker from the South.

Roy (incensed): It does not!

Jason (smugly): Correction, an inbred trucker from the South.

Jason turned away, crossing his arms.

Artemis (rubbing her forehead in frustration): Just take off the stupid hat so we don't have to drive with the windows open again.

Roy: My hat doesn’t make me look like an inbred trucker! It's not my fault he hasn't washed his awful jacket in months!

Jason (scratching his head): It's not my fault you idolize Ashton Kutcher.

Roy (enraged): Take that back, you son of a bitch!

Harley stepped in, pushing a red-faced Roy back.

Harley: Yeah, maybe we shouldn’t sling those types of insults around.

Jason: I’ll stop as soon as he tosses his hat in the trunk of my car. Until then, Florida Man and I will be staying right here.

Roy (insulted, raising his voice): FLORIDA MAN!

Harley: Roy, he doesn't mean that as an insult… right, Jason?

Jason looked at his phone, refusing to leave or admit defeat.

Roy: My hat doesn't make me look inbred, like Ashton Kutcher or Florida Man! You look like a… prostitute boy!

Jason's jaw clenched at the strange but surprisingly hurtful insult, while Harley nervously nibbled her fingernail. Artemis simply nodded at Harley, silently confirming that yes, the argument over a hat and a coat had happened before.

Artemis (whispering as she shook her head): This argument started because Jason can't go to the cleaners.

Harley stepped in front of an enraged Jason.

Harley: All right, all right, nothing said here is true. We've all had a tough day; let’s just—

Jason shoved Harley out of the way and stepped closer to Roy.

Jason: Stinky hat!

Roy: It doesn’t smell like someone sprayed air freshener and cheap body spray on it! So take the jacket off and toss it in the trunk!

Jason: Oh yeah? Your stupid hat smells like cheap hairspray and gel. Stinky hat!

Roy: A bodysuit and a worn, awful-smelling jacket don’t make you look tough!

Jason: Oh yeah? Well, a stinky, stupid hat doesn't help you shoot arrows well! It actually hinders it!

Roy (loudly): Your jacket had maggots in it once!

Jason (even louder): Your hat stinks!

Roy: Brown, cheap leather jackets stopped being cool in the 2000s!

Jason: Your hat is still stupid, and it was never popular.

Artemis let out an exhausted sigh, placing her hands on her hips.

Artemis: Oh my gods.

Jason: I’m not taking off my jacket until he admits the hat has always looked dumb.

Roy: Your jacket looks like you stole it from a homeless man!

Jason: Stupid hat!

Roy: Your coat smells like a dead man!

Jason: Oh yeah? Well, you have a stupid hat!

Jason and Roy continued to argue, while Artemis and Harley glanced back and forth between the two, watching them shout over one another. Finally, Harley jumped in between them.

Harley: Stop it! The both of ya's! Six feet away from each other!

Jason and Roy begrudgingly moved apart. Jason lay back on the ground, gazing up at the sun while Roy sat down on the dirt, a short distance away.

Artemis (checking the time on her phone): Oh my Zeus, we have to leave! We’ve been here for ten minutes, and Bizarro is already in the car!

Harley (mumbling): I’m starting to get why he went to the car now.

Meanwhile, Bizarro sat in the car, listening to opera and observing the scene unfold through the closed window.

Bizarro: They are not arguing about the coat versus the hat again? Geniuses.

Artemis: We’re never going to get to the forest! Just put both items in the trunk, and we’ll wash them later.

Jason: Not until he admits that trucker hats are dumb and fell out of style after Ashton Kutcher left Punk’d!

Roy: Screw you, jerk!

Artemis (sarcastically): Right, glad you guys are acting like adults about this. Harley, do you have any suggestions?

Harley: Well, clearly, this requires a mediator. Which is me. I’ll be right back with something that can fix this.

She strode off, determined to put an end to the absurd standoff.

Twenty minutes later, Artemis drove Jason's car down the road while Roy and Jason rested their heads on each other’s shoulders, fast asleep after Harley had done the meditative deed and knocked them unconscious, tossing the items that had sparked the fight into the trunk. Bizarro sat in the back with them, chuckling at the sight of the two men, finally at peace instead of arguing, before turning his gaze back to the window.

Harley (sheepishly): They won't be mad at me for knocking them out, will they?

Artemis (chuckling): No, we've all had to do it to each other. That just makes you an official outlaw.

Harley nodded with a smile.

Bizarro: Starfire said they were easier to handle; we just got unlucky.

Harley: Right, opposite talk! We did, Biz.

Artemis (genuinely): Harley, I think you're going to make a valuable asset to our team.

Harley: Thanks, girl.

[theo-raeken-appreciation]

got any theo fic recs?

of course!!! let me pull up my faves, linking them under the cut cause it might get long (also some fics are nsfw some aren't i didnt tag them all bc by the time i realized i had been through so many already)

Theo Raeken Centric (sometimes gen/sometimes w/pairings)

Why are Werewolves Always Teens? by Everlasting_mediocrity 

Crossover. In which Tony Stark is Theo Raeken’s biological father and they’re going to have to do some growing about it. Thiam. Ongoing.

i lost my heart under the bridge by infernal_gay_mess

"The Doctors said, years later, that Theo had taught them that true evil came from corrupting something truly good. What they didn’t tell him was that the best way to make someone into a monster was to convince them they already were one." Angst & Tragedy

blood is running deep, some things never sleep by likelightninginabottle 

Aka theo raeken’s mid-season six hot girl summer. Introspective. Thiam. 

a rose that won’t bloom by wormhusk

not theo centric, but a cute fic about stiles-scott-theo as kids and theo being scott’s first crush. thiam. 

pyrrhic victory of knowing yourself by painting_ethereal

a two part series of stolen memories, theo joining the mccall pack, leaving, and choosing to come back

even in the darkest places, flowers grow by strawberxi (Tupipsie)

a theo raeken-centric fic where he grapples with his sister's birthday, and the implication that he doesn't have to do everything alone. Thiam

On Theo Raeken and Manipulation by wormhusk

Theo Raeken Did Nothing Wrong 2k23. Not A Fic/Pure Meta

Thiam

Secondary Drowning by marrowbite(wingfooted)

in which theo is a selkie. 

hey i think he likes you (but honey, i do too) by fallingforboys

in which liam is oblivious and wants to help theo get a boyfriend. 

Im not ready to die yet, should i pray? (i’m wasting time, haunted by the ghost of you) by petitommo

the one where theo leaves for Florida. out of necessity, not choice. voicemails, missing liam, waiting–and going home. 

tell me no more secrets, i’ll tell you no more lies by likelightninginabottle

“You were attacked. It was self defense.” Theo. “Okay, but what if it wasn’t.” Liam

when oblivion is calling out your name, you always take it further than i ever can by likelightninginabottle

In which Liam is terribly high and completely smitten, Theo is allergic to emotions and totally whipped, Mason has the patience of a saint, and everybody wins, except for Stiles

when you crave someone (to be there at dawn) by likelightninginabottle

(In which, for once, Liam and Theo aren't oblivious, even if the pack very much is.) Post-Monroe, Pack in College, Thiam Being Shameless

burning bright red till the end (now you’ll be missing from the photographs by likelightninginabottle

MCD, Angst

You Missed, Dumbass by Sailorscout7

(OR 2 times Liam trying to kiss Theo ended in disaster and 1 time it mostly didn't)

a fire without a spark by lexisaurus

Liam asks are you alright? it never occurs to Theo that Liam could be asking him, too.

Commemoration, Cauterized by Ty_Winn_Roa

Meeting his parents for the first time in a decade is terrible enough without having to do it all over again. And again. And again. But Theo's never done anything halfheartedly.

Hunting Hearts by l_t_m

“My heart is missing.” Liam blinked. Theo’s way of saying ‘hello’ wasn’t encouraging.

no angels in this bleeding heart town by fallingforboys

“Please don’t make me do this,” Liam says, pleads. His jaw clenches and he squares his shoulders. Theo’s claws flick out.

Happiness is (where you are) by crier_emperor

in which theo gets a home and a hug. Angst. Getting together.

pride before a fall, wolves will keep you warm by likelightninginabottle

Liam comes out of the closet, in more ways than one. Or rather: his friends break him out. Cute, fluffy, and funny

look at the wonderful mess we made, we pick ourselves undone by likelightninginabottle

In which the supernatural does not exist. But Beacon Hills still went through a war, of which this is the aftermath. Liam and Theo pine for each other, but Liam thinks he cannot have Theo and so he dates other people. And yes. They are roommates. Mutual Pining, Jealousy, Misunderstandings.

your slightest look easily will unclose me by likelightninginabottle

Liam thinks about the people who left and how he is almost alright without them. Post-Canon.

just steps across the tower bridge by eneiryu

Guilt, injury, angst–Theo’s body is failing, and he’s hiding it from Liam. Happy Ending.

Use and abuse me ‘til I’m gone by THENINTH09

5 times Liam makes Theo bleed and the one time (two times) he doesn’t.

don’t you hear me howling, babe? by THENINTH09

Theo and Liam in Theo’s truck, after Gabe and the hospital. NSFW

Iron and Copper by TheOceanIsMyInkwell

Or: A witch grants Theo's wish to turn human for a day and be loved for who he is. Liam shows him just what that wish might look like.

drove him underground by justt_ppeachy

Liam and Theo, but they are Orpheus & Eurydice retold. It always ends the same.

so cruelly you kissed me by wormhusk

A series of two one-shots, one with liam realizing his feelings for theo and the second on theo

this love is difficult, but it’s real by wormhusk

a two part series of oneshots with thiam secretly dating, liam telling the pack, it not going well, and the aftermath

all sunny days are on by wormhusk

Remember the hunger games au? This is an alice in borderland au. A lot of people will die but not thiam. incomplete

the smell of smoke would hang around this long by wormhusk

theo quits smoking 

and in ever crowd, it's you i'm looking for by fallingforboys

in which theo is unfortunately very attractive and needs a fake boyfriend at a party--and oh look, liam is right there

Thiam Fics That Are Part of This One Orphaned Series So I Have Put Them Together 

this is why they shouldn’t kill off the main guy by wormhusk

 a first-kiss fic with theo angst and liam bullying theo into staying with him instead of his truck

and i remember thinking by wormhusk

a fic exploring the theo train track theory AKA where they talk about a past suicide attempt

Oh i love it and i hate it at the same time

Established Thiam, Theo gets his wisdom teeth removed.

256,000

The one where Liam calculates how many times Theo died down in Hell and has a panic attack.

cut it out then restart by wormhusk

Theo has a bad day and gives into old habits. Angst. Self-harm

argumentative antithetical dream girl 

it’s a pwp but I'm including it because it's the same ‘verse

i just wanna stay in that lavender haze by wormhusk

thiam get high and and play the 36 questions that lead to love and then have sex about it

and i wouldn’t marry me either

Liam has a plan to propose to his boyfriend. Theo thinks Liam is acting cagey

fighting in only your army

The skinwalkers want Theo back. No one reacts well.

are there still beautiful things

a witch’s curse makes Liam hate the one he loves most–his fiance. Angst.

i know my pain is such an imposition 

the boys finally get to go on their honeymoon. so of course it goes wrong.

long live the look on your face by wormhusk

Theo and Liam go to build-a-bear

he was sunshine i was midnight rain by wormhusk

Liam does a 30-day love challenge

Sceo

Shall I sleep within your bed by voices_in_my_head

In which Theo wasn't expecting to be rescued

fake my heart by LuthienKenobi

In which Theo is captured and a femme fatale all in one

gonna make you a believer by queerebrum

in which the battle is over, the Anuk Ite defeated, and Scott McCall can finally see things clearly–things like how he has been pretending he is not in love with Theo Raeken

Expelliaramus! by tabbytabbytabby

Gryffindor Scott and Slytherin Theo are secretly dating.

Sons of Monsters and Monster Sons by TheOceanIsMyInkwell

“i think,” theo says slowly, “my father tried to kill me when i was seven.” Sceo+Thiam, bc Theo is terribly in love with them both. Child Abuse Mention, as well as Mentions of sexual assault done to Theo by his Father. Theo did NOT have a happy loving childhood.

Unbreakable Heaven by tabbytabbytabby

Theo thinks he and Scott are FWBs while Scott thinks they are dating. Theo starts pulling away once he realizes he has feelings for Scott. Scott wonders what he did to make his boyfriend distant.

our hands dirtied by the other’s desire; i will declare my love with a slaughter by clementinecalls

When they lay in the grass and stare at the stars, Scott runs his thumb over Theo’s wrist. Feeling his pulse steady under his touch. He thinks about the sun in comparison to Theo. He thinks about how he was Icarus and he loved Theo just as he loved the sun — too close, too much.

Homeless Theo/Theo + Pack

Too Afraid to Follow Through by dangerouscoffeetheorist

for your melissa & theo needs, and theo being forced to join the pack against his will. 

wither under the iridescent glow of the sun, moon, and stars by fallingforboys

Theo digs the bullets out himself, using them to cauterize the wounds, and the air around him becomes hot and a little sticky with the smell of his flesh burning, but he ignores it.

He ignores it and saves himself, because that’s all he knows how to do. He saves himself because he knows that no one else would bother trying. (He’s wrong.) Thiam but mostly pack focused

Heart coming up my throat, think I’m getting worse at breathing by Multifandom_damnnation 

Jordan Parrish & Theo. Thiam

murphy’s golden rule: whoever has the gold makes the law by game_ender

Coach Finstock & Theo. In which Theo gets adopted by the Coach. Thiam

Vanlife Style! by onyxthroughtheages

In which Alec and Theo are bffs, Theo was raised in the sewers and so learns about TikTok scandals and instafame through Google, and mentions Liam in almost every TikTok he ever makes.

built a ship in the morning but the hull’s worn through by eneiryu

in which theo makes a deal with the pack: after Monroe, he gets to walk away. Thiam

waves on the ocean for the wavering kind by eneiryu

a two parter series. part one is where Theo leaves Beacon Hills with exactly the same things he came into it with: his truck, a duffel bag full of clothes, and the permanent taste of blood and grave dirt in his mouth. part two is argent’s pov. thiam

Fics That Deserve a Category of Their Own

You only feel one emotion at a time by likelightninginabottle

Theo doesn't feel pain. It makes him reckless. The pack doesn't notice, until they do. Incomplete. Pack Dynamics. Thiam. Theo’s Past, Theo’s Present, and Hopefully, Theo’s Future.

Take my heart (and put it somewhere safe) by not_carrying_on

​​The one where Theo reluctantly helps the pack capture Monroe, deals with the aftermath of his upbringing with the Dread Doctors, saves the lives of not so few people (despite the will to deny it until his dying breath), practically adopts Alec and pulls his head out of his ass.

[hunterbunter3000]

if theres anything i love more its chaotic sweetheart oml its so fckin funny

i just thought of like during TF 141 missions, meetings or just out of nowhere sweetheart will sometimes say "omg this reminds me of when i got ban from the aquarium in [where ever tf] cause i jumped into the shark tank to pet the sharks" or she hears that they're going to a place like italy or europe for a mission and shes like "im actually ban from like 3 of their museums" or whatever

and the team think shes fucking with them but they find out its true because she has videos and pictures of her doing these things and they're all like : 😦😟😀 huh??

like imagine they're at a zoo or aquarium and shes like "bet me $20 to jump in?" and they're all actively trying to hold her back so she doesn't get banned again 😭 they have her on those backpack leashes when they go out 💀

HAHAHHAHA I CANT

THIS IS SO HER 100000%%%%

She said something unhinged before, but they didn't believe her

(TF 141 watching the american news. Someone was arrested for trying to steal a fish from the same aquarium Sweetheart stole from)

Sweetheart: HA! Oh my god, my brother and I did that once there.

Gaz: Go to the aquarium?

Sweetheart, reminiscing: Yeah, and we went fishing there to catch some sea creatures. We caught this japanese spider crab and started running cause the police and workers started chasing us. But we got away! AND GOD THAT CRAB WAS SO GOOD-- I don't know why people don't eat those more!

🧍‍♀️

AHAHA ...girl please

So they all kinda chuckled at that, but Soap kinda prods at it more because he thought she was making up a story 💀

Soap, smirking: So... you stole a state protected Japanese Spider Crab from an aquarium. Got away with it. And ate it with your kin.

Sweetheart, smiling like a dummy: Yuh huh.

Soap, questioning her thought process: And only your brother?

Sweetheart, nodding: Yup! My mom said that since we had a brother-sister hangout day, he should get food and he did! OH OH WANNA SEE PICTURES?? I HAVE A FULL ALBUM

Soap: Whuh- WOAH YOU WERE TELLING THE TRUTH?!

Alex: WAIT WHAT

Sweetheart: of course I was! You thought I was lying?

Soap and Gaz: YES

Sweetheart: YOU GUYS HAVE MET MY FAMILY THIS SHOULDN'T BE SURPRISING

She was showing them pictures of when she was younger, like 13 years old, with her third older brother. And she was legit fishing in the aquarium with him 💀 she even has a video of her ACTUALLY CATCHING THE CRAB

And then some pictures of her brother boiling it in the back of his pickup truck and eating ALL OF IT (JAPANESE SPIDER CRABS ARE HUGE MIND YOU)

They were like 😨😨🤯 GIRL WHAT THE FUCK KINDA LIFE YOU LIVIN

So they believe the stories she says UNLESS she has pictures (and with every story she does 💀💀)

And omg her being banned in some places-- IN SOME STATES AND OUT OF COUNTRY BECAUSE OF THE UNLUCKY LUCK

Sweetheart, raising her hand: Wait where are we going?

Graves, rolling his eyes: To America.

Sweetheart: Uh huh yeah I got that but which state?

Graves: Ohio?

Sweetheart: Ahhhh okay. I can't go.

Graves, leaning on the table: And why is that, Sergeant Sweetheart?

Sweetheart: Well, Philip Graveyard, I'm banned.

Alex: What, in the facility?

Sweetheart, scratching her cheek: No the whole state.

Soap: WHAT

Ghost: HUH

Sweetheart, shrugging like she's talking about the weather: Yeah. Ohio, Florida, Wyoming, couple of other states, and some out of country.

Sweetheart, whispering: ...Alot out of country, honestly.

They're like what 🧍‍♀️

Soap, in disbelief: wh-why?

Sweetheart: Turns out, going on a plane with matches and a baton can cause a heck of a panic. And...

Sweetheart: ...It's illegal.

Ghost: OF FOCKIN COURSE ITS ILLEGAL

Sweetheart: WELL I KNOW THAT NOW. I WAS SEVENTEEN WHEN THAT HAPPENED

Soap: YOU WERE SEVENTEEN--

She showed pictures obviously.

Price, tired and confused: Why do you take pictures of everything you do.

Sweetheart: For the memories!

Graves, wiping his face: Oh my god...

Sweetheart: And evidence so I don't go to prison.

Soap, under his breath: Good lord

Price has to study on Sweetheart's past, so one: she won't get arrested anytime she goes out and two: so he can learn about this "unlucky luck" that's been happening for centuries in her family

(He still doesn't understand it)

And when they go on vacation together as a team it's a nightmare 💀

Sweetheart: Can't go on that.

Soap, smirking: Why? Awww, Sweetheart are ya scared?

Sweetheart: Nah, I'll get arrested. Restraining orders go craaaaazy stupid in London.

Soap and Gaz:

Gaz: How-- How do you get a restraining order on a ferris wheel...?

And then when they went to a zoo in Scotland (because she's not banned or has any restraining orders there) and this is so iconic

Sweetheart, looking in the cage and smiling: Bet me a twenty to jump in?

Gaz, snaps his neck and has a heart attack: Sweetheart, no--

Horangi, putting his hand on her shoulder: Please don't.

Sweetheart, scoffing playfully: I'm not! Oh my gosh. You actually have to bet me the twenty to actually do the--

König, Pulls out $100 because he wants to see this actually happen:

Sweetheart, looking at his hand:

Everyone looking at König's hand:

Sweetheart, looking up at König with a straight face:

Everyone looking at Sweetheart:

Ten seconds later:

Soap, struggling with Sweetheart: SWEETHEART NO STOP

Horangi, pulling Sweetheart's foot: DONT ACTUALLY JUMP IN THERE

Ghost, trying to push Sweetheart off the cage: GOD DAMMIT KÖNIG WHY DID YOU ACTUALLY GIVE HER MONEY TO DO IT

König: I THOUGHT SHE WAS BLUFFING

Price, pulling on Sweetheart's leg: YOU KNOW SWEETHEART DOESN'T BLUFF WHEN IT COMES TO THIS KIND OF THING

Sweetheart: GIVE ME THAT HUNNID BABAY

That was the last STRAW for price. So he ordered a human leash backpack for Sweetheart 💀

Sweetheart, holding the contraption: What is this?

Price, frowning with his arms crossed: It's a leash.

Sweetheart: Okay?

Price: For you.

Sweetheart:

Sweetheart, dumbfounded: W h a t

Price: When we go out for vacation, you're wearing this.

Sweetheart, brain loading the information she just heard:

Sweetheart: Are you... SERIOUS???

Sweetheart: I'm not some child, Price!

Price: Yet you act like one everytime we go out as a team!

Sweetheart: I'm just having fun!

Price: I DONT SEE HOW HANGING UPSIDE DOWN ON A FUCKIN' LEDGE ON THE EIFFEL FUCKIN' TOWER IS FUN

Sweetheart: THAT WAS ONE TIME

Price: AND ONE TIME TOO MANY

Price: You're wearing it.

And she wears it. Luckily it was in pink and she decorated it with stickers and charms.

Sweetheart, huffing and sitting on the ground with her arms crossed: This sucks cactus balls, man.

Ghost, walking with the leash: Come on, Sweetheart.

Sweetheart, whining: Weeeeeehhhhh...

Sweetheart, getting dragged: OW YOU'RE RUINING MY NEW JEANS AND MY FUCKING ASS-- OKAY OKAY I'LL GET UP

Ghost: Mhm.

[ghostlyglimmer]

Unlikely Roads: Chapter 1

Summary:

Danny and his rival, Wes Weston, as they join forces to escape the GIW. On a tense road trip, they uncover personal truths and forge an unexpected bond while battling both the GIW and their own conflicts.

Fic is inspired by @greenglowinspooks's post!

The quiet of Amity Park’s night was shattered by the frantic pounding on Danny’s window.

Danny Fenton sat bolt upright in bed, heart racing. His first thought was that some ghost had decided to wreck his night. Again. But when he glanced at the clock—2:17 AM—and looked outside, what he saw wasn't a ghost at all. It was Wes Weston. Bruised, bloody, and visibly shaking.

“What the hell?” Danny muttered, more annoyed than alarmed at first. Wes had always been a thorn in his side. Always trying to "out" him as Danny Phantom to everyone in school, even though no one ever believed him. But this? This was...different.

“Fenton!” Wes’s voice cracked through the glass, desperate and raw. “Open up!”

Still half-asleep, Danny threw back his blanket and padded across the floor. He opened the window just a crack, enough to hear the panic in Wes’s voice more clearly. “Do you have any idea what time it is?”

“They’re after me,” Wes gasped, leaning against the window frame, struggling to catch his breath. His face was pale, and his clothes were torn, as if he’d barely escaped something—or someone. “The GIW… they’re after me. And you.”

That got Danny’s attention. “Wait, what?”

Wes took a shaky breath, wincing as he touched a cut on his forehead. “They’ve been watching me. For weeks. Ever since I started poking around, asking too many questions. An hour ago, they got a warrant. They want me in custody because of what I know... and they want you for what you are.”

Danny’s stomach flipped. The GIW—the Ghost Investigation Ward—had been a constant threat ever since they’d set up camp in Amity Park, hunting ghosts with their high-tech weapons and zero tolerance. But for them to be after Wes too? That was new. That was bad.

He could feel the cool buzz of his ghost sense curling in his chest, a sign that danger was near, though not supernatural this time. It was human—and that made it scarier. He narrowed his eyes at Wes. “Why should I believe you?”

“Because I didn’t have to come here!” Wes snapped, his voice breaking. “I could’ve run. I should’ve run, but I didn’t! They’ll kill me just for knowing your secret, and you? They’ll do worse to you if they catch you.”

Danny clenched his jaw, weighing his options. Wes had been a royal pain for so long—constantly badgering him about being Phantom, always trying to expose him. But Wes looked absolutely terrified. There was no mistaking the desperation in his eyes.

“Look,” Wes pleaded, his breath ragged. “You’ve got powers. You’ve got a chance. But I can’t... I can’t do this alone.”

Danny stood frozen, staring at Wes. The easy thing would be to slam the window shut, let Wes deal with his mess. But if what he said was true—and Danny's gut told him it was—they were both in deep trouble.

“Fine,” Danny grumbled, yanking the window open fully and helping Wes climb inside. “But we’re gonna need more than your paranoid rambling to get out of this.”

“I have a plan,” Wes said, his voice still shaky but firm. “My uncle. He lives out of state. He doesn’t trust the government, hates the GIW, all that. He’ll help us, no questions asked.”

Danny raised an eyebrow. “Your uncle? And where does this government-hating conspiracy theorist live?”

“Florida.” Wes rubbed his hands together, trying to shake off the cold sweat from his skin. “Or Alaska. Either one works. The farther the better.”

Danny groaned. “Great. So, what? We hitchhike to Florida?”

“I have a bike. It’s my brother’s old one.” Wes hesitated. “But it’s in bad shape.”

“You think?”

“I didn’t have time to fix it, okay?! They showed up out of nowhere. We don’t have time to be picky.”

Danny frowned, pacing. He didn’t have many choices. If Wes was right, the GIW could be busting down the door any minute now. His parents were out of town, Jazz was staying at a friend’s, and Tucker and Sam were both unreachable at this hour. Danny didn’t know how much he trusted Wes—actually, he didn’t trust Wes at all—but he knew one thing: the GIW wasn’t going to stop until they had him. And if they thought Wes was connected to Phantom, they’d take him down too.

“Fine,” Danny said. “Let’s go.”

They crept downstairs as quietly as possible, slipping out the back door. As promised, Wes’s “bike” sat at the edge of the driveway, looking like it had seen better days—years ago. Rust clung to the metal frame, the engine sputtered when Wes tried to start it, and the tires were half-deflated.

“Oh, this is just great,” Danny muttered sarcastically, arms crossed. “We’re going to outrun the government on this thing?”

“Shut up and help me,” Wes hissed, yanking on the choke to get the engine going. Danny rolled his eyes but grudgingly stepped in, using his powers to subtly jumpstart the engine. After a few coughs and splutters, the bike roared to life—well, more like it wheezed to life, but it was running.

Danny climbed on behind Wes, the smell of gasoline thick in the air. He glanced behind them, half-expecting to see the black vans of the GIW pulling into his neighborhood. Nothing yet. But he knew it wouldn’t be long.

“Alright, Weston,” Danny muttered, gripping the back of the seat. “Let’s see how long we last before this thing breaks down.”

Wes glanced over his shoulder, his expression a mix of fear and determination. “Let’s just hope we make it out of town first.”

With that, Wes twisted the throttle, and they shot forward down the empty street, the wind biting at their faces as they sped into the night. Danny could feel the weight of the situation pressing down on them. He didn’t know how far they could run, or how long they could hide, but one thing was clear: for better or worse, they were in this together now.

As they tore through the deserted streets, the tension between them simmered. Danny kept one eye on the road ahead, the other on Wes. Part of him still wondered if this was some elaborate trick—if Wes would sell him out the second he got the chance. But then Danny saw the way Wes’s knuckles whitened on the handlebars, his breath hitching every time they passed a streetlight.

For the first time, Danny realized Wes wasn’t just scared of him. He was scared of the same thing Danny was: the GIW.

[lenacosse]

hi! could you maybe write a oneshot that’s amy santiago x fem reader, fluffy/romantic/friends to lovers? i just got into this show and i really wanna read a good and short fic about her but i can’t find many.

Ordinary things

pairing: amy santiago x fem reader

cw: none

word count: 1,560

‘there's never gonna be an ordinary thing

no ordinary things with you

it's funny, but it's true

there's never gonna be an ordinary thing

as long as I'm with you’

════════════════

You set down your pen after finalising your last report of the night, eagerly you start to gather your stuff up at your desk to head home. You all had been moved to the night shift after rescuing Holt and Jake from Florida. It was causing a real strain on everyone’s mood, everyone was miserable and lacking all sources of happiness, you had undoubtedly learned your lesson. Once your bag was packed you stand up stretching your legs and scanning the floor. You eyes dart over to Amy’s desk to find her hunched over paperwork. You make your way over to her and place a gentle hand on her back.

“Hey, Ames. Shift is over.”

“I know,” she sighs. “Just got so much to do I can barely register anything.” She looks up at you with dark, tired eyes.

“How about you leave it for tomorrow? Come on I’ll take you home.”

“I don’t know… if I leave it I’ll have double the work tomorrow night,”

“I’ll help,”

“No, I can’t ask you to do that,” Amy insists, turning her focus back to the paperwork.

“You’re not asking, I’m offering. Now come on let’s go. Everyone else is gone, you need to rest.”

Amy takes a minute, looking between you and her paperwork as if deciding which is more important. Eventually she drops her pen and makes a move to start clearing up her desk. The two of you make your way out of the precinct and down to the carpark. You sit in a comfortable silence as you drive, it was always simple when you were with Amy. You didn’t have to force conversation or fabricate reality, she understood you perfectly and you appreciated that more than words could describe. There was something about her that made you feel warm, protected and appreciated. Maybe it was the way she looked at you, maybe it was the way she listened to you rant, maybe it was the way her intelligence inspired you. But it was something, a connection maybe, you’ve never believed in soulmates, but when you met Amy that changed. She was your soulmate, no matter your circumstance with her. There was nothing she could do to make you feel indifferent.

“Can we stop to get coffee?” Amy asked, drawing your attention back to the present.

“Yes, God knows we need it.” You smile.

You pull into the nearest coffee shop, Amy runs in to get it and you wait in the spot. From the window you can see her, even exhausted and overworked she radiates kindness. Even watching her interact with the barista has you smiling, you’ve always tried to push down your feelings, marking it as a childish crush. Besides even if you did tell her how you felt it would be pointless, Amy was strictly into men. You were almost certain there was something brewing between her and Jake, maybe that was far fetched but everyone else seemed to think so, as did you even if that made you want to curl into a pit blackness.

“You keep drifting off, everything okay?” Amy said as she got into the car handing you your coffee.

“Oh, yeah no I’m fine. Just tired.”

Amy just smiles, taking a sip from her coffee as you continue your drive.

“Hey, thanks for this, I need to talk to someone other than a criminal.” Amy laughed softly.

“Honestly same, everyone is so clearly done with this. I hope we’re put back onto days soon, I haven’t seen daylight in weeks.”

“Me too. But really thank you, I really appreciate you.”

“Of course, what are friends for?” You smiled, she gave you a short nod, turning her attention out the window.

She sighs then turns back to you, “I want to ask you something, but you have to hear me out. I may be way off, but I can’t keep this in anymore.”

“Okay, is everything alright?”

“Yeah fine.” She bites her lip then looks at you, “I like you I’ve liked you for a long time now, but I’ve been too scared to tell you. I don’t want to lose our friendship and you mean so much to me and I really really want to try this- oh my god I mean do you even like girls? I’m sorry I shouldn’t have said anything-”

“Amy.” You cut her off, just as you pull up to her apartment complex. You take her hand. “Breathe.”

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“No. I’m glad you did,” you run your thumb gently over her hand, “I feel the same, I really really like you.” You smile at her, your eyes bearing into hers. “But I thought you had something with Jake..”

Amy furrows her eyebrows, shooting you a baffled expression. “Jake?!”

“Well- actually I can’t justify it.”

“You’re really bad at reading signals, huh?”

“Shut up,” you laugh, your cheeks flushing ever so slightly.

“How about on Saturday, when we’re off you come around? I can make dinner?” Amy suggests.

“Yeah, I’d really like that.” You smile, a little too obnoxiously.

“Okay, cool cool cool. See you there.”

You both share an awkward hug which leads to you both furiously blushing like teenagers, you watched Amy get out of the car and of course laughed at her embarrassed wave goodbye. The whole way home you were smiling like an idiot, the events replaying in your mind.

════════════════

You ran your hand through your hair again before knocking on Amy’s door, you stand with your hand at your side, the other holding a beautiful bouquet of flowers. Amy answers the door, looking rather distressed. She doesn’t wait around and rushes back into the kitchen. You follow her, extremely concerned.

“Ames? Is everything okay?” You set the flowers down and look around the kitchen, there were pots everywhere things clearly went wrong.

“No. I ruined dinner, God I’m so sorry. I wanted this to be perfect and now it’s unsolvable.” She sighs, eyes prickling with tears.

“It can’t be that bad? Maybe we can salvage what’s not ruined?” You say, trying to seem optimistic.

“Oh it’s definitely not salvageable.” Amy picks up a wooden spoon inside a pot, except out can the spoon and a block of what you assumed to previously have been sauce.

“…oh, well that’s only sauce?”

Amy opens the oven which fills the entire room with black smoke, you immediately open the window and she gets a towel to blow the smoke away. You bite your lip to stifle your laugh but making eye contact with Amy makes the both of you burst out laughing.

“I’m sorry, this is truly not how I excepted things to pan out.” Amy sighs, before you could reply she was crying.

Immediately you rushed to her side and pulled her into a tight hug, gently you run a hand up and down her back to sooth her. You felt sorry for her, it was clear she put a lot of effort into this just for it to not work out.

“This doesn’t have to mean our entire night is ruined. Why don’t you go get ready, I’ll clean up in here. Take your time we’re in no rush.”

Amy pulled back to look at you, you wiped the tears from her eyes and she softly smiled. “Are you sure? We don’t have to, we can reschedule or something.”

“No come on, I’m already here.”

“Okay, but really you don’t have to clean up. I’ll do that, it’s not your mess.”

“Ames. I don’t care about cleaning the mess. Just get ready, I wouldn’t offer if I didn’t want to.”

Amy went to get ready and you cleaned the kitchen, as you were putting away the final dish she walked into the kitchen. She was wearing a sheer blue and black flowered blouse with a pencil skirt. You knew you were staring but you couldn’t help it, she looked so beautiful, so effortlessly radiant.

“Ames,” you exhaled. “You look gorgeous.”

She blushed as she walked over to you and wrapped her arms around your neck, your hands naturally rested at her waist. Your foreheads pressed together until she moved her lips onto yours, you pulled her closer and the kiss intensified. When you pulled away you both were blushing.

“Wait, I got lipstick on you.” Amy giggle and wiped her lipstick from your upper lip.

You swear you could have melted under her touch right there, but you knew you needed to collect yourself. You cleared your throat and Amy laughed. The two of you headed to the restaurant and got seated in a booth.

“Again I’m sorry, I had planned for a really nice meal and something more fun than a boring very ordinary restaurant.”

“No, it’s fine. This is still nice, besides it doesn’t matter what we do, we’re together that’s plenty fun.”

“Look at you being all sappy and motivational. I didn’t take you for the type.” Amy teased.

“I’m not usually, guess you bring it out in me.” You winked.

Amy just playfully rolled her eyes in response. The whole date may have started chaotically and completely gone to shit, but in the end you had a better time than you’d ever have dreamed of. Being with Amy truly was a thrill, the addition of knowing she liked you only emphasised that.

[mikefrawley]

It's all About Forgiveness Mike (04-06-24)

I'm not quite sure why just yet, but today for me was my first ever be good to Mike Day. It was a beautiful Spring Day here in South Florida and I just knew it was time to spoil myself, which is an action I haven't taken in a very long time. Before I get into this story too deep, I want to pause a moment and thank my many friends for your love and support as I've started taking baby steps on a path I've been afraid to walk and addressing some inner child issues which have troubled me for most of my life, Okay, back to spoiling myself, but first I really want let all of you know just how much I love and appreciate you. Thank you! So, where was I? It was early Saturday Morning and I took a nice leisurely drive to the nicest Publix in town for my weekly shopping, and I realized that it was time to stop living like an active addict who can barely pay the rent and enjoy life a little bit. So, aside from the usual groceries I also bought some gourmet k-cups of coffee to share with my friends at work and took a different way home so I could tryout a new Starbucks which is my weekly splurge. Then armed with my Vanilla Latte I returned home and relaxed for a bit. At home I wrote a new poem which as is the case with many of us here is my true love. After finishing I just felt like getting out of the house and enjoying my day. I haven't bought a new book for myself in well over twenty years, so I decided to take a mini road trip to Barnes and Noble. After leisurely browsing a bit, I grabbed an excellent book by my favorite teacher, author, and poet, Thich Nhat Hanh, or Thay (teacher in Vietnamese) as he is known. The title is ZEN AND THE ART OF SAVING THE PLANET. After that I must confess I did go over the top a bit and stopped by a second Starbucks which was right next door and treated myself to another fancy coffee. Hey, as I said, it was be good to Mike Day. Sunday I leisurely sat outside reading my new book, meditating and just enjoying the moments as they passed. Please forgive me if this is a bit boring but my wish is that someone else suffering with self-destructive thoughts and feelings, may realize that they too are good enough and very much worthy of love. Well I guess that's enough (too much), but please do remember that you are indeed much loved!

[thewinchestah]

@markster666 opened pandora's box. i need to tell all my silly alastor is an old man headcanons

since we don't know how much of contemporary history Alastor actually knows, i love to imagine him being completely stunned and flabbergasted, sometimes offended with modernity

he hates modern kitchen appliances. Like he has pure hatred for tvs, this man has nothing but wrath inside his undead heart for air fryers.

Angel showing him the music video for WAP and the spark on Alastor's eyes slowly dwindling as he understand the lyrics and is introduced to twerking

veganism. Vegan meat. Someone handed him an air fryerd cooked soy nugget and he just lost it

explaining the space race to alastor. "they sent a monkey to space" "mankind walked on the moon"

just praking alastor in general with history facts that he didn't witness like running to the hotel lobby and screaming "SOME SINNER JUST SHOWED UP AND SAID THEY KILLED THE FUCKING PRESIDENT asdhjh and it's JFK

I>Really< like the idea of alastor being scared of communism

i know i also would be murdered on the spot i just wanna go to him and say "the soviets are coming, that's right Alastor, the Red Army just joined forces with heaven, the united states is now part of the USSR and they are coming for hell next"

there's a group of teenangers staying in the hotel, all of them got a terminal case of "regina george syndrome" and they drag Al through filth. He doesn't understand a thing and stays there "i'm a what now 😀​😀​😀​

he has been called "bootleg Mr. Darcy" or "ginger voldermot" and "great gatsby" at least once by younger sinners

alastor trying to understand the concept of emojis

just singing "radio gaga by queen" to him

someone using therapy speak on Alastor and his eyes start twitching

Everyone buys into the collective joke that the musical hamilton is actually cannonically united states history to drive him to insanity. Specially everything related to Lin Manuel Miranda

Now the hotel is crowded i think he needs to host an in-house radio show where ppl need insane modern headlines to him and he needs to guess if they are true or not. like "A Japanese man spends 2 Million Yen to become a dog"

. ALL THE FLORIDA MAN HEADLINES "Florida man once arrested for fighting drag queen with tiki torch runs for mayor" "Florida man insists syringes pulled from rectum aren’t his"

someone makes a deal with him so he's now contractually obligated to react to every episode of "keeping up with the kardashians" live on his radio shpw

AJSDHASJDHJSDH I HAVE SO MAY MORE. HE'S SO PETTY. He's totally that uncle that goes "we used to be a proper country"

[modelbus]

Okay so this is VERY OLD. As in, excuse the poor writing and savor the fact I posted please :). I was in Florida for the week (not my home state) and couldn't write so I dredged up soulmate au where soulmates share scars.

This has a POV switch in it, be mindful of that while reading!

Pairing: Gn!Reader x Cc!Tommyinnit - Soulmate AU

Shining Souls

You used to love the idea of soulmates. Someone you knew was perfect for you? Sign you the fuck up.

And then you never found them. Whoever they were, you just hadn't met them yet. You know they exist, but not who they are. The sparkle of soulmates was lost throughout the wait for yours.

On your tenth birthday, the soulmate bond was cemented like it was for everyone. From that day forward, you'd share scars with your soulmate.

So when your soulmate gained a scar on his leg, perhaps a cut from a branch, you gained the same one. When your soulmate had a surgery, their scar was mirrored on your own stomach.

Likewise, the small scar on your palm from being stabbed with a pencil would've transferred. Or that time you thought It'd be a great idea to try and capture a feral raccoon and gained three scars split between your arm and your collarbone.

Even through everything that you felt like you've gone through with your soulmate, it's been seven long years of being alone.

But at some point, you had stopped caring. Stopped looking at every stranger to find their scars. And then? You started enjoying life.

You became an influencer, started streaming. Found your best friends and true source of happiness. And that was that. A soulmate could come later.

And then later became now.

You weren't disappointed at all, not upset. If anything, you were thrilled. Your best friend, your source of laughter and sunlight, was your soulmate.

Tommy was your soulmate. Tommyinnit.

And then you realized why you couldn't tell him.

Would you rather a soulmate you're dissatisfied with or to never know them? You were forced to answer the question for Tommy, and in the end you protected your own selfish feelings.

Tommy didn't know. He couldn't know! If he did, he'd reject you. That would be worse than any unreturned soulmate bond.

Because Tommy didn't see you in that way. From day one, it was pure friendship. And how did you know? How did you know your soulmate bond was wrong?

Easy.

You asked Wilbur.

In your most vulnerable moment, you messaged Wilbur. You're pretty sure he thought you had a crush on him, so that was the worst (although not wrong).

But the answer was no. Tommy only saw you as a friend.

So that was why you hadn't told you soulmate you were, well, his soulmate. Friendship was better than nothing.

The thing about soulmates was that it wasn't a guarantee. You could still choose not to date them, go off on your own. You could choose to be platonic soulmates. It was a scary gamble.

Hiding your soulmate bond was a lot easier than you thought it would be though. As long as neither of you got a huge scar on their hands or faces, you were set.

And then he had to ruin everything.

-

"A hot spring." You repeat, holding the door to your apartment open.

"Yeah." Tommy nods. "Come on!"

"I- I have to get permission, and pack-"

"Already got it." Wilbur says, waving his phone in the air. "And pack now. Two nights. Three days. Go."

"Wha-" you sputter.

Wilbur went above your head to get you to go, but why? He didn't know about the soulmate thing. Something weird was going on there, but you had bigger problems.

If you went, they'd know.

"Your parents said, quote, you need to get out of the house." Wilbur adds on.

Great. So you were being forced into this.

"Fine. Come in if you want, I guess. It'll be a minute."

"Bring YouTube friendly stuff." Tommy laughs, barging his way into your house.

Perfect. An out.

"I have Coke's in my fridge if you want one." You call out, running up your stairs to pack.

"Sweet!"

You pack as fast as you can while still being mindful of what you grab. There wasn't enough room for extras in your little duffel bag, so you just had to hope it'd be fine.

Just like you had to hope the entire vlog would be fine. Nothing would go wrong.

Right?

-

"Alright children, we're here." Phil's words pierce the fog of your sleep, drawing you out of its gentle grasp.

The car had pulled you into sleep at some point, and that was entire Tommy's fault. If he hadn't decided to tell you last minute at seven in the fucking morning then you would've been more awake!

Speaking of Tommy, your head was resting on his shoulder. You had actually googled why you two always seemed to gravitate towards each other. At tables you always managed to sit together, when walking you walked together. It was something with how soulmates subconsciously wanted to be near each other.

But he didn't seem to mind, so you took what you could.

"Sorry." You murmur, a yawn following. "Your fault for getting me up at the ass crack of dawn."

"Seven." He scoffs.

"Same thing."

"If you two don't shut up right now I will dismember you both." Tubbo complains, lightly hitting his head against the window.

"Calm down." Wilbur scolds. "We're here so you have to get up anyways."

"Fuck. Tommy, why did this have to be so early?!"

"Sorry man."

"What the fuck?!" You exclaim. "Tubbo gets an apology but I dont?!"

"You called it the ass crack of dawn." He teases. "He didn't."

"Fuck off."

"Get out of the car." Phil sighs, unlocking the doors.

They all stumble out into the dewy morning, stretching as they do. The hot spring resort actually looks pretty cute. You can't deny that you're excited.

"They don't allow kids to room by themselves so Tubbo and Tommy are together, and Phil is with Kristen who is coming later." Wilbur reports, reading off his phone before looking down at you. "So you're with me. Everyone cool?"

That's fine, you don't mind that. Wilbur's pretty cool to room with, if you have to pick an opinion. At least he has a concept of when to go to sleep.

"We aren't fucking kids." Tommy grumps, already vlogging.

"Yeah yeah." Wilbur waves a hand in the air.

"Let's check in, settle into our rooms, then explore the place." Phil suggests.

"Last one there is a loser." Tommy cries, running off.

"Hey!" You yell back, racing after him.

Tubbo's quick to follow.

-

The hot spring resort is cozy in a cool way. Cabin-like, yet modern. You hate to admit it but Tommy was definitely right about this being a cool vlog.

And the hot spring was even cooler. It was definitely hot, that's for sure. Someone had put LED lights in it, making it glow different colors. You took care to twist your leg away from the view of others, hiding the thin scar on your ankle.

A long sleeve swim shirt covered your others scars, much to your pleasure.

Tommy and Tubbo were currently trying to drown Wilbur while you warded off Phil.

"Look, a bird!"

"Mate, I know there's no bird."

"No, but there is. It's a crow. You're the crow father. Look."

"...I'm not looking."

Shit. Okay, you needed something else.

"Is that scar from Kristen?" You blurt, regretting it immediately.

This was the one thing you were meant to stay away from and here you were bringing it up. Phil's eyes immediately soften at the mention of his soulmate, their collective mother.

He brings a hand up to graze at the barely noticeable white line along the top of his forehead.

"Yeah, it was. She fell and hit her head pretty bad. I was freaking out for days."

There was a familiar fondness in his voice, one that you wished you could have.

His expression suddenly changes.

"I've never heard you talk about your soulmate scars."

Oh, shit. Okay, think of a lie.

"I don't have any." You push your hands out, creating ripples.

"Hm. I don't know if I'd rather that or not. At least your soulmate is being safe."

"Yeah." You laugh, albeit nervously.

"Help!" Tommy screams.

You turn around to find Wilbur holding him upside down, repeatedly dunking him in the water. Tubbo is too busy laughing to help so you start on splashing.

"Argh!" Wilbur yells, dropping Tommy completely into the water.

"Yeah bitch!" Tommy cheers once he stands up again.

Your eyes automatically find their way to the scar you share on your arms before darting away again. While your long sleeves covered yours, his short sleeves exposed it.

"Piss off, children."

"Guys, let's see who can hold their breaths underwater the longest! Phil, count us."

In the end, Tubbo wins. Turns out Tommy has the lung capacity of a fucking toddler, making you the second place winner.

By the time they call it quits, you're ready to collapse. Hopefully you do something less tiring tomorrow.

"I love Tommy, but he runs us ragged." Wilbur tells you, collapsing in bed.

"Oh yeah. And we'll do it all again tomorrow."

Unlike him, you climb into your bed with at least a little bit of dignity.

"Weird question, but don't you find it strange that Tommy hasn't found his soulmate yet?" Wilbur asks, hugging a pillow and tilting his head to see you.

Fear clogs your throat up. He can't know. He can't.

"He's always had them on the internet, so his soulmate should've been able to just contact him."

Oh. Thank fucking God.

"Maybe they're not online."

"Maybe. I feel bad for him though. He wants to meet them so bad. We don't exactly give him hope though."

Wilbur, with his scarred hands from guitar, and his undeniable pessimism about his soulmate. How would he react if he knew?

Riddled with guilt, you turn away from him and close your eyes.

-

"Let's get there first and-" Wilbur's eyes widen as he crashes into you, his bright red juice splashing over your very distinctly pale blue swim shirt.

It stains quick, and you hold it away from your body.

"Shit!" He exclaims. "I am so sorry. Do you have anything else you can use?"

"I didn't pack anything extra." You groan. Stupid of you.

"Fuck, me either. I'll go grab a shirt from Tommy or something, he always packs extra."

While he vanishes, you sigh and peel it off. Hopefully it wouldn't stain your skin or anything. Luckily, it didn't seem like it did. Little things.

Of course Wil had to get fruit punch. The worst possible thing to spill on you. Your swim shirt was definitely ruined.

"Got one." Wilbur announces, opening and closing the door. "I'm pretty sure it's merch for a band I recommended but I'm trying not to be hurt by that."

He holds the shirt out, and you reach to take it.

You can pinpoint the exact moment he sees. The exact moment things click together in his head, because the shirt falls to the ground. His eyes, wide and filled with betrayal, give him away.

Shit.

You had to do one thing. One simple thing. And you fucked it up. In the fun excitement of the day you had forgotten all about the soulmate scars.

"Wilbur-" you start, but he doesn't let you finish.

"You told Phil you didn't have any scars."

And yeah, you did. You directly lied.

"Wil-"

"And you're not just anyone's soulmate. I know these scars. You're Tommy's."

"Please." You beg, but you aren't sure for what.

"I thought— you always wore long sleeves. I thought maybe you were hurting yourself, but no. You were lying. You're Tommy's soulmate and you haven't told him."

"You can't tell him." Ah. That's what you're begging for. His silence.

"You're his soulmate!" You duck your head away from gaze. "Do you not like him or something?" He pauses. "Do you not want him to be your soulmate?"

He's got it all backwards, but you don't bother to correct him.

"Wil, I'm begging you not to tell him. Please."

"Why?" He asks, plainly. "Why shouldn't I?"

You open and close your mouth. There're too many reasons, too much to say.

"You can't." You just whisper, voice breaking.

He stares at you for a moment, clearly thinking.

"...the shirt has short sleeves." Wilbur finally responds.

"I'll figure it out. You won't say anything?"

"I won't say anything. You tell him after this vlog is over, though."

Time. Time is all you can buy, and not much at that. But you'll take it.

It'll give you time to move halfway across the world at least! (You're joking. Mostly.)

"Thank you." Your shoulders slump in relief.

"If he figures it out, I'm not going to lie to him." He warns you.

"He won't. He hasn't yet, right?"

This gets Wilbur to laugh quietly. "How'd you do it? How'd you keep it a secret? The soulmate bond must be itching for more."

Lifting your shoulders in a helpless movement, you shrug. "It is."

His eyes soften. "Looking back, it feels stupid not to have known. You two always did find yourselves together more often than not."

"I know." You laugh. "He's a clingy motherfucker."

"That he is. Put the shirt on and I'll meet you outside."

When the door shuts behind him, you hide your hands in your hair and tug. Hard.

It'd be fine. Everything would be absolutely fine.

Hey! What more could you fuck up?

-

Everything was fucked up and you hadn't even told Tommy. Wilbur's gaze was constantly on you, the weight of judgement heavy. Tommy wouldn't even look at you, like he knew you had done something just by your face.

At least Tubbo, Kristen, and Phil were all blissfully ignorant.

Tommy had set down his camera, claiming that he had enough footage, and they were now just having fun for themselves. You had to be careful though. Arms always pointed inwards, hiding yourself.

The vlog was over and the time was out.

Wilbur could say something any minute. He could ruin everything you had worked so hard to build up.

Soulmate bonds weren't just a signal of who was your soulmate, they were a connection. It could only be severed when both parties accepted they didn't want to be together, which Tommy and you hadn't.

Which meant that the bond, for every second you denied it, tugged harder. Wanted you closer. Phil and Kristen were an extremely close soulmate bond, meaning they could feel each other's emotions when they got strong, so at least there were upsides that existed.

"Tubbo! Race me!"

"Did you and Tommy get into a fight?" Kristen asks, wadding closer. Because of course Kristen noticed how you were left out.

"No." You deny.

You and Wilbur did though.

"I'll be right back, I need to plug my phone in." You smile, climbing out of the warm hot spring and heading away.

The second you round the corner, it all comes crashing down.

- Wilbur

He was so conflicted.

You were someone he trusted with his life, a pretty honest person, so this just didn't make sense for you. Besides, you and Tommy were so close! If you didn't have romantic feelings for him you at least had platonic.

So caught up in his thoughts, he doesn't realize Tommy is back from his race until he's getting splashed. Before he can splash him back, Tommy pauses and grabs his arm.

"Ow!" He exclaims.

"What happened?" Wilbur asks, reaching out with no hesitation.

Tommy pulls his hand away from his arm, holding it out. Five little crescent moon marks are bleeding. Not a lot, but it must be enough to leave small scars.

"Aw, mate." Phil sighs. "Did you do that?"

"No, I think it's my soulmate."

You.

You were alone right now and, by the looks of it, digging your fingernails into your arm.

"Glad they keep first aid kits around for times like this." Kristen laughs, holding it out to Phil.

"I'll be right back." Wilbur blurts out, hopping out of the hot springs and running off in the direction you went.

If Tommy was getting hurt, so were you.

- You

This was a mess.

You didn't know what to do; letting Wilbur say something was like a cop-out, but telling Tommy yourself was too hard. And then your previous choice of not saying anything wasn't available anymore.

God.

"You're hurting yourself." Wilbur says gently.

Your head snaps up in surprise. When did he get here?

You were a pathetic sight right now. Knees drawn up to your chest, red eyes from crying. So shaken by the idea of losing the friendship of your soulmate.

Finally, the pain in your arm registers. Your crossed arms had allowed you to pierce the skin with your nails without even realizing.

"Shit." You hiss, holding it out. "Sorry, I didn't mean to."

"Don't apologize."

It's already stopped bleeding, so you wipe the drops away.

"...is this about the soulmate thing?"

You nod miserably. "I know I should tell him, but I'm scared. I don't want to lose his friendship."

"You can be platonic soulmates."

That was true. Rare as it was, platonic soulmates existed.

"But that won't work." You whisper, staring away.

"Why- oh. You like him more than a friend."

"Yeah. And if I tell him about the soulmate bond then he'll ask and if he asks and I tell him it'll fuck everything up."

"How do you know?"

Trying to fit yourself smaller, you sniffle.

"You told me."

"...I did?"

"Yeah. It was about a year ago."

"Oh." He says softly. "I remember that.I wasn't- I didn't ask him. He always said he wanted to wait for his soulmate, and I thought you weren't his so... shit. Fuck, I'm sorry."

Wait, what?

That wasn't possible.

You had not been denying your soulmate bond because of something that wasn't even true.

"If it helps, I think if it were anyone, I'd want it to be you. He does like you, at least as a friend. I wouldn't be surprised if it was something more."

"What?"

Wilbur shrugs. "It's you two. When I grabbed you the extra shirt, he told me no at first. When I told him it was for you and not me, he changed his mind. I don't know for sure, but I'd say there's a pretty good chance."

That's...

That's all you wanted. A chance. If there was just a chance, you'd take it in a heartbeat. But what if Wilbur was reading it wrong?

"So, Tommy, huh?" Wilbur laughs.

"Yeah." You sigh. "Tommy."

"Good. You two need each other, I think."

"Kind of weird, but okay."

The pressure on your chest had been relieved, and you both smile at your words. The mood was effectively lightened.

"I kind of ran away so we should really get back." He sheepishly admits.

"Ran away?"

"Tommy started bleeding." He nods towards your arm.

"Fuck."

"Hey, it's okay. No worries. Just... tell him when you can. Better sooner than later."

"I will." And this time you mean it.

"Let's go then."

-

Tommy, ever the pianist, is playing. It's only been two days since the trip and whatever weird feelings he had that last night disappeared.

"Fuck yeah." He says, nodding. "I am the master."

"Sure." You roll your eyes.

His playing now done, he takes a seat on his bed next to you. Maybe even a little too close, because you can't unsee it now.

This was it. It was a rare moment where you didn't have a topic, and it was perfect.

"There's something you need to know."

Tommy can be serious sometimes, contrary to popular belief. Right now, he perks up, a serious look on his face as he waits for you to continue.

"Okay. What's up? Is everything okay?"

You'll kill Wilbur if he was wrong. For a second you fidget with the ends of your sleeves, contemplating.

"Um."

And that was it. That was all that came out of your mouth despite everything that you needed to say.

"Sorry." You laugh anxiously.

Tommy, noticing your moving fingers, grabs your hand and gives a reassuring squeeze. This. You didn't want to lose this.

But at the same time, you wanted to gain so much more.

"I'm your soulmate."

Tommy drops your hand. "Funny." He says in a way that promises he didn't find it funny at all.

"I'm serious."

"You don't have any soulmate scars."

This was the hard part to explain. Your lying. So you don't. You just turn your body towards his and tugs your shirt collar lower to reveal the scar along your collarbone.

"Wha- how long have you known?! Why didn't you tell me?!"

Your hands drop to your lap, this time enclosed in each other. You close them tighter.

"A year."

"What?" His voice has lost it's edge where he's nearly shouting, now just hurt. Shock.

It's worse. It's so much worse.

All or nothing, you've come this far. Right?

Right.

"I was scared?" It comes out like a question but you keep going. "Soulmates can choose not to reciprocate and I asked Wilbur-"

"Wilbur knows?!"

"Only for three days. I made him promise not to say anything. But I asked a vague question a year ago and..."

And yeah. That's it.

"You didn't tell me." He finishes. "You didn't tell me that we're soulmates. But we- we can be platonic soulmates! Those exist!"

Oh. Wilbur was wrong. But this was better than nothing.

"Yeah. Yeah, we could-"

Before you can finish, his lips are on yours.

It's just for a second, barely anything, but you freeze. That wasn't platonic. Not platonic at all.

"Sorry." He immediately apologizes, eyes wide. "I'm sorry. I just- I had to. One time. Then we're platonic. I get it, you only feel platonically towards me, I'll-"

"I only feel platonically for you?" You repeat. "What? You feel platonically for me!"

"...I think there's been a miscommunication."

"No shit. So... what?"

You're so confused. Did he have platonic feelings or romantic? Because you knew yours.

"So I like you. Like, really really like you. But if you don't... we can be friends."

Fuck, Wilbur was actually right for once. How long had he felt like this? How long were you missing out?

"No. I- I really like you too. I just thought you didn't like me!"

"Right." He nods. "So I can kiss you again?"

You laugh, and he takes that as his answer.

[cxr0lo1]

the animal is trapped.

1985'

"navia laurier." my eyes shot up to look at the judge the second he said my name. my heart beating rapidly with my legs bouncing a little my tongue poking my cheek, i dont know what i was expecting to be honest. i killed a man on purpose obviously i wasnt expecting 15 months in prison

'i hearby sentance you 25 years in litchfield penitentiary maximum security prison." my face dropped when i heard how many years i was sentanced i couldnt even process that until the guards handcuffed me and pulled me into the van with them.i curled my upper lips a bit before muttering under my breath the second they drove to max

"bullshit."

**************************

two guards escorted me and other inmates to our blocks. stopping at florida, dblock,etc until we finally stopped at cblock." would watch my back here if i was in your place. be careful inmate." was all i heard from a ginger CO before she pulled the handcuffs and chains off, she threw a navy blue jumpsuit at me then left

i looked down at the little note with the cell number "c101" on it ,the second i raised my head a bit to look around i felt everyones eyes on me. some of them whispering and some smirking, i tried to not pay attention as i just walked around the cells to try and find mine

i saw 2 girls standing in the way . my brows raised as i just walked in after pushing them away, hearing another girl whistling as she looked at me before she said " hey carol. looks like you got a bunkie." until a tall girl with her hair side parted sat up on the bed which honestly startled me a bit since i didnt even see her when i walked in,she had a red lollipop in her mouth and a magazine in her hand as her head tilted

"well youre a new cookie." the girl with the lollipop said who i assumed was carol. "what'd a girl like ya do to get locked up in here ?" she asked but i was busy looking around the cell. god i have to stay here for 25 years how was i gonna survive in such a place.. my thoughts got cut off when i felt someone grab my hair and pull my face towards them,my brows furrowed slightly as i looked up at carol “what the fuck?" i groaned a bit as she spat out "when i ask you a fucking question you answer it."

i parted my lips a bit as i look up at her, i didnt realise how tall she was until i was this close to her face but i quickly replied "murder." i said as she sneered before letting go of my hair. " who’d ya murder?" i shrugged as i turned to make my bed on the top bunk untill i felt a foot kicking the back of my knee which caused me to fall on my knees and hit my head against metal, i winced as i put my hand on my head " fucking hell!" i groaned a bit as i looked back at her " told you to answer when i ask you a question." she scoffed before walking out the cell.

****** 2 hours later ******

i was sat on an empty table while playing with the food using my fork,god the food looked so fucking nasty true i was in prison but come on..the food didnt even look edible.my thoughts got interputted again with a tall girl girl with black hair and glasses standing in front of me with a slightly shorter girl with blonde hair, i assumed theyre either togather or maybe friends. the tall one spoke up as i look up at her with a confused expression " hey mind if we sit here?" before i could even answer they both sat down and i just raised my brows before shrugging a bit " im piper. piper chapman and thats alex vause, youre the only one who looked peaceful and quiet here so we figured we can sit with you" the blondie said as i nodded before looking at them, i hummed with my tongue wetting my lips before i spoke out " well im navia laurier..glad yall think im peaceful" i chuckled until alex looked at me and tilted her head "what are you in for? i mean its max how did you end up in here?" the second she asked i pursed my lips slightly before shrugging as i take a sip of my water "i killed my uh.. my step dad" i said with a small sigh as i saw chapman's mouth gape and vause's brows raised "wow..alright maybe youre not as innocent as you look." said piper as i shrug before shooting them a innocent smile. my eyes moving to glance at carol who has been playing bridge this whole time.

"hey uh..do you guys know her? " i asked before gesturing my head towards carol , looking back at them with curiousity written on my face. they both looked at each with gaped mouths as alex leaned forward a bit " you seriously never heard of the little debbie murderers ? carol and barb denning?" my brows furrowed as i look up at her shaking my head "well i know carol..we're in the same cell but whos barb and debbie?". alex shook her head with a sigh as she looked at me " carol and barb denning are both in prison because they murdered their little sister debbie, besides shes aggressive.. both carol and barb are so fucking cruel also barb is in d block thats why you cant see her around here. they almost own the blocks its like carol owns c block and from what i heard they both hate each other so you seriously gotta be careful." my brows raised when i heard everything she said,glancing back at carol before looking away with my lips pursed.

i've spent the whole lunch time talking to piper and alex. finding out theyre only in max because of the riot that have happened but i kept stealing glances at carol i just couldn't imagine how she did it, her face was cold and emotionless but somehow she looked cute or maybe i was just losing my mind in prison..by the time lunch was over i walked back into the cell as i climbed to the top bunk until i heard carol's voice "youre not sneaky you know that?" i raised a brow as i sit up before humming a bit "what are you talking about?"

she sneered as she as she pulled the lollipop out of her mouth holding it between her fingers " thought i didnt fucking notice you taking glances at me? " she raised her brows before she walked towards me, grabbing my id card as she slightly curld her upper lip "navia laurier.." she scoffed before she leaned down with her eyes narrowing. my breath got stuck in my throat from how close she was to me i could basically feel her warm breath against my face, i expected her to say something but instead she pulled away and scoffed before she left the cell.

leaving me speechless with my face flushed from how close she was, i could smell her coconut scented shampoo and the strawberry lollipop. i huffed as i laid down on the uncomfortable bunk with my hand covering my face, clearly its not gonna be peaceful here.

hiii! this is the first chapter im really sorry if its boring or bad this is my very first time writing a fiction so i apologize, theres gonna be a new chapter or two everyday ^ . ^

[mariacallous]

@stephantradez thought he was going to be fine. In his first TikTok about Hurricane Milton, he vowed to stay at his Tampa apartment. In a follow-up video, he said the media was “rage-baiting” everyone into thinking the storm “was going to be some catastrophic thing” but that it wouldn’t be that bad “as long as you can swim.” Late Wednesday night, he posted another video saying that he thought he’d survived but then lost his power. “This is so much worse than I expected,” he said while pointing the camera out the window of his home, showing the destruction from several floors up. Thursday morning, he posted a video saying he’d survived, adding “They have to ban hurricane’s at night, that was the most stressful thing I’ve ever been a part of.”

I attempted to reach the creator through TikTok and Instagram DM, but got no response. @stephantradez, though, was one of many people who kept posting on TikTok, and other social media platforms throughout the storm, despite, as the warning on one of the creator’s videos noted, “participating in this activity could result in you or others getting hurt.”

When Milton made landfall Wednesday night local time in Sarasota, it was a Category 3 hurricane. As it traversed Florida, it took the roof off of Tropicana Field, left millions without electricity, and killed several people. It also became the subject of TikToks with millions of views, and, according to a report in Rolling Stone turned the platform into “a hellscape of people staying in Hurricane Milton’s path for clout.”

While it’s true that some people likely stayed, and kept posting, because there was nowhere for them to go, others definitely seemed to be sticking around in an attempt to keep attention on their feeds. Rather than a hellscape, it became a demonstration of the best and worst of TikTok.

For every mom getting told to flee the storm’s path even as she explains that she can’t afford to, there’s someone saying they’re in an evacuation zone but sticking around while also offering up sports betting tips.

Then there’s Caroline Calloway. The influencer and author, who lives in Sarasota, drew the ire of the internet when she posted on X “where there’s a Callowill, there’s a Calloway” and said she wouldn’t be leaving her home, even as officials were stressing the importance of evacuating. (“You are going to die,” Tampa Mayor Jane Castor warned anyone who stayed put.) In an interview with New York Magazine’s Intelligencer, Calloway said she was staying to check on elderly neighbors, adding that her sense of humor is just “very dark.” On Thursday, she apparently sent a text to Intelligencer’s writer with a picture of herself and her cat with the message “I lived bitch.”

All of this wouldn’t feel so dystopian if the US—and the world—wasn’t hurtling toward a scenario when social media platforms, particularly TikTok, weren’t becoming a lot of people’s go-to news source. Even as Anderson Cooper braves the storm to give CNN viewers updates on Milton, a new report from Pew Research shows 52 percent of Americans who are on TikTok regularly get their news there. Not from media outlets, but from influencers and content creators.

While these accounts may be relying on reports from traditional outlets when they deliver news, their posts are “probably interspersed with a lot of very non-traditional content—like skits, funny dances or promotional content,” Aaron Smith, Pew’s managing director of data labs, told Axios. On-the-ground reporting from influencers, then, becomes mixed with entertainment. Watching it, or, admittedly, writing about it, feels like missing the point.

[blizzardsuplex]

A person we will hide behind the name @sadiesm told me that people were wondering if the "mom shooting dad" stuff MJF mentioned yesterday was actually true, so I decided to compile a bunch of fun (and "fun") points of interest about Roddy Strong's early life under the cut.

(All of this is stuff that he's publicly said in interviews/podcasts, by the way. I'm no internet stalker. CW for mentions of drug abuse and domestic violence.)

Yes, his mom did shoot his dad. Specifically, when he was around 11, his mom, who was a user of "hard" drugs and would often disappear for 2-3 weeks at a time on "trips" to do them, tried to drive off to do just that, only to find that the car battery had been disconnected by his dad to prevent it. They were both drunk (his dad especially abused alcohol), they fought to the point it got physical (which sadly wasn't uncommon), and when Roddy's dad was watching TV in their trailer extension shortly afterwards, his mom came in and shot him.

Roddy, however, was not there at the time; that night he was sleeping over at his cousin's (his older sister was, though).

His mom went to jail and his dad had to be a single parent for a while, which is why when he got a call if he wanted to train to be a pro wrestler he brought 12-year-old Roddy with him (they couldn't afford a babysitter).

The trainer for the first few months was Jim "the Anvil" Neidhart, which immediately hooked Roddy because it was someone he'd watched growing up; he would sit in the grass for hours (they trained in Neidhart's backyard IIRC) and just watch for a month.

One day Anvil tells Roddy to get in the ring if he wants, he fucks around on the top rope, and on the ride home his dad tells him something along the lines of "hey, Jim said that if you stuck to this, you might end up being something"

Whether or not Anvil was just being polite, that was the first time Roddy had been praised by anyone other than his parents for anything he felt he actually did/chose to do, and from then on he adopted wrestling as "his own thing".

He had a ring built in his own backyard and would wrestle himself for hours because he thought having a good match with a broomstick was an actual test.

He wrestled Davey Boy Smith Jr. when they were kids (he didn't live very far from where they trained); it was an awful match and Roddy nearly broke Davey Boy's arm on an incorrectly-applied arm wringer, but it was his first match captured on (home video) tape.

One of his constant supports coming up was WWF/WWE wrestler Molly Holly, who he'd send his tapes to; she actually trained with him in the backyard.

Speaking of WWF/WWE women, he innovated Victoria's finisher, the Widow's Peak, or at least is where she ultimately got it from (Molly Holly saw Roddy do it on a Florida indie show at when he was 15).

When he finally got friends thanks to high school football, he'd invite them to mess around in his ring...but it never lasted for long because they'd complain about how much Roddy would beat them up, LOL.

In high school, he did: football, shotput, a bit of tennis, and cheerleading.

He was also in gifted classes and his scholarship to university was apparently an academic one.

He apparently slept around a lot in his 20s, but he's only ever had three girlfriends (the third was Marina Shafir, who he ofc eventually married): the first was in high school, the second his first wife who he had been in an on-again, off-again relationship with for ten or so years--and he's actually said something along the lines of "I felt that of course I had to get a girlfriend; that's what guys my age do, right?"

He almost quit wrestling altogether until he got a letter from Ring of Honor at 19...and so everything that happened after happened.

To end on a funnyish story: when he was 7, Roddy, his dad, his uncle, and his cousin went to one of the concerts in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Coming Out of Our Shells tour. He was having a great time and was singing along to every word (apparently he loved the album)...until Leonardo came down into the crowd. Roddy, like every other kid there, rushed to touch him, but (according to him, because he was a very overweight child) he tripped, and by the time he got back up Leo was too far away. He then cried the entire rest of the night.

[youcouldmakealife]

SOTM: David/Jake; bilateral move

For the prompt: Jake pov marriage and kids discussion - I know he loves David but how does he feel seeing as he would want these things and his partner doesn’t AND

Companion piece to this.

Jake likes kids. A lot. Has liked them since he was a kid himself, always happy to look out for the littler ones, maybe because he was the baby in his own family, Allie and Nat bouncing between treating him like he was a doll and telling him he was too young to join whatever they were doing, quit bugging them.

He likes kids, and he's always wanted them, has for as long as he can remember. Wanted the same kind of family he had, the only thing missing from their happy family in the suburbs picture a dog, because dad was allergic to them.

Some things have changed — he figured he’d have a wife at the beginning, and then he didn’t know, and then it was David. Not ‘a wife’ or ‘a husband’, but David, because David's been it for him since he clapped eyes on him, pretty much. Maybe not that quick, but close.

After that, any daydreams about what the future looked like always included David, and that meant no suburban picket fence with three kids and a dog, meant no proposing at center ice, no matter how sick that would be. And definitely, definitely no romantic gold medal or Stanley Cup or anything. The daydreams stopped sometime around the point where David even looking him in the eye was asking for too much, started to again when they got back together, but at that point they were mostly daydreaming about what they’d do during the offseason, closer, more realistic.

Around twenty-seven or so he quit thinking about the picket fence for good, not because he grew out of it, but because he knew that the things he was thinking about, they weren’t things David wanted. And not just things David didn’t want: increasingly he was realizing that his idle fantasies were David’s worst nightmares.

*

The thing is, Jake retired wearing the exact same jersey he got drafted in, redesign aside. And he’s proud of that. He was never going to win a Cup with the Panthers, not when his career was winding down and the Panthers were going into their second and a half rebuild, the furthest he'd ever gotten with them the second round.

Talking with management before signing yet another one year contract, they said nobody would blame him if he wanted go somewhere else, roll the dice a time or two. But Florida had been home since he was a teenager, Jake had worn that jersey season after season, been proud to wear it, proud of the guys who did — even when they sucked, they were working their asses off, every single night, they were trying.

Jake wanted to retire in that jersey, and not the way Joe did, signing a one day contract to do it, though fuck knows he didn't hold it against him, was just happy to be a part of the ceremony when Joe did retire, because he missed the hell out of him when he was hunting for a Cup his final few seasons, just happy to see him in red and blue again. Proud, but a little envious when Joe's gamble paid off in his final year.

But then, Jake wouldn't take back staying a Panther for anything, not even a Cup. He doesn't regret a single thing. Joe won gambling on a game Jake wasn't willing to play — it'd be like being jealous of someone else winning the lottery when you never ever bought a ticket.

Not that David's a prize. And not that he’s something Jake’s staying loyal to because it’s been so long that it just makes sense to. Jake says he wouldn't have given up being a Panther for anything, but that's not true. If he'd had a shot to play with David, a real chance to play on a line with him, see just how good they are together, not in a camp or an All-Star game or tooling around on a rink in suburban Detroit, he thinks he might have. In fact, he’s pretty sure he wouldn’t have let them get the entire question out before he said okay.

And that doesn't make sticking with the Panthers any less meaningful. He did stick with them, after all. But there’s hockey, and there’s David, and he knows which is more important, and fuck knows both together would have been a no brainer decision,

It didn’t work out that way, unfortunately. Not that Jake has regrets, because he doesn’t, doesn’t see the point in having them, but that’s one of the things he knows has passed him by. By the time he hits forty, he knows the marriage and kids thing is too. Thinks he knew that a long time before that — at twenty-seven, changing the daydreams, at twenty-five, welcoming David back with two open arms then holding on tight, stunned with how lucky he was. Maybe even at nineteen, kissing David back, feeling like all his dreams just came true, not knowing that they were going to change along the way.

David sitting him down, letting him know that kids aren’t a thing he wants, that isn’t news for him — he doesn’t think David’s right about himself, thinks David would be a good parent, that he’d work hard at it like he’s worked hard at everything he cares about, and he’d care so fucking much. But Jake’s well aware that this isn’t the kind of subject where reasoning beats out emotions, and, whether or not David would make a good father doesn’t actually matter, because he doesn’t want to be one.

The worst thing is that the only reason this comes up is Jake thought he was being helpful. David hates talking about it, visibly freezes up when the topic comes up, so Jake always says something noncommittal and changes the subject as quickly as possible. 

He thought that was the kindest thing he could do, but maybe it isn’t, maybe it just made David suffer for longer. Jake hadn’t known he was suffering at all, but the way David’s talking, somewhere between hesitant and frantic, talking like this is something he expects Jake to hold against him, something he expects Jake to leave him for — 

“David,” Jake says. David looks up, meeting his eye for less than a second before he ducks his head, like he’s ashamed. Or — no. Like he’s scared. Like he’s terrified. He looks down at his hands, and when Jake looks at them too, that’s when he finally notices they’re shaking.

“I’ve been gone for you since we were eighteen years old,” Jake says softly. “What did you think was going to happen here?”

“I don’t know,” David says, very quietly, and it’s that, the smallness, that breaks Jake’s heart.