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hauntedbythefanficsofmypast · 4 years ago

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When you need a Superfriend

By Nach0Ava

On Archive of Our Own

Tumblr user: @nach0ava

So I have not really watched Supergirl however when I read the first chapter I had to share this with you all! This is the first chapter by Nach0Ava. (Second chapter is on its way as well!) Marinette gets sent away by her parents to America! Please go read Nach0Ava's story!

Summary:

When Tom and Sabine believe Lila's lies, they send Marinette off to live with an old family friend in National City. When living with a government agent and a physiologist, how long is it until she gets figured out?

Chapter 1:

“I don’t understand! Why are you sending me away?”

Marinette looked up at her parents in disbelief. They had just told her that she was going to be sent to live with a family friend. In America! Sure, she could speak fairly good English, but it still didn’t make sense!

“Your recent behaviour has led us to think that the change could be good for you. Kelly and her girlfriend Alex are lovely people, and they might be better equipped to deal with you than we are.”

As her mother spoke, Marinette felt a bitterness rise in her. Of course. Lila. She had made good on her threat, managing to turn even her parents against her. Claiming that she was involved in a gang, she had an older boyfriend, she did drugs, the list went on. And when Tom and Sabine had caught Marinette out past curfew one too many times, they took it as the truth. She couldn’t tell them that she was Ladybug, so all she had was half-hearted excuses. Still, she needed a way to stay in Paris, as she couldn’t be Ladybug somewhere else, and if there was no Ladybug, there was no-one to catch the akuma, and no-one to cast the cure, never mind all her guardian duties…

She was getting off track. She had a goal and she needed to accomplish it. Just like taking down an akuma. Except she couldn’t hit this problem really hard for it to go away.

“Is there any way I could stay in Paris? I’ll switch schools, I’ll go live with grandpa Roland, I’ll do anything!”

Tom and Sabine exchanged a look. They didn’t want to believe it, but they had to make sure.

“Honey, calm down, aren’t you worried about an akuma?”

Marinette started pacing as she rambled, mostly to herself.

“Right, I’ll get upset, then you guys will get mad at me, and then one or both of you will be akumatised and then I’ll have that whole mess to deal with.”

Tom reached out a hand to her shoulder to stop her pacing.

“You aren’t worried about you getting akumatised?”

Marinette shook her head.

“No no, I’ll be fine.”

A slight push from her bag and the looks from her parents made her backtrack.

“I mean, I’m really good at calming down before they get to me, I mean, it’s worked so far right?”

She let out a nervous chuckle while her parents stared at her.

“Marinette… Are you working with Hawkmoth?”

Marinette looked for the start of a smile from her mum, the laughter in her dad’s eyes, anything to say they were joking. When the just kept staring she burst into laughter.

“Haha, you guys… You guys really thought… Haha, that’s hilarious!”

Her parents failed to see the humour and gave her thatlook.

“Remember all those times I’ve been attacked? Reflekta, Horificator, pretty much any akuma that clones or traps people I’ve gotten tangled up in.”

Not technically a lie, she never said she got hitspecifically, but she definitely got attacked.

“Well, maybe you should get out of Paris anyway. It’s clearly not safe here, and maybe it’s best for you to leave. You’ll like it in National City, they even have their own superheros!”

Great. A reminder of what I have to give up because of Lila. She was about to keep protesting, but she felt three quick pushed on her side by Tikki. We need to talk.Her argument died on her tongue and she sighed.

“When am I meant to leave?”

Her parents exchanged relived looks.

“The plane is booked for next Friday. That gives you about a week to pack up. We could mail over a box with all of your sewing things once you get settled, if Kelly and Alex are ok with it of course.”

Marinette fought the eyebrow that was threating to raise. A week? I was hoping for some more time to test and train a new guardian, and a new holder for Tikki. It would be a rush, and there weren’t many people she trusted anymore. Still, there was work to be done, so she had to get started.

“I guess I’ll go start packing then. Can I be un-grounded so I can spend my final week saying goodbye and sorting things out?”

Her parents nodded, glad she was taking this so well.

“Of course honey, just not tonight ok? It’s getting rather late.”

Marinette nodded and ran up to her room, shutting the trapdoor quickly. She went up onto her bed and starting crying into her pillow, feeling the weight of all the kwami comforting her. Eventually she rolled on to her back, drying her tears.

“I’m sorry Tikki, you said you wanted to talk?”

She looked at her expectantly. Marinette already knew what Tikki wanted. She needed to find a new wielder and Guardian, and she shouldn’t have been putting it off, but sometimes it felt good to cry. Tikki came to settle on her lap and patted her leg comfortingly.

“Marinette I know what you’re thinking, and you don’t have to give up being Ladybug or being Guardian. So you better stop that train of thought right now missy.”

Marinette sat up, blinking. How could she… Oh.

“I’m an idiot.”

Tikki giggled while she flew up and booped her nose, while Kaalki sniffed from the corner.

“I can’t believe you forgot about me Guardian. You’ve given me out before!”

Marinette giggled at the kwami’s haughty attitude.

“Sorry Kaalki, I got a bit too emotional to think clearly.”

Kaalki just grabbed a sugar cube with a huff and flew off. Marinette climbed off her bed and grabbed her bright pink suitcase.

“So who wants to help me pack?”

~~<3~~

Chloe, Kagami, Luka and Marinette were all sitting at a table at a café during their lunch break. Luka had graduated already, so he was usually free to hang out. Chloe had come up to Marinette not too long after Lila’s takeover with an apology. Marinette had been wary at first, but Chloe was actually really nice when she wasn’t putting up an act. She had soon proven herself and had been given another chance at being a hero, under the new name Honeybee. Kagami had approached her after Adrien had asked for advice on the Lila situation. She had hated his passive approach, and when she had tried to talk to him about it, he just refused her help, ignoring the fact that he had asked for her help. Kagami had come to offer her help, and they become friends soon after. She had re-claimed the dragon, under the new name Tempête. Luka had heard Lila’s heart song and immediately knew that was someone that he didn’t want to hang around. He had tried warning Juleka and the rest of Kitty Section, but Lila had told them that having an older singer wasn’t a good look. He had been kicked out, and Marinette had been there to comfort him with pastries and musicals. After she had introduced everyone to each other, they had become a tightly knit group. So, as one could imagine, they weren’t taking this well.

“They gave you a week? That’s ridiculous, utterly ridiculous!”

Kagami made a noise of displeasure as well.

“Sending you to America seems a bit extreme, what reason did they give again?”

Marinette scoffed.

“My ‘recent behaviour’ or something like that. Also known as, Lila. Oh, that’s not even the best part.”

Marinette gave out a dry chuckle and everyone looked on in interest.

“Apparently, I’m working with Hawkmoth.”

Luka plucked a string on his guitar, sending out a loud note. Chloe just stared in disbelief, and Kagami made for her foil.

“I’m going to run them through with my sword.”

Kagami gripped it tightly, ready to get up and make good on her threat, but Marinette grabbed it from her, unbothered by the fencer’s unimpressed glare.

“No-one is stabbing anyone. I don’t really have a choice, so I just have to suck it up and deal with it. Besides, it could be good to get away from Lila.”

Chloe was the first to get up to give her a hug, followed by Luka, and then by Kagami, who Marinette wasn’t completely sure that she wasn’t just trying to get her sword back.

“It’ll be ok guys, we can still video chat through Skype or something. I won’t be able to text, because I’ll be on an American phone plan, but we can figure something out!”

Chloe pulled away and took out her phone, tapping away immediately.

“I’m going to get you an amazing phone plan, with unlimited overseas. Same for the rest of you. That way, we can all talk and not worry about the fact that there’ll be an ocean dividing us.”

Marinette slowly took the phone and added it to her slowly growing pile, pointedly ignoring the glare Chloe shot her.

“I’m sure there are other, free, ways to contact each other. I think there’s an online service, what’s the name in English? Chaos or something like that?”

Luka strummed at his guitar in thought before pulling up an app on his phone.

“Is this the one you were thinking of?”

He had opened Discord, in dark mode of course, and had his profile open.

“Yeah, that’s the one! We can talk on there, and it has the bonus of being accessible from computers! So, no reason to go overboard, ok Chloe?”

Chloe humped and opened up the app store, downloading Discord. Kagami noticed what she was doing and mirrored her. They all took a few minutes to make accounts and become friends, before Luka, the one with the most experience, had set up a server for them all. Quickly choosing nicknames, Marinette pocketed her phone with a grin.

“Now that that’s done, anyone want to come help me pick some things to take?”

~~<3~~

It felt like the week passed quickly, lessons passing by in a blur. She didn’t pay much attention, just enough to keep Mrs Bustier satisfied. She didn’t bother alerting anyone in the class (outside of Chloe) that she was leaving, ignoring their taunts and insults. Chloe and Kagami had been big helps in learning how to ignore them, so now they rolled off her like water on a duck. She made sure not to bring anything valuable, most of her stuff was in a suitcase anyway. On her final day, she only had her schoolbooks, the school assigned tablet, and three neatly wrapped gifts. As she was packing up to go meet her friends for a final goodbye, she was stopped by Alya.

“I need you to make a dress for the upcoming school dance.”

Marinette briefly noted that this was a demand, rather than a request, but she just started her usual commission speech with a sigh.

“Depending on the materials used and the time it takes to make, the dress could cost anywhere from €300 to €500. There will also be shipping costs, plus the fact I’m not taking commissions right now, so it will probably be a few weeks before I might be able to get started on it.”

Alya was staring at Marinette like she had grown another head.

“€300, what are you talking about? I’m not paying youfor a dress, and you make mine every year, so what’s the problem? I can’t wait a few weeks, the dance is next weekend!”

Marinette sighed and pushed past the taller girl.

“The problem is that I don’t have time, materials are expensive, and I made you those dresses when we were friends. But we’re not now. So, leave me alone. Goodbye Alya.”

She walked out to meet her friends, leaving Alya behind, too stunned to talk. When she snapped out of it, she grumbled to herself.

“She’ll see reason on Monday. She has no right to refuse after all she’s done to Lila! Maybe if she makes Lila’s dress too, she’ll forgive her! Lila’s nice like that, Marinette will come around after making up for everything she’s done!”

Alya walked away, satisfied, planning her new dress in her mind.

Marinette ran up to her friends, engulfing them in hugs. They all hugged right back, sad to see her go. Marinette suddenly pulled away from the hug, and grabbed three parcels out of her bag. She handed them all out, urging them to open them. Luka opened his first, finding a beanie that perfectly matched his hair, with a teal snake pattern around the rim. Chloe went next, her patience not holding any longer. She got a headband with tiny bees embroidered all along it. Kagami received a red handkerchief, with an elemental dragon on one side, and a storm cloud on the other, a lightning strike going all the way across. They all started to thank her at once, with Marinette just blushing sheepishly.

“I just took note of all your favourite heroes, and added them to a design. It’s not that big of a deal.”

They all hugged again, before the clock chimed behind them, making Marinette jump.

“I have to go! I’ll send you all a message when I land, but you better not stay up for it if it’s late here!”

A chorus of “No promises!” filled her ears as she ran home, taking in the sights one more time. She burst into the bakery to find her mum still working the counter, and her dad busy baking. Not thinking much of it, she went up to her room to grab her belongings. After some quick cuddles from the kwami, she had everything she needed. Most flew into the suitcase, comfy in the hidden area Marinette had made, lined with a soft faux fur. Only Tikki and Kaalki flew into her jacket, ready to transform if need be. They had assured her they wouldn’t show up on the x-ray, so she was fine with having them in there. As she lifted her suitcase and went downstairs, her strength from being Ladybug shining through, she was surprised to see her parents still busy at work.

“Maman, Papa, I thought we were going to the airport now?”

Her parent’s exchanged looks before Tom stopped his baking and walked over.

“Honey, we can’t afford to come with you, we need to keep the bakery open. There’s an Uber outside for you, but you’ll have to go on your own. I’m sorry.”

He pulled her into a hug, one she half-heartedly returned. She walked over to hug her mum as well, and went outside with her suitcase.

This was it.

She was really being sent away.

All because of some dumb liar.

With a comforting press coming from inside her jacket, she got in the Uber, prepared to start her new life.

#miraculous ladybug #miraculous marinette #marinette dupen chang #miraculous au #miraculous fandom #miraculoustalesofladybugandcatnoir #ml salt fic #superfamily #supergirl #arrowverse #kelly olsen #alex danvers #lila bashing #lila salt #class salt #alya+salt #chloe sugar

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tinygoblinjewel · 7 years ago

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|| OOC ||

Just finished tweaking my theme so my links are working again! I will get to starters tomorrow after work.

#;ooc #//if anyone wants to chat feel free to hit me up for my skype or discord

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lorieninksong · 3 years ago

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Hi everyone I'm dying. My cPTSD symptoms and extreme isolation are literally killing me. (Currently Body-kun is trying to engage perma-sleep, I was not able to wake up yesterday. Didn't eat, drink, take meds, use the restroom... none of my basic needs or my wife's efforts could help me stay awake. Its bad Boss.) I need to talk to people. I need to hear people's voices talking to me. Who wants to talk to me? The deets:

-Skype or Discord strongly preferred -You don't have to know me. You just have to want to chat! You can just talk to me like a stranger waiting for the same bus. It would still be aces. -Boundaries need to be stated and respected for personal safety. For example: Please don't try to make romantic/sexual advances on me, try to use me for free therapy or creative work, etc. -Be socially responsible. I know that sounds intense but it just means please don't go codependent on me and tell me I "make you feel or do X". I need you to be responsible for your experience, and that means being able to tell me your boundaries or at least hit the bricks if this isn't a positive or safe social encounter for you. I am not here to take anyone down with me. -Be patient. I will do my best to be online when I say I'm going to be but I am very sick. So if I don't show up for an appointment to chat or my status indicator is wrong I need some forgiveness. (I need you to not be the friend who gets mad when I don't call on Monday after being in the ER. Yes that did happen.) Ooookay I think that is sufficiently long and uncomfortable for everyone. *insert awkward laughter here* If you want to chat just let me know, any method is fine. And if you don't I need you to understand that its not your responsibility to help everyone who needs it (you can't) and not beat yourself up about it. Its okay. Okay thanks bye love you

#long post #mental health #fuck this is awkward #I feel the need to promise I'm not trying to be a dramatic weirdo #I am genuinely terrified and feel out of options #okay #sorry #bye

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surveys-at-your-service · 3 years ago

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Survey #375

“why do i see her, the never-ending night / why do i see her, wearing nothing but the dark?”

Who’s one person who changed how you viewed something? I hold Rhett & Link responsible for "curing" my homophobia. I went through a phase where I shipped them like CRAZY, and they're still my "OTP," and it really made me question why I had such a disgusting belief. The switch was officially flipped when listening to their podcast with Hannah Hart, who discussed growing up as a lesbian surrounded by homophobia. Let me tell you, it felt fucking good to let that repulsive belief go. It was my former religion that tied me to it, but it could no longer be an excuse to me, even when I stayed Christian a while longer. And here I am now as a bisexual woman who wants to deck younger me dead in the face. :') Were you ever scared of driving? What scared you about it? I am TERRIFIED of driving. I'm most scared of getting in a wreck and killing somebody, something I would never. Ever. Ever. Forgive myself for. I'm also petrified of, once again, getting in a wreck and I wind up paralyzed from the neck down. The most memorable time that you skipped school, what did you do? Nothing very exciting. What was the last topic you did thorough research on? Why? Toxic masculinity for an essay in college. What is a dish you absolutely love, but hate to prepare yourself? I don't cook, so. Of the many different American accents, which one is your favorite? New York. Is there anything hanging from the doorknob in your room? No. Why did you move to where you’re living now? Because we had to get out of our former house because the growing mold problem was a health hazard (especially for Mom, given her then-recent cancer diagnosis), and our family friend newly owned this house as a part of the former resident's will. Said resident knew Mom as well and the house problems, so she wanted Tobey to help us into this house anyway. What’s your opinion on wearing pajamas in public? Do you yourself do that? I literally couldn't care less. I do it a lot. Do you usually fill up at the same gas station? No; Mom just pays attention to the price. Are you currently looking for a new job? No. I don't plan to until I'm done with TMS therapy. Are any of your relatives musicians? No. Have you ever had an asthma attack? Thank goodness no. My mom has asthma and I have seen her have an attack, so I know they're terrifying. Have you ever been in a hospital and not felt safe? There was one occasion during a psych hospital stay that my roommate had WILD anger issues. She would explode out of seemingly NOWHERE, to the point once or twice she had to be put in solitary because she would literally scream and damage shit, like throwing tables and such. She scared the piss out of me to the point I finally plucked up the courage to tell the nurses that I needed a different room. What’s the highest fever you’ve ever had? I don't remember. Have you ever been hospitalized for a day or more? At psych hospitals. I think my shortest visit was just shy of a week. Have you ever had surgery? Two. Are you lonely? I'm admittedly very lonely. Are you mad at someone right now? No. Do you eat late at night? I sometimes need a small midnight or so snack because I cannoooooooot sleep when my stomach is growling. If I'm in basically any sort of discomfort, I have extreme trouble sleeping. Who do you miss? A lot of people. I miss Jason, Megan, Mini, Hannia, Emily, Journee... I don't feel like dwelling on those I've lost. Who do you admire most? Mark. If you could transform into any animal what would it be and why? Maybe a cat. Quick, agile, stealthy, majestic, well-equipped to defend itself... sounds pretty good. Are you more artistic or mathematical? Definitely more artistic. Which supermarket do you usually shop at? Wal-Mart. When was the last time you went to McDonald’s? I'm not sure, but it's been a while. Maybe around a month. What was the last chocolate bar you ate? I believe I had a 3 Musketeers because I was really craving one. Who was the last person you talked to on Skype/video chat? The woman who was doing my evaluation to determine if I was a good fit for TMS therapy. Can you remember the first time you ever talked to the person you love/like? Does he/she remember? I think I might have a vague idea, but I don't really remember. Would you be able to have a relationship with someone you didn’t find attractive, if they had a nice personality and treated you well? Yep. It sounds cheesy, but I do mean it when I say a beautiful inside blossoms into the body itself for me personally. Does the last person you kissed have brown eyes? Yes. Have you ever really liked someone to begin with, then changed your mind about them? I guess you could say Girt, because I had a pretty big crush on him when I started HS. We were just friends for way too long that when we finally dated years upon years later, it felt much too weird. He really was my "brother from another mother" by that point. Has anyone ever told you that they wanted to spend the rest of their life with you? Aaaaand he left. :^) If you decided to dye your hair, would you choose to go lighter or darker? Lighter. I want to dye my hair pastel colors so very badly. Do you know what the Enneagram is and if so, what’s your type? INFP. Do you listen to Mayday Parade? I only know "Terrible Things," which I positively adore. Do you have trouble falling asleep at night? I have an extremely hard time sleeping at night. It's honestly one reason I sometimes sleep so much during the day. Are you on a laptop, desktop or phone/iPod? A laptop. Have you ever been so angry that you screamed out of nowhere? I've screamed into a pillow. What’s the longest movie you’ve ever watched? I dunno, maybe over three hours? What was the last thing you watched on Netflix or Hulu? I have no clue. What do you think about your current relationship status? I mean I miss being in love and having someone who sees a future with me, but I know in the deepest part of me that it's wiser that I stay single until I figure some things out. Of most concern, I don't have a job or even a confident sign I'll have one soon, I'm not in school headed for a career, I don't drive, I don't cook... I'm a liability, financially and in other ways. It wouldn't be fair to my partner or even myself to go into a relationship with a heavy risk of heartbreak because I'm taking too long to get to where I want to be. I'm 25 now - if/when I get into a relationship, I want forever, and I'm not wasting time on anyone for almost inevitable failure as romantic partners. I want to AT LEAST have a steady job before I enter another relationship. How many people have you kissed? Three or four. Do you go out on dates? I have no one to go on a date with. Do you kiss on the first date? I never have and probably wouldn't, but I guess if things went very well and I was really into the person, maybe I would. What’s the farthest you’ve gone with someone? Doing to do. Would you rather receive a stuffed animal, flowers, or chocolate? I'd really appreciate any. I think flowers are sorta overrated though honestly, like someone ripped some healthy flowers from their roots and doomed them to a quickly-approaching death, but society still has a part of me thinking "oh that's sweet." I think more than anything, I'd be crazy over a meerkat plushy. Or would expensive jewelry just be fine? You really don't have to do that for me; I don't really wear much jewelry at all anyway. Odds are you'd be wasting your money. What’s the cheesiest romantic gift you’ve ever received? I don't know. Do you like romantic poetry? Yessssssssss. Have you ever been rickrolled? I'm unsure. Do you like bologna? Yeah. It was my favorite lunch meat as a kid. Have you ever had a nose bleed? Yes. Have you ever puked on a fair ride before? No, because I don't go on rides that generally induce that sort of risk. What animals have you ridden? Just ponies. What is your parents' idea of grounding you? Taking away my access to the computer. Dragons or unicorns? Dragons! Do you wish vampires existed? Uh, no. At the moment what is your favorite song? I'm going through another phase of really digging "Castle of Glass" by Linkin Park. Have you ever been pantsed? No. What is your favorite magazine? I don’t read any. Did you ever like Barbies? Do you currently like Barbies? I never really was, I just played with them when my little sister wanted to. I was more into playing with my dinosaurs and Pokemon and stuff. I'm not into them now, either. What’s your favorite hit song right now? I don't know what songs are "hits" right now. What’s your favorite element? (fire, water, air) Fire, aesthetically. Have you ever been to a wild party? Nah. Do you put on a robe when it’s cold? I don't own a robe. Is the last person you kissed gay? She's demisexual. What breed was the last dog you saw? She's some sort of hound mix. We think there might be dalmatian in her, too. What type of day are you having? It's been all right. I'm just REALLY not feeling this damn heat. Driving an hour and back to the TMS office in a car that has no A/C is agony. Have you ever thought about getting your nose pierced? It's been pierced multiple times, and I want to do it again, but this time with a nostril hoop versus a stud so the goddamn thing stays in. Do you prefer warm or cold weather? I have an incredibly strong preference for cold weather. Fuck the heat. Like just 70*F is "too hot" to me. Who was the last person you talked to in person? My mom. Do you hate the person you fell hardest for? No. Do you like rain? Yes, but I don't like being caught out in it. I just like looking at and listening to it. Have you ever liked somebody and never told them? Yep. Do you like to cuddle? If I really like you and it's not too hot, yeah. Are you shy? I'm excruciatingly shy. If you were paid 1 million dollars to spend the night in a supposed haunted house, would you? Hunny, I'd do that for free. Which do you like better- zebra print or leopard print? I'm not really a fan of either particular pattern on anything but the animal. Do you have any stickers on your car? I don't have my own car, but Mom has one that allows her to park in her old school's parking lot. Do you watch Pretty Little Liars? No. My sister Misty, tho

#survey #surveys #questions #lyrics: ''her silent language'' by dark tranquility

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marril96 · 5 years ago

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The Distance Between Us

Epilogue: What the Future Holds

Pairing: Rowena x reader

Summary: Five years later...

A/N: Here we are, folks. This is the end. I would like to thank everyone who helped me get this story to where it is. From my wonderful editors to my faithful readers — I appreciate every single one of you amazing people. Thank you so much! For reading, commenting, helping me out, talking to me, believing in me, encouraging me to continue even when it was hard. I hope the ending is satisfying enough, and that we will hang out soon when I work on my other projects. Best of regards, Mariana. ♥

Editor: @miss-moon-guardian

*****

There was nothing better than a wedding to get the old gang back together.

It had been a while since you'd seen everyone all at once.

Five long years — ever since you'd graduated high school.

There were times when it felt as if it had happened yesterday. As if you'd just said goodbye to your friends before everyone went their own way, their own direction, colleges and jobs calling.

Time sure liked to fly.

You made sure to stay in contact with everyone. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram; all tools you readily used. They were your friends. Some distance couldn't change that.

The seven of you had your own Facebook chat group that was filled to the brim with messages. Memes were shared. Laughs exchanged — in emoji form, but laughs nonetheless. News, good and bad, were told. Advices asked for and given.

It almost felt like old times.

Almost.

But not quite.

The truth was, despite how hard you tried to maintain your friendship, things changed.

Life happened.

Sam had gone to Stanford on full scholarship, dreaming big of contributing to the world, helping save it. With the way things were going, you were confident he would do it. If anyone could help make the world a better place, it was him.

In his free time, he liked to give speeches on healthy lifestyles, which, for some bizarre reason, consisted of consuming a lot of kale.

A kale smoothie had become a signature of his, the cup seemingly glued to his hand.

He'd become a hit on the internet for it. A meme everyone in your friend group shared and poked fun at. Light-heartedly, of course.

Dean was convinced Sam was doing it to embarrass him.

Sam, in turn, had told him a healthier diet would do him good.

Dean wasn't interested, and, a few hours later, had posted a picture of himself stuffing a big, greasy hamburger into his mouth with the caption #DownWithKale.

Sam was not amused.

Crowley had changed his name as soon as he'd turned eighteen. Crowley had officially become his name, Fergus long forgotten, thrown in the trash where he felt it belonged.

His family still called him Fergus.

Well, Rowena and his mother did. Gavin, the good boy that he was, had always referred to him as Crowley, which was why he was Crowley's favorite family member (his only family member, if he had any say in it).

He'd gone into studying business, rich businessman future planned out to the smallest details. He'd intended to work his way to the top; it would take a while, but he was confident hard work, combined with his cunning, ambitious nature, would earn him the throne.

Maybe, he'd mused, he could eventually open his own company. Be his own boss. Set his own terms.

May he have the best of luck.

Castiel had gone into teaching. A surprising choice of career, especially considering his awkward nature, but it was what he wanted to do. Helping kids. Guiding them by his own example.

He certainly had the drive for it.

Who knows? Maybe kids would like him. Maybe they would like his awkwardness.

Meg, not really the scholarly type, had gone to community college and had found herself working in a supermarket.

She hated her job, and she hated the customers even more. The chat was frequently filled with her rants about one thing or another that had occurred at work that particular day.

Funny stuff, usually.

Especially when she snapped at customers and got reprimanded for it, but kept doing it anyway because her boss knew all too well he couldn't afford to lose her as an employee.

Instead of a college, Dean had gone into trades. He'd opened his own little mechanic shop back in Lawrence. It was hard work, far from ideal, paid just enough to cover the costs of living, but he enjoyed it. He was happy.

That was all that mattered.

Rowena had worked hard on her intensive at Joffrey. It was a difficult three months; she was always practicing, always dancing, on her feet from dawn to dusk. You'd barely gotten to talk, aside from the weekends, which you'd spent in front of your phones or laptops, Skype open, smiles wide as you talked about each week's events.

You'd missed her so much.

Too much.

But, as with all things, the intensive had eventually ended and you'd gotten to have her home for a week — a whole week! — before college officially started.

The two of you couldn't keep your hands off each other that entire time.

It wasn't enough — seven measly days was far from enough — but it was something.

After three months of drought, it was the welcome, desperately awaited rain.

Parting for college was even more difficult. You'd each gone your own way, different as you were, each pursuing your own dream.

It was a struggle, but, like the intensive, you'd made it work.

You'd kept in contact. Skyped at every available moment. Traveled to one another's schools when the opportunity arose. Made sure to spend the holidays (the most important ones) together.

And, just like that, years had gone by, and soon enough school was behind you and you were together once again.

The decision to move in together was a mutual one. It was more of an understanding, really. With school behind you, jobs calling, and the relationship stronger than ever even all these years later, it just made sense to take it a step further.

Why wouldn't you live together?

You did everything else together, so you might as well, to quote Crowley every time he walked in on you making out, get a room.

So you did.

You rented an apartment in Manhattan. A small one that, despite its size, was warm and pleasant and felt just like home.

Your and Rowena's home.

Sometimes it felt like a dream.

As if, every moment now, you would wake up and realize the last five years of your life were nothing but a fantasy, a product of your sleeping mind.

Then you would kiss Rowena's cheek, take a sip of tea from her mug just to tease her (her glares and pouts were adorable), and smile, and the reality — your reality, one you'd worked hard to accomplish, your so wished for future — would settle in and all the silly thoughts would go away as if they'd never existed.

You'd made it.

The future you'd dreamed of, that you and Rowena had planned for so thoroughly, had come to be.

It wasn't perfect, but it was yours.

Rowena had found work at Broadway. She was a dancer, and an excellent one; with Joffrey on her resume, the job was hers the moment she'd stepped into the audition room.

You were having difficulty with finding employment yourself, but, luckily, her pay was enough to cover the living costs of the two of you.

You felt bad; the last thing you wanted was to look as if you were taking advantage. But she'd made it clear she didn't mind. You were together. A family, for no other word could describe what you had, what you'd built and grew together. What was hers was yours, and vice versa.

Being a housewife wasn't your ideal profession, if one could call it that, but it wasn't bad.

It was, dare you say it, fun.

You found yourself enjoying awaiting Rowena's return after a long, exhausting day on her feet — literally — with a loving hug, a peck on the lips, and a warm meal on the table — a delivery from a restaurant or a warmed up can, for cooking was a skill you were still far from perfecting.

You were happy.

And so was she.

The two of you made it work.

Lately, Rowena had been considering joining the Royal Ballet. It was a big step, one that required careful thinking and plenty of discussions.

Moving to another city was one thing.

Moving to another country, half across the world, on the other hand…

She'd made it clear she wasn't going to make the decision without you. This concerned you, too; if you wanted to stay in New York, you would stay.

Both of you.

She just wanted you to think about it, weigh in cons and pros.

And you did.

You'd been thinking about it for weeks.

Bless her heart, Rowena was patient. She didn't push you, or rush you, or try to guilt you. She left you to your own pace.

You were immensely grateful for it.

By the time the wedding came, you were pretty sure you'd made up your mind.

In a day or two — hell, maybe even today, after the ceremony — you would tell her.

It was a small wedding, closest family and friends only. Sam was never one for parties. He and Eileen had rented a small cottage with a beautiful yard they'd decorated themselves. Quite cheap, as far as American weddings went, but lovely.

This was a wedding for love, not luxury.

When Sam had announced he was engaged in the group chat a year ago, you weren't surprised. You'd always had a feeling he would go for it first. While Dean was a one night stand kind of guy, Sam was more the settle down type. The kind of guy who kicked ass at work during the day and then cuddled with his wife and kids at night. The picture of a family man.

And, god, would he be a good one!

He was sweet and caring, a wonderful friend, and, no doubt, an even more wonderful boyfriend. Husband material, if you ever knew one.

Eileen was equally sweet, equally amazing. A lovely girl who treated everyone like a friend and loved Sam with all her heart.

They were perfect for each other.

Seeing your gang together after five years, in person, in full color, was an experience that was almost supernatural. There was screaming and squealing and hugging and teasing. You'd forgotten how noisy you were all together.

Your mind flashed back to high school, to afternoons at Biggerson's, sipping at your smoothies and coffees and stealing fries off each other's plates.

Those were the days.

There wasn't much difference to either of you. You were older, but other than that, you still looked the same. You teased each other as you'd used to, joked as if you were still that bunch of high schoolers who had the whole world under their feet.

There were changes, obviously. Inevitably. Some subtle, others not so much.

Sam's hair was an inch or so shorter, or so it looked in the pictures (he was still getting ready, having not yet shown himself to the guests).

You followed his example, having never been one for big change. Shorter hair was shorter hair, even if only a bit.

Dean bore — proudly — a few scars. Work injuries, though you were willing to bet he'd earned a couple in the bar fights he liked to brag about.

"You should see the other guy," he always said.

You never had any particular desire to.

Crowley had a small beard, and wore it well; it made him look older, more mature.

Emphasis on look, for he and Rowena still bickered like brats.

Gavin, the actual child of the family, was more mature than the two of them.

Rowena wore less sparkly clothes (she now saved those for special occasions). Instead, she preferred to wear dress pants and blouses that you found strangely arousing.

Sometimes you got her to role-play in them. She made one delicious businesswoman.

Castiel dressed the same, trench coat over everything (even wore the damn thing to the wedding), looked the same, acted the same, however, his change was big.

It tied right into Meg's for she was seven months pregnant, and her stomach was appropriately swollen to showcase it.

She'd gained a bit of weight and dyed her hair blonde, but her character remained the same.

She was still that same foul-mouthed, opinionated firecracker of a girl.

And you loved her for it.

"You look great!" you told her first thing you saw her. Then you threw an arm around her, your other one wrapping around Castiel, and said, "I couldn't wait to congratulate you guys in person! I'm so happy for you!"

You were.

Happy from the bottom of your heart.

Ecstatic.

Proud.

The two of them had done well for themselves. Like your and Rowena's, their life wasn't perfect, but they made it work. They lived it to the fullest.

They were happy.

In love.

Excited for the baby, a joyous little accident.

You weren't the parenting type, (neither was Rowena), however, while raising a family wasn't your particular dream, you couldn't have been more excited for them.

This was what they wanted.

What kind of a friend would you be if you judged?

Families came in all shapes and sizes.

As did dreams. Ambitions. Aspirations.

Supporting them, wishing them well in any and every form — that was the true meaning of friendship.

Meg and Castiel would make amazing parents.

Weird and eccentric, but still amazing.

That baby would be one happy, very loved kid. Surrounded by a large family of aunts and uncles, all loving, caring, eager to spoil them.

Blood-related and not.

As far as Meg and Castiel were concerned, your group was family.

It was definitely better than some actual family members.

Like Castiel's father, good old Principal Shurley, who'd, a couple years ago, gotten himself into quite a bit of trouble for embezzlement.

The news didn't quite shock you as it should have. There was always something about him.

Lucifer never stopped getting in trouble. Only, once he was out of school, his daddy couldn't sweet talk his way out of it (not that he hadn't tried; Castiel talked quite a bit about Chuck's restless attempts, and failures, to save him) and thus the darling little angel had gotten himself quite a record.

Assault.

Harassment.

Battery.

You name it, he'd done it.

It turned out that the police didn't give a damn about what daddy Shurley had to say about his son's character.

They surely gave even less of a damn now that he was serving his sentence for embezzlement.

Lucifer was currently with him, doing a two year stint for… something.

It was hard to keep track when it came to him.

The current Lawrence Hugh's principal was Amara Shurley, Chuck's sister, because of course she was.

Nepotism for the win!

Though, from everything you'd heard, she was, so far, doing a great job. Far better than her brother ever did.

Castiel had cut all ties with his father and brother. He'd considered doing so earlier, but now that he was expecting a child, the decision came with ease.

He didn't want his child around criminals. Didn't want them to set the wrong example.

That alone told you he was going to be a great father.

The ceremony, modest as it was, was beautiful. Eileen, in her snow-white dress, looked like a princess. No — a queen, the veil a doubling as a crown. Sam was equally handsome, clad in a black suit that made him look somewhat older, more mature, a fairy tale prince come to life.

They said their vows with so much love on their faces you were one hundred percent certain they would make do on them to the letter.

Til death did them part.

There were smiles. Tears. So much joy it was overwhelming.

Meg was the lucky one who caught the bouquet, only to promptly, in a deadpan tone, say, "No," and shove it in Crowley's hands.

Crowley shoved it in Dean's, who shoved it back to him and started what was basically a struggle over the damn thing.

Not marriage material, your group.

Sam was the black sheep.

Laughter was exchanged.

Food — delicious! — eaten.

Drinks downed and refilled.

Dances had.

Aside from the newlyweds, Rowena had proven herself to be quite an attraction with her precise, professional moves. Everyone wanted to be her partner.

Not a dancer yourself, you had no problem with it.

However, after what had to be the tenth request, you considered charging people to dance with your girlfriend.

It was only fair.

The celebration extended long into the night. There was enough alcohol to keep everyone going.

The place, located in the middle of nowhere, was perfect for a party. No neighbors to complain about the noise. No busybodies sticking their nose in. Just a group of people having the fun of their lives, drunk out of their minds.

By the time you and Rowena arrived to your hotel, you were exhausted. There was more alcohol than blood in your veins. Your feet were killing you. Your throat ached from singing and shouting.

You hadn't even removed your clothes — shaking off your shoes, you plopped on the bed, curled up against each other, and drifted off to sleep.

When you woke up, Rowena was looking at you with a smile on her face. Your head pounding as if someone were whacking it with a hammer, eyes stinging, it took a bit of willpower to pull on one of your own.

"Were you watching me sleep?" Your voice was raspy, broken. You cleared your throat. Sucked in a breath.

God.

Singing had been a mistake.

Her smile melted into a smirk. She shrugged, nonchalant. Denying not a single thing. "I was just thinking."

"Should I be worried?" you teased.

"I'd hope not."

Her face grew serious.

Uh oh.

Now you definitely were worried.

Morning — a hungover one at that — was the worst possible time for serious conversations.

It wasn't a surprise, though.

Rowena prided herself in her unpredictability.

"What is it?" you asked, light draining from your face. Preparing for news that, at best, would be unpleasant, and, at worst, absolutely horrible.

"Sam and Eileen seem happy."

They did.

They were happy.

You nodded.

Rowena sighed, "Do you think we're happy?"

What was she trying to say? Heart racing, lump forming in your throat, you uttered a tad too defensively, "Do you think we're not?"

"Of course not!"

She seemed genuine, so there was that.

You allowed yourself a moment of relief. "Me, neither. I'm happy."

"As am I."

Good.

That was good.

You were on the same level.

She was silent for a few moments. Thought her words through. "I was just wondering if we should… take it a step further."

You frowned. "What do you mean?"

You had an inkling, but you wanted to hear it from her.

You wanted her to confirm it.

Rowena swallowed. "Get married."

It was as if all air had vanished from your lungs. Your throat was dry. Heart, once again, running a marathon. Hands shaking as if you were cold.

You weren't — you couldn't be — for as soon as the words left her mouth, a wave of heat flooded you, filled you up from head to toe.

Marriage wasn't on your list of priorities.

Wasn't on any of your lists, as a matter of fact.

You and Rowena loved each other — you didn't need a piece of paper to prove it.

But…

It would be a lie if you said you hadn't considered it once or twice.

What would it be like to call yourself her wife? To wear her ring; a promise in the form of shimmery gold?

"Or maybe just get engaged," she said after a few moments of uncomfortable, deafening silence. "Wear the rings."

You looked at her, eyes wide. Mouth trembling.

She gulped. Uncertain. Frightened. Nervous to the bone. "We don't have to. I was just… thinking out loud." She pulled on another smile — a fake on this time, hurt flickering over her face no matter how hard she tried to mask it. "Forget I said anything."

"No." You reached for her hand, twined your fingers with hers in a tight knot. "We could try."

She was stunned. "Really?"

"I don't see why not."

What was the worst that could happen?

You were already together. Already happy and crazy in love.

"We could try the engagement thing, see if it works," you said.

You had nothing to lose.

At this point, you could only gain.

Rowena beamed. A chuckle escaped her; lovely, happy. Adorable. "Okay!"

It was a perfect arrangement.

"I will get you a ring," she added. "Make it official."

"How about we both get rings?" you said. This was kind of a mutual proposal, after all. And also… "There's nice jewelry shops in the UK, right?"

It was her turn to be confused. "What?"

Your decision.

The one you'd been planning to relay to her.

The timing couldn't have been more perfect.

"We don't have to get engaged in USA, right?" you said. "Think about it. You, a Royal Ballerina. Me, a not-so-royal couch potato. That's a romance movie right there!"

Rowena gasped. Swallowed. Breathed in and out in attempts to contain her excitement. "You want to move to Britain?"

"That's what I'm saying, aren't I?" You grinned. Squeezed her hand. "I've been meaning to tell you. I figured now's the perfect time."

"Y/N, I…" She brought your linked hands to her mouth, kissed your knuckles. "Thank you! I just… Thank you, darling!"

You locked your lips with hers. Deepened the kiss, melted into it. Thought of millions of more you would share.

The future was yours.

All you had to do was seize it. Take it. Dig your claws in and never let go.

"Don't you forget me when you become a world-famous ballerina," you teased.

"Och, darling," she purred, "don't you know by now you're quite unforgettable?"

You chuckled. "Just making sure."

She pecked you on the mouth. "I love you."

"Me, too."

You'd loved her for five years.

You'd loved her when she was bad, and even more when she became good.

You'd loved her when she was away, and you'd loved her when she was here.

You'd loved her in your apartment.

You'd loved her in the United States.

And you would love her in the United Kingdom.

You loved her now, and you would love her in the future.

Forever.

And ever.

Til death did you part.

*****

Tags: @werewolfbarbie @oswinthestrange @songofthecagedmoose @apurdyfulmind @getthesalt-sam @metallihca @salembitchtrials @jay-eris @hellsmother @elizabeth-effie @shadowgirl-vsb @rowenaswife @wonderifshelikesroses @xfireandsin @liddell-alien @hotdiggitydammit @lae-lae @darkhumorsblog @angel7376 @cherrypierowena @ruthieconnells @evil-regal-vampiress @collectorofsecretsandsouls @angel-e-v-a @a-queen-and-her-throne @carryon-doctor-lock

#rowena #rowena macleod #spn #supernatural #spn family #crowley #fergus macleod #sam winchester #eileen leahy #dean winchester #meg masters #castiel #fanfiction #my fics #high school au #rowena x reader

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bestillmyslashyheart · 5 years ago

Text

Who can you call?

On Ao3

Thanks to @caitlesshea and @el-gilliath for reading this over and helping me work out the kinks

The first year, surprisingly, was the easiest. Fresh off of Rosa’s death and fleeing Roswell, Liz assumed that it would be the most painful year of her life and in some ways it was but in others, in the ways Liz expected, it really wasn’t.

For someone who had never been away from home before getting in her car and driving to California, she wasn’t homesick. Maybe it was the near constant communication with Maria and the regular check ins with her dad or even the pretty regular phone calls from Kyle, but she didn’t miss Roswell. She missed her sister, of course, and she missed seeing the people she loved, but she didn’t miss home.

She thought the holidays would get to her but her dad came out to visit and they did some sightseeing in Southern California and it was good. It wasn’t their usual Christmas celebration but it was a new tradition. For all that they didn’t talk about Rosa, they felt her with them the whole time.

So no, the first year wasn’t hard.

The second year, however. Well, that was a different story.

She got through the summer okay. Maria came out to see her for a few days and she spent the rest of the time with her new college friends and it was good.

If she missed Roswell a little bit, that was to be expected. If she missed a regular girls night out with Maria, well she could call her up. If she missed her dad, that was what Skype was for.

At some point, she missed Roswell with an almost physical ache, though. And it was that point that she picked up the phone and dialed a number she hadn’t called since she left Roswell in her rear view mirror.

The phone rang. And rang. And then went to voicemail.

Liz hung up without leaving a message. She cradled her phone in her hands, staring at the front screen, practically daring it to ring.

It didn’t but that didn’t stop her from staring.

“Uh, Liz?” Her roommate asked.

Liz grunted in response.

“You okay?”

“Fine.”

She heard her roommate start to say anything else but the phone started ringing and cut her off. Liz stared at it in amazement for long enough that it stopped ringing and beeped with a missed call.

She shook her head and quickly called back. As it rang she threw her legs over the side of the bed and fled the room for some privacy.

“Hello?”

Liz almost sobbed in relief at the voice.

“Liz?”

“Yeah, I’m here. I’m here,” she assured. “Hi.”

There was a light chuckle. “Hi.”

Liz found a corner in the common room and crouched down behind an empty chair. There were other people in the room but she ignored them.

“I’m sorry to call out of the blue like this. I know it’s been a while.”

“That’s okay. I get it.”

Liz closed her eyes. “I’m really sorry. I should have-”

“Liz,” she stopped, “it’s okay. Really. What’s up?”

She sighed and rested her head on the wall. “I miss home. I don’t want to but I do.”

There was a pause. “So go home. I’m sure your dad would love to see you. Maria too.”

“I know. I would love to see them too, I just- I can’t. I just- I hate that place.”

“Yeah, I know the feeling.”

Liz smiled. “I miss you.”

“I miss you too.”

There was a loud sound on the other end followed by mild cursing.

“Shit, I have to go.”

“Oh ok,” Liz paused. “Could I-” she stopped.

“I’ll call you later? We can commiserate on the hellhole that is our hometown?”

Liz smiled. “Yeah. I’d like that.”

“Ok. Talk to you later, then. Bye, Liz.”

“Bye, Alex.”

After that first phone call, they became far more regular. Both of them loved and missed Maria and talked to her regularly but there was something that the two of them shared that Maria just wouldn’t be able to understand. Neither of them really missed Roswell, per se, but there were times when they just really needed to talk to someone who would understand. Someone who grew up in that town and who got away. Neither really had any intention of ever going back, either, despite the fact that their fathers and Maria were there.

Sometimes Liz got the sense that Alex had something else in Roswell for him to go back for but he never talked about it and she didn’t push.

It wasn’t until Liz’s junior year that either one of them suggested meeting up in person. By that time, Liz had already transferred schools. She liked her school but she’d chosen it partly because Rosa had talked her into it and she still saw echoes of her sister around every corner.

Alex had laughed at her when she told him she was transferring to a school on the east coast but she just ignored him. He told her that she wouldn’t be able to handle winter but Liz wanted a change of pace. She wanted to see the Atlantic, dip her toes in another ocean.

She loved it and she thrived (something she gleefully pointed out to Alex during one of their chats. He just laughed at her and told her he was happy for her). Right up until winter hit.

It snowed in New Mexico, okay? It wasn’t like she’d never seen snow or experienced the cold. But cold in New Mexico was not cold in Massachusetts. They were too very different beasts altogether.

“You’re the one who decided to move to the Northeast.” Alex was entirely unsympathetic when she told him.

Liz stuck out her tongue at the phone. “Fall was wonderful, okay?”

“Fall isn’t winter.”

Liz rolled her eyes. “Like your an expert in the seasons, Alex Manes. How’s Florida?”

“Hot,” Alex replied quickly. “Boring.”

“What the military’s not all fun and games?” She teased lightly. Alex’s military service was still something she didn’t understand but she knew enough to tread easy.

Alex hummed. “Nothing to do. Mandatory leave.”

Liz sat up in her bed. “You’re on leave?”

Alex hummed again. “I tried to switch with someone to cover them for the holidays but apparently I have to take leave.”

“Why?”

“Because I haven’t,” Alex admitted. “It’s just been accumulating and they told me I have to use some of it.”

Liz paused. “So what are you doing with all this free time you suddenly have?”

“Nothing.”

Liz arched an eyebrow. “Nothing?”

She could almost hear Alex shrug. “It’s Christmas, everyone I know has gone home to their families and like hell am I going back to Roswell so I’ve just been in my apartment.”

A smile slowly etched its way across her face. “Wanna take a trip?”

Alex paused. “Where?”

“Massachusetts.”

“What?” Alex laughed. “Is this you inviting me to visit?”

“Yup!” Liz told him. “Look, I’m not going home for Christmas either and my dad can’t afford the time or plane ticket to come all the way out here so it’s just me in my empty apartment for the next two weeks while my roommates are all at home. You should come up. That way we are slightly less pathetic for the holidays.”

Alex didn’t say anything for a beat. “I’d like that. I’d really-”

“Great!” Liz said brightly. “I’ll text you my address and you just come up whenever you want. I promise I’ll be here.”

Alex agreed and they hung up and Liz put the thought out of her mind. She loved Alex but she knew how much he valued the distance he’d gotten from Roswell and for all their phone calls, she was a reminder of Roswell. There was a greater than average chance that Alex wouldn’t ever show up.

The next day there was a knock at her door late at night. Liz eyed it warily from her spot curled up on the couch. With the school deserted for winter break, she didn’t know anyone in town and she hadn’t ordered anything.

There was another knock. “Liz?” She heard Alex’s voice call tentatively.

Liz kicked off her blankets and raced over to the door, sliding a bit in her socks. She unlocked the door and yanked it open to find Alex Manes standing outside. His hair was shorter than she’d ever seen it, the make up and the jewelry absent for the first time in years, his shoulders stiff, and his clothes neatly pressed. He looked nothing like her friend from high school and yet it was undeniably him.

He shifted idly on his feet under her scrutiny and Liz had to smile. “You’re actually here,” she exclaimed softly as she stood on her tiptoes to wrap her arms around him. She heard a thud as his bag hit the floor when he hugged her back. They swayed back and forth for a few minutes, both reluctant to let go.

Eventually, though, Liz pulled away. “Come inside. It’s fucking freezing out here.”

Alex laughed but picked up his bag and followed her into the warmth.

“I can’t believe you’re here,” Liz said again.

“You invited me,” Alex reminded her.

“I know and I’m super glad you came but I kind of thought you wouldn’t? I know you hate any reminders of Roswell.”

Alex ducked his head and smiled. “You’re not a reminder, Liz. You’re my friend.”

Liz cooed and hugged him again. “Okay, you’re probably exhausted. I can grab some blankets and pillows and set you up on the couch.”

“I’m actually okay. The flight wasn’t too bad. I mean, if you’re ready to go to bed, then-”

Liz shook her head. “No, I was just watching TV.”

“Mind if I join?”

Liz nodded. “Yes, actually, I do.”

Alex nodded back solemnly. “I understand. Some shows are just sacred.” He picked up his bag. “I guess I’ll go home then.”

He got one step before they both started laughing. Liz pointed him to her bedroom to put his stuff down and change and then got resituated on the couch.

A few minutes later, Alex tucked himself under the blanket with her and they watched the show in silence. It was surprisingly comfortable. Liz had thought that there might be an awkwardness after so long apart but it was like they’d just seen each other yesterday.

Alex stayed for almost two weeks, through Christmas and New Year’s, before heading back to Florida and it was the best two weeks Liz had spent in Massachusetts. That’s not to say that she hadn’t made any friends at school, she had, but there was something about the comfort of an old friend who understood you in ways you barely understood yourself.

Her phone rang in the middle of her graduation ceremony, Alex’s name flashing brightly on the screen. Liz hurriedly sent him to voicemail before her (former) professor could do more than glare at her.

She tucked her phone away and slouched in her seat as she looked around. Most of her peers were clearly zoned out as the speaker droned on but there were a few that actually seemed to be paying attention. Liz tuned back in for a few minutes before diverting her attention back to more interesting matters like counting the number of water stains on the ceiling.

Why had she graduated from here? Oh yeah, because she needed to actually get a degree instead of bouncing around schools for fun. Liz rubbed at her eyes, mumbling an apology as her elbow jostled the girl next to her. Liz was reluctant to call her a friend, after all she’d only known her for a semester. The unfortunate by product of completing her undergrad in five years at three different schools was that she didn’t really have a chance to form lasting friendships.

Most of the time that was fine with her, she didn’t need deep friendships really, she had Alex and Maria. Though it had been a while since she talked to Maria, she knew she could always count on her to be there if Liz needed her.

Her phone buzzed again. Liz frowned at Alex’s name and sent it to voicemail again.

[To: Alex]

I’m at graduation

[From: Alex]

Shit. Sorry. Call me later.

[From: Alex]

Congrats!

Liz huffed a quiet laugh at the delayed second text and put the phone away as her row stood up to walk across the stage.

It was a while later, after the ceremony and the pictures with her dad and the few friends who asked, and after the celebratory dinner, and after the ice cream, that Liz remembered to call Alex back.

She waited until her dad was lying down in the hotel room before she pulled out her phone and dialed his number.

“Hey,” she greeted brightly when he connected.

“Hey,” he returned, notably subdued compared to her. “How was graduation?”

Liz scoffed and flopped back onto the spare bed. “Boring. I should have skipped it but my dad wanted pictures so…”

“Well if Arturo wanted pictures-”

“Then Arturo gets his pictures,” Liz finished with a grin. “What’s up with you?”

Alex didn’t answer right away.

“Alex?” Liz sat up. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m being deployed.”

Liz stilled. “Where? How long? When?”

“Afghanistan. Eight months. I leave in three weeks.” Liz let out a breath.

“Eight months? Your first one was only three.”

“I know. They’re usually six so I guess it evens out or something, I don’t know.”

“You still in Oklahoma?” Liz asked. It was Alex’s new posting but she wasn’t sure if he was still there or if he had more training. He was always off somewhere doing more training.

“Yeah, I’ll be here until I deploy. Why?”

“Because I’m going to come visit, of course.”

“Liz, you don’t have to do that.”

“Shut up, yes I do. Besides, I just graduated and I have literally no idea what I’m going to do next. Might as well take a few days or whatever to come see you.”

Alex made a noise like he was going to keep arguing but eventually he just sighed. “I’d like that.”

“Good. Give me a few days to pack and drive and I’ll be there by the end of the week?”

“Sounds good.” Liz could almost hear his smile over the phone.

“You’ll have to take me to that ice cream place you were telling me about. Best shakes in Oklahoma right?”

Alex laughed. “That’s what they say. I still think the Crashdown’s are better.”

“You’re biased.”

“Yeah, I am. Tell your dad his shakes are better than the best in Oklahoma, okay?”

“I will. See you soon, Alex.”

“See you.”

Liz hung up and stared at the phone, the panic of sending her best friend into a warzone slowly seeping in.

“How’s Alex?” Liz looked over her shoulder at her dad and forced a small smile.

“He’s good. He’s being deployed again, this time to Afghanistan.”

“He’ll be okay,” Arturo assured her. “He’s smart, he knows how to stay out of trouble.”

Liz snorted. Alex was smart enough to stay out of trouble so long as he wanted to. Sometimes he found trouble far more interesting than safety, though. “I hope so.”

“You going to see him?”

She nodded. “Yeah, he’s stationed in Oklahoma right now so I’ll drive out there for a few days, maybe a week. He’s gonna take me to this ice cream joint that boasts the best milkshakes in Oklahoma.” She smiled. “He says yours are better, though.”

Arturo smiled. “He’s a filthy liar but I’ll take it.”

Liz laughed and switched over to her dad’s bed and cuddled up next to him, his arm wrapping around her shoulders. “He’s gonna be okay.” She didn’t pose it as a question. Her dad answered it anyway.

“Of course he’s going to be okay,” he kissed the top of her dad. “He survived his father, he can survive anything.”

A week later Liz sent her dad a photo of her and Alex sipping milkshakes with the caption Yours are better.

Both were grinning brightly around the straws.

Arturo tacked a copy of it to the wall in the kitchen of the Crashdown and told everyone who came in that his shakes were better than all of Oklahoma’s.

Liz positively skipped up the steps to Alex’s apartment. They’d been living in the same city for months now but she still hadn’t gotten over the slight thrill it gave her that she could just pop over to Alex’s apartment.

“Hey Patrick!” She greeted when she stepped onto Alex’s landing only to see his roommate closing the door behind him. “Alex home?”

Patrick gave her a weird look. “Is he expecting you?”

She frowned and shook her head. “I had something to do downtown so I just came over. I thought we could go check out this new band I heard about. Is he not home?”

Patrick looked at the door. “No, he’s home. But Michael’s here so I don’t know how free he’s gonna be.”

Liz cocked her head in question. “Michael?” Patrick’s eyes widened and he glanced between her and the door and back to her.

“You know what? I have got things I need to do so I’m gonna go. Alex is inside but he has company so enter at your own discretion. Door’s unlocked.” He patted her awkwardly on the shoulder as he passed. Liz stared after him for a beat before walking slowly over to the door. Alex hadn’t mentioned that he was seeing anyone but she wasn’t sure what else Patrick could have meant. She dilly dallied for a few seconds before shrugging her shoulders and pushing the door open.

Liz eased the door closed slowly and followed the faint sounds to the living room. “Oh shit. Sorry!” She clapped a hand over her mouth and turned on her heel when she saw Alex straddling a guy on the couch, his shirt on the floor behind him. “I’ll call you later!” She tossed over her shoulder as she hurried out the door laughing. She made it one step outside before her brain processed exactly what she had seen.

Alex, half naked, in a hot guy’s lap. A hot guy with a head of gorgeous curls currently wrapped around Alex’s fingers. Curls that Liz recognized.

She spun on her heel and went back inside. “Michael Guerin?”

Alex’s head snapped up to stare at her, his feet now firmly on the floor and his shirt in his hands. Michael motherfuckin’ Guerin sat on the couch in front of him, his hand outstretched towards Alex. When she said his name he half turned towards her, a scared look on his face before he plastered on a smile.

Michael waved cheekily. “Hey Liz.”

Liz stared at him then glanced up only to stare at Alex. He had the most awful expression on his face, like he was legitimately afraid of how she’d react. She shook her head. “Hey, Michael. Sorry to interrupt.” Alex stared at her like she had three heads but she powered on. “I was coming over to see if Alex wanted to go check out a new band with me tonight but I can see that he probably has other plans.” She smiled at him and he relaxed slightly. “But if you want to see downtown Denver, though honestly I don’t know why you would, then call me.”

She waved awkwardly and turned to leave when Alex’s voice stopped her. “Wait, Liz.” She spun back around.

“Sorry to barge in like that, really, I should’ve called to tell you I was coming over.”

“No, that’s not-” Alex stopped and took a deep breath. He looked at Michael, a clear question in his eyes that Liz couldn’t decipher. Michael didn’t say anything for a beat before he pushed himself off of the couch.

“I’m going to run to the store and get stuff for dinner,” he announced. Alex glared at him but Michael just smiled. He took a step towards Alex before he froze. He didn’t actually look at Liz but she knew it was her presence that stopped him and she frowned.

Michael moved away and Alex made a noise, his eyes flickering to her before he grabbed Michael’s arm and pulled him back in. Liz turned her head away as they kissed.

“Don’t take too long, yeah?” Alex said softly after they separated. “You just got here.”

She turned back in time to see Michael nod and kiss Alex again. When he pulled away, Alex’s fingers stay tucked in his belt loops until he physically couldn’t hold on anymore. Michael smiled wistfully at Alex and nodded to Liz before leaving.

In his wake, Liz shifted her weight awkwardly as she looked at Alex. Alex played with his fingers and didn’t look at her. “Why are you scared?” She asked softly.

Alex flinched. “I’m not-” he stopped and closed his eyes. “Just- the last time we got caught like this was by my dad and he-”

He didn’t continue but Liz didn’t need him to. Alex was rubbing at his left hand almost unconsciously and Liz wasn’t an idiot. She could connect the dots just fine.

She dropped her purse on the floor and stepped over the back of the couch and landed in an awkward heap in front of Alex, her arms already outstretched to pull him into a hug. He resisted briefly before hugging her back.

“You don’t have to be scared, Alex. Not of me. Not ever.”

“I know,” he whispered into her shoulder.

She slowly pulled away but kept her arms on his shoulders so he couldn’t go too far. “Are you okay?”

Alex smiled sheepishly and nodded. “Yeah, you just startled me really. Kinda threw me back to high school and it just-” He shook his head. “I’m fine.”

“Okay,” she said slowly. “So uh- what the hell?”

Alex rubbed at the back of his neck, a faint blush rising on his cheeks. “Which part?”

Liz let go of him and settled back onto the couch. She stopped and considered where she was sitting and quickly shifted to the other end of the couch. Alex rolled his eyes and she laughed.

“Michael Guerin?”

Alex nodded and sat down. “Remember the guy in the museum?”

Liz’s eyes widened. “The guy who kissed the life out of you? The one you would be willing to stay in Roswell for?”

Alex blushed but nodded. “It was a really good kiss.”

“Damn. That was almost eight years ago! Why didn’t you tell me?” She picked up the pillow lying on the ground and smacked him with it.

He looked away. “I don’t know, honestly. There were plenty of times when I could have, should have, even. I just- I didn’t.”

“Who knows?”

“From Roswell? No one.”

Her eyebrows rose in surprise. “No one? What about Max or Isobel? Or Maria?” Liz’s own communication with Maria had sort of fallen by the wayside but she knew Alex kept in touch with her. Alex shook his head.

“I’m not there and I don’t want to be there. It’s hard to talk about it I guess. You’d have to ask him but I imagine it’s easier to just let it be something that happens when he visits. Patrick and my friends know but that’s about it.”

“So he visits often?”

Alex shrugged. “It depends. When I was stationed in Florida we met up in California once and he came out to Oklahoma a few times. Since I got posted here last year he’s been up a couple of times.”

“When was his last visit?”

Alex blushed and tried to hide a grin. “Remember when we got that blizzard? The city was basically shut down for a few days?”

Liz nodded slowly. It had only been about two months since then, really. “Yeah, I tried to get you to come over before it started and you said you couldn’t be on the opposite side of the city from the base in case you got called in.”

“Yeah,” Alex drawled. “I actually had that whole week off, I wasn’t even on call. Michael came up. He got here the day before the snow started.”

Liz laughed. “You could have just said you wanted to get snowed in with your boyfriend instead of me, I would’ve understood.” Alex stilled when she said the word boyfriend. “Alex?”

He shook his head. “Sorry. Yeah, I know I could have but I’ve gotten used to not mentioning him? I knew at some point I needed to tell you, it’s been long enough that it’s getting absurd, but I didn’t know how to bring it up.” He paused and shifted in his seat. “Do you remember when you started at UC Boulder and we went out for drinks?” Liz nodded. “We talked about lost loves or whatever?” Liz looked away. “You talked about Max Evans and you said if you ever had any regrets about leaving Roswell it was him.”

“What about it?”

“Michael came up the next weekend. I was going to tell you then and have you come over and we could hang out but after you mentioned Max and missing someone from Roswell, I didn’t want to bring up the fact that I’ve been sort of hanging on to someone from Roswell.”

Liz reached over and grabbed Alex’s hands. “Hey.” She waited until he looked at her. “First, don’t ever be afraid to tell me something, okay? Even if it might make me a little maudlin for a day or so. And second, what do you mean ‘sort of hanging on’?”

Alex shrugged. “We’ve never really defined our relationship. It’s not like we’re dating. I know he hooks up with women when he’s in Roswell and I’ve gone on my fair share of dates between his visits.”

“But he keeps visiting?”

“Yeah.”

“...and you keep wanting him to visit?”

“Yeah,” Alex nodded.

“That doesn’t sound like you’re hanging on.” Liz told him softly. “It sounds like a relationship. An undefined, unconventional one sure, but a relationship nonetheless.”

Alex shrugged.

“Do you love him?” She asked softly and she watched in amazement as Alex’s whole face softened, his lips turning up in a smile.

“Yeah. I do.”

She smiled. “I’m glad. You look happy, Alex.”

“I am.”

They sat in companionable silence for a while before Liz stood up. “I should go. I don’t want to intrude on your time with him.”

Alex rose with her. “Text me the name of the bar you’re going to. We’ll see if we’re up for it.”

“Will do,” Liz promised as she gathered her purse. She was halfway to the door before something occurred to her. “When I visited you in Oklahoma, before your last deployment, I remember the day I left I asked if you were okay and you said you would be. I assumed you meant that you were dealing with it but I remember distinctly that you were looking at your phone and smiling when you said it.”

Alex stared at her. “How- why do you remember that?”

She shrugged. “On the phone, that was Michael right?”

Alex rolled his eyes but nodded. “He got there like an hour after you did.”

“Good,” she said firmly. “I’m glad he was there for you.”

Alex smiled softly. “He’s always there when I need him. Even when we fuck up and don’t talk for a while.”

Liz furrowed her brow at that. She opened her mouth to ask when the door opened and Michael came in, his arms laden with grocery bags. He froze when he saw her. “Should I go back out?”

Alex smiled and Liz laughed and shook her head. “I’m leaving.” She turned to Alex. “I’ll talk to you later?” He nodded and gave her a quick hug.

“Michael,” she nodded at him. “Nice to see you again. We’ll have to catch up while you’re here.”

“Liz,” he smiled and jerked his head at Alex. “Set it up with the bossman. He controls our schedule.”

Liz laughed and let herself out while Alex protested loudly.

“Pick up, pick up, pick up,” Liz chanted softly as she paced the small bathroom.

“Do you know what time it is?” Alex��s voice was groggy and Liz silently apologized for forgetting the time difference now that he was on the east coast again.

“Diego proposed!” She hissed.

Alex paused. “Oh god. What did you say?”

“Yes?” Liz grimaced.

“What? Why? You don’t love him.”

“I know! I panicked!” Liz told him, a touch too loud. “Fuck, they’re gonna hear me.”

“Who? Where are you?”

“I’m in the bathroom at his parent’s house.”

“What? Why?”

“Because he just proposed! It’s his birthday so we came over for dinner and after dessert he announced that the best birthday present would be me agreeing to be his wife and then before I knew what was happening he was down on one knee and his family were all looking at me and I’m pretty sure his mom was recording it and I panicked okay?!” Liz continued to pace.

Alex snorted and tried to stifle his laughter.

“Don’t laugh asshole. This isn’t funny.”

“It’s a little funny,” Alex told her. “Why the hell did he think proposing was a good idea? You guys have only been dating what a year?”

“Almost two,” Liz admitted. “We started dating before you got relocated.”

“True, true. Wow time really does fly when you get older.”

“Oh shush, we’re 27, we’re not old.”

Alex laughed. “Okay, real talk. How are you going to let him down?”

“It’s his birthday and I’m at his parent’s house and I already said yes.” Liz dropped her head against the door in a loud thunk. “What was I thinking?”

“You weren’t, clearly.”

“That’s not helpful.”

“What do you want me to say? You just agreed to marry a man you don’t love.”

Liz groaned. “But I could! He’s so sweet and kind and he loves me.”

“All good qualities,” Alex agreed easily. “But he’s also boring.”

“There’s nothing wrong with boring!” Liz tried to defend.

“See you’re not even arguing that he’s not boring.”

Liz groaned. “Ok fine but my point still stands. Boring doesn’t mean he’s a bad choice.”

“Your heart’s not in it and you know it.”

“Oh who are you to give me relationship advice? How’s Michael these days?” Liz snapped. “Shit, no. Alex, I’m sorry.”

“Wow,” Alex remarked faintly. “Fuck you too. You called me remember?”

“I know. I know. I’m sorry,” Liz apologized.

Alex sighed heavily. “It’s late. I need to sleep and you have a fiance to go talk to.”

He hung up before Liz could say anything more. She pulled the phone away from her ear only long enough to hit redial.

It went straight to voicemail.

“Look, I’m sorry,” Liz began after the beep, “what I said was completely uncalled for. I was just feeling defensive for some reason and I lashed out and I took a cheap shot that was cruel and unnecessary and I’m sorry. I love you for answering the phone when I called even though I know it’s late there and thank you for listening to me ramble on about my problems. I did call you for advice and I shit on you when you tried to give it and I’m sorry.” Liz paused to consider her next words. She knew Alex wouldn’t like them but if she was already in the doghouse she might as well make it worse. “But Alex- you should call him, okay? I know you said you wanted to do rehab on your own and you didn’t want him showing up at the hospital again but you don’t need to shut him out completely. He’s worried and he misses you and you should really call him.”

Liz jumped at a knock on the door. “Liz?” Diego’s voice came through.

Liz closed her eyes and finished her message, her voice lower so Diego couldn’t hear. “I hope you know if I end up going through with this you’re gonna be my Man of Honor so I need you to forgive me my big mouth, okay? I love you.” She ended the call and pulled the door open to see Diego’s worried face.

“Everything okay?”

Liz smiled. “Yeah. I just called Alex to tell him.”

Diego grinned. He’d always liked Alex more than Alex liked him. “What did he say?”

“He said he’s happy for us, of course.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled. “And that the next time I wake him up in the middle of the night somebody better be dying.”

Diego laughed. “That sounds like Alex.” He pressed a kiss to her lips and pulled back. “Do you want to rejoin everyone or go home?”

Liz barely held in her sigh of relief. “Home, definitely.”

Liz drove up the long driveway almost on autopilot. She’d come out here countless times in high school with Kyle and she could find her way easily enough that her thoughts started to wander.

Back in Roswell one day, less than that really. It had only been a couple of hours since she pulled up outside the Crashdown and saw her father for the first time in years. In that time, she’d run into Max Evans twice and someone had shot up her family home. Liz was even half convinced that she herself had been shot, despite the lack of a wound of any kind.

She slowed to a stop and got out. There was a light on in the cabin and the flickering of a TV through the window. Liz smiled as she tugged the door open.

Alex looked up and over at her from his spot on the couch. “Hey stranger.”

She groaned dramatically as she closed the door and flopped down on the couch next to him. “I hate this town,” she whined into his blanket.

Alex laughed. “You’ve been back, what, six hours?”

Liz nodded. “I ran into Max Evans.”

“Oh.” She looked up at the odd tone in his voice but he just waggled his eyebrows.

“Not like that!” She sat up. “He was running a police check point outside of town and then he came by the diner and we shared a shake and then someone shot up the place and he-”

“Someone shot up the Crashdown!?” Alex sat up and looked her over. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” she waved him off. “I think I hit my head when Max pulled me to the ground but other than that I’m fine, I swear.”

Alex searched her eyes before nodding. “Okay. So Max Evans, personal hero, huh?”

Liz groaned and fell back against the couch. “He��s so hot.”

Alex laughed. “If Max Evans being hot is the least of your problems right now, you’re doing okay.”

Liz didn’t say anything.

“Liz?” Alex prodded.

“I forgot how much everyone hates us here,” she said quietly. “Hates Rosa. I just- I’m really glad you’re here Alex. I don’t know what I would do in this town if you weren’t.”

Alex didn’t offer any platitudes, he just reached out and wrapped her in a side arm hug.

“How’ve you been since getting back? It’s been what? Two weeks?”

Alex hummed in agreement. “It’s been an adjustment. I’ve pretty much been avoiding town, honestly. Just go in for groceries and whatnot before coming back here.”

“You seen Michael yet?”

“No,” Alex exhaled. “I drove out to his trailer a few days ago but he had company so I left.”

“Alex-”

“It’s fine.”

“Doesn’t mean it doesn’t suck.”

Alex took a deep breath. “That’s true. But I don’t have any right to be upset. Not anymore. Not after I shoved him away.”

“You should go see him. He misses you.”

“And how do you know that?”

“Who do you think he texts when he’s drunk and feeling sorry for himself that he’s not with you?”

“Patrick,” Alex answered. Liz tilted her head in concession.

“Okay, besides Patrick.” She nudged him. “He doesn’t really have a lot of people to talk to about it, you know.”

“Yeah, I know.” He shifted so he could look at her, a sudden gleam in his eye. “Ok, enough about me. Tell me about Diego.”

Liz groaned and covered her face with her hands. “Oh god, no. I can’t-”

“How did you do it?”

“I was awful.”

“I’m sure it wasn’t that bad.”

“Oh it was. I just- fuck I just started packing up my car and he came by with Richard-”

“That’s his best friend, right?”

Liz nodded. “Yeah so they came by to pick me up for something that I had completely forgotten about and they just pulled up next to the car and Diego was all confused and so so dumb about it.” Liz hated to speak ill of him because she did care for him but there was a reason she left. “He kept asking if I was cleaning or donating some stuff. Just trying to come up with any reason besides the obvious. And finally I just gave him the ring. God, Alex, I didn’t even have it on. I’d already taken it off. How awful am I?”

“Okay, yeah, that’s pretty awful.”

Liz smacked him lightly. “You’re not supposed to agree with me. You’re supposed to make me feel better.”

“How about I be honest instead?”

Liz sighed but nodded. “Yeah okay let me have it.” She waved him on.

“There were quite honestly a thousand different ways you could have broken up with him that would have been better than that. Number one would have been not accepting his proposal in the first place.” He leveled her with a stern look.

“Yeah, I know,” Liz agreed easily. Because she did know. And if she hadn’t fucked up with Alex so badly she might have been thinking about Diego enough to have corrected herself then and just told him no.

“So…” Alex started after a while.

Liz raised an eyebrow in silent question.

“You are no longer engaged. A free woman once more…”

“Yes…”

“Exactly how hot did Max Evans look in his deputy uniform?” Alex grinned.

Liz scrunched up her face and sank down into the couch with a slight squeal. “So hot. I think it was the hat.”

“The hat definitely doesn’t hurt.” Alex remarked idly. Liz stared at him.

“You think Max-”

“I have eyes and the guy’s hot, okay? But no, I wasn’t talking about him.”

“Michael wears a cowboy hat?”

Alex nodded. “It looks so fucking good on him, too.”

Liz laughed. “Ok now that I have to see.”

“Take a picture and send it to me, yeah?”

“Or…” Liz replied. “You could just go see him yourself.”

“Maybe tomorrow.” Alex said. “When are you gonna see Max again?”

Liz grinned. “Maybe tomorrow.”

#roswell fic #rnm #my fic

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awkwardedgygirl · 5 years ago

Text

Voices- Lance Chapter 2

Hi so here is Voices chapter 2 from Lance’s POV it is darker than Keith’s so be warned. Also you can read everything on Ao3 my account is AwkwardWriting.

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As Lance gets ready that Sunday he really does not want to leave Keith’s apartment. He has such a fun time sitting around playing video games and eating bad pizza and he knows when he goes back home, he has to go back to James and his friends. He feels Keith grab his hands which he just now realized were shaking.

“Lance?” Keith asks but he can’t look at him.

“Lance please look at me.” Lance hears his plea and is able to look up at him for a second before looking back down at their entwined hands.

Lance feels Keith grip tighten ever so lightly before he speaks again, “Tell me what is wrong. Please?”

I don’t want to leave. I feel safe here, But Keith can’t hear his thoughts right now so he only shrugs, “It’s just, I am going to miss you.”

Keith pulls Lance into a hug and his bruises have healed enough that this one doesn’t hurt, “I’ll miss you too Lance.”

Eventually Keith speaks, “I have something for you,” Keith lets him go and Lance hates feeling the warmth leave. He wraps his arms around himself to try to keep it. Keith comes back though with a little box. Lance first thought is jewelry but Keith doesn’t seem like that kind of guy so he is very confused. Lance takes the box and opens it to see a key a small key.

“So you don’t have to break into my apartment anymore.” Keith says nervously, “Do you like it?”

Lance tightens his fist around the key feeling a little bit safer, “I love it thank you.”

“Just know,” Keith grabs Lance’s hands, “You can come back. Anytime. I will be here.”

Lance has a warm feeling in his chest, He pulls Keith into a hug, “Thank you Keith. For everything.”

Lance feels Keith’s hold tightened, “Of course.”

And Lance almost feels like everything will be okay, almost.

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After about a six hour bus ride Lance is finally home, he kisses his mami on the cheek, who thought he was at Hunk’s but that is okay. He tells Keith he is home.

Good how far away do you live?”

Lance scoffs plopping down on his bed, “Like six hours by bus.”

Wait by bus? I could have taken you if you didn’t have a car.

Lance sits up, “No no that’s ok. I don’t mind the bus really.”

He can feel Keith sigh, Ok but next time I am driving you home.

Lance never wants that to happen. Keith can never come here, “Well I have to go to bed now talk tomorrow?”

Yeah ok good night Lance. Lance knows Keith is still curious but Keith isn’t one to push things.

“Good night Keith.”

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After his weekend with Keith Lance quickly falls back into his routine. He has less than a semester before school lets out and he can leave forever. He hopes he can live with Keith but he hasn’t told him that yet. Until then he hangs out with Hunk and Pidge and tries to stay out of James way as much as possible. Sometimes what he does isn’t enough. He tries so hard to hide that side of his life from Keith. It is relatively easy when they only talk on skype. He just keeps the lights down. Lance tends to always wear jackets anyways. To hides his bruises and scars.

There was a bad day though. Lance had to present a project in his history class about were his ancestors came from. He was talking all about Cuba and what is was like there and anyone paying close attention could tell he missed it. After that class, he goes to the restroom and while washing his hands he hears the lock click shut which always sends a shiver down his spine.

Lance looks up to turn around and see James and two other guys blocking the door. Lance tries to sound brave, “Really James? Isn’t this getting old?”

James shakes his head, “No I don’t think so how about you guys? Getting tired of always having to teach Lance his place?” The guys next to James scoff.

Lance crosses his arms, “Let me out James.”

James doesn’t even bother giving a response. The two guys charge at Lance and he runs for the stall but they are able to grab him, “Uh uh you aren’t getting away that easy.” The guy tightens his hold on Lance twisting his arms behind his back. Lance winces.

“I was listening to your project Lance and I can tell you really like Costa Rica or Mexico or wherever the hell you came from. He hit him in the stomach, “You think you are too good for our town?”

Lance grunts at the blow and shakes his head.

James grabs his face and Lance tries to shake his head free but there is a hand on his skull holding it still.

“No you think you are. But guess what you are nothing! You don’t even deserve to be alive!” A kick to the legs. He would have fallen if he wasn’t being held up.

You are not nothing. Lance hears in his head.

“No James you are wrong I do matter!”

James rolls his eyes, “Oh yeah and who says that? Your soulmate?” The guys all laugh.

“You are nothing and soon they will see that too. It is only a matter of time. Until then,” James punches Lance in the face which is something he hardly ever does because it increases his chance of getting caught. He is let go and he falls to the ground.

He looks up at James, “There lets see what your precious soulmate thinks of you now.” Then the guys leave and Lance is left there on the floor of the bathroom.

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His mami was working that night so he didn’t need to hide his black eye from here just yet but he did have to hide it from somebody. He gets up to his room feeling defeated, “Hey Keith I can’t video chat tonight I am sorry.”

Oh, why? He sounds so crushed but Lance knows he is doing the right thing, even if it means lying to his soulmate, “Uh my computer isn’t working so I can't, I'm sorry.”

It’s ok, I know you would if you could.

Ok so that one made him feel a little guilty, “Yeah.”

So how long do you think your computer will be busted?

Crap. Lance quickly looks up to see how long a black eye last and goes with the longer time frame, “Like two weeks at most.”

Well that’s okay I hope you can get it fixed.

Lance looks in the mirror at his swollen eye, “Me too.”

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Nothing changes after that. He still gets beat on every day and now he can’t even video chat with Keith. They still talk in their head but Lance misses seeing him talk. It makes him start to fall for what James is saying again.

It was a really rough day at school but he was able to avoid James and he tries to leave before they get to him. As he is walking out and looking around for them and he feels someone grab him from behind and after a quick punch to the gut Lance falls hitting his head on the concrete.

When he wakes up he hears yelling, “Oh I know you must be his soulmate!”

No not possible, “Yeah I am.” Lance groans, oh no he can’t be here he can’t know.

Lance hears them arguing above him but doesn’t process what they are saying. Eventually he feels the guys leave and hears Keith’s voice, “Lance are you okay?”

Lance can’t process what is happening, “Ribs hurt.”

He feels himself being picked up and carried over to Keith’s motorcycle. They arrive at what seems to be a hotel and Lance is brought up to the room and sat down gently on the bed. In that time Lance has regained full consciousness but is spiraling, his shirt is taken off which hurts a lot. After a minute of silence all Keith says is, “Your computer wasn’t broken was it?” Lance shakes his head, great now Keith knows he is a liar. Keith grabs his first aid kit and starts cleaning Lance up. It kind of hurts but at this point Lance doesn’t care. Keith was never supposed to know. But now he is here and he knows everything and he will leave because Lance is weak.

“You wanna go down to the pool,” Keith cuts in to Lance’s dark thoughts, “It might help?”

Lance can only shake his head.

“Come on Lance you love swimming please talk to me.”

Lance is furious with Keith. He never should have come, “What are you doing here?”

“Well I missed you and seeing your face and-”

Lance stands up, “So what you just show up unannounced?” Lance yells angrily.

He can tell how calm Keith is trying to be either that or he actually is confused, “Yeah you did it to me? I thought you’d like the surprise?”

Lance crosses his arms and looks away, “That’s different.”

“Why?” Keith questions.

“Well you have your own apartment and a job and-”

“Nobody is beating me up?” Keith cuts in which was exactly what Lance was thinking.

Lance falls the the floor in to much pain to keep standing, “You weren’t supposed to know about him.”

“Why?” Keith questions him again.

“Because,” His negative thoughts fill his head sounding a lot like James’ voice, “I didn’t want him to ruin this too.”

He feels Keith’s warmth right next to him as he sits down he wished it made him feel better, “He wouldn’t have ruined anything.”

Lance scoffs and stands up. Keith just doesn’t get it, “Yeah right, I have known James my whole life. You don’t know him like I do.”

Keith stand up, giving his warmth back to Lance, “I don’t care how long you have known him and I don’t care what he has said or done. I am here for you Lance and now that I know I am never leaving.”

Lance doesn’t believe him, “Yeah sure.”

Keith will leave. They always leave.

#klance #klance fanfic #klance fanfiction #bullying #soulmate au #tough keith #insecure lance #Voltron legendary defender

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samsadventurelog · 5 years ago

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Adventuring Hiatus

Thursday March 19, 2020

4:20pm

Well, I’m sure I don’t have to tell any of you reading this what kind of year this week has been. I am proud to say I DON’T have any adventuring updates. Things really spiralled quickly didn’t they? So I’m looking at all this Coronavirus stuff from Halifax. I saw it spreading in Ontario and saw the panic a few days before it hit here, but I wasn’t naive, I knew it was only a matter of time. Brad and I would pick up a few extra things from the grocery store on our walks home everyday before the panic came here. We figured we could avoid the stores when it got crazy. I think the madness at the grocery stores has died down. (Both here and in Ontario from what I’m hearing) Obviously the grocery store staff are working their butts off and killing it. I did my last venture out for a few last things at the grocery store today and now I expect I won’t leave the house for a few days. There are 9 presumptive and 3 confirmed cases in Nova Scotia at the moment. I still feel relatively safe but I have acted quick and been pushing everyone to STAY HOME! I’m on day 2 of working from home, Brad will hopefully join me tomorrow.

Looks like if I hadn’t come to Halifax my big Mario Kart Tournament wouldn’t be happening this year anyways! It will be a quiet birthday in a few days for me. But I am okay with this. I have so many amazing people in my life - it sucks to not be with them, but knowing they are all taking measures to keep themselves safe is all the gift I need. Now I’m getting a little emotional.

Anyone wanting to share a coffee or beer with me this weekend feel free to skype / facetime / messenger - whatever it may be. Also Animal Crossing comes out tomorrow so that’s just in time for all this isolation.

You’re all doing so good and I’m so proud of everything I’m seeing out there. It’s a scary time. I feel more connected with people than ever right now - which is interesting! Through co-op music sharing, group chats, cat threads, everyone is out in full arms loving each other and having a good time despite it all. Keep those spirits up folks. I know it’s hard. I feel the anxiety and stress of it all too. But we’re stuck here for a while. I’m here if you need me - pretty much 24/7 so holler at me.

Stay strong friends! You’re all such an inspiration to me. I’ll keep on adventuring at home so the blog posts won’t stop. <3 Sam

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skz-mimi · 6 years ago

Text

game of survival

plot: basically small scenarios taken off the time the survival program that formed stray kids was happening.

word count: 2k-ish

hi guys! it’s mari here! it took me a little while to put some stuff out for mimi, so i’m sorry for that. sorry for any typos in here, i tried my best to edit it in my free time but you never know hehe,,, anyways, i hope you guys like it!

*mãinha is regional “slang” for mother in brazilian portuguese

the first mission in the survival was to convince jyp that he should debut a girl within his new boygroup.

after much much work, and way too many meetings, she stood in front of the man that would decide her future, who would tell her what her 8 years of training would be worth.

“the team that will be debuting will be chan's project team, all 10 of you”

💌

“hello!” mimi sounded cheerful as she pressed ths buttons on a elevator “today we're moving into the dorms, so i’m bringing you guys here with me while i pack!”

she seemed giddy, a giggle leaving her lips as the thought of finally debuting hit her.

“mãinha, cheguei viu?”(mom*, i'm home, okay?) she said as she closed the door behind her, her mother greeting her back from the kitchen, still in portuguese.

her family wasn't crazy rich, but still, they were well off enough to have a big apartment that fit the three of them and their cats.

about the cats, mimi zoomed the camera in one of the sleeping cats, chanel, the eldest of the three, who was sleeping on the couch, before she walked to her room.

“and this... is my room” she turned the light switch on and filmed the white walls, waiting for the camera to focus again “miumiu, you're here?” the camera focus changed to her bed, where a white slept on top of the pink bed covers.

the remainder of her vlog was similar to that, she showed her parents, who looked proud of her, though they were quite camera shy, and showed her last cat, dior, a tabby she rescued on her way back from practice a year prior.

💌

with the making of hellevator, mirae felt apologetic towards chan. it just happened that he made a song in the female key, yet park jinyoung accused him of making a song to fit her. it didn't make much sense to her at all, she had a few parts, and even asked to have less parts so she wouldn't stick out too much.

things were looking rough, but she couldn't let that knock her, or any of her boys, down.

💌

with the 3:4:3 battles, a lot was happening. at first, mimi was glad she was in the same team as felix, minho and changbin, however, she was starting to regret her choices as felix screeched loudly after changbin kissed him on the cheek.

everything seemed at peace near the han river, so she felt a little apologetic towards the bystanders that had to listen to felix’ freak out… at least it would be nice content for the show… and at least felix got the kiss he wanted.

💌

things weren't exactly going smoothly that day.

even after practicing so hard, felix was criticized, minho got the lyrics wrong and she once again received a jab for not being hungry for lines.

it was almost like jyp didn't know what he wanted from her.

it was a big deal already, a girl in a boygroup? it sounded so weird, not exactly being the loved cookie cutter format the industry had since the 90s, now, jyp didn't want her to steal all the spotlight, yet he wanted her to stand out just enough, and she didn't seem to know how much was enough.

the day had been rough, and she was already so frustrated, so, the moment it was announced minho would be eliminated, she couldn't stop her tears as she hugged him tight.

minho tried to calm her down as he always did before, wiping away her tears and patting her head, all that while trying to keep the smile on his face.

that made her cry harder

💌

after minho left, everything felt weird, wrong. they still practiced, mimi still called her parents every night and skyped them to see the cats running around and to see her mother's comforting smile, she still bought her usual snacks from the convenience store near the training center. the group even went on a vacation with the program, where she had a lot of fun.

but that felt hollow, weird, as if a big part of it was missing.

and it was.

she could feel her hands shake as soon as the video message minho made started playing, she held changbin's hand as she stood beside him, already feeling her throat close, eyes watering as her turn approached

“mimi-yah” minho said in the video “i bet you're already crying, right? you've always been a little baby about those things”

she felt herself smile alongside him, but both their smiles were still sad

“oppa is so sorry” minho said quietly “please don't blame yourself too much, you're doing so well and you have to keep up the good work, okay?”

she felt the tears running down her face as she kneeled down to the floor with a choked sob, changbin rubbing her back lightly.

“don't forget to tell me if anyone is being mean to you, okay?” she looked up at the screen as if he could see her right now “oppa is the only one allowed to be mean to you”

she couldn't pay more attention after that, she just covered her face with her yellow hoodie and tried to calm down, cursing lee minho for making her miss him too much.

💌

during the battle with the yg trainees, mimi was feeling better.

she still missed minho, and it still felt weird to train without him, but it wasn't like they didn't text every night anyways.

she had trained very hard with all of the boys, finally feeling confident after jyp let her be a part of the vocal team and be a part of the group performance.

it was the first time her compliments came without any stab in the back, so she felt good about it.

“i'm mimi!” she smiled as she introduced herself to yg himself.

“a girl in your boygroup?” he asked jyp “that's bold”

she nodded as he looked back at her

“mimi, are you not from here?” he looked at her file, seeing the long name written down in hangul

“i'm from brazil, sir, but i moved eight years ago”

“have you trained in jyp for eight years?”

“no sir, i trained at sm for four years before moving to jyp” she answered, a small smile still on her face. she wanted to look confident, even if her hands felt clammy

after that exchange and yg's comment of hoping their future in the group wasn't like the song, they performed and mimi felt completely comfortable for the first time that day.

💌

after getting complimented so much by yang hyunsuk(from her stable vocals to her charm and her combined adlib with woojin, she could feel herself fill up with pride every time she remembered those compliments) himself, mimi could tell jyp was finally gonna let her off the hook for a bit, even so, she knew she shouldn't get too comfortable.

so, as they sat down waiting for him, she hit her false nails against the table, chatting with jisung and trying to distract herself

💌

brunch with their boss ended up being just fine, the food was nice, they read their letters and she allowed herself to eat more than she usually did.

however, she felt a little sick the moment they were reminded of the mission

“this time, it will be busking” jyp announced and she held her fork with more force so it wouldn't fall and hit the table.

they hadn't performed like that before, and she could feel them all tense up a bit as they thought about doing it.

💌

as they all trained for the mission, mimi couldn't help but worry about felix the most.

he had quickly become one of her best friends in the time they spent together, and she knew he was such a hard worker.

she worried that he would start doubting himself, and overwork himself, so, even though she wanted to be there with him, she settled for at least texting him and making sure he was treating himself fairly

💌

the night of the busking event, mimi took the mic with a big smile on her face as she helped with mcing, she kept the smile on even as the boys talked, ignoring the blaring sirens going in her head and the pain in her stomach she felt as she got more nervous.

she just had to hold it in until it was over.

💌

“everyone!” she exclaimed, her smile growing as she heard people cheering her, calling her name and yelling how pretty she was “was today fun?” she heard them screaming yes “we're so glad you all are enjoying our performance as much as we are enjoying to perform to you!”

chan then kept up with the ment until the show was over

💌

mimi was criticized after the busking event, though not was roughly as some of her group mates.

her vocals weren't her best because of how nervous she was, and she made minor mistakes because of it. but she would be fine, at least her position would.

💌

when she heard jyp saying felix wouldn't continue with them, she felt her world shatter as the worst case scenario happened again.

mimi couldn't believe this.

she felt felix, who was next to her, turn on his back, not wanting them to see him wiping his tears.

she wanted to curse jyp, call him all the ugly curse words she knew in portuguese, slap some sense into him.

but she couldn't, so she settled with crying and hugging felix as hard as she could, saying sorry over and over again as everyone cried, feeling lost.

as she back hugged him, he turned around to hug her back, telling her not to feel sorry towards him, whispering that he was the one that was sorry instead, that he should have listened to her advice.

as jisung joined in on their hug, the duo cried harder, both bawling their eyes out.

after a moment, jisung started pulling her away, telling her to let him talk to chan, and she proceeded to cry on jisung's chest, something she found herself doing more and more often after the show started.

💌

mimi was feeling out of the loop for a few days and she felt sorry to the boys for it, though she wasn't the only one.

it felt weird going from ten to nine, and from nine to eight. it felt wrong.

they were still not over minho leaving, now felix was gone too.

mimi was never the most religious, though her mother was a devout catholic, but she prayed every night that whoever was out there, if there was someone, that if they could, they would bring them back to the group

💌

the moment felix and minho walked back into the practice room, mimi felt her heart fill up, like some sort of balloon filling up with helium and going up to the sky.

she giggled as they walked in and as things felt completely right for the first time in a while.

💌

alongside the burden of debuting, mimi would also be dealing with the burden of being the only girl in the group. it wasn't like she hadn't read the headlines, a lot of people didn't want her there, calling her a little whore, claiming horrible things about her.

she knew she had to prove them wrong, as soon as possible.

💌

“stray kids will debut as 10”

mimi's ears were ringing, she could hear the crowd start cheering as the words left jyp, becoming some sort of mantra in her head as she repeated them to herself, minho and felix ran towards them and she felt herself being engulfed by her best friends, her group mates. she felt her throat close as her eyes filled with tears, even if she tried to hold back her tears, she knew that the moment she looked up at one of the boys, she would start bawling like a little kid.

that was exactly what happened.

she looked up and locked eyes with felix, her best friend, and the one person she felt the most apologetic for, and she felt her tears running down as he wiped them, she looked beside him and saw all of the other boys.

mimi looked up at her nine groupmates, at the people she cared the most about, and she felt like things would be okay.

#stray kids 10th member #stray kids oc #stray kids scenarios #stray kids reactions #stray kids #skz scenarios #skz mimi #skz 10th member au #skz

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telltheworld-phff · 6 years ago

Text

Chapter 47 - Sverige

They decided to stay in Noronha for a few more days and they were about to change their tickets again when reality came and knocked on their door.

They both did not want to come back to England because they knew that they would need to do a few things in regards of their relationship. Harry was, as always, respectful of Carol’s timing and they did spend most nights talking about what was to be expected of their relationship. He was guiding her through it all and assuring her that they wouldn’t lose themselves in the middle of media, palace and protocols.

He briefly explained to her what could and could not be done and she had figured half of it by herself before she even met him. Everyone knew that the girlfriends used to have a hard time specially with the media. His previous girlfriends had gone through hell and not to mention what Kate had to endure over all those years. Although he was doing his best not to scare her, she was scared – but not for a second regretting her decision. She wanted to talk to someone who had actually gone through it.

“You should not worry about the palace and protocols as for now...” he said while they were flying back home, on the private jet of the Royal Family. “They will leave us be for now, to see if the relationship evolves.” he paused and looked at her “The only thing you will have to do is obvious and you probably know already.”

She laughed.

“Yeah… keep to myself, trust no one, accept a new phone so I don’t get hacked. Also change email addresses, lockers and such… it all before the media finds out who I am.” she answered. “How long do you thing we can keep this as a secret?”

“Well… we were just surrounded by family and all staff have signed NDA’s. We are both loaded with work, so we probably won’t be sleeping over as much… I think, if we are lucky, four to six months of oblivion.” he said. “But we need to check that with Foxy and the team.”

“What about your grandmother?” she asked.

“What about her?”

“Are you going to tell her? Do you have to write a formal letter for the Royal book?” she was clearly insecure and he side embraced her.

“How do you even know about the Royal book…. Never mind… I will tell her, of course. Come to think of it, I find that she was actually expecting this.”

“Was she now?” Carol was surprised.

“I think she was… she liked you, Carol. I told you that many times.”

“Well… pardon me for not believing that the Queen liked me after our only three minute encounter.” they both laughed. “Ok… I think I can do this. Just need to stay out of the media and not let them discover who I am. Can’t even imagine what to tell my boss if they find out too soon.”

“It’s quite hilarious that you work at BBC and somewhat with media and press and you are dating me. Quite the breaking news to change a journalist's life. Ain’t it?”

“I think our dating is quite life changing enough. I could though tip one of my friends and make a change in someone else’s life.” - They both laughed hard at that.

As expected, as soon as they landed, real life came crashing on them.

Harry went straight to Kensington on a separate car and Carol waited for an hour to leave the airport, so the press would be gone by then. She went home and after unpacking and a shower, and obviously a phone call with Harry, she started checking her emails and saw that she had tons to do.

She wanted to work a bit more, but when she noticed it was way past 10pm and the jet lag was taking a toll on her, she made a cup of tea and went to bed.

When she left her flat the next morning, she felt like she was being watched. She looked around but there was only the friendly elderly couple that she saw every morning, she said a few amenities to them, as always and kept walking to the nearest station.

She couldn’t stop glancing around. It seemed to her that all eyes were on her. Like the world already knew.

The reality was that everyone was tending to their own business and just commuting to work in that morning.

She took several deep breaths and started to reason. If someone had said something, Harry would have let her know. And she wouldn’t be able to leave her apartment due to the photographers.

She arrived at work and barely had the time to sit on her chair. Her boss called her for a meeting and she cursed under her breath.

Before she arrived at the meeting room, she sent two texts.

The first one to Harry:

C: Why do I feel like the word is out?

The second one to Sofia

C: We need to chat. REALLY need to chat. Going to a meeting now. Are you free for a call around lunch time?

“I mean it, Sofia. It looks like everyone knows!” Carol whispered on her phone while having lunch on her desk.

“Has anyone said anything about it? Boss, coworkers, Edward, Harry?” Sofia calmly answered.

“No. Harry assured me that no one knows.”

“So… its something of your imagination, Carol. Just chill. Take a deep breath. Stop freaking out for no reason. Otherwise you won’t have much energy when everyone does know.”

“You are right… I mean. It’s been less than a week… first day back in London.”

“Your fears are getting the best of you. Stop it!”

“Ok… How did you do it?”

“One day at a time. And focusing on what mattered.” Sofia said and Carol could hear Alexander’s giggle, she was probably playing with the little boy. “Focus on strengthening your relationship, evolving as partners. When the storm hits, you and him will be ready. Don’t waste your energy on something that has not even happened yet.”

“Ok. I will do that…” she took a deep breath. “I will be in Sweden in two weeks. Can we meet?”

“Of course. Let me know when so I can arrange. Do you want to stay with us?” she offered.

“I really don’t want to bother. They have booked a hotel for me at Gamla Stan. But thank you.”

“Well… we can meet for lunch nearby where you will be working, but I want you to come and have dinner with us. So you can meet little Alexander.” they both laughed when they little boy answered “jag” (yes) on the background.

“Will do. And… Sofia, thank you for this.”

“Don’t have to thank me.”

“I don’t believe it! It took us one whole week to be able to be together. I think we should both quit our jobs and only date for a living.” Harry said while helping her make dinner at her place.

She simply laughed.

“We chatted everyday though. Even had Skype calls.” she said mixing the ingredients in the pan.

“Not the same as being with you, touching and kissing you. I swear it Carol, our jobs suck.”

“Its not like you can quit yours though...” she smiled and pecked his lips and caressed his face. “But I do appreciate the fact that you missed me and want to spend more time with me.”

“Of course I want to spend more time with you, darling. You are my girl. I have fought so hard to have you. Don’t want to lose you by not being there when you need me.” He was truly concerned about it.

“You are not going to lose me that easily. I do think we should be working less, but with William still in Norfolk and me with all my trips, we are going to have to accept the fact that we are going to be separated most of the time.” she turned off the heat of the stove “Which I think is good… time apart makes us miss each other more.” she bit her lower lip and he kissed her temple.

“I just want this to work. I just want to enjoy while most people don’t know about us.”

“We will make the most of the time we got, babe. Don’t worry.” she started setting the table for them and humming a song.

“Its been a while since you did that.” he said taking a sip of his beer and admiring her.

“Since I did what?” she asked.

“Hummed. You used to that all the time when we were working.”

“You noticed that?” she was surprised. Sometimes she didn’t even realize she was humming the same song.

“Of course I did. At first it drove me nuts, but I have started to enjoy this sound.”

She smiled at him.

“I don’t know this song, though.” he added.

“I will share it with you when I’m ready.” she smiled and they both sat to eat and catch up on their week’s work.

Not in a million years both of them would’ve thought that they would rather spend the night in instead of going out to restaurants, pubs or dance clubs.

They took their time having dinner, did the dishes together and laid on Carol’s bed to watch some TV shows. Carol wanted this now more than ever, this sense of normalcy. Here, inside her apartment it only existed both of them. And she did not had to worry about anything else on this world.

She made herself comfortable in his arms and closed her eyes for a minute to forget the nasty headaches she’s had for longer than she could remember and that now have been joined by heartburn.

“When are you going to Sweden?” he asked.

“Next week. I have bought Alexander lots of gifts.” she said excitedly.

“Have you now?” he laughed. “I swear, you spend all your salary in spoiling kids. First Tommy, now Alexander...”

“Wait until I meet George and Charlotte.” they both laughed at that. “I just love kids. That’s all. If it was for me, I would’ve bought things for Estelle, Oscar and Arthur… but I don’t know Victoria...”

“Yet.” he interrupted her.

“I don’t know Victoria yet… as I was saying…. And I don’t know how she would feel like in receiving gifts from a stranger.”

“Well… she always gets gifts from strangers on her birthday, doesn’t she?”

“But that’s different… completely different.”

“Do you think you are OK to fly? You complained about your heartburn for the whole week. And headaches and flights are a very bad combination.”

“I have to, though. I have been taking lots of meds for that. Hopefully it will pass soon.”

“You know… I should be a therapist. After my slightly push you and Harry started dating.” Sofia said mid lunch when they met.

“You did help me a lot, Sofia. Thank you. But its not easy. Not that I thought it would be. I mean, every relationship is hard. But in our case… its harder.” Carol took a huge sip of water as the heartburn had worsened.

“I will give you that. But so far you guys are doing a great job.” she smiled.

“Thanks.”

“Who else knows?”

“My mom and stepdad, my sister and probably her mom. His immediate staff, Skippy and Lara, Arthur and Alessandra. Julia, a friend of mine and I believe he has informed his grandmother, but I am not sure. You and Carl Philip as well.” Carol said before taking a bite of the meatball she had ordered.

“I thought he had told William too...”

“Nah… he and William are not really speaking of personal subjects at the moment… He will at some point as it’s been a month since we’re dating.” Carol smiled remembering the exact night he asked her.

“Less people knowing the best...”

“Airplane again?” she asked looking at the little blonde boy that was staring right back at her.

“Jag, jag, jag!!!” Alexander had his arms in the air for she to pick him up and make airplane noises while walking with him around his playroom and watched by his parents.

She picked him up, made the noises and gave three full circles around the couch and his toys and put him on the floor again, quickly sitting and asking the little cherub to sit by her side, as she was completely dizzy and tired of all the times she had done that before.

“Alexander, I am going to take you to London with me!” Carol said, still out of breath and dizzy. “How come a two year old can be so sweet???”

The little boy just smiled and asked Carol to play with the stuffed tiger she had brought him.

Carol tried to learn a few basic Swedish words so the boy would understand her, but they were getting along just fine. She even, for a minute or two, forgot that his parents were in the room and that they were in the middle of a conversation.

After they had dinner and Carl Philip excused himself to put the little boy to bed, Sofia accompanied Carol to the door.

“Are you alright?” she asked.

“Just a heartburn that doesn’t leave me for two weeks now.” she answered.

“Its odd for someone to have that for that long… I really hate heartburn. I’ve had it during my whole pregnancy.” Sofia said and offered her some pills that would help. Carol thanked after she got the small box.

“I did know that I had a few issues with my stomach. Just did not know it was too severe. Already have an appointment when I get back. Thank you again, Sofia for having me.”

“Thank you for visiting and babysitting for us!” they both smiled. “Next time you come our remodel will be ready at Villa Solbacken.”

“Can’t wait for next time.”

Carol went straight to Kensington palace after her plane landed. She only had a quick stop at Boots and then hired a cab outside the airport. She was supposed to go to the office, but she called in sick and her boss was starting to cut her some slack due to how hard she was working these past weeks.

She arrived and saw Martha, Harry’s housekeeper and tried her best to not be rude. Her discomfort had reached a level where she was a bitch even to her shadow. But it wasn’t Martha’s fault. She asked if she could go to Harry’s bedroom or if Martha still needed to clean that. The sweet housekeeper said she could stay anywhere in the cottage and promptly grabbed her luggage to start her laundry. Carol tried to fight and say that it wasn't necessary, but the other woman insisted.

Carol only grabbed her tote and he laptop case and went to Harry’s room. She had texted him on the way saying she was going to his house and if he could meet her there. She said she missed him and that Carl Philip had sent him a few bottles (which was true).

She paced his bedroom for a whole five minutes both trying to see if that would relieve this fucking heartburn she was feeling. She was waiting for the meds to kick in. Sofia’s meds really did help and she made sure to buy a few more before she left Sweden. Also she was trying to be bold and do something that was echoing in her mind.

Deciding that there was no point in delaying the inevitable, she opened her bag, got the package she bought at Boots and went to the bathroom.

After a quick shower, she was wearing Harry’s pajamas when he arrived. Happy to see her and concerned because he had been informed that she wasn’t 100% well while in Sweden.

She hugged him tighter than ever. She needed him and his assurance.

She needed his smell and his body. She needed him beside her today more than ever.

“Hey… babe. What’s wrong. I am here. Do you want to go to the ER?” Harry whispered calmly while caressing her wet hair.

She just needed his embrace and presence, for she didn’t know for how long she would have it.

“Tell me what you need.”

“You” she whispered back.

“I am here.” he answered.

“Do you plan on staying? Through thick and thin?”

“Of course, Carolina. Have you gone mental? You’re my ride or die. The love of my live.” he answered and looked at her. She was crying and he didn’t know why.

“You promise?” she asked while he was drying her tears.

“Of course, I promise. What happened to you, darling?”

She tried to tell him. She really did. But her tears and her nervousness took the best of her.

She simply hold his hand and took him to his en suite bathroom.

There, on the marble top of the sink was something that would change their lives forever.

Staring at them as if they have a bright arrow pointing at it stood three pregnancy tests.

Harry didn’t understand what it meant for a moment and approached.

And he saw the most bright pink straws on the three of them.

N/A: FRESH NEW CHAPTER FOR YOU.

Already working on the next one.

Hope you enjoy it.

I truly missed you guys.

#Whenyoutelltheworldyouremine phff princeharryfanfiction fanfiction royalfanfiction brf britishroyalfamily chapter:47

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onychaos · 5 years ago

Text

Changes and moving forward

This was a post I made on wordpress but never got around to posting here on tumblr but I feel that it is better late then never, I guess?

As the year 2018 comes to a close, as 4 days remain. Had a lot of ups and down, and a lot has happened or changed for better or for worst.. But during that time, I was able to reflect on my own life and know what must be done or must be changed on my end.

Take this with a grain of salt. There is a chance that you will:

Not agree with my changes

Not like what is said here

Or just don’t care or won’t care about this.

And I know I can't please everyone but oh well, here we gooooo!

There is a lot to cover here, so sit back or not and get ready for the list of things

To make things easy on some, just hit control + F and you can look for the following below

Updates on my life

Twitter stuff

Dropping Grudges

Twitch.tv stuff or stream related

Updates on the fan game

Youtube stuff

My Goals for 2019

Updates on my life

I have been avoiding drama that I have no need for, be it ignoring it, muting friends or followers who take part in it. I realize that me, worrying about drama that doesn’t affect me is a waste of time. I will still defend friends who are being attacked

I think it’s time that we move on from Skype to Discord for a number of reasons. One of them being security reasons, and skype is slowly being snuffed out little by little by Discord. Discord does have it’s problems but it’s time to move on, eh?

I have been more social with people Or rather, being more social with my friends since they are the only ones who like to answer others ignore me but it’s whatevers. I got used to it

Been pretty happy with life, despite what has happened in this year. Things could have been better but what can you do? :V

I have some goals and plans for this new year coming up and hope they going to turn out ok but time will tell what the future holds for me. And I shall see if my friends will be along for the ride or this may be your final stop. Let’s see, eh?

I have been using WordPress for a good while… It’s not bad, though limited in some areas, like coding html. I may switch over to Blogger, because Tumblr is useless to me. Most of my post don’t show up in Tumblr search and it’s not worth it to me.

Twitter stuff

I have been using Twitter way more than Discord.. that’s not a bad thing, This is pretty good for my standards, And my followers consist of a number of users (“Why does this matter?” I am sure you will say. sit a spell)

So, following has to be cleaned out as it has needed that for a a long while.. Pretty much accounts on the chopping block are, Art bots that I don’t look at, inactive accounts.

I may set my twitter account to private in the future.

Going into the year 2019, I will not unfollow users talking about drama. I will ignore it. I will not tell someone that they can’t or can say whatever, that’s not my thing. If it does not get out of hand..

Been adding friends to my Twitter friends's list, if you are on my Twitter friends list then you are a friend of mine

Being more social and such

That’s it for the Twitters. :V

Dropping Grudges

Going into 2019, I will be letting go of my grudges I held on people. I, however, have no plans on being friends with those who done me wrong off the bat or maybe never but I want to go into this year not hating anyone.

I will be dropping my biggest grudge against FlyingfoxTSC or whatever name she goes by now (FlyingFox). Why am I dropping this grudge? I realize holding a grudge only holds you back in many ways or can turn you into a petty or a bitter person. I have forgiven her but not forgotten. If she talks to me, ok. And if she doesn’t talk to me, ok. With this said. I no longer “Dislike” her.

I will be dropping my grudges against other Sonic Speedrunners and will unblock them on Twitter (no one cares but that is good.)

Everyone gets a clean slate. Cause why not. :V

Twitch.tv stuff or stream related

I wanna start doing podcasts and streaming other games or even stream making things

SRL racing is a part of my life that I am now closing. Once I hit 200 races completed, I will take a break but I will most likely be done with racing games. I’m burned out with it. You could say that SRL racing is in the same boat with how I feel about speedrunning and CyberScore.

Twitch.tv chat moderators for my stream. If you lost mod status, you could come back and get it again. I am sure some will not like this but starting in 2019 moving forward. Losing moderator status will be permanent but can be regain, if you wish. Some users are safe from this list. But no one watches me, so it’s fine.

There will be more co-op streams with my friends. I already know people who can’t join for reasons, so I not even gonna ask them. These will be streams where we shoot the shit and talk about things, and have a good time and fun

If you are still here for racing SRL stuff and speedruns, this be the wrong place. That’s coming to a end, I would say.

Updates on the fan game

So, it has been months. Progress has been slow for a number. Drama, friends fighting, Life issues, and so much cooking. Cause of that, I been learning more code to use in my fan games. But I can say without a doubt the prototype will be pushed back to a “TBA” for now. Can’t call it a beta, yet.

I will be sending Masta, Hyper, and SBCZ a document where they can fill out the stats for their characters and much more, within reason. :3 Once they get the document, they can open / edit it in Googledocs and edit in the info. Once they get their document, They have 30 days to fill out the document, and sent it back on discord.

When the prototype is ready for debugging, a new channel will open up in my server, Private testing only. When the first demo is live for testing, it will be uploaded to firefox’s file hosting site

Youtube stuff

Youtube let plays are coming back. Had no time to record games but I will fix that, soon. I have some in mind. :V That’s all

My Goals for 2019

I would like to be drama free. I do not care about drama. It’s a waste of one’s time, and I have better things, man because drama ain’t one of them

I would like to get a fan game ready for testing or even released a app for others to use. I have 2 apps ready to be released

I want to talk to my friends again in voice calls, and play games with friends that I enjoy.

I have been removing myself from toxic environments. This could be discord groups, servers, and friends on Twitter or Facebook.

My Discord will become semi-open to new users.

Move my friends over from Skype to Discord

I will keep moving forward, with you or without you. If life changes the plans, I will adjust to the change, if need be.

Draw more things for fun, and to learn new ways of drawing

Live through it all

That’s it really. :V Thanks for reading, and hope to see you with me in the new year that is 2019.

OnyChaos~

#Twitter #twitch #youtube #update #personal #flyingfox #flyingfoxtsc #my posts #onychaos

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my-one-love-is-music · 5 years ago

Text

Be My Player 2? Ch. 39

Also in AO3!

~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Hunk! Pidge!” Keith shouted as he turned the corner and found them at the other end of the hall. People glanced up as he sprinted past, giving him curious looks. “Hunk! Pidge!”

They paused and glanced over their shoulders, sharing a look at finding Keith chasing them down. He slowed as he approached, bracing his hands on his knees when he stopped to try and catch his breath.

“Finally,” he gasped.

“Keith? Is everything okay, buddy?” Hunk asked. “You’re not running from anyone are you? Because I’d rather not be the victim of a chase. Police or otherwise.”

He shook his head. “No. I’m not being chased by anyone. I just had to find you guys.”

“You could’ve texted us, you know,” Pidge scoffed. “There’s this great thing called a cellphone. Really helps with communication.”

“Pidge, I love you, but shut up,” Keith forced out, straightening and placing a hand on his side to try and ease the stitch that formed.

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Now tell us what you wanted. You’re not normally one to run across campus looking for someone.”

Keith pulled out his phone and unlocked it, the email still open where he’d read it.

“Here,” he said, handing over his phone.

Pidge and Hunk bent over the phone, confused looks morphing into understanding and glee.

“You did it!” Pidge said. “I knew you could!”

“Congrats man,” Hunk said, patting him on the shoulder.

“It’s just an interview,” he muttered, face heating up.

“Just an interview my ass,” Pidge scoffed. “It’s still an interview. And that’s what’s important. This is an awesome accomplishment. Don’t sell yourself short just because it’s not a job offer yet. Give me all the details.”

“I’m really excited and it’s over Skype. Obviously, since I can’t just fly down there yet. And, well, you read it, the offer is for an interview later next week.”

“And you’ve already sent them your acceptance of course,” Pidge said with a nod.

“Oh, wait yeah I need to do that,” Keith muttered. He hit the reply button and typed out his response.

“You’re kidding me, right?” Pidge cried, smacking him in the arm.

Keith jolted and looked up at her, shocked. “What?”

“I can’t believe you,” she admonished. “All that talk about wanting to get a job and move to Florida and you can’t even accept an interview for one within two minutes of getting the email.”

“It’s not like I’m going to lose the interview opportunity if I don’t respond right away. That’s not how it works,” Keith argued.

Pidge shook her head and crossed her arms. “I still think you should’ve accepted before even considering coming to find us.”

Keith stuck his tongue out of the side of his mouth, reading his reply once before he hit send. “Sorry, I guess,” he muttered, pocketing his phone. “I was just so shocked I didn’t know what to do. I still don’t know what to do.”

Hunk smiled. “Don’t worry, man. We can help you out with that. Like we told you before, you’re not going through this alone and we’ll help you every step of the way.”

“Thanks guys,” Keith murmured, warmth spreading through him.

“We’ll even help you figure out what to wear,” Pidge offered. “We all know you’re horrible unless it involves black.”

Keith rolled his eyes. “Shut up. And I’ve got Saturday morning off if you can make that work.”

Pidge punched him in the arm. “We’ll be there. No sweat.”

Keith smiled at them both. “Thanks. I mean it. Thank you.”

Hunk cooed and pulled him into a tight hug. “We’re happy for you, man. And like we’ve been saying, we’re going to help you land this job so you can be where you need to be.”

Keith swallowed, a lump forming in his throat at being faced with his friends’ blatant kindness and the possibility he might actually get what he wants.

Keith shuffled through his apartment; mind set on getting into his bed as fast as possible. He wanted to sleep, but he knew Shiro would be calling him soon for their nightly chat and needed to stay awake just long enough to get a few words across.

And he was looking forward to breaking the news to Shiro that he had a job interview. He wasn’t going to tell him where it was yet, but he was going to tell him it was happening.

Keith toed off his shoes as soon as he was through his bedroom door and shoved his jeans down around his legs, kicking them in the general direction of the laundry pile. He unbuttoned his shirt and added that to the mound of discarded clothes.

He grabbed a clean pair of boxers and a large shirt and changed, falling into bed, and nearly asleep with how comfortable it was. He rolled onto his side, forcing his eyes open and reached for his bedside table, frowning when he didn’t find his phone.

Keith grumbled and forced his eyes open, finding the table empty. He sighed and pushed himself upright, wary to get back on his feet and retrieve his phone. He was in the middle of weighing the pros and cons of crawling when his ringtone went off in his pile of discarded clothes.

He jumped to his feet and rushed to his jeans, fumbling with the pockets until he managed to get his phone free. Shiro’s name flashed across the screen and Keith nearly dropped it trying to answer.

“Hello?” he asked, finally getting a hold on it.

“Hey baby,” Shiro greeted. “How was work?”

Keith relaxed, some of his stress and exhaustion washing off him. “Not too bad. A bit busy, but we weren’t swamped and got through it without too much trouble. How are things with you?”

“Been fighting to keep above water with my schoolwork. I feel like job applications have fallen to the backburner a little bit, which isn’t something I really want to let happen.”

“I get that, but that doesn’t mean you should sacrifice your schoolwork in favor of doing a bunch of applications. Save them for the weekends if you have to.”

Shiro sighed. “Yeah… Anyway, how are things going with you? Any job interviews lined up that you want to tell me about?”

Keith bit his lip, trying to keep the grin from pulling the corners of his lips upwards. “Well…”

“Wait, really?!” Shiro asked, nearly shouting.

Keith pulled the phone away form his ear and chuckled. “Yeah, really. I got an email today about an interview for next week.”

“Congrats, baby! I knew you could do it!”

Keith felt himself flush. “Thanks. I was getting a little stressed so it was nice to finally get some good news. I was worried I’d graduate before getting an interview.”

“I told you you didn’t have anything to worry about. You’re going to do great. What’s it for?”

“A research assistant position. It’ll give me the chance to do something with my degree at least.”

“I’m sure you’re going to have no problem landing it. You’re smart and amazing and there’s no way they won’t love you and want to hire you right away,” Shiro gushed.

“I don’t know about that,” Keith said, rolling onto his side. “But I’m hoping that I’ll get lucky and it’ll pan out. It’ll make getting through the rest of the year easier. Less stress.”

“You’ll get it,” Shiro said. “I know you will.”

Keith thought about all the time they got to spend together over Spring Break and how vivid he imagined their future to be. This was just one more step to getting closer to that future. As long as Shiro wanted it too.

“Thanks, Shiro. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“I think I should be the one saying that to you,” Shiro said, voice soft.

Keith pursed his lips, wanting more than anything to tell Shiro that he would be just fine without him. So many people were just fine without Keith. And Shiro would be just fine without him.

Keith, on the other hand. Keith needed Shiro like he needed oxygen to breathe. Shiro was the glue that held him together no matter how bad things got. He was becoming as important as the sun that rose in the east and gave life to the Earth. He was incredible and different and beautiful like the stars and galaxies that dotted the universe and shined bright in even the darkest of corners.

“Keith?” Shiro asked. “You there?”

“Yeah, I’m here. Sorry, just got caught up in my own head for a bit.”

“Nothing bad, I hope. If you need to talk about it, I’m all ears,” Shiro said, voice sincere and as meaningful as it always was when they were talking or if Keith had an anxiety attack.

“Nothing bad,” Keith confirmed, smiling up at the ceiling. “Just thinking about how much I love you,” he said, keeping his voice light.

Shiro chuckled. “I love you, too. Any other fun or exciting things going on that I should know about?”

“Not much. Pidge and Hunk are going to come over this weekend to help me pick out something for my interview…”

Keith hurried to the door to his apartment when he heard the knocking. He’d been sitting in his room staring at his closet for an hour trying not to let the stress and anxiety of his upcoming interview overwhelm him.

He yanked open the door, not bothering to check through the peephole since there were only two people who’d reasonably be knocking at his door.

“Have no fear, the greatest duo is here,” Pidge said, walking past him towards his bedroom.

“Well I hope you’re the greatest fashion duo because I still have no idea what I’m going to wear,” Keith muttered, locking the door as Hunk followed Pidge through his apartment.

“Runway design, not so much,” Hunk said. “But interview attire? I think we’ve got your back.”

“You’ve got potential,” Pidge said, already elbows deep into his closet, sifting through his shirts and pants. “It helps that you needed nicer clothes for your job. But you’re definitely going to need more variety when you show up for work.”

“I’m not even guaranteed a job,” Keith huffed, plopping down on the edge of his bed next to Hunk. “It’s just an interview.”

“And it’ll only be an interview if you keep thinking like that,” Hunk said, clapping him on the shoulder. “You’ve got the skills to get the job. You can do it. You will do it.”

Keith pursed his lips, tired of arguing with them over this.

“How about this?” Pidge asked. She held out a dark grey shirt and a pair of beige chinos he couldn’t even remember buying.

“Looks good as a preliminary option,” Hunk commented. “I think the real test is going to be having Keith try it on.”

“Do I have to?” he groaned.

“Yes,” Pidge said, tossing the clothes to him. “Not only should the colors match, but they should look good on you, too.”

“Fine, fine,” he huffed. He shuffled out of his bedroom and into the bathroom, hanging his clothes off the doorknob to keep them from getting rumpled on the floor. He switched shirts quickly, slipping his arms through the sleeves and doing up the buttons.

He pulled on the chinos and carefully tucked his shirt into them, making sure it was flat over his stomach and didn’t twist in any awkward way. He gave himself a onceover in the mirror, not finding anything too impressive.

He felt like he was trying too hard. Like a little kid trying on his dad’s clothes to try and seem like an adult when he really wasn’t one.

“Hurry up!” Pidge called. “Your adoring fans are waiting to see.”

Keith snorted and pulled open the door. “Don’t hurt yourself by calling yourself ‘adoring.’”

He stepped around the corner and waved at what he was wearing. “How does it look?”

Pidge nodded. “I approve. Hunk?”

“Nice color scheme, Pidge. Although…I think we should make sure that’s the best option available.”

“Agreed,” Pidge said with a solemn nod. She hopped up and returned to her search deep through Keith’s closet.

“Why can’t this one be good enough?” Keith scoffed.

“Do you want it to be good enough or do you want it to be the best?” Hunk asked.

“Keith, you don’t happen to own a tie, do you?” Pidge asked, voice muffled.

Keith sighed. He loved his friends to death and they were the literal greatest, but they could also be the worst.

Keith rubbed his hands across his pants. His palms were sweaty and he was fighting to keep his fingers from trembling. The collar of his shirt felt like it was choking him and he wanted nothing more than to run away and hide instead of suffering through an insanely anxiety-inducing interview.

He’d woken up that morning with a supportive string of texts from Shiro and it reminded him of the many reasons he was doing this.

He glanced at the clock, watching as the numbers changed. He still had two minutes to go until the start of his interview. Assuming the panel was going to send the skype call right on time. He took a deep breath. It shook as he let it out. He could do this. He could do this and it was going to be great and he was going to get this job and move down to Florida to be with Shiro.

He had to believe it was possible. No matter what. He had to believe he could do it and that just might keep him from epically failing in an explosion of death and fire.

Keith jumped when the Skype ringtone broke the silence around him. He placed a hand over his heart, fighting to calm his heartbeat. He wiped his hands on his pants one more time, forcing a smile on his face as he hit accept.

The image formed, revealing three people sitting at a table in the middle of the room. Keith hid his hands in his laps, twisting them together as they shook.

“Good morning Keith,” one of the men greeted with a smile. “Can you hear us alright?”

“I’m hearing you loud and clear,” Keith said, clearing his throat which was suddenly dry. “How are all of you doing today?”

The panel grinned, each murmuring good things about their days.

“We’ll go around and introduce ourselves really quick and then we’ll get started,” the man continued. “How does that sound?”

“It sounds great,” Keith said, voice cracking at the end of his sentence. He fought down the blush that made its way up his cheeks and cleared his throat, listening intently to the names and titles of everyone sitting in on his interview.

“We have a set of questions we’re going to go around and ask you and then you’ll have a chance to ask us anything. I’ll go ahead and start,” Dave, the first man who’d spoken, explained. “Can you tell us a little bit about why you’re interested in this position and relocating to Florida?”

Keith took a deep breath and squared his shoulders, the thought of Shiro helping to calm him. He opened his mouth and started to speak.

Keith sighed and collapsed back into his chair. He scrubbed his hands over his face as the last of his nerves and adrenaline wreaked havoc on his system. He didn’t feel like it was good enough. He didn’t think he was smart or charming or incredible enough to stand out against every other person they were no doubt interviewing. Most of them closer than Keith probably was.

They seemed to like him. But he knew that was no guarantee to their actual feelings about him and his qualifications.

Keith reached for his phone, pulling up his texts with Shiro.

Keith: Interview’s done

He waited, hoping Shiro’s answer wouldn’t be long before it came through. His phone started vibrating wildly in his hand, Shiro’s name and picture filling the screen.

Keith smiled and answered it.

“He-”

“How’d it go?” Shiro asked, grin evident in his voice. “I bet you did amazing!”

Keith chuckled and shrugged a shoulder. “It was okay. I kind of feel like I wasn’t good enough. Or I wasn’t what they were looking for.”

“I’m sure you did great! From what you told me about the position, you’re plenty qualified. You have the training at least and they certainly can’t expect you to know everything right off the bat.”

“Maybe…” Keith hedged. “They said they’d let me know next week if I made it to the next round of interviews.”

“You’ve got this. You’ll probably be the first person they call,” Shiro swore.

Keith chuckled, feeling warmth bloom in his chest and drive away some of his uncertainty. He wasn’t going to get his hopes up. He didn’t want to assume anything and then feel like shit if nothing came out of this.

“How about this,” Shiro continued, oblivious to the thoughts swirling around his head. “It’s been a while since we had a nice night together. I’m thinking we could use a date night. Forget about job applications and interviews, forget about all of the final projects and exams coming up and we can just enjoy being together and watch a movie or show or something.”

Keith shoved away the immediate desire to protest they didn’t have time for something like this and they needed to get as much done as they could while they had the time. His life was packed enough as it was. He didn’t need to overwork himself and stress. Besides, Shiro would bug him until he gave in anyway.

“That sounds amazing,” he agreed. “Does eight your time work?”

“That would be perfect,” Shiro murmured.

“Awesome. Now I can use all the time I have between now and then to get as much work done as I can.”

“Keith…” Shiro said, voice low.

He chuckled. “Don’t worry. I won’t work too hard. But I would like to get a few things done before classes and work tomorrow.”

“Good. Talk to you later?”

Keith nodded. “Yeah, definitely.”

“Later, baby. Love you.”

“Love you, too,” Keith said, voice soft.

Keith sighed and ended the call. He leaned his head back, his anxiety quiet for the moment.

If you enjoy my work, please reblog or consider buying me a ko-fi!

#sheith #molim writes #fic: player 2 #fic update

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fokrot27 · 6 years ago

Text

THE TRUTH ABOUT ZHEANI

Dear DA fans

Kim Posibill here...

After this girl, Zheani Sparks recently started spreading insane rumors about DA online, I went to do some digging to find out who she REALLY is.

To anyone that doesn’t know what's going on here, let me bring you up to speed. After Ninja & Yolandi broke up in 2013, Yo-landi got a boyfriend, and Ninja started dating different bitches around the world. During this time Ninja met an Australian psycho fan called Zheani Sparks. After chatting to Zheani online for a while, Ninja invited her to South Africa to come visit him. During her visit, Ninja introduced Zheani to ¥o-landi. During this slightly awkward moment, Zheani asked Yo-landi for a selfie, that Zheani then posted proudly on her IG and Tumblr. Yolandi never saw Zheani again during her little African holiday. Shortly after this Ninja got bored of Zheani, cut her visit short, and flew her home. But he wasn’t a dick about it, and still answered her texts she send him from time to time.

A year or two later when Ninja & Yo-landi went to Australia on tour, Zheani offered to work for them as a tour assistant, bringing them vegan food daily for 2 weeks. During this tour Ninja & Yo-landi noticed that Zheani kept hitting on the other famous rappers backstage. When Ninja & Yo-landi saw Zheani give her phone number to 2Chainz after 10sec of meeting him, it suddenly became super obvious to them that their personal assistant was a star fucker. However they kept it cool, and let her finish bringing them food on tour, then they politely parted ways.

Following this it seems that this girl Zheani lost her fucking mind and became a raging internet hoe. She also attempted to start a rap career. To launch her rap career Zheani came up with a wild story that Ninja & Yo-landi TRAFFICKED her out to Africa, where they TORTURED her during a SATANIC RITUAL of some kind. This was her marketing angle, (and probably a wild fantasy of hers).

I was recently contacted by a loyal DA fan who shed some light on these highly imaginative rumors Zheani is attempting to spread about Die Antwoord. Zheani met this DA fan online after she accepted payment from him for a special live pornographic online service she offered, that involved Zheani performing nude satanic rituals (via snapchat and Skype) that her clients can wank to. This fan told me that he was severely upset about the crazy rumors Zheani is attempting to spread about Die Antwoord, and that he is now embarrassed that he payed for this weird porno service. He asked to please stay anonymous.

HERE IS THE EMAIL HE SENT ME (followed by a shit load of dodgy fuckin VIDEOS, PHOTOS and credits card receipts from Zheani Sparks.)

"I received a direct message on instagram sometime last year from Zheani where she told me about a project she does, she described at as a mix between the occult and pornography. You pay 30 Australian dollars a month to be part of her "inner circle," (a reference to devil worship). This gives you access to her snapchat. Once you are on the snapchat you are welcomed to her inner circle and she sends you two video'd satanic rituals of her exposing herself, masturbating, performing oral sex, posing her hands into devil horns and making exorcist style poses. She then asks you how you feel after watching these because she believes they have magical powers. I told her i felt like I knew her better (tongue in cheek referencing the fact she has no clothes on) and she told me that's correct it was a magical energy exchange well done. This self belief that she has super powers is sad, possibly a result of mental illness, and it's clear she tries to manipulate people myself included with it. I just go along with it because it's effectively all pornography, though she thinks it's something greater. The account is called "Gothotic Ritual," The 30 australian dollars gives you access to the snapchat for a month and you top up again although she give me a free month because she'd been speaking with me before. Although she eventually asked me to tip extra one month because I'd been given a free month. She also tells you as soon as you join she takes payments for individual rituals. 30 dollar basic access includes her sending you private messages on her snapchat story she posts snippets of herself conducting rituals for other individuals personal commissions and her performing various sexual acts with various partners, males and females. The rituals she has sent snippets of have included her making devil horns, bathing herself in what appears to be blood, masturbating with blood, screaming at the top of her lungs in the middle of the ocean naked, projecting satanic symbols on her naked body while she masturbates, and more.

After the snippets of the ritual she performs in the ocean naked screaming, she posted on her story that after that ritual she felt like she could sense presences in her house and seemed very worried by it. This is a tell tale sign of psychosis or schizophrenia..

As of my last payment and tip to her from the beginning of month I have received nothing in return, and she hasn't been on snapchat or responding on instagram at all, so I imagine I'm not the only one who has been robbed of money. She used the money she receives of this snapchat to fund her entire album including the song The Question. I have seen her briefly advertise the service on her instagram stories and then deletes it when she is obviously struggling for money she tries to get more people involved for this pornographic service.

During our porno conversations, I'd also asked her a few times about Die Antwoord, because I had seen photos of them with her on her IG from years ago.

Im a big DA fan and also wanted to know more about the band.

There is a few instances of comments and posts after she got back from south africa in 2013, of her explaining how much a great time she had and she couldn't wait to see the Die Antwoord guys again, (plz see screenshot below)

Anyway, Sheani BLATANTLY told that she was making a song that was designed to HURT Die Antwoord, her exact words were that she was "Invoking a lot of Kali Energy," Kali being the hindu God of War. There was not once a sign that she had or did feel abused or broken regarding any of this. It was more like “LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT WHAT IM DOING, I’M AMAZING AREN'T I?”

While she sat aloof and gulped her massive glass of wine (this blatant egotism that Zheani carries is very obvious after your first few experiences with her, only my polite manners and libido kept me talking to her).

She only mentioned on the magnitude this would create around her MUSICAL work, the backlash and publicity it would create from Die Antwoord, and that she was ready for all that, due to her "Kali Energy,”

[FOR PROOF (PHOTOS AND VIDEOS) CLICK BELOW ]

#zheani #die antwoord

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jilyyall · 7 years ago

Text

As Much As I Want You

This was a request from @l--o--u like six months ago, who asked for a sequel to this prompt and I am a terrible person who took this long to deliver. Summary: It’s been nearly a week since Lily and James had dinner and more, but Lily hasn’t seen or heard from her insanely fit neighbour and it’s beginning to really bother her. Word count: 10,535 Rating: Explicit.

“Oh my God, ladies. Our little Lily is growing up. Had her first one-night stand and everything,” Dorcas’s voice was distant, a bit tinny, and came from Lily’s desktop computer, which she usually reserved for work except when Marlene and Emmeline came over to Skype Dorcas on the last Thursday evening of every month. “What a woman.”

“I’m just glad she’s finally getting some action,” Emmeline said and took a sizeable gulp of her whisky on the rocks because I don’t drink wine or that headache-inducing sugary shit you bitches love. “Honestly. I was starting to worry you would dry up forever like an old, forgotten prune.”

“That.” Lily paused, searched for something that wasn’t glass, found only an old lightly used napkin from their takeaway earlier, and threw it at her. It hit Emmeline in the head and bounced off her silky blond bob to land on the floor next to her. “Was uncalled-for.”

“Bitch,” Emmeline laughed, picking up the napkin and throwing it in the bin by the door.

“Hey, let’s get back to the topic at hand, which is that Lily is officially starting to slut it up with the rest of us,” Marlene said, taking a prim sip of wine and smirking at Lily over the edge of her glass. “We should all go out and pull this weekend. Oh, sorry, Dorky.”

“Ugh, I can still pull here in America, you tit.” Dorcas rolled her eyes and lifted a cup that she claimed was full of alcohol, but Lily strongly suspected was just water, given the fact that it was just past noon in Los Angeles. “In fact, I can probably pull easier here given my fucking sexy accent.”

“We all have the same accent, you loser,” Emmeline said, searching through their discarded takeaway containers for another egg roll.

“Everyone there has the same accent, Mellie,” Dorcas reminded her. “Mine stands out here, though.”

“Do the blokes really love it that much?” Marlene asked, leaning forward in her seat.

“I dunno about the blokes, but the birds sure do,” Dorcas said.

“Shit, I forgot. Sorry.” Marlene’s eyes went slightly wide, the corners of her mouth downturned in the expression she always wore when she was sincerely apologetic.

“Oh, it’s still new to me, too. Don’t worry,” Dorcas assured her.

Dorcas, who came from a very religious family, had lived her entire life in denial and had only admitted to herself that she liked girls on her twenty-first birthday. She hadn’t told anyone, even her three best friends, that she was a lesbian until she was already well and settled into her new life in America nearly four years later. Her parents didn’t talk to her anymore and, as such, Lily pretended not to know them on the rare occasion that she ran into them these days.

“I think I could pull a woman,” Emmeline said mildly.

“Okay…” Marlene drawled. “But would you let a woman pull you, is the real question.”

“Yeah, probably,” Emmeline answered, reaching for her drink again. “Who knows how to please a woman better than another woman?”

“I dunno, why don’t we ask Lily?” Dorcas suggested with a laugh. “Does your very fit neighbour know how to please a woman?”

Lily rolled her eyes, distinctly aware of the colour rising in her cheeks. She lifted a shoulder in an attempt at careless indifference. “He did all right.”

“Yeah, sex is almost always all right, but did you have an orgasm?” Emmeline demanded.

Did she ever. She was getting hot all over just thinking about it.

“Oh, my God, she definitely did,” Marlene announced with a delighted laugh. “Look at that fierce flush.”

“You’re the worst,” Lily groaned, throwing her head back dramatically, narrowly missing hitting the wall.

“At least your fit neighbour isn’t the worst in bed,” Emmeline cackled.

“What position did you do?” Dorcas asked.

“Yeah, was it something crazy for your first one-night stand?” Emmeline prompted. “Or was it more tame? Missionary? Doggy style?”

“Er – I dunno. He was standing and I was sitting on the kitchen counter,” Lily said truthfully.

“Oh, my God, you slag!” Dorcas teased.

“Hey, that’s not a bad one,” Marlene said. “Just kinky enough to be a little bit wild and tame enough not to scare you out of the real kinky shit.”

Lily realized at that moment that she didn’t tell her friends enough about her sex life. Sure, she hadn’t had sex in a while, which, in hindsight, was probably why she had been so desperate for James to get his hands on her. She was not, however, some blushing, all but virginal schoolgirl who didn’t know that sex was supposed to be fun and free and feel good.

She liked sex, loved it, even, if the bloke knew what he was doing. She had, in the past, spoken openly and comfortably about her sex life, her wants and needs, her likes and dislikes, with her partners. Apparently, though, she had never shared the same amount of information with her friends.

She loved the girls, truly, but she didn’t trust them not to share wildly inappropriate details about her sex life with people who had no right to know them. They had, after all, told her things their coworkers had shared with them and more than likely didn’t want some random stranger knowing about them.

Listening to the girls talk about their favorite sex positions, Lily felt a bit out of place. They all had had so many sexual partners, so many casual flings, and Lily had had none. She’d had a fair few relationships, all of which had been mostly sexual in nature, but not at all casual. It struck her that she didn’t want to have casual sex. At least, not at this point in her life. Not with James.

She was overcome suddenly by an awful sensation that felt a bit like regret and a lot like loneliness. She stood quietly from her chair, gathered up the empty food containers, left Emmeline and Marlene to cackle with Dorcas’s image on the computer, and made her way down the stairs to the kitchen for another glass of wine.

Trash in the bin and glass blissfully full again, she glanced out the window on the side of her house that faced his house. The lights were off, as they had been every time she had spared him a thought and a glance the past few days. Admittedly, that had happened embarrassingly often since they had slept together.

Lily frowned and sighed. She had a good life. She had a reliable job that brought in a decent amount of money – enough for her to afford a house on her own – even if her boss was a bit shit and brought her right to the edge of murderous rage at least twice a week.

She had a fair few friends who she saw regularly, and parents she spoke to on the phone every other day and had dinner with her mother every Tuesday night and with her father every Wednesday night without fail. Her sister was awful and spiteful and mean and Lily hadn’t heard from her since she had received the Christmas card Petunia had almost certainly sent her more for their mother’s benefit than for Lily’s, but Lily loved her and she would venture to say that Petunia likely loved Lily right back.

She had a car and a roof over her head and a lovely wardrobe full of beautiful, professional dresses and slacks and nice blouses and also quite a few dingy, old, beloved jumpers and sweats. She had more shoes than one person really had a right to own. She had hot water and enjoyed a leisurely soak in a bubble bath with a book and a lit candle and a full glass of red wine every Friday night.

She had wine. Lots of wine.

Her life was good, but she would be lying if she said that lately she hadn’t been feeling like something was missing.

A husband, her mother would say if Lily brought it up during dinner on Tuesday night, which she absolutely would not do.

A cat, her father would insist, clinging as desperately as ever to the idea that his younger daughter would not rush to marry the first man who offered, awful as he might be, the way his older daughter had.

A few good orgasms a week, her friends would undoubtedly suggest.

Lily had never been one to cling to a man. Even when she was a schoolgirl and had gotten her first boyfriend, she hadn’t clung to him. They went on dates on the weekends, occasionally stopped for a hug and a chat in the hallways at school, but for the most part lived separate lives. He would spend his days at school with his friends, and she with hers; they didn’t even eat lunch together. She had introduced him to her parents after a month not because she wanted him to have a greater role in her life, but because her mother and father had insisted on meeting him. Her relationships in uni had been much the same, only instead of an occasional hug and a chat in the hallways, there had been the occasional spontaneous shag in an empty, unlocked classroom. As a young professional, she didn’t have much time for relationships and while she certainly wasn’t against the idea of a one-night stand she had never felt desperate enough to actually give in and go that route.

She wouldn’t say that she felt clingy now, but this was different. She had never met a bloke and felt drawn to him the way she did with James. She hadn’t gone into his house thinking this is going to be a one-night stand, but she also hadn’t gone expecting to walk out in a relationship. She had just accepted an offer of dinner from the fit bloke she had been eyeing ever since he had moved in next door and then, as soon as she had set foot in his house, something had come over her. There was a pull there, between them. It was electric; it was magnetic. It was almost like… fate.

And that was an embarrassing and ridiculous thought because Lily was a firm believer –and had been all her life – that there was no such thing as fate, that it was your choices and your actions that shaped your future and that the course of your life was not predetermined by some unknown, unseen, undeterminable entity. And yet, she couldn’t shake the thought that fate had seen him buy the house right next to her and had her dryer break down and make her hang her clothes out on the line on a sunny day that turned into a rainy evening that led her to his house, his kitchen counter, his couch, his bed, his shower the next morning.

She hadn’t mentioned that to her friends – and likely she wouldn’t – but they had had sex several times. They had started in the kitchen, finally giving in to the irresistible, unshakeable desire after they had eaten dinner and drunk the whole bottle of wine, then James had carried her to the couch when he decided he wanted to lay her down, had finished there, the first time. After that, they had gone to bed, presumably to go to sleep for the night, but Lily had woken after a few hours, desire burning almost painfully within her, and she had kissed him awake – had wanted to stroke him awake, but hadn’t been certain how he would react since they had only just met a few hours before – and then had ridden him with a desperate abandon she had never felt before.

They had both woken ridiculously early – well before five in the morning – to a hard, heavy, thunderous rainfall and he had eventually rolled over on top of her for slow, sleepy, wonderful, half-awake morning sex before they managed to fall back asleep. It was Saturday morning and it was storming out, so he couldn’t go for his usual morning run and didn’t have plans until noon, so they had taken their time waking up for the day, had decided to shower together and gotten carried away again. He’d held her up against the wall and fucked her there in the shower until his feet had started to slip and they had laughed and moved to the spacious marble counter next to his sink to finish.

He’d made eggs for her – poached, not scrambled and dry and almost burnt like she always made them when she bothered to cook for herself – and a coffee and they had talked about normal, everyday things. It hadn’t been awkward or strained, like they were complete strangers who had just spent the past twelve hours either sleeping or fucking; it was comfortable, like they were just lovers having breakfast together after a wonderful night and chatting about their plans for the day.

He’d gotten her clothes from his dryer and carried them next door for her. They’d kissed, long and slow, on her front porch, and then he’d gone home to get ready for his day. She hadn’t seen him since.

They’d made no promises of more, hadn’t made plans for a date or exchanged phone numbers, but they lived next door to each other and it seemed a small thing to have each other’s numbers, really, when they could just walk outside their doors when they wanted a chat. Only, she hadn’t even seen his car in the drive since Sunday morning when she’d left to have brunch with Benjy. And it was Thursday night.

She’d been bothered by his sudden and unexpected disappearance all week long; she wasn’t too proud to admit that, at least to herself. But she hadn’t let herself dwell on it as much as she was tonight. It was probably because, even when he hadn’t been home Sunday night, or by the time he usually would have been home Monday afternoon, she hadn’t allowed herself to consider the possibility that this could have been a one-night stand until her friends had determined that it was.

He’d been great in bed, that was an indisputable fact, but he’d been just awkward enough during their conversation before they’d had sex, just nervous enough, that she had assumed that he didn’t pick up on women much. Men could get really good at sex by having a lot of sex with just a couple of partners just as easily as –easier than, even– having a lot of one-night stands. He seemed like the type of guy who had had a few serious partners in his day, the relationship type. But now, Lily had to admit that she didn’t really know anything about him. For all she knew, he had never been in a relationship and was strictly a one-night stand bloke. But who in their right mind chose to have an undisclosed one-night stand with their neighbour, knowing they would see each other every day?

Except, she remembered, she hadn’t seen him since.

It was unlikely that he had moved, she reasoned. He had only bought the place a few months ago and he had already completely settled in, judging by the comfortable way he had decorated. He could have been avoiding her, but if that were the case, he was going to an awful lot of trouble to do so, completely changing around a schedule he had never even once deviated from before they had spent the night together. Besides, he had definitely had as good a time as she had, had initiated things two out of the four times they had had sex, had cooked for her and kissed her and had laughed and seemed to genuinely enjoy the conversations they’d shared afterwards as much as she had.

It wasn’t that she wanted to spend every free moment that she had with him. It was just that she didn’t not want to spend all of her free time with him. She didn’t want for their night together to be just that: their one and only night together. The sex was good – great, actually, easily the best she’d ever had – and the food was delectable. But there was more to it than that. She liked talking to him, liked watching him work, had taken great pleasure in watching his hands as he had chopped vegetables for a salad. She liked his eyes and how expressive his face was – it had seemed to her that he hid nothing – and his stubble in the morning. She couldn’t get enough of his hair, smooth and soft in her hands, messier when he woke than she had ever seen it, either from her constant tugging at it when he was inside her or from sleep. She liked his mouth, the way it moved over words and laughs and smiles, and over her body.

She couldn’t think of a single thing she didn’t like about him. She desperately wanted to find something, to see if she would still think he was wonderful and feel this pull towards him even when she found the something that annoyed her, made her want to roll her eyes or pick a fight with him. It had been her experience in the past that she didn’t have much patience for a bloke once she found that something. Lily wanted more than anything to find out if James could be the bloke that held her attention, left her wanting him even when she was annoyed with him.

If she ever saw him again.

God, she wanted to see him again.

“Lily?”

She found herself still staring out the window at his house, turned quickly, nearly sloshed wine right out of her glass and onto her beige top. Marlene was standing on the bottom step, watching her. “Yeah?”

“Are you okay?” Marlene stepped down onto the landing and made her way, almost gliding across the room, over to Lily.

“Yeah.” Lily smiled and took a large sip of wine. “Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”

Marlene pulled a face that would have looked ridiculous on Lily: eyes rolling, one eyebrow quirking up towards her hairline, the other curling low as she half-squinted one eye at her, her mouth quirked up in a slanted smirk as she scoffed and shook her head and managed to look beautiful doing it.

“You disappeared without saying anything about five minutes ago and I found you staring out at your neighbour’s house and I can only assume he’s the one you slept with,” Marlene said, looking curiously out the window over Lily’s shoulder.

“You know what they say about assumptions,” Lily said.

“Yeah, but mine are usually right.” Marlene smirked at her. Lily tried to smile back, tried to hide how forced it felt by taking a sip of wine. Marlene, observant as she was, frowned. “What’s wrong, love?”

Lily sighed, downed the rest of her wine far too quickly, and moved around Marlene to pour another glass. When she turned to face Marlene again, she was watching Lily closely, not even bothering to hide her concern. Lily didn’t blame her; she didn’t usually act like this. Usually, Lily was calm, cool, and collected, and just as bubbly and talkative as the rest of the girls when they got together.

“One of those nights, is it?” Marlene said after a moment of silence. She sighed and drank the last of her wine, followed Lily to refill her glass as well. “Okay, I’m ready,” she said once her glass was full.

Lily rolled her eyes, but allowed Marlene to pull her over to the sturdy wood kitchen table, sat down across from her when Marlene released her.

“Talk,” Marlene commanded.

“It’s stupid,” Lily warned her. “You’ll laugh.”

“I would never laugh at something that upset you,” Marlene vowed and Lily knew that she was right. None of her friends would laugh at her for her concerns, or for wanting to see James again, and regularly.

“I didn’t think it was a one-night stand when I told you about James,” Lily admitted.

“James would be fit neighbour, I’m guessing. Well, that’s no big deal.” Marlene waved a hand as if to dismiss the problem. “We’ll just tell the girls that you’re planning to see him again, they’ll tease you that the sex was too good, and that will be that.”

“That’s the thing, though. We didn’t make plans to see each other again,” Lily said. “I just assumed since we’re neighbours that we didn’t have to make plans immediately because we would just see each other pretty much every day.”

“But… you haven’t?” Marlene guessed.

“Not since he walked me home Saturday morning!” Lily complained.

“Wait, you spent the night with him?” Marlene asked. “You made it sound like you’d just gone over there to dry your clothes, had dinner, had a bit of him, and then come home.”

“I had more than a bit of him,” Lily mumbled.

Marlene said nothing, but raised an eyebrow at her. And Lily cracked. She told her just about everything: the incredible sex, the various positions and numerous orgasms, the easy conversation, the warm, fantastic snogging, and his mysterious disappearance afterwards. By the time Lily was finished her story, she and Marlene had both finished their glasses of wine and Marlene had gotten a fresh bottle from the refrigerator and refilled both of their glasses.

“Wow,” Marlene said once Lily had finished recounting her night with James in vivid detail. “Okay. So, this guy’s a major dick if he’s avoiding you after all that.”

“Agreed,” Lily said. They clinked glasses, giggled a bit drunkenly, and each took a sip.

“However.” Marlene paused, whether for dramatic effect or to gather her thoughts, Lily didn’t know. “It is also possible that you are overreacting and that it is in large part due to the assumption Dorky, Mellie, and I made upstairs.”

“Ugh, Leney!” Lily whined.

“No, listen,” Marlene insisted. “You’ve admitted yourself that you hardly know anything about him. You don’t know what he does for a living; maybe he had to travel for work. Maybe he went home to visit his family. You didn’t exchange phone numbers, so he can’t get in touch to update you or reassure you if he even wants to and you can’t reach him to let him know that you would benefit from a bit of reassuring.”

“So, basically, all I can do is wait until he shows back up and see whether he’s an asshole or I’m overreacting,” Lily surmised miserably.

“Pretty much.” Marlene laughed and sipped her wine. “Hey, chin up, Buttercup. Bright side is, either way, you can still fuck him again.”

Lily frowned and drummed her fingers on the table. “How do you figure?”

“Well, if you’re overreacting, chances are he’s as interested in getting to know you as you are in getting to know him,” Marlene pointed out. “And if he’s an asshole, well then he’ll definitely be up for more steamy sex, no-strings-attached.”

Lily cocked her head, unable to stop herself from glancing out the window at James’s house again. Marlene had a point. The only thing was, Lily couldn’t decide which would be the worst-case scenario: never having sex with him again, or having sex with him knowing that it meant nothing to him. Probably, if she were honest with herself, never having sex with him again.

Before she could praise Marlene for her genius, Emmeline shouted down the stairs for them.

“Oi! What are you two doing? Did you fall down the stairs and die? Is there a murderer in the house? Did you just ditch us? Have you started snogging without us? … Oh, like you wouldn’t snog any one of us, Dorky. … Oh, shut up, we’re not actually sisters, it would be fine.”

Lily and Marlene looked at one another, and dissolved into a fit of giggles.

“We’d better go before Dorky disconnects on her,” Marlene said once she had gotten the giggles mostly under control.

It wouldn’t be the first time that Emmeline had pushed Dorcas too far. Emmeline had the wildest personality of the four of them and she had the inappropriate mouth to match. Dorcas, who had been brought up far more prim and proper, often disagreed with the things that Emmeline said. They rowed often; it was part of the reason that Emmeline didn’t join them on every Skype night.

“We’re coming!” Lily shouted up the stairs.

“Oh, good! Bring the whisky when you do!” Emmeline shouted back.

“I’m bringing the wine, too,” Lily said, grabbing her glass and the bottle of wine and leaving Marlene to bring the whisky for Emmeline.

A couple hours later, after Lily and Marlene had updated Emmeline and Dorcas on the subject – though in much less detail – and the four women had long since exhausted the topic, they disconnected from Dorcas, who seemed suspiciously sober and had to go meet some friends out for drinks. Lily, Emmeline, and Marlene each had one last drink, and then Lily walked Marlene and Emmeline out to their shared Uber. They were laughing and Emmeline was stumbling and Marlene and Lily were struggling, but managed to hold her upright all the same. They didn’t usually drink so much on their Skype nights owing to the fact that they were always on Thursdays and they all had work on Friday mornings, but Lily had wanted to numb her mind and Emmeline was never one to be out-drunk and Marlene didn’t like to be the only sober one in a group and Dorcas, even in a different country, was a fucking enabler.

They managed to get her to the car at the curb and had just got the door open, still giggling like the schoolgirls they had once been together, when a set of headlights washed over them. A familiar car pulled into James’s drive. Emmeline was hanging onto Lily’s neck and stroking her hair as if she were a particularly oversized cat when James stepped out of his car. Lily froze, heart hammering, when they made eye contact. James lifted a hand in greeting, and grinned when Emmeline began peppering drunk, friendly kisses all over Lily’s face.

“Oh, my God! Is that him!” Emmeline said loudly, sensing that Lily’s attention had been diverted. Lily got the distinct impression from the proximity of Emmeline’s mouth to Lily’s ear that Emmeline thought she was whispering. “He’s fit as hell.”

“Oh, God,” Marlene muttered, setting a hand on Emmeline’s shoulder to try and lead her away from Lily and into the car all while trying to subtly get a look at James over her shoulder. “Come on, Mellie.”

The passenger door opened then and another man stepped out, impossibly handsome and lean and slightly sorter than James. Lily recognized him immediately as his smoker best friend who had spent a few weeks with James after his motorcycle accident. A third man, shorter again, and thinner, and with lighter hair than both James and the second man, stepped out from the backseat – stumbled out, really – and the handsome smoker steadied him. Lily wondered if the third man was as drunk as Emmeline, but had the impression from his haggard look that his stumble was something else entirely.

“Or was it one of them?” Emmeline shouted. “Honestly, it doesn’t matter! They’re all fit from here.”

All three men laughed at that, one sounding more like a quick, mirthful bark, another sounding rough and tired, and the last one, familiar and free, belonged to James and made Lily feel warm inside.

“Hello, ladies,” called the very fit smoker, perfectly at ease.

Lily waved awkwardly and turned to her friends, her face hot and probably very red, to try to help Marlene coax Emmeline into the car. “The car’s going to leave without you if you don’t get in, Emmeline.”

“Which one of you lives here?” Emmeline called out.

Without hesitation, both of James’s friends pointed to him at the same time as he lifted a hand.

“Mellie, let’s get in the car,” Marlene said gently as Lily tried to push the blond into the backseat.

“Was it a one-night stand or what?” Emmeline asked far too loudly, in keeping with the rest of this awful moment.

Marlene’s head whipped around to stare, wide-eyed, at Lily who was feeling both humiliated and murderous. She clenched her jaw and met Marlene’s gaze. “Get her in the fucking car.”

Giving up on gentle, they shoved a laughing, vaguely protesting Emmeline into the car. Marlene held a hand over Emmeline’s head so that she didn’t hit the doorframe or the ceiling of the car and Lily tried to force Emmeline’s long, toned legs into the car after her. Marlene turned to Lily once Emmeline was inside the car and talking loudly at their exasperated driver. Her eyes went even wider, taking in someone over Lily’s shoulder.

“It was nice to sort of meet you,” Marlene said and turned to Lily with a small, suggestive smile that quickly dissolved into giggles. She kissed Lily on the cheek and then quickly climbed in after Emmeline and shut the door. Lily could hear her bickering with Emmeline, who actually turned around to stare out the back window of the car as it drove off.

Lily turned slowly and was not surprised to find James standing there, mere inches from her. For a moment, they only looked at one another. Then, Lily laughed awkwardly. “I swear we don’t normally behave like ridiculous schoolgirls.”

James smiled, rubbed the back of his neck, and then ruffled his hair. Lily followed the movement of his hand intently, wishing that it was her hand mussing his hair again. “It’s all right. When my mates and I drink, we can sometimes get a bit rowdy and act like the idiot teenagers we once were.”

She looked over towards his house, found that his friends were no longer standing near his car, surmised that they must have gone inside to give him some privacy with her. She looked back up at him, tried to think of something to say that wasn’t I missed you even though I know I had no right to or You make me feel like a schoolgirl, honestly.

“I was away for a few days,” James said quite suddenly, freeing her from the pressure of thinking of what to say. He gestured over his shoulder in the direction of his house. “Our friend Remus fell ill and was in hospital, so Sirius and I took a last minute trip over to York to stay with him and convince him to come back to London with us.”

“Why was he in York?” Lily asked.

“Oh, his parents moved there when we were in uni here,” James said, waving a dismissive hand. “He went to visit them when they fell ill, stayed and cared for them through to the end, and just never made it back home.”

“Is he okay now?” She felt very sorry for this man she had never even met. She could only imagine how it would feel to go home for a visit and stay to watch your parents die, only to fall ill after they had passed. At least he was fortunate enough to have such good friends to look after him.

“He’s fine,” James assured her. “Anyway, Lily. My point is… I didn’t mean to disappear on you.”

“Oh. No. That’s okay,” Lily said. “I didn’t think… Emmeline’s just very drunk and… I didn’t…”

“I came over to talk to you before I left, but you weren’t home. At least, I don’t think you were. Your car was in the drive, but you didn’t answer the door,” James told her. “It was Sunday morning.”

“I wasn’t here,” Lily said, remembering. “I was at brunch with my friend Benjy.”

She had spent most of the morning regaling Benjy with tales of her exploits with James. As a very busy, very single gay man, Benjy had appreciated the detail she had gone into. The only reason she had told him that she had had sex four times in twelve hours and had experienced no less than seven full-fledged orgasms was that it had all been so new and exciting at the time, so fresh in her mind, and because she trusted Benjy to not be a twat and shout out what she had told him on her street in the middle of the night or in James’s presence.

“I left a note for you, on your door. It had my number on,” James said.

“I didn’t get it,” Lily told him. “Oh, my God. I swear I didn’t get it.”

“It wasn’t a one-night stand,” James said softly, taking her hand in his. “Not for me.”

“Me neither,” Lily whispered.

He smiled brilliantly at her, slipped his hand out of hers to slide it up her arm, fingers trailing so gently along her skin that she trembled. His other hand rested on her waist.

It was Lily who surged forward, rising to the very tips of her toes as she threw her arms around his neck and drew him down to kiss her. She sighed when their lips met, and let her hands wander up into his hair.

He tilted his head and deepened the kiss, his tongue working its way smoothly into her mouth to tangle with hers. He pulled her bottom lip into his mouth, nibbled at her, rolled his tongue over her lip, and then released her with a small, gentle peck.

“Is it ridiculous if I say that I missed you while I was away?” he breathed, his forehead resting against hers.

“Probably,” Lily said with a small smile, her hands still stroking through his hair. She laughed quietly when he frowned and pressed his mouth to hers again. “But it’s okay because I missed you too.”

He grinned at her and it lit his whole face up in a way that made her want to squeal with joy and grab his face and never stop kissing him.

“Will you go on a date with me?” he asked, rushing through the words as if he didn’t want to miss his chance. “We can get dinner, or we can see a film, or we can go have drinks and dance and sing out-of-tune karaoke if that’s what you’re into.”

“I will go on a date with you,” Lily said, laughing at the goofy, elated look on his face. “But only if you fuck me after.”

James gaped at her for a moment, then forcibly shut his mouth and nodded. “I can… I can do that.”

“I know you can,” Lily said with a sly smirk. “In fact, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about just how well you can.”

“Damn it. I can… we can… right now… do you want… I…” James stammered, gripping her hips tightly with both hands and eyeing her house.

“I really do want,” Lily said, sliding her hands down out of his hair to stroke along his firm chest. “But your friends…”

“Fuck ‘em.”

“I’d rather fuck you,” she said.

“Well, yeah. That’s what I meant. Forget them and fuck me.” He used his grip on her hips to pull her close so that they were flush against each other and she felt the evidence of how badly he wanted her pressing into her stomach. She buried her smile in his shoulder as he brought his mouth closer to her ear. “Now? Or later? Once we have a proper date? I can wait.”

“We’ve already waited five whole days. You want me to wait longer?” Lily said, only half-joking.

James grinned down at her and kissed her again. Lily had just tilted her head to deepen the kiss, her mouth opening for him, when she heard a loud, ear-splitting whistle. James pulled back and groaned and then there was applause. Lily frowned and looked around, spotting the culprits standing behind the low fence surrounding James’s back garden.

The one she assumed he had referred to as Sirius had both of his forearms propped up on the top of the fence, his hands dangling over the edge in a show of pseudo-polite applause while a lit cigarette dangled from one corner of his smirking mouth. The other one, the one who had been ill, Remus, was leaning against the side of the house next to him, laughing quietly and also applauding.

“Ignore them,” James said, rolling his eyes and raising his voice so that they could easily hear him. “They’re idiots and I hate them.”

“Well, that was rude,” Remus said.

“He’s only upset because we’re cockblocking,” Sirius told Remus in what was the most put-on innocent tone Lily had ever heard.

“I suppose it must not have been a one-night stand, then,” Remus said to Sirius, who shrugged.

“He’d be a bleeding idiot if it was,” Sirius said finally after making a show of looking Lily up and down.

James groaned and Lily laughed. He eyed her questioningly for a moment before sighing and leading her closer to his friends.

“Would you leave us alone?” James asked, voice strained.

“No. I’m afraid you’re really best not left to your own devices,” Remus said.

“What about leaving him to mine?” Lily postulated, smirking.

Sirius hummed thoughtfully, and reached up to pull the cigarette from his mouth after he took a long drag. He stared at Lily for a moment before stubbing his cigarette out on the top of James’s fence. Then, he smiled devilishly at her and Lily knew that, were she not infatuated with his best friend already, she would have been nearly undone by the sight.

“Yeah, I think that might be acceptable,” Sirius said.

“Just don’t hurt him; he’s very fragile,” Remus added with a solemn nod.

“Hmm, that’s not the impression I got on Friday night,” Lily said, pretending to study a scowling James thoughtfully. “Or Saturday morning.”

“This is the worst possible combination of personalities,” James complained, grabbing Lily by the hand and pulling her away. “Later, boys!”

“Be safe!” Remus called.

“If you impregnate her, you’ve got to marry her,” Sirius said mildly. “It’s what Mum always said when we were younger, remember?”

“Bloody hell, Sirius, shut up,” James whisper-shouted, wheeling around to glare at him, but Sirius and Remus were both already walking back around the side of his house to the back door, chuckling. He was red when he turned back to Lily, apologies clearly on the tip of his tongue, but she laughed and kissed him.

“It’s okay. Remember my friend not half an hour ago?” Lily said with a soft smile when he lowered his forehead to her shoulder.

“Yeah, but that was funny. She was drunk. My friends are sober; they’re just wankers,” James complained.

But he loved them, she knew, so he clearly didn’t think they were all that bad. Because he had only recently nursed a broken and bloody Sirius back to health and he had taken off work and driven five hours to sit in a hospital for days while Remus recovered from his illness and now they were both staying in his house. And he was here, standing on her front porch with her, about to ditch his mates for her.

“Maybe we should wait,” Lily said suddenly.

James, who had just started kissing her neck, pulled back to study her face.

“I’m going to kill them,” he said after a moment.

“No, not because of them,” she said, resting her palms flat against his firm chest. “It’s just I’ve got to be at the office tomorrow morning and I’ve had a bit much wine – not too much to be responsible for my own decisions, mind, just enough to need a bit more sleep than I otherwise might – and last time, well, we didn’t sleep much.”

“We really didn’t.” James grinned and leaned in to place a lingering kiss on her lips.

“Are you upset?” Lily whispered.

“Nah.” James shrugged. “It’s okay.”

“Because, honestly, I’m a bit upset,” Lily said on a sigh as she pressed her face to his shoulder. “Fucking responsibility.”

“I’ll reward you handsomely tomorrow night. Promise,” James said, and Lily didn’t know him well yet, but she knew he was grinning, and also that he would keep his word.

“I should probably get your number, though.” He was already reaching into his trouser pocket as he spoke. “In case I need to contact you before then.”

He unlocked the screen and handed it to her. She wasted no time in creating a new contact with her information and handed it back to him. He smiled, thanked her, and slid his phone back into his pocket.

She lifted her face to kiss him, her hands burying themselves one last time in his hair, stroking through the silky, messy strands as he massaged her bottom lip between his. A breathy, high-pitched sound escaped her throat when he backed her up into her door, his hips pressed firmly against hers.

“Dinner or dancing?” James asked, tearing his mouth from hers with no small amount of effort, it seemed to her.

“As long as you fuck me after, I don’t really care what we do,” Lily said.

James groaned and rocked his hips against hers a few times. Lily moaned, hitched a leg over his hip, and he slid his hand down her waist to grip the back of her thigh just under her ass.

“I’ll pick you up at half-seven,” James panted, releasing her leg. She let it fall from his hip and James backed away from her hastily, looking for all the world like it was the last thing he had any interest in doing. He was walking backwards down her front steps, not even stumbling once, the fucker, by the time she managed to push herself off of the front door. “You should get inside, get some rest.”

With any luck, she would need her rest for tomorrow night. She bit her lip, saw his gaze trained on her mouth, and smiled as she reached for the doorknob behind her. “Goodnight.”

She managed to make herself walk inside and shut the door, but she leaned against the door for several long moments, unable to calm her heart or make her legs steady enough to carry her up the stairs. When she finally pushed herself off the door to make her ungainly way to the staircase it was only because she heard her phone chime from her bedroom. It could have been one of her friends, Marlene most likely, checking in on her to make sure James hadn’t been an asshole about everything, but the timing was too perfect for it to be anyone but him.

When she finally made it to her bedroom, she found her phone on the dresser next to her door where she had left it when Dorcas had called to say she was logging onto Skype. Sure enough, she had a text from an unknown number. Heart racing in her chest, she held her thumb over the home button to unlock it and brought up her text messages.

Unknown: I can’t wait for tomorrow night.

She smiled, pausing only to add his number in her phone as a new contact before she answered. Before she managed to come up with an appropriately sweet and sultry response, though, another message popped up.

JP: I’m going to make you scream.

Her mouth dropped open and she felt a fresh, sharp throb of desire deep within her. Her fingers moved furiously over the touch screen.

LE: ohmygod COME BACK HERE NOW!

His response was immediate, came in two separate bubbles, and was not what she wanted.

JP: ;)

JP: Sleep well, lovely.

As if that were even slightly possible now. Frustrated, and more excited than she had ever been for a date, she tossed her phone onto her bed and began to undress, tossing her undergarments near the foot of her bed before she collapsed on top of the mattress.

She’d have to fucking touch herself tonight, which was her own damn fault, she knew. She’d get off, and it would be fine, but it wouldn’t be anywhere near as satisfying as she knew James would be.

An idea occurred to her then, and, smirking, she picked up her phone.

LE: Don’t be alarmed if you hear me scream tonight.

He didn’t respond immediately, but she watched as three little dots popped up in the bottom left of the chat, then disappeared, reappeared, and disappeared again. She smiled, realized that he wasn’t sure how to respond, and snapped a picture of her bra and knickers pooled at her feet.

Biting her lip, she sent it to him. This time, his response was instant.

JP: Fucking hell.

JP: You’re going to kill me.

JP: Warn me if you’re going to send another picture.

JP: The boys have forced me to sit and have a drink with them and they will definitely notice if I come in my pants.

JP: Not that I ever would.

JP: I don’t do that.

JP: That would be embarrassing.

JP: Hypothetically.

JP: I regret sending all of that.

JP: It was awful.

She smiled, imagined his reaction to what she was about to do, and slid her right hand down her bare stomach, wishing it were his. She was embarrassingly wet; her fingers were slick with desire the instant she touched herself, coated them, rubbed them over her little bundle of nerves.

With her left hand, she lifted her phone, threw her head back, snapped a picture, and sent it to him.

He didn’t answer her. She was a bit disappointed, but figured he was with his friends and probably didn’t want to give them a reason to take the mickey for ignoring them in favor of texting a woman who he already knew was going to let him fuck her again.

There was a thud at her front door as if someone had fallen against it, then a frantic pounding.

Grinning, heart racing, she jumped from her bed, ran into the hallway, and raced down the stairs without even bothering to grab her dressing gown. She didn’t even check to see who was there before she opened the door, stark naked. She just knew.

He was on her immediately, his arms wrapping tight around her waist, his mouth hot and hard on hers, his body forcing her backwards into her living room as he kicked the door shut behind him.

“Your friends are going to give you such shit,” she laughed breathlessly as he wrenched his mouth away from her to push her down on her couch.

“I don’t fucking care,” he growled, dropping to his knees on the ground in front of her. “Spread your legs.”

A shock of wild desire coursed through her at the sound of him, so rough and demanding of her, and she did as he asked. He gripped her hips tightly, his fingers digging into her flesh surely hard enough to bruise, and pulled her to the edge of the cushion. He looked up at her, into her eyes, for just a moment, judging, she thought, whether or not she was comfortable with this. He must have seen the eager compliance in her face, must have been really turned on by the look in her eyes, because he dipped his head and his mouth was hard on her, his tongue running slow and completely up the length of her slit.

He groaned against her, the sound deep and guttural in his throat, and licked her again. “So fucking good.”

She threw her head back against the back of the couch, one hand fisting in James’s hair, the other cupping her breast, and moaned when he pressed his tongue flat against her clit, massaging for a moment before he wrapped his lips around her and sucked, releasing her for a moment before flattening his tongue over her again and then sucking her into his mouth. He did this over and over again, and Lily was already breathless and moaning and half out of her mind with need by the time he slid his fingers inside her, curling and coaxing, his other hand reaching up to massage the breast she wasn’t already groping, his fingers alternating between pinching her nipple and kneading at her flesh.

It was embarrassingly fast –maybe three minutes from the time he slammed into her front door– before her thighs were trembling, tightening around his head, and he had to let go of her breast to hold onto one of her legs and keep her from smothering him. His lips clamped down on her, applying a constant, intense pressure on her clit as his fingers moved faster inside of her.

The breath sobbed out of her, both of her hands pulled at his hair in a way that had to have been painful. The contractions started, and he never let up on her as wave after wave of electric energy washed over her.

When it was over and she could see straight again, and the pressure from his mouth was starting to get painful, he stopped as if he knew that she couldn’t take any more. He slid his fingers out of her, looked her in the eye, and licked them clean. It should have been disgusting, but it wasn’t; it was arousing as hell. She slid her hands from his hair, gripped him by the shoulders and tugged.

She wasn’t strong enough, nor her grip effective enough, to physically pull him up to her, but he knew what she wanted and complied. He moved smoothly, slowly up her body, alternating between open-mouthed kisses and licking his way up her stomach and chest. When he got to her neck, he paused, gave her a brief little nibble that shot a shock of desire straight to her core, but wasn’t long or forceful enough to leave a tasteless mark.

He brought his mouth to hers, and his hands to her shoulders to turn her and push her down into the couch cushions, and climbed awkwardly on top of her. They had done this on his couch last time, but he had clearly purchased his couch with his height in mind. Hers was far too short for him to comfortably position himself atop her, but she got the feeling that he would have managed somehow had she not taken pity and gestured toward the kitchen.

“Table,” she said.

Understanding, he stood immediately, and lifted her into his arms. She wrapped her arms and legs around him, and he gripped her by the ass and carried her into her kitchen. She took to nibbling on his earlobe and he stopped abruptly, pressed her into the wall, nudged her head to the side, and kissed her hard on the mouth, his tongue sweeping into her mouth. She rolled her hips against his insistent erection and he groaned and turned swiftly, moving quickly through her kitchen.

He set her down on the edge of the sturdy wood table and their tongues slid along each other as she began to fumble with the hem of his black long-sleeved shirt. He lifted his arms immediately and she quickly pulled the material up and over his head, flinging it off to the side where it landed in the clean sink basin. Her hands moved to his tan trousers, unbuckling his belt hastily before moving on to the button and fly.

When she pushed his trousers and briefs down his thighs, he stepped out of them, kicked them to the side. She noticed then that he wasn’t wearing shoes or socks, had left his house barefoot, ditched his mates, sprinted across both of their gardens and into her house. She was too desperate for him to laugh about it now, but she made a mental note to tease him over it later. There was a wild look in his eye that told her that he was feeling as desperate to be inside her as she was to be filled by him; it sent a shock straight to her core.

Once he had kicked his trousers and briefs into a pile next to him, he moved closer to her, took his place between her legs again, and kissed her. He had meant to slide right into her, she thought, start fucking her immediately, but she wrapped her hand around him and slid from leaking tip to base. His jaw went slack, his head dropped to her shoulder, and he breathed hot obscenities against her neck.

Very suddenly, he nudged her hand aside and dropped to the ground in front of her. For one wild, bewildered, excited moment, she thought he was going to go down on her again. Instead, he started rummaging through his trousers, eventually coming up with his wallet.

“Do you have a… fuck, I don’t have a condom,” James said, fumbling with his wallet.

“It’s okay; I’m on the pill,” she told him.

He looked at her, the wild look in his eyes still strong, but a bit more cautious. “Are you sure?” he asked slowly.

She laughed, gripped his hair tightly, and pulled his face down to hers. “James, I don’t fancy having a baby any time soon, either. We’re good.”

He dipped his head and kissed her, long and probing and arousing and she heard a thud as he dropped his wallet carelessly to the floor. He only pulled back long enough to look her in the eye as he pushed into her in one slow, deep thrust that brought their hips flush together.

“Oh, my God,” she moaned as he filled her more completely than anyone before him.

“You’re so beautiful,” he said, his voice soft and tender. Then he started moving, and there was nothing gentle about him for several long, sweaty, wonderful moments.

Until she screamed. Honest to God screamed when she came. A real, genuine, honest-to-God back arching, toes curling, head rearing, fingers digging into his back, screaming orgasm. She’d been vocal during sex with past lovers, had muttered the empty, ego-stroking more, yes, harder, so good, had moaned when she hadn’t felt the true urge, had faked an orgasm here and there just to get it over with quicker.

This was none of that. When she came down, she was trembling, and he was staring at her, eyes dark and intense and beautiful, and he was still moving inside of her, but not as rough as before.

“So beautiful,” he said again, and kissed her, one of his hands trailing down her stomach and coming to rest on her hip, the other laid flat on the surface of the table to support his weight.

His hips never stopped moving, but instead of the almost painfully frantic thrusting from before, this was more rhythmic, a slow stroke, his cock almost massaging her. After a few moments during which the only sound was their ragged breathing, James slid his hand from her hip to circle his thumb over her clit.

It was slower, more gradual this time, equally as pleasurable, but softer, gentler. Instead of a scream, this time it was a low, long moan as his thumb circled her and his cock stroked her from within.

Not long after, his thrusts lost some of his previous rhythm. He was a bit jerkier, a bit rougher, his thrusts a bit sharper and deeper. He dropped his forehead to the table next to her head, his face turned towards her, his short, quick breath bursting hot against her neck. When he groaned, one loud, low, almost-tortured sound in her ear, he stilled, his hips flush against hers, and she felt him pulsing inside of her, trembling around her.

She’d never thought the male orgasm could be beautiful, but she had also never let a bloke come inside her without a condom, much less persuaded him to. He lifted his head and looked her in the eyes, and the expression on his face was so tender that it seemed almost impossible that they could have only known each other for less than a week; it felt like they’d been doing this their entire lives. She stroked a hand through his hair and he kissed her.

“Should I go so you can get some sleep?” James asked sweetly, his forehead touching hers. Her heart was still racing from her last orgasm, and he was still inside her.

She shook her head. “Only if you want to.”

“I really don’t,” he whispered, and kissed her slowly.

He pulled back, slid out of her, and stood up. She studied him, standing there naked in her kitchen, all lean muscles and long limbs and messy hair and crooked glasses and looking for all the world as if he belonged there, and wondered happily how the hell her life had come to this point.

“You want a towel or something?” he asked.

She closed her eyes sleepily and lifted a limp hand to gesture over to the sink. “Second drawer,” she told him.

The drawer slid open and closed a second later, and she heard water running, and a moment later, he pressed a warm, damp washcloth into her hand. When she opened her eyes and sat up to wipe herself clean, he was wearing the shirt she vaguely remembered throwing into the sink. He crouched down to grab his briefs, pulled them on, searched the floor for his wallet, and shoved it back into his trouser pocket so that he didn’t have to search for it in the morning, she assumed.

He looked up from folding his trousers neatly when she threw the soiled washcloth, which landed in the basket of clothes to be washed on top of her washing machine.

“How’s the dryer?” he asked.

“Still a traitorous piece of shit,” she told him.

“Well, now you’ve got my number, you can come over and use mine whenever you want,” he offered.

“So kind, sir,” she murmured, grabbing the front of his shirt and pulling him closer.

He read her intentions and ducked his head to make it easier for her to kiss him, really more of a lazy rubbing together of their lips at first. Then she flicked her tongue out, licked his bottom lip, tilted her head, and kissed him in earnest. When her fingers slipped under the bottom of his shirt, he sighed contentedly.

“You are actively trying to kill me, aren’t you?” James mumbled against her lips.

“No.” Lily pulled back to smirk up at him. “The sex is too good.”

“Potentially my only saving grace,” James said with a self-satisfied smile.

“You’re also an excellent cook,” Lily assured him.

“Ah, yes, the Aubergine Parmigiana.”

“And you have lovely hands,” Lily said, wrapping one of his hands in hers and lifting it to her face.

“My hands? Really?” He laughed, bemused, when she pressed her lips to the back of his hand.

“And you’re insanely fit,” Lily told him.

“You’re very good for my ego, you know.” James lifted his free hand to the back of her head, shifted the one she was still clutching to caress her cheek before he kissed her softly.

“Does your ego need a little stroking?” she asked. “There are plenty of things I like about you so far.”

“Well, it’s a bit too soon for any other kind of stroking, so go on,” James said with a cheeky grin.

Lily laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck. When he slid his arms around her waist, the warmth of the embrace reminded her that she was incredibly naked and alone in her nudity. She shivered.

“Let’s get you to bed,” James suggested.

When he would have lifted her off the table, carried her up the stairs, she jumped down herself and evaded his grasp.

“I can walk, thank you very much,” she said primly, and sashayed her way to the stairs, acutely aware of his presence right behind her, his gaze hot on her.

She turned at the top of the stairs, caught him staring at her ass, and laughed. “You perv.”

“You wanted me to look,” he said confidently.

He was right, so she said nothing. She took his hand and led him to her bedroom, where her shirt and jeans were still pooled on the floor and her knickers and bra lying at the foot of her bed from her earlier solo exploits. She swept the undergarments to rest on the floor and then collapsed onto her bed.

“You should take your shirt off,” Lily told him, because she wanted as lovely a sight as she could fall asleep to, and wake up to.

James raised an eyebrow at her, but did as she asked. He didn’t drop his shirt on the floor, but folded it and set it atop her dresser. She wondered if this was going to be the something that turned him off of her. She wasn’t messy by any means, but she had a tendency to leave the small things – clothes, for instance – to tidy up later. She remembered how neat his house had been when she’d been there, noticed that he hadn’t left anything of his lying around here to pick up in the morning. He’d even made sure to wash the dishes when she’d been over at his house before giving in to the urge to fuck her.

He didn’t seem to mind at the moment, however, as he slid into the bed next to her in nothing but his briefs, turned to face her, slid his arm around her waist to pull her closer, so she chose not to worry over it. She placed her hand on his wrist, slid it slowly, smoothly up his arm to the back of his neck, where she played with the choppy ends of his messy black hair. He smiled and reached for the covers, pulled them up to cover them.

“It’s getting late,” he said.

He was right; the clock next to her bed said it was almost midnight. She had to be up at seven now that she definitely needed to take a shower before work, earlier even if they were going to shower together, which they probably would.

“What time do you have to be up?” she asked him.

“No time in particular.” He shrugged, then smiled when she quirked a brow at him. She knew his schedule, figured that he probably knew hers since they were so similar, and assumed that he would have to wake up around the same time as her for work. “I took off tomorrow. Didn’t know if I’d be back yet.”

She nodded her understanding, felt her eyelids drooping, her limbs growing heavier. She could fall asleep easily, but she wanted to keep talking, needed to get to know him. “What do you do?”

He shushed her gently, smoothed her hair back from her face. “We’ll get to know each other tomorrow,” he whispered. “But now, sleep.”

She was asleep before she knew it.

#jily #jily fanfic #jily fanfiction #jily au #jily muggle au #james potter #lily evans #smut #marlene mckinnon #dorcas meadows #emmeline vance #sirius black #remus lupin #this was supposed to be short and sweet #it was also not supposed to be smutty

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