#[ vanessa hc ]
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thesharktist · 7 months ago
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Hey I can make headcanons, too
Movie!Vanessa's middle name is Michelle. Not only is it the "fem version" of Michael, but it's also where she totally could have gotten the last name "Shelley" from.
Just. Just think about it, I swear
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mushramoo · 6 months ago
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trans gregory or lesbian vanny/vanessa? :3 thanks!!!
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I think ness would be hardcore into pride….her ass would dress Freddy’s head up too
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fivemonsturzzzwowz · 1 year ago
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call mike schmidt nightmare foxy the way hes in that closet
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demonkinguwu · 7 days ago
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Vanessa Doodles before work™️
My interpretation of canon Vanessa + her w Snatcher + Someone wanted to hug he <3
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driftingvoid-155 · 1 month ago
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Vanessa, nightguard, standing flashlight in hand, staring at the thing caught in the lights beam vs Michael, resident zombie, failing miserably at trying to smuggle bags of popcorn down into his hideout in the basement
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holysheithyall · 6 months ago
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a bunch of vanessa and (mainly) gregory doodles because they make me ill
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thisisnotkitty · 1 year ago
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even MORE securitywaiter brainrot. these little fellas just don't leave my head do they
part one part two
-ness is the type of waiter to put the check in front of the baby so everyone can have a good laugh
-actually im kinda stealing this from gtlive (sorry mirror matt) but since sparky's is kinda just full of regulars and townfolk, whenever someone new comes in ness will completely invent a new personality. tourist asks what he studied and he's like "archeology, i actually went to egypt last year and we uncovered a tomb" or a family comes in and he puts on a bit of a southern twang and starts dropping "yall's" (that theater major is really coming in handy)
-his coworkers are used to it by now. idk i just feel like ness is the kinda guy you can't help but be endeared by. he's friendly, he's charming, he's bright
-actually wait that could be a meet cute. abby and mike come in one day and he assumes they're just passing by town so he makes up this whole personality. except they keep coming back. and ness maybe perhaps also thinks mike is quite cute and once he finds out abby isnt his daughter he wants to shoot his shot but he also doesn't even know where to begin explaining that everything mike knows about him is a lie (miscommunication trope i guess?)
-omg ness probably heard about the mall incident. one day he’s talking to mike and he’s like “I remember one day hearing about a mall security who beat up this kid’s father! Isn’t that wild?” meanwhile mike is like, “haha yeah that’s wild” and he’s sweating bullets lmao
-kinda explored this dynamic in the baking fic (shameless self promo) but ness and abby get along swell! almost too well in mike's opinion. he might be a little jealous since abby doesn't always listen to him (sibling dynamic) but ness says it and suddenly abby's like "great idea!"
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askamnesiamoonjumper · 5 months ago
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WOAHHHH NEW VEN REF REAL 🤯⁉️NO WAYYYYYY
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shiningstarr15 · 16 hours ago
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The Sillies being Silly
Something snapped in me and I realized we don’t have enough of these two having playful interactions. They DO exist they’re just rare. So I’m trying to fix it bc this is one of my biggest hc for their relationship.
And yes, I do believe it’s coming from both sides. Greg is a menace but I fear Vanessa can be just as bad. If you take their “antagonistic” relationship from SB and nullify it a tad, you get something akin to sibling torture bonding. At least that’s how I see it. 😂
The top left drawing and Vanessa’s outfit in the bottom left are both based off my fic :3
Long live the double dork duo 😆🤪
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goosefruit · 1 year ago
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cuddling with vanessa (drabble)
a/n: someone let me know if these drabbles/imagines are better done in past or present tense 😭 i’m too used to writing in past tense but present felt more right for this one?? lmk 🙏
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Imagine crawling into bed with Vanessa after a long, stressful day, where all you want to do is forget about the troubles on your mind. She pulls you close, letting you rest your head against her chest as you listen to the calming sound of her heartbeat. Knowing you have a hard time stringing together words when you're overwhelmed, she lies with you in silence.
One hand gently massages your scalp while the other runs over the smooth skin of your back. Sometimes, she would play with your hands, drawing little circles into your palm.
Toying with her hair helps relax you, and you're obsessed with its silky texture and how good it always smells. These are the rare times her hair is not in its usual ponytail. As hot as she looks with her hair tied back, you think it doesn't do justice to how gorgeous her blonde locks are.
Speaking of smell—when cuddling after a shower together, you love how you can still smell the floral body wash that you helped massage onto her skin. That, along with her natural scent (which you're ADDICTED to; you can't seem to find words to describe it, but it makes you feel so safe and sleepy), is heaven to your nostrils.
On nights when Vanessa has panic attacks in her sleep due to nightmares, you shake her awake and hold her, stroking her hair until her breathing slows down. When she eventually falls back asleep, you make sure she's not having any bad dreams before drifting off yourself.
Waking up in her arms makes you grateful for life every day. The warmth of her body, pressed against yours as you watch her sleep. She looks peaceful when she's not awake to worry about her messy past.
You hope her dreams are everything she has ever wanted.
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sourapplesauces · 1 year ago
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Hey!!!! You should uhhh infodump about your FNAF AU, that would be really cool. If you want. Especially stuff about Vanessa maybe, she's my girl
Hi! Thanks for the ask! I always wanted to infodump abt this but I never found an outlet!!  
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Gregory Alavarez
12 years old  
Argentinian  
Vanessa offered to get him a haircut, but he preferred the messy shaggy hair 
Has amnesia about his past life; he doesn’t remember his parents 
Vanessa caught him trying to pierce his own ears, later she took him to a proper piercer. 
When asked why he got the piercing, he said it was to match Freddy 
Has a tough bad-boy exterior, but he's softer when in Cassie, Vanessa and Freddy’s company 
Has like really good grades, he's a smart kid. 
Has a lot of sleepovers with Cassie where they just chill playing video games and doing each other's makeup and nails 
He also likes drawing and programming 
He gets night terrors, and a lot of nightmares of memories that aren't his 
He also HATES the dark, and he's a little bit claustrophobic 
Owns a TON of Freddy merch and he decorates his bedroom with it 
He sees Freddy as a parental figure, but he’s too shy to express it. 
Is GGY/patient 46
Vanessa Alvarez
24 years old 
Inspired off of her first poster where she had wavy hair and freckles (I just added a tooth gap bc I thought it looked cute.) 
Lesbian
Has little recollection of her time as Vanny, Afton put her to sleep most of the time- but she's had visions and physical scars. 
Pre-help wanted: her personality was bubblier, she had hobbies like baking, gaming and cosmetics. 
Post-security breach: she’s more on the quiet side, she can get anxious and depressed at times. But shes keeping her head up for Gregory (and she’ll learn to do so for herself as well). 
As for hobbies: She likes to read now, and she still bakes occasionally 
Can be unintentionally rude sometimes 
Her parents are deceased (backstory later ...*wink wink*) 
She lived at the Pizzaplex for a while, but after the savior ending she got a brand-new apartment to start things over. 
Vanessa and Valerie (tape girl) were romantically involved at some point, but were torn apart by glitchtrap 
Freddy and Gregory live with Vanessa in her new apartment  
Vanessa has legally adopted Gregory, but their dynamic is more sibling-like than it is parental. 
Glamrock Freddy 
His immobility slightly bothers him, not being able to express himself properly is the worst part of being just an animatronic head. 
Vanessa and Gregory like taking him on road trips to see more of the world, so much so that Freddy considers traveling as one of his hobbies 
Vanessa and Gregory connected him to the internet so he's basically like Alexa now (he's just sentient)
Him and Bonnie are long lost lovers (he hardly talks about it though) 
He's become a reliable source of advice for both Gregory and Vanessa 
Freddy is the peacemaker/glue/dad in the group 
Vanessa has been working for a while to make a body for Freddy, though the lack of parts available for him has slowed things down. They resorted to stealing from warehouses and recycling everyday items to create a makeshift body for him. Though it's only halfway completed in the present.  
He's really good at singing. Oftentimes, he finds himself singing lullabies to Gregory or singing along to tunes during road trips. 
He misses his friends a lot of the time, and he’s still a little frustrated with Gregory for treating them with cruelty. 
Dislikes conflict/ likes seeing the bright side of things  
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outlawssweetheart · 4 months ago
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I'm just a girl pondering my favorite autistic-coded characters. 😌 (And the characters who aren't exactly "coded," but I can see the vision. 😌)
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demonkinguwu · 1 day ago
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The Three Subcon Bosses [My fanon version lol]
The trickster shadow, the wrathful queen, and the disappearing moon
Lore Below <3
Snatcher: Once was a kind lonely prince whose only talent was painting, often overlooked and ignored due to this. He fell in love with Vanessa quickly as she was the only one who understood the loneliness of his paintings. The two married after a year of courtship, but the prince worked hard to learn to rule by her side, even going to law school. Unfortunately, he ignored the terrible treatment by his frantic wife for fear of true loneliness until it was too late...
Now the kind prince turned into a terrible and manipulative shadow, using robbed souls and his smarts to grow as powerful as he is, growing to be the sole ruler of the Subcon Forest. He prefers to be in control and over-possessive of everything he deems 'his', including the terrible wife who killed him painfully. He despises her but deep down knows she's the only person who will ever truly care for him even as a monster so she gets to stay as his pathetic little toy <3
However, he can't help but enjoy the very small snippets of moments between them that remind him of a better time when they were young and naive. He can't help but smile as the princess Vanessa was once shines through that red mass of anger, oh how he wishes to rip open the beast and find his princess within it, safe and innocent as she used to be
Vanessa: She was once a kind and sweet princess filled with so much loneliness especially since her father ran away. On a visit to a foreign kingdom, she was immersed in the large gallery of paintings depicting how she felt perfectly, lonely. She soon fell for the painter, a kind but mischievous prince who was just as lonely as she was. But her horrible mother was jealous of her daughter's happiness and poisoned her heart and mind with her evil words, reminding the princess of her father who ran away. The princess' desperate thoughts turned dark and possessive, wanting the prince all to herself, even getting rid of her mother who she thought wanted her prince. The now Queen was more desperate, her heart and mind growing darker and bitter with each day that passed without her beloved... Soon it would all explode, taking every soul within Subcon with her.
After a few years of mindless wrath and pain, she 'cooled down'. Finally gaining sense and guilt, but since no one wished to accept her apologies, she learned not to care over such matters anymore. Her heart grew bitter, cold, and uncaring of much but the evil monster her beloved became. His very existence enrages her, reminding her that her kind sweet prince is gone and all she has is this thing, this terrible and evil shadow who took everything from her. But even so, she can never get rid of him, for he is the only one who will 'care' for her, who could relieve her of her loneliness even if his actions are cruel and taunting. She doesn't want to be truly alone, but he is the only one she can truly trust, so he is the only intruder who will remain safe from her terrible wrath even if she hates him so. Though she knows her prince is gone, she relishes the small brief moments she could see a flicker of him through the monster's wicked being. Oh, how she wishes she could grab her prince in that brief second and never let him go.
Moonjumper: He was once a naive but adventurous lad, a time traveler who shone bright with the moon. Crashing into the strange planet, he met a cold princess whose heart was as cold as ice. He felt understood as he didn't understand what love was either, so he decided to stay with the princess and become her king to find out what love was. They soon had a princess who they named Vanessa. The king loved his daughter very much but didn't love his title or his wife, for he was a being of freedom. Without confronting his wife, he planned to take Vanessa and escape, but he left her behind once his wife figured out his plot. His wife, who grew to love him, was heartbroken and distraught over his betrayal, and so she cursed him with her magic to death, over and over again.
The man became a distorted time rift, cold and alone, wanting nothing more than to find someone to stay with him in his lonely horizon, especially his little princess.
Hundreds of years have passed, and he watches on with great pain as the sweet girl his daughter was once turned into a monster. All thanks to the monster who took over Subcon with that disgusting smirk, he made his daughter the monster she is! And she was no better! Being easily influenced by that monster and turning into a monster herself, they were both horrible beasts! Both were responsible for taking away his little princess! Once he has the chance, he'll get rid of them both! But since he is much weaker and scared of them, he'll abide his time until he can finally avenge his sweet daughter. For now, he searches for someone he could keep in his lonely prison, someone who he can raise to be just as perfect as his little princess...
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m1n4h · 8 months ago
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you said you had a lot of headcanons for ellis, tony, greg, cassie and vanessa, I was wondering if you could say them? ( ̄︶ ̄)
Omg, sorry, i couldn't answer this yesterday!! Yea, sure :⟩
– Ellis has an orange cat. No, it's not just a Puss in Boots reference, orange cats are just as silly as Ellis
– Tony never watched MLP (literally, bro was such a bad friend in the book??). That's why when everything ended, and when his friends learned about it, they dragged him to watch mlp
– Ellis and Cassie are biological siblings. They're both a bit stupid but very loyal to their friends
– Gregory drew a comic with faz-pilot version of himself and huge mecha Glam Freddy once, but instead of disks he was shooting with big cookies. Disks remind him of therapy sessions
– When Vanessa was a teen she liked weaving bracelets, but with age and fazbear entertainment she stopped doing that.
– Speaking of weaving bracelets, Cassie definitely made everyone friendship bracelets. That's when Vanessa started thinking on getting herself a hobby again (She would join Cassie in weaving bracelets later)
– I feel like Tony, Ellis and Greg came to Vanessa's house after a walk all wet, dirty, knees broken, hair messed up, covered in leaves, but looking so damn happy at least once (let them be kids pls)
– Cassie likes brushing everyone's hair, it's her anti stress
– Gregory likes fiddling with Tony's fingers. Tony doesn't mind, although he's really interested in why exactly he does that. He can only assume
– When playing with friends, Gregory gives in to them a lot. Bro is literally GGY, but playing with or against a person who plays almost perfectly, when you don't have any chances against him is no fun
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this-aint-massachusetts · 11 months ago
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more FNaF hcs because the tism™️ is telling me to info dump
sorry if some of these are the same as the last one I forget which ones I put before 🙁
-When Mike was chasing after the car he tripped scraped his knee broke his ankle and busted his kneecap and just gave up on life right then and there
-Mike smokes weed but he could take the tiniest tinniest hit of a bong and he’d cough up a lung so he just mainly sticks to blunts or bowls
-Abby has called 911 multiple times because she wanted to contact Vanessa but it obviously didn’t work. 
-Vanessa used to dye her hair fun colors but she can’t anymore cuz of her job but she wears colorful extensions 
-Abby’s therapist has tried so hard to hint at Mike that he should get an autism diagnosis because his sister has one and he still hasn’t picked up on it despite showing clear traits of autism 
-When golden Freddy and Abby left the cab he just handed Cory a piece of paper with ‘one million dollars’ scribbled on it in green crayon. Cory was to scared to say no he just was like “yeah ok sure” and then cried 
-Mike and Abby did not go to Aunt Janes funeral they instead went to Dave and Busters and played arcade games while their entire extended family blew up Mikes Nokia phone
-Aunt Jane was a “wine mom” and was in heavy denial of being an alcoholic 
-Abby really likes bugs and puts them in her pockets but Mike is terrified of bugs so he freaks out whenever he sees them crawling on her or in her laundry 
-Vanessa apologizes to people while arresting them
-The animatronics consider the cupcake to be their puppy and get confused when people think he’s a menace
-One time Doug ran into Mike and Abby at Walmart once and he just threw his thick ass lawyer wallet at then then ran away to have a panic attack. Mike and Abby bought a blow up pool that day
-Doug had to go to therapy due to Aunt Jane being an absolute fucking Karen
-Doug’s now a regular at Sparkys and is besties with Ness, he considers Ness “The son he never had”
-Bonnie kid (Jeremy) really liked Spider-Man
-Vanessa has a pitbull named Princess that she took home from an animal control call. (The dog is a fucking danger to society)
-Abby picked up on some 80s slang from the animatronics and now just says radical to everything 
-Max and her friends would be doing TikTok trends before TikTok was even a thing (stealing soap dispensers from public bathrooms, sticking pennies in electrical sockets ect)
-Vanessa is a Disney adult/hj
-There’s a rubix cube in the pizzeria that the animatronics have been trying to solve since they’ve been dead basically 
-Every night after Abby goes to bed Mike goes to the kitchen and eats shredded cheese by the handful. Abby caught him once and he cried.
-Mike is the type of person to ask those weird questions while watching movies, like: “If their underwater how are they drinking soda?”
-Mike would stuff all his emotions and feelings down till he bursts and it usually results in him locking himself in his room while having a panic attack
-Max was also a weed dealer so Mikes out of a babysitter and a plug. 
-Vanessa hates soda, loves tea tho
-Mike really likes the Care Bears and uses Abby as an excuse for liking it
-Ness uses those really cheesy pet names for Mike, some of them southern originated because I believe in southern Ness solidarity. Ex: Sweetie pie, Sugar, Doe
-Abby is really good at hide and seek but caused Mike a few panic attacks because of how well she hides
-After Freddy’s neither Mike or Abby could sleep without a nightlight so she lent Mike hers on the agreement she could sleep in his room with him. (He of course accepted)
-Mike: Where’s my Diet Coke?
Vanessa: Oh I threw it away, sodas not good for you.
Mike: Oh ok- WHAT.
-Abby still asks Mike to tie her shoes for her even though he already taught her how to tie them herself
-Mike has a very particular morning routine that he has to follow every morning and feels icky if it gets interrupted for any reason 
-Mike is more noise sensitive and Abby is more texture sensitive but Mike still hates certain textures (ex: olives)
-Mike has considered owning chickens and even went with Abby to look at little chicks but she soon started sneezing and feeling sick and that's when they found out she's allergic so that quickly got shut down
-Abby gives her stuffed animals lore and hierarchies and Ness is always asking her about it when her and Mike go into the diner
-Vanessa Has a very minimalist style not because she likes it but because she's scared of getting attached to anything she calls home which at times worries her when she's with Mike, Abby and Ness. This results in her sitting in bed, chewing on her lip thinking of constant escape plans and emergency exits in case her father ever returns, if something bad happens, etc.
-Mike likes seeing Abby draw him and pretends not to notice when she stares and tries to get the color of his shirt just right (he buys clothing in colors she has to make it easier)
-Abby is the type to point out cows and horses and will repeatedly kick Mike's seat even while he's driving until he acknowledges them
-Abby doesn’t understand why her and Mike can’t just print more money to make them rich and Mike has had to explain to to her 12837383838 times
-Ness is a theater kid (yeah if you didn’t see this coming I think you need glasses)
-Ness and Mike play lps with Abby, Abby explains all of her lps lore extensively and Ness listens to every bit of it while Mike is just like: “I love you both but wtf”
-Mike sometimes age regresses sometimes when put under pressure and Ness is literally the best caretaker ever (this one’s based on a Dreamtheory fic I read once and I fell in love with the idea)
-Ness and Mike call each other every night before going to sleep and once Mike forgot so he woke up the next morning to 300+ voicemails from Ness asking if he’s ok
okay that’s all i have for now I’ll post more later when i feel like it oki byeee 😘✌️
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good-griief · 1 year ago
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Hey! I was wondering if I could request for Van Palmer? Something along the lines of the reader coming to terms with their sexuality?
It’s totally cool if you don’t want to write this request lol also kinda might start sending in asks so im gonna claim am emoji -🍾
sorry this took so long but i'm back and able to write again so here u go! this was getting very long so if u guys like it i'll happily make a part two!!<3
You were never a “talkative kid.” You were never one that could spell words like gargantuan or manganimus. You were never helping with your classmates’ homework or told you were exemplary. Your grades were average; A’s and B’s, but nothing exemplary. 
Though there was one thing you were exemplary at. One thing that if given the chance to write about, you’d always be given the highest score. One single thing, completely apart from the rest that could get you an award for your writing. 
Funnily enough. It was Soccer. You’d gotten an award for writing about soccer. 
You always liked Soccer. Ever since you were little. You liked playing with your friends, hanging out with them. You liked the hugs that came after a big win, the friendships, the relationships. You liked the team bonding. You liked the sleepovers and parties. You liked getting close with the best of the girls because you were also one of the best. You liked the small, intimate group you had, and the small, intimate time you spent together. 
You liked the times where you would have a sleepover and cuddle with one another. Sleepovers where you would kiss to ‘practice’ for boys. Sleepovers that got you so close you were hugging and leaning on each other all the time, lying your head in each other’s laps. 
Sleepovers that somehow dwindled down to you and one other girl by eighth grade. A girl that you’d kiss to practice for boys that didn’t exist. A girl you held hands with at school and took to lunch on weekends with each other’s babysitting money. 
A girl that moved away before highschool. 
You started freshman year without friends, signing up for soccer tryouts and hoping that would get you somewhere. 
You ended up on JV and it seemed the rising sophomore class had already gotten so close that your effort to make friends in soccer proved less than fruitful. 
When you played scrimmages against varsity, the group hardly passed to you and kept it within their small circle. 
There were two girls, Mari and Akilah, who you got along fine with, but they weren’t close, so you had to talk to one or the other during practice which meant you weren’t close with them either. 
That left you in your own little bubble freshman year, floating around. No one really disliked you, but no one knew you either. Not even your own teammates. 
Luckily, though, around winter break, you were asked out. You didn’t really know the guy, but Jackie, one of the sophomores in his grade and on the Soccer team, said he was nice. 
So you said yes. 
And suddenly after a winter break of calling this guy and getting hot chocolate with him, you were in with Jackie… Which meant you were in with Shauna, which meant the ball was passed to you, which meant they started to see how good you were, which meant they started to like you. 
“Hey!” Jackie came up to you, Mari, and Akilah after practice. 
You’d slowly been getting them closer so the three of you could hang out. You figured you could then start passing to them and get them in with the other girls without a whistle-blow from Coach Scott for changing a play. 
“You three wanna come with us? Team bonding?”
“Sure!” You said first, all too enthusiastic and making her chuckle. 
“I have to study,” Akilah said.
“Yeah, same,” Mari said, giving you a sympathetic smile. “Have fun, though!”
“Oh, we will!” Jackie looped her arm through yours as you gave your new friends a look. “Come on. You can tell me all about Mark— he’s friends with Jeff, you know?”
“Jeff?”
“My boyfriend.”
“Oh…”
“Oh, good! You brought her!” Nat, another sophomore, said. 
“I told you the other two would say no.” Jackie shrugged. 
“Still nice to ask everyone,” Lottie, the only one that’d actually introduced herself to you, said. She also gave you everyone else’s name. Which was helpful since they definitely weren’t going to introduce themselves. 
“Hey,” except maybe one of them, She was shorter, redheaded, and the goalie. She gave you a sweet smile as she held out her hand. “Have you met everyone?”
You took her warm hand, shaking gently and earning even more of a smile. “Lottie,” you gestured to the brunette with your free hand, “told me about everyone.” She only nodded. “Vanessa? Right?”
“My friends call me Van.” You nodded, giving a small smile as you still mindlessly shook her hand. “You can call me Van,” she added with a smirking laugh, eyes darting to Lottie briefly. She had a feeling she told you her name was Vanessa on purpose. 
The brunette was grinning from ear to ear, hands slapping at Nat’s as they both laughed together.
“Van.” You dropped her hand. “I’ll remember that.”
“Oh, I hope so—”
“Leave her alone,” Taissa butted in, laughing. “You can ride with us if you want.” 
“Sure.” You agreed, walking next to Van as the group dispersed. “Where are we going?”
“I think Jackie’s,” she said. “She’s been dying to meet you and shit now that you're dating Mark.” You nodded. “Whole team has, really. You know, you’re pretty good?”
“Thanks, I think?” You frowned. “I’ve played since I was, like, eight.” She nodded along. “You guys are great. I mean, you’re the best high school team I've seen— Van, I’ve never seen a better goalie.” She smiled, shaking her head. “No, seriously,” you insisted when she went to object. “You must, like, study every player or something—“
“She does,” Taissa said. 
You were glad you were usually on her team during JV scrimmage, or it’d be a challenge to get a goal. 
“Insane.” You shook your head. “I can only ever tell if someone’s injured.”
“Oh, really?” Van asked, curious.
“Mhm. It’s pretty easy.” She frowned. “Just check the bench. Works every time.” Taissa stifled a laugh, Van laughing out loud. 
“I thought you were serious,” she laughed. 
“Yeah I could tell. You were all…” You imitated her face, making Taisa laugh. 
“Come on, Tai!” Van hit her shoulder. “You’re supposed to be on my side!”
The ride to Jackie’s was spent receiving questions from Tai as Van just listened in or responded to something Tai said. 
There was something about this girl. The way she spoke. The way she looked at you through the rearview mirror, checking to make sure you were comfortable. She was sweet, obviously, but there was something else. Maybe, it was just the fact that she was pretty and red-haired, but something about her was all too attractive. 
In the sense that you wanted to be her friend, of course. 
By the time you got to Jackie’s, the other girls were already there and inside while her parents ordered food for all of you. 
They greeted you from the kitchen at the opposite end of the giant house and told you the girls were “in the parlor”.
“You’ll get used to it,” Van said, walking with you to the living room, which was one of many but clearly the most casual of them. 
“Hi!” Jackie was quick to pull you by her. 
The night was spent getting interrogated, practically, about your boyfriend while you ate pizza and watched shitty movies until people started falling asleep. 
You were up late with Van, who, like you, seemed to enjoy the shitty movie on screen. She grabbed the two of you a board game to play while you watched. 
“So, do you wanna tell me about yourself at all?” She laughed. “I know more about Mark than my new teammate now.”
“Wasn’t really prepared for that one,” you joked, making her chuckle as you took your turn. “Well, all my old soccer friends are at different high schools now,” you said, shrugging. “So if you’re wondering—“
“Why you seem like such a loner?” She interrupted, making you laugh. “I was a little curious.” 
“Jeez,” you laughed. “My best friend moved, like, across the country, and the rest of my friends are on rival teams now… And I’ve beat them all—“
“Fuck yeah, you have!” She laughed. 
You spent most of the night talking with Van, who seemed to have been waiting to talk to you alone. She hardly spoke in the group conversation, but now she was lively and engaged. Maybe it was because the conversation had less to do with your boyfriend, and more to do with you. Maybe because she actually got to know you. You couldn’t tell. 
There was just something about her.
At the next practice, you were getting the ball passed to you regularly, but never close enough to score. 
Maybe because the one time you tried, Van blocked it like it was nothing, but that was weeks ago. 
Which meant you were determined to best her now. 
When Tai passed you the ball, you made a move to get it to Akilah. Just as quickly as you passed it, it was stolen by Nat, but Mari got a read on what you were trying to do and got it back. 
“Mari!” Tai waved, but she quickly passed it to Akilah now that no one was guarding her. 
She passed the ball to you, and as quickly as you got it you were kicking it at the goal without moving from your spot. 
“Ah, fuck,” Van muttered, having been counting on you coming toward her and already moving to the right of the goal. She jumped toward the left to block, but the ball barely brushed her fingers before getting caught in the net. 
“Yes!” Mari yelled, high fiving both you and Akilah when they made their way to you. “That was clean!”
“It was sloppy,” Tai said, coming up to the three of you as the rest of your mock team came as well. “Just unexpected.” 
You nodded in agreement. “A goal is a goal, though.” She narrowed her eyes, huffing a laugh. “That kinda unexpected sloppiness can win a game.”
“She’s not wrong.” Jackie patted your shoulder. “Nice shot.”
“Well, why don’t we add it to the playbook?” Tai said. “Test it out in a real game.”
“Oh, don’t be bitter, Taissa.” Jackie laughed. “She just wanted you to pass the ball to her.” Tai laughed at that. 
For the rest of the practice, you made sure to pass to Tai every so often, the two of you testing out new plays. 
Despite that, Van was determined to block every one of your shots.
More so than anyone else. 
It was to the point that after that one goal, you didn’t score another. 
“Good game today,” Van said in the locker room, hand on your hip as she moved behind you to get to her locker. “You were making me nervous.”
“Me?” You laughed. “You were pissing me off—“ Van cut you off with a loud laugh. “I only got one goal!”
“It was hard to make that happen!” She laughed, and once it died down, she spoke up again. “Do you think you’d want to come to the field early sometime? Practice with me?”
You smiled, nodding. “Of course!” It was the perfect opportunity to get closer with her. Maybe, know more about her. 
To become better friends, of course. 
The first time was that weekend. You came the Sunday after practice, practicing earlier in the morning and getting lunch afterward. 
It slowly became a habit; every once in a while, every other week, weekly…
“Here.” Van jogged over to you as you stood in front of the ball. “You obviously have to turn your hips, but you really give yourself away…” She held out her hands, brows raised. You nodded and her hands went to your hips to readjust. “This is what you’re doing.” She turned you to the right. “So, I always know you’re going left, but…” She turned you to a slight angle, facing the right corner of the goal. You looked back at her and she couldn’t bring herself to get the rest of her sentence out. “I’m not sure how to explain it,” she said, taking a step back. “Why don’t you try goalie for a minute?”
“I’m a shit goalie, Van.” She laughed at that, but you went anyway. 
“Just try and figure out which way I’m going,” she said. 
That day, you spent the entirety of it ogether. It was past lunch by the time you went to the locker room to change, talking the whole way there about your newfound knowledge. 
“Do you wanna get dinner?” You suddenly suggested, both of you in the midst of changing. “We could, like, go out or something?”
She paused, looking over at you as she got her shirt on. “Where do you wanna go?”
You shrugged. “Mark took me to this little diner a few blocks from my place last weekend,” you said and her mood seemed to dampen. “They have everything— it’s, well… Well, it’s not amazing, but it’s cute.”
“Um…” She took a moment, putting on her shoes and taking down her hair. “I’m kind of tired—“
“Oh—“
“Yeah—“
“That’s okay—! No, I mean, that makes sense. We’ve been here all day, so…” You nodded as you got your pants on and slipped on your shoes. “Maybe another time, then?”
“Totally.” She nodded, giving a smile despite the sudden awkwardness that came between you. 
“Okay.” You nodded. “Then, I’ll see you tomorrow—“
“Wait, let me drive you home. It’s late—“
“No, no, no. It’s totally fine!” You gave her a smile as you grabbed your bag. “Mark was going to pick me up, anyway—“
“Oh, did you want to get dinner with him? Like, us three?” You shook your head. “But he’s picking you up,” she said, smirking with a furled brow. 
“I would’ve just told him to go home, or hang out with Jeff and Randy, or something.” You shrugged. Her smile widened slightly, cheeks heating. “That’s kinda shitty, though, I guess.” She then laughed. “Next time we’ll, like, plan, or something.”
“Definitely.” She nodded. “And I’ll take you somewhere nicer than a hole-in-the-wall diner after practice, alright?”
Something about the way she said it made you smile, stomach fluttering. “Alright.”
She walked with you out of the dressing room and to your boyfriend's car. “See you tomorrow?” She said some ways away from the jeep he drove. 
You nodded and leaned in for a hug, arms going around her shoulders. She was stunned for a moment, having not realized what you were actually leaning in for. She gave you a quick hug back before pulling away to go to her car. 
The next day, she was talking to you in the halls, the next practice you were able to get more than one goal, and the next weekend your practice was spent laughing together in the field and dribbling the ball between one another rather than practicing. 
“Oh shit!” Van laughed when it started to rain. 
March had come quicker than you expected. You and Van had been hanging out for just over a month now, but it felt like you’d been friends all year. 
Within minutes of you grabbing your bags, it was pouring rain and you were running to Van’s car. 
“Jesus!” Van groaned as she slammed the door shut behind herself, you doing the same. You threw your bags in the backseat, wiping your faces. 
She started the car, already starting her drive back to your house from memory. 
“Just park in the garage,” you told her. “You can stay for a while.” You then added, “if you want.”
“Is that fine? Like, with your parents?”
“They’re out of town.” She nodded slowly, pulling into the garage. “I can, like, make us dinner or something,” you offered. “If you like pasta.”
“I love some good spaghetti.”
“Great!” You both laughed. “First, we need to shower, and get this shit in the wash.” You looked down at your damp shirt and shorts. 
She turned off the car, and you headed inside. You grabbed both your bags and set them in the laundry room as you went inside, getting off your cleats and socks as well. 
“Here.” You filled the silence and led her up the stairs. “My rooms there.” You pointed to the end of the hall. “I’ll use my parents shower… obviously.” Van chuckled at your awkward speech, nodding. “There’s towels and everything in there. You can just take my clothes.”
“You sure?” 
You nodded. “Just send your stuff down the shoot.”
You took a quick shower before heading to your room in your towel and getting into pajamas. 
You heard Van call your name some minutes later as you lay on your bed. “Close your eyes!” You laughed, covering your eyes. “Are they closed?”
“Yep.” She came in with just a towel. “I totally forgot to bring you clothes—“
“Fuck off.”
“Sorry!” You laughed. “Pajamas are in the bottom drawer.”
That night was spent making shitty pasta and laughing together as you ate in front of the TV you rolled out of your closet. You ended up sleeping in your room, falling asleep to an old movie with dishes on your night and arms around each other.
Since that day, Van had been so much more friendly. 
It was almost insinuating. 
She would touch you to get past you, tease you about a mistake on the field, sneak up and hug you from behind to scare you in the halls. And when she came over, she was touchy and clingy— not that you weren’t. You were often hugging her or lying your head on her shoulder. Hell, you even danced with her if either of you put on music. 
On the field, however, she was awful. During scrimmage, she would go out of her way to make you fuck up. Even if you were on her team. She’d call something, or say something to you during a break that made you fumble the ball.  
It was to the point that even her telling you good luck before a game had you flustered. 
To the point where you fucked up. 
“What the hell?!” Tai yelled at you as you shook your head at yourself. “Get it together—“
The ref blew a whistle for timeout after the other team's score. You groaned, walking over with a frown. 
“What’s going on with you?” Ben asked.
“Are you sick?” Misty asked. “Injured?”
There was a small pep talk you had before you were sent back out. Unfortunately, your boyfriend was sitting with your parents as they watched you fuck up one of your last state games. It only made your nerves skyrocket. 
“Get it together,” Nat told you, placing a hand on your shoulder as she walked past you. 
Van was the last to leave, giving your shoulder a squeeze. “Guess we should’ve kept up our practices, huh?” She joked, earning a glare. “Sorry— Look, you’re good. Really good. You’re just being predictable.” You frowned at her. “Think back on that play you, Mari, and Akilah pulled earlier this year.”
When you got back on the field, you did as Van said. You let Shauna, Tai, and Nat get their goals in, but after that you asked Tai to pass to Akilah, who was heavily guarded. 
“What?” She frowned at you. “You’re, like, out of your mind today.”
“Just try?”
As soon as the ball was stolen from Akilah, Mari got it to you, and you back to an unguarded Akilah. When she passed to you, you immediately kicked at the goal. 
“YES!” You heard before you even knew what happened. 
The buzzer sounded, signifying you’d won and leaving you shocked as your teammates huddled around you, chanting: “BUZZ. BUZZ, BUZZ, BUZZ!”
In the locker room, your excitement continued until you and Van were the last ones there. 
“So, I was thinking,” Van spoke up. “What do you think about dinner this Sunday after our usual?”
“Oh, now you’re nice?” You joked. 
Maybe it’d been left out that you were completely reciprocal in this teasing game. You would go up to her at her locker to scare her like she did you, and of course hug her and kiss her cheek afterward before you went to class, leaving her flustered and wanting to get back at you by the time practice rolled around. So, maybe, you brought it on yourself. 
“Come on,” she laughed. “It’s not my fault I make you nervous.”
“You’re so annoying.” You shook your head. “I almost blew the match because of you.” Her brows shot up. “You were fucking with me before the game with your…” You gentured to her when she looked at you with false confusion. “You know what you were doing.”
She laughed. “Yeah—“
“See!”
“I was just teasing—“
“Well, stop it.”
“But you’re so cute when you’re flustered.” She pouted at you, earning a glare. “Even cuter when you’re mad at me.” She smiled. “Besides, we still won.”
“If we didn’t, they would’ve killed me.” She scoffed. “It’s not funny.”
“You’re actually upset?” She couldn’t help but laugh. “We still have, like, five games—“
“You can’t talk to me before them.” She practically guffawed. “You, like, fuck with with my fucking head. I don’t fucking know.”
“I fuck with your fucking head? What the fuck are you talking about?” 
You groaned, turning to grab your bag. “Goodbye, Vanessa.”
“Hey.” She grabbed your hand, turning you around. 
When she did, you were closer than she expected. 
And that was when it started. 
Her eyes fell to your lips before flitting back up to your eyes. 
That was when you finally realized what that something about her was. 
In the seconds it took you to process when was about to happen, her lips were on yours. Her hand still held yours and as soon as your free one went to her cheek, she tilted her head for a better angle. 
You didn’t know how long you were there. You didn’t realize the time passing. You didn’t even know when it was that her hands found your waist and your other found her neck. 
But you did realize that the door was opening. 
You quickly pushed her back as someone stepped in, Van pretending to have been lacing up her shoes as she sat on the bench. 
“Everything okay, babe?” Mark called from the doorway. 
“Yeah, sorry. I was just helping Van with this turf burn.”
“Shit, is she okay?” He asked. “Should I get Misty?”
“I’m good!” Van called. “Just couldn’t wrap it myself.”
It took a few more exchanges to get him to leave, but eventually the door shut and you grabbed your things. You went to leave, but stopped yourself and turned around. You placed your hand on her shoulder as you leaned down to kiss her cheek. “Come over after practice tomorrow?”
She looked over at you, brow raised. “Does this mean you’re not mad at me anymore, or…?”
“I’ll think about it.”
When she came over, the two of you went straight to your room to “watch TV.” You locked the door behind you, rolled out your miniature TV and put in a tape, and sat down on the bed with Van. 
“Hurry up,” she laughed as she grabbed your hand and pulled you down on top of her. 
You never talked about it. You didn’t discuss what was going on. You didn’t even ask what it meant. 
You just changed your practices to time together. You’d still practice, but you’d also just sit and talk. You’d make out in the locker room before going to get lunch or dinner. You’d hang out with the team and sneak off to have time alone. You’d even just get together. One of you would call and ask the other to lunch, or to go to the mall, or just to come over. There wasn’t a need for the practice excuse anymore, it was just nice to do that, too. 
But you also had to decline at times. 
“Mark wanted to take me to the movies,” you told her one night and you could practically feel her mood shift. “Maybe… Maybe I can get him to—“
“No, it’s okay,” she told you quickly. “Spend time with your boyfriend.” The word left a sour tension in the air. 
“Van—“
“What time’ll you be home?”
“Hey,” you sighed when she spoke over you. “If you want me to, I’ll… I can tell him, but I don’t think—“
“You’re going to tell him you’re cheating on him with your best friend?” She asked, tone disbelieving. “No way.”
“Tell him I want to break up,” you clarified. She was quiet for a moment. “And… We’re not cheating.”
“We’re hooking up,” she deadpanned. 
“But…” You pursed your lips. “There’s no possibility of us… being an us, is there?” Your hopeful question, despite how poorly it came out, was met with another beat of quiet from her end, but she didn’t say anything that time. “I just mean… There isn't a way we could actually be together— at least, not in a real way—“
“In a real way?” She scoffed a laugh as she often did when you misused and fumbled over your words. “Have I been imagining all this, or—?”
“That’s not what I mean.” You pinched the bridge of your nose as you started to get frustrated; mostly with yourself and your horrible articulation. “Publicly. Like, I’d never cheat with Randy or Jeff.” She cursed your name, laughing in disbelief as she listened to you try to justify what you’d said instead of taking it back. “This… You and me, is it really going anywhere? Because, if it’s just ‘hooking up’, we could never really be anything, you know? And that sucks, but it’s also, I don’t know, it’s, like, better—?“
“So, let me get this right… You think it's better that you’re with me, because if you were cheating with a guy, it’d actually be real— or no, there’d be a possibility of an actual relationship.” You pursed your lips at the tone of her voice, knowing how awful it sounded. “Is that right?”
“Not exactly.” She hummed, waiting for you to explain. “It’s more like… I’m scared of what people might—“
“I don’t wanna be with someone that’s scared of what people think—“
“Just let me talk.” You sighed, feeling your eyes sting. You’d never been good at articulating your feelings, especially not in this kind of situation. “I’m scared of what people might do because of what they think. It’s just… It’s better if it doesn’t look like we’re anything more than friends—“
“Okay, I’m gonna get off the phone—“
“Van—“
“No— Look… I see where you’re coming from, just… I know that’s not the reason you said it in the first place.” You didn’t argue, nodding despite the fact that she couldn’t see it. “If you want to, I’ll come over when you get home—“
“Okay,” you said all too quickly. “I’ll be home in two hours.” There was a long pause. “If you want to come.”
“Alright.” Click. 
She came by that night, but when you tried to talk to her and smooth things over, she was short. 
“Look,” she said. “I like you. I’m comfortable saying that.” You immediately shut your mouth and listened to what she had to say. “If you’re not comfortable admitting you don’t like guys. Or that you’re using your ‘boyfriend’ as a fucking beard, because you want me, that’s fine. I don’t care. I probably already knew that.” You nodded along. “But I don’t want to talk about it with you, because hearing you say it? That fucking hurt.”
“I’m sorry.” Van shook her head, dismissing it. “I really am afraid of what someone might do…”
“It’s not like I’d let anyone do anything to you,” she said, eyes narrowed. 
“That’s not what I mean.” She sighed, waiting for you to explain. “I’m really not saying anything right in this conversation, I just… My point was that I’d leave him for you, and I was trying to ask you if, maybe, this could be more than this, because I don’t think you want me as more than a friend, so when I say ‘in a real way’ I mean, as more than…” You trailed off, narrowing your eyes at the bedsheets when you began to repeat yourself. “And… I wouldn’t cheat with a guy because—“
“Because you like girls?”
You looked up at her, lips pursed. “Why won't you answer my question?”
She tilted her head. “If we get together,” she started, “and I mean, actually get together. Not go to the mall and meet up at a store. Things are going to change. People will catch on, and they’ll treat you differently. I’m sure you know that, but I don’t think you’re ready for it. Especially not when you can’t even admit how you feel.” There was a long pause, her lips pursing. “Just stay where you’re safe,” she told you. “Stay with Mark. We can keep doing this— I like doing this— and you’re probably right. It’s probably better if people just think we’re friends, so…” She looked over at you, obviously still frustrated. “Why don’t we just move on?”
“Okay.”
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