#(but I think she will be fine cos it's really not that chunky)

[prince-liest]

I got this beautiful oncidium intergeneric hybrid (Oncostele Red Silk 'HOF') for $15 at Lowes because a lot of the flowers were falling off and I asked if they'd discount based off of that, which they did. Which is deeply amusing to me because if you know anything about oncidiums or even orchids in general, you can tell that there's a new pseudobulb growth just coming in and there's an extremely obvious brand new flower spike actively coming up.

Anyway, she's beautiful and she took me over an hour to repot because she's two years old and was planted in 100% sphagnum moss by someone who might hate me.

[scarfacemarston]

Hiii ☺️

I’ve never sent you anything before because I’m not great at trying to meet new people but one of the reasons I followed you was because of your love for RDR! It’s one of my favourite games of all time, I’m a sucker for Abigail thou 🤭

Do you have any headcannons with Abigail x Fem! Reader? (Totally okay if not!) & if not, is there anything you would like to share about her?

Hey! So good to hear from you! I've followed your blog for awhile! :) I'm a sucker for Abigail, too. It's a problem. I have actually lots written for Abigail! If you look at my Abigail Roberts x reader tab, you'll find a lot of things. There are some prompts that you'll have to scroll through to get to the writing, but it's there! So, I decided to do something I've never done before and go with Modern AU! Abigail. I've never done that before and I thought it would be fun to try out. If you would prefer I write new hc's with canon, Abigail, that's fine, too! (Note: Lauren Cohan is my fc for Abigail in rp, so that's why she's here.)

Background: She grew up in the foster system after her parents passed away. She was an overachiever in high school and wanted to claw her way past the girl she was in the foster system. However, her dreams for college were put on hold when she became pregnant with Jack, and even more so once she became a single mother. She did underwear modeling and worked in a dive bar for extra money. (It seemed more likely FOR HER than her becoming an escort or a cam girl, but those are valid hc's.)

Four years later, she is amicably co-parenting with John and has an associate's degree in agriculture and business. Now, she has a small farm with fresh organic produce, animal goods like milk and eggs, flowers, and the occasional candle. She is happily in a relationship with the F!reader.

* You insist on helping her at the farmers' markets on the weekends, which is her busiest time selling products. She always attempts to talk you out of it, but you find it rewarding. You watch in awe as the businesswoman in her truly blossoms and the passion she has for her work. 

* You surprise her with wanting to visit other farmer's markets. Sometimes, it's "secret shopper" missions, but a lot of time, it's just holding hands, picking out products, and eating samples. 

* Lots of baths together! She loves to cuddle and the intimacy it can bring.

* You help her cook and bake a lot. She has a huge passion for it, but she just can't get the hang of it. I think she is better with cooking and baking in the modern AU than in canon, but she could still use some help. However, she can make a great chili! It's canonically her favorite food besides chocolate. 

* She can make a mean cocktail. She doesn't drink a lot anymore, but she loves wine, rum, and whisky. However, she worked at a bar while caring for Jack to help put her through school and learned a lot while waiting tables. 

* She is always so thankful for any time you spend with Jack. Liking Jack is a requirement. He comes first in any relationship. However, she does NOT expect you to babysit him, but she is incredibly thankful and falls in love with you a bit more each time you do something with him. 

* With you, she is used to being the big spoon, but she loves to be surprised with being the little spoon sometimes. 

* Blankets everywhere! Big chunky ones are her favorite. Example here: Her goal is to make her own! She is not really into the pillow craze. 

*She canonically loves chocolate. Bonus if the chocolate has a bit of liquor in it. It's her guilty pleasure, but she has to keep it far from Jack.  * Don't play a card game against her; you WILL lose. Especially poker. She's also great at board games. It was the only type of games the foster homes had. However, she doesn't play as many video games. You've been slowly introducing her to games. Right now, she likes to relax with Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing. She'll also play with Jack or watch you play games. 

[nickswartsell]

Last year a driver hit my partner while she was riding the bike she got from her dad when she was a teenager. The bike got dragged under the SUV for blocks as the driver sped away and it actually took weeks and the help of local bike shop Spun (fantastic people) to help us get it back.

Let's skip over how incredibly shitty it is to hit a cyclist and then speed away with their bike under your SUV for a second. (My partner is fine, by the way -- luckily she was to the side of the vehicle when it rushed away with her bike).

When we finally located it, there were telltale paint ripples along the tubes near the lugs, a sign the frame was bent and no longer safe to ride. An enormous bummer because as you can imagine, the bike had huge emotional significance for her.

I spent months tracking down the same frame, same size before finding its identical match. It was even a really reasonable price!

Her dad bought the Crescent brand frame new in the 1970s. The company started in America in the early 20th Century before moving to Sweden, where this bike was made. Crescent produced a range of bikes that looked pretty similar -- many of them this pumpkin orange color, but some of them white or a pale blue that looks pretty sweet. (Think Boo-Berry blue). Those bikes ranged in quality from department store tanks to ones like this -- beautiful lugwork, Reynolds 531 steel, really light and sturdy for a steel bike.

After finding the frame I built it up at our local co-op MoBo. I was able to find a sweet set of wheels with Campagnolo Chorus hubs and Mavic rims that just glide forever. The components are a bit of a mash-up: Shimano 600 derailleurs, Campy brakes, and a really sick Zeus crank from the era. It's got some unusual details -- the Nitto bars are extra-wide tandem bars with the brake hoods up high for extra stability on gravel and dirt. The high and wide riding position is really great if you're getting into chunky stuff, I think. I got all this stuff for next to nothing. A little donated time and money for pretty much everything you'd need to build a bike. Bless bike co-ops.

Speaking of chunky stuff -- the frame fits 33mm tires (!!). We started with the Kenda Kwicks pictured here but Challenge had a really deep sale on its Grifo clinchers so they're on there now. (All hail the classic Challenge Grifo, btw).

Finishing touches: Newbaum's bartape treated with amber shellac, tooled leather saddle and a matching-ish converted camera carrying case handlebar bag.

Eventually we'd like to cold-set the rear triangle to comfortably get a 135mm rear hub in there with a nice wide gear range. She's been chasing QOMs on Cincy's big hills on this thing because she's a maniac and a bigger cassette would make that easier. (She doesn't really need the help though she's crushing it). We might also eventually invest in a Velo Orange crankset with smaller chainrings. Gonna hold on to that Zeus crank though... These old frames are incredible and I really prefer this bike to mine ride quality wise. It feels effortless on pavement, dirt, gravel, etc. If I ever find one of those pale blue ones in my size made of Reynolds 531, I might have to sell my daily rider to build it up.

[theretirementstory]

Bonjour à tous, it is 16c out there and feeling fresh but for me that is much better than the heat that we have had. One good thing about the “chaleur” is that it can produce some stunning “orages” (thunderstorms), like the one Thursday into Friday it seemed to go on for such a long time, with the sky lighting up wonderfully and the thunderclaps not too frightening.

It seems to have been a long week, I was up early to go to hospital on Monday. The taxi picked me up at 7am 😳 and we had to pick up another person so our journey took us on a road I had never been on. We went through villages and lovely countryside before arriving in the village which has the local attraction “Nigloland” a theme park which some say is better than Disneyland. It’s smaller, has less crowds and still plenty to entertain all ages.

I had two transfusions, the first was fine but the second made me really cold and I began trembling uncontrollably, guess the nurses have seen it all as they were not concerned by it. Then it was sleep time as I was to wake up at 4am (yes really) get dressed, have breakfast and be in a taxi by 5am! I was being taken to Paris to have the next stage of my treatment, unfortunately due to lack of “chunky” veins in my arms I was sent back to the hospital in Troyes to have a catheter fitted in my groin and the following day was a repeat of the previous one except with the catheter they were able to extract my cells for freezing. I will add that the journey time to Paris is about 2.5 hours one way! The second day I was in an ambulance, on a stretcher, facing the wrong direction which really did mess with my head! However it’s over and done with now, just have to prepare myself for 4 weeks in hospital from 30 August 😳.

I always think of Shildon in Co. Durham as my “hometown”, known as “the cradle of the railways”, I am interested in the history of this mode of transport, architecture is another interest so as you can imagine seeing the stunning railway stations in Paris, of which the above photo of the Gare de Lyon, is one. On the return journey on Wednesday, safely ensconced on my stretcher, I saw two huge columns with figures on top. Unable to take a photo 😡 I was keen to find out what they were. They were the Throne Tollgate on the Place de I’lle de la Réunion. As we drove further away from the columns, I looked up and in the far distance, between the columns was the Eiffel Tower, how I wished I could have “snapped” that picture!

Monique celebrated her birthday on Friday but unlike last year I was unable to visit her. However, she is coming to see me on Tuesday to help me get ready for my month “away”. I have been washing, cleaning, cooking, relaxing and reading. Trying my best to keep everyone “up to date” on what is happening. I had planned to cut the grass when I got home from hospital but I hadn’t factored in the catheter and the oncologist said definitely no mowing. Monique had said she would do it but I asked my neighbour who is only too happy to help me out.

Anie, messaged yesterday, asking if I would like some vine peaches, having had some from her before I was pleased to accept, she arrived with a little posy of flowers from her garden, two small courgettes and the vine peaches. She is coming back this afternoon to have tea and cake.

So now to the favourite part of this blog for “The Daddy”, it’s my music choices, the first one this week was a Eurovision winner for Luxembourg in 1972. The title was “Apres toi” sung by Vicky Leandros. If I remember rightly after she was announced the winner she sang the song in English (don’t quote me on that) it was released as “Come What May”.

The second song is from way back in 1967, gosh can I remember that far back, yes I can and I have loved this song since I first heard it, it’s “The Letter” by The Box Tops.

It’s a Bank Holiday on Monday in the UK and my gorgeous grandchildren are spending the weekend with “The Daddy”.

“The Trainee Solicitor” has been visiting relatives, reading, relaxing as well as working at home. I hear he has two terracotta planters exactly the same as two I have here. They will look good in the garden, maybe they have the hydrangeas in already 🤔.

Now I really must pack my case, and prepare the house for my absence.

Jusqu’à la semaine prochaine.

[streetlight11]

Cat Café

Summary: Every year, your parents would set you on a date with any eligible guy that is of a wealthy family background so that your parents could expand their wealth and business. You were never looking forward to any of the dates until one fateful day, where the café worker attracted your attention.

Theme: cat café au, wealthy family au, strangers to lovers

Genre: fluffy

Warnings: none

WC: 4.4k

Pairing: Café Worker!San x Fem!Reader

a/n: Hello again! Decided to write a cute kitty fic for San since he loves Byeol 💜 I hope he's resting well :'(

Being the daughter of someone who seems to be well-known as a millionaire in your country, there are pros and cons to it. The pros are that people would do anything and everything for your family, you lived in a mansion, you have a personal chauffeur but would prefer driving on your own, you can literally snap your fingers and anything can come to you except, you don’t like that.

The cons are that some people tend to envy your family, some even throw threats at you with ransom. And then there’s a handful of people who tries to befriend you just for your wealth but you’re not dumb. You’re smarter than people think.

However, one thing you never liked about this whole being born rich and having a family business fiasco, is that one of your parents would tend to be money minded and would do anything to gain power over their company. Which is exactly what was happening to you for the past few years ever since you turned 18.

Your father had been sending you on blind dates with a bunch of different guys who were sons of rich family business owners.

However, thankfully, your father wasn’t the kind to force you into marriage if you didn’t want to. But with that being said, every guy you rejected, results in a new guy for you and you hate this.

This year, your dad found you a guy who was around your age.

His parents owned a well-known wine company in the country. He was the youngest in his family. His name was Park Seonghwa and no doubt he was good looking and rather charming in personality, you just don’t feel the spark with him either.

And yet, here you are on your third date with him. You could tell that this person was a very kind-hearted man and that he was nothing but genuine with you.

But everything just feels out of place.

For this third date with him, he told you to choose where to go so you decided to bring him to a cat café that you knew of downtown. You walked with him side by side down the pavement after having dropped off by his chauffeur.

It was quite a chilly day, light snow cascading down on you as you walked.

Seonghwa was just listening to you talk about your school when he saw the way you were hugging yourself to shield your body from the cold breeze despite the three layers you had on.

He chuckled softly to no one as he soon wrapped an arm around your shoulder to pull you against his side, causing you to softly gasp.

Your words got stuck in your throat as you looked up at him with a bashful smile.

“Sorry, I guess you knew I was cold…” You apologized, earning a soft nod from him followed by a cute little giggle. You continued walking with him against your side, glancing up at him every now and then only to find him staring down at you with such warm eyes.

Both of you finally arrived at the cat café you wanted to bring him to, only to find it quite empty save for the two couples already in the booths with the kitties.

You entered the cosy premise of the café, immediately greeted by one of the staff there behind the counter.

“Hi! Welcome to Cuddles ‘N’ Coffee! Table for 2?” She asked with a cheery smile on her face.

“Yes please.” Seonghwa responded as she nodded before walking out the back and towards the glass door that shields the cats from leaving the front entrance.

“You can have that table booth right at the back. Just press the button on the wall and we’ll come over to take your orders.” She smiled as you thanked her for her great customer service before she returned your gesture with a sweet smile that turned her eyes into slits.

You and Seonghwa walked over to the table, careful not to step on any cats laying on the ground.

Some were already trailing behind you and the minute you placed your purse down and sat on the cushioned bench, a chunky brown cat leaped onto your lap and purred.

A soft giggle left your lips as you turned to Seonghwa who was also in the same situation as you but with a slimmer white cat in his lap.

“You make me want to adopt them really badly.” Seonghwa said under his breath, making you laugh.

After a few minutes of just bonding with the cats, you finally made your orders. The same girl came back about 5 minutes later with your orders, telling you to enjoy your drinks. You were just listening to Seonghwa talking about his boring lecturer when your eyes naturally glided over towards the front counter.

That’s where you saw a guy who looks to work there too considering the same polo tee and apron that Yeji, the girl who served you and Seonghwa earlier was wearing.

His smile was captivating as he joked around with Yeji, throwing balls of tissue at each other.

You watched as he seemed to have said something to her, causing her to slap his arm a little too harshly. That’s when he curled his body while holding onto the spot she hit.

But his frown was quickly replaced by a smile, watching her leave the counter with a middle finger in the air, directing it to him. Right when you were about to look away, his eyes happened to catch sight of yours. You’re supposed to be focusing on Seonghwa!

What are you doing? Look away!

Everything around you was a blur until you felt a warm touch to your knee, making you flinch and was soon turned back to Seonghwa who had a frown on his face.

“Hey? You okay? What’s wrong?” He asked out of pure concern.

“N-Nothing. Sorry, my mind went elsewhere for a moment. I’m so sorry, Seonghwa.” You apologized, already feeling bad for ignoring him like that whilst on a date. But all he did was chuckle and tell you it was fine.

After a few more minutes, you finally called it a night. You both reused your coats and checked to make sure you didn’t leave any belongings behind before making your way to the door to make your payment.

“Hello! I hope you enjoyed your time with the cats!” Yeji smiled to you two as she keyed in your orders.

“Yes we did. Thank you for having the cute fur balls.” You giggled, earning a laugh from her as well. Just when Seonghwa was handing his card to Yeji, you happened to turn right when her co-worker left the back room.

It was him.

He made eye contact with you briefly before turning away to enter the cat room. But you could’ve sworn you saw the small pout on his face. Unless your eyes were playing tricks on you.

Seonghwa’s car was now parked right outside your estate, with him insisting on walking you to your front gates while his driver stayed behind in the car. Once you were both there, he reached down to grab your hand gently making you turn around. You saw a frown decorating his face, instantly knowing something wasn’t right.

“Seonghwa? Is everything okay?” You asked as he stayed quiet for a while before he let out a soft sigh. And that’s when he explained everything.

“I know this might not be the best time to say this, but I have to. The past two dates were amazing. I never thought I’d find someone as down to earth and humble like you. And I did. Today was as amazing as those dates. The simple sushi dinner, the walk by Han River, the cat café as our last destination for this night’s date, I loved every second of it. And I really wish I could have more of this with you. I really do.”

He paused briefly before he continued, seeing that you were listening to him intently.

“But… my parents have decided… that they’re setting me up for marriage with someone else.” You weren’t going to lie, this news made your heart sink just a bit.

“Oh…” That was all you can muster and he knew you were upset.

“But it’s okay. We can still be friends if you’ll let me? The past three dates made me learn so much about you as a person and I couldn’t ask for more.” Seonghwa smiled, making you tear up feeling slightly overwhelmed.

“Hey, don’t cry…” Seonghwa whispered in between chuckles as he wiped your tears with his thumbs.

“I’m sorry, I guess I’m just touched that you feel that way for me.”

“Well, then I’m glad I managed to make you cry.” He teased, earning a soft slap to his broad chest. Seonghwa laughed again but then got quiet for a split second before he spoke up cautiously, hoping you weren’t offended by his request.

“Can… Can I kiss you?” Seonghwa asked and you weren’t going to reject him this time.

So when you didn’t reply to him, he mistook it for rejection. But instead, you carefully slide your hands around his neck, pulling him close until you feel his lips against your own.

Seonghwa smiled into the kiss as his hands wrapped itself around your waist, instinctively pulling you closer to his body. Your fingers tangled into his soft hair gently, feeling him squeeze your sides a little before he chuckled against your mouth.

“You really are something else, you know that? Whoever dates you, is gonna be the luckiest guy on earth.” Seonghwa complimented you, making you blush.

“And to the girl who’s about to be your future wife, she better be grateful to have such a handsome, kind hearted young man as her husband.” You returned as he kissed you again before pulling away.

“Goodnight Y/N. I’ll see you around. Promise we’ll stay friends okay?” Seonghwa said, making you hug him.

“I promise.” You whispered against his chest, pulling away from him. You gave him a final wave as you watched his car descend down the road. Seonghwa was an angel and whoever he ends up with, will be the luckiest girl on earth.

It has been 2 weeks since your last date with Seonghwa and you’ve been coming to the cat café. Probably 3 times in each week. Sometimes to do your assignment, sometimes to just chill and hangout with the kitties. But in all honesty, you were lowkey expecting to see the guy working there the other day and you did.

Almost all your visits there.

Little did you know, he too was kind of looking forward to seeing you there.

It was a Saturday evening and you were out and about in town. Your parents didn’t have any guys for your blind date recently so you took this chance to leave the house and just spend time alone.

You managed to find your way back to the café, parking your car at an empty parking lot down the street.

You had just entered the café and it was slightly more occupied than the last time you came. But since you were alone, it wasn’t actually a problem. You were standing by the door, looking around at the people queueing at the counter to make their payments when a voice snapped you out of your trance.

“Hi, welcome to Cuddles ‘N’ Coffee. For how many people?”

You turned to look at who greeted you, only to lock eyes with the same ones you had been hoping to see every time you came there.

“Just 1.” You said with a small smile, only to catch the inner corner of his lips twitch upwards.

“Right this way.” He said as he led you towards the room where the cats were in. You followed behind him closely, only for him to lead you to one of the booths near the back.

“Call me if you need anything.” He said as you noticed the smile that appeared on his face before he left. And you caught a glimpse of his nametag right before he turned.

Choi San.

A few minutes later, you were too busy petting the fluffy white cat in your lap, you didn’t even realize more people had left the café and there were only 3 tables left occupied. The cat in your lap was purring as it nuzzled its face into your stomach, not knowing you were currently a topic of conversation that was happening on the other side of the room.

San had just finished charging one of the customers only to let out a long sigh.

“Tired already?” Yeji asked with a teasing smile as she approached him. San grumbled, leaning against the counter with his back facing where the customers would be.

“Today’s been a full house since afternoon and I’m dead, gone.” He said, leaning his head back to close his eyes.

San couldn’t see what Yeji was doing until he heard her voice from beside him.

“Go and talk to her.”

“Huh?” San snapped his head towards her with a confused look on his face, earning a giggle from her.

“You yourself told me you were upset that she wasn’t alone the other day, and now she is. So go talk to her!” Yeji encouraged him.

“What if her boyfriend just can’t make it?”

“San, she’s been coming here alone for the past two weeks in case you haven’t noticed. Maybe she’s here to see you? Come on, just keep her company. Nothing would go wrong with that.”

“How would you know?”

“Because I’m a girl and I’d do the same if I wanted to be discreet about seeing my crush at his workplace?”

To that, San sighed as he turned to look over at you across the room, only to see you nuzzling your face against the cat’s head that was in your lap. This made his heart flutter as he saw the little smile on your face upon feeling the cat licking your nose.

He didn’t realize he had a silly smile on his face until Yeji pushed him gently to get his attention, “Just go, silly! That dumb smile on your face is telling a lot!” She laughed as he glared at her but without any venom in them.

He finally mustered up the courage thanks to Yeji as he was now making his way towards you where there’s only a couple who was left in the room with you.

Once he was a few feet away, his voice caught your attention, making you look up.

Immediately, your heartbeat started picking up speed.

“Is there anything else I can get you?” San asked politely, earning a soft shake of your head and a smile.

“No thanks, I’m good actually…” You said.

San nodded as he wasn’t sure if he should stay or leave. But you seem to have read his mind by asking him the question he never expected would have come from you.

“Do you… wanna sit down?” You asked as he glanced down at the empty spot beside you before looking back into your eyes.

“Uh.. y-yeah… are- are you okay with that?”

“Of course.” You smiled as you scooted over a little for him.

San carefully sat down beside you and almost instantly, a fluffy brown cat leaped into his lap. You giggled when the cat stood up with its back legs on his thighs while its front paws rested on his chest. Licking San’s chin cutely as the other cats started to surround him by the legs, begging for his pets.

“They seem to love you.” You commented with a genuine smile, making him chuckle.

“I own a cat myself so I guess I’m just used to being loved by them.” San said before turning to look at you, only to be flustered by the way you were staring at him.

“Wow… That’s sweet.”

“Do you have any pets?” He asked.

“No… Although I do wish to have one. I think it would be nice.” You said softly, only to hear him shift in his seat. Just then, his knee accidentally brushed against yours but you didn’t mind it.

A few seconds of peaceful silence went by, only for him to speak up, “Are you heading home soon?”

“I think I should? You guys are closing up soon right?”

“Yeah… Do you have a ride home?” He asked almost out of instinct, feeling sorry that he just blatantly asked you that when you barely knew each other.

“S-Sorry! I didn’t mean to be weird…”

“No. No. It’s fine. But yes, I do.” You smiled at him.

San awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck out of nervousness, only for you to speak up.

“Well, I think I should make a move soon. Thank you for sitting here with me.” You said as he smiled again.

“Sure.”

The two of you began making your way back to the front counter as Yeji keyed in your order. After you’ve paid, she hands you back your card and receipt, only for you to smile at both Yeji and San.

“Thank you. Goodnight.” You said as they nodded whilst she replied the same to you.

All San could do was smile, not able to move or say anything to you. The minute you left, Yeji turned to him and asked why he never replied to you. That’s when he finally told his co-worker that he was head over heels for you.

A few weeks passed and you had been going to that café a little more frequently now solely to see San. It was a Sunday afternoon, a bright, cold day. You were just making your way to San’s workplace when you got a call from him. You answered his call, only to hear his eager voice from the other side of the line.

“Hey! Where are you?” He asked.

“On my way to the café actually.”

“Nice. I’m a little caught up in the back so just come inside and find a seat near the back. Yeji’s working upfront.”

“Okay San, see you.”

“See you, cutie.” You could’ve sworn you heard his smirk creeping up on his face only for you to giggle.

You and San haven’t properly confessed anything yet, but you could definitely tell that both of you liked each other. Although San already knows about your family background, he was pretty chill about it. You could tell that he was a genuine person and wasn’t one who would just date you for money.

You even told Seonghwa about him and he feels that San is someone you could trust. So when you made it to the café and you saw Yeji talking to a customer alone by the cashier, you figured San was in fact in the back room.

So after the customer left, Yeji’s eyes travelled to you and immediately her smile beamed, causing her eyes to disappear.

“Y/N! Hey!”

“Hey Yeji.” You giggled.

“San’s a little busy with paperwork in the back but he told me to save a seat for you at your usual spot!”

“Oh, you didn’t have to do that though.”

“It’s okay, his words anyway.” Yeji giggled before bringing you to the table.

A few minutes passed, you were just kissing one of the cat’s cute pink nose when a familiar voice spoke up from above you, making you look up to see San standing there with his apron discarded.

“Hi.”

“Hey.”

San smiled as he sat down beside you only to reach over and gave the cat a few strokes. You were about to turn and talk to him but instead, you got flustered with how close his face was with yours. The minute San looked up at you, you could literally feel his warm minty breath hitting your lips.

His eyes glanced down to your lips and you could see the corner of his lips curve up slightly. This in itself, made your heart pound against your chest as you turned away to hide your blush on your face.

“Uhh, I- I umm, are you hungry?” You asked, earning a soft chuckle from him.

He went to order for you two, also making the drinks for you before coming back. You spent the next hour with him during his lunch break, not forgetting to share some skin ship with him. Something you’ve grown used to.

San was ending his shift in two hours and you definitely didn’t mind staying there for another few hours for him since he himself said you could wait for him there.

And so you did.

After he ended his work, both of you left his workplace not without saying bye to Yeji.

You hang out with him for a bit before he invites you over to his apartment. You’ve been there more than five times and he has never done anything inappropriate to you. So you trusted him with all your life.

A few hours passed and you were now seated on his couch, watching the Disney movie ���Frozen’ with him. “Omg, look at this jerk! He’s totally using her!” You ranted with an unconscious pout, earning a little chuckle from him.

“Well, at least I know I wouldn’t do that to someone.” San shrugged, making you turn to him. He had a silly smirk on his face but you weren’t going to comment on it. You were just blushing at his indirect flirty comment towards you despite not mentioning who he was talking about.

San was definitely talking about you and he knows you know it too. And seeing the blush on your face could only make him burst into a laughter that left you pouting.

“Shut up! Don’t make fun of me!” You whined as San wrapped his arms around your waist, pulling you into his side.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry but you’re just too cute!” San said as you froze.

Sure he has called your choice of outfits pretty before but this time, it felt so raw and you were slightly taken aback by it. San definitely noticed this as he pulled away from you to look into your eyes. At first he was frowning but then it got replaced with a smile, melting you instantly.

The room fell quiet as you noticed the way his eyes fell to your lips and lingered there for a bit, making you nervous.

Just then, your breath hitched in your throat when he reached up slowly to cup your face and caress your cheek with his thumb. Nobody dared to say much but he had to make sure you were alright with where this is going so he spoke up.

“Tell me if you want me to stop, okay?” He whispered, his voice soft and gentle.

You gave him a nod to answer him as you watched him lean closer until his sharp nose lightly brushed against the side of your nose, lips barely an inch apart from each other.

You closed your eyes, too nervous to keep looking. San smiled at this as he gave your lips one last glance before he too closed his eyes and pressed his lips gently on yours. San felt you move your lips against his. He smiled into your lips as he caressed your cheek while he kissed you.

He was being so gentle with you, it definitely melted your heart.

He pulled away for a breath, letting his fingers lightly ghost over your features before you reopened your eyes to look at him.

“Was that okay?” He asked, his voice quiet.

“Yeah…” You whispered as you wrapped your fingers around the wrist of the hand that was holding your face.

“Good… Because I wasn’t sure if I trusted myself with words to confess to you.” San chuckled, earning a soft giggle from you before you replied to him.

“It’s okay… I like this better.”

With that being said, San smiled in victory as he kissed you again.

You spent the day with him, cuddling on his couch after a long but innocent make out session. Never did you think you would fall for a boy who worked at a cat café but you did. And you were more than happy you did.

~~~

[dameronology]

love in the time of p.t.a. meetings {marcus moreno} - 4/5

summary: after a few months of slightly chaotic bliss, you & marcus start to think about the next steps in your relationship. {series masterlist}

warnings: swearing 

this is up a little later than i wanted & i do apologise, i once again stayed up all night and i cannot recount a single thing i’ve done. enjoy!

- jazz

Things between you and Marcus quickly fell into a routine.

You kind of had to when you both had kids; their lives needed structure. Depended on it, in fact. It wasn’t long before both of your lives were entangled in more ways than one, mostly for the sake of Missy and Jack having security around them but also because things between you were so good. Neither of you were trying to rush by any means, but when it worked, it worked. You were both good at communicating with each other - not that many issues really cropped up - and you both understood that your children came first. Things progressed easily and naturally, and he made you feel secure enough that you didn’t have to question whether or not it was too good to be true. 

Five months had quickly passed and you were both comfortable. Marcus Moreno was your boyfriend and it wasn’t a big deal. Okay, it had been at first - especially the first time he planted a kiss on your lips in front of the minivan brigade - but now? It was normal. It felt like he’d always been there, and you took it as a good sign. You got on well with Missy, especially since she’d witnessed your spat with Carol and started to think the world of you, and Jack...well, he was obsessed with Marcus. You couldn’t blame the kid. 

‘Jack! Put the soup down!’ 

It was another one of those mornings. It was a Sunday, so you didn’t have to worry about getting up early for school or work but you’d been at Marcus’ till late the night before. You and Jack ended up spending a lot of time at his; there was a swimming pool and a big garden for Optimus Prime to run around in, so it tired both of your tiny spawns out, which worked in your favour.

 Even when the kid had spent four hours swimming last night, he’d still risen that morning at 6AM like Jesus Christ on the third day. You’d woken to find the kitchen covered in smashed eggs and ham, then your oven had broken and the toilet was blocked again. 

You’d been halfway through reversing the problem when you’d heard Jack shuffling in the kitchen. You were stood in the hallway, still in your pyjamas, with a toilet brush in one hand and the other balled up into a fist. 

‘Jack, the soup is about to-’

You paused mid-sentence, watching as the bowl he was trying to reach for toppled straight off of the counter. You’d only washed his hair ten minutes ago, and you might as well have not fucking bothered because it was now covered in chunky vegetable soup. And the Chewbacca onesie he loved so much? Trying to peel that off him for the next few hours to wash the Heinz out of it was going to be a whole task in itself. You’d only just been to the laundrette the day before, and you’d gotten to the point in life where having a place with its own washing machine was a sign of success. 

‘Mum, there’s soup in my hair.’

‘It’s okay.’ You took a moment to breath. ‘We are not going to cry.’

‘I’m not crying.’

‘Wasn’t talking to you, buddy.’ You rubbed your temples for a moment. ‘C’mon, let’s go hop in the bath.’

So much of parenting was just...stopping to breath. Stopping to take a moment to remind yourself that although your love for your child was unwavering and unconditional, you sometimes felt like screaming. All you’d done for the last five hours was go in circles, cleaning and lecturing and cleaning some more. It made you wish you were at work that day, because at least then you could have conversations with people that weren’t about what cheese they wanted for lunch or what cartoon they wanted to watch. 

‘I just had a bath.’ Jack muttered. 

‘Yeah well, you need another one.’ You took another deep breath. ‘I’ll be there in a minute-’

‘- I don’t want a bath!’

‘And I don’t want a kid that’s covered in soup!’ You shot back. ‘C’mon, buddy. Just do as I say, please?’

Your conversation was interrupted by a knock at the door. You frowned for a moment - you weren’t expecting anyone. There was no post on Sundays and you hadn’t seen your landlord since the day you’d moved in. Your nosey neighbour knocked sometimes, usually asking about the noise (he didn’t have kids, clearly) and you were this close to telling him to mind his own fucking business. 

‘I swear to god, if that’s David again, I am going to shove this can of soup up his - Marcus!’ You almost did a double take when you saw your boyfriend stood at the door - he really chose his times, didn’t he? You hadn’t even had time to put the fucking toilet brush down. ‘Hey.’ 

‘Hey, baby.’ He greeted you slowly, eyes slowly taking in your appearance (and not in a sexy way). ‘Were you not expecting me?’

‘Shit, did we have plans?’ Your eyes widened. 

‘No, but Jack called. He said you’d asked him to ask me to come over, but I realise half way through that sentence that starting with Jack called probably means you had no idea.’ He offered you a goofy smile. ‘He said that the sofa had exploded and that you needed help.’

There was a lot to unpack there. When had Jack done that? More to the point, when had he learnt to use the phone? How had he worked out your phone password? The kid couldn’t do up his own velcro and now he was a Russian hacker, apparently. 

‘Oh my god.’ You groaned. ‘I am so sorry. Things have been batshit here this morning and I’m sure he had my best interests in his weird little heart, but he made you come all this way-’

‘- Marcus!’ Speaking of the devil.

Jack pushed past you, wrapping his arms around Marcus’ waist. He leant down to pick him up, lifting him off the ground - albeit at a distance, due to Soupgate. 

‘Hey, buddy.’ He greeted him. ‘You been causing trouble again?’

‘Not on purpose.’ Jack replied. ‘Mum says I need another bath.’

‘I think she’s right.’ Marcus said. ‘Why don’t you go pick out some clothes and come back in a minute, yeah?’

‘Okay!’ Seemingly impressed by the newfound trust in him to choose an outfit, Jack wriggled himself back down to the floor, trotting towards his bedroom. Seriously, how did Marcus do that? Perhaps his ability to have authority over your archaic child was another hidden power of his. 

‘You look like you need a break, baby.’ He reached out, gently running a hand down your arm.

‘I’m fine, he’s just been a lot today.’ You sighed.

‘You have soup on your shirt and fluff in your hair.’

‘Couch stuffing.’

‘Huh?’

‘It’s couch stuffing. Except that was Optimus Prime and not Jack, which makes a nice change.’ You muttered.

‘Look, Missy is at her abuela’s today and she’s been begging for ages to see Jack again.’ He said. ‘What d’you say I drive him over there, you clean up and we hang out? Just us, no kids, no dogs, no stress.’

‘That sounds like a fucking dream.’ You couldn’t help but smile. ‘But Optimus has consumed half the couch and I gotta keep an eye on him-’

‘-we can bring him with us!’ Marcus grinned. ‘He loves the garden.’

‘Are you sure? Because I remember you saying you had work plans today and I don’t want you to cancel them on account for the fact I can’t control my own kid. Or life.’

‘You two come first.’ He said it as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. ‘Three, including Optimus Prime.’

--

In the time it took Marcus to drive Jack to his mum’s and get back to yours, you were able to clean up. The apartment was still a state, but it hadn’t been properly tidy in...how many days had it been since Jack was born? Because it hadn’t been clean in exactly that many days. You felt a little bad dumping him on Anita when he was still covered in soup, but if anyone was able to wrestle him into the bath and some clean clothes, it was her. You’d met her a few times and she was absolutely lovely, but you had no doubt she could be terrifying when need be. She was the sort of woman you aspired to be.

By midday, you were driving out the city. There was music playing quietly over the radio and you were watching the houses go by; even though it was cold out, you had the heater on and you were bundled up in a leather jacket, Marcus’ scarf snugly around your neck. It smelt faintly of his aftershave, which had become one of your favourite scents over the last five months. The time had gone so quickly. You’d seen each other practically every day since then, and having the kids meant you’d been fallen into being domestic pretty quickly. The simplicity of it all - him and you and getting to this point so easily - was overwhelming in itself. 

Your first relationship had been so complicated - so finicky and filled with unnecessary arguments. That should have been a sign early on, but then you’d gotten pregnant with Jack and getting married had seemed like the obvious thing to do. His presence meant you wouldn’t have changed anything, not for the entire fucking world, but it made you a little sad to think about how long you’d wasted on what had clearly been the wrong person. Meanwhile, Marcus’ situation had been entirely different; he’d had the right person the first time around and then he’d lost them. You never felt like a replacement to his wife, or even thought about the notion, really. That had been another part of his life. You were a new part and it didn’t mean he was forgetting the past. The two could co-exist without taking away from each other. 

‘You’re deep in thought.’ Marcus observed. He moved one of his hands to rest on your leg, giving it a light squeeze. He did that a lot, usually whenever you were sat beside him at the table or on the sofa. It was just a him thing. 

‘Yeah, sorry.’ You tore your gaze away from the window. ‘My brain always goes a little into overdrive when things are quiet.’

He chuckled. ‘What’s on your mind?’

‘You, actually.’ You tangled your fingers with his, thumb brushing over the back of his hand. ‘I was just thinking about lucky I am and how good things are, and how it almost feels too good to be true.’

‘Better believe it, baby.’ He replied. ‘Because it is true.’

‘I know.’ You peered over at him with a smile. ‘It’s just...my only perceptions of relationships were based on the single one I’ve had. Everything was so complicated and exhausting. This is completely different and it’s so nice. And normal. And I don’t know, that sounds stupid-’

‘- it’s not stupid at all.’ Marcus peered over at you, shaking his head. ‘It’s natural to be a little apprehensive after a bad relationship and if there’s anything I can do to help, you just have to tell me. You know that, right?’

Maybe it was the way he said it, or maybe it was just him, but you knew for certain that he meant that. There was sort of a silent agreement now that you were both in this for the long haul. Your mum had always said that you’ll know when you know but you’d always written that off. Mostly because you hadn’t known the first time round. But, now you did. You did know and though you weren’t going to admit that to Marcus, you never doubted him for a second. 

‘I do.’ You said. ‘But he’s in the past now - and hopefully it’s where he fucking stays.’

‘I have contacts. I can find him and set Miracle Guy on him.’ Marcus’ grin had returned. ‘Just say the word.’

‘You make a tempting offer.’ You smiled back at him. ‘But the past is the past and I’m ready to...slam the lid on that dumpster.’

‘Do you think he’ll ever want to come back into Jack’s life?’

You pondered for a moment. ‘I don’t think so, but if he did, I dunno if I’d let him. I never wanna be the person who stops someone from seeing their kids but what he did was...it was unforgivable.’

‘You don’t have to make that decision until it actually happens.’ Marcus gently said. ‘And I’ll support whatever you choose.’

He pulled into the drive way of his house - his nice, clean, sofa-stuffing-and-soup free house. Optimus Prime leapt out the car as soon as the door was open, practically tearing past the two of you and down towards the yard. There was a moment of silence and then a splash!

‘Guess he found the pool.’ Marcus commented. ‘At least it’s heated, I s’pose.’

Truth be told, he loved having the three of you at his house. It felt like whatever had been missing before was slowly making an appearance as your relationship progressed. The irony was that you brought nothing but chaos and clutter with you, but that was exactly what made it feel like a home. It was small things; the painting that Jack had done for him at after school club was now hung up up on the fridge, and there was a photo of him and Missy on the fireplace with Optimus Prime. Half of the thousands of blankets of pillows that had been at your place had ended up on his sofa, thanks to the countless sleepovers. 

If he could have it his way, Marcus would have you live with here all the time. The energy that you and Jack brought made everything feel complete. He loved the evenings where Missy and Jack would play out in the pool, and you two would sit back inside, complaining about the cold. Then there were the nights where you’d take both the kids back here when he was working late, and he’d come home to find you piled on the couch watching an old movie, with your burnt cooking abandoned on the stove, surrounded by boxes of left over take out. It was the kind of thing that was so simple and so domestic, but it was everything he wanted. 

That was probably the flashpoint moment when Marcus Moreno realised he wanted to spend the rest of his life with you. He already knew he loved you - he’d worked that out about three months in, when you’d fallen asleep in one of his shirts whilst trying to wait up for him - but he hadn’t said it. He’d hinted at it and made back-handed comments but he’d barely admitted it to himself, let alone to anyone else. He knew what you and Jack had gone through before and it broke his entire fucking heart. You both deserved someone who stand by you and support you, someone who would embrace you both for the craziness and warm energy you brought everywhere with you. More than ever, he was realising he wanted to be that person who gave it you. After all, you’d made his life so much brighter without even trying.

Snapping out of his trance, Marcus looked over at you. You’d already ditched your shoes and dropped onto the sofa, pulling one of the blankets with you. This was exactly what you needed. A quiet house, your favourite person and a cable knit blanket. 

‘Hey, baby?’ 

You looked over at him, smiling at the name. ‘Yeah?’

‘You know I love you, right?’

You blinked in surprise, sitting up. ‘I know.’

‘You do?’

‘You’ve never said it, but I can tell.’ You nodded, before offering a smile. ‘And I love you too.’

‘I’m sorry I didn’t say it sooner.’ He slowly approached you, dropping onto the sofa beside you and taking your hands in his. ‘I think I just got so caught up in everything and feeling everything that I forgot.’

‘Why are you apologising?’ You couldn’t help but scoff at him, leaning forward to press a kiss to his lips. ‘It’s your actions that say it, Marc. Hearing it is good but you showed it a long time ago.’

‘I know, but really you deserve to hear it everyday.’ He smiled against you, helping you move onto his lap. 

‘You do tell me everyday, with the things you do.’ You reminded him. ‘Like meeting me in the parking lot with coffee, or bribing Jack into going to bed early with video messages from your superheroes, or doing my grocery shopping when you know money is short.’

‘Why wouldn’t I do those things?’ Marcus seemed genuinely confused. ‘It’s you.’

‘I love you.’ You repeated the phrase. 

‘And I love you.’

He pulled you into another kiss - this time it was a little firmer, not unlike your second declaration of love. Marcus did all those things without thinking, simply out of his intense want for you to just be happy. He was the same with Missy, always doing little things to make her life easier just because. It was just part of who he was, and it made him happy to see his loved ones happy. 

With your body pressed against his and your hands tangled in your hair, Marcus realised he didn’t want you to ever leave again. He didn’t want you to have to drive home in the dark at ten because all of your stuff was on the other side of town. You did stay over sometimes, but then you’d have to creep out at 6AM with a sleeping Jack in your arms to get home in time to get ready. He wanted you here all the time. You should have been here all the time. 

‘Move in with me?’ 

He both did and didn’t mean to say it out loud. He did because he wanted you so badly to be a permanent fixture in the house, but he also didn’t because the idea might have been a little absurd. Was it too soon? What if you didn’t want to leave your place? He knew you loved your apartment. It was your home and had been for a long time.

‘What?!’ You suddenly pulled back from the kiss, eyes wide. 

‘I mean...if you want to.’ Marcus slowly said. ‘Hell, Missy and I can move to your place if that’s what you want. It might be tight but she loves the dog and I just want to be with you-’

‘- hey!’ You cut him off, planting your hands on his shoulders. ‘You’re rambling again, but that’s besides the point. I would love to live here.’

‘You would?’

‘I would.’ You smiled. 

It made sense. Aside from the glaringly obvious fact you wanted to, it was also practical. It was closer to the school, closer to your work and it had a fucking swimming pool. Marcus was already clearly financially secure and moving in wouldn’t mean relying on him, but it would have meant that things for Jack were a lot more stable. Missy loved the company of you both, and it meant she would finally have the dog she wanted so bad. 

‘Missy would be okay with it, right?’ You asked.

‘She was the one who put the idea in my head, actually.’ Marcus admitted. ‘I’d thought about it but then she kind of asked in passing why you don’t live here, and I couldn’t give her an answer.’

‘Your kid is smart.’

‘D’you think Jack will-’

‘- I’m going to stop you there.’ You cut him off.

‘Right, I probably don’t need to ask that question.’ He chuckled.

‘Exactly.’ You pressed a kiss to his nose. ‘Don’t forget the dog, either.’

‘How could I? I can literally see him peeing on my lawn right now.’

‘Our lawn.’

--

Exactly three weeks later - and after a hefty amount of paperwork and hours of sorting through Jack’s endless amounts of crap that he insisted on hoarding - moving day came. 

Anita had insisted on having the kids again. They were both excited, but perhaps a little too much. They were probably more likely to get in the way of things if anything. Children, a dog and large boxes? It seemed like a match made in hell. Plus, she had a whole ass training course in her back garden and if that didn’t wear the kid out, then you were definitely going to take him to the Heroics to get tested. The thought alone was enough to tire you out. 

You didn’t have too much stuff to move. You’d been half-moved into the damn place before Marcus had even made the formal proposal, so that made things a lot easier. You were keeping your sofa for Jack’s room, but the rest was going to Goodwill. Most of it had come from there in the first place.

‘I think that’s the last box.’ Marcus announced, exiting the bedroom. ‘I didn’t realise that a five year could own so many variations of storm-trooper toys.’

‘Oh, yeah.’ You replied. ‘There’s the original trilogy ones, sequel trilogy ones, dark troopers, shock troopers, clone troopers - and I realise half way through listing them that you don’t care.’

‘I never said that!’ He placed his hands on your waist, pressing a kiss to your forehead. ‘I’m excited to learn.’

‘I’m sure Jack is excited to tell you.’ You grinned. 

Then, it faltered slightly with the realisation you were actually leaving this place. You’d never intended for it to be your permanent home, but it had still been the centre of your entire universe for half a decade. Every room told a story; the crayon marks on the bathroom wall, the dents behind the TV from, the crack in the living room mirror. All caused by Jack, naturally. The last five years was contained entirely within these four walls and you got bleary eyed at the idea of it becoming someone else’s. 

‘Hey, don’t cry.’ Marcus gently wiped away a tear from your cheek. 

‘You know, the rent is still paid till the end of the month so we could revisit the idea of you and Missy living here instead.’ You tearfully smiled. 

‘You’re kidding but you know I’ll do it.’ He pressed another kiss to your nose, grip on your arms tightening. 

‘It’s okay.’ You moved so that the kiss landed on your mouth instead, capturing his lips in a brief kiss. ‘I knew we were gonna outgrow this place. I just didn’t expect it to be so soon.’

‘I know. Still kinda feels like it all came out of no-where, huh?’ He replied. ‘In the best way.’

‘You’re right. In the best way.’ You firmly nodded. ‘Can you believe I was 23 when I moved into this place? I found it on Craiglist within ten minutes of finding out I was pregnant.’

‘Do you wanna take a minute before we go?’

‘No, it’s fine.’ You shook your head. ‘We should get going.’

The apartment was just that: an apartment. And the house you were going to was just that: a house. But the people you were with? That’s what made it count. It wasn’t about the four walls or the roof over your head, or whether or not it had a big yard and a jacuzzi bath tub (though, that did help). It was about the laughter and warmth inside; the faces in the photos on the wall and the people you came home to after a long day. It was the smell of your burnt cooking and the pizza you’d ordered in place. It was Jack’s toys left in the exact place where someone could trip and it was Missy using all the hot water in the morning so that Marcus’ showers were practically arctic. It was everyday things that reminded you of the people around you; the people that made it home, and how lucky you were to have them.

That was home. And you’d found yours. 

taglist: @naivara-duneimith @1-2-3-4-5metalfingers @likeshootingstarsinthenightsky​ @lyanna-the-giantsbane @phoenixhalliwell @crazycookiecrumbles​ @bitchin-beskar​ @comphersjost

[tothejedi]

chapter one: learning and knowing

summary: working as a barista in dc, you meet a man named javier peña, closed off and grumpy, and decide that you want to know him in any way he'll let you.

pairing: javier peña x f!reader

warnings: none for this chapter! but soon it will be 18+ so take that as a warning i guess?

word count: 1.4k and not even read through- lmk if you see any typos lol

notes: i really just pulled this out of my ass y'all i got so excited about these characters! let me know what y'all think and my messages are always open for feedback and ideas, just remember my main is @journeystofearless :) this chapter is really just me trying to flesh out these characters a bit more- action really begins in the next one !

series masterlist

--

you meet javi on a sweltering day in june. while his body moves hurriedly, his face appears calm, save for the eyebrows halfway up his forehead. you are behind the cash register, walking an older gentleman through his coffee order when he catches your eye.

he has sat down by the corner window, his leather jacket pulled tight over his broad shoulders as he leans into the table. the jacket pulls your attention first, because who wears a jacket in dc in june? but as he leans back further into his corner to let the shadows play over his dark face, you realize he is there to watch, to blend into his surroundings.

"want to take his order?" your co-barista, Alisha, asked. "pretty handsome guy, maybe you can score a date," she laughs.

you haven't been going out much, your history with dating not a path that you want to continue. too much manipulation, commitment, and attachment- it all leads to pain in the end, doesn't it?

"i'll take his order- but only because you're too afraid to," you shoot back, smirking at your friend as you dance your way out from behind the counter, avoiding her slapping hand.

you make your way across the bustling and loud cafe, smiling and waving at regulars that you recognize on the way to his table. "good morning, hon. what can i get started for you today?"

his gaze doesn't raise to meet yours.

"just coffee. black."

of course, just black coffee. but as his brow furrows, you suddenly find yourself wishing you had more to offer him than just coffee and pastries.

"yes, sir! coming right up!"

you smile as you scribble his order down, but suddenly one of those big hands comes and rests on your quickly-moving hand. as you glance back down, you see his eyes are finally on yours, the intensity of their gaze overwhelming.

"anything else, sir?" you ask tentatively. "maybe a pastry, a danish? fresh baked this morning."

and as you come to find out each day, the answer is always: "nada, hermosa."

-

it takes you a while to realize that javier peña doesn't wholeheartedly dislike you. for a while there, it seems that way- either he refuses to meet your eyes, or he stares back at you with such an intensity that it feels hostile. however, over time, you get to know him, bit by bit. he becomes one of your regulars- your favorite regular.

you take it slow. he seems to be a man of few words, and you want to be sure he won't dart back out of your life as quickly as he had entered it, like a scared animal. one day, his name. the next, his coffee order- why just black coffee? after that, you move on to his hometown, his family, any pets? but he never seems to want to discuss what he does for work, so you just never ask. eventually, he even lets you recommend different drinks for him to order each morning-

"the brown sugar espresso is very good- we even offer it with oatmilk if you want!"

"why would i want oatmilk? what's wrong with normal milk?"

after taking one look at your ever-patient smile, waiting for his answer, he relents.

"fine, fine. you know best, right?"

and so it continues. each morning, you come up with crazier and crazier drinks to keep him on his toes, and he drinks each one, even if some of them make his face draw up tight and his lips purse. you start to do those on purpose, loving the animated features that it draws from this closed-up, seemingly emotionless man.

you learn that he likes cream and sugar in his coffee- doesn't love it, but he can tolerate it.

"it just makes it easier, hermosa. now, nobody has to do anything else for me- they just pour it in the mug and walk away."

you smile, toying with the edge of your apron around your waist. "javier, maybe some people want to do things for you. maybe i want you to enjoy your coffee in the morning, rather than just chugging black coffee for the caffeine."

that stumps him for a bit, but never for long.

eventually, on one rainy, slow day you sit down across from him while he drinks his coffee and scans an open newspaper- the words are in spanish, hard to distinguish, much like javier.

he turns his gaze to you, speaking first and quick, like the words were escaping his mouth without his consent. "i want to know you."

"know me, javier?" you laugh. "what is there to know that you don't know already?"

he rubs the back of his neck, his head lowered. "not sure, hermosa. i kind of meant- i'm not sure how to do this, i don't meet many people- can i take you to dinner?"

you sit back in your chair, stunned. of course you were attracted to this mystery man named javier who came out of nowhere and spoke in spanish sometimes and never smiled and was so worried about other people. but if he felt the same way for you, why did he wait so long to ask?

"or not. it's okay too-"

"no, javier. let's do it." you stand, reaching over to clasp his mug in your now-trembling hand. "i'm free tomorrow night."

a grin stretches across his face, nearly blinding you in its brilliance. you want to take a photo, a mental picture, even a drawingif it would help you remember this moment, the moment that you made javier freaking peña smile, just by agreeing to go to dinner.

it was a feeling you would carry with you for a while, one that he would never fail to refresh in you.

-

he picks you up at 7 on the dot, the bell ringing before you can even finish pulling on your heels. you curse on your way to the buzzer, pressing the button to let him up before stumbling back to your other shoe.

javier lets himself into your apartment moments later, his lips quirking up as he watches you dart back and forth across the floor, tossing miscellaneous clothing and blankets out of the way to look more presentable. he clears his throat, chuckling a bit under his breath as your head snaps to him.

"i am so sorry! i'm ready, i am- i'm ready," you declare breathlessly. you feel your eyes widen, taking in the tight jeans and the teal button down, the suit jacket that hugs his broad frame, all the way down to the slightly heeled boots on his feet. how does this man look so incredible in everything that he does?

javier lets his eyes trail down the length of you, the deep red satin dress contrasting with your skin, the chunky heels raising you up slightly closer to his height.

"you are- so beautiful." he gazes at you for another moment while you blush, shifting your weight from side to side, and one hand raises to cup the side of your face in his palm. he sighs at the feel of your skin, and you lean into his warm touch. he smiles slightly again, taking his other hand out from behind his back.

"these are for you," he says, holding out a mix of beautiful wildflowers, the quick splashes of color against the shades of green almost like fireworks. "i wasn't sure what you'd like, so she decided to go with every possible color apparently."

giggling at the frustrated look on his face, you take the bouquet and move toward the cabinet to retrieve a vase. "well, we are doing this to learn more about each other, right?"

after you arrange the flowers to your liking, you turn back to the handsome man waiting for you by the door, the mysterious man that you knew so much about yet so little. taking him in one last time before you leave for the night, you decide that you will get to know all that there is to know about javier peña- even what he might not realize himself.

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@hellovanessax

[lady-divine-writes]

Kurtbastian Week 2020 - “War of the Roses” (Rated M)

Summary: Kurt suspects that his husband may be cheating on him. But instead of taking the mature route of talking with him, he calls up a radio talk show that has a unique way of uncovering the truth. (2236 words)

Notes: Inspired by a talk show I used to listen to by the same name. Written for the @kbweek2020 Day 5 prompt 'angst', but not quite as angsty as you might imagine.

Read on AO3.

“War, War, War, War of the Roses!”

The pre-recorded announcement, surrounded by loud fanfare, blares through Kurt’s phone. He moves it away from his ear before the d.j. follows with: “It’s War of the Roses day on Magic 92.5! Hop on the website, send us a text, or call and leave us a message, and you, too, may be featured on War of the Roses! Today, we have Kurt on the line, ready to share the troubling story of him and his husband Sebastian. Kurt - thank you for joining us.”

“Th-thank you for having me,” Kurt replies, hating the way his voice sounds, the way it rattles around his dry throat. Hating what he’s doing. Hating that he gave the show their real names! What an imbecile he is! People he knows listen to this show! His boss Isabelle listens to this show! She must be listening now because he hears a beep over the line - a sign that another call is trying to wedge its way in. When he doesn’t answer it, it disconnects with a chunky bwap-bwap! A second later, messages start flooding his email, which he left open on the laptop in front of him. And not just from Isabelle. From Rachel, Mercedes, Santana, Brittany, Chase …

Kurt lifts a hand and closes the lid, shutting them out.

Oh boy. 

He’s only been on the phone for 30 seconds and he’s already made a mess of things.

“Kurt,” the d.j. says, “why don’t you start by telling us why you contacted us? How can we help you?”

Kurt sighs. I contacted you because I’m stupid, he thinks. And insecure. And, frankly, I should hang up right now and put my phone in the freezer for safekeeping before I do anything else stupid. “I … I think my husband might be cheating on me.”

Canned ooo’ing follows his admission, and if he didn’t regret this decision before, he certainly regrets it now. He can’t stand the idea that they’re using this situation that’s been keeping him up at night as the punchline of a joke. But he can’t blame them. He did this. There are other ways to go about this that he should have considered first. Counseling. Private investigators. Honest and open communication with his spouse. But for some reason, when his husband got up early and left for work without waking Kurt for a goodbye kiss for the eighth day in a row, Kurt broke. If his marriage isn’t working, if they’re headed for Splitsville, Kurt needs to know today. 

Now.

Sooner, if possible.

And that’s when he leaped for his cell phone and made this ill-advised call.

Kurt didn’t think there was anything wrong with his marriage. He thought they were happy – blissfully so. But for the past few days, things have gotten odd between them. Strained. And Kurt doesn’t know why. He needs to find out.

Lucky for him (depending on how you look at it), the radio program had a last-minute cancellation. The person who was scheduled to be on this morning decided to take matters into their own hands and run their unfaithful spouse over with a Cadillac.

A Cadillac that wasn’t theirs to begin with.

The station called him practically a second after he got off the phone with their answering machine.

“And why do you think your husband might be cheating on you?” the female co-host asks in a voice sympathetic from years of practice.

“Well … he’s been avoiding me.” Kurt winces at that weak excuse. To be fair, Sebastian’s firm recently landed a huge client - their first of this caliber in years. And since one of his partners is out on maternity leave, the job of wining and dining had fallen on Sebastian’s shoulders - a task he hasn’t performed in close to a decade; one he never liked much, especially after he and Kurt got married since it kept him away from home. “But on top of that,” he says, leaving that pertinent information out, “he’s been talking a lot about some guy named Martin.”

“Really?” the d.j. says, working hard to make this revelation sound like the scandal of the century since Kurt isn’t giving them much to work with. “And what has he been saying about Martin?”

“He’s been very complimentary about the job Martin has been doing down at the office.” Another wince. “A-and my husband isn’t normally the kind to hand out compliments. Plus, they’ve been working a lot of late nights - meetings, overtime, all last minute, that sort of thing.”

“Do you think Martin is doing something other than working that your husband might actually be complimenting him on?”

“Maybe,” Kurt says meekly, his heart going from ache to break. He hadn’t put those thoughts into words before today, hadn’t even texted them to his closest confidants now crowding his inbox. This is the first time he’s getting it off his chest … and he’s doing it to millions of people he doesn’t know.

He can hear Sebastian's voice in his head, laughing and saying, "Smart, Kurt. Very smart."

“Alright! Let’s get Sebastian on the phone and find out what’s going on once and for all!”

“Okay,” Kurt mumbles, covering the fact that the host's apparent enthusiasm to destroy Kurt's life put him on the verge of throwing up.

“What we’re going to do (for those of you who don’t know how this works) is offer Sebastian a dozen romantic roses to send free of charge to the person of his choice," the d.j. explains. 

"Let’s hope he says Kurt,” his co-host adds.

“Yes,” Kurt says, and very unlike him, he begins to pray. 

He prays Sebastian doesn’t answer the phone.

He prays Sebastian's secretary answers instead and tells them to send the roses to Kurt, Sebastian’s one true love. Kurt would accept that, hearing it second hand. That would be fine. Hearing it from Sebastian's secretary would be almost like hearing it from Sebastian. She’s a trustworthy soul, not inclined to cover for her boss.

He thinks.

Most of all, he prays that no matter who answers, no matter what happens, he’s wrong.

Ring-ring.

Ring-ring.

Ring-ring.

Click.

“Hello?”

Sebastian answers and Kurt’s stomach drops. In the time it takes Sebastian to complete that word, Kurt recalls the way most of these things end. Then his mind, which rarely seems to be on his side lately, conjures up how it might end for them.

This phone call and their entire marriage.

“Let’s get a name for the card, Sebastian. Who would you like us to send those roses to?”

“Let’s send them to Martin,” Kurt imagines his husband saying in a sly, seductive voice without pause. 

“Martin? And what message would you like to go with it?”

“Make it out to Captain Flexible. And write ‘last night was incredible. Here’s to many more late nights in the future’.”

That nightmare spell shatters when Kurt hears the d.j. say his husband's name. “Sebastian?”

“Yes?” Sebastian answers, already sounding annoyed. No one who calls Sebastian’s office line ever calls him by his first name except family. 

And Kurt.

“Hello! My name is Andrew, and I’ve just opened a new flower shop in Uptown called The Rose Knows.”

“Good for you,” Sebastian says dryly.

“We’re calling businesses in the Midtown area with our first promotion. We’re offering a free dozen romantic roses to send to the person of your choice. And all we ask in return is that you recommend our shop to your family, your friends, your co-workers …”

“You must have the wrong number. I don’t need anything for free. Put an ad in the Pennysaver like everyone else.”

"I'm not sure the Pennysaver's still in business."

"Not my problem."

Kurt bites his lower lip, grinning when he should be in tears, the nervous flip-flopping of his stomach, like pancakes on a griddle, causing his abs to cramp. But that’s his husband. His Sebastian. 

So far, so good.

“Come on,” the d.j. presses. “We’re a small business, just starting out. Do a man a favor. Have some community spirit.”

Sebastian sighs like this is so beneath him. He stays quiet, and Kurt knows he’s debating between messing with this guy or hanging up on him. But Sebastian probably figures he’s not going to shake him until he gives in. Besides, Sebastian is nothing if not a networker. A flower shop would be of no use to him, but who knows? “Let’s see. Who in my life deserves free roses? My mom’s birthday is coming up, so maybe I could send them to her. Or my sister. She just had a baby.”

“Oh! Congrats!”

“A-ha,” Sebastian says, the amount of unimpressed in his tone staggering. “There’s Martin Lewis ...”

“Martin?” the d.j. repeats, stressing the name subtly to put emphasis on Kurt’s concerns.

He doesn’t need to. Kurt’s heart has already stopped.

“Yeah," Sebastian says, his voice going softer. "Roses would definitely brighten up his office.”

“And why does Martin deserve roses?”

“Not that it's any of your business, but he’s been busting his ass helping me put together a huge proposal. Plus, his wife's in the hospital. He could bring them over to her."

"O-oh ..." The d.j. slips. That's probably the last thing he expected to hear.

"Or you know what?” Sebastian's voice drops a register, a hint of wickedness lacing between. “I could send them to this guy I absolutely worship."

"Oh really?" The d.j. recovers, seeing things start to turn around. The hosts definitely root for a happy ending, but it's no surprise that angst makes their ratings soar.

The cringe-factor of someone confessing unaware to their infidelities. 

Their listeners eat that up.

"Yup. The most amazing, sexiest man on the face of the planet. The man with the biggest heart of any human being I have ever met. The man I call the Energizer Bunny because he can go all. night. long. The man I hope to spend the rest of my life with.” 

Kurt hiccups. His heart, a useless lump in his chest, lodges in his throat. 

“And who would that---?” But before the d.j. can interject with their usual spiel, Sebastian continues. 

“But I think he’s worth more than a bouquet I got for free from some lame-ass radio talk show. What do you think, Kurt?”

The line goes dead.

Kurt has been listening to this radio program religiously for close to seven years, and to his knowledge, this has never happened before - a caller called out by their s.o. But the d.j. is on it because he immediately plays an old school ‘wah-wah’ noise to show that Kurt has been caught.

“H-how did you know?” Kurt asks.

“Because I know you, Kurt,” Sebastian says. “I know the kinds of things you do when you panic, and you mostly panic when you feel like people you love are going to leave you.”

“Yeah?” Kurt sniffs, a tear rolling down his cheek. Adding to his list of things he hates, he hates that Sebastian knows him so well. “And what do I do?”

“You kind of go off the deep end.” Sebastian chuckles, lighthearted and anxious, reminiscent of the night he asked Kurt to be his for the first time. “And I understand why. I’m sorry I’ve been distant lately. And I’m sorry about the late hours. I’ve just been caught up at work. I swear that’s all. But Kurt … can we talk about this when I get home? So I can look at you, in your eyes, and tell you that there’s no way in heaven or earth I would ever cheat on you? It took me a long time to win you over. There’s nothing that could persuade me to give you up, not for anyone.”

More sound effects - an awww followed by applause - play in the background as the d.j. and his co-host attempt to maintain control of the show.

“So … you don’t hate me?” Kurt asks.

“For which offense? Doubting me, my loyalty, and my love for you? Or airing our dirty laundry on the radio?”

“Uh …” Kurt awkwardly clears his throat. “All of the above?”

Sebastian sighs again. He sounds exhausted, but also like he can’t wait to get home and give Kurt a good ribbing. “Yes, babe. I forgive you.”

“Thanks. And I’m sorry about all this.”

“Apology accepted. I mean, what’re a few tawdry secrets among friends? Strangers? The barista down at Starbucks? My clients?”

“When should I expect you home?” Kurt rushes to cut him off, feeling more like a heel than he had before. “I know you have another big meeting and …”

“I’ll be home in about an hour. Wait … make that an hour and ten. I’m going to stop by a real flower shop and get you some roses. I think you’re overdue.”

“Really?” Kurt says, so astounded, so touched, he doesn’t hear the cheesy music the d.j. has started playing in the background.

“Yes, really. And Kurt?”

“Yes?”

“Be naked when I get there,” Sebastian growls.

The music stops, skidding to a halt with the sound of a record scratching. “Guys … uh … you’re still on the air.”

“Sorry not sorry there, champ,” Sebastian says and hangs up the call.

So does Kurt, shoving his phone in the freezer before the station tries to call back for a recap.

[seiya234]

thunder only happens when it’s raining

 for @feferipeixes, even if they’re a big jerk who calls me out on my tropes.

Prompt: “Dipper, pre-2012, has intermittent visions of the far, far future. He doesn't understand them and he's scared.”

To be honest, by the time the twins were two, Anna slept through any noises that she heard from their baby monitors.

Not that she thought that they really needed them any more but it had taken them such a long time to get the kids on a decent sleep schedule, and they were still having to give a bottle to Mabel to get her to sleep and shit her teeth were going to come out all fucked up and it made Mark feel better and...

Well. Anyway. Being the mother of twins meant as a defense mechanism Anna Pines had trained herself to sleep through any weird bed noises she heard the kids doing at this point in order that she could get some sleep. 

The bloodcurdling scream that came from Dipper’s monitor at two am however? That not only had her awake, but tripping over the blanket in her hurry to get out of bed and into his room, her heart thumping painfully in her chest because what was wrong with him, what was wrong with him?

(this wasn’t I woke up and I don’t like it. this wasn’t even I had a nightmare. this was adult fear. Anna couldn’t tell you how she knew that until it was far too late.)

She ran into his room and turned on the light, not even caring about keeping the light low to help ease him back to sleep, she needed to see him, she needed to make sure he was okay.

Outwardly, he was fine, though he all but leapt out of the crib in his attempt to get at her, soft baby fat cheeks glistening with tears. She picked him up, and he nuzzled into her chest. Anna laid her face on Dipper in turn, smelling the sweat of the playground in his hair, the spit on his pajama collar, the playdoh under his nails...everything that made him him.

“Baby, did you have a bad dream?”

“Reh!”

Anna’s brow furrowed. “Are you saying... red?”

“Reh! Reh! Red! Reh!”

That was definitely what Dipper was saying. But what could he have dreamt of that was red that scared him so? A fire truck? Strawberries? Blood?

Wait. Blood? No. No that was ridiculous. He had barely ever seen blood, how would Dipper know what that was?

Anna sighed as she sat down in the rocker with her still crying son. “I told your daddy that Clifford the Big Red Dog was going to scare you. It’s okay. Momma’s got you now.” 

(if Dipper was twelve instead of two, he could have told his mother that he had a dream where he was covered in blood. swimming in blood. drinking blood. drinking and laughing and crying blood and everything, everything was fucking blood. 

But Dipper was two and all he knew was he didn’t know what he just dreamt about, just that he didn’t like it.)

----

"Fuck, kid, you look like Ford at this age.” 

Dipper looked up from the blocks that he was stacking impossibly tall. “Bad word,” he said primly.

The woman in the long purple dress started and looked at him. She looked different than anyone Dipper knew in his life. She had big chunky gold earrings and smelt weird and had a short stick in her hand that gave off smoke like one of the candles Daddy would occasionally light. 

“Kid, you shouldn’t be able to see me.”

“Why not?” Dipper knew that dreams were a time where he could do whatever he wanted.

(”ah, lucid dreaming my boy! a valuable skill,” a grand uncle told him years later, before the world ended)

“Because you don’t have the right eyes,” she said. “Look, I’m going to go and figure this out, you be a good boy now you hear?”

----

“WELL WELL WELL WELL WELL IF IT ISN’T PINE TREE.”

“You’re a triangle,” Dipper pointed out, slightly disgruntled. He had been having a very good dream, one where he was allowed to eat a second and third slice of cake, and he wanted very much to return back to that.

“WHAT’S THE MATTER? CAT GOT YOUR TONGUE?”

Dipper knew without knowing how that as soon as the weird triangle snapped his fingers something bad and owwy would happen to his mouth. Dipper did not want that to happen. So he looked at the mountain in the distance and pulled stepped back before the triangle got near him. 

The triangle snapped. Then he snapped again. Then his eye got angry looking when Dipper just started eating cake while watching him. 

“SO! YOU THINK YOU’RE CLEVER DON’T YOU?”

Dipper didn’t answer. He wanted to take advantage of eating as much red cake as he could before he had to wake up.

“WELL, I GOT PLANS FOR YOU DIPPER PINES! B͟I͙G̱̖̭̞̩̗̙ ̴͚̹̘͚̝̥P̩̝̞LA̕Ņ͍͇̤̮̘͔̳S͈̜. A STORM IS CO-”

“Are you going to keep shouting or do you want some cake?”

The triangle stopped talking for a second, twirling his cane in thought, and then said, “SURE. I’LL HAVE SOME CAKE. EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BURN SOON ANYWAY.”

“You make no sense.”

“I MAKE PLENTY OF SENSE! YOU JUST DON’T KNOW IT YET!”

----

At the end of every month Dipper and Mabel’s teacher would pack up all the drawings they did in their pre-k class and send it home with them.

Mark was of mixed feelings about this. On one hand he enjoyed his children’s drawings and seeing what was going on in their heads. On the other hand, they insisted on having all of their drawings either pinned on all the walls or saved.

(anna threw a few away once, mabel found them in the trash, and there was no living with the twins for a week after.)

And then there was the subject matter....

For Mabel, everything was on fire. Everything. Every thing. She drew an apple tree... but on fire. She drew their visit to their grandparents... on fire. Their kitchen... on fire. Mabel and Dipper playing... with a fire in the background.

The teacher assured them that was normal, a lecture on fire safety having stuck in Mabel’s mind....

He couldn’t explain Dipper’s drawings to Mark however.

There was blood (it was very definitively not just coloring with only the red crayon.) There were rudimentary organs (and how did Dipper know what the liver looked like? Mark asked and Dipper was uncomfortable and then started to cry and Mark felt like a dick.) There were knives and candles and shapes that made Mark’s head hurt.

Mark knew what the problem was.

He resolved to ask his Dad to stop letting the kids watch Unsolved Mysteries.

(but he knew deep inside that that wasn’t really the reason why.)

----

“Dipper there’s a lady here.”

Dipper looked up to see the lady in the purple dress again.

“Hello,” he said politely, before going back to building a sand castle with his sister.

“That’s... that’s really your sister.”

“Mmm-hmmm,” Mabel murmured, filling a bucket with wet sand. 

“Huh.” The lady tapped out her weird smoking thing, and brought it to her lips before speaking again. “I should have guessed there would be some bleed over. Any way kid- look, what’s your name?”

“He’s Dipper and I’m MABEL!” Mabel said, pulling Dipper around the neck for a big hug. 

“Huh. And you two are-” her eyes unfocused for a second- “Shermie’s kid’s kids.”

“You know Grandma?!”

Dipper didn’t know until now that a smile could be sad. “Yeah, I sure do. Look, I came here to say that I figured out your-” she pointed at Dipper, “deal.”

Dipper didn’t say anything, because he didn’t understand and he knew Mabel would do it for him.

“What do you mean?”

“Yeah, so, your shit’s fucked darling. Totally ass over teakettle bad. Sorry lovey but, that’s just how it’s going to be. That’s how you can even see me.”

None of this made any sense to Dipper, though he saw Mabel mouthing along to what the lady in purple was saying and saving the Bad words for later. 

There was a moment of silence and then Mabel asked “So.. Things bad?”

“Yes.”

“Why you tell us then?” 

The lady in purple looked at them for a solid minute without saying anything. The stick in her mouth dropped on the ground and she ground her foot over it. 

“I...Fuck, I’m sorry kids. Look, do you want a candy cigarette?” She proffered two sticks to them and they took them.

(yes she was a stranger. But this was Dipper’s dream and they would always be safe in here, and also...Dipper had the feeling she was and wasn’t a stranger. Not really.)

The weird lady ran her fingers through her hair. 

“Look kids... Christ, I was never good with talking to kids. Barely managed talking to my own, and look how-”

She saw their blank looks, and said “Never you mind that. I guess just... look, not gonna lie Mason-”

“Dipper.”

“-Dipper, things look really, really rough for you going ahead. But-” And now she kneeled down until she was eye level with him, and her hands were on his shoulders, and her nails were digging into his skin and it was uncomfortable but he didn’t let it bother him because he knew, somehow, that this was Important.

“The bad? And trust me, there’s a whole lot of that, but....It’s outweighed by the good, I promise.”

She turned to look at Mabel, who was currently eating sand because she could get away with that in dreamland. 

“She’s a lot of your good. But remember to not only rely on her for your good. That’s not fair to her. And that’s not fair to you. Promise... Can you promise me to remember that?”

“I promise.”

The woman in purple looked into his eyes, then grimaced. “No. No. No, you’re going to forget that, you won’t remember, you won’t listen-”

Her hands began to hurt.

“I’m- I’m sorry-”

She paused. Her hands released from his shoulders, and instead she grabbed him into a hug.

“Bubbeleh. My love. You never, never have to apologize to me, okay? There’s.... there’s so much that will happen to you but here and now, don’t apologize, okay? It will be okay, okay?”

She was crying and Dipper didn’t understand, and he looked at Mabel and he could tell that she didn’t understand either so all he said was, “Okay,” and let the weird lady who was weird yet kind of like Grandma Shermie hug and cry on him.

---

By the time Dipper was in kindergarten, the dreams had ended.

That was probably for the best. 

[according-to-the-laura]

StackedNatural Day 42: 3x05, 14x04

StackedNatural Masterpost: [x]

November 1, 2021

3x05: Bedtime Stories

Written by: Cathryn Humphris

Directed by: Mike Rohl

Original air date: November 1, 2007

Plot Synopsis:

A young girl trapped in a coma by her wicked stepmother sets off a series of murders based on the fairy tales her father reads to her. Meanwhile, Sam tries to get Dean out of his deal.

Features:

Fairy tale deaths, Hansel and Gretel, Snow White and the evil stepmother, Little Red Riding Hood, Sam confronts a crossroads demon.

My Thoughts:

This episode is mostly just fine, a monster of the week with an interesting solution, but the brothers dynamic is great in the first and last few scenes.

I don’t love the fatphobia from the three little pigs scenes, and also the secondhand embarrassment I get from Sam’s “sketch” is so bad that it makes me want to die. It’s hilarious that Dean thinks that knowing anything about fairy tales is gay. He overcompensates so bad in these early seasons.

When Sam tells Dean, “you’re not dad”, and it obviously hit Dean so hard. I really think that so much of the messiness in their relationship over the seasons is that Sam sees Dean as his brother and Dean sees Sam as his son. The cognitive dissonance every time he gets reminded that he isn’t messes him up. And then he relates to the helpless little girl lashing out at people because she’s scared.

The seeds of Drowley being planted soo early on. Crowley is the King of the Crossroads and “he wants Dean’s soul, bad”.

Notable Lines:

“All right, maybe it is fairy tales. Totally messed-up fairy tales. I tell you one thing, there's no way I'm kissing a damn frog.”

“Aren’t you tired

“Aren't you tired of cleaning up Dean's messes? Of dealing with that broken psyche of his? Aren't you tired of being bossed around like a snot-nosed little brother? You're stronger than Dean. You're better than him. [...] You're here, going through the motions. But truth is … you'll be a tiny bit relieved when he's gone. [...] No more desperate, sloppy, needy Dean. You can finally ... be free.”

Laura’s (completely subjective) Episode Rating: 8.0

IMdB Rating: 8.4

14x04: Mint Condition

Written by: Davy Perez

Directed by: Amyn Kaderali

Original air date: November 1, 2018

Plot Synopsis:

Dean continues to struggle, and then Sam has to think when action figures come to life and Dean finds himself inside a real life horror movie.

Features:

Loud nerds, killer action figures, haunted chainsaws,

My Thoughts:

I’ve never seen this episode before, it was so sweet! When it panned up Dean eating pizza in bed watching movies in his little socks I said out loud, “aaah Dean baby I love you”, and that’s how most of the rest of the episode went. Peak Nerd-Dean supremacy. Look at his short-sleeve button up! Look at his checkered jacket and chunky glasses! I am doing the 🥺 emoji in real life.

I understand some of the desticule’s halloween urls just in time for it to not matter, which is fun.

I love Dean bonding with the sweet little nerd and Sam bonding with the cool girl. This should happen every episode. Dean gets to nod understandingly when the nerd doesn’t get along with his dad, and Sam gets to blow shit up and say he had a messed up childhood. Good episode for John Winchester haters such as myself.

It is so funny when the ghostfacers effect is written into the script. They were allowed to say bitch in season one but now Sam is going to trail off suggestively.

Insane and also extremely in character that Sam said “hey, you matter to me and I want you to be okay emotionally” and Dean said “well I can’t do that but I’ll go back to being useful, that’s basically the same thing, right?”. Dean, you need to go to therapy.

Notable Lines:

“Well, since when is okay part of this job, huh?”

“Ah well, growing up it was a… it was always nice to check out once in a while. I like to watch movies where I know the bad guy is going to lose.”

“I had a messed up childhood.”

Laura’s (completely subjective) Episode Rating: 8.8

IMdB Rating: 8.8

In Conclusion: It’s criminal that they didn’t do a season 15 Halloween special :(

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[whimsy-flags]

genuine question. what the heck happens with FNAF after 4? what order are we supposed to play the games in/read the spinoffs for after that? is there anyone who makes lore summaries for the series that isn't Mattison Pattison?

You came to the right man. Explanation below

Order

G: 1, 2, 3, 4

B: The Silver Eyes, The Twisted Ones

G: Sister Location, Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria Sim, Ultimate Custom Night, HELP WANTED, then the AR one I haven’t played or seen yet.

Alright, so. Scott Cawthon has said before that the first 4 games are kinda meant to be their own story, with the other tie in stuff coming in as another whole thing. The first books, The Silver Eyes and Twisted Ones and the other one, are like... a canon AU, with the first 2 books sticking very closely to the first 4 games. Same general events, just... shifted around a bit. Some of the stuff in it shows up in later games and here’s the parts that matter

1.) The Killer, the Purple Guy, has a name now. His name is William Afton. He’s a mess and I love him. Used to be a kinda jolly chunky guy who co-owned Freddy’s, killed kids, almost got found out but got away with it, comes back into town years later with a fake identity looking all skin and bones to... be a security guard at a mall, and I guess go into Freddy’s every few nights to just taunt the animatronics? He does a funny bunny dance. Also he’s obsessed with his co-owner, and wrote rambling diaries about him. Also he killed that co-owner’s daughter but shhhhhhhhhhhhhh

2. That Co-Owner, Henry. He’s... sad. His daughter is dead and he’s sad. Book Henry does some real weird stuff about it in book land, but, that doesn’t matter. Just know, Henry is Really Sad, doesn’t like that Will killed his daughter and also 5 other kids, and is not feeling the best right now.

3. Henry’s daughter, Charlotte, or Charlie! I... like her book version. But I’m not even touching that stuff and how she’s a character while being killed when she was, like, 3. Game canon, she’s dead puppet kid, that’s all that matters.

4. The Nightmares from 4 were just weird, kinda-hallucinations. If the kid had shot them with Gun it’d have been fine. The twisted ones are just alternate nightmare animatronics and they follow the Gun Rule so I assume that applies too.

5. If you know anything about Book Michael, ANYTHING at ALL, just forget it. There’s too many Michael’s and Mikes in this series, we don’t need the dead 7 year old getting mixed up in there.

So, that’s the two books that matter, and the one that doesn’t, boiled down to their essentials. Onto the games.

Sister location is next. It’s a stunning game, if you at all feel like you’d enjoy watching it, do it! But, the PLOT!

William Afton killed a kid Remotely with Robot, but accidentally killed his daughter Elizabeth! Oops! Years later, his son, Michael Afton, goes down to the storage area that the robots that his dead kid sister is possessing are being housed and tries to put her spirit back together... somehow, I think. 

Anyways, Lizzy is smart, and puts herself back together by mashing all the animatronics together into a spaghetti thing called Ennard, but doesn’t have the best eyesight as an animatronic. 

So, she mistakes Michael, her brother, for her Murder Dad, and scoops out his internal organs, crawls inside his boy, and walks out of the facility wearing her brother’s corpse like a skin suit. So, Ennard’s existence is an “innard” pun.

At some point, corpse rots, Lizzy and Animatronic Co vomit themselves out of his body and into a sewer to become a Sewer Spaghetti Animatronic. Michael picks up his Boneless Body and walks home, Somehow Still Present In His Rotting Corpse, and gets so mad at his dad over it that he spends 5 nights at each Freddy’s trying to hunt his dad down and chew him a new one for Everything He’s Done.

Elizabeth gets kicked out of Body Spaghetti, builds herself a better Baby animatronic, and also becomes a punk rock goth teen. Michael, meanwhile, finds his dad at Fazbear’s Fright from 3 and torches the place to kill him, but that sadly doesn’t work. Michael doesn’t know that though, so thinking he should get a nice, relaxing reward for a job well done, invests all his Corpse Money into staring a Freddy’s franchise of his own.

Enter, Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria Sim. Also idk if I mentioned it yet but this series takes place in Utah (at least according to book land), but the Aftons are all very posh british accent wise, and you need to know that.

So, LONG STORY SHORT. Henry, that co-owner from the original Freddy’s in the books that never showed up in a game before? He’s here now. Basically, Henry put up ads for making a new Freddy’s, knowing Michael would be the only person reckless/dumb/brave/indifferent enough to sign up, and simulated a fake pizzeria filled with fake children, to attract all the remaining animatronics (who want to really murder those fake kids) to it, so Henry Could Finally Finish This, for once and for all.

As Michael designs his dream pizzeria from his little office in the vents, Baby, Spaghetti Ennard that is now 100% Funtime Freddy (aka best freddy) Controlled, Springtrap (now Feral and called Scraptrap), and this Cool New Guy Called Lefty show up to much on those kids! Lefty is... well, it’s Henry forcing the puppet, his daughter, into a Beartrap. A Bear Suit trap. So, animatronic-inception.

Once they all get there, if you learn all the secrets from the creepy attractions, Henry decides to call the series quits, and sets literally everyone, you included, on fire. Also himself, he was in the vents too. He tells Will to go to hell, then lets you all peace out in the flames together, like One Big Happy Afton Family + the man your dad was obsessed with for years and his kid + a screaming bear

And then Ultimate Custom Night. it’s just William Afton in hell. He’s not like, alive or anything. No. He’s just dead, in hell, and suffering.  There’s not that much plot tbh. It’s just hell. It’s a nice hell.

The Vr game, Help wanted, is... i really don’t know what the whole plot consensus is on this one yet? You Play Game, but Uh Oh, William Afton cursed a floppy disk and now he’s in game in fursona ai form trying to take over your mind so he can do more murder. He succeeds with one lady called Vanny, and like, idk much from there. I like the art of him acting as like, a sleepover-delirious best friend to Vanny though. Also Vanny is also a furry. Her fursona is white rabbit. 

I have to stop it there because i can and will ramble about this for forever. If you want I can ramble for longer if need be. Let me know if the need is be. 

[lilaclovestowrite]

Arcade Chaos (Katsuki x Cheerful!Reader)

“ Bakugo oneshot with cheerful!reader at arcade plz? ”

Type: Request from Quotev

Words: 2556

Fandom: My Hero Academia

Pairing: Katsuki x Reader

Genre: Hint of fluff, lots of Katsuki rage lol, and mainly humor

Summary: Somehow, you’re able to drag your crush, Katsuki Bakugou, to an arcade for the day. Of course, this creates chaos, since the Bakusquad happens to be there as well. But maybe, after all the chaos, you’ll finally be able to confess your true feelings to him!

Warnings:

None

💥💥💥

 “Why the heck are we in this lame place!?” questioned an irritated Katsuki.

“Cuz arcades are fun!” I answered, leading him in by the hand. He was very resistant—but he was no match for my nonexistent strength.

 “Fun? This place is for nerds who live in their mom’s basement. Just like stupid—”

 “Deku, yeah, yeah,” I finished for him with a blasé attitude. “I’ve heard it all before. Why don’t you just focus on something else besides Midoriya?”

 “Pfft, like what?”

 “Uh, something that actually matters. Video games, obviously.”

 “I’m leaving.” Just as he tried to escape, I pulled him back.

 “Get yer hands off me!” He flicked his wrist away from me, and huffed as he scanned the arcade’s interior.

“Come on, please stay with me for just an hour? PLEEEEEAAAASSSEEEEEE~!?” I forcefully smiled, holding my hands together in a purposely pathetic pose.

 “Well, you already kidnapped me so—whatever. And what’s the difference between these games and the ones on my phone? Only geeks play these chunky, 8-bit fossils.”

 “Trust me. You’ll see,” I vaguely left as an answer.

After I dragged Katsuki around the building, I asked him if anything caught his eye. “So, do you know what game you wanna play?”

 “’Nuke the Zombies’ didn’t look too trashy, I guess.”

 I blinked once. “Uhh, how about something more child-friendly?”

 “Fine. How about ’Blow up the Bunny’ then?”

 Why did I ever think this was a good idea?

 “Let’s not.”

But what we didn’t know, is that our other friends happened to be here as well! Eijiro, Denki, Hanta, and Mina approached us all at once.

 “Wow! Hey, guys! Nice to see you here,” Eijiro greeted.

 Hanta laughed. “Didn’t really expect to see you two here. . .specifically, together.”

 “The heck you mean by that!?” Katsuki nearly erupted, but I held him back.

 “Oh, y’know—just figured you’d be at home plotting your revenge for Midoriya or something.”

His response only earned him a snarl from Katsuki. But Mina, on the other hand, decided to push all of Katsuki’s buttons without thinking.

 “Maybe they’re on a date!!” she gasped. “WAIT, ARE YOU—”

“SHUT YOUR MOUTH!! This isn’t a heckin’ date!” Katsuki debunked. “She bugged me nonstop about coming to this trash hole, and finally got on my nerves, so I came.”

 By the smug look on my friend’s faces—they were obviously not buying it. Truthfully, I wouldn’t have minded it if were a date. Considering I’ve always had a thing for Katsuki. People may have thought I was crazy for liking someone so spastic with anger management issues—but there was more to him than just his atrocious personality. He had a lot of admirable qualities like uh, well, I’ll think of some later.

 “Alright then~” Mina giggled.

 “Guys, when can we play some games?” asked Denki.

“Right now!” Eijiro made an immediate beeline for Whac-A-Mole. “Bakugou, you gotta try out this game! I used to play it when I was younger, and it’s so much fun.”

 “The heck is it?”

 Katsuki stormed over and studied the attributes of the vintage game, while Eijiro explained the rules of it to him.

 “And when the mole thing rises up, you just hit it with this mallet!”

 “Pfft, sounds like a baby game. Pass.”

 “Aw, c’mon!” I joined in, trying to convince him to try it out.

 Hanta agreed, “Yeah! Don’t be such a wet blanket, man.”

After all our nagging, he eventually gave in and reluctantly picked up the game mallet. “Gross, a thousand brats probably got their diseased germs all over this thing.”

 “They’re not as diseased as your attitude, that’s for sure—”

 “COME AGAIN, KNOCK-OFF PIKACHU!?!”

 “Hey, hey,” Eijiro tried calming. “Just try one round at least!”

 “Ugh, fine.”

Once the game started, the plastic moles slowly rose up from their holes, and each one was hammered by Katsuki. He displayed his obvious boredom through stance and expression.

 “This game is about as fun as watching paint dry.”

 “Oh, it gets harder,” I snickered.

 “This is about as hard as using Deku as a football.”

But he was soon showed otherwise—as the game’s difficulty increased. The moles now only stayed up for half a second now, and even Katsuki was having a hard time keeping up.

 “C’mon, dude! Whack them!” Eijiro cheered.

“THIS STUPID MALLET ISN’T WORKING!!!” he screeched, causing the rest of the people around us to stare. It was a bit embarrassing. But that’s my penalty for going out in public with Katsuki. “DIE, RATS, DIEEEEEE!!!!” So, he dropped the mallet, and just started exploding the moles with his hands.

 And of course, the result was he melted the arcade machine. All the moles were now nothing but liquefied plastic, which was totally uncalled for compared to the games standards.

 I walked back to my friend’s table with Katsuki by my side.

“Alright, I just called Katsuki’s therapist and he was able to, er—scream out his issues. So, I think we’re good!” I informed with a thumbs up.

 “My therapist can bite rocks.”

 I let out a sigh of disappointment at his rude response.

 “Hey, (Y/N)! Did you see any games that caught your eye?” Hanta wondered.

 I answered with, “Hmm. . .well, I did wanna play Whac-A-Mole. But now it’s melted into the flooring, so. . .”

“It wasn’t even fun,” Katsuki downplayed. “I have more fun beating Deku. Wait—they should make a game called Whac-A-Deku. Now, I’d play that.”

 We only stared at our friend, mildly disturbed.

 Hanta said, “Pac-Man it is, then.”

 After playing a few more games, we headed to the eating area. We ordered some pizza and soda, so we just chatted as we ate.

 “You guys, what do you think is better? Pac-Man or Ms. Pac-Man?” asked Mina.

 “They’re the same thing, Raccoon Eyes.”

 “NO, PAC-MAN IS A MAN, AND MS. PAC-MAN IS A WOMAN.”

 I awkwardly nibbled on my pizza, watching the conversation between them take a nosedive for the worst.

 “Guys, is butter a carb?” Katsuki asked us.

 Denki replied, “I don’t know—I don’t watch Gordon Ramsey.”

“Whatever, I’m getting cheese fries.” He launched his pizza in the trash can (which he carelessly missed), and headed back to the ordering station.

 Just as Katsuki got out of earshot, Mina immediately began interrogating me.

 “So. . .ya sure you two weren’t on a date~?”

 I went red with total shock and embarrassment. “What? No way! He doesn’t like me like that.”

 Hanta chuckled. “He liked you enough for you to literally drag him here. That’s like, a deathwish for most people.”

 I knew he had a point.

 Eijiro said, “Plus, he needs a girlfriend. He needs someone to keep him fairly sane.”

All their talking had me blushing. Yes, I liked Katsuki a lot—but I never thought it’d go any further than that. However, you never know about these kind of things.

 “So. . .should I ask him out or something?” I hesitantly questioned.

 “Go ahead! I mean, there’s not a line of girls trying to date him, that’s for sure.”

 I took it into consideration. Maybe today, I should try to make a move. I mean, YOLO, amirite?

 “Alright, I’ll try next time I see him,” I gulped.

 They all smiled uncontrollably, but instinctively stopped once Katsuki returned to the table.

 “Why’re you idiots all staring at me like a bunch of idiots?”

“Oh, uh—well. . .” I mentally prepared myself for rejection. I knew all my friends were bursting at the seams, waiting for me to confess my feelings to Katsuki. But it was just so awkward. So, I chickened out. “I uh, wanted to know if you were gonna share your cheese fries with me.”

 “What does share mean?”

 I could hear Eijiro facepalm. So, I ended the awkwardness with, “Nothing! Just eat your fries—”

 Later, we all continued searching for what else to play.

 So, I cleared my throat to get everyone’s attention. “Ahem. How about we do something that’s multiplayer?”

 “You mean like a competition?” Katsuki wondered, a psychotic smile forming on his face once the idea of winning first place entered his mind. Now, we were all scared.

“Uh, you’re smiling like a psycho again—I MEAN, uh, yeah! We just need to find a game that allows two players. . .and one that isn’t taken.” As I examined the room and every one of its consoles, I found one that caught my eye.

 Dance Dance Revolution (DDR).

 “Hmm, I know! That one!” I excitedly pointed to the one I was referring to.

 “OMG, that one is so cool! I used to play it when I was younger!” Mina beamed.

“Oh, great. Dancing? I thought you’d pick something that would actually hold my interest. Like no-scoping zombies or something.”

 I crossed my arms and said the thing I knew would make him do what I wanted. “What? You think you can’t beat me? Think I’m gonna win instead~?”

 “Pfft, in your dreams. I’d beat you at any game at any time of the week. You’re a lame gamer.”

 “You think so, eh? Well, let’s just find out!” I skipped over to the DDR machine and patiently waited for the two children to finish up their round. However, patience wasn’t an idea Katsuki could process in his arrogant brain.

 “Hit the road, punks! I’ve got a game to win!” He shoved the two kids off, and cleared the platforms for both of us. I tried mouthing an apology to the two schoolboys, but they had already escaped to find their parents.

 Katsuki extended his arms and stretched out his fingers. Eijiro and Hanta approached me, asking if I was sure this was a good idea. I knew Katsuki was unhealthily obsessed with winning, but that only made it more fun being his opponent, at least in my opinion! (Plus, seeing him fail was ten-times funnier).

 “Go easy on her, dude,” Denki tried helping out.

“No way, Calamari. I’m not a braindead loser like you.” Finishing up his mini exercise, he stepped onto the dance platform. “What’re you waiting for, girly?” Katsuki snarked at me with a confident smirk.

 I stepped on mine as well, and scrolled through the list of songs to perform. “We could start with easy mode,” I offered.

 “No way. Go for the hardest mode you can find.”

 Someone was going to break their legs, and it wasn’t going to be Midoriya this time around.

 “Oh. . .well, uh—alright!” I landed my finger on this Vocaloid song called The Disappearance of Hatsune Miku, which was apparently the most challenging one on this menu. “Alright, there’s the modes: Beginner, Intermediate, Pro, Master, and uh, Death.”

 “Choose Death then.”

 With a cloud of anxiousness looming over my figure, I pressed that option. I didn’t know what to expect—but I was scared.

 “How bad can it be?” chuckled Eijiro.

 Oh, but it was pain. It was the most torture I’ve ever experienced in my entire life.

When the gameplay started, it wasn’t too hard in the intro of the song. But when the fast part came, it was like we were dancing to save our lives. People in the building came to spectate us and our anguish—but our friends cheered us on the entire time.

 “REEEEEEEEE, END MEEEEEEEEEE!!!” Katsuki screeched as he barely managed to touch the flashing tiles on his platform.

I felt as if I was jumping across a room full of nails sticking straight up. I could barely keep up with the beat of the song, and I was already exhausted. But we weren’t even halfway into it.

 “BEATING ALL FOR ONE IS EASIER THAN THIS TORTURE MACHINE!” roared Katsuki.

 “You’re almost to the beat break!” Hanta reassured.

Finally, the first verse of the song ended. So, our legs could take a break for a few seconds. Katsuki and I were desperately trying to regain oxygen, since it was such a rush. When we looked at our current scores—I saw that I was luckily five points higher than Katsuki.

 “WHAT THE HECK!? HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE!?” he raged.

 “HA.”

 Everyone cheered for me at the moment, but Katsuki wasn’t having it. He was more than determined to beat me now.

When the gameplay resumed, we continued to push ourselves to dance on the correct tiles. Our scores were nearing closer together, and it was only a matter of time before one of us passed each other for good and won.

 “ALMOST THERE,” Katsuki spoke to himself, as he glimpsed at his own score.

But just the moment before it was all over, Denki accidentally activated his Quirk due to the hype building up in his system—and it shot out at the DDR machine, causing it to short-circuit and die.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!” Katsuki bellowed out, as he fell on his knees and placed his hands on the now black screen. “I’M GONNA KILL YOU, STUPID PIKACHU!!!”

 However, it was pointless because Denki already fried his brain and went dumb. “Wheyyyy~”

Eijiro couldn’t help but laugh hysterically, along with Hanta and Mina. It only made Katsuki’s blood boil—and frankly, I couldn’t help but giggle too.

 “I’VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS PAIN.” Katsuki stood up and stalked out of the arcade. Of course, I followed him.

 “Katsuki! Don’t be upset. It’s only a game.”

 “I WAS SO CLOSE TO WINNING!” he fumed. “I COULD HAVE BROKEN THE STUPID RECORD—”

“Shh, just relax! They’ll probably fix it, and we can always come back later.” I placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, which he surprisingly didn’t flick off.

 “Hmph. I’m never playing that demon game ever again.”

 I laughed softly. “Well, there’s plenty of other games. But other than the fact Denki shut off the game—did you have fun?”

 He turned his head to me, and for I moment, I swear I saw his eyes soften by a fraction. “Maybe a little—but not that much.”

 I’ll take that as a yes, coming from him.

But now that we were together with no other distractions, I decided to take a risk and slide my hand into his. He widened his eyes—since affection was probably a concept far removed from his unfriendly mentality.

 I looked down at the floor and smiled, saying, “I was thinking, Katsuki. Would you uh, would you consider being my Player Two?”

 I didn’t even care how cheesy I was being at this point.

 “The heck does that mean?”

 Our friends screamed from a distance, “SHE’S ASKING YOU OUT, GENIUS!”

Katsuki stiffened up, since he was struggling to find a riposte to throw back in my face. But it was relentless. Instead, he let out a sigh and told me, “That’s the sappiest and most idiotic thing I’ve ever heard—but sure. You’re not as annoying as the others.”

 I strained my cheeks from smiling so much, and I threw my arms gleefully around Katsuki. The others were probably afraid he’d blow up or something, but thankfully, he didn’t. Instead, he returned the favor by awkwardly rubbing my head.

 “They’re so cute together~” sighed Mina.

 “Yeah, Bakugou better not screw it up,” Eijiro added with a smile.

 “It’s Bakugou, he screws everything up.”

 “True.”

 Maybe coming to this place was a good idea after all~

[smellsliketeensspiritt]

If You Want

A Ricky X Gina Childhood friends fic.

AO3 link

Hi, Hello. There is definitely not enough Rina fics in this world, so I figured I’d wrire all the Rina shippers out there one! 

Thoughts are appreciated.

It’s a long one soo get ready beefy boys.

November, 2010

She's wrapped in warm layers, a chunky cardigan over her dress, and a scarf wrapped all the way to her ears. Her hair is just above her shoulders, every curl in its right place. Her and her mother had spent all morning fussing at one another over the whole thing.

"Now honeybee", her mother would singsong, flashing her teeth, in the way she liked to do. Her hands were placed snug on Gina's shoulders, a firm grip, holding her in place, controlling her.

"We've been over this before. First day at a new school is important for first impressions. We wouldn't want you looking like a mess, sweetheart. Now would we?". She smiles again and gets back to work, redoing the pieces that Gina had messed up during her "tantrum" though really she had only asked for it to be put in a bun.

Gina always preferred it to be out of her face, she liked being active and getting her hands in the dirt, something her mother detested so naturally she liked it even more. Being seven wasn't about first impressions, or making a right one. It was about having freedom, getting dirty and not caring what people thought of you, cause you didn't even care yourself. And her hair was just another way for her mother to control her even when she wasn't around, another mark of her approval.

Gina doesn't protest, she's seven and it's all about pleasing and following at this age. A yes mommy deary and she could get off almost unscathed.

She unravels her scarf and stuffs it in her backpack. It's sparkled pink and Hello Kitty, her daddy took her right before they moved. "anything for you, sweetheart." , He said tucking a loose curl behind her ear. Gina's only seven but she's smart enough to know when they're about to go on another fun adventure. Her parents yelling and the sound of a bottle smashing the night before was also another indication too, one her parents liked to deny, but was proven nonetheless anyway.

That night she walked out of the store with a shiny new backpack, and the next morning they were packed and ready to leave. On to the next.

It's right after lunch and time for recess, making friends hadn't gone too well so she resided herself to the bench, the one that sat right next to the swing sets, just in case a seat were to open up. Except, one hadn't, and she had been patiently waiting for over eight minutes, and recess only lasted for fifteen. The only thing she had been looking forward to all day was getting onto that darn swing, letting the wind fly through her perfect curls, freedom at its finest.

Gina wouldn't have been so fired up if it weren't for the one boy, swinging in front of her that hadn't given another turn the whole time they had been out there. He had curly hair, like hers, which, she liked., it was wild and ripping through the wind, and the light made it look like it was on fire. What she didn't like was that his mouth was twisted into a smirk, and his eyes had been glued on her the whole time, like he knew what she wanted. Later she would realize it was because they wanted the same thing.

But she's seven, and things aren't as clear, they're black and white, really, and innocence clouds her mind. So instead, she huffs and marches over there, straight defiance in her eyes.

"Get off", Gina demands. Her mouth twisting into a frown. Her arms are crossed, waiting for an answer. The boy turns his attention from the sky to her and eventually uses his feet to slow himself down after a swing or two. Once he gains his barrings and is in a mostly still state, he looks at her and flashes his pearly whites. "I like your sweater" is all he says, and he kicks up his feet to start swinging again. He's one of the older boys, she can tell. The first and second graders had recess at the same time. Which lead to most of recess being the second graders bullying the first.

Sadly, curly haired boy fell into this stereotype. She wasn't one to be pushed around though, Gina had fire behind her eyes and viciousness in her words. So, instead of cowering she takes his legs right as they go up, and yanks him off the swing.

He falls right on his butt.

The gravel makes a crunch as he falls, and cuts into his hands, making him bleed. He does not cry.

The strange thing though is that he actually laughs. And not like a little huff, but full on manic, hysteric laughing,

Gina thinks he's crazy.

Gina was raised right though, so she sticks out her hand and offers to help him up.

The boy's eight years old, and he isn't supposed to like girls yet. At least according to best friend number one (Big Red), they were infectious, monstrous creatures, swarming with icky cooties, dispersed by long hair and shiny lip gloss. Though, as he takes her small warm hand placed between their bodies his stomach fills with butterflies, and she smells like strawberries, which is his favorite fruit, and he thinks that they aren't so bad after all.

He also likes the way her hair curls like his, but is placed so meticulously that it looks perfect. He wants to run his hands through it.

Instead of apologizing, Gina steps behind him and sits on the swing. There's only three minutes left, but she wants to make the most of it. The thing is, though, he's standing right in her way.

"My names Ricky, by the way" He says, he rubs the back of his neck and kicks at the gravel.

Gina rolls her eyes and doesn't say anything in response, but instead walks her way into a standing position, hands gripping the chains of the swing, all signs pointing to her next move. He doesn't budge though, plants his feet and works up a smirk again.

Again, Gina doesn't back down. So she kicks her legs and lets herself fly free, she plants her feet just as she reaches Ricky's face, their noses touch. "Move", Gina states, not bite but she makes her point transparent.

"Tell me your name", he says and smiles in the same way, like he has power over her.

Gina huffs and resigns in resentment. "Gina" she states flatly.

He laughs and moves, and instead of walking away he goes towards the pole of the swings, and sits down. The rest of the time he watches her and waits.

Eventually they hear their teachers call, and everyone starts running towards the school. As she slows herself down and gets off of the seat, he's walking towards her with a sparkled pink Hello Kitty backpack in hand.

He offers it to her with a smile and rubs the back of his neck. She has a feeling it's something he does when he's nervous.

Gina offers him a smile back, and takes it with a thank you to follow.

They walk towards the school together.

Before they make their separate ways, she opens up the emergency pouch of her backpack( Her mother always prepped one on the first day at a new school. 'You never know what could happen honeybee', she would say) and pulls out a bright purple band-aid, "For your hand", she says. Taking it in hers, she covers the cut with it. The blood had clotted up, but it was the sentiment that counted anyways.

"Thanks", he flashes his pearly whites and runs towards his class.

Gina might like him, maybe even thinks Ricky could be her friend. She's never had one of those before. A smile appears, she likes the idea.

The rest of the day Ricky is teased by his classmates for the band-aid, he doesn't take it off though. It smells like strawberries, so it smells like her. He even takes it home and tucks it away in his drawer, which, later his father will tell him is gross but an eight year old boy doesn't care so, whatever.

The next day they find each other on the swings, it becomes a regular thing all year long.

August 2014

They're both laying on Ricky's bed, though Gina's is laying with her head on the bottom, Ricky's feet in her face. Over the past three years this had become the usual, Gina would go over to Ricky's almost everyday after school, it became their little routine. She liked it at his place better anyway, it was bigger and there wasn't parents screaming at each other or the overwhelming stench of booze either. He also had a dog named Spike, who was fluffy and licked Gina every time she saw her. (Yes, it was a girl, but Ricky had named her so it sorta made sense, boys always want something similar to them). Her mother would never let her have a pet, so it was an added bonus. It was mostly him and his dad with the occasional appearance of his mother every other week. She would greet Gina with a "Oh, hi, honey" and turn her attention back to whatever was more important at the time. Gina thinks she never really cared enough to learn her name.

His dad on the other hand, was always there. He was warm and kind, and always called her by GiGi, it stuck after the first week she spent at his house.

"He nicknames his favorite people", Ricky had told her as she left to go home.

The thing was though, is that he was always there. Ricky had told her that his dad had a sadness problem and made him stay home from work, or really anything outside of the house. It reminded Gina of her father, with the exception of alcohol.

The first and only time Ricky had gone over to Gina's was the end of first grade, his parents were going to be out for the night and Gina had invited Ricky over for a sleepover. This was before puberty, so co-gendered sleepovers were "totally fine" according to their parents, the thought never even occurred to the two that it wasn't. The night had started out fine, her father had ordered them pizza (her mother totally hated the carb load) and they spent most of the night playing games in her room. She totally kicked his butt every time.

Inevitably though her dad had tapped into his booze, hard-straight liquor. He always told her he liked it better because it got the job done quicker.

Most of the time it turned him into a useless blob on the couch, and he would sleep till it wore off, then start again. This time though, was one of the rare times it turned him into a raging psychopath who bared his teeth and started a fight with someone who even breathed the wrong way.

It had started when her mother had asked him to get off his chair and move to their bed, he was snoring up a storm and it thundered through the house, they swore it shook the wall hangings everytime he released a breathe. Anyways, well, this just pissed her father off.

"Ill lay where I want. This is my goddamned house Kathleen", he was never one to shout, but there was always this grit and growl to his tone that made it even worse. The screaming was left to her mother.

After a little more back and forth, sound of a bottle or whatever it was, was crashing against the tile in the kitchen. And then her mother's shrill scream could be heard.

Right in the middle of their game of would you rather, Ricky shot straight up from her fuzzy green beanbag and went towards her door. Immediately Gina got up and caught his hand before he could open the door.

"You don't wanna do that", she said pushing it back to his side.

"Why?", his face scrunched up and he quirked his eyebrow in confusion, like it was the most insane thing he had ever heard.

"Because..." Gina sighed and trailed off. She can hear the break in her voice, and she knows what's coming.

She bites the inside of her cheek as hard as she can, and shuts her eyes. This usually worked when she felt tears come. Her mother always said, "Big girls don't cry, now do they honeybee", her nails pinching the inside of her arm. Gina didn't really know what that meant, she never really felt like a big girl. Weren't they supposed to have freedom, and make their own choices. Where was her freedom, where were her choices? Her mother was always looming around a corner, waiting to jump the moment she did or said something that wasn't in her line of acceptable.

Before she can break skin, she feels Ricky's warm hands clasp her shoulders and give them a light tug.

"Hey", he says."I do that too, it only makes it worse." He removes his hands from her shoulders and grabs at her fingers.

Gina opens her eyes, but only to tell him that, no, it actually doesn't make it worse, it makes it better, and that he's wrong and doesn't know what he's talking about because if she can focus her pain somewhere else then maybe it won't hurt so bad.. When she opens her eyes, though, she can't get that out and instead there is a stream of tears and they won't stop, and her throat hurts . So, she falls to the ground, but her landing is soft because Ricky's there to catch her and wrap his arms around Gina.

He's only eight and he's already taking better care of her than her own parents ever could.

"I'm sorry that your parents fight", he says after the river of tears stop and she can open her eyes without them filling up.

"Mine do too"

"I'm sorry too", is all she replies, because she is. Because she wishes something different for him, they way he wished that for her too.

The sound of her parents, or clashing is no longer apparent and only silence can be heard. Ricky get's up and helps Gina up too.

"I'm tired" is all he says as he climbs into her bed, Gina follows closely behind and lays down too.

They keep the lights on, because the dark is scary, and monsters and parents screaming hide there too.

They're lying on a bed right now, in a different position, in a different room, but the feeling is eerily the same. Gina can feel that build up of tears coming back, but she's three years older now, so she pushes them down, as she pushes Ricky's feet from her face and moves into a sitting position.

It's the night before the new school year, and they've been lying in his room for almost the whole day. Usually it would be spent with them eating pizza and watching one of their favorite movies, but this time its different.

This is the first time since the 1st grade, in the history of ever that they will be attending different schools. Their parents had fussed over their melancholy all summer, with a 'You guys are ridiculous', but to a ten and eleven year old this was like the biggest most traumatic life event ever. He was going into sixth, while Gina was headed into fifth.

Gina can't remember the last time she didn't play with Ricky at recess, or trade lunches with him before school. They were tied at the hip and separation anxiety was proving to be a very real thing at the current moment.

Ricky gets up, and scoots over to her, he can feel her emotions radiating off of her. Her sadness overpowers her, it spreads across her face and overtakes her body. He can always tell when she's sad, it has become one of his most impressive talents.

"You won't forget me, right?" she says.

Ricky scoffs, and wraps and arm around her shoulder. "Seriously", he questions, and quirks his eyebrows in that annoying way he always did.

And, okay Gina could admit when she was being a little bit of a drama queen, but hey, it was in her nature, sulking was just apart of who she was.

"Of course not", he continues, "You're like my most bestest friend ever, all those cool old kids have nothing on you". he flashes his pearly whites, something he knows that makes Gina flash them right back. A loose curl falls from her face and he huffs it out of the way for her. She sticks her tongue out at him, squinting her right eye.

"Okay, just promise me things won't change. That we'll see one another everyday", Gina says falling back onto his bed, Ricky being dragged with her.

"Promise".

December 2014

Things change though, and promises aren't what they once were, because they don't see each other everyday anymore, Gina actually hadn't seen him since he joined the basketball team.

When she had cried to her mother about it all she was met with was a, "Oh, sweetie, people grow apart, it is just how it goes", shooing her off to her room, like her tears were too much of a bother to deal with, so.

And, honestly, Gina didn't really care, because people don't just grow apart, her and Ricky couldn't just "grow apart".

Okay, well, maybe she did care, cause she can feel that all familiar feeling come up, the rush of tears pounding her eyes like a tidal wave. She bites the inside of her cheek, but it doesn't work anymore, the only thing that did work was Ricky, and he wasn't there anymore to wrap his limbs around her and comfort her. Lay over her like a warm blanket and tell her that everything will be okay.

The next day, after school, her sadness had quickly turned into anger. It ripped through her like fire and made her cheeks burn, she didn't think she had been so angry all her eleven years of living, honestly.

She had it all planned out that morning, she was going to skip the bus and march over to his house straight after school, and confront him.

What she hadn't expected was to find him on the swings that sat outside her school, their swings, all alone. Immediately she could tell something was wrong, his head was down and he wasn't even swinging, just slowly pushing back and forth. Which, was so not like him.

"Hey", is all Gina says as she takes the seat next to him. It's the middle of December so the seats are are icy and the coldness sends a chill through her body, but she doesn't really care. All she wants is to figure out what's wrong with her friend.

Ricky doesn't say anything but she can hear his quiet sobs, and see his shoulders shaking. She doesn't know what to do with this, Ricky's never cried in front of her before, usually it was her crying.

Gina immediately grabs his hands that are gripping the chains of the swing, and takes them in hers. They're rough and cold, and her warmth seeps through them, like a glove on a hand.

"What's wrong", she asks and pulls his hands towards her, forcing Ricky to actually look at her. His eyes are red, and his face is blotchy like he had been sitting out here for a long time, crying. Waiting.

Ricky sniffs, "My mom left.", he stops and takes a breath like he's getting ready to say something big,"and I haven't seen her since school started. And I'm sorry for being a bad friend, and not talking to you, or inviting you over anymore, and I miss playing with you, and eating pizza, and watching our favorite movies all night long". That sudden flare of anger rises in Gina again, it burns her ears.

Moms aren't supposed to just leave their kids, she thinks, they're supposed to be supportive and help them when their sad, not be the cause of it. They're supposed to stay.

She doesn't say that though.

Gina stands up and wraps her arms around him, pulling Ricky into the biggest bear hug she can muster. He always did it for her when she was upset, and she hoped it had the same effect on him.

She thinks it does, because he sorta just melts into her and grips her right back. It's the best feeling either of them has had in a long time. Gina cries too.

He's the first to pull away, and he does it with a smile.

"Thanks."

Gina smiles back.

"I missed you." She says, as she shoves him away. Her anger wasn't totally lost. Well maybe it was, but she didn't want him to know that.

He sticks his tongue out at her as he swings back and laughs, she giggles back.

They spend the next thirty minutes swinging until his dad pulls up and takes them home. He smiles when he sees Gina run up behind Ricky, and greets her with her usual nickname.

His dad orders them pizza, and they spend the rest of the night binge watching all their favorite movies.

April 2017

Dancing is an art.

It takes grace, agility, and quick-paced cavalier refinement.

Her mother had placed her in dance classes the second she went into middle school. She told Gina, it was "important to shape into a elegant young lady", and apparently ballet was the clear answer to that.

Initially Gina hated it, another way for her mother to wrap her suffocating fingers around her neck. Stepping into the room always had her feeling like her mother was there, breathing down her back, whispering commands in her ear.

But, as she's learned, things change, and surprisingly dancing is one of freedoms finest outlets. It isn't only ballet, she'll never tell her mother that though.

She also learns that she's pretty good at it too. Her moves are swift and sharp, lines clean and cutting. Her feet just as fast paced and smooth.

She's thirteen and learns that this can have its advantages outside of dance class. It's the end of the year dance and she's by far the best one out there.

Ricky hadn't noticed though, definitely not. He didn't notice the way her white dress twirled and twirled under the luminescent light. Or the way she was painted in colors of yellow, purple, and blue. Her curls loose and wild, and the way bounced to every step, it reminded him of a lion, he definitely didn't notice that either.

She was beautiful really, he hadn't ever used that word before with a girl. It fitted though, so.

Yeah.

He's fourteen and he's having these feelings that suddenly don't make sense. Like, when Gina smiles and her eyes crinkle, or she laughs and there's her signature snort that follows. It all works its way back to his stomach, and makes his palms sweat, and he can't seem to look her in the eyes anymore. It's crazy, really, because this is his best friend, she's a complete and utter dork, who's favorite movie is Titanic, who cries every time Rose makes her way up those stairs and kisses Jack.

These feelings were like, really, really crazy.

Apparently he's just made peace with this reality, because he's been standing in the corner of the gym all night long, watching. He probably looked like a creep, but whatever. Gina, had come over a few times, tried pulling him onto the dance floor, he planted his feet though, and pouted. He was all limbs, lanky and awkward, his dad always joked that he had two left feet. Dancing wasn't his thing, even for Gina.

Big Red's standing next to him, like he has been all night.

"Are you gonna tell her", is all he says.

Ricky, scoffs, like he doesn't know what hell he's talking about. Had he really been that noticeable? Jeez.

"What?"

He can't see him, but Ricky can practically feel Big Red roll his eyes. He pushes himself off of the wall and stands in front of him.

'Dude, you've been staring at her. Like. All night. You spend like every second you can with her, it's so obvious." He pats his shoulder, and pulls a smug smirk. Like he knows something Ricky doesn't.

Ricky thinks we would like to hit him, right about now.

Instead, he pushes his hand off his shoulder with a little extra force than necessary, and starts to walk towards the platter of cookies on the table to left of him.

They're chocolate chip, his favorite.

"Honestly, I don't know what you're talking about." Ricky laughs, and takes a bite out of the treat.

That was a lie, he did know what Big Red was going on about, but he wasn't going to go around admitting that to him, he could barely even admit it to himself. According to the movies, it was all about the chase, a game of cat and mouse. Okay, maybe he wasn't so interested in that, but he was scared and fear could be a pretty overtaking feeling.

Big Red says something else, but Ricky doesn't catch that because he's walking towards Gina. The dance is almost over and his dad is taking her home, which means he's taking her home.

He pushes his way through the awkward teens grinding on each other and reaches Gina, she's dancing with some of her dance friends, and doesn't even notice Ricky right behind her.

He's met with an elbow to the face. And damn, it really hurts.

Suddenly he feels a rush of blood flow from his nose, and its dripping on the floor. He can see the droplets making a pattern on the wood, they're bright red and remind him of red skittles, he hates red skittles. The girl next to him screams, because that's totally necessary. And know he was a pounding headache too, great.

Gina whips her head around. "Shoot, Ricky, I'm sorry". She pushes him by the shoulders and away from the crowd of teens.

"Here". She takes his hands away from his face, and places a napkin on his nose.

And then she's laughing, because apparently this is funny to her.

Ricky shouldn't be shocked though, ever since he met her at the swings she's shown taking joy in inflicting pain on him. He laughs too.

"I'm glad that my pain can bring you pleasure." They're walking towards the exit, it's 7:46 and his dad said he would be there to pick them up at 7:50. He was always one to show up early though.

They walk outside, and the air has a bite to it. It's late April, but it was Utah, and winter didn't know when to leave.

She's still laughing, or rather snorting and Ricky's stomach flutters, he should really eat something he thinks. She's walking towards him with her arms stretched out, and tries to pull him into a hug. Ricky pushes her arms away and tries to make a break for it.

Gina's quicker than him though, and she jumps on his back before he can truly make his great escape. She wraps her legs around him and clings to him like a koala.

"I'm not letting go until you accept my apology." She tells him, and he believes her because she's got a death grip on his shoulders, and shows no signs of letting go.

He doesn't really mind though. She smells like strawberries, he thinks. And her coat is pillow soft against his neck.

'Well, I guess you're staying up there." he says, his dad pulls up about three seconds later and he gives her a piggy back ride and dumps her in the backseat.

The whole way to her house, his dad's fussing over the bruised nose, asking if he'd gotten into a fight at the dance. Which was ridiculous because Ricky was practically skin and bones, sure, he had height, but strength was not an allotted trait God had gifted him.

After a little bit of yelling, Gina stepped in and told him that it was her. Just a dancing accident, nothing to worry about, Mr.Bowen. That cleared it up pretty quickly and they both shared a laugh over it, again, why did people take so much joy in his pain?

He pulls up to the front of her house, and Ricky gets out to walk her up to her front door. He even opens her door, because he's a gentleman.

Yeah, he has manners.

They reach her front door, and the porch light casts a soft glow on the two of them. She's looking him in the eyes, like she's waiting for something, and there's a soft smile playing at her lips. Gorgeous was another word for her too, he thinks. She steps back and cracks open her front door, "wait here," is all she says as she walks backwards into her house leaving the door wide open.

He peers into her house and can see Gina rummaging through her freezer, the glow of the fridge lighting up the pitch black kitchen. He hadn't been inside since that one night, he can almost here the clashing of glass, almost. She returns with a cold pack in one hand, and a snickers in the other.

His favorite.

"One's for your nose, the other's because I'm sorry." she shoves them into his hands.< /p> "Like soooo sorry", she adds for good measure.

"It's my last one too, so you should be thankful"

Snickers happened to be Gina's favorite candy too, and she had a sweet tooth like he hadn't ever seen. So, she really must feel bad this time.

Damn, she really made it hard to be mad at her.

And suddenly, there's those stupid butterflies fluttering in his stomach and his palms are sweating, and it's like super hot. Why did Aprils in Utah have to be so damn warm?

And apparently he's just left all common sense to the wind because suddenly he's lunging forward and he's pressing his lips to hers. It lasts all about three seconds because his brain catches up with his body and he pulls away from her. Her eyes are big, and her cheeks are flushed red, and he would really like to kiss her again. God. what was wrong with him.

He doesn't though.

Before she can say anything, or even blink really, he's running down her steps and is yelling a quick goodbye before practically jumping into the car. God, what did he just do? Like, really, he couldn't have been anymore inappropriate or dumb than he was all of about ten seconds ago. He turns towards his dad, who's giving him the biggest shit eating grin he's seen ever seen in his life. Ricky groans and and slams his head against the seat's headrest.

"Just go, now, Please."

April 2018

It all starts when they walk into the movie theater and order a Blue Raspberry slushy to share. They are there to see the new Thor movie, but Gina has a feeling that Ricky's there to see the girl with the dazzling smile behind the counter. Later she'll learn her name is Nini.

She has long brown hair, that falls just below her shoulders, it's shiny and Gina bets it feels like silk. The girl also has the whitest teeth she had ever seen, and cringed every time she flashed her pearly whites. Not, really, but, drama queen here.

They're standing in line waiting to order their usual when they finally get to the counter. Ricky purposefully choose her line, even though it was twice as long, and they were probably going to miss the trailers, but Gina wasn't one to complain though.

"Hi, how may I help you?", she flashing that show stopping smile, and Gina can practically feel Ricky melt.

"Uh.." Ricky stammers his words, because apparently speaking was something that slipped his mind, especially when talking to a pretty girl. Gina rolls her eyes.

Now, she totally wasn't jealous, like at all. It had been exactly 12 months and five days since Ricky kissed her on her doorstep. They didn't really talk about it after that and Gina chalked it up to teenage hormones and Ricky's just utter lack of self control. So yeah friends it was, friends they were. Totally fine.

"Can we get a blue raspberry slushy, please", she finishes for him.

Ricky rams his shoulder into her's says, "I can speak for myself thankyouverymuch" as the girl turns and fills up their cup. Gina huffs a laugh, "Didn't seem like it bud, just thank me already and move on."

"Just did", he shoots back.

Before Gina can respond the girl comes back with their cup and tells them the amount. As he's handing her the cash, Ricky says, "Im Ricky by the way. You go to East High, right? I think I've seen you around."

Gina knows he's seen her around.

"I do, Nini," she extends out her hand.

Gina doesn't tell her that they already know that because its written on her name tag, she opts for a smile instead.

Ricky takes her hand and they do this weird thing were they're not really shaking each other's hand, but just holding it and looking into each other's eyes.

Gina scoffs "Well, this has been fun, But we're gonna miss the movie if we don't go."

"I'm sure Ricky will be sure to say hi tomorrow at school, Right Ricky?"

"Uh, yeah", he clears his throat and lets go of her hand. And, before he can say anything else Gina's dragging him by the arm towards their theater.

Slushies become his favorite after school snack. Gina swears his tongue turns permanently blue from how many he drinks. He tells her he just can't stop drinking them, its become a disgusting addiction now, but they didn't have to go to the movie theater for a slushy and they didn't have to go at 4:15 everyday either, right when Nini's shift started.

It's the same routine over and over again, a hey and awkward stilted conversation about whatever mundane bullshit goes on during school hours. Even Gina's become discouraged at this point.

Ricky had bought exactly seventeen slushies from her and still no dice. Nini likes him, she can tell and maybe she isn't well versed in high school girls, but it seems pretty mean to keep making her poor best friend come up here every day afterschool, just to talk to her.

And then, finally it happens. Gina isn't there when it does, but she receives a very loud facetime call after the fact.

He's mostly screaming and laughing, but she gets the idea. Nini said yes! She tells him she's happy for him, but she's just mostly relieved that her friend won't die of a sugar overdose in the near future. That one really kept her up at night.

Ricky and Nini, they become a packaged deal. You couldn't get one without the other.

Gina liked Nini, honest to God. She had this effervescent charm about her; it carried in the way she walked and the way she talked, she dazzled everywhere she went. Ricky had always been into sparkly things.

She also had like, the prettiest voice ever according to RIcky. Gina had never heard it before, but she took his word for it. So suddenly it was all Nini, all the time.

Gina didn't care really, because his dad still called her by her nickname, and his dog still licked her face-she never did that to Nini- and Ricky still laughed every time she cried at the end of titanic. Things were still mostly the same, and Gina sure as hell wasn't scared she was being replaced because that was totally crazy. Right?

So yeah.

June 2018

"So, like what's the deal with you and Gina?", they're taking off their skates when NIni asks the question. It's Friday, so that means it's date night and skating was kinda their thing.

It hits Ricky like a ton of bricks, and sorta knocks the wind out of him, has him stumbling back a little. It's a loaded question, and he's not really sure why.

"What do you mean?"

Nini shrugs, and undoes the laces of her left skate. She's playing coy, like the question hadn't been eating at her for a long time. Like she totally wasn't bothered by it.

They had been together for almost three months, he knew her better than that.

"I don't know, you guys just seem really close." she puts an emphasis on the really part, ticks her jaw the way she always does when something is bothering her.

Ricky's really confused, because Gina and him had always been 'really close', he honestly couldn't remember a time when they weren't. She was his best friend, that was all. And, okay, he'll admit that he had a tiny crush on her in eight grade, and he kissed her and acted like a total idiot.

But, that was over a year ago. He was completely over it.

Really.

Truly.

Honestly.

"She's my best friend, you know that", he scoots closer to her and kisses her on the cheek.

Nini's totally not having it though, because instead of blushing and giggling the way she always does, she pushes him away and walks over to the desk to turn in her skates. Ricky follows behind her.

They don't say anything until they turn in their skates and are waiting outside for their parents to pick them up.

Ricky walks over to her and wraps an arm around her shoulder, asks, "Why are you suddenly so upset about this?". She leans back into him.

"I don't know, I think she likes you."

A laugh escapes Ricky, because that? That was crazy. Gina is his best friend, he knew her like the back of his hand. Ricky would have definitely known if something was up, if something had changed.

"Okay, you've officially lost your mind." Ricky tells her, he spins her around and takes her head in his hands, checking for any sign of trauma. Nini laughs, and swats his hand away.

"I'm being serious, I see the way she looks at you."

"She's totally in looove"

Ricky doesn't have time for this. So he shuts her down real quick, says "Im gonna stop you right there. Gina is not in loove with me, and even if she were. Which she's not. You're my girlfriend and I only want to kiss you." He grabs her face and gives her a peck, in case his point wasn't fully clear.

Before she can say anything else, their parents pull up with in seconds of each other -thank God- and they part ways.

The rest of the night, Ricky can't shake this feeling in that sits in the bottom of his stomach, he feels sick. And his mind is running over and over again, and it won't just shut up for one second. It's all so loud, and really becoming too much.

He doesn't get much sleep that night, or for the rest of the month really.

September 2018

Gina's starting high school, and a new school means that her mother's domineering bullshit is ramped up to 100. She had insisted on doing Gina's hair for the first day of school, and honestly its all a little to reminiscent of her first day at this damn town. Because her mother's fussing over her hair and lecturing her about that first impression crap like she did when she was seven. Honestly? She still doesn't care. Because she's learned that people will think of you what they will, even if your hair is perfect and you have the right dress on.

One thing is different though, because instead of pleasing and following Gina's yelling right back. She's fourteen now and learns that pleasing won't get her anywhere, if you wanted change it had to happen on your own terms.

They get into an argument because Gina pulls away and tells her mom to stop, that she's a teenager and can do her hair however she wants. That people don't care, it's only her.

Her mother screams back, but then she starts crying, wondering where she went so wrong to raise 'a daughter like you'.

Gina tells her that she's too controlling, and that since she can't control her dad or anything else in her life, she controls her. That she can't stand to be around her for another second because if she does she just. might. suffocate.

Her mother does not take that too well, tells her to not bother coming home tonight before she slams the door.

She spends the rest of the week at Ricky's.

September 2018

"You know you're still like my favorite person ever, right?"

Gina sighs, "Yeah"

"Good."

September 2019

At the beginning of summer Ricky breaks NIni's heart, and at the beginning of Gina's sophomore year, she turns around and breaks it right back.

After Nini had told him she loved him, Gina was met with a crying Ricky at her doorstep. Which was already alarming enough, but he never came over to her house. Ever.

She knew something was wrong.

He told her that she wrote him a song, basically laying all her feelings out there for him.

She loved him.

He just couldn't say it back.

"God, why am I such an idiot. I should have just said it back. I completely froze, I couldn't even say anything. I couldn't even look at her." Gina's sitting on her bed. Watching him pace back and forth the length of her room. It was all really alarming. It was like he was so overcome with emotion, his body couldn't take it, it wouldn't stay still.

Gina gets up and wraps her arms around him, gets him to stop moving.

She lies down with him on her bed and holds him while shakes, while he sobs.

She knows why he couldn't say it back .

And, it's not fair for Nini to be mad it him, he couldn't help it. His parents never had a loving relationship, his mother was never around. Didn't care enough to stay. Didn't love him or his dad enough to be there.

Broken people are born from broken families.

Gina would know.

She was broken too.

After his shoulders stop shaking and things come to a quiet calm. She tells him that he's not an idiot, the opposite infact. That people can't just go around saying they love someone when they don't mean it, that that's how people get hurt. That that's how you can make someone broken too.

He listens and she thinks it stirs some kind of peace in him because he's suddenly asleep and she can feel his soft breathes. Coming in constant waves. She thinks she's getting tired, she falls asleep too. . . . After that night, the rest of summer is spent with Ricky in utter and complete denial. He spends it hanging out with a laundry list of girls, Gina knows he really only wants one.

He picks up skating too, and surprisingly he's pretty good at it, a natural, if you will.

When they get back to school, Ricky marches straight up to Nini, all hey babe, like nothing ever happened. Like he thought they were still together, like that summer was only a minor setback in their relationship.

Nini has a new boyfriend though, E.J. Caswell, a senior. It hits Ricky in the face like a semi, crushes his body and tears all his insides apart.

He definitely wasn't expecting that.

Gina definitely was though.

"I need to get her back", Ricky tells her after their interaction in the hallway.

Gina knows this wont go well. But she's his best friend, and best friends are supposed to be supportive.

His big plan is to join the school musical, which doesn't really surprise her. What surprises her is that he's actually good, like really good. She's known Ricky for nine years and not once, has she ever heard him sing. She didn't even know he played guitar, it was usually in the corner of his room collecting dust. Surprises can be a good thing though, and she thinks she likes this new side of her friend.

He's happier and she can tell because he smiles all the time now, and it's in that same way he used to when they were seven and things could be fixed by a swing and the wind ripping through their hair.

Man, she missed those pearly whites.

June 2020

It's the end of his junior year, and the beginning of summer. The play went great, and he honestly learned a lot about himself through the whole experience. He found another family outside of Gina and his dad, because people were kind and they didn't always leave.

Operation Get Nini was a fail, but Ricky learned to be okay with it, just like he learned to accept that his mom left and it wasn't his fault. That she just wasn't wired to be a mother and a wife and take care of the things and people she had left behind.

Well, maybe he hadn't fully healed from it yet. But he was mending.

He told Nini why he couldn't tell her those cursed three words, that he watched the way his dad fell in love his mother, and how she never really felt it back. How he was afraid to fall into the same trap.

She told him she understood, that it was okay, because things like that took time to heal from.

And, God. He could practically feel the air escape from his lungs, like a breath that he had been keeping in since last summer. It was exactly what he needed. He needed her to understand. That he didn't do it to hurt her, that he did because he was scared, that he did it because he cared.

They hugged and agreed to remain friends, because really that was what he need.

Nini was his first girlfriend, and he would be forever grateful for her.

It's the second day of summer and him and Gina have found themselves at their old swinging spot.

Its midnight, but they don't find the darkness so scary anymore.

"Okay, you're totally gonna fall on your ass," he singsongs.

Gina's currently swinging on the swing standing up because apparently she's got a death wish. Ricky tried to tell her that it wasn't a good idea, but she had always been head strong and telling her something wasn't a good idea always made her want to do it more.

He's sitting in the swing next to her, idle. He's discovered that watching her was more fun than actually doing the act itself. Her hair is flying through the wind, curls flailing and whipping all around her head. Her eyes are closed, and her head is tilted back, like she's off in another world. She looks beautiful. There was that word again.

And, then suddenly it all comes crashing down, her feet slip and her ass is in the gravel.

Just. Like. He. Predicted.

Ricky laughs. He's not a total asshole though, and he rushes over to her to make sure she's not like dead, or anything.

"Are you okay?" , he chokes over a laugh. Because it is funny. Real funny.

Gina clenches her jaw, bares a smile like she wants to kill him at the moment, says, "Just help me up, dick".

Ricky should have known it was a trap the moment she flashed her dazzling smile because the second his warm hand met hers he's being pulled down.

It kinda backfires though because the force causes him to come crashing down on her, and now she's lying flat on her back with a teenage boy ontop of her.

"Oh, my God, we should really cut back on the Pizza, you weigh like a thousand pounds", she groans and tries to push him off of her, he's stronger though and he plants his hands on either side of her and gives her his best smirk.

She smells like strawberries (he's always loved strawberries) and there's a stick in her hair, and he just really want's to kiss her right about now.

"You were my first kiss, did you know that?"

Ricky falls back into a sitting position, he definitely wasn't expecting that.

He takes her hand and pulls her up with him, clears his throat, all the sudden it's dry, he should really drinks some water.

There's a long moment of silence between them and he can hear a car passing by in the distance. But that doesn't really matter. All that matters is that she's all of about five inches from him, and if he wanted, if he could, Ricky would grab her face and kiss her again.

Ricky was never really one for bold moves, though.

"Uh... no", he finally says, it comes out as more of a whisper.

"Sorry about that.", he rubs the back of his neck and looks down, because looking at her was becoming too hard.

Gina shrugs, a smile playing at her lips. "Don't be sorry, it was...nice."

It's Ricky's turn to smile.

"Nice?"

"I'll be sure to let my future girlfriend know.", he lifts his head to look at her, runs his fingers through his curls.

She knocks her knees against his, twists her mouth, eyes him before standing up.

"You're a jerk, you know."

"I know."

She gives him a lopsided smile and extends her hand, helps pull him off the ground.

"Come on, I have the strongest craving for a snickers right now and you're taking me." she says jumping on his back.

Ricky follows his orders and takes her to the nearest gas station, even though its 12 o'clock at night and they'll probably get killed.

He smiles to himself as he watches her make a beeline for the candy section.

Her first kiss, huh? Ricky liked the sound of that.

May 2021

It's graduation and nobody asked him if he was ready.

He's eighteen now, and he's supposed to be an adult. It doesn't really feel like it though. He has a stomach ache, and all he really want's is his dad.

He's sitting in his seat, listening to their Valedictorian give the age-old speech of remembering the best years of your life and blah, blah, bleh. There's people around him that he's known all his life, his friends, family, teachers, coaches. Getting ready to say goodbye, getting ready to move onto the next stage of their lives. And it all just really has him kinda freaking out, because he wasn't ready, and these changes were happening too quickly, and he just really didn't want leave.

He received his acceptance letter from BYU at the beginning of the year, and it was all really exciting at the time. But, now, sitting here, it just seems like, really scary.

Being an adult as a kid seemed like really fun, he's now realizing that what was really fun was being a kid and now it's too late.

As the speeches end they all rise and throw their caps into the air.

If it's supposed be this life changing moment where everything suddenly makes sense, its not. It mostly just makes him want to cry.

He finds Gina and his Dad after the ceremony, she's crying when he walk's up to her.

She wraps her arms around him, says "I'm so proud of you", with her face buried in his neck.

He breathes in her scent, strawberries, and it immediately grounds him.

Even though she's seventeen now, she still smells the same, and she still has perfect curls, and he still wants to run his fingers through it, and it's the most comforting feeling he's has all night.

Because some things really never change.

He grips her tighter, says "thanks" and lets her go.

After a very awkward dinner with his mother and father, Ricky finds himself in his room, Gina laying right next to him.

His hands finds hers. Her hands, he always loved her hands. And brings them up to his lips.

She turns to him.

"You know you're like my favorite person ever, right?"

"Yeah", he says.

"Good."

[dvp95]

quiet on widow’s peak (6)

pairing: dan howell/phil lester, pj liguori/sophie newton/chris kendall rating: teen & up tags: paranormal investigator, mystery, online friendship, slow burn, strangers to lovers, nonbinary character, trans character, background poly, phil does some buzzfeed unsolved shit and dan is a fan word count: 2.9k (this chapter), 19.7k (total) summary: Phil’s got a list of paranormal experiences a mile long that he likes to share with the world. Abandoned buildings, cemeteries, and ghost stories have always called his name, and a particular fan of his has a really, really good ghost story.

read this chapter on ao3 or here!

Hope my friends and I didn't make things weird for you yesterday. We're heading to the city around noon if you're still up for helping us with the boring part.

noon?? fucking alright i guess i gotta put pants on

lmao yeah, sorry. My parents woke us up at EIGHT like that's a normal time to be awake????

desgostang

What?

ill send u the link later and also no i didnt feel weird yesterday you guys are nice

That's good! And hey I wanted to ask. You were kind of put on the spot with introducing yourself, would you rather we called you Dan or Winnie? I just wanna make sure we aren't making you uncomfortable at all lmao

no its all fine you can call me dan idc and actually its best if you do call me dan when youre in my work lmao

Are you totally sure?

why would i lie abt this. dont be an idiot it isnt a good look on you

haha okay. I’ll see you around noon.

--

“Christopher is a nice boy,” Phil’s mum is telling him as she helps him with their fancy new coffeemaker. There are so many buttons and Phil is so, so tired. “And Sophie is lovely, such a soft-spoken thing. Why haven’t we met them before, dear?”

“Dunno,” Phil says instead of the truth, which is that he’d had no idea how he was supposed to introduce them. “You have now, though.”

His mum laughs and reaches up to pat his cheek. “True enough. I’m so happy that you’ve got good people around you, Philip. I’ve gotten quite worried about you down there by yourself, you know.”

“I’m not by myself,” says Phil. “I live with, like, thirty people.”

“Bunch of strangers, I’ll bet,” she says, because she knows him. “Aside from those three.”

The thing is, she’s not wrong. Phil’s obviously exaggerating about the number of people under the roof of the creaky Brighton house, but the truth is that he can’t keep track half the time. A lot of the rooms get sublet out randomly, or a significant other will start spending so much time around the place that they might as well pay rent, and Phil really isn’t good with new people. He gets along fine with Holly and Dave, but they’ve been there as long as he has and the closest they’ve ever come to a heart-to-heart was comparing anxiety meds over burned pancakes.

Chris and Sophie were there when Phil moved in, and they’d taken one look at him and decided to just keep shoving into his space until he liked having them there, like they were on a mission to adopt PJ’s sad, ghost-obsessed friend from the internet.

“You might be right,” Phil says, feeling a smile tug at his lips for the first time all morning. He’s already had a coffee - and a half, when PJ declared that not even Kath could make coffee taste good and shoved the rest of his Phil’s way - but he still doesn’t feel fully awake. “I’m only really friends with Chris and Soph because of PJ.”

“PJ is a good friend to you, isn’t he?” his mum hums. That slightly pointed tone doesn’t get to Phil the way it usually does, because he knows that she’s just trying to understand him.

It doesn’t escape Phil’s notice that he’s looking into a mirror whenever he sees his parents watching him carefully, waiting for him to tell them something he hasn’t explicitly said, because he’s been doing the exact same thing to his housemates for nearly two years.

Maybe he’ll tell his parents when he’s got someone serious or even, like, semi-serious. Longer than two dates would be a record at this point. But right now he already feels like he’s been one misstep away from disappointing them, and he doesn’t want to take the gamble that his sexuality will be that misstep.

He’s not up for this conversation, though, isn’t sure he’ll ever be, so he just says, “Yeah, he is.”

--

Dan is late. They’re so late, actually, that Phil’s wheel of worst case scenarios has been spinning silently and getting faster and faster the more caffeine he chugs. They roll in with flushed cheeks and a jacket that looks too thin, apologies on their shiny lips that Phil doesn’t even hear for a couple of seconds because he’s too busy staring at them.

“No worries,” Sophie says, interrupting their rambling before they lose another half hour to it. “You want something? I’m getting a refill.”

“No, no, let me,” says Dan. They shrug off their jacket and hang it on one of the empty chairs. Phil and his friends have co-opted the largest table in the place so they can spread out with their laptops and notebooks, and it doesn’t escape Phil’s notice that Dan has decided to sit next to him when they’ve got a couple of options. “I get free drinks if Gabe’s in a good mood. Anyone else need a refill?”

“Me,” Chris says, not looking up from his screen. “Not Phil. He’s cut off.”

“Hey,” Phil protests weakly. His heart rate really has picked up since they sat down, so he knows Chris has a point.

Dan grins, their soft cheeks giving way to the dimples that Phil is very quickly growing obsessed with. He just wants to make Dan smile and laugh constantly, to hear them cackle and see all the lines in their round face deepen with happiness.

Right. Phil watched a horror movie with PJ instead of unpacking this fluttering start of a crush last night, and now he’s just got to deal with it for the rest of the day.

As if it’s a compulsion, Dan clears the empty mugs from their table before heading up to the counter. Phil focuses on the EMF readings so he doesn’t get caught up on Dan holding four mugs by the handles with total ease.

PJ has got headphones on and his eyes closed, so he might not even have noticed that Dan is there. He’s been going through Sophie’s footage and his own audio recordings to try and find some anomalies while Chris looks for the weird visual stuff - they’re a great team at that, and it makes Phil feel like he’s not doing enough. Sure, he could find those things on his own, but not as quickly as they can when it’s a team effort, and they’re on a bit of a tight schedule here. Well, his housemates are. They’ve got actual jobs to get back to once the weekend is over.

Allegedly, Sophie is doing research on sigils, but it looks to Phil like she’s just doodling. Not that he really blames her if she is. He’s barely been paying attention to the chart he’s making of spikes in electromagnetism because he’s been so busy watching the door for Dan.

And Dan looks… good. They’re wearing chunky boots and a shirt that falls to their thighs - a dress, maybe, but it looks like a regular black t-shirt that got extended at the hem - with tight white jeans. The only colour on them is the plaid shirt around their waist and the shiny red product on their lips to match it. Phil watches them lean against the counter and grin at the older barista, and he’s so distracted by looking at their profile that he startles when a foot connects with his under the table.

“Stop staring,” Sophie says, quiet and smiling. “He’s going to notice.”

Phil considers correcting her, but then he remembers that he probably doesn’t have to. Dan had said any pronouns, that they didn’t care how they were referred to, so it would definitely be weirder to act like he knows better than Sophie.

He knows he won’t be able to use masculine terms for Dan. Not because they aren’t true, because he’s pretty sure they’re no less accurate than neutral or feminine would be, but because thinking of Dan as a maculine person is only going to allow Phil’s brain to fall into the familiar traps of gender in ways he doesn’t want to allow.

Gay monkey brain doesn’t need any more leeway in finding Dan attractive, that’s for damn sure.

“So, what are we doing?” Dan asks, interrupting Phil’s thoughts, and, wow, four mugs is a lot more impressive when they’re full of hot liquid. Phil marvels at Dan’s ability not to trip and spill it all as they dole out the coffee and teas.

“I’m doing the boring part,” says Phil. He turns his screen so Dan can see the Excel spreadsheet and laughs at the face they make. “Yeah. It's not glamorous, but it's the easiest way to find patterns in the EMF readings. Honestly, most of my job is just staring at things and finding patterns in them. Like, uh, what's that guy? With the butterfly splotches?"

"Worcestershire," Chris suggests.

"Rorschach," Dan corrects him, lips twitching like they aren't sure if they're allowed to laugh in Chris' face or not.

“That’s exactly what I said,” says Chris.

“You know EMF meters don’t have anything to do with ghosts, right?” Dan asks, ignoring Chris completely and leaning a bit closer to Phil to get a better look at his laptop. “I mean, none of this has anything to do with ghosts, really, but you’re more or less just measuring electricity.”

Phil is aware of that. He wonders if Dan thinks he just stumbles into haunted houses with equipment he hasn’t researched and waits to be spooked. He’s too distracted by how close Dan is and how good they smell to work up to proper offense, though. “Yeah,” he says simply. “But don’t you think it’s weird that the place still has electricity to begin with? Who’s paying for that?”

“A Wilkins, I’d imagine.”

“But why? If they’ve forgotten about the property or abandoned it on purpose, surely they wouldn’t still pay the bills.”

“Maybe they don’t handle their own finances,” Dan suggests. “How rich were these assholes?”

“I honestly don’t know,” says Phil. He taps his fingers in an erratic pattern on the edge of his laptop, trying to spark something in his mind.

It’s almost disappointing when Dan pulls away to dig out their own sleek Macbook out of their messenger bag, but Phil is also glad for it. He can think a lot easier when the warm scent of spice and mint isn’t clogging his brain.

Dan slots into the work as easily as if a space was left for them. They’ve got dozens of tabs open already and they start to go through them, cross-referencing magic things with Sophie in quiet tones and digging deeper into the Wilkins family than Phil ever would have thought to. Every so often they tap Phil on the arm and drag him into whatever rabbithole they’ve fallen down, chatting animatedly.

Phil knows, objectively, that Dan is a fan of his and that Dan is weird about research. It’s another thing entirely to watch it happen in real time, to see Dan pull up local census PDFs from the eighties and explain why chaos magic is bullshit in the same breath.

An hour or so goes by like that, all of them working on their own things with minimal words exchanged by everybody but Dan, and then Chris shouts loud enough to make the barista jump. Nobody else is in the coffee shop right now, which is lucky, because Dan’s got a hand over their chest and Sophie has slopped tea down her front. PJ, with his headphones on, simply cracks an eye open.

“What the fuck was that about?” Phil asks, putting his own palm against his chest to feel his heart race. Dan raises their eyebrows and looks at Phil, seemingly distracted from the startling, wordless exclamation.

They don’t get a chance to say whatever they’re thinking, though, because Chris is turning his laptop to the rest of the table and grinning wide like the Cheshire Cat. “I found something.”

Everybody gathers round, PJ getting up to lean over the back of Phil’s chair and Sophie getting so far into Dan’s personal space that Phil is certain they’re uncomfortable with it, and then Chris presses play upside down. It’s part of Sophie’s footage, Phil standing in the dim foyer and looking frustrated. Even without sound, Phil can tell that this is when he was arguing with Sophie about going upstairs. He squints, but he can’t see whatever it is that’s got Chris being so loud.

“What am I looking at?” PJ asks when the short clip ends, and Dan hums an agreement. Chris makes a frustrated noise like they’re being obtuse on purpose and rewinds to the beginning.

"There," Chris says, excited like he hasn't been since they got to Manchester. He taps his finger against the laptop screen. "D'you see it? D'you see the shadow?"

Now that Chris has pointed it out, Phil does see something. He moves his own laptop and notebook out of the way to pull Chris’ closer with a frown. Chris lets him do that, bouncing in his seat a little bit.

“That’s straight up a person,” Phil says slowly, tracing the outline of the shadow with the mouse. It’s behind him, in the entry to the kitchen, and it looks tall. Quite a bit taller than Phil, anyway, if he’s remembering that doorframe correctly. He decides to measure it next time they go so he isn’t going off memory. “I knew we weren’t alone in there. Like. I’m not crazy, that’s a human being.”

“That’s what I thought,” says Chris. “But press play.”

So Phil presses play. He watches the shadow stay perfectly still in the kitchen doorway until, suddenly, it’s not there anymore. He blinks, rewinds, and watches it disappear again.

Phil’s caffeinated brain is firing on all cylinders now. He grins and shoves his sleeves up to his elbows before he starts fiddling with the clip. The lighting gets played with until the shadow is more obvious and then he slows it down to 0.25 times speed to see if the shadow really just vanishes.

He presses play again. This time, with a very slow-motion Phil talking in the foreground, he sees the shadow move. It runs sideways, further into the house.

“What the fuck?” Dan breathes.

“We are not going back there without some serious protection,” PJ says, even firmer on the topic now.

“What, like sigils?” Dan asks, their pretty eyes wide even as they scoff. “You’d be better off with a fucking, like, baseball bat, mate. That doesn’t look like something that wants to be your friend.”

“I’ve got a crowbar in PJ’s trunk,” Phil says, absent-minded as he plays with the clip some more.

“Excuse me? When did you put that in my car?”

“Couple months ago.”

“Huh. How have I not noticed?”

“You’re not the most observant person I’ve ever met,” says Phil. He looks up at Chris, who’s got the same exhilarated look that Phil is sure he’s mirroring. They don’t get evidence like this very often, something so clearly there that it’s even got a skeptic’s mind racing. Phil exports the edited clip and then the original, putting them both into the Cloud and emailing them to himself. “Was this the only time you saw it?”

Chris nods, accepting his laptop back when Phil is done with it. “I’ll look through everything again, now that I know what I’m looking for and all, but I think that’s it.”

“Okay, cool.” Phil looks around at his friends and Dan, beaming. “Something weird is happening. I love it when something weird is happening.”

“I hate it when something weird is happening,” PJ says, which is a blatant lie.

“Well, we can’t go snooping around until it’s darker out, anyhow,” Sophie reminds them.

“Wait, we’re snooping?” Dan asks, their voice going up an entire octave in disbelief. “Like… you just saw that someone is there and probably not happy about people sneaking around, right? Don’t you have enough for a video already?”

“We’re spending the night,” says Phil. “It’s what we do.”

“It’s what you do,” PJ corrects him.

“Okay, yeah, you guys don’t have to come if you don’t want to.”

“No, I’m coming,” says PJ.

As if she can’t hear them bickering, Sophie turns to Dan with a sweet smile, her eyes twinkling with the same excitement in Chris’. They love this, just like Phil does. “What about you, Dan?” she asks. “Are you going to have a ghost sleepover with us?”

“There’s no such thing as ghosts,” Dan says, their eyes still glued to the back of Chris’ laptop like they can see the shadow through it.

“Guess you don’t have anything to be afraid of, then,” says Chris.

“Uh, axe murderers, maybe?”

“We know what we’re doing, Dan,” Phil reassures them. He reaches a hand out to pat at their arm, feeling a bit awkward about it. “But you don’t have to come with us if you’re scared.”

That makes Dan’s gaze shift. Suddenly, those brown eyes are staring right into Phil’s soul, defiant and beautiful and impossible to look away from.

“Who said I was fucking scared?”

[jj-lynn21]

A little extra for the extra

I came up with this story recently after reading an article about how many actors have dated co-stars and back ground actors. Adam Sandler even married the extra in one of his movies. So its possible. Of course its highly unlikely but it was a fun story idea. I didn’t use any specific actor for this story so you can fill in the names you want. I’m going to tag a bunch of names that it could be. Yes I know some are not single but for this story they are so no guilt. If you like it I can write more than one chapter but ending where I do is fine also. 

________________________________________________________________

It was your first time on a movie set. You internalized your excitement so you were not thought of as just some fan girl trying to get closer to actors you respected. You were only brought on for some background scenes but that was still exciting to you. There were rules of course. No cellphones on set. No photos of any kind. Never post info about the movies you are filming on social  media . Your scene could easily get cut anyway. And absolutely no talking to the actors unless of course they talk to you first. You were told by other background actors the odds of even working near a main actor wasn’t good anyway. Still you were booked in this film with some of your favorite actors and you are almost vibrating with excitement each day you get to work on set.

Your first day on set was pretty awsome. You got to see the main actor from afar . Not the guy you were really there for but still pretty cool. You made friends with a PA who let you hangout and watch some scenes being filmed which you thought was really interesting. The gun firing blanks going off made you jump when it went off. It was way louder than you expected . when you had to run from that sound it was easy to jump up and go. You knew it wasn’t real but your body wasn’t so sure. Your heart jumped as you ran around the corner so you wouldn’t get shot.

You went where your handler told you. You stood where he told you. You never tried to get closer than you were allowed. On a particularly cold day, 42 degrees, you were put in a thin windbreaker and told to stand near a corner tree and wait for your walking scene. You were just neighborhood dressing really. If anything maybe a second blur. You are standing there with your co-actor who earlier showed you the pictures of himself in other movies. This was encouraging to you. You did remember seeing him. You are chatting with him and see main actor walking towards you.

Outside you are completely calm. Inside you are hyper. He is blocking his shot. You were put right in his path. He glances up, his set make-up makes him look very ill. He says, “hey” and pivoted to continue working. Your handler rushes over to have you move to stand a bit farther from scene. You happily watch the scene without complaining about the cold but you are freezing. Large outdoor heaters are brought out after the handler asks if you are cold and you say, “yes, a little “ as your teeth chatter a bit. Your co-actor says, “you want closer to the heat?” But you are way to interested in watching the scene to move from where you are standing. He really tries to insist you stand closer to the heater. You finally look up to him with a bit more excitement in your face and say, “I am perfect where I am. I can feel the heater just fine.” He finally gets it and chuckles a little. 

You can feel the heat good enough. It’s even better when they set up another heater right in front of you. Then the main actor comes over freezing his ass off in a T-Shirt and track pants and tries to warm up by the heater. He looks you up and down. Grins slightly and says, “its fucking freezing out here isn’t it?” Not wanting to be rude of course you answer, “It is really cold.” You both bounce around a bit. Your insides are a bit excited. You hope your outside is calm and you don’t get in trouble for talking to him. You were just being polite. Someone yells they have a coat for him. Next you film your scene a few times before the it’s a wrap for the day.

The next day your scene is cut at the last minute but you still get to hangout and watch filming. The actor comes by you and others and says good morning to everyone. Everyone says, Good morning. It seems like most if not all the women’s voices have become like high pitched teens with some giggling as they say, “Good morning.” He looks to you and asks, “How are you.” You say, “It’s a good day.” And it was a good day of watching behind the scenes and chatting with other extras and Taco Tuesday for lunch. You have to enjoy the small good things in life. You weren’t used but you still got paid.

This has been the most fun job you have ever had. You have been in several scenes so you can’t imagine they will be able to use you again. When another day of filming comes to your attention you still apply and tell them all you have filmed so far. You get another call back to be on set for a big crowd scene. You think maybe this time your favorite actor will be filming with the main actor. You think you have been pretty cool so far but part of you isn’t sure if you will be able to keep so together if you see the man you really fantasize about. You have a new found respect for the main actor, but you really want your favorite sexy actor to give you a little attention when you see him.

You wear navy blue dress pants and a navy blue and white striped off the shoulder fitted shirt to this filming day. Since you have to bring two other options you pack a navy blue high-low dress and some Jean’s and a red, white and blue striped long sleeved shirt. You have your chunky navy blue heels on that will go with whatever outfit they desire you should wear. Only once have they given you something to wear from the costume department. It is definitely better to have options with you. This time they approve of what you are wearing so no quick changes before filming.

Todays scenes are at an air port. A section is closed down just for filming. Everyone sitting around are extras. Some, like yourself, are given a specific task. The crew, who have started getting use to you being on this movie set start calling you by name. It feels great when they say how perfect you look for todays scenes. The hair/make up person tells you how beautiful you look as she touches up your look and makes your hair look shinier. You know she says that to everyone but you thank her and smile. She goes around touching up several people in a short amount of time. Working quickly to get her job done.

The scene is explained to everyone .The assistant director says, “Everyone is waiting for loved ones to come off the plane who were in the military . You have not seen your family in one to three years. It’s a fantasy scene that the character hope’s will happen when he finally returns home with all his military brothers and sisters with him. The main actress will of course run over to our main actor. But since the character has no idea what his new military friends’ families look like some of you will be paired with our military actors to welcome them home. It’s great we have some real couples for this scene. (your name) I want you to run and greet the second soldier off this plane.  The first will be our main actor and the main actress will greet him. Other background actors of the soldiers, run to your soldiers when you see them. The rest of you stay seated where you have been placed as if you are waiting on other flights. We will all clap when soldiers are reunited with family. Watch me for the go ahead to clap. Ok let’s do a run through when the director is ready.”

“Quiet on set. Action.” The main actor walks out of the tunnel like he just got off a plane. The main actress runs over and throws her arms around the main actor. You have some fake happy tears going as you start to see the next person step out of the tunnel. Inside you scream, “Fuck” as your favorite actor emerges. You use all that excitement to run to him. He picks you up easily. You wrap yourself around him and smile. He says, “I missed you so bad sweetness.” And plants a lip-lock on you. You kiss him back until they the Director yells, “Cut”.

Your heart is pounding as he puts you down slowly. He says, “Hi, I’m (your fav actor). I usually try to get to know the actress I make-out with before it happens, but they wanted to keep us out of sight from the gawkers lined up over there as long as possible. What’s your name?”

 You manage to speak up and tell him your name. You try to breath normally. You say, “I guess the secret is out now.” You giggle to basically release some tension. He chuckles.  

The assistant director says, “Ok that was a good run through. I hope if you didn’t already know each other you got to know each other better.  (Your name & your fav actors name) you did great. We want a bit more passion from everyone. Louder applause.

The AD says, “Quiet on the set. Let’s move that barricade back a little farther. We will not be able to keep the fans quiet. Action.” As soon as you wrap yourself around him, he grabs your ass holding you up. He again says, “I missed you, sweetness.” He kisses you stronger this time and parts his lips. You kiss him back just as passionately your eyes closed as you run your fingers through his hair.  The two of you don’t even hear the director say cut until he says your names. (Your fav actor) puts you down slowly as you look at him for a first reaction.

You know it is all just acting, and he has been doing this a lot longer than you but damn how can anyone not feel anything from this. You think this is probably why co-stars date for awhile after making a movie. Its easy to get wrapped up in the feelings your body is forced to have in the moment. You already had a crush on this guy. This scene is practically killing you in a good way.

He says, “I hope I wasn’t to handsy and It was ok to kiss you like that.”

You say, “Anything to get the scene to look good. You have my permission to do whatever the scene calls for here. You know this stuff more than I do. I’ll just follow your lead.”

He says, “Cool. You ok with me kissing you deeper then? We probably got a hundred more takes.” He chuckles a bit nervously.

You laugh but underneath all the coolness you are trying to exude your body is on fire. Your legs are weak, and you can’t believe what he just asked you. Of course, it ok for him to kiss you any way he wants. Even if it is just acting you have loved every minute of this shoot so far. You say, “It’s cool with me.”

The assistant director says, “Back to start places everyone. We are just going to roll a few takes without stopping when the director is ready.” The scene rolls. You and your fav actor get into each other more and more with each take. You are happy. You can barely catch your breath between resets of the scene. You can’t believe this is currently your life. You lose track of time completely. The director must tell the two of you to stop after he yells cut more than once. You blush a little. Your favorite actor whispers in your ear how cute it is when you are embarrassed by the director’s firm tone telling you two to cut when he says cut.

Lunch is called. The assistant director says, “Take the extras back to holding. We only need a few of them after lunch.”  

You start to head out with the group. The PA comes up to you. He says, “You can stick around. We will need you after lunch anyway.”

You say, “cool” and turn around.

Your favorite actor motions for you to come over to him. You sit beside him. He says, “Can I buy you lunch?”

You answer, “sure.”

He says, “They will bring me whatever I want. I was just going to get a green tea latte and a panini from Starbucks.”

You say, “Cool I’ll take a chai latte and a ham & swiss panini.”

He snaps his fingers and a PA rushes over eagerly. He tells her what he wants for lunch. The other actors sit around the same area and over-hear where he is sending the PA. They all put in their order for her to bring back coffees, lunches and snack items.

The main actor looks over at you. He says, “You’ve been on this production several times, now haven’t you?”

You say, “Yes I have. I guess I’ve been lucky. It’s been a lot of fun.”

Grinning your favorite actor says, “Oh, so I’m not your first?”

Main actor says, “Oh, you are her first. We just froze together.” He laughs.

You said, “Yeah, it was freezing that one day. But the heaters worked so we didn’t freeze to death. I rather be shooting this scene any day.”

The main actor says, “I bet you would.”

You blush a little. The PA comes back with everyone’s lunch. You take a sip of your drink and break off a small bite of your sandwich to eat. Your favorite actor says, “not to sound like a line or something but are you from around here?”

You say, “I don’t live to far. It was a little over an hour drive this morning. One day of filming was a little under an hour.”

He says, “That’s not to bad. “

The two of you start to talk about family and friends and life in general and find out you have very similar background. Ok, you already knew you had similar backgrounds, but it was cool that some of the things you have read were true. You are now getting very comfortable chatting with him and the other actors around you. Then its time to go back to work. Best job ever. 

The director comes over to say how he wants to set up the next shot and what you will be doing. He says, “As you each head towards where the crowd is over there we will fade out. Our main actor will finish his lines and we will be done for the day. Should only be an hour or so.”

A few more extras are brought in. Everyone takes their places. You run through the scene before cameras roll. As you walk hand and hand away from the main area the crowd goes wild the closer you and he get to them. You just keep a smile on your face. The director yells cut each time before you get to close to the crowd.

Some hold out pictures of the actors and pens so maybe they will get some signatures. Others attempt to take pictures but, their phones are grasped from their hands and pictures are deleted before their phones are given back and they are taken from the crowd. You have been on the other side of this and never acted that insane to get an autograph. Some of the people seemed a bit to crazy looking. You now knew why some actors are scared to start auto graphing pictures when there is a crowd like this. It gets scary quickly. Your favorite actor gaves them a little nod each time the scene was film. He took your hand to kiss each before each cut was yelled. Then back to your mark. After about three hours and multiple camera angle changes including one where the camera was pointed directly at you two as you walked away, the director says, “It’s a wrap.”

Your favorite actor picks you up and swings you around. He says, “Its been a good shoot today. I’m so glad I met you sweetness.” He kisses you and you instinctively wrap yourself around him. He eventually puts you down. You realize this was not a scripted moment. You are kind of in shock. He takes your hand and pulls you over to the side.

He says, “I’m sorry. I just got carried away. I hope you don’t want to charge me with being a predator. I know that’s common place now a days, but I wasn’t meaning to…”

You say, “Hold on. There is no need to panic. I’m fine. I was kissing you back just as much as you were kissing me. I’m fine.”

He says, “Oh good. So um, can I get your number in my phone? Maybe if you want, we can hangout a little more tonight. I have a few people to meet and reporters to talk to, but I should make it out of here in an hour.”

He hands you his phone. You put your number in his contacts list under Cherry Sweetness. You show him and he chuckles. You say, “I have to get back to holding to pick up my things before making it to my car. That will take me about and hour or so. If I hear from you very cool. If I don’t know big deal its been fun. You leave him. Heading out with the other extras to catch a shuttle to holding to get your things and maybe you will  head home.

[cianmars]

The Bookworms and the Library  Chapter 3: House Hunting AO3

James had never been so exhausted and so happy before. It was fall yet he stood in their new bookstore in a t-shirt: he was boiling- the heat in the place was malfunctioning so it felt like summer in there- despite this he was over the moon because they were nearly ready to open. He was shelving the first of the books as he waited for the guy to fix the heat.

He heard the bell above the shop door ring and he turned, expecting to see the heater-guy, but it was Belle. He placed the books on the shelf and crossed his arms over his chest, he looked at her with raised eyebrows, barely concealing his amusement. “Aren’t you meant to be finding your dream house, y’know not working here?”

Belle let out a loud sigh. She let her hand rest on the baby bump, which was protruding out from under her sweater. “I’ve been trying to but they all suck.”

“I’m sure they’re not that bad.” He was cut off by her thrusting flyers for the houses into his hand. He flicked through them, pulling a face as he did so. “Okay, you’re right these are shit, this one doesnt even have a roof!”

“I know!”

“Are these seriously the only ones around town? Davey said they saw nice ones when they were looking, and David may have grown up in a barn, but I know Snow at least has some standards - I doubt she would have looked at any of these.”

Belle let out another sigh and fell into a plastic covered armchair. “Most of the empty buildings around here belong to Rumple, the ones I know about anyway.” She explained.

James frowned. He moved to lean against a desk next to where Belle was sat. He looked down at her with the protective worry of a best friend. “He won’t sell one to you?”

“He probably would, but it’s awkward, and I want to find my own home, I want…”

She trailed off but he understood, she wanted to be in control, at least as much as she could while having to co-parent with him for the next 18 years. James nodded at her and stayed silent for a minute, in thought. “I could ask Snow if she still has the flyers for the other houses, if you like? I’m pretty sure that most of the places weren’t being sold by Rumple.”

Belle took a second to think before giving him a smile. “That would be good, thank you.” She reached over and squeezed his hand.

James had already been feeling hot, but having her hold his hand felt like a fire was starting inside of him, not necessarily dangerous more like a camp fire or the hearth of a home. He gave her a quick smile and pulled out his phone to text his sister in law, pulling his hand away from Belle as he did so.

He had a text from Snow within fifteen minutes, pictures of flyers for houses, all of which looked promising, all in different styles. He passed his phone over to Belle who grinned and started to show him houses she liked best, or pointing out some of the good features of the houses, he didn’t quite understand all of it but she seemed excited so he shared in it.

“Why don’t you come with me?”

James did a double take. “Where? Oh, to look at the houses?”

“Yeah, I might need some help judging them, or measuring things up- plus you can get out of this oven.”

James thought for a second, as of late he was constantly trying to evaluate his actions, trying desperately to not push too far, to stay friends without showing his crush, without her realising how much he truly cared for her…. But one look at her hopeful face and… “Okay. Just give me a couple of minutes to get ready.”

Without caring or thinking he took off his t-shirt.

Belle watched as he did so, she should look away, she should really look away. At the centre of his chest, among a litter of other scars, a large, harsh, jagged scar stood out   and was mirrored on his back: she winced at it without realising. She knew that he hadn’t been a good man when he died: he had spent money on dallances while his kingdom starved, he had killed giants, and left his ex girlfriend to die while he saved himself. But he had been the sword King George had forged through abuse when he was still a child. He had died for his crimes. Yet when he died he had chosen to work against Hades, he had seen the suffering of the dead people, he had chosen to become good. And when his niece led her family and friends to the underworld to save her love, Killian, he had helped them, and as a result he had later been rewarded a new life. Even now he was trying his best to be a good man.

And he was a good man, he had a couple of issues, she supposed, but he was working on them with Archie and on his own, he was kind, and caring, and funny, and although he tried to help her with my issues she had he also let her work on things on her own. He understood her need to be an individual. He understood her completely. And she understood him. He was her best friend in a way which she hadn’t had one before.  

Before she knew it he had a sweater on ready to go out to look at houses with her, for her, which somehow made her feel lonelier, it was just her and her unborn baby now.

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Belle could hear her feet echoing on the tile as she walked around the house.

“This is, it’s big?” James offered trying to be upbeat. He watched Belle take some steps around the living area of the open plan first floor. “I know Neal has a lot of stuff and he’s four, Dave says he had even more stuff when he was a baby, you could do with this.”

“Yeah... yeah the space is good.” Belle agreed, she smiled at him but frowned when she looked back at the place. “There’s a lot of light too, which I guess is to be expected with the giant windows.”

James frowned. “Y’know, your fake happy voice needs a bit of work.” He smirked when she looked at him surprised that he had figured out she was faking it. “I know you Belle.” He explained with a shrug.

“Yeah… yeah I guess you do.” She sent him a small smile. She looked him over once again, sure he wasn’t shirtless now, and had a chunky sweater on hiding his abs and his scars… but he still looked nice, really nice in fact. He had a nice smile, a nice face in fact. It was weird because she had never looked at David like that, yet here James was looking so… and he was meant to be identical to David but Belle felt entirely different about him, his personality, his face, his body. Not that she was thinking about it, about him like that, she was pregnant, and everything with Rumple, plus her and James were friends and business partners ; she couldn’t chance screwing all that up.

“So, what do you want?”

“What?” Her eyes went wide. Shit, had she said it out loud? Shit, shit, shit.

“The… house… what type of house are you wanting? Are you feeling okay, Belle, you look a little pale?” He walked over to her, frowning in concern, should he feel her temperature or something?

“Sorry baby brain.” She lied.

“You get that before the baby is even born?!”

“Yeah, it’s erm, well, the human body’s weird.”

“Do you need to take a break or some air or, I don’t know, what helps?”

“I’m fine now, thanks James. I don’t know what sort of house.”

“Old or new?”

“Old, but not so old that it doesn’t have heat and electric and like a leaky roof.”

“Okay, so this one is out, there’s two other ones which are older but not too old. Keep your head up, we’re going to find you a new home today, I promise.”

Belle grinned at him. “I know you pretend to be all grumpy and serious and scary but you’re really sweet.”

James looked at her with laughter in his face and eyes. “Just don’t tell anyone else that, I have a reputation to keep.” The two shared a look and a smile.

They were both falling even though they had sworn to themselves that they wouldn’t.

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The second place was a lot better suited to Belle. It was a cottage, not too small, it was nice, not falling down or a shack. It was on the edge of town, down a long dirt path in the woods.

“Hey, this place even has a proper fireplace, not like those ‘radiator’ things!” James called to her from the living room.

Belle beamed, running her hand along the top of the kitchen counter. “And the kitchen is amazing.” She stated when he came to see it. “And there’s plenty of room upstairs for me and the baby.”

James grinned and opened the backdoor to look at the yard. “The flyer said you get a lot of land, I think that means all the trees, and that big lake.”

“There’s a lake?!” Belle rushed over, squeezing into the doorway with him, she leant into his side.

James wrapped his arm around her to stop her from falling. “Yeah. I once went on an adventure of sorts, it was the first time I had to sail on my own. Did you know that it’s tiring to row a boat?”

Belle tried her best to hide her smile, but failed, quite spectacularly. “Yeah, I have some experience with rowing boats and adventures too.” She smiled when he looked impressed.

“Though you’ll have to fence it off within a year or so, with a little tyke being around here.”

Belle frowned. “Yeah you’re right. How much of the land is mine?” James shrugged so she brought out her phone to look at the plans online. “There’s no signal.”

James took out his phone. “Mine too.” He moved around a bit. “So, you remember that moving pic- movie, the one you forced me to watch, the erm, the horror one?” He asked slowly.

“Oh shit.” Belle looked around the place with new eyes. “I’ll be part of a horror movie.”

“I wouldn't be able to stop you from getting this place… but I’d rather you didn’t die; you’re kind of my only friend, my best friend in fact, and my partner- business partner.”

Belle’s heart skipped a beat until he quickly said business partner, then her heart, curiously, fell. She quickly regained her composure and smiled up at him. She lowered her hand, the back of her hand brushed against the back of his, as they stood side by side. Don’t, she had to remind herself. “Yeah, I think you’re right, I don’t know how you’d survive without me.”

James laughed, loudly and freely, as he could only around those he loved the most, and he always laughed louder and freer around Belle.

Belle watched him for a half second before laughing with him.

At their sides Belle took hold of his hand.

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As soon as Belle stepped foot into the front yard of the last place Belle knew it was the one. It was a contemporary beach house, or that’s what the flyer for it had said, and it wasn’t that far from the beach so she supposed it was fitting. It was grey stone at the bottom and white paneling on the rest of it. There were wooden troughs out the front one with flowers in and another with signs saying the vegetables which were busy growing under the soil. The garden was fenced in but it didn’t feel imprisoning like the first place they had looked at.

“Woah.”

Belle had almost forgotten that she was there with James. She looked up at him, taking in his face of complete wonder, Belle had grown up in a castle but it was nowhere near as splendid as the one James had grown up in she was wondering how he was so impressed by this. “You like this place?”

“Of course! I mean imagine this place a year or two in the future; you and the little one out making snow angels, or planting flowers and fruit and vegetables, teaching him the names of birds, or looking for bugs.”

Belle watched his eyes sparkling as he spoke, he was watching the house so intently she could almost see the scenes playing in his head, she remembered that this wasn’t the spoiled prince she heard her father speaking about in the Enchanted Forest, this was her James, he was a good and kind man, she wondered if he would ever settle down and start a family of his own. She looked at the garden and found that she could imagine what James had said to her. She placed her hands on her stomach. She couldn’t feel her baby but she knew he was safe in there, and he would be safe in this garden, even if she couldn’t imagine the baby being a month old, let alone two years old. “Let’s head inside.”

James led the way up the stairs to the porch and held the door open for Belle to walk through first. “My Lady.”

Belle smiled to herself and walked through the door. “Thank you, kind sir.”

James felt proud, he knew she’d understand his reference, she was the one who had made him watch all of Community after all. He noticed her eyes widening and her smile grow before he even looked inside of the house. He had to remind himself, again, to watch himself: he had a penance to serve, it was self imposed but as serious as any. He quickly turned his head to look at the house instead.

He understood why Belle was smiling, it really looked like the perfect family home. It was nearly open plan, there was a wall and a corner separating the areas of the living room and kitchen. The kitchen was modern and full, perfect for cooking and baking, there was a big table. James couldn’t help but imagining Belle sat there, with a book and her breakfast, the baby in a highchair, and James was there too. He subtly shook his head, he was being stupid, he was her friend, and that’s all he would be.

He walked after Belle, smiling as she happily pointed out all the different things she loved, and he added things which she knew she liked, there was a little conservatory bit which he wandered to.

“Hey Belle look at this.”

“Woah, I could see the sea from here!”

“You could fill it with bookcases and comfortable chairs and you could read while you look out at the sea.” He pointed out. “With your little one playing, or if he’s like you he’ll be reading.”

Belle’s smile brightened even more, if possible. She nudged her shoulder against his. “You’ll have to come around too, if you’re not too sick of seeing us at the bookstore all the time.”

James’ eyes met Belle’s. “I’d never get sick of you. Either of you.”

There was a pregnant pause. Belle went on her tiptoes, their faces were an inch away, Belle could see into his sparkling blue eyes, the way his tongue flickered out over his bottom lip…. No. No, she couldn’t.

She turned back into the main house. “Let’s look upstairs.”

James took a deep breath in. He had nearly bent his head down to kiss her… he had nearly…. Fuck. He needed to control himself better. He was clearly reading too much into Belle’s actions. She had just been trying to get a better look at things a little higher up. He ran his hand through his hair before allowing himself to smooth out his features and continue to follow Belle.

The looked at the bedrooms, of which there were four, there was a little office, and a family bathroom, along with an en-suite attached to the master bedroom. There was plenty of room, storage, and views from what would be the baby’s room of what James saw as the perfect garden.

“You’ve got to get this place.” He told her looking out of the window.

He turned around and saw Belle looking at her phone, she was frowning. “What’s wrong?”

“What? Erm, I’m just not sure. It might be a little too far from the bookstore.”

“It’s about a twenty minute drive, it’s not that far, and it’s not like you have certain hours to keep anyway.”

“Okay, but it’s, it’s too big.”

“You did say that you wanted a place you could stay in forever no matter how big your family grew.”

“But what if it’s too small?”

“Belle, what’s going on?”

“What? Nothing.”

“Something’s going on, you loved this house until you looked at your cell phone, did Gold say something? Or Moe?”

Belle let out a loud sigh.”It’s far from the centre of town… from you. I’ll see you in work but otherwise it’ll be hard to see you.”

James felt her words like a stab in his heart. “You think… You think that just because you’re moving further away I won’t be able to see you much anymore?”

“No. Well, yes, no- but you’re going to be far away, you’re not going to be able to easily walk here every day like you do while I’m living above the library. When I have the new baby I’m not going to be able to get to work and see you there every day, there are going to be times where I’ll probably be housebound maybe for a couple of weeks where I just won’t be able to see you-”

Belle’s rambling stopped as James’ calloused hands cupped her cheeks so gently that she wasn’t sure if he was actually touching her or not. His hands on her cheeks forced her to look straight into his stormy blue eyes. They were close enough that she could feel his breath caressing her skin.

“Do you really think that I would let a little distance stop me from seeing you?” He asked her, his voice was soft, and a little hurt by her even possibly thinking that. “I’ve been getting David to teach me how to drive, I have my test next week.” He admitted. “I figured that you might need some help being driven to places before and after you’ve had the baby. And if I’m in this realm for good, I should probably learn, I tried in the underworld but it wasn’t that successful- anyway,” he shook his head turning his attention back to what he had been meaning to say, “Belle, I’m going to be visiting you so much that you’re going to be bored and sick of me. You’re close enough to Davey’s house that I can just escape him being annoying when I visit by ducking out to see you instead.”

“You love your brother.”

“Yeah, I guess, but that doesn’t mean he’s not the most annoying person in the world.” He smiled at her, the smile only grew as she raised her hand and held onto his wrist as his hands were still on her face. “Belle this house is the most perfect house I’ve ever seen. You need to buy it.”

“As long as you promise that you’ll be around a lot.”

“I swear it.” His head ducked down a little.

Belle tilted her head back, moved it towards his, she went onto her tiptoes….

The jumped apart as the door to the baby’s room opened and the estate agent walked in. “So, what do you two think? This would make an amazing nursery, I’m sure you’ll be having even more as soon as possible, I can tell just from looking at you.”

James’ cheeks and ears flushed pink, his hand went to the back of his head, running his hand through his hair, a nervous tick he shared with his brother. He was about to open his mouth to explain, yet again, that they were just friends and he was just helping her, but he remembered Belle’s face as she explained again and again that she was a single mother, and how the estate agents always looked after she said so. He dropped his hand to his side and gently took Belle’s hand in his own, giving it a comradely squeeze

“Yes, this place is perfect. Though knowing Belle she’ll have several questions to ask you before she signs.” He gave the estate agent a dazzling smile, he watched he blush with pride, until he remembered how he had used that smile as a weapon in the Enchanted forest. He felt nauseous, the smile immediately disappeared from his face.  

He watched Belle follow the estate agent down to the kitchen to talk, and he trailed slowly behind them. The nausea he felt remembering his past deeds reminded him of his solemn promise to make amends. He couldn’t be selfish and chase after his own happiness after he had destroyed so many others’ lives and happy endings.

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Later, after Belle signed for the house and James treated her to dinner, James let on his back on his couch alone in his apartment- which just didn't seem like home after spending all day with Belle, he heard his phone chime, Snow asking how the house search went.

He frowned staring at Snow's comment 'Not what I meant', he didn't understand what she could possibly mean unless... unless... no, that's impossible, he was subtle about liking, loving, Belle, there was no way she could guess let alone know... No, Snow must have meant something else, he just didn't know what.