#*trying to flirt with a fictional character* hey hot stuff can we date so i can observe how this affects your psyche

[toxic-coffeeshipper]

being an aro-spec self shipper has been rather funny because like. yeah i am self shipping cause hes beautiful and i want to kiss him nasty style, but im also more compelled by our dynamic. im treating this a little bit like actual shipping as if it didnt involve me. i think if you put us in a house together, we would form a very compelling and interesting narrative! i could foil and compliment his personality so well he gets another story arc. yknow? which is undoubtedly hysterically very aro-spec of me

[waitimcomingtoo]

This is Me Trying

Part one and two

Pairing: Peter Parker x Reader enemies to lovers!

Synopsis: it’s time for secrets to come out

Masterlist

“How’s the project coming along?” You asked as you laid your head in Peter’s lap. You were in his room, like you always were, a month after you officially started dating.

“Just about done.” He answered you. “I made the periods bigger so we’d hit the maximum page length.”

“Ooo.” You snickered. “What a bad boy.”

“I’m really not.” He chuckled and began to play with your hair. “This is the most incriminating thing I’ve done all year.”

“I wouldn’t mind if you were.” You shrugged. “I like bad boys.”

“Do you?”

“Yeah. Remember that guy that like died in the war but then came back to life as an assassin? From a few years ago?” You asked as you looked up at him.

“The Winter Soldier?” Peter wondered.

“Yeah. Him.” You nodded. “I wanted to fuck him.”

The bluntness in your tone knocked the wind out of Peter’s chest. Nothing could have prepared him for what you had just said. You were too busy laughing to notice how shaken he was.

“W-what?” He stuttered as you sat up.

“I don’t know.” You laughed. “Like, I knew he was a murderer but I was into it. I wanted to spread him on a cracker.”

Peter pouted and folded his arms, his jealously getting the better of him.

“He’s not as strong as he looks, you know.” Peter got defensive. “And his hair is super greasy. It’s like a freaking slip and slide up there.”

“Hm. That’s a problem for me. I’m more into curls.” You smiled as you ran your fingers through his hair. “And how would you know how strong he is?”

Peter gulped, realizing he had said a little too much. Spider-Man knew how strong Bucky was, but you didn’t know about that.

“I don’t.” He lied. “I’m just assuming.”

“You don’t think he’s strong with that metal arm?” You asked as you pulled up a picture of him on your phone. “His biceps are like the size of my head.”

“They’re only bigger than mine because he’s older. A lot older.” Peter insisted. “Like, he’s geriatric.”

“Oh my God. Look at him!” You ignored Peter’s comment and showed him a picture of Bucky. “I want to suck on his thighs.”

“Ew.” Peter whined. “He’s like 400 years old.”

“So what you’re telling me is he’s experienced.” You raised your eyebrows suggestively. Peter let out an angry huff, jealousy bubbling in his stomach.

“Gross.” He groaned. “Why are you saying this in front of me? I’m your boyfriend. Not him.”

“I’m just kidding, Pete.” You chuckled and cupped his chin. “Plus, he’s basically a fictional character to us. It’s not like he’s some guy we know.”

Peter looked to the side, hating when he had to lie to you. Bucky was someone he knew personally, but you didn’t know that.

“Hm.” Peter mumbled quietly. You noticed Peter’s expression and climbed into lab, straddling his hips.

“Hey, I’m sorry.” You cupped his face and rubbed your nose against his. “I didn’t mean to make you all pouty. I’m only kidding about the Summer Soldier.”

“Winter Soldier.” Peter halfheartedly corrected you.

“Winter Soldier. See?” You shrugged. “I don’t even know his name.”

“You still said you would fuck him, though.” Peter pouted as he looked down at his lap.

“I said I wanted to. Past tense.” You corrected. “I had crush on him when I was like 14. I don’t even think of him or his thunder thighs anymore.”

“I have a hard time believing that.” Peter grumbled. You could tell he was still jealous so you pulled him in for a long kiss.

“It’s true. I only have eyes for you, Pete.” You whispered once you pulled away. He cracked a smile before rolling his eyes at you.

“Right.” He said sarcastically. “Just me and the murderer you want in your pants.”

“Come on.” You whined when he didn’t let up. “Can you even blame me? He works with the Avengers. You have to admit, that’s hot.”

Peter stopped pouting when he heard this. He may not be able to be the kind of bad boy you liked, but he was an Avenger.

“You really think that’s hot?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Duh.” You stated. “Don’t you like the Avengers?”

“Most of them.” He nodded. “But not Bucky.”

“Who’s Bucky?” You asked.

“Sorry.” He shook his head. “The Winter Soldier.”

“Why did you call him Bucky?” You laughed in confusion. You had no idea who James “Bucky” Barnes was. Unlike Peter, who sat across from him at dinner a week before.

“That’s his nickname.” Peter explained without thinking it through.

“I didn’t realize you and the Winter Soldier were on a nickname basis.” You teased. “What does he call you?”

“He doesn’t really talk to me.” Peter shrugged. “He’s really quiet, except when he’s with Cap.”

You sat back suddenly, looking at Peter like he was crazy. He was forgetting who his audience was and how you knew nothing of his double life.

“What?” Peter asked when he saw your face.

“Bucky? Cap?” You repeated his words. “Who are these people? What the hell are you talking about?”

“Bucky goes by, well, Bucky. And most of us call Steve, Cap.” Peter explained. “Well, except for Mr. Stark. He calls him Blondie most of the time.”

“So you’re hanging out with the avengers now?” You raised a skeptical eyebrow.

“Well, yeah, when when I’m…” Peter trailed off when he realized his mistake.

“When you’re what?” You asked. Peter knew he backed himself into a corner here. He didn’t want to lie to you anymore, so he figured it was time to tell you the truth. Not that he has much of a choice.

“I have something to tell you.” He stated. “It’s kinda important.”

“Okay.” You nodded and held his hand. “What’s up?”

“Don’t freak out, okay?” He prefaced. “It’s not as crazy as it sounds.”

“Oh.” You gasped. “Are you gay?”

“What? No.” Peter answered immediately. “Why was that your first guess?”

“Well my first guess was steroids but I know how you feel about that.” You mumbled out of the corner of your mouth.

“It’s neither of those things. I’ve Uh…I’ve been bitten.” Peter began, not sure how else to phrase it. You smiled a little, thinking he was flirting.

“So have I.” You mumbled as you brought his hand to your lips to kiss the back of it.

“No. Not like that.” He waved his hand and your face fell. “I mean, yes like that. But that’s not what I’m talking about right now.”

“Then what is it, Peter?”

“They do a lot of experimental science at Oscorp. Genetic mutations, stuff like that.” He explained, beating around the bush.

“Why are we talking about Oscorp?” You wondered.

“I broke into one of the labs freshman year.” He explained. “I was trying to figure out some equation my father was working on.”

“Okay.” You said skeptically.

“I ended up in this weird room with all these modified spiders and one bit me. Right here.” He showed you his knuckles, which had a tiny scar on the center. You took his hand and examined the scar closer.

“What is this leading to?”

“After I was bitten, I could do all these things I couldn’t do before.” He told you. “I could climb walls, lift buses, and you know, my biceps grew.”

“You’re telling me a spider bite gave you muscles?”

“I’m telling you that I’m Spider-Man.” He said finally, making the room go silent. It was his first time telling a person on purpose, so it meant a lot to him. Your expression changed from skeptical to serious as you dropped his hand. You reached forward slowly and touched his face, staring at him like you were seeing him for the first time.

“Oh my God.” You whispered. “Peter, you’re…”

He put his hand over yours when you trailed off, anticipating the end of your sentence. Suddenly, you pushed his face away with a smirk.

“Full of shit.” You finished. “You are so full of shit. You almost had me.”

“I’m not.” Peter insisted. “I am Spiderman. I swear.”

“Peter. Be serious.” You whined as you got off his bed. “I thought you had something real to tell me.”

“I am being serious.” He told you. “This is the truth.”

“This is the truth.” You mimicked his voiced, like you used to. “Why would I believe that? Because you called the Fall Fighter by his nickname? Please.”

Peter was starting to grow frustrated. He always feared someone would find out his secret and he’s have to beg them not to tell. He never imagined he’d be sitting in front of his girlfriend, trying to convince her he was Spiderman.

“I know Bucky’s nickname because I know him.” Peter explained as he got off his bed. “It’s the same reason I know how strong he isn’t. He tried to punch me once and I caught his fist before he could. And that thing is made of vibranium. My hand hurt for a week.”

“I don’t get it.” You shrugged. “I don’t get the joke.”

“It’s not a joke. I really am Spiderman.” He insisted. “Mr. Stark recruited me back in 2016 to help him fight Captain America at an airport in Germany.”

“Yeah.” You nodded. “And I killed Princess Diana. I killed her and framed John-“

Peter grabbed your face and kissed you to shut you up, not wanting to hear your jokes when he was trying to tell you the biggest secret of his life.

“Can you shut up for a second?” He asked sweetly when he pulled away. “I’m trying to talk to you about something important. And we both know who really killed her.”

“No you’re not.” You snorted. “You’re trying to mess with me.”

“I’m telling you the truth.” He whined. “Why won’t you believe me?”

“Because you’re saying ridiculous things.” You chuckled as you walked over to your phone, which had been resting on his desk.

“May’s asking what we want for dinner.” You read her text off your screen. “Do you want Chinese again or-“

Before you could finish your sentence, Peter shot a web at your waist and pulled you towards him. You stumbled into his arms before looking down in confusion. You saw the web attached to your hip and tugged at it, but it didn’t come off. You looked at Peter with wide eyes for some answers.

“What the fuck?” You whispered harshly as you yanked on the web.

“Do you believe me now?” He asked as he held up his wrist. You saw the web shooter he had slipped on and touched it carefully. Between the web on your hip and his crazy story, you had no choice but to believe him.

“Well now I’m just embarrassed.” You mumbled sheepishly. “I was pretty sure I was right.”

“I told you you’d have to get used to be being right.” Peter smirked as he helped pull the web off of you. You put your hands on your hips and sighed loudly as you processes the information.

“Okay, wait.” You began. “How have you been Spider-Man this whole time? I’ve seen you fall up the stairs.”

“It’s different when I have the suit on.” He told you. “It gives me confidence.”

“Can I see it?” You asked, a childlike smile on your lips.

“The suit? Sure.” Peter went to his closet and pulled it out of his hiding spot. He brought it over to you, noticing your awestruck expression and smiling.

“Wow.” You whispered as you stared at the folded suit. “Can I touch it?”

“Go ahead.” He smiled, loving how impressed you were. He watched you fondly as you carefully ran your fingertips along the suit, tracing all the lines and details.

“It feels like a football.” You commented, making him laugh.

“Yeah.” He agreed. “I’m not sure what material it is. Mr. Stark made it for me.”

“Tony Stark made this for you?” You gasped.

“Yeah.” He nodded. “A few years ago.”

“Is that when he recruited you?” You wondered. “For Germany?”

“Is it. You listened.” He smiled happily when you remembered little details he had told you.

“Well I can’t tune you out anymore if you’re my boyfriend.” You winked at him before returning your attention to the suit. He blushed a little, appreciating how far you’ve come in your relationship.

“Can you put it on for me?” You asked suddenly as you looked up at him. Peter didn’t expect this reaction, especially not this request.

“Really? You want me to put it on?” He smiled shyly.

“Please?” Your eyes lit up. “I want to see you in it.”

“Okay.” He nodded as he tried to hide his excitement. “I’ll go put it on.”

Peter went into his bathroom and slipped into the suit. He didn’t know why he was as excited as he was to show you. Maybe because you hadn’t caught him in the suit like May and Ned had. He told you his secret willingly, and you asked to know more.

“Are you ready?” You called from the other side of the door. “I feel like I’m waiting to see you walk down the aisle.”

“I’m ready.” He called back as he pressed the center of the suit so it tightened against his skin. He gave himself one last look in the mirror before going back to his bedroom.

“Here it is.” He said sheepishly as he walked towards you. “What do you think?”

Your jaw dropped a little when you saw him. He seemed taller, but you realized it was just because he wasn’t slouching. In his suit, he looked more confident then you had ever seen him. He looked like a hero, and it brought a smile to your face.

“Holy shit.” You whispered as you walked closer to him. You reached forward to touch him, but quickly moved withdrew your hand.

“Are you scared?” He worried when he saw you pull away.

“No. Not of you.” You assured him. “But sometimes I find random glitter on my hands and I’m scared of getting anything on the suit.”

Peter chuckled at your reasoning and picked up your hand.

“It’s okay. You can touch me.” He whispered as he put his hand on his chest. Your eyebrows went up when you felt his warmth through the suit.

“Wow.” You smiled softly. “I didn’t think I’d be able to feel your heartbeat through it”.

“Well you make it beat pretty fast.” He told you as he put his hand over yours.

“Wait.” You pulled away a little. “If you’re Spider-Man, does that mean…”

“Yes?” Peter asked when you trailed off.

“You can set me up with Bucky.” You finished your sentence. “Do you have his number? Tell him I want to wash his hair.”

Peter let out a loud groan, not finding your joke funny. You laughed and tried to pull him back to you, but he kept pulling away.

“I’m kidding. I’m kidding. Come back.” You laughed and tugged on his arm. “Come here. I love you.”

Peter stopped pulling away and froze. When you saw the bewildered look on his face, your smile fell.

“What?” He asked, his voice coming out in a whisper. That shit eating grin you used to hate broke through, lighting up his features. You tried not to let your shock show as you realized what you had said.

“Hm?” You pretended not to understand. “What?”

“What did you just say?” Peter again, now unsure he has heard you correctly.

“I didn’t say anything.” You shrugged, trying to act like you didn’t just tell your boyfriend that you loved him. It’s not that you didn’t mean it, but you didn’t mean to tell him that soon.

“Did you just tell me you loved me?” Peter asked hopefully as he pulled your closer to him.

“Hm. No. Wasn’t me.” You shook your head. “Must have been the wind.”

“My windows are closed.”

“Air conditioning.” You corrected.

“It’s off.”

“Then I don’t know what to tell you. I didn’t tell you I loved you. That would be ridiculous. How could I have fallen in love with the most annoying person on the planet?” You asked, questioning yourself more then him. You didn’t know how you had fallen for Peter in such a short amount of time. Just a few months ago, you couldn’t stand him. Now, you were standing in front of him, hoping he loved you back.

“I ask myself that every time I look at you.” He said, making your breath hitch in your throat.

“Are you saying you love me too?” You asked slowly.

“I thought you didn’t tell me you loved me?” He smirked, always taking a chance to tease you.

“I didn’t.” You lied, but you knew you were caught.

“Damn. That’s a shame.” Peter smiled softly. “Because I love you.”

“Yeah.” You smiled back once he confessed his feelings. “I bet you do, loser.”

Peter laughed at your never ending need to insult him before pulling you into a kiss. You wrapped your arms around his neck to keep him close. You could feel his gloved hands on the bare skin of your waist and shivered. When you pulled away, you kept your foreheads pressed together.

“I never thought it would be you.” You mumbled as you twirled one of his curls around your finger. “I never thought I’d fall in love with you.”

“It surprised me too.” He chuckled. “I’m glad this happened though. You weren’t just who I wanted to be. You were who I wanted to be with.”

“Promise me you’ll be careful.” You whispered. “I don’t ever want to get a call at three am telling me I need to come to the hospital. And I don’t want to start bringing three roses to the cemetery instead of two.”

“Hey, I’m not going anywhere.” He assured you as he held your face between his hands. He wiped your tears away with his gloves hands and kissed your nose. “I would never go anywhere where you couldn’t follow”.

“Ew.” You sniffled as you wiped your eyes.

“Why ew?” He chuckled.

“We’re gross.” You said. “We fell in love and now we’re gross.”

“It’s okay.” He smiled. “I like being gross with you.”

“I’m gonna throw up.” You gagged, making you both laugh.

“You’ll be okay.” He told you, and you believed him.

“Okay, now that we got that conversation out of the way, I have a lot of questions about all of this.” You said as you gestured to his suit.

“Ask me anything.” He said. “I’ll answer.”

“What did you wear before this?” You wondered. “I saw Spider-Man sightings on the news before 2016.”

Peter went to his closet and pulled out his original Spider-Man suit, the makeshift hoodie he used to wear.

“This. I made it myself.” He said as he handed it to you.

“No kidding.” You teased as you took it from him. “Did you sew this with your feet?”

“It was the best I could do.” He rolled his eyes. “I’m so lucky he made me a real suit. This one was not very protective.”

“Actually, I kind of like it.” You smiled as you held it up. It had bullet holes and tears everywhere. “It shows where you’ve been. And how far you’ve come.”

“I like your way of looking at it.” He smiled. “It’s yours, if you like it so much. I don’t need it anymore.”

“Why don’t you tell people that its you? This would make you famous. Like, Tony Stark famous.” You said as you put the hoodie on. “Don’t you want that? You know, since you’re such a loser at school.”

“Very funny”. He narrowed his eyes at you. “And no, actually. I’m safer this way. Plus, the bad guys can’t tell if I’m scared with the mask on. And it’s fun to have a secret. It gives me an edge.”

“Wow. I did not think me telling you I wanted to fuck the Winter Soldier would lead to all of this.” You poked fun at the situation.

“Me either but I’m glad it did.” He remarked. “I’m happy that you know. And I’m happy that you love me.”

“Well don’t make a big deal out of it.” You mumbled. “It’s embarrassing.”

“Don’t be embarrassed.” He laughed. “This is exciting. It’s all exciting.”

“We get it.” You teased as you wrapped your arms around his neck. “You’re an Avenger, I’m in love with you, yada yada. It’s not that big of a deal.”

“It’s the hugest deal.” He insisted. “I want you to meet them. Come meet my team.”

“You want me to meet the Avengers?” You gulped.

“Yeah. I’m supposed to stop by the tower later for a meeting. Why don’t you come with me? This is one of the rare days where everyone is in the tower.”

“Are you sure about this?” You asked him. “What if they don’t like me?”

“They probably won’t.” He said simply. “Since you’re so irritating and everything.”

“Shut up.” You shoved him playfully. “I’m serious. This is way more intimidating than meeting someone’s parents.”

“Don’t be scared. I’ll be holding your hand the entire time.” He said as he kissed your knuckles. “And they’re way less intimidating than they seem. I promise, you’ll be fine.”

“Okay.” You reluctantly agreed. “I’ll meet them. But if I see Bucket, I can’t promise I’ll be able to control my hormones.”

“It’s Bucky.” He corrected. “And I’ll know if you’re getting too, you know, hot and bothered.”

“How would you know?” You asked, and his face flushed.

“Well, one of the powers I got was super smell. I can smell when people are scared or happy or…” He trialed off, too much or a gentleman to say the word.

“Horny?” You asked with a dropped jaw. “You can smell when people are horny?”

“I prefer the term aroused.” He said sheepishly, making you laugh loudly.

“Oh my God. What a pervert.” You teased him.

“It’s not my fault!” He was flustered now. “I didn’t ask for this power.”

“Wait.” You realized. “Can you smell when I’m aroused?”

Peter didn’t answer, but his silence spoke volumes. Your jaw dropped as you playfully smacked him.

“You pervert!” You painfully scolded. “You could smell that and never told me?”

“It’s my my fault.” He whined. “Not all the time, anyway.”

“So when is it your fault?” You folded your arms and he gulped.

“It’s only my fault when I purposefully wear that one white shirt.” He said quietly. “Whenever I’m wearing it, I can always, you know...”

“Smell me?” You nearly screamed. “You wear that shirt just to get a rise out of me? You little slut.”

“I’m not a slut.” Peter laughed. “I could just smell how much you liked it, so I started wearing it more. And in the name of being honest, I can smell you right now.”

“Oh my God. You whore. You little minx.” You taunted playfully. “Using your body for attention like that. What a dirty little slut.”

“I’m not dirty or a slut.” Peter insisted. “You’re the one who gets worked up over a t shirt.”

“Excuse me?” You let out a shocked laugh. “Don’t turn this around on me, mister. I can’t control how I react to your erotic clothing. Especially when you’re the one who can’t even form a sentence around me when I wear that one red skirt.”

“Erotic?” He shot back. “It’s literally a $5 shirt from Target. It’s shapeless. And that skirt could not be shorter. I can literally see your ovaries in it.”

“You give it shape with your stupid spider muscles.” You said as you pointed an accusing finger at him.

“Oh my God.” He gasped. “You’re thinking about the shirt now, aren’t you?”

“No I’m not.” You said quickly.

“Really?” He cocked his head. “Smells like you are.”

Before you could respond, and you had a lot to say, Peter’s phone buzzed.

“It’s Mr. Stark.” He told you. “He said I should come now.”

“We’re finishing this conversation later.” You said as you grabbed your phone. “You’re still in trouble.”

“Whatever you say.” Peter chuckled as he lead you out the door. You thought you were going to the elevator, but Peter brought you to the staircase.

“I don’t walk there.” He said as he lead you up the stairs. He opened the door to the roof and gestured to the edge. “I swing.”

The next thing you knew, you were swinging towards the Avengers tower in Peter’s arms. You held on tightly to him as you tried not to scream in his ear. He was loving how he finally got to show someone what his life was like while you were fearing for your life. Finally, you landed on the balcony of the tower and Peter set you down.

“So?” He asked excitedly. “Did you have fun?”

“You tell me. Can’t you smell my excitement?” You jeered as you caught your breath. Peter knew you weren’t going to drop that for a long time. He took his mask off and lead you inside, not wanting to tell you that he could smell how scared you were.

Finally, he brought you to the conference room where the rest of the Avengers were. Their causal chatter came to a stop when you walked in together and all eyes were on you.

“Hey everyone.” Peter said shyly. “This is my girlfriend, Y/n. Shes gonna sit in on the meeting today.”

“Y/n?” Nat jumped in immediately. “The one who’s hair you used to stick gum in when you were little?”

“I thought Y/n was the girl who filled your locker with extra small condoms and the filmed you when they all fell out.” Sam chuckled, giving you an impressed smile.

“No, wait.” Bruce cut in. “I thought she was the one who started the rumor that Peter didn’t know how to swim.”

“You’re all wrong.” Steve sighed. “Y/n is the one Peter blamed losing the class pet on. Remember? The little rat escaped and he told the class it was her fault.”

“It was a hamster.” Peter cringed. “And it was my fault. Sorry about that.”

“I love you, but I will never forgive you for that.” You smiled softly as you stroked his cheek with your thumb. The team looked at each knowingly at this display of affection.

“Love?” Tony asked as he entered the room. “Are we talking about how much you all love me?”

Tony stopped in his tracks when he saw you standing there. You had forgotten to take off Peter’s original Spider-man hoodie, and it caught Tony off guard. He never thought he’d see that hoodie again, the one that brought him to Peter in the first place. The one he studied and tried to replicate when he made Peter a new suit. The corners of his mouth turned down as he appreciated how much Peter had grown.

“Oh. I see Peter brought a friend.” Tony remarked. “Please, make yourself at home in our top secret facility that no one unauthorized personnel is supposed to enter.”

“Mr. Stark, this is my girlfriend Y/n.” Peter introduced you. You held out your hand for Tony to shake, and he did so without taking his eyes off of you.

“Y/n?” He asked. “The one-“

“Yeah. Probably.” You nodded, making him laugh.

“Nice to meet you, Y/n.” He said as he straightened himself out. “You’re welcome to sit in on the meeting. But if you make any noise, you will be taken out by a sniper.”

“He’s kidding.” Peter whispered to you, but he wasn’t entirely sure. Peter took a seat and you sat on his lap, making him fight back a smile. He was now at an Avengers meeting with his former enemy sitting on his lap, wearing his clothes.

“Thank you, sir.” You smiled at him. “It’s nice to meet you too. All of you. I appreciate everything you guys have done for the world. You’re all really brave.”

“Your boyfriend is pretty brave too.” Steve commented. “He surprises me everytime we work together.”

“I was surprised too.” You agreed. “I didn’t think the biggest loser I knew was protecting Queens.”

Everyone raised their eyebrows at your subtle jab at Peter and it suddenly made sense why the girl he’d been complaint about all these years had the same name as his girlfriend.

“You let her talk to you like that?” Sam teased.

“She can say whatever she wants.” Peter shrugged. “And she does. Do you know how hard it is to get her to stop talking?”

“Not nearly as hard as it is to get you to clean up after yourself, put the toilet seat down, or show up on time for dates.” You replied with a cheery smile. Peter smiled back and took the loss, not wanting to get into it in front of his team. He turned back to Tony and gave him his full attention as the meeting began. You stayed quiet on Peter’s lap as the team discussed their next mission and who would be covering what territory. You made a small noise when Tony gave Peter his assignment, making everyone look at you.

“Whats the matter?” Peter asked as he bounced you a little on his knee.

“I just didn’t realize you were such an important part of the team.” You said. Peter had a big role that required a lot more responsibility than you thought he was capable of. He didn’t seem worried in the slightest, which told you he was used to this much responsibility. Something about Peter’s ambition and ability to take on Avenger level tasks for very appealing to you.

So appealing, in fact, that Peter noticed.

“Hm.” Peter said and he sniffed the air. You folded your lips in, knowing exactly what he was doing. The rest of the team had no idea what was happening, but you knew Peter was trying to get a rise out of you.

“What’s wrong?” Nat took the bait. You pinched Peter’s leg under the table as he took another loud whiff.

“Nothing.” Peter smirked. “It just smells funny in here.”

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[julia-highstorms]

Closer: Part One (Bryce x Rei (F!MC))

Summary: Rei Sato has been crushing hard on a certain surgical intern...

Author’s note: I’m very excited to write about my MC, Rei Sato. Not only because I made her Tom’s cousin and older sister figure, but because she’s different from the type of character I usually write: they mostly are confident and bold. Rei is… just a nervous mess (a little bit like her lil cousin lol). She puts too much pressure on herself, doubts if she’s good enough and is a workaholic. This is a two parts fanfic and it takes place between chapters 5 and 6.

Disclaimer: Characters belong to Pixelberry Studios.

Song: Closer - Tegan and Sara

Rating: PG-13

Pairing: Bryce x F!MC (Rei Sato)

Word count: 2700

All I wanna get it a little bit closer

All I wanna know is, can you come a little closer?

“Ugh, I can’t believe those butchers are already here. It almost feels like this is the only bar in town.” - Jackie commented as soon as they entered the ever dingy and packed Donahue's. The surgical interns were already playing darts with their drinks in hands.

It was a Thursday night, Rei was accompanied by her roommates and all the medical interns had just finished their latest fourteen-hour long shift. They were all feeling pretty tired, but also feeling like celebrating. They had survived another endless shift, they deserved it.

“Well, this is the nearest bar of the hospital…” - Landry murmured. Indeed, it was just down the hospital's street.

The group immediately headed to their favorite booth. After two weeks being regular customers there, they were already feeling like the booths area belonged to the internal medicine interns. Rei's eyes immediately landed on a figure on the other side of the bar. He was playing games with the other surgical interns, as usual.

"Okay, whose turn is it to get the drinks? Is it yours, Rei?" - she snapped out of her trance as she heard Sienna talking to her by her side.

"Is it? Okay." - her friends cheered as Rei headed to the bar and asked for a round of tequila for them.

She hummed to the song that played in the crowded bar as she waited for her drinks, when someone approached her, followed by a voice she knew almost too well by know.

“Fancy meeting you here.” - even before she turned to look back at him, Rei knew he had that characteristic cocky smirk on his face. Bryce’s playful dark eyes found hers. - “Feeling better?” - he asked in a lower volume, his usual confidence replaced by a quick mask of concern.

“Yeah.” - she murmured back, unable to prevent her cheeks from getting hot. Dammit, she knew she was blushing. - “Uh, thanks for checking upon me.” - she said, referring to what happened earlier that day.

“No problem. I’m a doctor. It kind of is my job to know if people are doing okay.” - but before Rei had a chance to reply anything back, Bryce's colleagues called for him; it was his turn on the game. - "Coming!" - he grabbed the gin tonic the barman gave him and turned to her: - "Guess this is my cue. Talk to you more later?"

"Yeah." - she smiled coyly to his wink and he walked away.

She couldn't contain a frustrated sigh as the barman handed her the tequila shots.

Rei Sato's been gathering up enough courage to ask Bryce Lahela out. But whenever she found herself alone with him - something that would happen quite frequently, based on all the times they had made out in that supply closet already -, the words just seemed to not come out of her mouth. As if she suddenly had lost her ability to speak.

At the same time that he would instantly put her at ease with that laidback, easygoing and overly confident personality, he made her that nervous.

Rei returned to her booth and her friends swung back the drinks at once.

“Ugh, will this thing ever start tasting better?” - Landry asked with a scowl as he put his empty shot glass back onto the table.

“It gets after a few more shots, Olsen.” - Jackie chuckled, as an upbeat pop song started playing.

“That’s my jam! Who cares to join me?”

“Let’s do this, Greene.” - Jackie got out of the booth and guided Elijah’s wheelchair toward the dance floor.

“Uh, the drinks are already making effect. Excuse me, girls.” - Landry said and headed towards the men’s restroom.

As soon as they found themselves alone in the booth, Sienna leaned closer to Rei’s side:

“You should ask him out!” - she clapped her hands together, whispering conspiratory to her friend. Rei almost choked on her drink.

“Ask whom?”

“Don’t try to fool me, Sato! Bryce Lahela! I saw you two chatting at the bar! There is something going on, I can sense it.”

Oh my god, what she was going to do? She couldn’t let any of her roommates know that she crushed on him that hard.

“Me? Asking someone out? Did you take one of your patients medicines?” - Rei said instead.

“I’m serious, Rei! What’s the problem? You clearly are interested in him.”

“Oh god, is it that obvious that I’m attracted to him?” - Rei hid her face behind her hands, casting a quick glance to where Bryce was with his friends.

Sienna giggled.

“Well, yeah. But don’t worry, it’s reciprocated.”

“How can you be so sure about it?”

“Because I know.” - Rei rolled her eyes to her friend’s vague answer.

“I…” - she looked down to her hands fidgeting nervously on her lap. - “Well, I guess we kind of already had a date. I mean, he invited me to this concert after a shift last week.”

“Oh! Really?” - Sienna shuffled excitedly on her seat. - “And what happened?”

“We enjoyed it.” - Rei’s cheeks turned a shade pinker. - “We danced… got some drinks… kissed...” - her friend let out a squeal. - “It was good.” - a small smile turned her mouth upwards. - “He even accompanied me back home, but then I had to run back to the hospital…” - she frowned as she remembered what happened afterwards. Dolores Hudson. Little Ethan.

“Well, but you clearly enjoyed it! And, based on what you told me about what happened today, I’m pretty sure he cares for you, Rei. So, what’s the problem? You two had already made out a few many times in the supply closet, I know.” - the petite woman winked playfully to her friend, who groaned in embarrassment.

“But… it’s different. I mean, asking him on a date.” - her face went pale. - “I’ll have to flirt. Oh god.”

“Hm, yeah? This is basically what you do on a date? Why? What’s the problem?”

The problem was that Rei Sato had never been a great flirt. In fact, she kind of sucked at it.

Okay, she totally sucked at it.

She never knew what to say. What to do. Even when people flirted with her. “Was that glance a ‘hey, you seem nice, let’s talk’ type of glance of a ‘hey, you’re hot, let’s take our clothes off now’ one?". She never knew what they meant.

She had a few crushes growing up, but they never became anything more, and it never bothered her, really. She could count on one hand how many people she made out with in her whole life. And god knew how many times she had sex too: twice. And the first time was awful; they were both drunk and did it on a stall in a nightclub. Oh god, even remembering it made her cringe so hard. The second time was a bit better. They had privacy and were on a comfy bed. But he was her best friend. Things turned strange after it. And then they weren’t best friends anymore. Not even friends.

Anyway, to be honest, Rei Sato never cared much about it. About love and sex and that kind of stuff. Just thinking about it kind of made her nervous. She didn’t care anymore that she was 27 years old and had kissed only four people her whole life and had sex a couple of times. There was just one event here and there that she would look at someone and think ‘wow, this person is hot, I wouldn’t mind if they tore my clothes off’. It happened so sporadically that she just accepted that it was her nature and the way she was.

After she accepted it, things turned so much easier. She could finally stop creating fictional partners. She didn’t have to pretend she had fake crushes anymore.

It was handy that she didn’t have time for it too. Her life was entirely focused on saving other people’s lives. Rei always knew, since she was a little girl, that she wanted to be a doctor. It was her dream, her destiny, her goal, her wish, her everything.

But boy, oh boy, it wasn’t easy. There were times that she had almost given up. And, even though she apparently was a capable doctor - she still was an intern, but either way -, based on her impeccable report, Rei Sato still doubted herself, every single minute. Although she had always been one of the best students of her schools, Rei lacked confidence. What if she wasn’t good enough? What if she put some of her patients’ lives in danger again? What if one of her patients… died because of her inexperience?

And then, she started her internship at Edenbrook Hospital. Under her personal hero, Dr. Ethan Ramsey’s guidance. And with a bunch more of super capable and super confident - and super intimidating - interns. And everything felt like a competition; the majority of the other interns were always comparing between themselves who picked the toughest cases, who had treated the most patients. There were days when Rei felt like the job’s pressure and all that harshness between the hospital staff were so intense they were going to crush her.

...And today was one of those days. That made her want to throw it all away and fly back to Oregon, to her family.

The pressure was maddening.

...Rei'd never been a quitter. She had endured everything until now firmly and had never given up. She wasn't going to start doing that now.

...But she had to take a little break.

She walked down the hallway in a quick pace and only let out a relieved sigh when she found herself  alone and safe inside the supply closet, closing the door behind her. It wasn’t the ideal place for a break, but that was what she could have. A bit of fresh air would be nice, but she couldn’t leave the hospital, even for a couple minutes on the parking lot. What if one of her patients needed her? She had to stay inside that maze - she’d been working there for weeks now, but she still got lost - to know in case she was needed.

The intern took a few deep breaths, calming herself.

She knew it was going to be like that. She knew it wasn’t going to be easy. Then, why she just kept having breakdowns regularly?

...She was pathetic. She had to change. She had to stop whining and do something. If she really wanted to be a doctor, she had to become tougher--

“I knew I’d find you here.” - his voice sounded both calm and confident. Even before she turned to face him, she knew he was smirking.

Bryce Lahela always had that cocky smirk on his face.

“Yeah…” - she murmured, turning her face away and staring at a blind spot on the floor.

He calmly sat down by her side.

“You okay?” - the tone of his voice was low and genuine. And she somehow knew he was asking it because he truly cared, not just because he was just being polite.

“I’ll be.”

“Tough day, huh?”

“Yeah.” - they stayed in there, in the dark and tight supply closet, in silence, for a few minutes.

Bryce didn't force her to open up. He never did; he would just sit there and… wait. Until she opened up to him. It was always like that.

Eventually, she finally found the words to tell him what happened, as usual:

“Today… Ethan Hudson was taken.”

“The preeclampsia patient’s baby?” - she nodded to his question.

“Dolores… both her parents are gone and she didn’t have any siblings… and the kid’s father is out of scene. After a week in NIUC, he was finally discharged today and an adoption social worker came to take him. I’m glad that he’s alive and healthy, but…” - her frown deepened. - “He’s all alone. He’ll never get to grow up with the love of his mom… It’s not fair…” - she cut short in sobs.

"Hey, hey, hey." - Rei felt one of his strong arms around her shoulders, pulling her closer. Bryce didn't seem to care that her tears wetted his uniform. - "It's okay. He's going to be okay."

She sobbed for a few minutes, letting it all out, Bryce patiently rubbing her back up and down with his warm hand in a comforting move.

“And how are things with Dr. Ramsey, by the way?” - Bryce asked when she finally calmed down. He knew Rei had a rough start with the more experienced doctor.

“It’s getting better.” - she answered, wiping her tears off. - “He’s a good mentor.”

“I heard about this competition between the medical interns to know who’ll be Dr. Ramsey’s junior fellow in the diagnostics team.” - she nodded, with her forehead still laying on her knees. - “It must be feeling like a war zone between you.”

“You have no idea.” - she let out a heavy sigh. - “Everybody is this close to get into each other’s throats. People are working like crazy, competing to see who’s attending the more patients and all. I’ll be honest, it would be a great opportunity become Dr. Ramsey’s junior. But… I don’t know. I wish we didn’t have to fight like this. We should be helping curing people because that’s our profession, not because we want a promotion.”

“You’re one of a kind, Rei.” - Bryce murmured softly, and the woman immediately felt her cheeks flushing. Thankfully, it was dark in there and he couldn’t see her face. Well, that was what she hoped. - “And you know, it’s never too late to switch to the surgical interns team.”

Rei Sato laughed for the first time that day. She lifted her head and looked at him.

“Why are you always trying to get me to switch sides, Lahela? I’m not leaving internal medicine. If Jackie hear this, you bet she’ll beat you—”

“Maybe because I want to see you more frequently.” - he said softly, and Rei shut her mouth immediately. He had a serious expression on his face. Unconsciously, she held her breath when his hand brushed a strand of hair off her face.

Their faces were just inches apart when they suddenly heard the P.A. System’s voice echoing through the building. It was for none of them.

She immediately pulled out, her heart beating fast. The mood was gone.

Rei felt her face getting hotter by the memory of Bryce's face just inches from hers that afternoon, his big and warm hand cupping her face.

“You’re kidding me. You like that surfer bro?” - Jackie’s words immediately hit her.

Yes, she liked him. A lot.

There was something about that "scalpel jockey" - like Jackie would call him - that drew her to him. His dark, playful and magnetic eyes. That smirk… that at times would make her want to punch him and others kiss him until her head got dizzy. And god, that hair… And he was so ridiculously hot too.

But it wasn't just physical. She really liked his personality. She greatly admired that cocky and carefree attitude of his. She wished she had all that confidence and spontaneity.

She was so drunk on him. She was falling for Bryce Lahela.

It's not just all physical

I'm the type who won't get oh so critical

So let's make things physical

I won't treat you like you're oh so typical

“Oh I know! You could invite him to our apartment’s housewarming party on Saturday night!” - Sienna clasped her hands together, bringing Rei back. Uh, for how long she'd been zoning out?

“That… that would be nice. If he could go, I mean.” - Rei murmured and her friend nodded, with a satisfying grin.

“It’s settled! Now go talk to him!”

Rei looked down to the table, her eyes resting on the last tequila shot left untouched. Maybe she should have one more shot to boost her self-esteem. Just in case.

She drank the tequila in one swing - there, that should be enough - and left the booth she was sharing with Sienna and walked decisively towards the surgical interns, under her friend’s shouts of encouragement, with renewed confidence.

You got this, Rei.

I want you close, I want you

I won't treat you like you're typical

Tagging: @brightpinkpeppercorn @pixelburied @nyastarlight @endlessflame @awkwardalbatros @choicesarehard @strangelycami @stillafictosexual @queen-among-writers @indiacater @worldofchoices @radlovedreamer @fairydustandsarcasm @choicesthot @blackreddish @lilyofchoices (if you would like to be tagged in upcoming Bryce x MC fanfics, tell me!)

[iliketowrite1996]

Drive-in’s, Donuts, Detangling and Dates

So, I got inspired while I was doing my hair. I am a fresh natural, and I have been struggling with my confidence a bit as I am not use to wearing my hair in my afro. Plus, when I would take my braids down, I would also imagine cute scenarios where my celebrity crush would help me take them down lol. SO, this was born! I have a crush on Tom Holland, so I figured I’d try writing for Spider-Man. Hope you like it.

It is a well known fact n your friend group that you like classic movies. You’d watch many of them, spend your Friday and Saturday’s watching them as you did miscellaneous other things, such as homework, cleaning, or doing your hair. Your roommate, Michelle ‘’MJ’ Jones is agreeable, because she likes having them play in the background while she reads silently.

    It’s become a bit of a tradition with you to spend your Saturday with her, you doing your hair and homework and watching the movie.

    So you thought for sure that she’d love to go with you to the classic movie festival this weekend.

    ‘’I would, but I can’t. I’m going to be visiting some family that’s in town this weekend. You’re more than welcome to come along,’’ she shrugs as she packs her backpack for her weekend trip.

    ‘’Thanks, but no thanks. Have a good time with your family,’’ you sit on your own dorm bed a she packs the last of her stuff, heading for the door.

    ‘’I’ll be back before you have the chance to miss me,’’ she assures you, opening the door.

    To both of your surprise, Peter Parker is standing on the other side, a book in his hands.

    You’ve only talked to Peter a handful of times, when he’d run int    With it being the middle of your freshman year, you kind of wish you’d talk to him more, but here you are.

    What? He’s cute.

    ‘’Hey, Michelle.’’

    ‘’Later, Parker. Just put the book on my desk,’’ she says before leaving, Peter staring at you with wide open eyes.

    You barely register the fact that he is saying your name because you’re staring at him, trying to figure out what to say.

    ‘’Um, what did you say?’’

    ‘’I asked how your hand is feeling, I saw online that you sprained your wrist and hurt your hand.’’

    You, being you, fell coming out of the blow up obstacle course that h campus had last week as part of Homecoming Week. Know, your hand and wrist are in a cast that will be coming off as soon as it healed/

    ‘’I, um… yeah. It’s my writing hand, so that’s a bit difficult in class while I’m taking notes. But my teacher let me record it o I can stay on top of my work.’’

    ‘’That’s awesome,’’ he nods towards the cast, ‘’Mind if I sign it?’’

    ‘’Don’t you have better things to do with your time,;; you question jokingly, handing him the pink pent that you always keep on your nightstand, ‘’It’s Friday Night.’’

    ‘’Believe it or not, no. Ned is out of town this weekend Shuri is spending the weekend showing her mother and brother around town, Miles is busy prepping for his science tournament next weekend,, Liz is.. She’s with her new boyfriend,’’ he winced as he thinks about his ex and her new relationship, ‘’MJ is out of town,. So… here we are.’’

    He signs elegantly, drawing a smiley face next to ‘’Parker’’ and putting the cap back on the pen.

    ‘’There you are, dear,’’ he says it so easily, and your not sure if you are being flirted with or if he just likes to throw around terms of endearment.

    Either way, it makes your heart flutter.

    And it makes you want to take a chance.

    ‘’Well, Peter… since neither one of us has anything better to do, maybe we can hang out?’’

    This breathtaking smile breaks off across his face then, and it takes everything in you to calm the butterflies that have begun to take flight in your stomach at the sight of it.

    ‘’Sure, Maybe we can go to movie festival drive-in thing? I hear it’s gonna be a real good time.’’

    A man after your own heart.

    ‘’Sounds good! I have a pass for today and tomorrow. I’d hate for them to go to waist.’’

    ‘’A girl after my own heart,’’ he jokes,a s if he can read your mind, ‘’So, I can pick you up at five? I’ll take care of the snacks if you get the drinks??’’

    ‘’Sounds good, Peter.’’

    You play it calm and cool, but inside you are as ecstatic as you could be.

    But Peter Never needs to know about the happy dance you do once the door is closed behind him.

    Four hours later you find on-yourself answering the door to Peter, who has changed form his pajamas into a pair of jeans, some sneakers, and a sweatshirt.

    ‘’Hey,’’ he gestures to you,’’You look lovely.’’

    ‘’’Thank you,’’ you take in your own appearance.

    You’re wearing something similar- sweatpants, sneakers and a sweatshirt that you’re sure Michelle won’t mind you borrowing. The only thing not nice about your appearance?

    Your wet hair.

    Which is why you have a cap covering it.

    ‘’Are you ready to go,’’ he asks, and you nod before closing your door and locking it behind you, your phone, keys and wallet secured in your bag.

    ‘’Let’s go.’’

    The ride across campus is short, and you’re kind of grateful for it,.

    ‘’I hope you like donuts, because I picked up two, twelve count boxes,’’ he tells you, ‘’These can be out movie foods.’’

    He’s pulling into a parking spot as you pull the cinnamon donuts out,’’ Peter, these are my favorite?’’

    ‘’Really,’’ he lets out a breath you didn't even know he was holding, ‘’Good. I kinda didn’t know what you liked so I just got random stuff,’’

    ‘’Not to fear,’’ you pull out the juice boxes, ‘’I bought apple juice.’’

    ‘’Ugh, my dream girl;; he says layfully, but it shoots a spark through your heart.

    Darn it, heart.

    Get it together.

    You’re reaching up to scratch your hair, not remembering you're wearing a cap, when it falls off, exposing your curls and your hair.

    Crap.

    It’s not that you don’t like your natural hair. You live it when you wash it and it curls up. It's just that, with a broken hand, it’s kind of hard to detangle. So, you’d put it into a ponytail, to the best of your ability. And you didn’t bother you lay down your edges, even though you usually always do.

    And Peter’s definitely noticed.

    ‘’Your hair-’’

    ‘’Don’t. Michelle will help me when she gets back, but this is what I’m working with.’’

    ‘’I wasn’t gonna tease you, ‘’ he looks so earnest that you almost feel bad.

    Almost.

    ‘’May I,’’ he reaches a hand towards your hair, and you nod in permission.

    He feels it, his face showing that the is calculating what to say next.

    ‘’’If you want, I can dentangle it for you.’’   

    What?

    ‘’What?’’

    ‘’I can at least try to detangle it,’’ he leans forward picking a comb out of his glove compartment, ‘’Um, I used to help Shuri. She leaves this in my car for the times when we hang out and she doesn't have her braids. It’s just the nature of our friendship.’

    Are you dreaming, or did Peter Parker just offer to detangle your hair for you?

    ‘’I umm.. I’ve watched a few videos on how to do it. Don't tell anyone, because Michelle would literally fight me, but she broke her arm senior year of high school. I helped her out, too.’’

    ‘’So are you an expert then,’’ you suggest, a flirtatious layer to your comment.

    ‘’Not quite. I just like helping people. Saving the day, helping a pretty girl like you…’’

    Which is how you find yourself sitting in Peter Parker’s car, his hands working to detangle your hair as you watch the movie, and munch on donuts.

    ‘’I um… I know you’ve mentioned before that you don’t always like your hair. BUt, even though my opinion doesn't matter, I think it looks nice. It’s very pretty.’’

    You’re grateful that he can’t feel or see the heat radiating from your face at this moment.

    ‘’Thank you,’’ you say, avoiding eye contact, and did it just get hot in here?

    ‘’There you go,’’ Peter  tells you fifteen minutes into the second movie, when he is done.

    ‘’Peter, thank you!,’’ you look in the rearview mirror, admiring the fact that he really just offered to help you, ‘’I have to pay you back.’’

    ‘’No, no. I’m just being your friendly, neighborhood-’’ he cuts himself off abruptly, ‘’Really, it is nothing.’’

    ‘’No, seriously. You saved me time and frustration. You really helped. How can I repay you?’’

    ‘’Well, I know we are at this movie festival today and tomorrow, but… what are you doing next weekend??’’

    You find yourself waltzing into your dorm with a pack of donuts, a leftover juicebox, and detangled hair, with a smile on your face.

    You have a date with Peter Parker next weekend.

    And it all started because of Drive-in movies, donuts, and detangling hair.

Disclaimer- I DO NOT OWN ANY MARVEL CHARACTERS OR THEIR FICTIONAL UNIVERSES. ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO RIGHTFUL AND RESPECTFUL OWNERS.

[dewmie-in]

Episodes I Watch Way Too Closely: 144 - Letters to Lars

Going from Jamie’s big episode in Love Letters, there’s a curious connection between that and the title of a big Dewey-focused episode, Letters to Lars, a few seasons later. A few SEASONS, I say as I collapse. More about this big episode and PLEASE OH PLEASE IF YOU DO NOTHING ELSE READ ABOUT THE WRESTLING SCENE under my read more. And if tumblr is gross to you, read this on A03.

Lars is becoming quite the device for Bill’s character development of all things - the last episode was about Bill not even realizing Lars was missing and ultimately losing his job as mayor. Lars is even pink now - not quite Bill's shade but still - weird parallels between them! Toward the end of the episode, LARS HIMSELF makes a joke about being a storytelling device. Poor Lars! Lars outright asks why Steven sent him a *letter* – a symbol for Jamie. Even Lars is telling us this episode really isn't about him! Love Lars. Gotta get some more Lars in my life. Make a note of that.

Let me recap the episode briefly! Lars is still in space with the Off Colors doing his whole Star Trekky captain's log thing. Suddenly, a letter pops through Lars' head from Steven! Steven talks about the events going on in Beach City through his letter; we see Bill showing up as a common, depressing thread in most of Steven's anecdotes. We finally see a bit of resolution when Steven suggests that Bill start working at the Big Donut. We also see some atonement for Bill's mistake when he doesn't realize who Lars is in Dewey Wins  - naming a donut after Lars and then visiting Lars' parents.

Onto the episode rip-apart! Okay, I already mentioned the little Jamie reference with Lars having a letter pop out of his head. Then, we have an establishing shot of the ocean. Two Jamie symbols! Even before Bill shows up, Jamie is there in some way. Initially, I thought the events happened during the course of a day, but Jamie's improv class is at night – it's the only scene that we see in the episode at night, in fact! More toward that day/night or light/dark theory I have going.

More character symbols! The HAM Sign on the window of the Big Donut looks like a sun - and then Bill, similar in appearance to a walking ham, shows up a minute later.

A lot of this episode deals with how even when his self-absorption has gotten in the way, Bill genuinely wants to help people, be part of things, and ultimately make people happy. Not having that anymore has left him rudderless. Bill has never really been an uplifting kind of guy out of all the characters in the show – he's a mess, really – but this episode was easily one of his saddest. We see him becoming more and more desperate to participate throughout the episode – and becoming more and more unhinged as each attempt fails.

Uh, what is going on with sad men at their wit’s end in this show and half-untucked shirt tails? That’s twice I’ve seen it now – one for Bill and one for Jamie back when he was being a weirdo in Love Letters...

What a couple of dorks.

Interestingly, Bill and Pearl have no interaction this episode – not one line is exchanged between them in the pizza shop scene. If anything, Garnet interacts with Bill more… or at least reacts to him – with a sympathetic little ‘aw’ (I so hope Garnet helps get Bill and Jamie together please oh please) and then whacking him in the head with a tennis ball. Head injuries are always good for character development - well done, Garnet.

Bill could have had another chance to talk to Pearl during the improv scene too, but nothing happens. What is Bill doing trying to participate in the improv class in the first place, anyway? You can tell he's obviously jumped into it last minute out of desperation - no Laugh Guard sweater or anything. You’d think he’d be trying some last-ditch effort to get with Pearl, his big!crush, but no. We see one more token effort to talk to Pearl in one of the background scenes in Reunited and that's it.

Mr. Smiley and Barb are taking an improv class so... that's interesting. Jamie had been doing lots of one-man shows at this point, and he has had trouble getting other people to show up to audition for stuff in the past, so I'm hoping he didn't have to beg people to take this class. It's also the first class we hear of him teaching (but not the first session of the class) so I'm wondering if the community theater might need to start making money. I promised my friends and family I would not write a volume of speculation on the Beach City Arts and Culture operational budget, so I'm going to move on.

To touch on the lack of Bill/Pearl interaction this episode one more time - Pearl actually interacts more with Jamie as a heckler, even prompting a 'Pearl, be nice!’ from Steven. I don’t think she was doing anything maliciously, but the fact that she initially made Jamie look incompetent stuck in my mind a bit. Between Pearl and Peridot? He gets ripped apart in this scene, and ends up pretty annoyed by the time Bill enters. The whole thing is just cringey and wonderful.

Jamie also seems kind of… weirdly full of himself here! He tries to teach improv but honestly he's not doing all that well. I’m wondering if this is going to be a running theme. I so want the next Jamie episode to be a 'crisis of confidence' thing – either a bout of impostor syndrome or people questioning his competence in some way or UGH. There is kind of a disparity so far between Bill's and Jamie's development as characters, so I hope he gets an episode soon.

That last bit with Peedee and his price-gouging tater tots is when everything is thrown out into the open about much being mayor meant to Bill. Notice none of it is actually feeling like he accomplished anything as a leader – it was the routine of it all, really:

 “You know what I miss the most about being the mayor? The little things – getting dressed and ready for work, walking down the boardwalk seeing everyone’s smiling faces – yes! Knowing I had a place in this town. I used to look forward to it every day – just like the people of this town used to look forward to their morning donut.”

And today in More Lines With Subtext That Probably Isn’t There:

“I guess these days no one gets what they want.”

And then yay! Found some meaning NEW DONUT BOY!

Bill and Barb’s flirting is admittedly super cute to me. If I’m wrong about LITERALLY EVERYTHING I have been theorizing and predicting and hyperfixating on these past few months; if they just decide to make the dance in Reunited a joke like most of the fandom thinks it is; if they just make Bill straight and keep Jamie alone forever? I hope they end up doing something with Bill and Barb. Perhaps Bill would be able to get her to relax her parenting style a bit more - and in turn, Barb could make Bill more attentive as a parent! It also makes you wonder where Sadie would fit in to all that because she does not seem to like Bill at all. BUT ENOUGH, steering readily back into bisexual-disasters-bill-and-jamie territory…

I think this bit actually speaks to two things - one thing about how Bill has now changed as a character and something that started as a tiny prediction but is now a HUGE one:

Okay first, it shows us that Bill is available now! I ramble a bit in my post about Dewey Wins where Bill thought it would be inappropriate to do a ton of flirting as mayor - maybe Bill feels he can play the field a bit now? Even in his interactions with Pearl, he never actually went so far as to ask her out on a date or make a 'move’ so to speak. Okay, so he referred to her as 'the hot one', but he never said that to her face. He whenever he tried talking to her, he tended to cycle between ridiculousness and disappointment, really. So yeah, Bill can be 'in the game' again.

Now for the prediction I have, based on the speech scene at the end of Dewey Wins and the scene in the donut shop towards the end of this episode:

Jamie’s standing off by himself, staring at the soda machine in thought. Smiley is the first to get donuts and then walks off screen in Jamie's direction. Then, Barb and Bill flirt.

Jamie and Smiley are also standing together during the debate in Dewey Wins - there are a couple weird things where Smiley disappears from the background during this - I can't tell if it's just an inconsistency in the animation, or they did it to make the figures in the foreground more easily visible. When Smiley *is* there, it looks like him and Jamie might even be talking to each other a bit during the speeches. I swear the angle of Jamie's arm in one part makes it look like Jamie has grabbed Smiley's hand for support as Bill's speech starts. Hey, this is me talking, though - I grew up on '90s science fiction where it was all 256-color screen captures and I read way too much romantic subtext into shots framed to deal with tiny aspect ratios on old TVs – ANYWAY!

I'm predicting that there might be one, final red herring!romance for Bill and Jamie each. For Bill, it’s going to be Barb - for Jamie, it’s going to be Mr. Smiley. Mr. Smiley has been in enough background scenes lately with Jamie for me to wonder if Jamie might start dating Mr. Smiley first - and Bill is going to learn of it and date Barb as a reaction.

My biggest piece of evidence for this is that seemingly RANDOM BREAK into wrestling stuff in the middle of the episode! Some of these may overlap with other ships or plot points in the show of course, but I'm for now I'm reading this as foreshadowing in my Bill/Barb/Jamie/Smiley love quadrangle theory:

"The Marmalade Boys fought each other in – you guessed it – marmalade!"

This will either be a messy relationship (Jamie and Smiley?) or... fighting in mar... hmm.. mal... mail? MAIL? DUELING POSTAL WORKERS? Are Barb and Jamie going to fight over Bill?

"Concrete Heat faced off against the Wolf of Wall Street inside a steel cage!"

Steven says this in voice over, but this isn't a “face-off” really - we see Concrete Heat (Heat? Firey warmth stuff? Bill is that you?) climbing up the steel cage to get away from a dude in a wolf suit. This might be Bill and Mr. Smiley fighting over Jamie, but I think it's more likely that Barb will either pursue Bill, or Bill will feel trapped by her.

"And the Good Looking Gang finally lost the tag-team title to The Sea Wasp and Shark-o-Mania!"

That has only one interpretation to me. Two guys with their arms around each other, one in blue and the other in red. Is my ship just sailing in foreshadowy form or what?! Does objective reality really exist? Oh, also - one of Jamie's character symbols is mentioned here – the sea!

You might be thinking, “What about Bill and Jamie's dance in Reunited! Jamie could have been dancing with Smiley if are a thing” - but I don't think they're a thing yet – and that scene was to plant a more obvious seed with the viewer that there's some sort of thing between Bill and Jamie - something buried deep they will only let out between the Red Solo Cups of Dubious Contents and being mutually upset about things. Their running away from the wedding screams (and I’m so happy I don’t have to keep this to a G rating because it’s tumblr and not A03) them having a one-night stand! Or at least intending to before the attack happened. I'm guessing giant aliens landing on the beach would kill the mood... unless you're Greg. I have no idea if Bill and Jamie's evening together will be referenced later on as something that causes tension or awkwardness between them. I could see Bill maybe even ghosting Jamie for a bit as a result. Maybe this awkwardness is what pushes them into the other relationships?

At the moment in the storyline, I suspect Mr. Smiley just fills the gay friend trope for Jamie – helps Jamie through a rough time after all the trauma of the Aquamarine episodes. In this case, Bill might misinterpret their friendship as something else and I'm just losing a hemisphere of my brain at that.

So to summarize: there's gonna be a big thing with Bill, Jamie, Barb and Mr. Smiley, and Bill/Jamie will ultimately be the result. I'd say I'm taking bets but that's illegal, so I'm just going to look really smug if it's true.

To wrap up, most of Bill's story arc feels like it’s tilting toward stuff to get him out of being so self-absorbed. Which is going to be a process! The bit at the end where Steven has him name a donut after Lars and then bring some over to his parents is a good start. I hope the whole abduction thing is brought up specifically with Jamie and Bill together as part of that growth, but I feel that's kind of optimistic. I get the feeling something new is going to happen that might make Bill a bit more selfless.

SO! Sweet jelly baby jesus this is so much fun! This gets me caught up of all the episodes that have currently aired. I'm going to start watching the series from the beginning now and writing a post on episodes where Bill/Jamie might be hinted at, where they have minor roles where something might speak to their character development, OR just random theories. Either way, there will probably be at least one more chapter to this meta in the coming days or weeks, so expect another update soon!

[ciscoshairconditioner]

Texts Between Strangers

Note: female/woman ‘reader’

---

Hey, it was really nice meeting you last night. Maybe we can grab lunch tomorrow? This is Cisco btw.

The text pops up on your phone screen as you're scrolling through social media. You've been lounging in bed on this rainy Saturday morning planning on doing absolutely nothing for the rest of the day but binge watch The Walking Dead and order thai take out later. You just stare at the text for a minute, blinking.

You definitely didn't give your number to anyone last night because all you did yesterday was pull a double shift at Jitters because they've been short staffed lately. A long day at work usually left you looking a bit wrecked so you're damn sure there wasn't anyone slipping their digits your way either.

This person has the wrong number.

You frown a little bit for them because you wonder if the wrong number was intentional. You've had to give a creepy dude the wrong number on purpose before just so he'd leave you alone. You finally reply after another minute.

Hi I didn't give my number to anyone. Sorry dude, they gave you a wrong number.

You figure that will be the end of that and roll out of bed only to shuffle your way to your comfy couch for some TV time. The notification on your cell pings again and you glance at it, brows raising when you see it's wrong number guy.

For real? This isn't [Girl's Name]? And you weren't at Stanley's Bar last night?

You've actually been to Stanley's a lot over the past couple years since you moved to Central City but last night was not one of them.

My name is definitely not [Girl's Name] and even though I love Stanley's for the sole fact drunk me can make peanut shell confetti rain everywhere during karaoke and not get in trouble, I for real wasn't there last night.

You felt like you were a tad on the sassy side with that text but he was a stranger who apparently one girl had already blown off so you figured he must not be worth much niceties anyways. You were always for girl power so even though you had no idea who [Girl's Name] was, you were going to go with her assessment of wrong number guy, what'd he say his name was? You scrolled up in the message feed, ah—Cisco.

Best peanuts in CC, read his next text which came with a peanut and praise hands emojis.

You laughed and said aloud “Agreed.” as you typed the same reply.

You're flicking through saved episodes of Walking Dead on your DVR, trying to find where you left off when another text comes through. You already have a suspicion its him again before even looking.

I must have heard her say the wrong numbers, it was so loud in there last night :(

Your brow furrows at this one. You remember why you avoid Stanley's on Friday nights. It's usually two for ones and they aways try to get local rock bands to come play. It tends to get too crowded, too hot and yes—too noisy, in there. You read over the text again and find yourself frowning along with his sad emoji.

Next time, you gotta just hand her your phone. No mistakes can be made then. Unless you have an embarassing wallpaper.

His reply is immediate, Pfft no way. It's followed by a screenshot of his actual phone background and a typed No shame along with it.

You're not sure if its a Harry Potter lightning bolt or a reference to Central City's local hero, The Flash. Either way, you're impressed. Wizards or Superheros, a cute guy could totally score your number if you peeped that wallpaper on his phone. Well, the jury is still out on if this guy is cute, you think.

You're right, that is legit. Maybe you did just hear the numbers wrong.

Of course I did. You make it sound like something else. You can't tell if his text was meant to sound cocky or confused.

You bite your lip and reply. Well...

??? is shot back instantly and you sigh.

You decide to just keep it real with him. Guys tend to be overbearing when picking up women. You sure you weren't reading her wrong?

I happen to read people's vibes quite accuratley. She totally was feelin all of this. There's even a smirking emoji.

Alight, cocky it is. You laugh and decide to challenge it. All of what? You send the eyes emoji along with it and wait patiently for him to chicken out.

That's when he sends a picture. Your phone drops into your lap and your mouth hangs open.

It's him.

It's the Jitters customer you've been crushing on for the past year. And that's his name? Cisco?Everytime he places an order to go he always thinks it's hilarious to use the name of a famous fictional character. You've been trying to psych yourself up for months just to work up the courage to ask him for his name and maybe out on a date.

Your mind races with all the daydreams and fantasies you've had starring him. They range from adorable ones where you accidentally bump into him, coffee spilling all over him and you both blushing profusely while you attempt to clean him up; to downright explicit ones where you're the only one on closing shift and he's the last customer so you lock the doors and ravish him right there in one of the plush accent chairs.

You take a smooth five minutes to freak the hell out.

What finally pulls you away from your panic is the muffled sound of your cellphone. You hurridely dig it out from the depths of the couch.

You pass out from all the hotness huh? Lol

You just stare at the message. All language escaping you in that moment. You hadn't attempted flirting since coming to live in Central City. You left a pretty toxic relationship behind and wanted a fresh start. You had spent the past couple years focusing on finishing your MA but now that graduation was right around the corner, you suppose you could actually start dabbling in that real life stuff again. How many hours had you spent making unrequeited heart eyes at a stranger in a coffee shop? You weren't too sure about the mechanics of fate and destiny or whatever.

“Of all the wrong numbers in all the towns in all the world he texts mine,” You blink, “Err, or something like that.” You say to your phone.

You're startled out of your dramatic monologue by another text from Cisco. My self confidence is increasingly deflating  :|

Crap. You realize you haven't sent anything back to him in fifteen minutes. You just type fast and without much thought because you're scared if you think too hard on it you'll back out. Being behind a screen is supposed to make people a little more fearless, right?

Haha no it shouldn't. Its just that I've actually seen that handsome face before. :)

“That's only mildy creepy.” You say to yourself upon rereading your message.

That's... not creepy at all. Is his response, follwed by a How?

Well, we do live in the same city and I work at a popular hang out. You decide to tease him.

Oh, are you that redhead from Big Belly Burger? I told you the offer was flattering but I don't date high schoolers.

You have a good laugh at that before replying, Um, not a BBB employee or a high schooler. I assure you, you're texting a grown woman.

Oh yeah? A grown woman who can do whatever she wants? ;)

You think there's a Beyonce reference in there. Yes is your simple reply.

Idk. I could be getting catfished rn.

You scoff at that. If anyone could be getting catfished, it's me. You texted first.

True, but I genuinely did think you were someone else.

It's followed by another text. Hold up. On reinspection, I've actually have been incredibly generous. Ive given you my name, wallpaper AND my picture. The only thing I know is one place you don't work and that you're karaoke friendly. I think you have to pay some dues miss.

You scoff for a second but then realize you have withheld more than what he's given up in this conversation. You're nervous as you type back, What do you want?

Simple. Even trade. Name, wallpaper, and picture. Gimme.

Another text bubble appears, Please :D

You text him your name and hold your breath wondering if it will spark any memory. You have taken his order countless times at Jitters.

:D One down, two to go!

You sigh and nervously smile to yourself. You snap a screenshot of your phone background, which is just a quote thats partially obscured by your apps. You picked it to ground yourself, to make you never forget your self worth again. You haven't changed it since you moved to Central City. It simply reads 'I am too full of life to be half loved.' You send it on it's way and then go scrolling through your recent selfies to find a picture of yourself looking somewhat decent.

That's some sage advice. You should send me the actual pic so I can pin that to my quotes board on pinterest :)

You smile while sending over the original for him.

Thanks! Now last but not least...

You've picked a picture you took right before going out to a show a couple of weeks ago. You felt confident that night because of your new show stopping outfit and the fact that your hair did absolutely what you wanted it to do. You held your breath as you sent the picture, knowing that for sure he'd have to know who you were. The awkward, babbling barrista that often times tripped over her own two feet.

A minute went by without a reponse. Your nerves were catapulting all over the place while you just sat there and stared at your phone.

Finally a new message notification pinged and you swallowed hard as you opened it. Then, your heart stopped for a second.

Its you. The text simply reads.

What's that supposed to mean? You think. Before you can form a reply, he's sent another text.

I mean, you work at Jitters. I've definitely seen that beautiful face before. :) He mimics your reply to him earlier.

You feel a blush blooming across your face along with what your sure is a goofy smile. Yeah, surprise haha

Would it be weird to say my original question still stands?

You blink in confusion. Excuse me?

It's just that, I've always thought you were cute and you laugh at all my made up names when I order. It's a beautiful laugh btw. You're mouth has dropped open and you just reread the message a few times and then reply.

Hold up. Why haven't you asked me out before?

I've um... had some bad luck in the past with Jitters barristas. Figured I'd steer clear for a while.

And now?

Well now fate has given me your number so I figure I should just go with it :D

You bite your lip to try and control the goofy smile that's forming. Lunch sounds great.

Your phone slips free of your graps and you look up to stare out the window. The sky is clear and bright.

[black-john-lennon-archive]

Fic: Fools Rush In

Summary: Elvis once sang, “Wise men say only fools rush in…” Blaine and Sam may be who he was singing about. 

A/N Based on this post because @ckerouac and I are brain twins. Thanks to @mshoneysucklepink for being my midnight beta. 

Read and Comment on AO3

Blaine felt really lucky. His college roommate turned out to be his best friend. Sure, it was rough the first few days; Blaine had never shared with anyone, and Sam was used to sharing everything. There may have been some shoving, but they talked it out and it was only awkward for a few days. Then Sam was unpacking his Funko figures and next thing they knew, three hours had passed as they discussed the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Okay, so Blaine had a preference for DC’s characters, but even he could admit that Marvel’s movies were better. They became inseparable, even though they were so different. Sam was straight, and didn’t care that Blaine was gay. Sam came from a loving family with two younger siblings who adored him; he called his parents multiple times a week and they helped him move in. Blaine didn’t talk to his brother much, his Dad only called to see if he needed him to send money, and Blaine called his Mom every day. Sam was there on a full ride thanks to an athletic scholarship from being on his high school swim team, and he still worked so he could send money home to his family. Blaine’s dad was paying for everything and sent him cash, his Father wanting him to focus on his studies and his Mom not wanting him to have to start working straight out of school like she did.

They were polar opposites, but also the best of friends. Half the people on their floor thought they were sleeping together, and everyone started calling them Blam, saying stuff like “Are Blam coming to the party?” or “Do you think Blam will loan me a DVD?” They didn’t mind it.

The one thing they had in common, besides really loving Star Wars fan fiction, was their romantic loneliness. They both really wanted to be in a relationship. Sam had dated a lot in high school, including the school nurse, and Blaine had one boyfriend in high school and a couple of hookups. They were lonely; college dating wasn’t going as well as they’d hoped.

They’d come to a decision one night over the fic Blaine was reading to Sam because he couldn’t sleep.

“Wait, wait. C3PO would never do that. He’d be too nervous and whiny to do that. This fic jumped the shark. Can fic jump the shark?” Sam asked.

“I don’t know, but this is pretty bad. What should we do? Maybe try listening to podfic instead?” Blaine suggests.

“This sucks. We’re hot guys. And we’re stuck in here every night. That’s it. I’m off tomorrow, we need to get off this campus. We’re going out. We both have fake IDs, lets go be each other’s wing men. I’ll find you a hot guy, you’ll find me a hot girl.”

“I don’t know Sam, I don’t know if I’m a wing man. For a straight guy?”

“Dude, girls love you. Just wear a bow tie and the pants that show your ankles. The girls will be all over you, then you hit them with the ‘I’m gay’ bomb and then be all “Have you met Sam?” and I’ll do the same. The lips make guys think I’m gay. I’ve been told I have ‘dick sucking lips’. Guy rolls up on me, I’m all ‘wow, I’m flattered but I’m straight, my boy Blaine though? Loves the cock.”

“Please don’t say that. Don’t ever say that.”

Somehow, Blaine let Sam talk him into it. So he put on his red pants and black polo, finally wore the red and grey striped bowtie he’d been waiting to wear and let Sam drag him to a bar. He doesn’t know how Sam found Callbacks, especially since it was a hangout for the snobby NYADA students and they went to NYU, but Blaine just went with it. Sometimes, the easiest way to deal with Sam was to just follow along; nine times out of ten, his ideas were strange but brilliant.

As soon as they walked into the bar, Blaine saw him. He had on the tightest camo jeans Blaine had ever seen, and his shirt was even tighter. He was tall and thin, but his arms and shoulders seemed to be too big for his shirt. He stood at the bar, smiling and talking with the girls he was with.

“I’ll get us drinks, you find us a spot,” Sam said, “vodka cran?”

“Yeah.” Blaine looked around for a table and Sam headed for the bar. Blaine tried to find a table facing where the guy was with his friends, but not where he looked like a complete stalker. When Blaine sat down he saw Sam standing right next to him. Sam turned and looked towards the hot guy. The guy was flirting with Sam. Blaine hoped Sam’s idea would work and the guy wouldn’t be too disappointed when he went from tall, muscular Sam to Blaine. Sam waved Blaine over and Blaine left the table he had found to join them at the bar.

“Oh hey, there he is! Blaine, I was just talking to Kurt, and he was telling me that he sings. Blaine sings too. And he’s also gay.”

Blaine felt himself blushing to his ears, “Oh my God Sam,” he muttered, but Kurt laughed.

“You sing, but you don’t go to NYADA?”

“No, I love theater, but it’s not really what I want. I go to the Clive Davis school at NYU. I did consider NYADA. But I read up on some of the faculty, and Cassie July?” He rolled his eyes, and Kurt nodded in a way that instantly said the rumours were true and he knew from experience “And I’m not particularly sure how I feel about Carmen Tibideaux’s methods, if I’m being completely honest.”

Sam handed Blaine his drink with a smile, and sipped his own beer as he watched.

“You do know where you are right?” Kurt asked with a wink, “No I get it. If you knew what I had to do to get in. And oh my God, my roommate legitimately stalked Carmen to get accepted. And the people they reject? My friend Elliot is amazing, but he didn’t make it either. He goes to NYU too, actually he’s in the Clive Davis program also. He just had his senior showcase, and he was amazing. He wrote almost an entire album full of music, including a song about a glitter vampire.”

“Elliot Gilbert? You’re friends with Elliot? Small world; I was there for the birth of ‘Glitter Rock Vampire’.”

“No way? That is a small world!” Kurt laughed, touching Blaine’s arm. Blaine instinctively moved a little closer when one of Kurt’s friends tapped him on the shoulder.

“Kurt did you forget about us? Care to introduce us to your friend?”

“Oh, sorry Mercedes, um, I’ll be there in a minute.”

“Your friend could join us, with his friend. That blonde guy is your friend, right?”

Sam and Blaine joined Kurt and his friends. And they both left with dates.

When Blaine got home from his date with Kurt, he played it over and over in his head. He was trying not to over analyze, but it was such an intense night. He lay in bed waiting for Sam to get home from his date to see if Sam could help him figure out if it was a good date or a bad one.

Sam came in an hour after Blaine, and collapsed on his bed.

“So, how was it?” Blaine asked him.

“Mercedes is amazing. But I think I screwed it up.”

“How would you screw it up?”

“Smurf penis.”

“What?”

“A guy was on the subway platform playing a blue french horn and I said it looked like a smurf penis. She laughed, but it was awkward.”

“So…how did it end?”

“Well, she kissed me on the cheek and agreed to go out with me again even though I say stupid things like, all the time.”

“So it’s good then.”

“Yeah, I guess so. How about you?”

“It was, it was interesting. Kurt and I, we just clicked right away. He is everything I have ever wanted. We kissed like twenty minutes into the date.”

“Wow. So…”

“So, I don’t know. It ended on a weird note.”

“How weird?”

“I told him that I think I’m falling in love with him.”

“Whoa.”

“Yeah,” Blaine dramatically threw a pillow over his face when his phone rang, “Oh god, it’s Kurt. It’s Kurt calling me to tell me to never call him again.”

“Just answer it.”

Blaine answered the phone as Sam started changing into his pajamas.

“He’s here. Downstairs. I have to go downstairs. Still wearing my date outfit.”

“Dude, go down there. If he came all this way, he’s probably not dumping you.”

Blaine grabbed his sweater and headed outside to find Kurt sitting on the steps, also still wearing his date outfit. When he saw Blaine he stood up. Blaine took a deep breath preparing himself.

“You said you were falling in love with me.”

“I did. I’m sorry, I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“Did you mean it? Do you really think that?”

Blaine thought. He gulped nervously. “Yes. At the time, I was caught up in everything, and it was either that or burst into song, and well, I thought that might be strange.”

“Blaine, that’s crazy. I live with Rachel Berry, you bursting into song is just a Tuesday for me.”

“I know, I’m sorry, I panicked. I know we just met, but I was feeling a lot. And I said something stupid, but I don’t take it back. I don’t know where that leaves us, but I don’t regret it.”

Kurt sighed. “My friends think you’re crazy. But I don’t. I should, but I don’t. Because I was feeling a lot too. And so I came here to tell you that if you’re really falling in love with me, I’m okay with that as long as you give me some time. Don’t, like, propose to me on our next date. I need at least five dates before I consider marriage. I’m just old fashioned like that.”

“Oh five dates, I don’t know… that’s a long time but I think I can manage. I mean, I need time to find the perfect ring and plan a huge proposal,” Blaine said with a laugh. Kurt grabbed his hand and pulled him in for a kiss.

When they broke apart, Blaine was still cupping Kurt’s face and sighed, “God I love you.”

Kurt laughed, “Really? Again?”

“I can’t help it.”

“I’ll get used to it. You make me feel like a silly romantic.”