#... i forgot to say the part that i finished my last pack on friday... ugh...

[bukuoshin]

Og my fucking god... I can't smoke until tomorrow.

[atlafan]

Take it Slow - Part Four

a/n: okay this is my first shot at a harry:y/n fic, and it will be multiple parts. y/n had a bad experience with an ex over a year ago, and finally accepts her coworker and good friend Niall’s invitation to go on a blind date with his friend Harry. 

(Fluffy part....and I will give a bit of a trigger warning here, y/n mentions abuse from an ex. This is sort of a short part, I part five is long and I promise it delivers on the smut. )

Part One Part Two Part Three

You left work a little early Wednesday. You had been marinating your cauliflower since the morning. But you wanted to make everything perfect for Harry. You put a table cloth over your small table, and added a single candle. You plated up your buffalo cauliflower. You spooned some blue cheese into a small bowl. You knew he wouldn’t eat it, but you needed it for yourself. You also put out some celery and carrots. You put a bottle of voka and some tonic out. Drinking on a work night wasn’t something you did often, but you knew vodka wouldn’t leave you with a hangover. He texts you letting you know he’s downstairs. You buzz him in and open your door.

“Love?” You hear him say.

“In the kitchen!” You yelp. He walks in. He’s wearing those black ripped jeans again. You can slightly see his thigh tattoo. The black t-shirt he’s wearing is slightly tattered too. You notice he took his boots off at the door.

He comes right up to you, and takes you in for a hug, he simply hold you for a few moments, and sighs happily.

“Y’alright?”

“Yeah, just a long day. Sorry for my appearance, I didn’t want to be late, and stupid me forgot to pack extra clothes.”

“You look fine. Sit, dinner’s ready.” You smile. He sits down at the table, and you hand him a serving utensil so he can take as much as he wants.

“This smells great, (y/n).”

“Thanks, it’s my own sauce recipe. It’s vegan, but the blue cheese isn’t.” You laugh.

“No worries, I don’t need it anyways.” He pops a smaller piece of cauliflower into his mouth, and nearly chokes. “Holy shit, this is spicy. Well done.” He takes a sip of the glass of water you left for him. You both decide you don’t need the alcohol tonight. You’re secretly thankful.

“I had some extra strawberries, no chocolate though.” You say after finishing dinner, bringing a bowl of strawberries to the table.

“Oh, thanks. Another thing I forgot about, bringing dessert.”

“Harry, it’s okay.” You look over at your couch. “Come on, let’s go sit down and get comfy, and you can tell me about your day.”

He grabs the bowl of strawberries and places it on your coffee table. Before you sit he grabs your wrist.

“Would it be alright if we, like, cuddled?” He looks at you with tired eyes.

“Of course.” Your heart flutters.

He lays on the couch, resting up against the pillow on the end near the armrest. You place your body on his, and he runs his hand across your back. He lets out another happy sigh.

“So how was your day?”

“Stressful.”

“I gathered. What happened?”

“Just these people I was working with, they didn’t understand my vision, and we kept fighting. It took nearly three hours to get two decent shots. Finally, they understood where I was going with it and let me do my thing. It was exhausting.”

“I’m sorry.” You nuzzled into his chest. You felt like you could fall asleep. Before you knew it, you heard light snores. You looked up and saw Harry’s eyes closed, and lips parted. You smiled at the beautiful site. You soon drifted off as well.

“Oh shit.” You awake to him rustling underneath you.

“Mm, what time is it?” You press into his chest.

“Only around eight-thirty. We slept for like two hours.”

“Must’ve needed it.”

“Love, I hate to move you, but I desperately need a wee.”

“Oh!” You immediately get off him. He goes down the hall to the half bath. You go use your bathroom as well.

He gets back to the couch first. Confused that you’re not there, but realized you probably needed a wee as well. He smiles at you as you come sauntering back in. You sit down next to him, and you both put your feet on the coffee table, his hanging over the other side. He really is tall. You grab the remote and turn the TV on. He puts an arm around you, and snuggle into him.

“Right, what are we watching?”

“How do you feel about Chopped?”

“Love it.” You smile, beaming up at him. You stretched your neck out and winced. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, just think there’s a little kink in my neck from how we fell asleep is all.”

“Damn, that’s my fault. Want me t’rub it?”

“That would be great.”

You two adjust yourselves so he has his back against the arm rest, and you sitting between his long legs. His soft touch feels amazing on your neck and shoulders. You lean back further into him, and let out a small moan as he massages out a particular knot in the back of neck.

“Ugh, that feels so good Harry.” He adjusts himself a little, and continue to rubs your neck. His legs tighten around yours a little. You realize now what you’re doing to him, and you feel bad, honestly. You think of what you and Niall talked about the other night, but you still feel like you’re not ready. Harry lightly taps your shoulders and presses a kiss to the back of your head.

You move your arm to hook around him so you can give his hair a gentle squeeze. He presses his hips to your back side and feel him twitch against you. His hands slide down your arms and wrap around your waist. He kisses you on the cheek, down your jaw, and then down to your neck. He doesn’t waste any time to get your skin between his teeth. You lean back as far as you can into him. His hands move up your stomach a little, and stop just below your breasts. You want to give him the go ahead to touch you, but you don’t speak up.

You’re too busy practically panting from the way he’s sinking into your skin. He’s trying to show what he can do with his mouth, he has to be. You find yourself suddenly on your feet.

“Sorry, did I…did I do something wrong?” He puts his hands up. “Did I leave too big of a mark last time?”

“No, no. It’s not you, Harry. I just think, you know, it’s a work night, and I have to be up early. So I think we should stop that for tonight.”

“I barely even got to kiss you.” He says looking at you with big eyes, and his bottom lip jutting out in the cutest pout you’ve ever seen. It breaks your heart. “Can I see ya Friday night?” You sigh in relief that he’s not mad.

“Yes, of course.” He stands up and takes you in his arms. You look up at him and kiss him. He kisses you back, but only for a minute. He presses his forehead to yours.

“I know it’s only been a couple of weeks, but you’re doing something to me. I can’t quite explain it, but I like the way I feel when I’m with you.” You could keel over. A man had never been so honest with you.

“I like the way I feel when I’m with you too, Harry.”

With that he gives you one more squeeze and he’s out the door. You groan to yourself. You know you’re doing what’s best, but you just want to let him ravage you.

Harry speeds quickly to Niall’s, and lets himself in. Niall is sat on his couch in his boxers with a pint of ice cream.

“Uh, hey man?”

“Sorry for just barging in so late.”

“Did you see (y/n)?”

“Yeah.” He paces across the room and runs his hands through his hair. “We had a really nice and relaxing night, and then I did what I always do, I took it too far. But I couldn’t help it!”

“What happened?”

“I was giving her a neck rub, and it was strictly to help her out, nothing sexual. Then she moaned out ‘oh Harry that feels so good’, and I, well you know how it is when a girl says something like that.”

“So, what happened?”

“Well, she let me kiss on her, and I thought she was into it, and then all of a sudden she was telling me it was getting late. I feel terrible. I wish she felt like she could talk me through whatever happened to make her feel so uncomfortable.”

“Harry,” Niall starts, putting his ice cream down. “Listen, I can’t tell ya everything, but she has a valid reason for wanting to take it slow. If it makes you feel better, she’s really battlin’ with herself over it. She wants to give you more, but she’s scared.”

“Of me?”

“No, she’s actually amazed by you. She said it was refreshing that you’re being so cool about everything.”

“Then what is she scared of?”

“Giving it to another guy who will just leave her the next day.”

“Is that what happened with her ex?”

“Sort of, there’s a lot more to it. But that’s a story she should really tell you, not me.”

“Alright. I’m seeing her Friday, maybe she’ll feel comfortable opening up to me then. This’ll be our third week seeing each other. She makes me feel so happy, I can’t explain it.”

“Have you told her that?”

“Tonight actually.”

“Good, she’s definitely someone that needs that reassurance.”

“Good to know.”

“No offense, but did you go over there lookin’ like that?”

“It was either this or be late.” Harry raises his middle finger to his friend.

The next day you wake up like you have a hangover. You can barely get yourself out of bed. You were up all night thinking about Harry, and not in a fun way. You felt like you were lying to him or something. Today all you can put together for an outfit are some black dress pants, black flats, a white shirt, and a blush pink blazer. Today was Niall’s day to bring coffee, thank god. By the time you left the house you surely would’ve been late if you had to stop. Your coffee was waiting for you on your desk when you got there. You took it and walked down to his office. You tap on the outside of his door frame.

“Hey.” You say.

“Mornin’, come in.” He waves you in with a smile. You close his door most of the way. “Oh boy. What’s wrong?”

“Do you think I should tell him what happened? I feel like I keep sending mixed signals. I mean, when I think about it, it’s not that big of a deal.”

“(y/n), it was a big deal. You almost wasted away to nothing, and you had to see a therapist.”

“Okay, okay, so how do I explain that to him?”

“Just be honest, he’s a really understanding guy. I’m sure some clarity on his end would be good.”

“Has he mentioned anything to you?” You ask, looking down at your shoes. “Sorry, I don’t want you to be in the middle of this.”

“A little…he just wanted to make sure he wasn’t doing anything wrong.”

“He does everything right. But I thought my ex was too, and I know he’s not him, it’s just hard.”

“Maybe you should go in for a session.” You roll your eyes with disgust. “Just an idea.”

“I know you’re right, and I shouldn’t treat you like my therapist.”

“That’s not what I was sayin’. I’m just sayin’ that clearly this is still something that bothers ya.”

“I think it’ll get better once I talk to Harry. What’s on the agenda today?”

“Here, got this flash drive for ya, and a memo saying how they want these clips edited together. Work ya magic.” You take the flash drive from him and smile.

You head back down the hall to your office, and you stop short when you see someone standing in your office. He turns around, it’s Harry. He smiles warmly at you, and you smile back, a little confused.

“Mornin’.” He says to you.

“Morning.” You say, kissing him on the cheek. You put the flash drive on your desk. “What are you doing here?”

“I was in the area, and I just wanted to check in and see how you were. I was worried about you last night.”

“Oh, that’s so sweet. I’m fine. I was actually wondering if we could meet after work tonight. There’s something I want to tell you, and I don’t want it to ruin our date tomorrow.”

“Sure, but dontcha usually go to the gym after work?”

“I’m too tired for that today. I barely slept last night.” His face falls at your admission.

“Wanna meet at the coffee shop down the street from here?”

“That would be perfect.”

You get your work done, somehow. You tell Harry to just meet you by your car in the parking lot. Your knuckles are white while gripping the steering wheel. He gets in a few minutes later.

“Hi, sorry, I just wanted to talk more privately.” You say looking for at him.

“Of course, love.” You take a deep breath.

“Okay, and it may be way too soon to be talking about this since we’ve only known each other a few weeks, but I feel like you need some explanation for my behavior.” He just looks at you and gives you an encouraging smile. “So, over a year ago, I started seeing someone. We had gone on about four dates, I think. I really liked him, and I thought he liked me. I brought him back to my place on our fourth date. My hope was just to maybe make out.” You swallow. “Maybe a little more, but not go all the way.” Harry nods, his eyebrows furrowed, all his concentration on you. “But he had…other plans.” You feel your eyes start to tear up, but you swallow it back. “It started off fine, and it was like all of a sudden I was naked, and so was he. Everything happened so fast, he took out the condom faster than I could say anything. He was rough with me, and in the moment I didn’t feel safe enough to speak up to tell him to stop.” You take another deep breath. “After it was over, he kissed me goodbye and told me he’d call the next day. He didn’t call for like three days, and he broke every date we had planned.” You look away from Harry. “I basically shut down. I had never felt so used in my life. I missed a week of work. I told them I had the flu. I didn’t eat or bathe. I basically stayed in bed for an entire week. I had never felt that low in my life. It wasn’t until Niall basically broke into my apartment that I got my act together. I didn’t feel great, but I went back to work. I eventually went to therapy, it helped a lot. I learned to stop blaming myself for what happened. That guy was an asshole, and doesn’t deserve to ruin my life. But I guess ever since him I’ve been so guarded about having sex so quickly with someone, I guess out of fear of like just being used and hurt. I know there are people out there that have had worse than me, but for whatever reason this really affected me.”

You look over at Harry, and he is full on sobbing, tears staining his cheeks. He wipes his eyes with his shirt. You wipe your eyes as well. You hadn’t realized you had even started crying. He takes your hand in his, and kisses it.

“I am so sorry that happened to you. You’re so brave. And don’t compare yourself to others, what happened sounds horrible. I don’t understand how people can do things like that. I don’t understand how men can get pleasure by forcing themselves onto someone. I’m sorry if I pushed you into telling me.”

“Oh, Harry, you didn’t push me. I wanted to tell you. I feel much better now that it’s out in the open. You’ve made me feel so comfortable every time we’re together. I didn’t want you to feel like I was rejecting you.”

“I didn’t, don’t worry. I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t doing something wrong.”

“I appreciate that, so much.” You smile at him. He puts a hand on your cheek, and you lean into it. “Thank you for listening.”

“Thank you for sharing your story with me.” Harry’s phone starts to ring, but he ignores it.

“You can get that, Harry.” He reaches into his pocket.

“Shit, it’s work, one sec.” He answers it. “Yeah? Oi, I left it on my desk for ya. Ya I did. Didja check again? Okay, go inta my office, yup, it’s on the left hand side. Got it? Okay good. See ya tomorrow.” He hangs up. You can’t help but notice how thick his accent got on the phone. “Sorry bout that. I swear I work with some real wankahs.” You giggle at the word. “What?”

“Nothing, I just thought that was a word only used in movies.”

“Nope, we really say it. We also say bullocks in case you were wonderin’.”

“I’ll remember that.” You laugh.

“Well, I’m sure you’re drained. You should get home and relax. What would you like to do tomorrow?”

“I’d love to come to your place again. I really liked it there.”

“Alright, whatdya say I pick ya up, and we get some food, and then go to my place.”

“I’d like that.”

“Do me a favor, let me know what you get home.”

“Alright.” You lean in and kiss him on the cheek. You linger for a moment, and then he exits out of the car.

[hallelujah-lockandload]

Sweet Venom 2

Here is a link to the first chapter on here

The Wattpad link that has more chapters. I take a while to post here since AO3 and Wattpad give me more feedback :c

The first three days of school went by fast which is nice. Now it's Friday which means sleepover with Mikey! It's something we’ve always done the first week of school but also because we are literally best friends and my parents don’t care enough to realize I’ve slept over his house multiple times. The Way’s mom is always really sweet and makes us leave the door open cause we’re “teenagers and teenagers are horny”. She didn’t say that to us but I already know that's what she thinks and I’m also the only girl allowed to stay the night at all at their house unless it's a group sleepover.

I got up as usual and dressed in some black bottoms today and a smashing pumpkins tee. Walking down stairs to an empty kitchen is always nice, it means I get to take my time and actually be somewhere in peace that isn’t my room. I got breakfast ready and sat at the table scrolling through my phone texting Mikey.

y/n/n: Sup loser.

Mikey: morning punk. 

    u excited for tonight?!

y/n/n: OF fuckin course!! 

    Watchin movies and complaining and catching up

    Even though i see you all the time

Mikey: I still look forward to our yearly first week of school Shit Talk Sleepover

y/n/n: SAaaammme!

Mikey: Gotta watch some shitty hs movie this time

cause its your last first week shit talk

y/n/n: I don’t know mikes I still got college and youll be a senior

Mikey: tru

As I ready Mikey’s “tru” I finish my breakfast and then head up stairs to finish getting ready. I put on my usual makeup and brushed my teeth. My hair looks decent so I’m leaving it, no one will tell I didn’t brush it unless they run their fingers through it so whatever. As I reach the bottom of the stairs I hear a car honk outside my house. I go to the door and peek out and there’s Mikey and Gerard to pick me up. I wave and go grab my shoes and check my phone to see if Mikey said they were coming at all cause I didn’t think they'd be here. 

Mikey: we be picking u up early loser. (timestamp 5 minutes ago)

Of course the one time I don't check my phone so they have to wait a few minutes for me to tie my hightops and grab my bag. I lock the door as I close it behind me and head to the back seat of Gerard’s kind of beat up black Corolla. It's an older used car but it works for getting us all places. 

“Morning guys” I say, throwing my backpack into the back seat and stepping in.

“Morning y/n/n. You were late” Mikey said while Gerard just hummed in response to my greeting. I closed the door and off we went.

“Yeah well I didn’t see your text jerk” I said hitting Mikey’s shoulder lightly. It's too early for being rough. Mikey just laughed and we rode in silence to the school with Gerard’s playlist coming through the speakers.

~ 

The school day passed slower today than the last few. Probably because I was excited for the sleepover tonight with Mikey. I looked over at him in math and it seemed like he felt the same way. Once classes were out for the day I went to grab my stuff from my locker.

“Hey cutie” I turned to look at Patrick.

“Where’ve you been all day, jerk?” I laughed as I pushed him away from me. 

“Places…” He smirked turning to lean against the lockers. “Mostly hiding from Carry which meant I couldn't hang with you cause I knew she would look for me there.”

“Dude.” I said staring at him.

“I know, I know. I just need to find her a new boy to crush over”

“Fast,” I added, closing my locker.

“Hey guys!” I turned to see Pete and Mikey heading our way. 

I leaned over to Patrick, “I'd say point out Pete to her but that would just be cruel.” I laughed and so did he.

“What are you two idiots giggling about?” Pete said, stopping next to us.

“Nothing.” Patrick and I said together. We looked at eachother and just cracked up even more. 

“Ugh” Pete groaned and turned to Mikey, “Control your bestfriend.”

“You first” Mikey responded with a smirk. 

Pete rolled his eyes, “Lets get the fuck out of here, schools been out for like 10 minutes.”

“Oh that's so long” I said sarcastically as I fixed my backpack on my shoulder.

“Shut up.” Pete said smiling as we started to head out of the hallway and make our way to the front of the school. 

“Hey Mikey how's operation Sweet Poison going?” Patrick said over my head.

“I’m working on it.” Mikey mumbled giving Patrick a glare.

“Oooooh! What's Sweet Poison?! Let me help!” I said turning to Mikey.

“You can’t help cutie, it's a secret” Patrick said next to me.

“Yuup. Only us boys get to know” Pete said. I glared at Mikey who was looking everywhere but me. Looks like I’ve got some secrets to get out of Mikey now. Mikey keeping a secret from me is new and only a bit concerning. 

“Alright,” I said, shrugging and turning back around, “Keep your secrets. I’ll just assume it's about your crush then.” I smirked as I walked over to the cars seeing Gerard leaning on the hood of his car talking to Frank and Ray.

“Do not,” Mikey rushed up behind me.

“Yeah it's actually not concerning Mikey’s crush for once. Plus isn't that one called operation Heart Eyes?” Patrick said.

“Oh yeah!” Pete nearly shouted, “Fuckin forgot about that. Gotta get moving on plans for that.” Mikey’s face was turning red, which is ahh sweet revenge for keeping me out of the loop.

“Hey guys” Ray said, waving as we got to Gerard’s car.

“Sup Toro-saurus” I smiled at him as he pulled me into a side hug laughing at my usual greeting. 

“So any plans for tonight?” Pete asked the group.

Frank and Ray had a consensual nope and Gerard said sort of. But question? How do you sort of have plans? That's so weird but no one questions it. Patrick says how his only plan is to come up with a plan to get rid of his ex-girlfriend Carry. We all laughed at him but also gave sympathy cause who knew she was the obsessive type? 

“Y/n and I are having our annual first week of school shit talk sleepover” Mikey said.

“We are going to roast all of you behind your backs” I added with a smirk.

“Thats so fuckin rude” Pete said knocking his shoulder against me chuckling. The others laughed lightly too. We chatted for a little while longer before everyone was sick of being on campus and there was almost no line of cars trying to leave the campus. We said our goodbyes and parted ways. 

“You guys can drop me off at my house and I’ll walk over later. I gotta pack for tonight and make sure my parents remembered.” I said as we drove back to our houses. Thankfully Mikey only lives like a five minute walk from my house so I never feel weird walking there even at night. 

“Okay” Mikey said. Gerard just hums and continues to drive. He never talks to me much. I literally have no clue what happened to make him not like me. We have been in the same grade since like 6th grade, I mean he’s older than me cause he got held back in like elementary school but Mikey and I are 90% sure its cause he didn’t want to leave Mikey behind. Which is actually really sweet. But Still! Why the hate? Or dislike. Whatever it is, it kind of makes me sad because we probably could be awesome friends like Mikey says. One day I’m going to figure it out. Or like ask Mikey what the fuck is up. But its not at the top of the to do list just yet. I’m fine with the awkward ignoring for now. Well I mean… for the past 3 years. This will be 4 if things don’t change.

We pull up to my house and I thank them both for the ride, “What time am I coming over Mikes?” I say before closing the door.

“Uuhhhhh idk 7?” Mikey said looking over his shoulder at me.

“Did you just say idk out loud?” I ask him, chuckling with a smirk.

“Shut up. See you later bye.” Mikey says turning around. I laugh and say bye again then close the car door. I walk up the steps, unlock the door and turn around and wave at the boys goodbye to signal I am safe and can get in my home. They always wait to make sure I’m safe, Mikey is a good friend.  As I step in I drop my backpack on the table by the door and kick my shoes off before heading to the kitchen to get a snack. I plop down in a chair as I eat some dried fruit and sip at my water while sending a text to my mom telling her I was having a sleepover tonight. 

Mom: Okay. Be safe. Love you.

Y/N: I will. Love you too.

I put my phone down to finish my snack and think about what movie I wanted to make Mikey watch tonight. Maybe Carrie, I mean it's fitting since Patrick was talking about his ex Carry. Or maybe Mean Girls cause it's a classic. Maybe even High School Musical just to fuck with Mikey. We shall see. I smirk to myself thinking of how mean I’m feeling like being to Mikey. I mean he is keeping a secret from me soo.

Once my snack is done I head upstairs to change into more comfy clothes for the day. But I kinda realize I should shower first cause school is fricken gross. So I grab a pair of black leggings and a baseball tee cause uhh no one needs to see my butt thanks, even if it is just Mikey and Gerard. I spend probably too long in the shower singing and just enjoying the heat but it's not like I don’t have the time. After I get out I brush out my wet hair and throw it back up in a dry towel to help get more moisture out. (real tip right there, double towel dry) I pull on my clothes and head out of the bathroom back to my room. I grab a bag from my closet for sleepovers and pack some pjs, an oversized New Jersey Devils shirt and a pair of shorts along with a pair of pants cause sometimes Mikey’s room is a fricken ice box. Then I grab some shorts and a shirt for the next day just in case we decide to get dressed and go somewhere. 

After I finish packing I head back to the now aired out bathroom to dry my hair and put some much needed moisturizer on my face. No makeup cause it's Mikey and we’ve seen the worst of each other in the past that I don’t ever feel pressured to wear makeup around him. Plus my skin has been looking nice lately. I head back to my room and throw myself onto my bed. The clock next to me reads 4:15, I’ve got enough time to try and take a nap so I can stay awake later tonight. I set an alarm on my phone for 6:15 since I know I might just end up watching tv or playing on my phone but I need to make sure to eat a snack because pizza probably won't happen till 8. I lay down, put on some calming music before setting my phone down and closing my eyes for a bit. 

~

The sound of chimes wake me up. Where the heck am I? What time is it? I look around and realize I’m still in my room. Damn I actually fell asleep, who knew I could nap? I turn off my alarm and slowly pull myself up out of bed. I rub my eyes and grab my bag and some socks to bring down stairs with me so I don’t have to come back up after my snack. I walk down the stairs to a semi dark house. The sun is going down and neither of my parents are home. Cool. I turn the porch light on and drop my bag and socks off at the front door before heading to the kitchen for some snackage. 

y/n/n: we still good for 7??

I text Mikey to double check. Sometimes he forgets when we are supposed to hang out and goes to do something before realizing he’s now late for our hang out. I grab a pb and j sandwich from the fridge and sit on my phone for a bit as I chill down stairs. I check the time after my second pb and j… they are so good I can’t just have one! It’s 6:50 which means I’m allowed to go over and bother Mikey early. I check my phone and still no reply so I send a quick text letting him know that I’m on my way. 

Grabbing my socks and shoes I sit on the floor by my bag taking my time just in case Mikey says not to go over yet. Once my black vans are on I stand up grabbing my bag and keys and checking my phone one more time. It's 6:53 and still no response so I’m heading over anyway so I can bug him. I head out my door, locking it behind me and taking a shortcut through my grass to the side walk. It's only a five minute walk and the sun is setting so it's still nicely lit, plus our neighbors usually stay inside at this time cause it's like family dinner time. I head to the Way house and check my phone at least three more times but still nothing. What a bitch. I think at Mikey, if only telepathy worked with us. Coming up on the Way residence I see the down stairs lights on but Mikey’s light isn’t on in his room. He better be downstairs and not out of the house right now. 

I knock on the door but there is no answer which means Mikey isn’t downstairs or he has headphones on again. I use my spare key, Thank you Mrs. Way, and open the front door.

“Honey I’m home” I say sarcastically as I close the door. Still nothing. I peek around into the living room and no one is there. Odd cause the lights are on. The Way parents are out at dinner at the moment with some clients or something is what Mikey told me during Music Theory today. Next I head to the kitchen but still nothing. I head over to the staircase to go find Mikey upstairs.

CRASH

I jump at the sudden sound nearly dropping my phone, my heart racing and I have to take a moment tocatch my breath. I look toward the basement door that leads to Gerards room. I hope he’s alright. I look back up the stairs and  the nonexistent light of Mikey’s bedroom. Mikey’s light wasn’t on, maybe he’s with Gerard in the basement and they are just messing around. I leave my bag at the bottom of the stairs and kick my shoes off too before heading to the basement door. Why are basements always so creepy? Or is it cause no one is up here that it makes it worse than usual. I’ve been in Gerard’s room before but only to borrow comics and Mikey took me down there. I open the door and listen for a moment before doing anything. There’s just silence and if I didn’t know this house as good as my own I would be feeling way more scared but I still feel like I’m in a horror movie right now. I open my phone up and dial 911 just in case I’m about to be fucking murdered in my best friends basement. 

The lights are on down there which is better than anything else so I start to head down the stairs slowly. As I make it down the stairs I scan the room for the boys hoping they are just fucking with me and are trying to scare me. Reaching the bottom step I look around and notice a person laying on the floor by the open window. 

“Oh shit! Gerard?!” I ran over to him once I recognized his black greasy hair. He’s slumped on his side and groans as I approach him. “Are you okay?” I reach out and grab his shoulder turning him to lay on his back so I can see his face better. I suck in a breath as I notice blood dripping down his chin and also the dark stain at the top of his blue sweatshirt which is probably more blood. 

“Oh fuck!” I jump up and run to his bathroom grabbing a towel and running back crashing down next to him to stop the bleeding wherever the hell it's coming from as fast as I can. I press the towel gently to his face to try and wipe away some blood when his eyes snap open. Oh shit. In an instant I’m on my back, wind knocked out of me and towel still in my left hand with Gerard pinning my arms to the side of me while hovering over me with red eyes.

[fightmewiatch]

Good Wow

Pairing: Frank Adler x Reader

Prompt: “Are you hitting on me?”

          “Alright class!” the professor smiled, turning and quickly dragging the chalk across the board. “I’ve got an appointment Friday so class is cancelled, but this is what I want you all to do for Monday, and I do mean all of you, I will not accept being hungover as an excuse to not finish it.” With that, she turned, tapping the chalk beneath the assignment on the board. “Monday. No excuses.”

“What if we aren’t here?” you asked, fighting a giggle as the professor tilted her head, brow raised. 

“Has your email gone down and any potential computers exploded?”

“It could be the end of the world,” you countered, shrugging almost casually, as the woman at the head of the class ducked her head, fighting a laugh. 

“Alright. If and only if it is the end of the world, you do not have to turn in your assignment. Otherwise, I want to see it in my email or on your desk when we start class Monday.”

         Laughing softly, you nodded, packing up your bag and turning to the little girl in the next seat. 

“Hey, Mary...thank you, for loaning me this.” She peered over as she tucked her notebook into her backpack, and smiled brightly.

“You’re welcome! Frank told me to be prepared for accidents like that when I started coming here….” she replied, shrugging a little. 

“Well, Frank sounds very smart,” you answered, standing and slinging your bag over your head, tucking it beneath your arm. You twisted, making sure you didn’t leave anything behind, before looking back at Mary with a smile as she fumbled with the strap of her bag. “Need some help?”

“No,” Mary answered quickly, but after a few more seconds, she dropped her hands to her sides, groaning. “Please?”

“My pleasure,” you chuckled, taking the bag and fixing the straps before holding them for her to slip her arms into it. “C’mon, I’ll walk you out,” you grinned, giggling again as Mary laughed, too, and led you out of the room. 

         It was your third year in university, your first in this kind of math class, but despite seeing all kinds in college, you had not, in any way, expected Mary. She was so young, still technically in grade school save for this class, that at first, you thought you were hallucinating. But the professor had welcomed her with a bright smile, hesitant at first but more than happy to see the mind Mary had. 

         But after the first day, you found yourself sitting beside her, as though you were drawn to her. She was smart, and outspoken, but there were times she hesitated, unsure about asking or even raising her hand. It was something you were more than happy to do, though, leaning in to ask what she didn’t know, and raising your hand to ask. After a few classes, she warmed up to raising her hand, herself, but the two of you continued talking, comparing notes and assignments before and after class. 

“You know, all this time, Mary, and I have yet to meet this mysterious Frank you keep mentioning,” you commented, glancing at her curiously as she nearly skipped beside you. 

“Frank’s not that mysterious,” she huffed. “He works on boats and he can’t cook.”

“Hey, I’ve been trying,” sounded a slight offended baritone voice that made you look up from the girl beside you, stumbling to a stop. 

         The man you were guessing was Frank was way more attractive than you had ever expected, enough to make your mouth go dry and your heart skip before you felt your face flush. He caught Mary as she hopped at him, spinning her around with a laugh before glancing over at you. 

“Who’s this?”

“This is Y/N...she’s in class with me.” Frank smiled, leaning in your direction as he held out one of his hands, shaking yours when you finally realized what he was doing and pressed your hand against his. 

“I’m Frank, Mary’s uncle.”

“It’s...nice to finally meet you.” Mary grinned, tilting her head back to look up at Frank.

“She thinks you’re smart.” He lifted a brow, curious, as you giggled softly, ducking your head.

“She...let me borrow a pen today, because I forgot my pencil case, and my pen may have snapped in half.” He reared back, startled, as you waved it off, shaking your head. “Don’t...ask. But she said you told her to be prepared for accidents like that when she started coming here.”

“That’s right, I did. Doesn’t necessarily make me smart, but I do appreciate the compliment,” he grinned, shining blue eyes crinkling as he did. “This your first year, or…?”

“Oh, no...third. But it’s my first year in this kind of class. Honestly, most days, I think I’m making it because of Mary. Math isn’t my forte, necessarily, but I thought it might be good to broaden my horizons.” Frank laughed, the sound barely on his breath, as he glanced down at Mary. “I should let you guys go, I know she’s got her...is it Girl Scout’s?” you asked, unsure, looking at the brown vest over her dress.

“Yeah. I just gotta drive her back to her grade school.”

“Are you working tonight?” Mary asked, meeting your eye as you looked down at her. 

“Nope. Spending tonight studying, I got a test in the morning.”

“Ugh. Morning tests,” Mary grumbled. You giggled, nodding.

“Yeah. Afternoon tests, I can handle. Morning tests...there is never enough coffee.” Frank scoffed, but he was smiling as you looked up at him. 

“I always thought morning tests were better - get it out of the way,” he admitted, shrugging. 

“Bah,” you grunted, smiling. Frank grinned again, shaking his head, before twisting to look at the clock on the wall.

“Ah, we should get going, don’t wanna keep you from your next class.” You hummed, shaking your head, and blushed at the curious expression on his face.

“This is my last class, actually. Now I just...go home. Or. Maybe the library. Probably the library,” you corrected, groaning. Frank chuckled, reaching for Mary’s hand, before pointing towards the door with his free hand.

“Can we drop you off? I think we pass the library on our way,” he offered. You parted your lips, surprised, but you were more surprised when Mary jumped excitedly.

“Oh! Please? Please?” 

“...how can I say no to that?” you laughed, finally, nodding and following Frank and Mary out to the old pick up outside. 

         For the following few weeks, it was the same thing. When class was over, you and Mary would walk out into the hall to meet up with Frank, and he would offer to give you a lift - either to the library or to your building, wherever you happened to be going. You didn’t mind walking, really, you weren’t all that far, but it was nice to have the company after class, releasing some of the tension from being in classes all day. 

         Mary studied you, a month later, watching you constantly checking your phone beneath the table before returning to your work. You seemed distracted most of the class, something she noticed almost immediately, but it wasn’t until the professor dismissed you that she said anything. The moment the teacher spoke her dismissal, you were tucking your papers into your folder, stuffing the object into your bag. 

“You seem frazzled.” You glanced over, surprised, and blushed, smiling.

“Yeah, I...I’m sorry, I’m just really excited to get out of here,” you admitted, helping her get her bag on before following her out to the hall. Frank looked up from his seat, lighting up at the sight of you with Mary, and hopped to his feet, meeting you halfway. 

“How was class?”

“It was good,” Mary nodded, smiling. ��She was distracted, said she’s excited to get out of here.” Frank looked over, curious, as you started leading them to the door, prompting a chuckle from him.

“Oh? Got a hot date tonight?” he teased you as he jogged around to open the door of the truck, smiling back as you laughed, blushing brightly. Mary climbed up into the truck, wriggling her way into the middle of the bench seat, as you looked at Frank with a shake of your head. 

“No, no date,” you replied with a smile. 

“...want one?” 

You quirked a brow, hand on the door of the truck, but stopped, leaning back to see him.

“...are you hitting on me?” Frank shrugged casually, brushing it off a little, but you could see the uncertainty in his eyes as he glanced up at you. “...wow.”

“Good wow? Or...bad wow?”

“Good,” you answered quickly. “And...any other time, my answer would be yes, but tonight, I can’t. Um. My brother is overseas, and we haven’t really talked in months, but, he emailed me last night that he’s going to call me on Skype in…” You glanced down at your watch, lip between your teeth. “Less than an hour. And I just...I can’t miss it.”

“Well, shit, hop in, lemme get you home.” Blushing, you quickly climbed in, twisting to close the door behind you as he jogged around and climbed behind the wheel.

         With the windows only partially cracked, enough to get the air through but not enough for anyone to reach in, Frank climbed out when you did, reminding Mary to lock the doors before he rounded the truck and followed you to the door. 

“Thank you, for the drive, Frank...for all of them, I really do appreciate it.” 

“Yeah, it’s no problem. It’s nice to see Mary finding people she can talk to here.” You unlocked the door, but paused, turning to look at him. “...what?”

“Did you mean it? About...about the date?”

“Yeah,” he promised, nodding. 

“...can, uh...maybe...tomorrow?” The smile was slow, but certain, curling at his lips, as he nodded quickly. 

“Yeah, definitely. You’ve got our number, right?” You nodded, returning the smile. “Gimme a call when you’re finished with Skype, we can figure it out.”

“Perfect. Can’t wait.” Frank hesitated, but ducked in, kissing your cheek, before he headed back to the truck. You were struck still for a moment in surprise, but when he slammed the door behind him and waved, you waved back, grinning as you disappeared into your apartment, giddy with excitement. 

[anagentinwriting]

Subscribe - Part 11

Summary: (Modern AU) Peter was your college sweetheart until a certain event led to your break up. Seven years later another event brings you two back together, but this time a little girl is in the picture. Will listening to your podcasts be the reason you two get back together or be another reason to keep you apart?

Pairing: Peter Quill x Reader

Word Count: 2423

Warnings: Fluff, swearing, slight angst

Subscribe Masterlist / Main Masterlist

On the flight back to California, you kept replaying the weekend over in your head. Saturday was a busy day filled with meeting fans and having a Q&A at a local coffee shop. Wanda and you were both surprised with the turnout, and the fans had a ton of questions. Some were about your children, products you’ve used, tips, and of course, a couple of questions about Star-lord. For the fun of it, you decided to record the event and upload it to the podcast page once you got back. 

After the meet and greet, you and Wanda did a little exploring, like stopping at a few toy shops that sold Potts of Honey products. You walked through Central Park and stopped at a few souvenir shops and bought a little gift for Mer. It was a fun and productive trip. 

Peter promised to keep Meredith for a few hours longer after you got back, so you could get stuff settled at home before he dropped her off. You put in some laundry, vacuumed, and sat down at your desk to get some work done.

A sharp, dull pain shot up the back of your neck as you let out a groan and opened your eyes. Ugh...what time was it? You lifted your head off your desk and noticed a piece of paper sticking to your face. You sighed, pulling it off and stretching your neck back and forth. You heard Meredith’s unique laugh, coming from the kitchen, they must’ve got here while you were sleeping in that uncomfortable position. You walked out of your office, letting out a long yawn that made your eyes water. 

“Daddy, you're gonna burn the grilled cheese. Mommy won’t eat them if you burn them.” You stepped up to the kitchen doorway and leaned against it.

“It will be fine, Twig. It’s hard to burn a grilled cheese, and the tomato soup is going to be delicious,” Peter replied, standing over the stove with Mer sitting on the counter beside him.

“It’s from a can. You can’t mess that up,” she blurted out, forcing a chuckle out of him. 

“I’ll let you in on a little secret.” He leaned in close to her.  “Your mother burnt tomato soup once,” he said, making Mers mouth drop open.

“In my defense, I got distracted. It happens,” you confessed, making yourself known. Peter turned around, shooting you with his boyish smirk as Mer jumped off the counter and ran over to you. 

“Mommy!” Mer jumped into your arms, and you held her close. You tighten your grip around her, squeezing your eyes shut. “I missed you!”

“I missed you, too.” 

“Did you get me anything?” Mer asked with innocent eyes as you two pulled apart. 

“How about you go get my bag from the living room, and I’ll show you,” you told her, making her eyes light up and take off to the other room. You stood up, watching her leave with a side smirk on your face. 

“I’m happy you’re home, too,” Peter nodded as you turned around. “She can be a handful on the weekends. Whew!” 

“I tried to tell you,” you chuckled. “I hope you were able to keep her under control.” You stepped to the other side of the room to stir the tomato soup. Peter licked his lips, keeping a watchful eye on you. “I want to thank you for watching her again.”

“It’s the least I could do after everything.” He cleared his throat, biting his lip.  “I figured cooking you both dinner would be a good idea since you were passed out in your office.” You punch him on his bicep, feeling your face heat up. 

“Got your bag,” Mer grunted, dragging it into the kitchen. You leaned down and opened it, handing her a stuffed teddy bear with ‘I <3 NY’ sewed on the belly. “I love it,” Mer squealed, holding it tight to her chest. She rushed over to Peter and hopped back on the counter. “What do you think, daddy?”

“I’m jealous I didn’t get one,” he smirked at you as Mer giggled next to him. “As I was saying, YN. You go relax. Me and Mer will finish cooking dinner.”

“You sure?”

“Positive.” Peter turned back to the stove and flipped the grilled cheese. You walked out of the kitchen and took a chair at the dining table in the next room over. You weren’t one to eavesdrop, but Peter was so sweet to her you couldn’t help but listen in. 

“I told you! I knew you were going to burn the grilled cheese. It’s like you got distracted or something,” Mer joked, making you crack a smile across your face.  “Are you going to join us for dinner, Daddy?”

“Wish I could, Twig, but turns out I have to go to New York tonight for a day or so.”

“Awww, man,” she complained, letting out a loud sigh. “That means I have to go to daycare with all those babies!”

"I'm sorry," he breathed a soft chuckle. "I think you can survive a day or two.”

“I don’t know, dad. You don’t know what it’s like in there. It changes a person,” she stated with a straight face, forcing him to shake his head unable to stop the smile gracing his lips. “What is in New York?”

"I'm going to listen to the girl from Queens, she's playing at a local coffee shop there. I remember a certain little girl mentioning how we should listen to her live-in person and see if she is as good as her demos are."

“Yesss! She’s so amazing.” 

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, it was kind of a last-minute decision."

"It's okay, Dad," Mer replied in a comforting tone.

“Would you mind buttering some more bread since I burnt this one?” 

“On it, Grilled Cheese Burner.”

_______

You returned to work, and things couldn’t have been busier. It was a crazy week so far, and it felt like it was flying by. The schedule you and Peter created was working out like a charm. You couldn't believe how much easier it was when two parents were involved. You hated to admit it to yourself, but you loved observing their interactions. You felt yourself falling for him all over again, and you hated how fast it was happening. What if you get hurt again? What would happen? How would you move on? He knew about Mer now so he would continue to be in your life. But damn, he was so good with her and it only made him more irresistible.  

You got off work early and decided to go to the studio to pick Mer up. She wanted to ask Peter to the father-daughter dance happening on Friday, but she was nervous. You figured if you left work early, you could help her build up a little extra courage and ask him herself. 

Walking into the studio, you waved at Mantis, and she pointed to the offices to the left while she continued talking on the phone. You nodded, making your way to Peter and Bucky’s office. You stopped by the doorway, seeing Peter and Mer playing together. A sincere smile formed on your lips, watching them interact.

“Hi, my name's Korg,” Peter said in a gruff accent, shaking the toy. “I run this place around here. What's your name?" 

“Daddy, you're so funny,” she giggled, leaning into his side. You didn’t miss the heartfelt smile that spread across his face. It wasn’t hard to notice that Peter enjoyed being a dad. He loved spending time with her, and he was turning out to be a great father. 

“Hi, YN.”

“OH SHIT!”  You held your hand to your chest, turning around. “Hey, Bucky.”

“I’m sorry. I thought you heard me,” he chuckled, coming to stand next to you.

“I didn’t.” You punched him on his arm. “I forgot how sneaky you can be.”

“One of my many skills,” he smirked, glancing into his shared office.

“Mommy!” Mer came running at you and wrapped her little arms around your legs, pulling them into a hug. You leaned over, patting her back.

“How was school?”

“It was so much fun. My math is starting to get challenging, and I like it.”

“What like it isn’t challenging enough already,” Bucky mumbled beside you.

“That’s great. Why don’t you go pack your things, and we’ll go have dinner at Auntie Gam’s tonight?”

“Yes…okay,” She paused, chewing on her bottom lip. “Uncle Bucky, I’m gonna need your help, come with me.” She grabbed his hand, forcing a laugh out of him as she pulled him along to get her bag. 

“Hey,” Peter greeted, walking up to you. “How are things coming along at Potts of Honey?”

“It’s good. We’re hoping to start building on the New York property in the next month or so. It's all happening really fast.  And turns out, the podcast is more successful than we thought it was on the east coast.” 

“Yeah, I listened to that Q&A podcast you did at that cafe. It was fun to listen to. You and Wanda are inspiring so many people.”

“I wouldn’t go that far.”

“Are you kidding? You’re incredible at what you do.” 

“Thanks,” you gushed, feeling a blush tint your cheeks.

“And the whole New York facility sounds exciting, too. You're something else, YN,” he confessed. “Do you know who is going to be running it once everything gets settled?”

“I don’t know. That’s a good question. I haven't....” Meredith interrupted you as she ran down the hallway shouting with her backpack strapped on tight. 

“MOM, I AM READY TO GO!” 

Saying quick goodbyes to Mantis and Peter, you and Mer headed out to your car. You buckled yourself in and watched Mer strap herself into her car seat from the rearview mirror.

“Did you ask your dad if he wanted to go to the dance?”

“Um…no. He wouldn’t want to go to some stupid kid thing anyways,” she sighed, looking out the window.

“You don't know that,” you replied, unbuckling your seatbelt. “You know what, we're not leaving till you ask him...let's go back inside?”

“No, I don’t want to.”

“Yes, you do. I know you do,” you said, turning around in your seat. “I'm not asking him for you. You’re a big girl. You can do this.” She shook her head, staring at the front seat. You stepped out of the car and opened her door. “He will say yes, but only if you ask him.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I’m your mother. Now come on, Meredith.”

“Finnnne,” she whined, unbuckling her seatbelt and getting out of the car. 

“Hey, Peter,” you greeted, walking back through the entrance. He glanced in your direction as he leaned against the front desk, chatting with Mantis. “Mer wanted to ask you something? She’s nervous you might already have plans, but she has been wanting to ask you for a while now.”

“Is that right? Okay. Hey, Twig.” He walked over and leaned down in front of her putting his hands on her shoulder.  “What is it? You know you can ask me anything right. No matter what it is.”

She looked at you standing next to her, and you nodded. “Did you want to go to this father-daughter dance at my school on Friday night?”

“Friday you say--” he hummed, thinking it over “--I’d love to go! I’ll have to rearrange some things, but I’ll be there.” She smiled and wrapped him into a hug. He put his arms around her little frame and squeezed her tight before pulling away. “Do I have to wear a tux?

“Yes,” she giggled and hugged him again. You smiled down at them. “Do you promise?” She asked, holding up her pinky finger.

“I promise, Twig.” He hooked his pinky with hers and swung it around, forcing a loud giggle out of her.

“Now let's get going, Gamora is waiting for us. I'll text you about the dance details, Peter, and figure out a game plan.”

He nodded. “Sounds good, YN. See you two ladies tomorrow.”

Mer smile, waving goodbye. “Love you, daddy,” she shouted before walking out the door. 

“Love you, too, Twig.”

“She is so cute, Peter.” Mantis commented.

“She is going to be a heartbreaker when she grows up,” he smirked, resting his elbows back on the front desk. Mantis chuckled, agreeing with him.

“When are you going to tell her the truth?” Nat asked, walking into the room.

“Excuse me?” Peter questioned, looking up from the paperwork in front of him.

“About how I work here." She twirled her finger in the air. "I hate hiding when she comes in. It's ridiculous how after all these years you still don't have the balls to tell her what happened.”

“It's a sensitive subject." He furrowed his brows together. "Besides, I don't want to ruin what I have been trying to rebuild with her.”

“You think this will ruin everything. You’re an idiot. This will clear everything up beside when I was watching the security cameras I could tell she’s still into you,” Nat added, crossing her arms.

He scoffed. “I doubt it. I mean, she...she doesn't even want to talk about what happened.”

“She's trying to protect herself, doofus. She doesn’t want to relive what she went through because it was hard on her, especially because she was pregnant.”

“In my defense, I didn’t know about that part,” Peter stated, forcing Nat to roll her eyes. “When the time is right I will tell her, but not right now!”

“Fine, but now is the right time.” He shrugged, chewing on his lip. “Buck and I are going to dinner soon, did you want to come?”

“No, I should stay here and catch up on some things.” Nat nodded at him as she walked back to her office. 

Peter smiled at the paperwork in front of him thinking about the father-daughter dance. Would he still be able to fit into the silver tux he bought forever ago? Does he get her a corsage? Or a bouquet? Sure, he would have to cancel his plans with Bereet, but that was an easy fix, and she’d understand, right? Peter’s mind continued to be filled with questions, but there was one that lingered in the back of his mind. Was Nat right about YN? Did she still have feelings for him? Nat has always been super observant, so could she be right?

_________

AN: Awww...now who's excited about this dance! The reader might be catching feelings, but how long will it take for her to realize he might feel the same? Slow burn, am I right? Nat seems to know the truth about why they broke up...hmmm...I wonder what it could be? As always thanks for reading!

[insideoutstory]

Inside Out → Chapter One

summary: Whenever her father goes away for work, Christine has a sleepover with her friends Barb and Nancy. word count: 2.7k a/n: Hey guys! I don’t know if I’m going to post all the chapters on this blog, since some of them will be pretty long, but I figured I’d give it a shot. Let me know what you’d prefer! [ masterlist ]   [ FF.net ]

November 4, 1983 

By 8:00 PM, most of Hawkins, Indiana was getting ready to turn in for the night. Orange streetlamps buzzed faintly against the dark blue sky, kitchen lights turning off after dishes were washed, and the faint blue light of the television catching the curtains of some families’ front windows. Cars were carefully stowed away for the evening, and children argued with their parents that they could stay up just a little bit longer. 

But one house, at least, was still wide awake. 

“Are you sure you’ve got everything?” a teenage girl asked, eyeing her father’s suitcases. 

“Pretty darned,” he replied. He rounded the corner to the front room, dropping another bag into the pile so he could pull on his coat. “Suits are already in the car. Got my files, got my toothbrush…” 

“Are you sure, Dad?” 

“Christine, I’m a forty-year-old man. I know how to pack for a business trip.” 

“Right,” she said with a curt nod, “and last time you just forgot your briefcase, so I had to hitch a ride to the airport to drop it off for you.” 

“Well, at least I won’t make that mistake again, will I?” 

He grinned at her until she broke. When her pout turned into a grudging smile, he tugged her forward to place a kiss into her blonde hair. 

“Give me some credit. Kitchen is stoked, hotel number is on the fridge, Claudia is next door if you need anything, emergency funds are in the bread box, and the key to the liquor cabinet is in my ‘I Heart New York’ mug.” 

“Dad, I don’t…” 

“Ah, ah, ah!” He waved his hands vehemently, squeezing his eyes shut. “I don’t want you to lie to me. Just promise me you’ll drink responsibly.” 

“I’m serious, Dad. I don’t…” 

“Say it to make me feel better, come on. Please.” 

“Fine,” she laughed. “Yes, I promise we’ll drink loads, and we’ll do it responsibly.” 

“That’s my girl.” He kissed her swiftly on the cheek and picked up his bags. “I’ll be back next Monday. Call me if you need anything.” 

“I will. Love you, Dad.” 

“Love you too, bumblebee.” He winked, and stuck his head around the corner to the living room. “Goodnight, girls! Give your parents my best!” 

“Night, Mr. Walcott!” 

“Have a safe flight!” 

With one last pat on his daughter’s head, he ducked out of the house and closed the door behind him. 

Christine peered through the window, one hand ready on the doorknob in case he came running back to grab something. But her father climbed into the car and backed out without incident. She waved as he pulled onto the road, and then headed back into the living room to rejoin her friends. 

“I love your dad,” said Nancy from her seat on the floor. “He’s just so…” 

“Cool,” Christine finished, rolling her eyes. “Yeah, we get it, Nance. You love my dad. You adore my dad. You are weirdly obsessed with my dad.” 

“Shut up! I didn’t mean it like that.” Barb snorted next to her, and Nancy’s jaw dropped further. “I am not obsessed with her dad!” 

“Sure,” Barb said with a shrug. She picked another potato chip from the bowl and inspected it closely to avoid Nancy’s death glare. “But you do bring him up literally every time we come over here.” 

“Why, thank you, Barb,” said Christine smugly. 

They cackled, watching Nancy blush furiously. Eventually, even she had to chuckle. 

“I just think you’re lucky to have a dad that’s so understanding,” she explained. “If I brought up drinking to my dad, I think he’d go into cardiac arrest.” 

“Uh, no,” Barb corrected, “your mom would go into cardiac arrest.” 

“And then your dad would complain about the inconvenience on the way to the hospital,” finished Christine. 

“Exactly! They’d get crazy upset, and still somehow manage to make it all about them. It’s ridiculous!” 

“She’s got a point,” said Barb. “Your dad is pretty chill.” 

Christine waved a hand in defeat. “Ugh, fine, whatever. My dad’s the bomb. Are we getting pizza or what?” 

Nancy and Barb both raised their hands, and Christine retreated to the kitchen. As she plugged the number into the wall phone, she noticed a dark square sitting on the kitchen counter. She picked it up, flipping it open to review her father’s driver’s license, bank card, library card, assorted cash… 

“Yeah, nice going, Dad,” she mumbled, pinning the phone to her shoulder. “Sorry, hi! I was looking to place an order for delivery?” 

She ordered their normal pies—one extra cheese, one pepperoni—and weighed the wallet in her hand. The easiest thing would probably be to ask Barb to drive her to the airport. If they were lucky, the might even catch up to her dad on the road. She’d have to pay for the gas money, of course, but she could always take a few bills from the wallet… 

Thankfully, it didn’t come to that. She was just rattling off her address when a set of headlights pulled into the driveway. The car door slammed, pounding feet jogged up to the house, and her father tumbled through the front door. 

“Sweetheart? Have you seen my…?” 

Christine whistled, leaning around the corner to toss him the wallet. He grinned, gave her a small salute, and ducked out of the house once more. 

This was standard routine at the Walcott house. Not that her father was particularly forgetful, or that Christine was especially organized. They just kept each other in check. The two of them had a system, and it had been that way for years. It was part of the reason she hated it so much when he had to go away. 

She was getting better though. Every business trip was offset by a sleepover with her two closest friends. They gossiped, ate junk food, stayed up far too late, and watched movies they had no business watching before bed. 

“I can’t believe you made me bring this again,” Barb complained, once they were settled in the living room with their pizza and sodas. She pulled a videotape out of her bag, and pushed herself up on her knees to insert it into the machine. “Can’t we watch something new?” 

“Hey, my house, my rules.” Christine stretched out a leg to kick Barb in the butt, and Nancy giggled. “We watch comedies at your house, chick flicks at Nancy’s. My house is the horror house.” 

“Yeah, I know,” Barb sighed. She pressed a button, and the previews began to fly by on the screen. “I just don’t get why you guys like horror movies. They’re all skinny girls who don’t know how to run and skeevy guys trying to get in their pants.” 

“They’re not all like that,” said Nancy. “I really liked Jaws.” 

“Right. The one with the skinny girls who can’t swim, and the skeevy guys trying to get in their bathing suits.” 

Christine threw a handful of popcorn at her, laughing when a piece got wedged underneath her glasses. 

“Come on, Barb. That’s the whole point!” 

“What? That guys are dumb and girls are dumber?” 

“No, that stupidity gets punished.” Christine leaned against the seat of the couch, setting the popcorn bowl aside. “That’s the whole thing that gets overlooked in horror movies. There’s a structure to them. Skeevy guys, girls that sleep around, bullies, assholes—they’re all first on the chopping block. If you don’t do stupid shit, then you don’t get killed.” 

“Oh, right,” Nancy said with an exaggerated nod. “So you like horror movies because they make you feel better about being a virgin?” 

“Um, yeah. Obviously. What about you, Nance?” 

“Me? Definitely the blood. I just—I love watching massive amounts of gore. Totally.” 

“Funny,” Barb snorted. “I thought you guys just liked this movie cause that one guy looks like Steve Harrington.” 

Nancy and Christine both squealed in protest. 

“Oh my God, he does not!” 

“Woah, hey, Jack looks nothing like Steve!” 

“Right? You’re so right!” 

“Nothing! Absolutely.” 

They nodded at each other firmly in the silence, lips pursed in determination. Barb raised an eyebrow to meet her red curls. Nancy hesitantly pressed a hand over her mouth, trying to hold in her laughter, but the damage had already been done. 

“Alright, except for the hair,” she admitted, kicking Christine’s leg. 

“And the running shorts,” Christine added with a wink. 

Both girls dissolved into giggles, unhindered by their friend’s unimpressed gaze. But the laughter was contagious, and after a few seconds even Barb was wiping her eyes and clutching her sides. 

“Okay, okay,” she wheezed, struggling to maintain her mature composure. “Let’s just watch your dumb camp slasher.” 

“It’s called Friday the Thirteenth, and it’s incredible, thank you very much.” 

“Whatever, Chris.” 

Things settled down as they got into the movie. Christine had already seen it at least eight times since it had come out, but it was still thoroughly entertaining. She liked the anticipation in horror movies—not knowing who’d be next, when the killer would get them or how they were gonna go. But as the crowd of characters thinned out on screen, her interest began to drift. Nancy had tuned out the moment the boy named Jack had been stabbed in the throat, and Barb had been more interested in her pizza than the film since the title card. Which brought the trio to the inevitable second phase of their sleepover. 

“Nancy, truth or dare?” asked Barb. 

Nancy swirled the remnants of her Coke around the bottle, deliberating before deciding, “Dare.” 

Barb smirked victoriously. “Alright. I dare you to tell Christine who your real first crush was.” 

“Excuse me?” Christine gaped, as Nancy’s jaw dropped. 

“No! No, no, no! You can’t use dares to force truths! That’s against the rules!” 

“Wait, your real first crush?” Christine repeated. “I thought it was Ethan Hart? That guy in my English class?” 

“It was,” Nancy insisted, as Barb shook her head. 

“No, it was not.” 

“Who was it?” Christine demanded. “Nancy Wheeler, who was it?” 

“I’m not doing this,” Nancy laughed, shaking her head. “Nope, nope, nope!” 

“Nancy, if you don’t tell her I’m going to.” 

“Barb!” 

“Who was it, who was it, who was it, tell me, tell me, tell me, tell me…” 

“Shut up! Fine! It was Peter Jorgins!” 

Nancy immediately buried her face in her hands as Barb and Christine erupted into laughter. 

“Oh my God, Peter Jorgins?” Christine asked. “Isn’t he the one who kept that Princess Leia picture in his wallet?” 

“Yup,” said Barb, nodding sagely. “Metal bikini and all.” 

“Ugh, I know,” Nancy whined, peeking out between her fingers. “He wasn’t always such a perv. This was back in like, first grade. Way before you moved here.” 

“Still, I’m hurt,” said Christine, laying a hand over her chest. “It’s like five years of friendship means nothing to you.” 

“Very funny. Truth or dare, Chrissy?” 

“Fine. Truth.” 

Nancy narrowed her eyes, visibly mulling over a few ideas before breaking out into a smile. “Alright. So you said horror movies have rules, right? Like if you hook up with someone then you have to die?” 

“Yeah, and?” 

“If you were in a horror movie, would you rather be a loner and survive the film, or make out with Steve Harrington?” 

“Oof, brutal,” said Barb, pointing at the girl across from her. “Good one.” 

Christine chewed on her lip, sagging back against the couch as she began her internal debate. It was difficult to push aside her daydreams of what it would actually be like to make out with King Steve Harrington—the most popular boy at Hawkins High School. She could easily spend all night thinking about it and never answer the question. 

It was a stupid question, she knew—make out with one boy or not die? But still. Not every boy was Steve Harrington. 

“Chrissy, you can’t be serious,” Barb said, after nearly a full minute of silence. “No guy is worth dying for. Not even King Steve.” 

“Well it’s just making out, right?” Christine said meekly. “I mean, they couldn’t kill me for making out with him. It’s not sex.” 

“No way,” said Barb. “You’d rather get chased by a crazy psycho with a knife than miss the chance to kiss Steve Harrington?” 

“I can run pretty fast…” 

Christine shrugged, and Nancy cackled next to her. She shook her long brown hair out of her face, fighting for breath as she held up a finger. 

“Okay, wait, but what if you did sleep with him? Survive the crazy psycho monster, or sex with Steve?” 

“Are you kidding me?” Christine laughed. “Have you heard the way Becky Dern talks about him? And they only dated like, a month. I’m pretty sure it would be worth it.” 

“So worth it,” Nancy agreed. 

They turned to Barb, who was watching them both skeptically. She rolled her eyes—her signature move—and grinned. 

“Well, I guess there are worse ways to go.” 

There was another round of giggles, and everyone helped themselves to second helpings of pizza. 

“Anyway,” Barb continued, “you’re one step closer than the rest of us to finding out, Miss Advanced Placement.” 

“God, you’re so lucky,” Nancy sighed, downing the rest of her Coke. “I’m literally so jealous.” 

“There’s nothing to be jealous of,” Christine insisted, though she could feel her cheeks heating up. “I see Steve one period a day, two tops.” 

“But you’re his lab partner! That’s like, infinite opportunities to hang out. Lab questions, last minute reports, study dates…” 

“I don’t think it sounds that glamorous,” said Barb. “Especially since he keeps slacking off.” 

Her disapproving face was back in place, making Christine defensive. 

“He’s been busy. I mean, between school and basketball practice…” 

“Yeah? Well you’ve got a job.” 

“It’s only been two reports,” Christine reasoned. “And he really tries in class, so it’s just the write up that I’m doing. Besides, I don’t mind. I really like physics.” 

“Right. Physics.” 

Christine did her best not to let that sting. She knew Barb was just looking out for her. She was a classic realist, probably the most sensible, grounded person in their group. Still, her protective streak could be a real downer. 

“Hey,” Nancy said gently. “Maybe it’s not Steve’s fault, you know? Maybe Chrissy’s just hogging all the work for herself. She’s a science hog.” 

“Excuse me?” Christine asked with a playful glare. Nancy shrugged. “A science hog. That’s why you’re in upper placement, right? You just love science so much, and you want to do everything yourself. You are a big nerd.” 

“Right. This coming from the straight-A student.” 

“Hate all you want, but straight-A isn’t upper placement.” 

“Of course not,” Barb scoffed. “Just top of your class in English, and trigonometry, and chemistry…” 

“Oh crap,” Nancy sighed, all jokes forgotten. “We’ve got a chem test next week. I completely forgot.” 

“It’s next week,” said Christine, waving a hand. “You’ll be fine.” 

“No, no—Mr. Kaminsky is like crazy hard. I swear half of the last test wasn’t even on the review sheet.” 

“God, don’t remind me,” Barb groaned, and her head fell back toward the ceiling. “I actually had nightmares about the periodic table.” 

“Exactly. And I might have passed the last one, but I have got to seriously ace this test if I want to be on track this semester. My mom tried to have this whole heart-to-heart because it’s not like me to just pass, or whatever, and…” 

“Alright, okay, I get it,” Christine laughed. She leaned over, patting Nancy’s ankle. “But you’re gonna do great, Nance. You always do. If you want, I’ll help you study tomorrow, after I get off work. Promise. Just try not to worry about it for now, alright?” 

Nancy bit her lip, glancing torn at the screen where the movie credits were still playing. She brandished a finger at Christine. 

“Fine. But I’m serious, Chrissy, I need at least half an hour of flashcards.” 

“Deal. Until then—Barb, truth or dare?” 

“Truth.” 

“Who was your real first crush?” 

The living room filled with laughter once more, and they settled back into their lighthearted game. Worrying could wait for another day. For now, all they had to worry about was being teenagers—watching movies, eating junk food, and talking about love and music and movies until they fell asleep on the floor.

[chrsitophwaltz]

MICKEY MEETS FC BAYERN (PART 1/4)

for the entire houston clownery experience click here

psa: excuse my face and the pic qualities. up until this happened i haven’t really taken pictures of myself (less than 10 in the past two years for family and work purposes and NEVER selfies) and when you meet people you’ve only seen on TV in a very unexpected circumstance, then don’t expect your brain and motor functions to work 100%.

okay. i posted part 1 of this a few days ago but i’m gonna redo it again to flush out the details. before i start, know that i arrived in houston wednesday afternoon. my original flight back home was scheduled sunday after the game (i booked my flight and lodgings months before like a good binch) but since bayern clowned again and announced the full detailed schedule really late, and put ALL the major fan stuff on SUNDAY, i grudgingly rebooked and extended one more day. how much that one extra day cost me will haunt me for a while but hey, it was more than worth it! of course, i didn’t know it would work out like that at first...

the hotel reception was around 6:30-7 pm on friday so we went there a few hours earlier to get good spots. met up with The Niko Thirst Gang (big shoutout to @screamingoranges, @saquonbrkley, and @simplyirenic! it was great meeting y’all hope we could do it again sometime) and waited patiently in the houston heat and humidity outside the hotel. finally the team bus arrived and got my shirt signed by boa, fiete, benji, leon, and thomas! made a post about it here and i also have the full reception video if y’all wanna see!

but being the greedy thirsty binch that i am, i wasn’t satisfied at all. thiago and niko weren’t there. the coaching staff were the first to go down and hansi flick, dr. broich, and even Witch Doctor™ müller-wohlfahrt were there, but NOT niko. after the bus left and all the other entourage cars were off, i was about to rage outside the hotel bc i was really banking on seeing niko that day and taking a pic with him there (my blood pressure had been raging for 4 hours and then to be let down just like t h a t...). apparently he and thiago went straight to nrg stadium from the airport for a press conference. and guess what? NRG STADIUM WAS JUST DOWN THE ROAD FROM MY PLACE 💀💀💀

anyway, come saturday and it was game day! i was so pumped since my seat was five rows behind the bayern bench! y’all know what that means: unlimited firsthand access to peak drama!!! i also had this huge ass sign asking for niko’s bottle sdhfsdjfh. the game was great (bc we beat madridies and it was just really exciting all the way) and i saw stuff that we normally don’t get from TV (e.g. ALL the angry niko antics, leon changing into his kit on the bench, etc.) at one point niko finally looked at my direction while drinking from his bottle and i’m pretty sure he saw my sign but he just kept on drinking sultrily from that goddamn bottle sjadhksfksdfdk i hate him!!!!!!!

after the game i was feeling pretty let down and desperate bc i know sunday was the team’s last full day in houston and i didn’t want my extension to be for nothing. the practice session and paulaner bbq were invite-only events (ugh) and the mall meet-and-greets won’t have niko or everyone else in them. so i set my alarm, went to bed, and decided to try my luck by randomly going to the hotel again to see if i can get something. i had no idea if it was gonna work or not. it was a shot in the freaking dark.

sunday morning. 8:30 am. i went out armed with a sharpie, my cardboarded jersey, a pack of gum, and two bottles of water.

my uber drove me to the hotel entrance and i even got the whole five star welcome sjdhfsjdfbjkds

hotel staff: ”hi! welcome to the post oak hotel!”

me: “oh lmao i’m not actually a customer i’m just here to see if the team’s still here. have they left for practice yet?”

hotel staff: “oh no problem at all. they’re still here they just finished breakfast i think”

me: “oh cool i’ll just wait here then”

hotel staff and some guy in a bayern audi fcb tour polo shirt: “it’s so hot here, though. don’t you want to wait inside?”

me:

me: “............i can do that? am i allowed in?”

bayern guy: *shrugs* yeah sure. i’ve seen you around before anyway (nice guy talk for: i know ur stalking them lmao)

just like that.

i’m in. i made it.

u n s u p e r v i s e d. totally no barriers whatsoever. with full blast A/C too!

cue happy lil me, relieved to be out of the houston heat, entering the hotel and chilling in their nice plushy seats. (if y’all have cash to burn, it looks like a real good hotel too if you get to houston sometime). i kept on looking over my shoulder bc i still can’t believe they just let me in like t h a t. i tried to make myself look as harmless and innocent as possible and saw some of the training staff milling around and chatting in german (for a moment i thought i was back in munich it was so surreal). at some point, a very sleepy and very casual javi martinez in slides came up to the reception and i nearly passed out. he looked over at me and i waved and said hi and raised my shirt (signal if he wants to sign). he shook his head no and gestured to reception and i was like “oh sure no problem!” (i was trying not to freak out even if i was sad ok)

i’ve been trying to kill time by screaming here on tumblr until about 10-15 minutes later i heard the huge ass team bus pull up out front. a few moments after that, it all started.

i saw the kitmen carrying stuff to the bus and greeted them “guten morgen!” they were so cheery lmao (idk if it’s bc they just had breakfast or bc i greeted them in german). then i saw dr. broich and hansi flick come out in their training gear (both looking hella tanned sfnsjfjsdfn) and greeted them both again. dr. broich waved, said hi, and went straight to the bus but i was able to flag hansi down for an autograph. in my excitement (he was my first catch of the day!) i forgot to ask for a pic ugh but oh well

me: “thanks hansi! and welcome to bayern!”

hansi: *handing me back my shirt and trying (and failing) to put my sharpie back in its cap* “oh, thanks so much!”

after hansi went on his merry way, i saw dieter nickles (the press conference guy) and asked him for a picture and autograph too.

me: “hi dieter! can i please have a photo and an autograph?”

dieter: “are you sure? i’m not a player...”

me: “haha i know but if it’s all the same to you...”

he seemed pretty chuffed that i knew him and happily signed and took pictures (score #2!)

that was it for a while (they were the early birds) until giovane elber himself came out. i freaked (i love him) and tried to keep my voice from shaking when i asked him for the standard photo and autograph. in my haste, the first was pretty blurry and against the light but giovane, angel that he is, was like “oh no that’s bad. let’s try again” and maneuvered me to another angle. success! i luff u, giovane ;__;

then The Voice of the Allianz Arena himself came out. i semi-shouted “stephan!” and startled him that he nearly dropped his coffee snbfsdbfsdfsb. while he was signing my shirt, i asked him if he could give me a lil soundbite and HE DID! he sounds exactly the same as he does on TV during games omfg

the younglings started to come out too. i missed a few of them because they went out in a group so i was only able to flag down sarpreet and ron. oh well! they cute af! go bayern babies! grow up and save us from clownery!!!!!!

(ignore the pen in my mouth i was multitasking lmao)

after that, the ground started to shake (just kidding) bc Big Uncle Nik was there! after i got his autograph (a very simple N.S. lmaooo) , we tried to take a picture. i say “tried,” because i’m 5′3 (and 1/2....on a good day) and he’s built like a fuckin skyscraper. in the end, since he was so nice and realized it was hopeless, he bent down to my level so we could both fit in the frame sdhfbsdjfsbdfjd COME ON SÜLEEEEE

then Pure Angel Baby Fiete came out! i already got his autograph and had a pic with him in the hotel reception, but hey, one more can’t hurt! lemme tell y’all: he looks like an angel, and IS an angel. he’s always so game for photos and even said thank you after we took the pic and i’m like “um???? no, thank YOU!!!” he laughed and i cried lmaooo

also, javi finally showed up again. i raised my pen and phone and he was like “oh sure! yeah!” my brain was fried from Beautiful Athlete Overload that i forgot NOT to take a pic from that cursed angle. javi looked like he was in a hurry though so i didn’t even try to ask for a better pic. oh well, at least here he looks like he came down from heaven (he really looked like he did huehue)

(tumblr has this stupid 10 photo per post limit thing so stay tuned for more pics in part 2!)

[rainbowglittr]

Love and Marriage - Chapter 15 (Mature, Minors DNI)

Description:

After a loss in the family uncovers a family secret, Jaleia and her husband Jesse are forced to balance one family crisis after another along with their budding careers and their plans to expand their family. Will the pressure to keep everyone else together ruin their own relationship? Can ruined relationships be fixed before it’s too late?

Chapter 15:

"Ugh." I lifted my head from the toliet as I finished heaving. Jesse was holding my hair back since it had decided it ws not going to stay in a ponytail. Pregnancy was really throwing me for a loop. A couple of weeks ago, me and Jess went to the doctor where she confirmed that I was indeed pregnant. I was now about 6 weeks pregnant and the side effects were kicking in real strong. I had been having morning sickness almost every sngle day for the past two weeks. Like clockwork. I was tired no matter how much I slept.

"You think that's it, baby?" Jesse said. This morning sickness routine had added on at least fifteen extra minutes to my morning schedule, so to not be late I woke up fifteen extra minutes early. We were still keeping it quiet, although I think Diana was cathing on. But we decided to still keep it quiet for another month to be safe.

She only was going to stay with us for about two more weeks, just before the end of August. That was supposed to be when Jesse's mom officially closed on the house that is just three doors away from ours.

And while Jesse did did best to try and convince her to move somewhere a little further away, she was sold on that damn house. We saw her almost non-stop. She also was lucky because someone had agreed to buy her old house, but that was going to take longer to close than the one she just bought. Jesse and Di were helping her when they could to pack everything from the house and move it to storage. They had made a lot of progress and this Friday they were going to move the last boxes of stuff into storage. Once her new house closed they would have to move all that stuff into the new house. I had to say her hating me really came in handy because I really did not want to help.

Jesse on the other hand was busy in a lot of meetings to determine whether or not he was going to be the labels next new artist. They really liked him, and he was going to start doing some local performances, and creating public social media accounts, depending on how well he did, with the label's help, determined if this record deal was going to happen. And even though he was still fighting really hard to get it, his previous work with Legacy Records really gave him a leg up. It was looking good but they were really reluctant to give one of, in my humble totally and completely unbiased opinion, their best song writers a shot a making it big. The just weren't sure he had that "star qualilty" they were looking for. In other words, he was a black, non-rapping artist they weren't sure how to market him or if he would sell.

I just sat for a moment, hoping that my stomach had settled. When I no longer felt the waves of nausea crash over me, I started to get up.

"I think I'm done for today, or this morning at least." I told Jesse.

"Good, that means my job here is done." He said. He stood up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, resting his chin on my shoulder, and his hands on my stomach.

"Our baby is in there." I said smiling.

"Yeah, our little girl." he said, kissing my neck lightly.

"How do you know?" I said as I put my hands on top of his.

"Cause thats what I told my sperm to make."

I laughed and rested my head against his chest.

"You know, I've spent so much time not wanting to be pregnant, it feels so good to actually be happy about it." I said.

"I spent so much time trying not to get someone pregnant. It's nice that when I finally did, we're both happy about it."

"Shut up." I said, still smiling.

"Are you nervous?" he asked.

"Of course Jess, I don't want to be a shitty mom. Plus with all the issues I have, I'm scared but I always wanted this and I'm excited."

"You are going to be the most amazing mom ever. You shouldn't even be nervous, Love."

"Are you?"

"Course I am. But I got you, so I ain't even sweating it."

"I see you with Di, you ain't got nothing to worry about, you're going to be amazing as a dad."

"Well if you're going to be amazing, and I'm going to be amazing, then our baby is going to have two amazing parents."

"Damn right." I said.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"And then I took Benadryl, and it didn't get any better, and then I tried Tylenol, which, I, I,I don't even know why I tried that, I think my wife told me to, actually I think it was my mother actually who told me to take Tylenol, it didn't work and then-"

"Um, sorry to interrupt but do you have any relevant medical history that I don't already know? Anything you think you haven't already told us, um, anything you unusual that you've done or been exposed to that might be making your allergies worse, anything at all?" I said. My patient had been going on and on about stuff that I quite honestly really didn't need to know and I really didn't have time for. I just needed to know if anything had changed since the last time I saw him. But he was extremely long winded.

"Nah, not that I can think of. But you know I have been gardening a lot more, not that I haven't before but I've been doing more, and you know what my wife says, she thinks there's nothing more peaceful then gardening? I kinda see where she's coming from but at the same time it's a lot of work. have you ever done gardening?"

"Um, I used to. Maybe Mr. Ryilke, when you come back you can bring back some samples of the soil, maybe there's some sort of allergen in the soil that is making your lupus go haywire. So I'll give you some instructions on paper of how to collect the samples, how to store them, all that and next time I see you I'll get them tested. As for you nurse Jackie is going to come in and take some samples from you that we are going to test and we should have the results shortly, or within the hour. if you have no further questions, then I'll let Nurse Jackie get started. Do you have any questions, anything at all?" I said as I started to get up.

"Just one question, doctor. Is it normal for my pee to be orange?" I just stoppped and stared for a moment. Then I sat back down, this was going to be a long conversation.

>>>>>>>>>>>

"Let me just finish up this report, then I'm going to close up. I'm out after this." I said to one of my coworkers, Marie. I was in the research lab and ready to go home. I just had one report to submit and I could have the sweet taste of freedom. I clicked submit after a quick proof read and started to gather my things.

"If you're done then James is going to walk me out if you want to come." she said. I took off my labcoat and hung it around my chair.

"Yeah, that would be great." I called out to her as I followed her out the lab. Marie and James were your typical "should be a couple" in my group of collegues. They clearly had chemistry but they were still in the "will they, won't they" part of their friend/relationship. They were two of the sweetest people I've ever met but also two of the most clueless when it came to dating- well at least dating each other. But I loved working with them, and I figure they have about three months before they can't take it anymore and finally get together.

We walked down the stairwell, with Marie and James having another one of their passionate debates about something random. I guess today's topic was cats versus dogs.

"What about you Jay?" Marie asked as we got to the last landing.

"I got to go with James on this one, sorry Marie, I'm team dogs."

"Not you? Oh God, who do i work with?" she said dramactically.

"Somebody had to say it, Marie." James said.

We all waved goodnight to the nure's station as we walked out of the stairwell and past the Nurse's station.

"Are you coming to Janet's party, Jay?" Marie asked me.

"Oh crap when is that again?"

"This Saturday. it's at the fancy resturant, I think it's french or something." she said.

"I forgot, damn. I'll definitely be there, let me put it in my phone so I don't forget it." I said whipping out my phone. Janet was another doctor in our depatrment, she was nice, I didn't know her well but well enough I guess to go to her birthday party.

James and Marie talked a little more, as we walked through the parking lot. They often got lost in their little bubble and forgot about other people but I was used to it, it was cute. It reminded me of when me and Jesse first got together. It was like no one else in the world existed.

"We parked together here Jay, are you good or do you want us to walk you to your car?" James asked.

"It's still light out guys, I'm not that far away, I'm good. Thank you. I'll see you guys tomorrow!"

"See you!" they both replied.

I walked to my car, hoping that I wouldn't get car sick. I don't know what this baby's obsession with making me vomit was but I was over it. Every now and then being in the car would make me car sick enough to have to pull over and either throw up or let the nausea pass.

>>>>>>>>>>>

"Jess, babe? I'm home!" I called out as soon as I walked in the door. I wasn't actually sure if he would be home before me today. but the lights were on so I figured he had to be. I walked to the kitchen, looking aorund for him. His mom was sitting in our nook.

"Hello." I said flatly.

"You look really fat and pudgy in that shirt. I don't know why my son would be attracted to that." she replied.

"Why are you in my house if you're going to be rude?" I asked as I put my purse down on the table.

"Why did my son marry trash? I guess we'll never know." she said as she glared at me.

"I don't have to put up with your shit Aiesha. I don't care if you're Jesse's mom. You can leave."

"I don't care if you're his wife, you will never be worthy of my son, you will always be beneath him and if I had it my way, he never would've married you."

"There is literally no reason for you to hate me and yet inexplicably you do. Why?"

"I just think Jesse could have done a lot better than you."

"What does that even mean?"

"Hey, what's going on?" Jesse's voice rang out from behind me. I wasn't facing the door so I didn't even hear hm come in. I turned to face him, giving him a quick peck on the lips, before truning to face his mother again.

"Oh, your lovely wife over here was threatening to kick me out your house. Is that acceptable to you Jesse? You don't mind your wife kicking me out?" Aiesha crossed her arms, a gave Jesse a demanding look.

"Mom, no one is throwing you out. And maybe if you stop insulting Jay, she would stop wanting to throw you out."

"So you are taking her side over your own mother?"

"Mom, there are no sides. I want you two to get along, I love you both."

"I see I'm not wanted here. You would think that after everything that is going on Jesse you would have your own mother's back, but I guess not." she said getting up and storming out of the kitchen. Jesse quickly followed after her as I rolled my eyes. She had such a flair for drama, she should've been an actress.

I could hear him calling for her. I went to reach for a bottle of wine, knowing that I was going to need it to deal with this drama before I realized that I couldn't drink anymore. I put my hand on my stomach, even though there was not yet a baby bump. Since I couldn't have wine, I did buy my favorite brand of mocktails for moments like these. I went to the fridge and poured some into my favorite wine glass. I sat down waiting for Jesse to return. After ten minutes of just waitng there and sipping a mocktail, I got up and started looking for leftovers of the steak stir fry I made last night. I was pulling it out the frigde when Jesse came back in the kitchen.

"Um so, my mom is going to stay the night." he said.

"Why?" I asked as I slid the dish into the oven.

"I'm going to be honest I don't know why, it was the only way to stop her crying." he said rubbing his face as he sat down in our breakfast nook.

"Can you just go easy on her? I know she doesnt look like it but this whole thing is really stressing her out." He said.

"She's stressing me out." I said.

"Jay."

"Jess."

"JAY."

"What? Why am I always the one who has to play nice? I'm sick of it!" I said slamming my hand on the counter.

"You don't think I get sick of you both fighting constantly?" He said.

"If you don't want us to fight then don't allow her to disrespect me."

"I can't control what she does, she's my mother not my child. At least when my dad was here it was easier to keep the peace."

"I don't know what you want from me." I said. An awkward silence filled the room for a few minutes.

"It would be really impportant to me if you went with us on Friday to the old house. It's the last time me and Di and even Ciara is coming up, but it's our last time in the house before it's sold."

"What time?"

"I'll be there all day with Di because we still have to move some stuff out but whenever you get off would be great."

"I can do that, are you doing another gig this Saturday?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Cause I have a birthday party I have to go to, well I don't have to go to, but I should go to and I was hoping you would be able to go with me but since you have a gig I'll just ask Kiara."

"Sorry." He leaned back and closed his eyes.

"It's fine." I said.

"How are you feeling?" he asked as he opened his eyes.

"Annoyed."

"Jay."

"Jess."

"Can you just talk to me?" he said, getting up from the nook. He walked over to where I was standing and put his hands out for a hug, which I gladly accepted. I tucked my face into the side of his neck.

"M'sorry, I'm just tired Jess." I said into his neck.

"I know, baby."

"But I'm fine, Jess. How was your day?"

"Boring, a bunch of meetings and stuff, but I was thinking about the baby," he said as I put my hand on my belly.

"What about a baby?" Aiesha said as she walked back into the room. I quickly dropped my hand from my belly.

"Um, nothing mom, you know I always call her that." he said as we moved away from each other.

"Then why was her hand on her stomach?"

"No reason, I just happened to have my hand there, that all." I said. Of all people I didn't want to find out early, it was his mom. She would not keep it a secret at all.

"Okay, fine, don't tell me, I'll always find out." she said as she walked out. We let out a huge breath.

"That was close." He said.

"Yeah, where's Diana?" I said switching the topic, I didn't know where his mother was lurking around.

"She's at a sleepover, I have to pick her up in the morning." he said.

"Cool, I hope she has a good time she deserves it with all you guys have been through this summer."

"Damn straight."

I went to sit down at our breakfast nook when all of a sudden his mom burst into the kitchen shouting "I KNEW IT!" holding a paper in her hands.

"Mom, what are you talking about?" Jesse asked. My heart dropped.

"She is pregnant, it says so right here! I'm going to have another grandchild!" she shouted excitedly.

"What, what are you talking about?" I said. Hoping that we could keep it a secret just a little while longer.

"I found this test result just hanging around in Jesse's office. Why wouldn't you tell me?"

"Why were you in his office?" I asked.

"Nevermind that, when were you going to tell me that I had a grandchild coming?"

Jesse looked at me. I guess the secret is out. I gave him a look that pretty much said just tell her. I figured it would be less painful that way. He gave me a new favorite look, the "I'll make it up to you" look.

"Okay, mom, you caught us. Jay's pregnant. But you need to promise us that youre going to keep this a secret, we dont want to tell anyone right now."

"Why not tell everyone this is great news isnt it?"

"It is but mom, we've already been through a miscarriage before this and we just want to keep it quiet until we really know for sure."

"How could you not tell me that, Jess? I'm your mother, you could've told me!"

"Well it's not exactly something I wanted to talk about, even with you. But we would really appreciate it if you would keep it on the low."

"Awww baby, of course! You don't know what this means, especially during this time, after your father. My baby boy is having a baby! I'm so excited, for you both."

>>>>>>>>>>>

I hurried through the parking lot to my car. It was finally friday, the day that I was supposed to meet Jesse at his mom's old house. Ciara had drove all the way out here from Philly to be here. It wasn't supposed to be this big emotional thing but I guess that's what it turned into. Everybody wanted one last time to walk through the house they grew up in, except Shaun. Ciara heard from his wife that the loss hit Shuan hard, he didn't have it in him to visit the house. Which everyone understood, it had only been about three months, not even, since his dad died.

I called Jesse as I pulled out of the parking lot. The phone rang for a while until he finally picked up.

"Hey babe, did you guys get to the house yet?" I said.

"Yeah we all just got here, we have to clear out some boxes and then we'll do the final walk through. Are you just leaving?"

"Yeah, I'll be there in like twenty if traffic's not bad. How you feeling?"

"I'm okay, right now."

"Jess, don't bullshit me, I know you too well for that remember? What's really going on?"

He let out a heavy sigh. "It's going to be hard. I know we're just gonna bring up old shit and, I don't know how to feel about that."

"Well I got you Jess. It's important that you allow yourself to feel what you feel, Allow yourself to be sad."

"I know, I will, Just get here safe, love you."

"Love you too" I pushed the button on my steering wheel to hang up. This summer had taken so many twists and turns and it wasn't even over yet.

>>>>>>>>>>>

"And do you remember how Dad chased Shaun down the stairs and around the house? He was screaming stuff but he was so mad none of it made any sense." Ciara said.

Everyone in the room was bent over the counters as they laughed at the memory. I stood there behind Jesse's shaking back as he laughed so hard tears rolled down his cheeks. What we thought was going be a very sad and somber last trip turned out to be one of the funniest trips to the house. It was so weird seeing it empty. It was a strange contrast to be an the empty house with everyone laughing and joking and the lively energy it normally had.

Jesse's mom was somewhere upstairs making sure she had everything, we were all in the kitchen, enjoying our last moments here.

Diana smiled, and pointed to a burn spot on the wall.

"I Never noticed that, where was it from?" she asked. Jesse and Ciara exchanged a knowing look.

"You know where most of the damage in the house comes from? Shaun. Second place would go to either dad or Jesse, but most of the damage in this house comes from that idiot." Ciara said.

"Shaun fucked with the roaster, broke it months before thankgiving. Don't know what the hell he was trying to do with it, but he broke it. Mom never uses that thing during the year until thankgiving so she never noticed. She went to cook the turkey and the roaster caught on fire. That was the year we had fried chicken instead of turkey." Jesse explained.

"Me and Jesse both knew it was Shaun's fault so we blackmailed him for six months after that. Mom and dad thought it was just a freak accident and so did the insurance, so Shaun knew that if we told what happened it would've been over for his ass." Ciara said.

"That was a good six months." Jesse said.

"I remember when I found out you had a little crush on Jaleia." Ciara teased. Diana tried to stifle her giggle.

"Shut up, C." Jesse warned. He stood up straight.

"No, I wanna hear, what's this? Spill the tea." I said.

"Well since you insisted," Ciara said with a michevous look on her face. "Jesse was writing a song, and he wasn't expecting me to come home."

"We don't really need to-" Jesse started walking closer to Ciara.

"It was a cute song about having a crush on someone, I didn't let him know I heard it. Would you relax, this is a cute story, would you rather me tell the story of when I walked in on you pleasuring yourself?" She said as Jesse backed her into a wall.

"So you were never good at locking doors?" I said to Jesse.

"Hahaha, you're so funny." he sarcastically said as he briefly turned to face me.

"We will never speak of that day. Why are you like this? It's like you only want to embarrass me." He said to Ciara before backing up with his hands up.

"Because you are my baby brother, and I have to. Anyway, this was in high school, I don't even remember when but I was determined to find out who the song was about. I had some theories, but I couldn't really figure it out, being in college and all. But lucky for me, the homecoming dance was coming up and it was so late at night everyone was sleep except Jess, cause he was in his room practicing how he was going to ask you out!" she said.

"Awww, that's so cute!" I said to Jesse. He was trying to hide his face.

"You should've! I ended up spending most of the night with you!" I said.

"You were in love with Tyler, I didn't think you would say yes."

"So you chickened out? Cause I sure as hell wasn't in love with that boy. Don't play me like that cause you're embarrassed."

"I didn't chicken out, I just didn't think you would say yes." He said as I rolled my eyes. I flapped my arms like wing at him.

"Why did you and the Green bean fall out? Cause y'all made up after high school. You never told me." Ciara said.

"Because he stabbed me in the back. Guess who Imani Cheated on me with?" he said.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, you NEVER told me that Tyler, Tyler, the guy we grew up with was the one that screwed your fiance?" I said to Jesse.

"I wasn't going to tell anyone. That shit's hella embarrassing." He said. Me and Ciara just stared at him with our mouths open. I couldn't believe this shit.

"We gon talk about this at home." I said.

"So anyone else got any memorires to discuss?" he said, trying to change the subject.

"Yeah, like how the fuck the guy with three kids and no job managed to steal your girl Jess? And it was your best friend? Cause Damn, thats bad." Ciara laughed. She saw the pissed expression on Jesse's face and stopped laughing.

"Oh baby brother I'm not laughing at you, it just the stuation that's a little, you know what, it's not, it's not funny. Sorry." She said. She patted him on his shoulder as Di laughed in the background.

"And I don't know what Di is laughing at because we could be talking about her little boyfriend." Jesse said. Everyone turned and faced her as her jaw dropped.

"Jesse! Shut up!" Diana said. I already knew that Ciara was going to tear that girl apart.

"So what's this about having a little boyfriend, Di?" Ciara said as she walked over to Di.

"Nothing. I don't even have a boyfriend."

>>>>>>>>>>

I rest my head on Jesse's chest. We were back home after leaving from the house. I traced imaginary patterns on his chest as we let the air conditioning blast, with the TV lowly playing in the background. We spent so much time at that house, and eventually it did get kind of sappy and tears were shed but really, we had a really good time. I didn't realize how many memories I had in the house until tonight. Seeing Jesse and his sisters embarrass each other and bicker and fight, in a very weird way made me miss my own two sisters, I honestly hadn't even talked to them in a long time, which reminded me that I really needed to call my mother. And my father. I was such a horrible family member-who forgets to talk to their own family? Well it's not like I don't text them often, I just haven't called them, and it's not like I told them to move across the country. I have been so caught up in Jesse's family I kind of neglected my own.

"Whatcha thinking so hard about over there?"

"I am a terrible family member. I have to call like everyone in my family, I haven't spoken to anyone in so long."

"That doesn't make you horrible, it just means you've been busy"

"I feel so bad, I've been so wrapped up in everything going on over here I don't even know what's going on in my own family and that sucks. I have two nephews and when's the last time I even asked about them, I mean I did ask about them through text message but that's a shitty thing to do, just texting, I mean I am their aunt. My family must hate me I mean I never call or-" I was interrupted by Jesse kissing me. He pulled back and said,

"I'm just going to stop you there before you spiral any further. All you have to do to solve this is call them. None of your family live in this state, my family live closer than your and do you think I talk to mine every day?"

"I know I just feel bad and I kind of miss them, seeing you with your sisters, made me miss mine. And my mom and my dad."

"You know they're just one call away."

"Do you think your mom can keep the baby a secret?"

"We got maybe two weeks, three at the most."

>>>>>>>>>>>>

To Aiesha's credit she did keep it a secret.....for about a week. All of the sudden we started to get Congratulations and calls all from Jesse's side of the family, and then his brother and sister called, and they were PISSED that he didn't tell them. I think the only reason I wasn't mad about it was because after she found out she became the mother in law I had always wanted. She stopped insulting me, she started being respectful, she was a completely different person. I loved it and all I had to do is be pregnant? It was amazing. I knew it wasn't going to last though, she didn't just start liking me it was all because of the baby, I knew it but I was definitely going to take advantage of it. Jesse of course could never get mad at his mom for more than five seconds, but at least now we could tell everyone.

All we had to do now was tell my side of the family, cause I knew that if they found out from anyone else that I was pregnant all hell would break loose. So I skyped my mom. I watched it ring for a while. I was sitting on the couch while Jesse was washing the dishes. My heart was beating fast, I don't why I was so nervous to tell my mom, I guess once I told her it made it real. I actually had a baby growing inside me.

"JESSE, come here, I want you to be here when I tell my mom!" I shouted.

"Coming," he replied. I heard the water shut off and then his footsteps. My mom's face popped up into the screen.

"Finally you call. I could've been sick or something and you would never know because you don't call me." She said before I even had a chance to say anything.

"Hey mom. How are you?" I said.

"I'm okay, not that you would know, I haven't heard from you in so long. Texting doesn't count I want to hear your voice."

"Yes mom, I'm sorry, things have been really crazy here."

"Are you doing okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, better than fine actually. Um, I have some news that I want to tell you."

"Okay, what is it?'

"Hey Mom!" Jess said, sitting next to me on the couch.

"Don't hey mom me, Jesse. What kind of son are you to let it go so long without me giving me a call? You're not exempt. What? I move down here and all of a sudden I don't deserve a damn call? I don't see a damn thing funny." she said as he tried to hide his smirk.

"Shanice, I'm sorry. Like Jay said, it has been really crazy here."

"How the hell would I know that if you don't call? And you miss doctor, don't even have the time to call your own sisters. What's that about? I raised you all to stay close no matter what and now you can't even pick up the phone to call your own sisters?"

"Mom, I'll do better, it's not even like that, it's just been crazy, it really has. I'll call them after you. But I really want to tell you the good news we have."

"Okay, what is it?" she said, finally relenting from the lecture. I looked at jesse.

"I'm pregnant!"

"We're pregnant!" We said. My mom was shocked. I never told her we were even trying so I know she wasn't expecting it and I wanted to really surprise her.

"Oh my God, are you serious?" she said with her hand over her mouth.

"Yeah, she really is." Jesse said smiling.

"I am so happy for you guys, God bless you and my grandchild! That is the best news." she said as she started tearing up.

"Don't cry ma, you're going to make me cry." I said trying not to cry myself.

"Aw, baby girl, I really am so happy for you both. I cannot wait to be a grandma again. I am so happy." she said as she wiped the tears away.

"I'm going to call you later mom, I just really wanted to tell you the good news. I'll talk to you later."

"Okay, love you both so much."

"Love you too mom."

"Love you Shanice, Bye!"

We hung up, I put my phone down on the coffee table.

"Your mom had the best reaction so far, it was cute." Jesse said as he engulfed me in a hug.

[altessah]

Accidents Happen -- Chapter 10

Hey all! So it’s been another year, but I got back around to this fic.

It’s a mortal au where Nico has to deal with his feelings for Percy after Bianca’s death, when he returns to a public high school after being homeschooled. Then he meets Will and joins his band as a guitarist. Cue more feelings. Sorry to be so late on the update! AO3

“You look like death,” Will remarked on Friday afternoon as he jumped up Nico’s front stoop and breezed through the door. Autumn was beginning to settle in the trees, and a few dead leaves trailed after him as he hurried inside.

“Thanks,” Nico mumbled, following Will towards the basement. He could hear Connor and Travis tittering around on their respective instruments from upstairs.

“What’s up, man?” Will asked, a hint of concern in his voice. He was standing in front of the stairwell, purposefully blocking the way.

“Nothing,” Nico replied unconvincingly.

Will just raised an eyebrow and didn’t move.

Nico sighed. “Ugh, okay fine. I’m just… nervous about the gig. That’s all.”

Will looked skeptical at first, but seemed to decide to believe him. “Of course. I forgot you’ve never performed in front of a crowd before.”

“Yeah,” Nico replied, keeping his eyes downcast.

“Hey, it’s okay, man,” Will insisted, patting his shoulder with only a slight awkwardness. “You’re gonna do great. You’re an awesome guitarist.” He smiled cheesily.

“Thanks.”

With a pat on the shoulder, Will turned on his heel and hurried down the stairs.

The moment that Nico’s foot hit the last stair, the Stolls grabbed him by the arms and practically threw him to the ground, knocking his head on the floor in the process.

“Ow – Connor, what the hell?”

“WE”VE GOT HIM PINNED, SOLACE!”

“IT’S NOW OR NEVER, BUDDY!”

“WE CAN’T HOLD THE BEAST BACK MUCH LONGER!”

Will looked perplexed for half a second, and then he sighed. “Ahh. I forgot about this.”

“What? Will, what’s going on?” Nico strained to pull his arms out of Connor’s grasp, but the man had him thoroughly pinned. As if reading Nico’s mind, Travis sat on his feet.

Will offered a dramatic sigh. “You see, I got the text in third period. I somehow forgot.”

“Forgot what?” Nico demanded.

Shaking his head with intense solemnity, Will took out his phone, pulled something up, and then displayed it to Nico, whose eyes took a second to focus on the text message.

KATIE GARDNER SAID YES TO ME, BITCHEZ!!

Awww yeah now willy has to lick nico’s face!

Nooooo omg

His cheeks tinted slightly pink, Will put his phone back in his pocket and sighed. “Here goes nothing.”

As Nico struggled to pull out of Connor’s death grip, Will cracked all his knuckles and then his neck.

“Did you guys seriously mean that? Because I definitely do not remember you shaking on it. And let’s be real, if there’s not a handshake, then the bet didn’t happen. I don’t think that—”

Nico was interrupted by Will’s tongue sliding slowly across his cheek. He closed his eyes.

“You see? Easy.” Connor stood up and brushed his hands on his jeans. “Shall we practice?”

Travis stood up next, grinning ear-to-ear. “It’s been a good day.”

Will looked at the Stolls and sighed, before making uncomfortable eye contact with Nico. He offered him a hand. “Let’s practice, man. Also, you need to shave.”

Nico got up on his own and could not even let out a squeak.

As they played through the setlist, Nico found himself surprised at how good they sounded. While their first practices had mainly consisted of Nico being lost, Connor correcting Will’s pitch, and Travis trying to add cowbell to literally everything, the four of them had really pulled things together nicely. Nico’s fingers found the right chords without him needing to think about it, and Travis’s solos lasted the exact counts he was allotted—not twelve extra measures. Even Will seemed a lot more confident, letting one hand wave dramatically in the air instead of gluing it awkwardly to the microphone.

The other three seemed to be thinking the same thing as Nico, because they were all grinning and adding unnecessary dance moves and head bobs to their performances. As they finished up a rock rendition of Love Me Now, Will turned around and met Nico’s eyes, and flashed him a wide smile, his cheeks bright pink and his hair a little sweaty. Feeling his insides squirm a little, Nico smiled back.

By the end of the rehearsal, they were all a little jittery. They’d run through every song twice with minimal mistakes (Connor had forgotten a key change and Will said “goat” instead of “gloat”), but it felt weird to just call it a day. It was the last rehearsal before the gig.

Nico could tell that Will was panicking a little because he kept reading over lyrics on his phone and mumbling them quickly under his breath. After a while, Travis and Connor decided to head home for dinner, packing up their instruments and slapping Nico and Will on the back as they headed up. Significantly sweatier than before, Will quietly asked Nico if he could hang around and practice part of one song where his lyrics lined up with a guitar riff.

“Will, we’ve practiced this bit like fifty times,” Nico said, exasperated, half an hour later. “I think we’ve got it down.”

Will shook his head. “I know, I know, I’m sorry. I just feel like this is my worst bit.”

“But you’ve been playing it perfectly for the last twenty minutes!”

Will just scowled at the microphone. “I just know that this is what I’m gonna screw up.”

“Who says you’re gonna screw anything up?” Nico set his guitar down against the couch and collapsed, yawning into a cushion.

“I always screw up at least once,” Will stated. “And it’s always the part that I practice a million times. In the moment I just freak out and forget what I’m doing.”

Nico stretched and sat up. “Even if you do mess up, no one’s gonna notice. They’ll all be drunk off their asses.”

Will let his hand fall from the microphone. “You’re right.”

“Why are you so scared?” Nico asked after a moment, remembering Will’s confidence from earlier. “You’ve done this before, right?”

Will nodded slowly, walking away from the equipment to join Nico on the couch. He closed his eyes and put his head back on the cushion. “Yeah, I’ve done this stuff before. I guess it’s just never been this big of a crowd. And it’s never been people that are then gonna judge what I wear to school on Monday.”

“Seriously?” Nico laughed. “Why do you care what they think about your clothes?”

Will opened his eyes and turned to him. “Of course I care, Nico. It’s freshman year of high school. I have to care because I’m gonna be seeing them every day for the next three and a half years of my life, and they can make those three and a half years as awesome or as miserable as they want.” He put his head back down. “I just don’t want them thinking I’m a dweeb.”

“They’re not gonna think you’re a dweeb for messing up one verse.”

Will shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe not. But it still stresses me out, okay?” He let out a slow breath. “Whatever. I don’t expect you to get it, anyway.”

Nico looked at him. “What? Why?”

Will lifted his head again. “I don’t know, man. That stuff just doesn’t seem to get to you. You just let it roll off your back. People gossip and whisper about how you were homeschooled, and your family, and the whole thing with you and Percy—”

“There’s not a thing between me and Percy,” Nico cut in, his ears going red. His heart began to pound immediately. He knew people had found out. Someone had seen it and told someone else who’d told someone else. The whole school knew and thought he was some kind of creep who took advantage of drunk guys at parties.

“Whoa chill, I just meant the whole thing with your sister and all,” Will said, looking concerned. After a moment, his brow furrowed. “Wait, was there something else?”

Nico looked at the carpet. “No, sorry. I just… heard a rumor the other day.”

Unlike earlier, Will didn’t seem to buy his lie.

“Nico, what hap—”

“Nothing, Will. I don’t want to talk about it,” Nico huffed. He could feel that his face was beet red. “I get that you’re afraid of messing up and ruining your amazing reputation or whatever, but I can’t deal with this. I’ve got enough stress on my own about stuff that actually matters. I’m sorry I can’t run the same phrase with you a hundred freaking times.”

Will was silent for a minute, staring out into space. Nico didn’t look at him, just focused on the same stain in the carpet, trying not to think about the friendship he might have just ruined. After what felt like the longest silence, Will stood up, brushing off the seat of his pants.

“You know, Nico, I think you’d be a little less stressed out about stuff if you actually talked about things and didn’t just get mad when people don’t understand your depressing, complicated life.” He unplugged the microphone from the amp with more force than was necessary, and coiled the wire quickly around his arm. “It’s not that hard to open up, especially not to your best friend.”

He dropped the coiled wire on top of the amp and grabbed his backpack, still not making eye contact with Nico, who was still stuck to the couch, unable to find words.

“Thanks for having us over. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Nico sat in the same position for about an hour, unable to find the motivation to get up.

*            *            *

             The next day felt like it lasted an eternity.

Nico hadn’t been able to fall asleep the night before, partially because he was freaking out about the fight with Will, and partially because the house was still freezing. He hadn’t seen his dad since his drunken breakdown, and Nico couldn’t find the courage to seek him out. At around 3:30 in the morning, he heard his dad stomping down the stairs, probably to get food or another beer, but Nico fell asleep before he heard him return. The next day, he woke up a little past noon, sweating through the fifty blankets he’d wrapped around himself to fall asleep.

For a moment, all he could focus on was getting out of bed so he could cool down, but the moment he was standing groggily in his underwear, everything came flooding back.

His dad was a mess. Will hated his guts. The gig was today.

With a groan, Nico fell back on the bed, pressing his eyes closed to try and block it all out.

A while later, when he got the courage to check his phone, he found nothing from Will, but was surprised by a text from an unknown number. A weird feeling in the pit of his stomach, he opened it.

Hey Nico—It’s Annabeth. I wanted to text you because Percy’s been freaking out about something that he thinks happened between you guys at that party the other day. He feels really bad and wants you to know that nothing was your fault. I 100% agree with him. Text me when you get this!

Part of Nico wanted to puke. He had secretly hoped that Percy would never remember the details of that night. Nico’s age old crush could remain a secret that could never get out to the school and ruin him. Annabeth would never know that Percy had unknowingly been unfaithful.

But another part of Nico was relieved. After all, this scenario was probably for the better. Percy remembered. He didn’t hate him. Annabeth wasn’t mad. Everything had worked out in the best way that it could have, without anyone getting horribly hurt. Nico felt his chest loosen up as he texted Annabeth back.

Thanks Annabeth. I’m sorry and I don’t blame him either.

He pressed send and immediately let out a heavy breath. Trying not to think about Will, he threw on some clothes, brushed his teeth, and headed down to get food.

When he passed his father’s room, he was surprised to find the door open. His dad always closed the door, even if he wasn’t inside. Nico could hear his loud snores from the other end of the hall. Nervously, he padded over and peered inside. His dad was passed out, face down on his bed, with what looked like a photo album beside him. A plate with half a pancake and some syrup was on his nightstand. There was still a light on.

While he was still concerned, Nico was relieved that his dad wasn’t still in that grimy white t-shirt and that there weren’t any empty bottles by the bed. Grabbing the dirty pancake plate, Nico headed downstairs.

The rest of the day was incredibly uneventful. He packed up his guitar and picked an outfit for that night. He took a long shower, shaved (per Will’s suggestion), and blow dried his hair so it wouldn’t be too flat. Connor texted Nico that he could pick him up at around 10:15.

Are you picking up Will too?

Nah he said he’d just walk. He lives really close

Nico felt his stomach tighten, irrationally wondering if Will was avoiding him. He wanted more than anything to text and apologize, but he just couldn’t find the courage. Will could still be angry. He should give him space.

That decision didn’t keep Nico from obsessively checking his phone over the course of the next few hours, pleading and pleading for something from Will. Nick Lantoya added him on Facebook to formally invite him to the event, but that was about it.

“Hello Ladies and Gents! I’m pleased to invite you to what’s going to be the craziest event of the homecoming season! Are you fed up with teachers? Sick of homework? Exhausted from the pain that is living a grueling teenaged life? Then join us at 1300 Griggs St. after the homecoming dance to celebrate our spectacular loss at the game last night! We’ll have food, some live music, and all the booze you can ask for… provided you bring $5. Can’t wait to see you sick bastards there!!”

There were close to two hundred people who said they were coming to the event, and Nico felt his palms begin to sweat as he scrolled through the list, recognizing some of Percy’s friends and not too many others. Sure enough, Percy and Annabeth said they were coming too, and the thought of them watching Nico perform made him feel nauseous again. He decided to wait to eat until dinner.

By the time that Nico got around to microwaving some leftover pizza, he’d heard his father moving around his room upstairs and the shower turned on. At around seven, his dad finally came downstairs.

“Mornin,” he joked, striding into the room and making a beeline for the fridge.

“Hey,” Nico replied in a mumble.

“Sleep well?” his father asked. “Sorry I had the thermostat so cold.”

“I’m used to it.”

His father grabbed a slice of pizza and plopped down at the table, eating it cold. He eyed Nico curiously, as if trying to gauge if he was mad. Nico pretended not to notice and chewed his crust.

“You’ve got a performance tonight, as I recall.”

“Yeah,” Nico said. “We’re playing at one of Travis’s friend’s homecoming parties.”

“Ahh, so it’s homecoming weekend then. Was the game last night?”

“Yeah, we lost.”

“Too bad,” his father said with a dramatic sigh. “And the dance is tonight then. Are you going?”

Nico laughed a little. “Nah, it’s not really my kind of thing.”

“But you could’ve gone with that Will boy! And your other friends of course.”

“We all just wanted to get ready for the gig,” Nico stated, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

“I understand.”

His dad chewed his pizza thoughtfully for a moment. Nico checked his phone for the billionth time. Nothing from Will. He let out another heavy breath.

“Well, good luck then,” said his father. “Do you need a ride?”

“Connor’s taking me.”

“Okay.” He smirked. “If you need a ride back—for any reason—please let me know.”

Nico felt his ears get a little warm. “Okay.”

He could tell his father wanted to talk more, but thankfully, he got the message and left Nico to obsessively check his phone. The next three hours felt like a millennium; yet, when Connor’s headlights shined through the living room blinds, Nico still felt like he needed more time to emotionally prepare. He and Connor loaded the amps into the van, and after Nico shouted goodbye to his dad, they were on the road.

“You nervous?” he asked Connor after a long silence. The radio was playing a Fall out Boy song that they were going to play later.

“Yeah, a little,” admitted Connor. “I think I’m just gonna get a little buzzed before we go on so I won’t overthink anything.”

Nico frowned. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

Connor grinned. “I’ll be fine, don’t you worry your skinny little neck.”

Slightly more anxious than before, Nico sat back and shut up for the rest of the ride.

When they got to the house, Nick Lantoya greeted them at the door, grinning widely and clapping their backs harder than was entirely necessary.

“I’m so glad you guys are here! You’re gonna be a huge hit, I just know it!” He gripped each of their shoulders (Nico had a sneaking suspicion he was using them as a crutch), and led them into his kitchen.

His house was pretty big. Not as big as Nico’s but it could definitely hold two hundred people. Some of Nick’s buddies were in the kitchen, blaring some rap music while they poured different colored liquids into a huge cooler. Some of it splashed over the side, and Nico saw that it was a deep, bluish-greenish color.

“The stage is out back, so you can go ahead and get set up,” Nick told them. “We’ve got an extension cord running behind the stage with a huge power strip. Let me know if you need anything else. The drum set is already set up.”

“Where’s Will?” Connor asked.

One of the guys stirring the juice chuckled. “Your boy’s in the bathroom. Has been for the last ten minutes.”

Another guy with muscles bigger than his head laughed. “That kid’s an idiot. I think I love him.”

All four of them laughed, and Nick smiled at Will and Connor. “He should be good by eleven thirty. He just got a bit of a head start.”

“Puke and rally,” one of the guys mumbled, and the others nodded in agreement.

“Oh jeez,” Connor mumbled under his breath, heading for what must have been the bathroom.

Nico didn’t move, just stared at the guys as they poured more weird liquids into the cooler, rapping along to the loud music. Some of the cabinets behind them were zip-tied shut. So was the fridge. What did they mean about Will getting a head start? Nico thought, beginning to panic. Puke and rally? Is he okay?

As if answering his question, Will practically exploded into the room, an empty can falling from his hand onto the ground. Just as Nico turned, Will slipped a little on the floor and nearly collided with him as he went in for a huge bear hug.

“Nico!” Will shouted in his ear. “My man! The lord, the legend! What is up?”

Thoroughly startled, Nico pulled away from the hug, staring at the stain on the collar of Will’s black shirt. Nervously, he asked, “Hey Will, how are you?”

“I’m doing good, my man.” He let out a loud, long burp, accidentally kicked his left foot with his right, and started to collapse, so that Nico and Connor had to grab him by the arms to keep him upright. The other guys watched from the kitchen and laughed.

As they dragged a babbling Will around to sit on the couch, Connor met Nico’s eyes and shook his head, his eyes seeming to say something along the lines of ‘we’re screwed.’

“What happened?” Nico asked quietly, trying not to blush as Will mumbled something about shiny hair and started touching Nico’s bangs.

“He’s wasted, man,” Connor said solemnly, snatching an unopened beer from Will’s hand. “Half an hour before people even get here, and our lead singer’s absolutely shitfaced.”

Will grasped Nico’s hand and held it tightly, his eyes closed and his head thrown back. He smelled like puke.

“What are we gonna do?” Nico asked Connor, staring at his hand in Will’s.

Connor sighed and shook his head. “There’s nothing we can do but set up the stage and keep this one away from the Natty Light.” He took a napkin and started to dab at the stain on Will’s shirt. He looked over at Nico like a resigned parent. “The show must go on, I guess.”

[septyseptyhowboutyes-blog]

More Than One (a septiplier au)

Summary: Sean, Jack and William were triplets. They live in Athlone, Ireland where they had their fair share of troubles and laughs. They move, of course, to Los Angeles, California where there they meet the Fishbach Twins. They hit it off immediately after meeting each other. William soon gets bullied by someone who shall not be named, everyone goes crazy. Who will end up with who?

Chapter 1: Moving

“Wait. We’re moving? To California? Like United States of America, California?” Sean said excitedly. Their mother (and by their I mean William, Sean, and Jacks) just told them that they were moving, of course Sean getting the most excited.

“Yes we are. We’re moving in a week so say goodbye to your friends and start packing.” Their mother said. Sean bolted up the stairs to his room. He has the most packing to do.

“But what if you don’t want to say goodbye?” William whined. He put his head down, making his grey hair fall in his eyes and his glasses sag a little.

“Man up will ya’?” Jack said smiling like an idiot. He too was gonna miss his friends, but he knew it was easy for him to make new ones.

William looked up to glared at Jack. “Oh shut up. I’m not as happy-go-lucky as you are.” William said.

Jack smiled brightly at that comment. “Thanks!” He said then ran off towards the stairs.

“Mom do I have to move? I can just live with dad.” William suggested.

“There’s no way in hell I’m letting you stay at that man’s house.” His mother said. Their mother was a kind, sweet woman, who happened to fall for a total dickbag.

“But mom!” William whined.

“No buts. Now get up to your room and start packing.” His mother said, pointing to the stairs.

William sighed and dragged his feet upstairs. He walked into his room, in which was the smallest in the house.

He could hear Sean’s music playing through the thin walls of the house. The song that was currently playing was ‘I Wanna Hold Your Hand’ by The Beatles. Sean loved The Beatles. He smiled a little at how idiotic his brother was and started packing.

He took the things hanging on his wall like pictures and poster off first and put them in a neat pile in the corner of his gray room. They didn’t have boxes or bags yet because they forgot to bring them up. William was too lazy to go downstairs and grab some for him and his brothers to use.

Most of the things on his walls were pictures, some that he took, others just memories. He took his favorite picture down. It was a picture of him and his brothers all dig piled on top of each other. He remembered that day like the back of his hand. It was Jack, Sean and William’s 14th birthday. He was the one left out, considering he was the shyest one of his family. Once Jack noticed that William was off in the corner alone he went to go get Sean. Jack told him of his master plan to get him wild up. It sure as hell got him wild up. He loved that memory because it constantly reminded him of how much his brothers care about him. Even when they were being a total dickbag.

“Sean! Do you think you can turn your music down?!” Jack yelled.

“It’s not possible!” Sean yelled back, turning it up a little more.

                                        ~

By the next day, Sean had all of his poster packed into boxes. “Shocking to see you finished that first.” Jack chuckled lightly.

“Yeah, well I happen to be faster than you think.” Sean said, ruffling up his blue hair and running down the stairs to the kitchen. He took an apple and headed out the door.

“But… I made breakfast.” His mom said quietly. She shrugged it off. “Boys breakfast is done!” Their mom yelled from the bottom of the stairs.

The two boys raced each other down the stairs and to the kitchen. Jack touched the kitchen counter first. “Yes! I win!” He cheered.

“Yeah yeah. Come on, eat.” Their mother said, pointing to a stack of waffles.

Jack licked his lips. “Thanks mom! They look delicious!” Jack said, taking three waffles and placing them on a plate.

“Thanks mom!” William smiled in her direction.

“No problem. I’ll be upstairs. You boys need to be out of the house by 6:25 okay?” Their mother said, flipping her long, brown hair behing her shoulder.

“Yes mom.” Jack and William both said in unison.

Their mother smiled and walked up the stairs. Once she was gone, Jack took the whipped cream and put some more on his waffles.

“You had to wait to do that?” William asked while he was pouring the syrup on his waffles.

“Yep. You know mom. She would get a little mad I have this much.” Jack stated. He lifted his plate to show William, which had a mountain of whipped cream on it.

“Whatever.” William rolled his eyes, going back to eating his waffles.

“Are you gonna miss Valley View?” Jack asked once he was done with his waffles. It was about 6:20. They need to be out side in a couple of minutes.

“Yes. Of course. I don’t know how I can manage to make new friends.” William said, grabbing Jacks backpack and handing it to him. He grabbed his own and slung it over his shoulder, heading for the door.

“You’ll be fine. As long as you have Sean and I, you should be perfectly fine.” Jack said, mimicking Williams actions.

William sighed. “Easy for you to say. You’re a hyper guy. And not shy!” He said.

“Well sorry we grew up as two different people.”

“I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Then why don’t you try to be more social.”

“Being social is hard.” Just as William said that the bus rolled up to their stop. Jack hopped in and sat down next to his friends while William sat in the front, like always.

                                       ~

Sean was already at the school. He walked with his friends everyday. He believed that riding the bus is for little kids, and he hates being treated like a kid. They were leaning against the school walls outside in the back.

“Hey Sean. What’s up?” His friend, Killian, called for him.

Sean smirked. Killian was his best friend ever since grade 4. This was probably going to be the hardest part on his fourth. (Cuz there’s four of them. Get it? No. Okay that’s cool.)

“Nothing much, just moving to America, California.” Sean said casually, trying to act calm to see his friends reaction.

“Wait, what?” He said, looking Sean in the eye jumping a little.

Sean chuckled. “Well I don’t mind leaving this hellhole. You’re the only thing I’m gonna miss.” Sean shrugged.

“Dude. Forget about me! Your moving! To California! I’m visiting every chance I get.” Killian said excitedly. Almost too excitedly. He was acting like a 8 year old.

“I hope you can visit a lot.” Sean laughed. Killian was the only real friend he had. Killian was the only person that actually understood him. Nobody really wants to leave their friend behind, especially if it’s hard to make new friends, but Sean wouldn’t mind all that much. He was an outcast in school, he still is to this day. He loved being one but sometimes it can be lonely. He was greatful for Killian coming into his life, but he still had his two brothers. Killian was the only thing that kept him from doing stupid shit all the time. They still do stupid shit, but not enough to get them in big trouble. Killian also had money. He didn’t like to be called the ‘rich kid’ but he was, so he would have no trouble flying himself all the way to America and staying a few nights.

“Me too. I bet the chick’s there are hot!” Sean laughed nervously. The one thing he didn’t tell anyone was that he was gay. He thought that being gay would ruin his bad boy reputation. And he loved his reputation.

“I bet. All beach ready babes.” Sean said. Killian was gonna add to that but the bell rang.

“So fucking hot.” Killian said as he started to walk towards the schools front doors. “It’s fine if we’re a little late, right?” He smirked turning around and walking backwards.

Sean rolled his eyes. “When are we not late?”

                                       ~

By the end of the day, Jack told almost everyone in the school that they were moving. He was popular. No doubt about that. Everyone loved Jack and William couldn’t figure out how. William told his small group of friends. They just hugged him and asked when and why he was leaving.

“Sunday.” He said. It was only Wednesday.

“Will! Don’t leave me!” His friend, Eliot, said. Eliot was one of the only people that called William, Will. William would call Eliot, El or idiot. It cracked the two up when William would call Eliot idiot whenever they did something stupid. They were best friends. They spent a lot of time together and you almost never saw one without the other.

“Don’t say that. I would gladly want to stay with you guys, but I can’t leave my mom.”

“Ugh. I know. That’s how family works.” Eliot sighed.

William put a hand on Eliot’s shoulder. “Thanks for understanding. Means a lot. I’m going to miss you.” William said, hugging Eliot.

“I’m gonna miss you too.” Eliot whispered, hugging Will back. “Your calling or skyping me ever chance you get.” Eliot almost shouted, pulling away.

“I will. Don’t worry.” William chucked.

                                       ~

“It’s Friday!” Jack yelled.

“Dude, calm down will ya?” William said.

“Nope!” Jack said popping the ‘p’.

“Our last day. I’m gonna miss this place.”

“We know! Stop your complaining. I bet there are a lot of geeks and nerds at the new school for you to make friends with!”

“I don’t know Jack. You know how socially awkward I am.”

“Well than fix it.” Jack chuckled.

“It’s harder than it looks!” William almost shouted.

Jack put his hands up defenselessly. “Chill out man. Sorry.” He said.

The bus rolled up and they got on, sitting in their usual seats.

Once the bus stopped at their school, William was the first one off while Jack was the last one. They walked into their school, Jack almost immediately got attacked by people hugging him.

“We’re gonna miss you!” They said. Jack tried to squeeze his way out of the crowd. Once he managed he found his best friend, Signe, sitting down next to a wall outside. Signe wasn’t always his best friend. She was actually his ex. But they new they couldn’t just stop talking because they didn’t love each other that way. Jack made it his job to make Signe happy. No matter what it takes. But he can’t bullshit his way through this one. He felt horrible about it.

He walked up to her and sat down. “Hey.” He smiled.

“Hey.” She smiled weakly.

“What’s wrong?” Jack asked, his serious tone kicking in.

“A lot actually.”

“Name one.”

“You leaving.” She said looking at the ground.

Jack sighed. “Signe, I’m gonna miss you, a lot. But I’m kinda getting bored of the people here. You know how much I like to met new people.” Jack said, holding her hand.

“I know Jack! I’m just gonna miss you.” Signe said.

“I know. And I’m sorry. But you have plenty more friends. You shouldn’t just be worrying about me.” Jack said.

“I don’t know Jack. How am I gonna get through the school year without my best friend? How am I gonna get through the school year without the only person I can talk too? How?”

“I’ll tell you how your gonna get through it. You are a strong girl. And a tough one. Tough girls don’t just ‘give up’, they fight. And they will keep fighting until they have what they want. You can make it. I believe in you.”

—-A/N—-

So! This is my first time actually publishing a fan fic. (I don’t like my other ones.) If i dont post just pester me about it. I give you permission. I won’t be annoyed. Just gives me a reason to keep writing.

I still feel like this chapter is pretty short. Hm..

Anyways! Mark and Edward should be introduced in the next chapter.

Thanks for reading!

~ BUCKY ✌

[ma-hao-huh]

I am now a professional surfer

what a weekend!

friday the rest of my class and I went to a birthday dinner for one of the guys in the class, which was also the birthday dinner for his brother. so there were about 20 people and we had a great time. the food was pretty typical but it was all free along with beer so by the end I was having a blast. now. that night my new American roommate was going out with his friend already in Taiwan and two girls that were coming in from Hong Kong for the weekend. I was gonna meet them out if it wasn’t too late when they made it to the bar/club, but Brody still hadn’t texted by midnight so I knew I wouldn’t have gone anyway. of course later found I out that my roommate texted him about going and he got to hang out with them, so I guess I should have followed up???? anyway... no loss as I got happily tipsy with my fave roommate but spent v little money. 

anyway Saturday I went on a DATE. yeet. I had exchanged some nice messages with this guy on tinder but nothing substantial. his profile made him seem v smart, cute, pretty easygoing. his name is Ping. we met up for dinner at this very popular place where you have to wait in line for 1n hour just to get a table for 50 minutes before they kick you out lol. the noodles were good but definitely not worth the trouble, it seemed more like a young generation hype place than a good experience. so anyway we had to introduce ourselves and get to know each other standing in line in the heat for an hour rather than across a table. thinking about it later, that whole period of the date is what I imagine most dates are like - two people trying to see if they have a connection, and having some enjoyable moments, but mostly just an average level of interest, nothing magnetic. it definitely didn’t give me the same electricity as the date I went on in December. 

anyway, he’s late 20s, about 28 I think, and recently finished his masters in linguistics at Georgetown. I believe he’s Taiwanese but I honestly didn’t push to hear about his background in that moment. he speaks fluent Chinese and English, but we communicated in English. when we chatted on tinder, I threw some Chinese in there and he was impressed by it, but when he dropped some into the conversation it was always a struggle. he spoke a little too quickly and softly and I didn’t give him much to work with. I feel like that disappointed him a bit, but maybe that’s my anxiety talking. overall my impression was we might be a little too similar in terms of introversion...I just feel like I belong with someone a little more outgoing than me. it was a little hard to get on the same wavelength as him but the moments we did connect were nice. after dinner we went Taipei’s biggest night market and got a beer at a pub. the only (but huge) turnoff for me was at that moment when he looked at the fried crackers the barman gave us and the beer said “what am I DOING?” with actual pain on his face. I thought something was actually wrong and then “I'm going to gain so much weight from this!” ugh, dude. calm down. I feel like I was honest but still considerate in my response which was along the lines of trying not to worry about stuff like that and just enjoying the moment whenever I can. I love my tummy and the rest of me and enjoy knowing I'm not a part of the terrifying gay six-pack clique that rules instagram. after that I felt confident this was a friendly thing. and he had a friend come meet him to leave because he had to get up at 6am. I hugged him goodbye and then when they walked away the friend was very touchy with him, had his arm around him.... I have noticed in Taiwan men are definitely more physically comfortable with each other than in the US. but I still read into it that Ping was on the same page as me.... he had also mentioned getting together to play some games with other friends some other time, so I assumed we were shelving this as a friendship tbh. 

well, he messaged me again about my week and I was honest about feeling a little low. he was very tender and wanted to see if he could help and the messages he’s sent today are more flirty than not. anyway, I'm a bit lonely so I'm just going to go on another date I think to see what the energy is like. is that dishonest? I think it’s right on the line and If I still don’t feel much then doing another date would definitely be disingenuous. we’re probably gonna go watch a scary movie together this weekend....my first movie date ever. yeet. 

ANYWAY that was Saturday, and on SUNDAY.....

three housemates (my Taiwanese roommate, a Japanese girl and a Taiwanese girl) and I drove out of Taipei to Yilan, a coastal city about an hour way, in order to go surfing! I was pretty sure this wouldn’t be in my wheelhouse but I wanted to give it a go anyway. -----surfing is hard, and made harder still when all you really get is a 5 minute demonstration on the sand about how to jump up on the board. I’m definitely open to doing it again later on if there’s someone in the water giving me a good lesson. I was able to sort of master swinging onto the board and sitting on it, and a couple of times I rode a wave while seated. but standing was impossible. honestly, the times that I did ride the wave I wasn’t even paying attention and just happened to be in the right position at the right time. maybe that’s the secret of surfing? and of life? 

so, I had fun, but of course surfing is just about the most exhausting thing I think anyone could do with their time. and I only put sunscreen on my face right at the beginning, so by that afternoon you could already see my skin starting to redden. cue a tired and slightly uncomfortable grant. lunch was pretty good although it was more amazingly satisfying to fill my stomach with anything so I didn’t care if it was good or not. then one of the girls took the bus home and the three of us decided to go on a scenic hike. the hike (Sacred Mother Trail) literally starts out at a gorgeous waterfall and then you hike up and around some mountains for about 6 km, which doesn’t feel too bad on the way up at all. we had a really good time and it was so, so stunning...but when we got to the second rest point, 2/3 the way up, we were so tired, hot and knew there wouldn’t be time to finish the last portion, which was the steepest, hardest, and actually in woods as opposed to a paved trail, so we had to turn around. I honestly wanted to finish but since we started hiking around 1 there wasn’t time and would have been crazy to try and descend the mountain in the dark without lights, so back we went. it took half the time but was twice as exhausting getting back down, so by the time we got back to the car I was sweaty and my face burning. amazing hike, sticky ending. 

we drove back into the city and found salvation. 雪花 (xuehua) which I guess literally means snow flower but is actually a bowl of shaved ice....literally saved me. I think mango is the most common and it comes with cubes of mango jelly and chopped walnuts on top, AND, since it’s summer, fresh mango with condensed milk on the side. I've never eaten anything that literally sucked the heat out of my body like that did. 

okay, at this point it’s 5:30 and me and the girl I'm with are both thinking it’s about time to head back. but my roommate is the driver and he says, alright, time for dinner! and takes us to yilan’s biggest night market. oh boy... I understand the importance of doing everything you can and making every day count. but it took everything I had not to say please, please take us back home now...oof. ((((((((((on top of being exhausted and burnt....I forgot that the swim trunks I wore are defunct and always cause my inner thighs to chafe like crazy. so I'm tired, burnt, AND having to walk like I'm constipated in order to keep my thighs apart. Lordy))))))) the night market was one of the biggest I’ve been to, and one of the most crowded. the food was all hot as hell, no room to breathe, oh baby. I actually felt like my skin was peeling off I was so overheated. thank GOD for the bubble tea and juices we got or otherwise I would have actually passed out. (we ate green onion balls that are wrapped in dough and fried, different chicken parts, a pork stick covered in what was basically buffalo sauce...all of it was decent but honestly none worth my discomfort). around 9 or so Chandler (roomie) finally realized we were ready to go and we headed back.....of course traffic was insane so we got back at 11. oof. what a day. 

I know I got a bit whiny at the end. I suppose I'm a comfort creature so while it’s been exciting to put myself in different situations and challenge that here, that night was just more Than I could handle. I actually felt whoozy from how overheated I was. but that doesn’t discolor the fun I had earlier in the day at all. I'm so glad to have experienced a little piece of that part of Taiwan. 

I'm very lucky to have someone like chandler as a roommate who wants to go out and do things when he has time off and is so willing to drive me around the country and pay for most of the stuff we do. he’s definitely saved me a ton of money already. 

okay, test tomorrow and then another fun weekend hopefully......