#4 photos of George looking at Alex with loving eyes

[moonyzsun]

Someone should analyze the looks George gives Alex.

[h4m1lt0ns]

HEARTBREAK SYNDROME

episode four :: REMINDER.

꒰꒰◌‧₊ ⬪˙⋆ pairing ︴max verstappen x ex!y/n

꒰꒰◌‧₊ ⬪˙⋆ genre ︴social media au / irl snippets

꒰꒰◌‧₊ ⬪˙⋆ summary ﹔y/n was always right.

fc – wonyoung jang (aged up to 28)

꒰꒰◌‧₊ ⬪˙⋆ warnings ﹕none, more messy behaviour.

y/n

♡ liked by lilymhe, alexandrasaintmleux and 10,284,958 others.

y/n show her these 🕷

2,294,103 comments.

username fell to my fucking knees.

francisca.cgomes 😩😩😩

francisa.cgomes one chance miss y/l/n

→ y/n u get all the chances you want

username YESSSSSSS OMFG 😍

username ABS MA’AM HELLO???

champagnepapi oh.

→ username ARIANA WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE

→ username HELLOOO ????

username this is my religion, amen. 🙏🏻

alexanderasaintmleux not looking respectfully 😮‍💨

→ y/n they’re for ur eyes only bbg 🤭

→ charles_leclerc the grip YOU have on MY girlfriend is crazy

→ pierregasly i think we can all agree with that

username HOOOOOLYYYYYYYY

→ carmenmmundt what you said 🗣

→ username OMFGGGFIDKSKSK

username what god do i have to pray to 🧎🏽‍♀️

bellahadid pretty pretty girl 😍

username i folded like a pretzel

thv 😍😍😍

→ username WOAHHHHHHH.

→ username tae just like me fr

→ username OHMYNGOD

username ONE CHANCEEEE PLSSSSS

lakeithsteinfield wow.

→ username WHATS GOING AWNNN

→ username ain’t noooooo way.

→ username BRO.

miumiu 💐💐💐

username if i was max i’d be begging and crying for her to take me back

→ username i’d lick the ground she walks on

username MA’AM.

username I’m.

username GAGGED THE GWORLS

username max is probably screaming at his phone rn

username she’s an icon, she a legend and she is the moment 😩

username max probably wants to die

username sHOW HER THESE

→ username I KNOWWWWWW

→ username 4+4

→ username DEVOURED

→ username head spun.

username the only girl to ever.

☆ IMESSAGE with ; BOARD OF DIRECTORS.

babygirl alex: OMFGGGJDISKQW

babygirl alex: THE PHOTOS Y/N POSTED ???

y/n: omg alex stop 🤭

y/n: are we gonna kiss rn

girlfriend kika: I KNOWWWWWWW

wifey lily: MOTHERRRRRR

y/n: PLSSSS

angel carmen: we are NOT worthy.

angel carmen: LIKE

angel carmen: one chance pls 🧎🏻‍♀️

y/n: YOU GET ANYTHING U WANT

CARMEN 😍‼️

wifey lily: i might propose actually

y/n: I SAY YES 💍‼️

girlfriend kika: i audibly gasped

y/n: do i make u nervous babygirl 🤭

babygirl alex: i sat there staring at my phone for an hour

PIERRE GASLYYYY: i sometimes wonder who’s dating who

alabono: i been saying like ??

chal eclair: no bc how does y/n make them react like this 😀

princess george: i’ve never posted a photo and gotten this reaction out of carmen

my baby lando: y/n’s just that bitch

my baby lando: like she’s so iconic let’s be real

honey badger: she’s an icon, she’s a legend and she is the moment.

honey badger: she’s everything and we’re just existing in her world

honey badger: she’s mother

honey badger: she’s cunt

babygirl alex: daniel gets it

wifey lily: daniel >>>>

girlfriend kika: holyshit is danny a bigger stan than me 😟

angel carmen: daniel 🔛🔝

chili!: y/n is just very slay in general

y/n: omfg 😭

y/n: you’re actually my favourite people

i love you so much ???

y/n: danny, carlos and lando 🔛🔝 frfr

y/n: wait

y/n: do the french mfs think i’m not slay 🤨

alabono: not me y/n i stan and stream on a daily basis 😁🙏🏻

PIERRE GASLYYYY: i just want my gf back 😭

chal eclair: me too 😭

chal eclair: wait i’m not french >:(

babygirl alex: if y/n says you’re french, then you are french. you become french even if you’re not french. figure that shit out 🤷🏻‍♀️

chal eclair: 😟

wifey lily: what she said 🗣

chal eclair: my own gf ?????

y/n: she’s my gf now 👹

kellypiquet added to their story!

kellypiquet

♡ liked by redbullracing, maxverstappen1, and others.

kellypiquet two years with you 💕

tagged: maxverstappen1

comments on this post have been turned off.

[f1version]

FAVORITE PHOTOS ★ HEADCANON

pairing: f1 grid x fem!reader (no pronouns specified)

summary: f1 drivers and their favorite photo of you

note: i love this not gonna lie

★ CARLOS SAINZ (55) — one with piñón. you and his dog, his favorite living creatures in the world. when he took the pic, it was 4 PM in barcelona, a day after both of you got home from miami. piñón was very excited to see you, never leaving neither of your sides all day, so when it came down to buy some fast food (because he was not expecting to go home before monza), you had to take her. you were eating while holding her, and the biggest smile appeared on his lips. he had to take a picture.

★ LEWIS HAMILTON (44) — lewis’ favorite picture came unexpectedly. one night, he woke up at 3 AM because of some noise, you weren’t next to him, and if he didn’t know you and your sleeping patterns, he would have freaked out, but he knew you, you were looking for water. he steeped out of bed, entering your living room to find a surprise. you weren’t looking for water, you were in the floor, painting. you were mesmerizing. that day held a place in his heart.

★ CHARLES LECLERC (16) — he is in love with you… and with his car. one day, you had the amazing idea to ask him how it felt to drive around with a pista, he instantly thought about you driving it. a week later you were getting into the driver seat, he took a hundred photos that day, his favorite being you before getting in. you were so nervous he remembers kissing it better.

★ PIERRE GASLY (10) — you are not a party person, much less a fan of PR events, however, a couple of months ago, you found yourself as pierre's plus one at an alpine event. it was unbearable, which could have been a problem if pierre had been enjoying that night, but he was not, so you decided to leave early. in your hotel room, you threw yourself to the bed and he laughed at your obvious relief. he took a picture, now it's his favorite.

★ YUKI TSUNODA (22) — one of you eating something he made. like 100%. even if he had tons of these pictures, his favorite was unique because of the memory. it was the first dish made by him you tried, he was so scared you hated it, but after you had the first bite, you eyes started shining, the world stopped, it was pure bliss. you loved it, he was so relieved and in love.

★ MAX VERSTAPPEN (33/1) — one with the cats 100%, you both are proud cat parents. it would be a photo of the day sally started giving you kisses for the first time, it melted his heart. you both looked perfect, at some point you picked her up and laid down with her while singing a lullaby, the cat drifting to sleep.

★ LANDO NORRIS (4) — you asked him and he proceeded to complain about how dare you ask that knowing he takes at least 35 pictures of you a day, asks if you want him to cry and says you’re making him question his life decisions. finally, he shows you a photo he took of you with his favorite helmet: the one dedicated to you. it wasn’t the best pic you had taken that day but, for him, it felt like home.

★ ALEX ALBON (23) — while your favorite photo of him is him smiling, his favorite photo of you is the funniest, most embarrassing thing. you love it. he took it on a trip you made to the drugstore in the middle of the night, “enchanted” by taylor swift started playing and according to you, your “taylor demon” was awoken. he was recording the whole thing, you were sure the security guys thought you were drunk-out-of-your-mind.

★ GEORGE RUSSELL (63) — george is a simple guy (not really he just repeats that a lot) his favorite photo of you is a very domestic one. one morning he woke up to you reading, he was enchanted by you, he was sure you stayed up all night reading. he found that attractive… and concerning, but more attractive, so before you noticed he was awake, he snapped a picture and immediately started kissing you.

★ LANCE STROLL (18) — having a drink with lance after media day was one of your favorite things, nevertheless, one night you drank more that you should. you don’t remember much, but as far as the videos you both took go, you were knocking on each door of the hotel and drunkenly running away. one of those photos is now his favorite, he doesn’t remember taking it, but he wishes he did.

★ DANIEL RICCIARDO (3) — daniel has two folders dedicated to you in his gallery: one with the cute, artistic, hot, beautiful, sexy, perfect photos he has taken of you and the other with cursed, embarrassing or silly pictures of you. his favorite is a silly one, it’s the only one he has marked as favorite, he loves looking at it and remembering. which one is it? that 0.5x photo he took with his phone the moment you arrived to your first date.

★ MICK SCHUMACHER (47) — he loves sunsets. during a small getaway, you started playing music, dancing, and singing. the sunset had soft tone that complimented you, it was magical and perfect. he knew he would be obsessed with the memory for a while, so he snapped a picture.

★ SEBASTIAN VETTEL (5) — easy pick. the happiest day of his life — your weeding, especially that one photo of you with the veil, seconds away from saying ‘i do’ and accepting to love him for the rest of his days. you were blushing by the way he looked at you and he loves it, he has it printed for his nightstand, as his lock-screen, and it definitely has a spot on his instagram during the whole ‘my life through pictures’ agenda.

[the-offside-rule]

Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) - Stay Away

Requested: yes

Prompt: Y/n is landos sister and Lance takes an interest to her but Labdo doesn't like it at all

Warnings: cursing, asshole Lando

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Y/n Norris walked into the paddock of Monza with her brother Lando. Y/n hadn't been to one of Lando's races since his rookie season and not even due to covid because she kept getting asked to come but she was just too busy but since she now lived in Italy for school, she didnt mind going to Monza. The paddock had changed a fair bit since she last came here and so had she. For example, she really fell out of love with the sport, it just got boring at times. "So, it's all changed a fair bit since last year. There's sanitisation stations everywhere and you can't go to visit George or Alex when you feel like it. You've got to stay put and keep your mask on, only take it off when you're eating or up on the terrace away from everyone, got it?" Lando started by explaining the new rules of the paddock to his sister. "Okay, okay. I figured that's what the rules would be anyway.  They're the same everywhere in Italy." Y/n said un bothered. Lando swung his arm around her shoulders and laughed. "Ah come on, you're back at races now! Better than staying in a boring art school." Y/n slapped her brothers arm away and rolled her eyes. "I'd much prefer being in class but you know, the pandemic."

They landed up at the security gate, and Lando went and scanned in that he was there. "Excuse me?" Lando and Y/n looked up to the security guard with his phone in hand. They both knew he'd ask for a photo. "Lando, could I get a photo please?" Lando smiled and nodded at the guard before he moved in closer and posed at the camera. "Thank you much." the guard said before letting Lando through. He turned to Y/n and arched a brow. She wasn't wearing any merch, any FIA clothing and didn't look like a fan at all. "And who are you?" the security guard asked. Y/n squinted her eyes in annoyance. "I'm his sister you-" Lando snapped her pass from her hands and scanned it before going to tell her off. "My little sister. See ya later mate." Lando practically dragged Y/n away before she caused a scene. "Try not to curse at the fans." Lando said, making his sister groan and walk on. "I just want to sit in the grand stands instead of here. Some of you drivers can be insufferable." She mumbled. "I'm your brother, it's my job to be insufferable now come on."

Y/n sat on a chair in the lounge with her headphones in. She tried to draw something but everything inside was too normal, anyone could have this stuff in their homes or go out onto a street and find it. She groaned and stood up, collecting her things to find Lando to tell him she'd be going. She checked every room and there was no sign until tmshe sat at the terrace and saw him eating with his PR team, probably going over what to say in interviews. "Lando?" He looked up and saw his sister walking towards him. "Yeah? What's going on?" he asked, eating another spoonful of food. "I'm going to the stands, before the F2 cars come out. Is that okay?" Y/n asked Lando with her sketchpad and pencils in hand. Lando, still chewing on his breakfast nodded and brought a napkin to his mouth. "Sure, I don't see a problem with that." He replied, muffled. "Okay, I'll be back after, don't worry." and with that, Y/n walked out of the McLaren hospitality lounge.

Y/n sat in the stands, listening to the drivers getting their final calls to the cars before the F2 race commenced. Her pencil flicked about the page, shaping the world around her into art. It was in someway peaceful. She liked it, away from everyone. "Oh, hey." Y/n looked up and saw a guy in a purple and pink shirt and puffy hair. "Oh hey." She replied. "You're Y/n. Remember me at all?" he asked. Y/n nodded and gave a small smile. "You're Lance Stroll. I remember seeing you racing one weekend and then Barcelona last year. Lando wasn't exactly thrilled with you." Lance laughed awkwardly and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah. So what are you doing in the stands?" he asked. "I just don't want to be in anyone's way. Besides, formula 2 is on now. It's a good place to watch from." Lance smiled again and looked back at the formula 2 cars going by. "You enjoy racing much?" Lance asked trying to keep a conversation running. Y/n let out a sigh and tried to think of an answer hat wouldn't offend the driver so settled for something pretty...well, I'll let you decide. "I mean, it's alright. Some drivers are overrated." She said. Lance smiled. "What am I?" Y/n looked at his and set her sketchpad down. "Underrated. I'm sure you'll get a podium soon enough." She said. That always helped Lando get hyped to preapre for a race. "Really?" Lance didn't have much people to tell him that. He wasn't in a podium car for a long time so podiums weren't going to be expected for a while. "I'd say so."

They sat together, taking in the sounds of the engines for a few more moments before Lance looked over and saw her drawing again. "You draw?" Lance asked. Y/n smiled softly and nodded. "What are you drawing now?" Lance turned his head a bit to see what she was sketching and saw a little sketch of the paddock, pretty accurate. "Wow. You're really good." Y/n felt her cheeks heat up. Not many people saw her draw, she only really showed people in her art class. "Thanks. I love drawing. I can draw whatever I want and you can't be wrong." Lance liked that perception she had on art. You couldn't be wrong. That's a good way to look at it. No one can tell you how to do it, it's all down to how you interpret it. "I like art." He blurted out. "Really?" she asked surprised. Lance ran with what he said and nodded. "Yeah, I really like how the colours...mix." Y/n chuckled and appreciated his effort to keep a conversation. "Can I draw you?" she asked. Lance was caught off guard. He didn't expect to be drawn today. "I mean, sure. If you want to." She smiled and turned to a new page to begin sketching.

"Do you want me to pose?" Lance asked. "You ask a lot of questions." Y/n commented. Lance sucked a but of his lip in. "I don't know if that's a good thing." He admitted. "Well, my mother told me that asking questions is a sign of intelligence so I'd take it as a compliment." Lance sat back in his chair, an arm resting on a few tops of the seats. He listened to the barely audible pencil scratching off the sheet of paper and counted the cars passing. Say something Lance. For God's sake, say something! "So, how long have you been drawing for?"

"I've been drawing since a kid but I saw it as a career when my teacher brought it up when I was looking for a university." Y/n replied. Lance felt his eyes want to look back at her. "What music do you have on?" he asked. Y/n looked up and lifted an airbus out. "Whatever comes up. I'm not picky about music." She said. Lance nodded again. "Mind if I listen?" Y/n handed an earbud to Lance and went back to listening to the music, Lance joining in. They both bopped their heads along with the music, both enjoying each other's presence.

Time passed and Formula 2 had finished at this point. Lance took the earbud out and looked over to Y/n. "I gotta get going. Our race is going to be in an hour." He said, going to stand up. "No, wait!" Lance felt a hand on his wrist, trying to pull him down a bit. "I'm nearly done, just one second. Please." Lance gave in pretty easily and sat back down, allowing her to do the final touches of the drawing before she smiled at her masterpiece. "Okay, ready?" she asked. Lance nodded his head before she turned the sketchpad around and showed him the drawing proudly. Lance felt his lips curling into a smile as he saw almost a reflection looking out onto the track. "Damn, that's really good. I've never looked better." Lance laughed, looking a little bit closer. "Yeah well, I enjoyed drawing you so." Y/n began to rip the drawing out carefully to give it to him. "Why did you enjoy drawing me? You could have finished that drawing of the pits." Lance questioned, looking out at the paddock. "Well, not everyone can get a Lance Stroll in front of them. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity." She explained. "Once in a lifetime unless we meet again." Lance was a bit surprised at what he'd said. It's like his mind didn't think about what he was going to say. "Yeah, well I'll see if I can get to Anymore races. I'll for sure be telling you when I'm going. You're a good man to draw." Neither knew what to say after that. They were both lost for words.

"What is going on here?" Lando's voice echoed around the stand, making both of them look over to the McLaren driver walking towards them with George behind, a toothy grin upon his face. "Looks like a love fest mate." George joked. "Oh you two are so fucking hilarious, aren't you? No, I was just making friends." Y/n said standing up. "With Lance? Have you watched what he's been doing to me while I'm racing?" he asked. Lance felt a bit disheartened at Lando's words but shut his mouth. He'd heard most of the insults before. Y/n scoffed. "Honestly I wish he'd do it more often, I love seeing you lost for words when you're also partially to blame for incidents." George cackled at Y/n's words. Lando was shocked and Lance was just as shocked. "You made her a Racing Point fan mate!" Lando said to Lance. "He didn't. I just think the Racing Point drivers are a lot more laid back than you and Carlos. You two work a mile a minute."

"Just come on! We've all got places to go!" Lando said walking away. "Just wait a second!" Y/n took her sketchpad out and wrote a quick something on the drawing before tearing it out and handing it to Lance. "Just something to remember me by." She smiled. Lance stood up and hugged her. "You'll be impossible to forget." He whispered, quiet enough for George and Lanod to not hear. "I'll see you around the paddock." She winked and walked off with Lanod, undoubtedly going to get a scolding from him. As for Lance, he watched on smiling like a love struck puppy, which didn't go unnoticed by George. "Trust me mate, you've got no chance." Lance furrowed his eyebrows. "What do you mean by that?" he asked as they began walking away. "He doesn't let her go out with drivers." George replied. Lance pulled a face and asked why. "He just knows what drivers are like. He doesn't want her getting hurt. It's his little sister, so it's understandable." George continued on, explaining that many drivers like Charles, Max, even George himself had tried to win her heart but it was no use, especially when Lando was there. Lance scoffed. "Just because he breaks hearts on the daily doesn't mean the rest of us do." George laughed a bit and stopped outside the Racing Point motorhome. "Listen Lance, the easiest way to get out of this is to just stay away." George said, trying to help Lance. "I'll see you out on track." George said wavijng and walking away to his own motorhome. Lance sighed and looked down at the paper in his hand longingly. His fingers began unwrapping them and looking at the picture again but something had changed. He saw a little note on the bottom that made him smile and have hope again.

Good luck Lancelot x

[neptuneofthesky]

Feral Family

Dream x reader

Next part

fluff?? (tiny bit of angst; children getting lost and stuff)

Feral boys except Dream are children

Single mother fic

"POPPING OFF!"

"FERAL BOYS 5/5!!"

----

"What the honk are we even doing-"

"YOU'RE MOM!"

"We have the same mom, dumb butt."

"Guys, please..."

You sighed.

It's fine.

They are just kids.

"MOOMMMM!!!"

All of them shouted at once.

You sighed again and smiled, "Yes sweeties?"

They all started shouting at once.

Your smile didn't drop, "Stop."

Everybody shut their mouths as they saw your smile.

You tilted your head, "Now, George, you are the oldest, tell me what's the problem?"

"We all need to pee!" George exclaimed.

You raised a brow, "That's why you all are being so cranky."

Karl started bouncing a little, "Mom, I reaaaaaally have to pee!!"

You sighed as you smiled, "I have to pee too, let's go."

Alex stopped you as he shook his head, "No, no we are not going to the ladies toilet. It's embarrassing and not right."

You raised a brow, "Are you ready to go to the men's toilet by yourself? All alone?"

His eyes widened, "Uh... uhmm," He pulled Sapnap and Karl closer to him, "We'll go together!"

You playfully rolled your eyes as you turn to George, "You can handle them?"

He nodded as he turned around to face them, "Let's go guys, we can do this!"

They ran to the men's washroom as you yourself went to the ladies and did your business as quickly as you could and came back outside as you waited for them.

5 minutes.

10 minutes.

Why were they taking this much time?

You were going to go inside the washroom but an old man coming out of the door gave you a weird look.

Your cheeks got a bit red from embarrassment as you look around and stop a guy with a lime hoodie, "Excuse me, sir? Can you please check on the kids that are inside? 4 of them."

He looked at you and gave you a polite smile and nodded, "Sure."

Not even half a minute later he came out of the toilet as he looked alarmed, "Okay, don't panic, but your kids aren't inside."

Your eyes widened as panic rushed into your body, "No, no, no, no, shit, shit, shit."

You aggressively grabbed his shoulders, "Please help me look for them."

His eyes widened as he nodded, "Yes, sure, but please let me go."

You remove your hands as you pulled out your phone and showed him a photo of them, "Sorry for that. This is George, Alex, Sapnap, and Karl with a K."

He nodded as he thought for a second, "Should we go to Hamley's first? They can be there, or do they like gaming and stuff?"

You paused as you realized something and sighed, "Is there a drug store, or something like that on this floor?"

He tilted his head in confusion, "There must be-and she is running."

He followed you as you ran through the mall, trying to find the drug store.

I am such a bad mother.

I am so irresponsible.

They will hate me.

Trying to shake off the negative thoughts, you tried to find them as tears pooled in your eyes, blurring your vision.

"Excuse me, sir, that is very offending, my mom is going to kick your butt."

You wiped your eyes as the hoodie man tapped your shoulder, "Um, is that Alex?"

You turned to the direction he was pointing as your eyes widened, "Oh my god, Boys?"

Karl turned around as his eyes widened and he ran into your arms, "MOM!"

Tears of relief rushed down your cheek as he wiped them off with a pout on his face, "Don't cry, mom. I don't like it when you cry."

You let out a small sob as you looked at Sapnap who also had a pout on his face, "You guys scared me. Why did you wander away?"

Sapnap folded his hands, "Alex wanted the happy powder!"

The hoodie man got confused, "Happy powder? Wait- do you mean drugs?!"

You sighed as you looked at Alex who was being dragged by George, "Alex, what did we say about happy powder?"

Alex pouted as he folded his hands, "No happy powder tantrum anymore."

You patted his head as you pulled him in a hug, "You scared mommy. Don't ever do that again."

George huffed, "I tried to stop him, mum! But he then said he'd pee on me!"

You raised a brow as Alex looked away, "That is not very nice, Alex. And I know you didn't mean it, so, please stop threatening your brother."

Alex rolled his eyes, "Fine, but can we get some burgers?"

You smiled as you turned to the hoodie man, "First, I want to thank the person who helped me find you guys. How about I treat you burgers, wait- I just realized I didn't even introduce myself, I'm Y/n."

He smiled as he shook your hand, "I'm Clay, and no problem, although, I am a bit hungry."

George's eyes widened as he pulled your finger, "Mum, That's, that's Dream! He is wearing the Dream hoodie and he has the same name and the same voice! That's Dream!"

Your eyes widened as you looked at Clay, who was smiling sheepishly, "Please keep it down, I don't really wanna catch attention."

Alex hit George's head, "Keep it down, you idiot."

You gave him a look as he muttered an apology.

Sapnap grabbed his hand as his eyes were sparkling and whispered loudly, "We love your videos! Can we take a photo with you?"

Karl also nodded in excitement as he was too flabbergasted to say anything.

Clay smiled as he patted his head, "Yeah sure."

You tilted your head, "But, you haven't even revealed your face yet, are you sure? You can sign-"

He shook his head as he grinned, "No, it's alright. Just don't post it online or something. And if you do, just sensor my face and hair."

You nodded your head as you pulled out your phone, "You got it, boys?"

You gestured them to stand with him as you looked around for onlookers, and when you made sure there were none serious, you smiled, "Say Dream! But not too loudly."

-----

"So, you already know my job, what's yours?"

You smiled, "I am a producer. And a songwriter."

Alex excitedly nodded as he was munching on his burger, "Yeah, she even writes songs for kpop!"

You chuckled as you wipe his mouth with a tissue, "Yep, kpop, pop, hip hop, you name it."

"Yeah, did you know she also wrote baby shark?" Sapnap pipes up.

Clay raised a brow as you subtly shook your head, "Yep, and I was also the one who produced pigstep."

George giggled as his eyes brightened, "Yeah, with Daniel. He is such a nice person."

[Daniel Rosenfeld is the producer for all the Minecraft tracks, his stage name is C418]

You laughed and patted his head as Clay's eyes widened, "What?"

"It's nothing," You playfully shushed at your boys as they giggled.

Clay chuckled as he shook his head, "So, you guys play Minecraft right? Would you like to play with me?"

Everybody's eyes widened as they started to shout excitedly.

You winced, "Boys, calm down."

They completely ignored you as Clay looked very surprised.

You sighed as you pulled out a packet of skittles and clicked your fingers, immediately grabbing their attention as they all turned their heads to you in sync, "Anyone wants skittles? Go fetch."

You threw the skittles far away as they ran to get it.

You shrugged as Clay raised a brow, "It's literally the fastest way to calm them down because if they don't calm down as soon as possible, they go feral."

You pulled out another three packets as you whistled to catch their attention.

They return back to their seats, each of them with their packets.

You look at your watch as your eyes widened, "Karl, it's time for Steven Universe."

Karl's eyes widened, "Oh no we have to GO!"

You all got up as Clay stood up too, "Wait if you don't mind, can I have your number?"

Your eyes widened as you took his phone, "Yeah, sure, just, text me later. Bye and thank you once again!"

The kids shouted 'bye' in chorus as they all ran away, Clay smiled as he looked at your number, and saved it as, 'Y/n<3'.

[Also, there is going to be a mini part 2 ;)]

[slightlymore]

cute~

- a pride spin-off -

pairing: haechan x mark

other characters: doyoung, jaemin, jungwoo, onew (??? only bc I needed a name 😔)

genre: angst!! smut! fluff!!! one-shot, company!au (you can read this without reading "pride" first but make sure to read at least the little synopsis below, just to have some kind of context for the first part)

warnings: 18+, language, sexual activities, alcohol, drunk characters

words: 14K (oops)

for those who didn’t read pride and don't want to: doyoung and y/n are in love with each other but because of a series of unfortunate events (them being stupid) they can’t be together. doyoung leaves her after college and starts working at haechan’s company while being miserable; the two boys become enemies/friends. everything goes relatively well until one day y/n makes an appearance and starts working there as well. doyoung and y/n finally get (their shit) together and become a couple. haechan is the happy friend witnessing all of that and this is his story

(the photo was meant to be a shitpost but now I kinda like it lmaooo)

The phone rang for the millionth time that morning, a piercing and resounding noise, making Haechan unable to hear his own thoughts. The boy groaned. It was only 10 am yet everyone suddenly needed to speak with him. Haechan would have loved to spend his workday gossiping on the phone. Maybe chit-chatting about everyone. Listening to his colleagues talk about George's new too-expensive-for-his pockets-but-he's-an-idiot car, or the scandalous hairstyle Alex tried out to impress his already-married-and-twenty-years-older flame, or to hear how someone heard from someone else that somebody had sex with someone somewhere. But not that day. Haechan was exhausted, physically, and mentally, head buried between his arms, the white noises of the office almost putting him to sleep. The infernal device stopped ringing for a second and the young man sighed relieved before it rang again soon after. Haechan whined, almost sobbing, while lightly hitting his forehead on the desk. A soft 'what the fuck' made him raise his face with pained eyes squinting from the sudden too much light. "Are you alright?", the same voice asked, his desk neighbour inquiring. "Mind your own business, Owen", Haechan mumbled and finally put one hand on the phone while massaging the base of his nose with the other. "... my name is Onew", the dude whispered offended, but Haechan's little attention was already drifting away. A female voice said something that Haechan couldn't catch but to which he replied with a short "yeah, thanks", having figured out the words "intern" and "acceptance" through her quick mumbling. When he first heard the news during the beginning of the year reunion, Haechan was ecstatic, to say the least. They said he was responsible and could handle taking care of an intern making Haechan's shoulders widen at the compliments. Also, having an innocent soul to bother for a few months? It meant some company and less work for himself. Paradise. But Haechan had already forgotten about the joy he felt before. He had been feeling weird for a while now and he hated it. The previous night he didn't go home after Doyoung and Y/N left the company building. He listened to them talk for an excruciating period while pretending to sleep. It was beautiful, choked voices and raw confessions, and he felt like the third wheel in his own life. When Haechan walked out of his office one day, months before that, with the intention of "grabbing something important from somewhere" (or taking a break while making it pass as work) and heard the loud bang of the neighbour office door, he didn’t think that his life would go spiralling down from that moment on. It took him days. No, it took him weeks, maybe months, before the uncomfortable feeling creeping on him, making his spine shiver and palms sweat could be classified as something real by his brain. As a feeling. Sitting down on his chair, tired fingers tapping away at the keyboard for hours, he would suddenly feel this ungodly urge to get up and go to that office again as if an obscure force possessed him. To do what? To see a pair of angry eyes. Angry and full of pain. They were beautiful: round but also angled, dark but also light, absent as if looking at anything but their surroundings. Looking at something only they could see. That thing, sadly, was never Haechan. The boy tried everything to be seen by them. Being friendly, being funny, being helpful. Then he tried being rude. To his immense joy, the latter worked better, as if those eyes hatched such an enormous amount of anger that they had to spill some onto someone. And Haechan didn’t mind being that someone if it also meant being the object of those eyes’ attention at the same time. Then he realized that he didn’t want to see only the eyes. Something else was fighting for Haechan’s regard. Pink and soft looking, often stretched in a line, sometimes forming a pout. God, Haechan would have done everything to be able to touch those lips even once, even for a second. And he did it during his most feverish dreams. The first time, he woke up panting, ashamed, shaken to the core, the feeling of that soft skin still ghosting his own lips. The second time Haechan raised a trembling hand and touched the place where his subconsciousness created such a realistic scenario. He caressed it slowly, laying in that obscure slumber, silently, afraid to wake up his rational side. The third time he didn’t need to dream. He just imagined, shamelessly. His lips got kissed and his name was pronounced with such lust and desire to leave Haechan panting. So real, as if Doyoung whispered that while being beside Haechan in his room. It took Doyoung a few good weeks to call Haechan by his name in real life. When he finally did it, he wasn't even scolding him. No. From weird conjunction of stars, Haechan didn’t need to do something to gain Doyoung’s attention that day. He was in the photocopying room. One hand was mindlessly using the machines, the other was warmly hugging a mug of coffee. His slowly descending glasses were being pushed back by one of his fingers when a fluttering shadow appeared behind him. Haechan’s hands stopped as if his crawling skin could physically predict the future.   “Haechan”, Doyoung said. Just like that, sweet and soft. And the boy with that name let his coffee mug fall to the ground. Oh. “Haechan!” Doyoung repeated. “What the hell?” Yes. Yes. Haechan. That’s me. That’s my name on your lips. Say it again. “Haechan! You’re doing this on purpose now”. Doyoung stood tall with hands on his hips, looking at the way Haechan was failing to grab his mug, letting it comically slip from his hands, again and again, new coffee stains covering the carpet. I just love how my name sounds in your mouth. I don't want you to stop. Please. “Oops”, Haechan chuckled, the mask he carefully crafted for Doyoung easily slipping on his face, and despite everything, Doyoung rolled his eyes with a little smile himself. “You’re such an idiot”. Oh fuck. That. Haechan almost forgot. The boy could drown in the light that Doyoung’s face emitted when he was smiling. It would dissipate for a split second the darkness lingering around him and it was Haechan’s doing. Haechan did that. It made his little heart buzz every time and soon enough he started to fantasize about a day in which Doyoung would not have that expression line between his eyebrows anymore. And it arrived eventually. Haechan realized everything would go downhill for himself when he got blinded by Doyoung’s soul. He could see it before as well but not this way. Not while the older man's cheeks got red and his pupils were trembling. And Haechan understood soon what that was because a sick person recognizes another sick person easily. Was Haechan like that as well? Were his cheeks flushed and eyes glossy every time he looked at Doyoung? Ah, Doyoung’s soul. He took it out so suddenly and poured it into that girl’s hands. Haechan felt like dying. No. No, wait. It's supposed to go like this. I should be there. I worked so hard. I endured so much. It can’t end like this. This is my story. Isn’t it? And it was, but not the type of story Haechan imagined. In this universe it ended in him being alone, bones cold and empty, looking at Doyoung’s back as he carried his love in his arms. Haechan stayed back there, motionless, no arms holding him. He bit his lips for a little while, looking around the office as if not knowing on which planet he was. Then he crouched down and cried. He was tired. Yeah, he was just tired. It has been a long week and a long day. He was exhausted. That was the reason. Haechan, you're good. Just get a good night sleep. You’ll be fine. Now get up and go home. And he did that. Like a robot. He was alone inside the 4 am metro, blinding, fluorescent lights burning his fatigued eyes. His feet dragged him towards his apartment although he found himself knocking on Jaemin's door instead. Jaemin was a weird guy and Haechan loved him dearly. He just never slept. Every time Haechan called him, he somehow was wide awake doing some random shit. Haechan hoped that he didn't suddenly change his habits because he desperately needed some arms to crash into. And Jaemin opened the door as expected, a popsicle between his lips, eyes wide and bright. Haechan stepped inside and took the snack away, putting his lips on Jaemin's instead, pushing him against the wall, letting the coldness of Jaemin's tongue numb his thoughts. And he let the popsicle fall from his fingers when Jaemin wrapped him between his arms, guiding him towards the bedroom, no questions asked, no romance. I need a distraction right now, Haechan's whole being was screaming and Jaemin was good at reading people. Quickly and effortless, clothes sliding down, Haechan's mind finally lingered in a grey bliss as the only thing he could think of was the way Jaemin rolled his hips into him, sending shots of pleasure through his whole body. But then Haechan's slipped. "Doyoung-", he whimpered then gasped, eyes wide with horror and cheeks reddening. Jaemin didn't care if Haechan called other guys’ names but when Haechan put his palms on his face, chest rising and falling quickly, sobbing desperately, Jaemin stopped and sighed. He let Haechan go and rolled over, wrapping his shaking frame with his arms. "Do you want to talk?" he asked softly. Haechan shook his head, burying it into the other's chest. Jaemin stayed quiet, the only sound in the dark room being Haechan's irregular breaths, his fingers delicately drawing patterns on the other’s skin. "It's going to get better", Jaemin whispered after a while. "You're going to be seen by someone one day, just like you see everyone else”. It was weird how Jaemin always had the perfect thing to say. Though Haechan didn’t believe that, he had no force to argue. He stayed like that for the next hour, in silence, until the sun came out. Then he got up and let Jaemin prepare his breakfast that he barely touched. Haechan then borrowed the other's clothes and said it was fine for him to go to work that morning. You have to be sick to be able to call in sick, Haechan said. Because you’re someone that follows rules and does an honest job, Jaemin commented sarcasting with a raise of the brow. I just need to be busy, Haechan added and left.

Now, heading towards the acceptance, he regretted not staying home, maybe sleeping the whole day. Sleeping would be good but dreaming? He was afraid of that. The squeaking sound of Haechan’s shoes on the main floor tiles was so distressing that Haechan felt like taking them off and throw a tantrum in the middle of all those white collars. Blinking fast he sighed when he saw the new guy, an anonymous-looking young man looking around as if uncomfortable and slightly afraid. Haechan introduced himself in a monotone voice, letting the intern shake his hand then he turned around with a short 'follow me', not giving the other time to do anything else besides tailing his supervisor. Haechan has been babbling about the company for a good five minutes now, walking quickly through the corridors, showing rooms and people. He wasn't doing a very good job because he didn't care. The new guy, weirdly enough, didn't seem disoriented at all and Haechan shrugged internally. "And this is the terrace", the boy finally finished his monologue as they both stepped outside. It was a sunny day but the wind was quite strong, making Haechan close his eyes as his fluffy hair danced around his forehead. "Cute," the guy commented with a soft chuckle. Haechan looked around. Cute? It was kinda cute, he guessed. Too many ugly buildings around though and it wasn't the best-kept terrace. He turned his head to face the intern. "What's cute?" Haechan asked. It was the first word that guy said and Haechan wanted to hear him speak.  The intern was looking at him already instead of the surroundings and Haechan could have sworn that the dude's cheeks were flushed with a pink hue.    "You are", he said shyly, eyes big and twinkling. Haechan could only blink back. Wait. What? Did this guy just call him cute? Cute? "Listen, thanks, but you have to pay me respect. I'm your supervisor", Haechan replied trying hard to keep his voice stable. He wasn't annoyed but he couldn't just giggle, could he? Also, who calls strangers cute? On the workplace? What a weirdo. The guy’s expression shifted at Haechan’s words as if in slow motion. "Oh God, sorry, I don't know what just happened. I apologize. It was inappropriate", the intern babbled and stuttered, cheeks going from pink to red, eyes darting around, not knowing where to look. Haechan has never seen someone that transparent with his feelings before and he could tell that he was very honest. Looking so naive, Haechan fought the urge to roll his eyes at him just to make him feel even more embarrassed. "I can't fire you personally or anything and I'm not your boss, but I can tell people to fire you", Haechan tried to sound cold even if the situation was rather funny. The look the guy gave to Haechan was of pure terror a for a split second Haechan felt almost sorry. But then the dude’s eyes darted to Haechan’s hair, still flying around his forehead. Haechan puffed annoyed and put one hand on top of his head as to stop the motion. The intern’s expression relaxed. "And what are you going to say? That it's because I called you cute?" he asked. His lips were back into a timid smile. Haechan was baffled. "What is so cute about me?", he sniffled, sure that he caught a cold already and switched the hand from his hair to his ear as the wind got even stronger. The intern took the question seriously. "You have curly purple hair-", he started then stopped as if that was enough to explain his comment, "-and well, your cheeks are full and now they're uhm red and it's... very cute. Also, your eyes are big and round and it's very cute-" 

Haechan groaned incredulously. 

"Oh my God! Stop saying cute", he spoke up to make his voice heard over the loud rumble of the wind, before turning on his heels and walking towards the terrace door. The intern’s cheeks turned pink again as he tried hard to not add whatever he wanted to say.

_______

Mark was told that he was somewhat of a dense guy. He disapproved. He just paid attention to what he wanted and disregarded the rest. So, if you asked him to show off the company to you, what tasks he had to do or where the bathroom was, he wouldn't know where to start. But if you asked him to tell you how many moles Haechan Lee the Supervisor had, he could answer in a second. It was weird and Mark wasn't a romantic person at all. But when he saw the guy walking out the elevator, eyebrows furrowed and dark circles underneath a pair of tired and red eyes, Mark felt a tingle in his stomach that he could only describe as love at first sight. Okay. Maybe not love. Crush at first sight? Attraction? Mark didn't know what that was and it made him so confused that he could only look at the guy's back when walking around the company as if it could give him some answers. Haechan, he said while letting Mark shake his hand. Of course. It fit him perfectly. Mark could see it - the sun - underneath his skin. Their fingers parted ways too quickly after shaking hands and Mark felt so paralyzed by the sudden tingle on his skin that he couldn’t fully pay attention. Was he also warm to the touch? Mark desperately wanted to find out. Was it weird? He was being weird. But God, he was so cute. Cute. Very cute. Cute. Cute. So fucking cute. 

This is all Mark’s mind was thinking about and when Mark thought about something he would just say it. Just like that. Cute. Don’t say it now though. Cute. I swear, Mark, shut up, for once. So cute. Please, not now. “Cute”, his tongue slipped. 

Goddammit. 

“What’s cute?” Haechan asked. The view. The view is cute. The view, Mark. Mark, say it. Mark, are you listening? The view. “You are”, Mark said instead and Haechan suddenly turned even cuter. Mark gasped, firstly because of the way Haechan’s cheeks turned red and his eyes round and big, then after a good full second that felt like an eternity, because of embarrassment. Oh shit. Fired. He was about to get fired. "God, sorry, I don't know what just happened. I apologize. It was inappropriate", Mark felt like running away. He woke up that morning with the intent of finally living the life he worked so hard for and there he was instead, calling strangers cute and making everyone uncomfortable for the sole reason of not being able to shut his mouth for once. Haechan looked embarrassed as he was though and that little detail made Mark hope that it wasn’t all over. Then Haechan shut some cold blinds on his own face and Mark knew that Haechan thought he was safe, that Mark wasn’t able to see his feelings underneath all that. It wasn’t an efficient job and Mark wondered if other people needed just that little act to not see Haechan anymore.

_______

"Good morning". Haechan saw the intern’s feet first before hearing his voice, but he didn't raise his face as suddenly something very important and urgent was being shown on the computer screen and he couldn't physically let his eyes fall on the way the guy wore his suit. 

It was terrible. Long legs and strong thighs on display right in front of his desk? Terrible, and he didn’t need any more distractions in the workplace. After the intern left for the day with a soft “see you on Monday”, both tired having spent most of the time walking around the company and explaining boring paperwork, Haechan had not been able to stop thinking about him the whole weekend. No. No, it wasn’t a crush or anything. Haechan was just, what’s the word? baffled, s h o c k e d, appalled. Some random guy called him cute and Haechan acted that way? Blushing timidly? Was he feeling that bad? Was he that sick? Unacceptable. He was Haechan, for fuck’s sake. And Haechan didn’t just blush. He could not slip anymore. "Yeah, hi Mike", he replied lazily, fingers typing something he didn’t really need to write. "It's Mark", the intern replied in a neutral tone. Haechan knew it was Mark. In fact, he also knew his full name. Mark Lee. Born on August 2nd, 1999. Toronto. Moved to Vancouver. Graduated from university a few years ago. Great grades. Interested in music and sports. Plays the guitar. Good boy. Loves animals. Does charity work regularly. Has a normal amount of friends. Doesn't know how to take selfies. No, he was not being weird. He just read his CV. 

Obviously. 

He was his supervisor. He needed to read that. The other info? He Googled him only to make sure that he wasn't a criminal. And the social media research? It was just to check on his personality. 

Obviously. 

What if he posted about illegal shit? He had to check every photo and tagged person. It was part of his job. He was single, even if Haechan didn't search for that in particular. Haechan loved his work a lot and he didn't care that he worked on that until 3 am, scrolling through his phone, drifting to sleep with Mark's selfies impregnated on his lids. It's just that he took his job seriously.  

Okay. Okay. 

It wasn’t the whole truth. Haechan was curious. Who calls you cute all of a sudden? Haechan had to know more. 

"Okay, Matt. What about you go and bring me a coff-", Haechan started but got interrupted by a hand, delicately placing a cup of steamy coffee in front of him. Haechan stared at it as if not understanding what that was then finally raised his eyes to meet Mark's gentle ones. He was smiling. "I stalked your Instagram. Full of food and coffee", Mark explained honestly with a shrug while walking around the desk and sitting down on his chair. They had to share a desk and Mark was as close as to touch elbows. Haechan hated having people so close to him when he didn't want them; especially at that moment, as Mark rested his head on his hand and just stared. 

Yeah, he stared. His eyes were piercing, looking at Haechan as if that’s what normal people do. Scanning him from head to toe, then looking into his eyes as if able to see something there. 

Haechan ignored him and looked away. "Stalking my social media is problematic, Mike". Mark chuckled lightly. "You did the same". Haechan's head snapped. "And why would I do that?”. Mark shrugged. "Close the tabs if you didn't want me to find out," he smiled staring at Haechan's laptop. 

The younger’s eyes suddenly widened and with a quick hand, he closed it in a second, cheeks hot with shame. He opened his mouth to say something to get himself out of that embarrassing situation but Mark thankfully didn't give him any time. 

"What are we doing today, sir?" he asked instead with a sly smile. "We write codes", Haechan replied quietly. "Fun", was Mark's comment. 

And they did that the whole morning, ignoring each other's knees as they sometimes brushed against each other. And they ignored the way their knuckles touched when both reached for their own cup of coffee. And Haechan ignored Mark's cologne while Mark ignored the way the computer lights made Haechan's skin glow. Mark loved programming, he always did, but that morning he thought that it would be nice to not be a programmer, just for a minute, just to be in a well-lit office and see how different Haechan would look under the sun instead.

_______

Haechan stared down at his sandwich, sitting still wrapped and untouched in his lap. Then he looked up at the blue sky and let the white fluffy clouds calm him. 

It happened close to the lunch break. 

"Spaghetti", Mark said suddenly. Onew had left already and in front of their office, everyone was walking the corridor heading out. Haechan was finally getting into the flow of working when Mark's hoarse voice startled him. "It's your favourite food, isn't it?" Mark asked, explaining himself. "Soup. I don't put things I love on my Instagram", Haechan replied. Mark looked pensive. "This is why there's no girlfriend photo there?" he wondered with a timid smile. Huh? What was that? So this is what was happening? This is the reason for the cute? 

Haechan had no force to being hit on, as much as Mark intrigued him. He had zero force and suddenly all the thoughts that Haechan buried away for a few days, came back like a bulldozer. 

Haechan bit his tongue before talking too much. "Maybe the girlfriend doesn't exist", he mumbled before getting up and grabbing his wallet.  

"Wait, are you going away?" Mark got up as well, surprised. "I thought we were going to eat together. I don't know other people-". "Well, I don't want to. Make some new friends", he replied and just walked away. No, he ran away and the first place he thought about was the terrace. It was the only uncontaminated place in the whole company. Doyoung has never been there before. 

And Haechan loved the clouds. He loved the wind moving them around fast. It was mesmerizing and in moments like those, he was able to not think about anything, until he was not Haechan anymore, until he was a cloud himself, floating in the blue sky. 

"Sorry, I didn't know this was your favourite place", a voice startled him for the second time that day. 

Haechan looked at his right where Mark was standing with a plate of food in his hands. He looked like a scared deer, turning around to leave Haechan alone, probably wondering what he did wrong but too anxious to confront Haechan about it.  

"It's alright. You can stay", Haechan spoke softly and resumed his cloud gazing. 

Mark stopped uncertain, standing still for a little while but then he walked towards Haechan and slowly sat down, resting his back on the wall as Haechan did, raising his eyes to watch the sky.

"Pretty", Mark commented and this time he was actually talking about the view. 

Haechan hummed, then after a moment of silence, he apologized. 

Mark began eating his food. "For what?" he asked with his mouth full. They both knew the reason but Haechan still appreciated Mark’s effort to showcase that he wasn’t mad at him. "For telling you that I don't want to eat together. I was being an ass for no reason", Haechan explained. Mark shook his head. "It's alright. I'm sorry if I came off clingy". Haechan huffed. "Funny. Usually, I'm the clingy one". 

Mark swallowed and Haechan looked at him. "I haven't been myself lately. But I promise I'm not an asshole". Mark smiled back kindly. "I know. I can see that". 

Haechan's expression flattered. 

Mark took another bite. "You look very warm. Your name is very appropriate for your personality. You're just… very cute", he added with a shy smile. 

Haechan continued staring at the other, unable to make a single sound. 

The other had a few other bites as if not noticing the way his words made Haechan feel then he finally raised his gaze. 

"Why are you not eating? Are you sick?" Mark inquired eyeing Haechan's sandwich. The boy finally sighed and looked up at the sky again. "Maybe". "Well, you'll get worse if you don't eat", Mark commented and grabbed the sandwich, unwrapping it and putting it into Haechan's hand with force. "I can't believe you're treating your supervisor like this. Calling him cute and forcing him to eat", Haechan stared at the food in his hand before taking a small bite, mostly to make Mark happy. The other shrugged. "You act like no one calls you cute every minute. Also, I am older than you. I can do that”. Haechan rolled his eyes. "I'm still your senior. You don't want to see me get mad. I can guarantee you that". Mark opened his mouth to say something dangerously similar to “cute” but then smiled instead, shaking his head. Haechan forced himself to keep a straight face. "If you say it again…", he warned the other. Mark cleaned his already clean fingers on a napkin then suddenly grabbed Haechan's cheek with two fingers. The boy's eyes got wide and he almost dropped his food, his mouth open in a surprised o. 

Mark smiled even more at his reaction, gulping his last piece of food while gently pinching Haechan's face as if he were a child. Then he let him go and got up, dusting his pants. "I didn't say anything this time", Mark explained innocently. 

Haechan looked up at him, still shocked. 

"I'll see you in the office. Finish your food", Mark told him and left. Haechan could distinctly hear Mark comment "so fucking cute" while he was descending the stairs.

_______

That night Haechan fell into his usual decadent slumber. He was almost fully unconscious, the twilight sleep making space for a depraved and troubled dream. Fingers twitching and muscles quivering, Haechan’s mind transformed his day yearning in darkness. Images of eyes and lips tormented him again. It has always been the same pattern, yet something new derailed the boy’s focus that night. Little details. The roundness of the eyes, the form of the lips, the touch of the fingers, the voice. That voice sounded different and it whispered something Haechan has never dreamt about before. A single word, soft but sensual, repeated again and again in Haechan’s ear. 

That morning, after a very long time, the boy woke up with a new name on his lips.

_______

Mark sometimes thought that everyone was just stupid besides himself. 

Not because of an unhealthy superiority complex or something, but because he couldn’t understand how everyone could be that blind. 

“Oh, Lara, I love your new blazer”, Haechan would say while walking around the company with Mark following suit. Poor Lara would blush and be genuinely happy about the compliment. But Mark could see that Haechan thought it was atrocious. And Adam’s stuttering speech a well. Oh, and Joseph’s wrinkly newborn. 

However, it wasn’t this fake persona Haechan had that made Mark uneasy. It was the one he would wear when talking about himself. Oh, I slept very well last night. No, I don’t need any help. Yes, everything is fine, what do you mean? Smiles and laughs and sarcastic comments. 

Mark wanted to know. He wanted to get closer and dust off the misty layer on Haechan’s eyes. 

Maybe Mark thought too highly of himself. Maybe it was his ego talking. 

I’m going to be the one to help Haechan, that’s the only thing he could think about. 

And lately, during sleepless nights, Mark would beat himself up about it. 

It’s not your business, Mark. You want this to feel a good person. 

Except, he would then frown and hug his pillow tighter, getting annoyed at himself. 

No, I would want it even it wasn’t me to help Haechan out. I just want to see him happy. 

Yeah. This sounds good. 

So he would drift away to sleep, peaceful, knowing that he was selfless. 

Alas, it took very little to Mark to realize that he wasn’t that selfless as he thought. 

Mark raised his eyes when Haechan’s abrupt manners opened the office door with a kick. “Haechan, you look good today”. The other smirked. “I always look good. What do you mean?” As if the literal sun entered the room. Mark was blinded. “Did something good happen?”, he watched Haechan’s hair bounce at his every step, like a little seedling gently moved by the breeze. Haechan’s smile widened as he sat down, rolling around in his seat, pure energy sprinkling from every pore. “So I guess the answer is yes,” Mark found himself smiling as well, although a bitter taste pasted his tongue on the palate as he spoke. “I just remembered how much serotonin a good fuck gives you,” Haechan opened his computer and started working on his tasks, not paying attention to Mark’s face. 

Oh. 

Mark hated it. Oh, he hated it so much. God, he hated it. 

The boy tried hard to not think about Haechan that day, resulting in him thinking about Haechan all day. Don't think about Haechan. Don't think about Haechan. Don't think about his body touched by somebody else. 

It was almost lunchtime when Mark finally broke the silence. “So, now you’re dating someone?” Haechan raised an eyebrow, eyes still too focused on his computer to give his full attention to Mark. “What? No. Why?”, he mumbled distractedly. Mark blinked for a few seconds. Haechan finally processed and laughed. “You’re kinda sweet Mark. I just got dicked down, that’s all”, he got up and stretched his arms up with a whiny yawn. “Come on,” he lightly hit the other’s shoulder, “I think today’s menu is soup”.

______

Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark. 

It was as if Haechan was going crazy. 

It was just a dream. A single dream. 

When did this happen? How was it possible? 

“Fuck, Haechan, you’re-”, Jaemin gulped, his adam apple going up and down inside his stretched out throat just like Haechan’s body moved on top of him. “Yeah?” the directly concerned boy smiled. “-crazy today”, Jaemin concluded. “Who made you this horny?” Haechan bit his lower lip, hating his mind for not leaving that thought out, even if for a single second. “Call me--”, he ignore the other’s question, cheeks violently turning red. Jaemin groaned at the way Haechan sunk deeper on him in the process. “Call you what?”, he asked breathless, fingers tightening around Haechan’s painfully hard length. “Cute”, the boy finally whispered. And Jaemin said it, again and again until that word replaced Mark’s name from Haechan’s head.

_______

That day’s menu was indeed soup which only added to Haechan’s general euphoria. Mark walked one step behind him, troubled by the double sword his feelings formed inside his heart. His eyes were only on the younger’s face and Mark could only sigh every few seconds. 

Oh, I’m falling in love. I’m falling in love. 

Lost in his melodramatic thoughts, Mark didn’t notice when Haechan suddenly stopped.  “Hey, boys. Haechan,” a dude greeted generally before locking eyes with the younger one.  Haechan rolled his eyes and made a step back from where that guy was. The dude’s smile flattered as if annoyed at that obvious showcase of hatred towards him but kept his fake expression on as he looked at Mark instead. “So, I’m organizing this party downtown at the Garages. Do you want to come?”, he asked.  

Mark furrowed his eyebrows and eyed Haechan to see what the deal was about.  

Haechan huffed. “Mark doesn’t like parties and neither do I, Jungwoo. Thank you”, he replied snarkily while making a step to continue walking. 

Jungwoo smirked. “Says the party animal. You never mentioned it to me while I had you on my-”, but Haechan interrupted him, hitting his chest with the back of his hand. 

Jungwoo chuckled with satisfaction. 

“Oh, so the boy doesn’t have to know?” he asked indicating to Mark, faking innocence.”

Mark felt his jaw muscle flinch and a sudden urge to punch that dude in the face made his fists almost tremble. 

“The boy doesn’t like the way you’re making his friend uncomfortable right now”, he spoke with a cold voice not breaking eye contact. “Whatever happened between you before, now Haechan doesn’t want to see you again and certainly he doesn’t want to come to your party”. 

Haechan opened his mouth to say something but Jungwoo's laugh interrupted him. 

“Oh, but he does want to see me again and come to my party. Don’t you, Haechan?” the dude asked. 

“Of course I don’t, Jungwoo. Get fucked”, Haechan replied quickly, eyes rolling in their sockets, feet turning direction and walking away. 

“I bet I will”, Jungwoo shrugged with a little smile, throwing one finger gun at Mark.  “By Haechan”, he whispered with a wink while leaving him alone in the corridor. 

To Mark’s horror, despite those two’s abrasive conversation, he could definitely see that as a silent promise.

So Mark went there as well. 

Why? He didn’t know. He liked to think that he was concerned about Haechan’s safety. 

That Jungwoo guy had some rancid vibes and Mark hated the idea of the two together. Because he was concerned for his safety. 

Not because he was jealous or anything. 

Haechan could do whatever he wanted and sleep with whoever he wanted to, but what if, just what if, Haechan changed his mind and chose Mark over the Jungwoo dude? 

Mark could do that. 

Mark wasn’t self-centred but he still realized that Haechan deserved better and he could provide that. 

If that was Haechan needed to soothe the darkness in his eyes, Mark could do that.

But Haechan wasn’t there and neither was Jungwoo and the thought of that man’s hands on Haechan’s skin made Mark’s guts twirl on themselves. 

He looked around, frantically, breathing the sweat-impregnated air, trying to avoid being hit by people’s sticky shoulders. Until he started to feel sick, not only because of the loud music and blinding lights but also for some obscure reason, grabbing his throat and choking him. 

He had to drown that down.

_______

When Haechan arrived Mark was surrounded by people, eyes closed, face up exposing his neck, laughing and screaming, jumping and moving his body as Haechan has never seen someone do before. 

His legs were nicely on display in a pair of severely ripped black jeans that Haechan had no idea Mark liked to wear. 

The younger boy was so concentrated on the way a plain white T-shirt could look so good on a person that he noticed too late the way Mark directed his eyes towards him. 

He was far away and Haechan couldn’t decipher the other's expression but it didn’t matter as Mark quickly made his way to where the younger boy nervously stood. 

Mark was drunk. A lot. 

But he still somewhat fluidly avoided the crowd as if dancing until getting as close as hovering above Haechan. The boy had never noticed that Mark was taller until he had to raise his face to look up, his back and palms pressed against the wall. He didn’t notice when he walked backwards either. 

“Haechan”, Mark said his name with such worry to make the other’s heart beat like crazy. “Are you okay? Where have you been?”, or that's what Haechan deciphered from his lips since the music was so loud that his ribcage felt about to be ripped apart. “Home. I’ve just arrived”, Haechan yelled and Mark got even closer, giving his ear to the boy’s lips to hear better. 

Haechan couldn’t do anything else besides inhaling his odour. Mark was a little sweaty and his breath smelled of alcohol, but Haechan has never found someone sexier than him at that moment. 

His eyes were dark under his black curls and his lips looked swollen as if someone sucked on them. Haechan felt like prey and unconsciously pressed his body against the wall even harder.

“And where’s Jungwoo?”, Mark’s voice tingled Haechan’s earbuds. “I have no idea. Why would I know?”, Haechan replied, acting as if he didn’t realize why Mark was behaving like that. 

It made Haechan’s palms sweat. 

He thought about that a lot, at the way Mark got defensive of him in front of Jungwoo, at the way Mark’s expression darkened even after Haechan told them that he had no intention to go to the party, at the way Mark has been looking at Haechan a lot, at the way Haechan couldn’t just stop thinking about Mark for a single second either.  

He came to the party because of that. Haechan’s mind was running again and he wanted to stop it. And also because he played with his phone all day, looking at Mark’s number for a long time. 

Mark would have replied but did Haechan really want it? He was such a sweet person and Haechan didn’t dare to contaminate him with his presence. Mark didn’t deserve to be used as Haechan needed. 

So he went to the party, ready to contaminate somebody else instead. Who knew that Mark was there waiting for him? 

“I’ve been thinking about you the whole night”, Mark talked again after staring at Haechan as if trying to understand the younger one’s thoughts. Just like he has been for the past few months, making Haechan feel small and naked. "Yeah, I bet. While letting those people grind on you?" Haechan replied sarcastic trying hard to conceal his shaking voice. 

Mark got closer, bold and cocky, putting his hands on the wall, caging Haechan between his arms, leaning in and whispering into his ear. "Yeah, I was imagining you grinding on me", his confession tickled Haechan’s ear and the boy tried to move his head away on the side, afraid to do something he would regret, but Mark's hand was there and his head had nowhere to go. It wasn't right. 

Haechan was sober while Mark was drunk and had no idea what he was talking about. He had to go away, push him back, but his limbs weren't cooperating. Mark's hand though was working just fine and it gently grabbed Haechan's face, turning it into his direction. 

"Haechan, please, let me kiss you", he begged, his breath caressing Haechan’s lips. 

The boy gulped down surprised, shivering with desire, fighting with himself. He put his hands on Mark's chest, with the intent of lightly pushing him away, but he was made of iron. No, Mark, no, please. You’re too precious to me for this. 

"You don't know what you're talking about", Haechan mumbled. 

Mark breathed heavily. His jaw muscles tightened. Then he put his head down as if trying to gain forces. 

"Yeah, sorry, okay okay, I'm leaving", he retrieved his arms and let them fall to his sides like dead flesh. 

Haechan looked at them with some relief, suddenly feeling exposed and cold, even if the club's air was so hot that it was hard to breathe. Or maybe it was just him having breathing difficulties. Haechan had no idea. 

"No, wait", his lips betrayed him. "Just-", Haechan interrupted himself, eyes squeezed together as if already regretting what he was about to say, unsure, holding Mark's wrist with both hands. Then he opened his eyes again. 

Mark was looking at him his heavy lids. His gaze wandered from his face to his exposed neck, then to his collarbones and chest. Mark was undressing him without touching anything and Haechan felt like going crazy. 

"-just a kiss. Okay? It's going to be a short kiss", Haechan continued, unable to believe he was actually saying that. 

But there was no harm in that. A little kiss. Just a harmless little kiss. Like the ones you'd have in college during stupid games. No one thought about those in the mornings.

But when Mark's lips curved in a little smirk and his body got as close as to press on Haechan's one again, the younger boy knew that it wasn't going to be just a kiss. Not for him at least. And not only he would think about it in the morning. He probably would think about it for a long time. And he was right. It was indeed memorable. Slow and careful but not timid. Mark cupped the other’s face, palm pressed on his jaw, fingers as far as touching his neck and ear, the other grabbing his hips, pulling them against his. Haechan’s head felt light and he couldn't fathom how Mark managed to have so much control when he was about to lose it all. And then it became even worse as Mark slipped his tongue inside of Haechan’s mouth and the younger boy had to tighten his grip around Mark’s torso. He whined into Mark's mouth, making the other hum back, picking up the pace, biting his lower lip and sucking on it, letting his hand fall from Haechan's face to his neck, then chest, then to his stomach, grazing the skin separated by Mark's fingers only by his thin button-down. 

Haechan had to stop him. It was going too far. That was a mistake. They still had to work together. There’s a reason why Haechan avoided talking to the coworkers he fucked before. Mark wasn't realizing that but Haechan did. He had to be responsible. 

Stop him, Haechan. Stop him. 

"Mark, wait", he broke off the kiss when Mark's hands reached his jeans button. The boy looked down at him, panting, eyes half-closed: he was begging Haechan to let him continue. 

Haechan grabbed his shirt and dragged him around the corner, into the shadows. 

"Tomorrow we forget about this, okay?", he warned him, shutting his brain off. "Okay", Mark replied quickly putting his mouth on Haechan's again as if unable to be away from it for too long. And he put his hands on Haechan's jeans again as well, opening the button, letting the zip fall slowly, tucking his hand underneath Haechan's boxers, feeling his soft and hot skin, wrapping his fingers around him tightly, not letting the struggling Haechan to break off the kiss to moan. And he didn't even last too long. The boy came shuddering all over Mark's fist after a few good strokes and the older finally let him press his face into his chest. 

Shit, he had never lasted this little. What the hell.

Haechan was fucking embarrassed and if Mark wouldn't have been too drunk to remember anyway, he would have just run away to hide in that exact moment. 

"Fuck", Mark cursed under his breath, feeling Haechan’s hot release on his skin, nudging at Haechan's temple with his lips while the other came down from his high.   "Oh, fuck, you're so hot like this, Haechan. And cute. Shit, you're so cute, I'm going crazy", he babbled before letting Haechan's cock go and trying to bring his fingers to his lips. "Oh no", Haechan gulped trying to stop him. "Mark, don't. You touched all sort of things in the club with that hand", and Mark stopped for a second as if processing the information before dropping to his knees and tasting Haechan directly. 

The boy opened his mouth in a silent gasp and he was still so aroused that feeling Mark's tongue made him hard again in a second. 

"Fuck", Haechan swore loudly, pressing his fingers into the wall behind him, letting his head fall back, feeling himself grow harder inside Mark's mouth. 

He didn't expect it. He didn't expect any of this. Innocent and soft Mark Lee sucking him off like no one has done before in the dark corner of a club? Haechan the slut coming in two seconds and getting hard again soon after? Past Haechan would have laughed, yet there he was, moaning Mark's name like a mantra, coming for the second time in minutes like a little virgin. 

It was no dream. It was a reality. 

Mark didn't let him go and Haechan felt like flying as his cum descended inside Mark's throat. And then he looked down right in time to catch a glimpse of Mark's eyes, looking up at him, letting his cock out with a lewd plop. "Mark, where did you learn that?", Haechan asked suddenly exhausted. The boy licked his lips and held onto Haechan to get up, shakily. "Was that good? It was my first time doing it", he mumbled with a smile before resting his head on Haechan's shoulder, the cocktail he had right before adding to his brain fog.

_______

Mark woke up to the sound of a heartbeat. It was a comforting sound. Deep and regular. 

He groaned softly as his lids realized they were getting hit by bright and irritating sunlight. Then he opened his eyes slowly, focusing on the windows first, vision blurry, then on the plant underneath it, then on the young man underneath him. 

Mark's muscles got a spasm and woke up completely as his brain finally made sense of what was going on. Meaning that his face was resting on Haechan's chest. Bare chest. And his own torso, bare torso, was wrapped by the boy's arms. 

Oh fuck, he thought. Oh shit. 

"It's too late in the morning to run away", Haechan mumbled, waking up softly as well. 

Mark froze as he was trying to get up. He was propped up on an elbow when Haechan opened his eyes and Mark felt his breath hitch. 

Haechan was there, pillow adorned with his luscious locks lying all around his head like a halo, chocolate eyes warmed by the sun shining through the windows and his skin, God, he looked like an angel. 

"I'm not going away", Mark lied, surprising himself by how deep and hoarse his voice sounded like. "Fuck, you're so cute right now", he whispered soon after, unable to control himself. 

Haechan's eyes got wider at Mark's words. He expected Mark to freak out, and Mark was freaking out inside a lot, but having Haechan like that, underneath him, vulnerable and beautiful as never before, made Mark feel peaceful at the same time. 

This is all he wanted in life. 

The older managed to keep it together for a few other seconds, trying to look confident, but when Haechan's cheeks reddened with blush, Mark lost it and blushed as well, rolling away, grabbing a pillow to hide his face in with a scream. 

"I can't believe it", his voice came out muffled. "Oh my God", he yelled quietly. 

Haechan started to chuckle embarrassed. "What an idiot". 

"How-", Mark removed the pillow enough for one eye to poke out. "How far-", he stuttered. 

Haechan rolled his eyes, faking nonchalance. 

"Just oral", he whispered while getting up and putting his feet on the ground, turning his back to Mark, unable to look at him in the face either. 

"Oh", the other sounded weirdly disappointed. Haechan pinched the base of his nose. That man was sending such mixed messages. "You did dry hump my ass if that makes things better", Haechan spoke through his teeth, embarrassed out of his mind, grabbing the bottle of water he kept on his nightstand. "I'm sorry. You deserve to get fucked properly", Mark replied quietly as if thinking at loud, making Haechan choke on his water and spit it all around the room. 

Mark sat up quickly and placed a hand on Haechan's shoulder. "Are you okay?" 

The choking boy turned around to face him. 

"I thought you'd be all embarrassed about this", he commented while drying his wet lips with the back of his hand. 

"I am!" Mark's eyes got wide and his red ears confirmed it, but it was still not what Haechan expected. 

"I mean", Haechan hesitated, unsure of what words to use, "I thought you'd regret it in the morning. You were really drunk last night and you had no idea what you were doing”. 

Mark's face visibly darkened. 

"Do you regret it?", he asked. 

Haechan went on with his phrase ignoring Mark’s question. "-like I was sober and I was worried that maybe I should have-". 

"Haechan". 

Mark's voice was so deep and serious that Haechan's heart started to beat faster upon hearing him calling his name like that. "Answer me. Do you regret it? Did I- fuck - did I do something wrong?", Mark asked ruffling his hair with one hand. He looked so worried and distressed that Haechan for a second didn't know what to say. 

"No", the younger finally shook his head. "No", he repeated. "I was aware of everything and I made my choice consciously but you-", Haechan hesitated again.  "Me too", Mark spoke up, nodding. "I remember everything until you helped me to get out of the club. After I sucked y-".

"Don't say it", Haechan stopped him with a raised palm. 

Mark chuckled embarrassedly. 

If only Haechan knew how cute he was being in that moment, faking his serious face and steading his voice. Mark would have wanted to see Haechan confess just how weak he was. 

"So you, like, you wanted it? Not because you were just drunk and I happened to be there?", Haechan asked timidly. Haechan couldn't believe he was so shy to talk about sex with someone. It has never happened before. Nothing he did with Mark happened before. 

Mark gulped down. "I wanted it, yeah. I didn't do it because I was drunk. I did it thanks to that. I don't think I would have had the courage otherwise", he explained. "But I'm also sorry. It mustn't be nice to- like--uh, you know, with a drunk person", he stuttered, eyes closing and opening as he thought about the words to use. 

Haechan looked down, shyly. "You were very hot actually", he whispered back, scratching the back of his head. 

"Haechan," Mark finally found his voice after a moment of shocked silence. "I swear to God, I would take you-", but interrupted himself abruptly. 

Haechan looked at him flustered. 

Mark cleared his voice. 

Then he shook his head. 

"No", he chuckled at himself. "Nothing, never mind", he added suddenly getting up, the covers sliding down his naked body. 

Haechan looked at it. He had looked at it the whole night. That night he kissed every inch of that skin and listened to Mark's soft moans. And Haechan realized that it wasn't a hookup. At all. Not for him. But Mark didn't remember that part and Haechan didn't want to tell him. If Haechan had to think about it for the next month, so be it. It was all on him. He let himself go too far and he wasn't talking about the physical aspect. It was all his fault if his heart was aching to see Mark get dressed instead of lying beside him, cuddling, or better, doing what Mark didn't dare to tell him.

_______

"Tomorrow we forget about this, okay?".

Forgetting. 

Mark wanted to forget but he couldn't do it. Not the day after and not on Monday morning, seeing Haechan's pretty lips so close to him and not being able to kiss them. 

Mark lied when Haechan asked him what he remembered. 

Well, not entirely, because he did forget some parts. 

But he was definitely lucid when Haechan went down on him, slowly, after kissing his lips, then his neck, sucking on his skin, then his chest and stomach as Mark wrapped Haechan's hair around his fingers. The boy asked multiple times if Mark was okay with that until Mark had to basically beg to just suck him off already. And God, he was so cute doing it. He would never forget how that felt. Divine. His head was so light as if zero oxygen got to it, every drop of blood concentrated inside of Haechan's warm and wet mouth instead. 

And he was staring at that mouth now, as Haechan explained the work to do for the day. Mark wasn't even that horny. No. He just wanted to hold him again and softly press his lips on Haechan's plump ones. 

"Tomorrow we forget about this". 

Haechan was sober when he said that. He meant it. He wouldn't have said that if he didn't mean it. Right? Should he ask? Haechan, did you forget? Do you want to forget? Because I don't. 

And I can't. 

"Mark", Haechan snapped his fingers in front of him making the boy jolt. "Focus", he ordered. "What are you thinking about?".

You. I'm thinking about you. You. You. I've been thinking about you for days, Haechan. 

"Lunch", Mark shrugged. Haechan rolled his eyes. "What an idiot".

_______

That afternoon Haechan was in a relatively good mood. 

He should have known that the most peaceful days could bring the most terrible storms though. 

So he jolted at the sound of a voice he almost forgot how it sounded like. 

"Haechan, I thought you died or something". 

The boy in question looked up from his computer to see a pair of feline eyes. 

They were bright and amused. Then he saw the lips. Soft and pink stretched in a sweet smile. 

Doyoung was still like a house with all the lights on, but now it wasn’t empty anymore. Now everyone was home. This house was full of people, all happy and content. 

Haechan was so glad. He truly was. This is what he has always wanted to see since first locking eyes with that man. But he also felt suddenly miserable. Miserable and confused. 

His heart shouldn't have skipped a beat like that. Not anymore. 

"I did die and I just got back from hell", he replied, trying to sound as snarky as possible. It wasn't entirely a lie. 

"What about you? You also went missing". Doyoung blushed subtly at the innuendo and Haechan felt the urge to punch the table. Or himself. "I've been busy", Doyoung replied softly. "So you went to paradise instead, I see", Haechan commented with a smile hoping that no one noticed how fake it was.

_______

"A man can't have his alone time in peace. What do you want?", Haechan rolled his eyes while Mark sat down beside him, resting his back on the rooftop wall, looking in front of him at the blue sky. 

It was a sunny day with a slight breeze, enough for Haechan's fringe to wave gently. 

Mark loved it when the wind ruffled Haechan's hair but he couldn't bring himself to look at the younger boy. Not at that moment. 

"I didn't know", Mark whispered. "What?", Haechan's voice came out irritated but he didn't care. 

"That you were in love", Mark added. 

Haechan choked on his breath. 

"I'm not", he crossed his arms on his chest and closed his eyes as if sunbathing. Conversation over, it meant. An angry bronzing session. 

Mark finally looked at him then, feeling safe as he wasn't seen back. He watched the way Haechan’s skin glowed under the warm rays. Mark thought about how it would feel under his fingertips but he wasn’t sure. He touched it before but now he couldn’t remember it. Mark wanted to raise one hand and touch his cheek again, this time fully concentrating on the feeling. He wanted to let it slide down the boy’s jawline, feeling the sharp bone, then on his neck where the angry pulsating artery pumped blood at a crazy speed. Then he wanted to hear Haechan’s soft breath as his hand unbuttoned his shirt, this time feeling his heartbeat. Mark wanted it to be fast and only for him. For Mark. 

It all made sense now. But why does it have to be like that? What should Mark do? What do people do in this scenario? 

Was he thinking about this Doyoung guy? Has Haechan been thinking about other men? The whole time? While Mark was thinking about him? 

Was he imagining kissing that man's lips while Mark's mind was full of Haechan and Haechan only? 

Of course, he would. 

What was Mark thinking? Isn’t this what he accepted? Isn’t this what he decided to adventure in? Why was Mark suddenly so hurt about Haechan behaving as he anticipated him to do? 

We forget about this in the morning and Mark was certain now that Haechan actually did forget. 

"Does he know?", Mark asked after a while. Haechan snorted. "Of course he doesn't". "He doesn't know what?".

The other boy sighed at the trap. 

"Just leave me alone", he ordered. And Mark actually got up and left. 

Haechan's cheeks got wet right when it started to rain.

_______

"Mark, if you have something to say, just say it". 

It's been a few days of Mark not talking but still looking at Haechan as if about to burst in a monologue anytime soon. 

Haechan had been brusque with him before, but it never came to Mark not talking to him. 

The younger boy wasn’t stupid. It was obvious what was going on with Mark but Haechan didn’t have the force to deal with it sooner. 

"I don't have anything to say", Mark replied. "Do you have anything to say?".

Haechan rested his back on the chair and looked at Mark, irritated. 

"Okay, we need to sort this thing out. We can't work like this". "Like this how? We're working just fine", Mark didn't raise his eyes from the computer. "Mark, you've been writing and deleting the same line for a while now", Haechan indicated the screen with his chin. "Well, maybe something is going on with me but it doesn't have anything to do with you, so we don't need to talk about anything", Mark replied finally starting a new line. 

So Mark was able to lie as well, huh?

"Mark", Haechan lowered his voice. "Do you perhaps have feelings for me?", he whispered. 

"What?!" Mark yelled. 

Onew jolted on his seat. 

"Keep your voice down, you dumbass", Haechan put one hand on his thigh. Mark looked down at it then at Haechan's face. 

Haechan retrieved his hand back. 

Mark breathed heavily before talking. 

"It's just--”, he rested his back on the chair as well, “I've never been with someone like that before and I'm so confused right now, like, I don't know if I have feelings for you or just--like, I need closure?", he questioned as if talking to himself. 

Haechan was surprised that Mark told him all that. 

"You mean that you're a virgin?", the younger asked incredulously. "Uhm, I can hear you", Onew said. "Then get your ass up and take a stroll, Owen", Haechan spoke up. 

Mark flinched at his sudden and loud voice. 

Their colleague shook his head as if not believing he was dealing with some weirdos and got out of the office mumbling something about gen z people. 

"I am not a virgin. I meant hookups", Mark explained after a little pause while his cheeks acted like a virgin's. "You said you've never sucked someone before", Haechan raised one eyebrow. "It's alright if you're a virgin, Mark. You just have to tell me and-”, he interrupted himself as if realizing what they actually did, “-fuck, you had to tell me before as well. God, I acted recklessly, I should hav-".

"I am not a virgin! Stop saying that. I've never sucked before because I've been eating pussy, okay?", Mark raised his voice.

Haechan blinked at him. "So you're confused about your sexuality?" 

Mark rolled his eyes defeated. "I know what I like! I'm not confused. Just hear me out!" "You said you were confused just a minute ago", Haechan said. "But not about my sexuality. Because of the hookup!"  "Why are you yelling?", Haechan yelled.  "I'm not yelling!", Mark yelled back.  "You're arguing with me right now". "Because you're not listening! I don't know how I'm feeling about you because I've never slept around before. I-- just--don't like it", Mark stuttered.  "Then why did you sleep with me?", Haechan was exasperated.  Mark whined. "Because I liked you already”.  "So you do like me. You have feelings for me", Haechan raised his hands as if talking with a fool. 

The other shifted in his seat as if uncomfortable. 

"Don't all people like their hookup partners though? Like, would you sleep with someone if they were ugly as fuck? I don't think so. You still need to be attracted to them a little". 

Haechan sighed while massaging his temples. "I can't believe I'm having this conversation. Didn't you have crushes before? Don't you know what it feels like to be in love?".

Mark groaned tiredly. "I did. And I know. But this is different", he spoke with a softer tone. 

Haechan sighed. "So what? Am I supposed to help you figure that out? If you like me or not?". 

Mark straightened his tie and focused on his computer again as if the conversation was over. 

"Listen, you wanted to hear me talk, so I did". 

The younger boy stared at the other’s fingers as they started to type something, probably useless. 

"Do you even want to like me? Like what's your expectation?". 

Mark’s fingers stopped and he remained silent for a little while. "Well, you like somebody else, so it wouldn't be nice if I had feelings for you, would it?". 

Haechan prolonged the silence a bit. "I'm getting out of it".

Mark turned his head to him. 

That was a lie, Mark could see it. A blatant lie. 

"Do you want me to like you?", he asked. His voice was soft and low. 

Haechan thought about it for a second. He didn’t know what to say. 

Mark sighed, unable to wait like that, and closed his eyes, reclining back on his seat again. 

"I like you, Haechan. Okay? I like you, fuck. I don't care if you like somebody else". 

Haechan’s heart started to beat even faster than before. 

“Was this the problem, then? You were jealous?”, Haechan’s voice came out quieter than he intended. 

Mark opened his eyes and looked down at his hands clasped together. 

He shrugged. 

“You don’t have to worry about me. I just needed to say it. I’m not asking for anything from you”, Mark directed his gaze towards Haechan. 

He looked so serious that it made Haechan’s cheeks get pink again. 

Mark’s eyes trembled imperceptibly at that reaction but he didn’t dare to say anything about it. 

He cleared his voice as Haechan couldn’t bring himself to add anything either and got back to work.

_______

It was very late at night. 

Haechan had no idea what time it was but it was not a time normal people would be awake at. 

He fidgeted under the covers, restless and irritated. He felt hot and his mind wouldn’t let him sleep. 

His hands found his phone after a while, ready to click on Jaemin’s name. But then his thumb slid down and it stopped over Mark instead. 

Haechan stared at the bright screen until he felt his eyes tear up from lack of blinking then just pressed it with a huff. 

Bad person Haechan. You’re a bad person. You’re such a bad person. A mistake. You did a mistake a now you were about to make another one.

“Yes”, Mark’s rough voice interrupted Haechan’s train of thoughts. 

The younger boy opened his mouth to breathe better and he let that monosyllable caress his ears even after the sound already died. 

“Hey”, Haechan whispered, closing his eyes, helping his other senses to get sharper. 

Mark groaned softly and shifted in his bed, probably turning in a more comfortable position. “Haechan”, he said in the same sleepy and deep voice and Haechan had to make an effort to not whimper into the phone. 

Why was Haechan so affected by this boy but at the same time so afraid of him? He shouldn’t have let Mark get so involved. Haechan should have put a wall between them the first time his lips said that first “cute”, then another one when he blatantly saw the way Mark’s eyes couldn’t leave him, then another one that night in the club, and another one when Mark asked him if Haechan wanted to be liked. And now as well. Just end the call. 

But he couldn’t. 

His walls were not strong enough for Mark and Haechan was a bad person. 

He liked it. He liked a lot. Haechan wanted more and more even if he could give back only darkness. 

“I’m sorry I woke you up”, Haechan said after waiting a few seconds to recollect himself. 

Mark hummed as if telling him that it was alright. “Is everything okay?” he asked and Haechan noticed the way Mark was slowly waking up by the growing concern in his voice. “Yeah, yeah, everything is good. I just…”, Haechan hesitated. 

Why did he even call Mark in the first place? Did he need company? Rude. Did he miss him? Gross. He was a bad person, using people when he needed, disregarding their feelings? Yeah. 

“I wanted to speak to someone”, he decided to be honest. 

Mark’s breath got louder for a second as if he laughed lightly. “I’m glad you thought of me, then. Unless you called other people first and no one replied”. 

Haechan smiled, feeling like a teenager talking to his first crush, then stopped, starting to hate himself. “No. You’re the only one I called”, he confessed. 

What was he doing? Bad. Bad Haechan. Bad. 

Mark went silent and Haechan listened to his breath for a while.

“You confuse me so much, Haechan”, Mark’s voice was a whisper and Haechan swallowed nothing, feeling his throat suddenly dry. 

Yeah. It was not fair. Not when Mark told him how he was feeling and Haechan couldn’t do the same. 

“But I’m not complaining”, Mark added before Haechan could apologize and end the call, finally getting to his senses. “I don’t care, Haechan. I like you so much. You can do whatever you want to me”. 

Haechan bit his lower lip. God, he hated himself. 

“Mark-”. “Would you do something for me?”, the boy interrupted him. “Mm? What?”. “Would you-”, Mark stopped, breath suddenly quicker, “-would you-uhm-- shit”, he repeated softly before chuckling, slightly embarrassed. 

Haechan’s skin got goosebumps, wondering if he understood what Mark wanted. His heartbeat started to pump blood at a crazy speed at it all went in a single place. 

So he did what Mark asked, even if he would end up being wrong, only because he wanted it too. He slid a hand under his t-shirt, slowly, until reaching his nipples, and whined into the phone. 

Mark went completely silent for a second. 

Haechan whined again a little louder. 

“Fuck, Haechan”, Mark’s voice trembled. "Are you-- are you touching yourself?”.

Haechan hummed. “My nipples”, he simply replied as he pinched them, playing with himself, feeling his boxers get tighter at every stroke. “Oh fuck”, Mark’s rough voice made Haechan squeeze his eyes together and open his mouth in a silent moan. 

They were both panting. Haechan couldn’t tell if Mark was just lying there and imagining or if he started to shyly let his hand slide south as well. 

“How does it feel?”, Mark inquired with a shaken voice and Haechan realized he still had too much control to be rubbing one out as well. “It feels so good, Mark”, the younger one replied, adding soft swears as his fingers got under the fabric of his boxers, letting the elastic hit his abdomen once, loudly, making sure Mark heard it as well. “Hmm -a-ah”, he wrapped his cock with his hand, pumping it slowly a few times, pressing his thumb on the slit. 

He didn’t need to exaggerate any sound. Knowing that Mark was listening could make Haechan go over the edge alone. 

“Haechan, you make me go so fucking crazy”, Mark’s shaking voice made Haechan bite his lower lip. “You too, Mark”, he confessed in the cloud of sensations. 

Then listened to the way the other boy’s bed sheets irrefutably shifted and the bed creaked and his breath hitched as he started to pleasure himself to the sound of Haechan’s whimpers and the image he had of him.  

They didn’t talk anymore. There was no need to and they weren’t able to either. Not having Mark near him, made Haechan last longer but it was still too quickly than usual so he stopped right before cumming, edging himself until the other whined into his pillow, cursing and calling Haechan’s name.

_______

Haechan avoided Mark the whole day. He told Mark that he had some other work and barely came into the office. 

The older boy would sigh every five minutes, mind racing, making the poor Onew groan. 

“He’s feeling awkward. You guys fucked, it’s normal”. 

Mark turned his head towards him as if awoken from a dream, cheeks blushing violently as soon as he made sense of the other’s words. 

“Also, you’re in love with him. I would avoid someone in love with me as well if I only wanted to fuck them,” Onew added as if talking about the weather. Mark was unable to speak. “He’s afraid to hurt you now”. 

“I told him it was alright, though”, Mark finally whispered, trying hard to suppress the hysterical little chuckle he would get when nervous or talking about embarrassing stuff. 

Onew got up with his empty coffee mug in his hand. 

“Show it. Do something that can make him realize that it’s okay for you to be in this type of relationship”, he added before walking out whistling with not one single worry in the world. 

Mark would have wanted to whistle as well but couldn’t. 

That advice was breaking his heart. 

It was true. Mark said that he was okay, but he was lying. 

Of course, he was not alright. 

He wanted to, oh he wanted so bad to be alright but it was so late. It was already late from the beginning. Mark didn’t want that kind of relationship. He wanted more. 

But Onew was also right. Mark had to do something. If being able to have Haechan like that meant breaking his own heart, Mark was ready to do it. 

And when that night he went to Jungwoo’s monthly party again, he forced his beating heart to stop upon seeing Haechan’s back. 

The young men’s slender figure was curved in a laugh, the pretty sound almost audible to Mark’s far away ears. Then Haechan sipped from the drink in front of him, still amused by the handsome bartender’s joke, and spun around in his chair right in time to see Mark being hit on by a woman. 

Haechan’s lips stopped on the edge of the glass, eyes unable to blink, staring emotionless at the way Mark’s lips curved in a timid smile while his hands weren’t timid at all, firmly grabbing that girl’s hips as she wiggled her ass against Mark’s crotch. 

Haechan turned around, placing the drink on the counter with a slightly shaking hand. 

“Everything alright?”, the bartender asked. 

Haechan didn’t reply and threw his head back, finished his cocktail in one gulp.

_______

It was quite early when the boy left the party. Haechan felt like suffocating in the middle of all those people breathing heavily, clouding his mind. 

Waiting for his taxi outside, ignoring the stares of horny people smoking and grinding against each other by the entrance of the Garages, he got reasonable startled when two hands suddenly wrapped his torso. 

But those were some delicate fingers and Haechan could recognize that cologne in a thousand others. 

Mark rested his face on Haechan’s shoulder and no one said anything for a little while, listening to the deep bass coming out of the club, the yelling and the traffic on the main road just a few blocks away. 

“Sorry if I startled you”, Mark mumbled. 

Haechan bit his lower lip and turned around, expecting a drunk and horny Mark yet again. But the boy’s eyes were wide and awake, his usual staring-as-if-reading-your-soul eyes met Haechan’s ones. 

The younger looked at them for a second then he eyed the bright red hickeys on the other’s neck as well as the slightly unbuttoned shirt. 

“I see you’ve had some fun tonight”, Haechan commented unable to hide his bitter tone. Not that Mark wouldn’t have been able to see through his fake face anyway. 

Mark licked his lips and tugged Haechan’s hips towards him. 

"Is this alright?", his voice was low and sultry, ignoring Haechan’s little jab, caressing his lower back instead. 

Haechan started to pant softly, unsuccessfully trying to take a step back then he gulped down staring at the other’s lips getting each second closer. 

"We can pretend it didn't happen", Mark went on, "just like we've always done, isn’t that right?", and Haechan could have sworn that Mark was a little pissed off. “Fucking at night then pretending we don’t know each other during the day, huh? Isn’t this what you want? I can do that”. 

Mark's fingers reached the hem of Haechan's t-shirt by now, hiking it up slowly, dragging his fingertips on his skin. It was warm, just like Mark had always imagined. A loud cheer mixed with glass shattering made Haechan flinch but Mark shushed him, every second closer until they were breathing each other's air. 

"I really want to take you right now, just like this". 

Mark's whisper made both of their hearts beat like crazy.  The first, not believing he was talking like that, the second, not believing that Mark was telling him that. 

And when Haechan finally closed his eyes, ready to melt into the kiss, Mark's lips ghosted his cheek and neck instead, fingers still drawing little circles on the younger's chest, resting his palm on the beating heart. Then he pulled away. 

“It’s a shame that you’re pushing me away like this”, Mark straightened his back and walked away.

_______

Mark was a weird guy. 

And when Haechan bumped into him inside the local supermarket near his apartment, a large sweatshirt on his frame, boyfriend jeans, ruffled hair, a little stubble, concerned expression behind his golden round glasses, the tip of his tongue out, licking his lips mindlessly, deciding what brand of cereal he wanted, Haechan felt the urge to go there and yell at him that he's in love. 

Haechan never liked the "what are we" question. 

Everyone around him asked that. What are we? Friends. Friends with benefits. Nothing, we're just fucking. Haechan has never adventured there. But now, looking at Mark's profile, his hand finally picking up the cereal pack, Haechan wanted to ask him that question. 

What are we, Mark? 

Because I want us to be something. 

I want to claim you in ways that give other people no place to do the same. 

Not a friend, not a colleague, not a friend with benefits. 

An etiquette that only Haechan could claim. 

Even if Haechan didn’t deserve that. 

Mine. My boyfriend. Mine. Mine. All mine. 

Was that wrong? Probably. 

But Haechan felt no remorse. 

Was that love? Haechan was unsure but he wanted to find out. 

So he walked over. Was Mark there because he hoped to see Haechan? "Oh, Haechan", Mark seemed genuinely surprised when the younger called his name. "What are you doing here?", the boy asked. 

Mark looked around briefly as if suddenly not knowing where he was. "The meat here is higher quality than the supermarket near my apartment", he explained and Haechan could see the way Mark's expression screamed honesty. 

He wasn’t there because of Haechan. Mark might have had a crush on the other but he was slipping away now. 

Come back, Mark. Come back to me. Call me cute again. Touch my skin. Don’t do this. Don’t play with me like this. 

"Haechan", Mark's voice wavered as the boy got suddenly closer. "We're in public". 

Haechan didn’t look away. “You didn’t care about the public last night. You let that slut fuck you in front of everyone then you dared to flirt with me and leave me on the edge like that?”, he confronted him. 

Mark’s little stunt made the younger so mad the day before that he felt like bursting in his pants during the drive home. Cheeks flushed and trembling hand, he didn’t even bother to walk to the bedroom. He closed his eyes and threw his head back to rest against the entrance door as soon as he stepped into his empty apartment. He came and came, again and again, until he felt too sensitive to touch himself anymore. God, he was so mad. 

“Haechan, are you jealous?”, Mark’s eyes relaxed, the cereal pack still between them, the gaze of some elderly ladies not leaving their backs. 

Haechan’s jaw muscles flexed. “Yeah. I am. I am jealous. I am fucking jealous. Okay? I hate it. I hate that you sleep with other people. You’re mine and mine only”, Haechan spat out quickly before he could regret saying it. 

He was panting and he didn’t even have to look at himself to know that he was all red. 

Mark’s breath hitched in a startled laugh. 

“And I hate that you have all of this control over me. I was done, okay? I was done with feelings and here you are, doing all of this bullshit to me. Your little game worked. Are you happy?”. 

Getting out of the apartment that late morning, Mark didn’t anticipate getting a confession from Haechan in the cereal aisle while said person looked up at him with furrowed eyebrows, doe eyes and a trembling lower lip. 

God, he was so cute, Mark wanted to grab his face and kiss him. 

“You saw my game and played by my rules?”, Mark asked impressed. 

“You didn’t even give me time to play at all! I got defeated before starting”, the other admitted frustrated. 

Mark chuckled. “Why are you getting mad at me, Haechan? You ignored me in the first place, sleeping with other people.” 

The boy huffed exasperated and walked away, bumping Mark in the shoulder, making the other pirouette and grab him by the forearm. 

“I was joking. Come on”, he cooed. “This is what I’ve always wanted”. 

Haechan put his tongue inside his cheek, annoyed. “What? Me making a fool out of myself?”

“Showing yourself to me”, Mark replied kindly. 

Haechan rolled his eyes, still using his faking-nonchalance-to-not-show-his-feelings technique, but Mark was already immune to that. In fact, he has been immune to that from the start. 

Haechan loved it. 

Haechan loved it so much that he got scared. It was too good to be true.

________

It was pouring heavily when they got out of the supermarket. Haechan had his apartment windows open and they could smell the scent of rain, clean and refreshing. 

It was cold but Mark's body heated the boy in a second, groceries fallen on the floor, wrapping his arms around the other’s frame. 

They did not kiss and Haechan was quite surprised but he didn't say anything, hiding his face the crook of Mark's neck instead, inhaling all of his favourite scents at the same time. 

"I called you upstairs for a different reason," Haechan mumbled, surprised at the sudden softness, the sound of his voice muffled by the other's slightly damp sweatshirt. 

"I know," Mark whispered against his temple. 

He placed a delicate kiss there, then another one slightly below, then another one, drawing a line until reaching the jaw. Haechan raised his face and Mark kissed the corner of his lips, then the other cheek, and jaw again, and the other temple. 

Haechan closed his eyes with a little smile as if giving up. 

Mark, what are you doing?".

"I want you to think", the other replied, lips still busy. Haechan scoffed. "I want to stop thinking". "I want you to think about me". 

His lips reached Haechan's forehead and stayed there for a little. 

The only sound was the rain and Haechan's quick heart. 

"I already think about you a lot", Haechan confessed, face close to Mark's collarbones. 

"And why do you want to stop?" the other murmured. 

His voice was so relaxing and calming that Haechan for a second forgot why was he trying to not think about Mark in the first place. Why was he pushing him away? Why has he been pushing him away all of that time?

Then he remembered when Mark's hands slid down Haechan's back. 

"Because I'm a bad person". Mark sighed as if he expected that but still wanted to hear the other say it. "You're not a good judge". Haechan tsk-ed. "Well, thanks, I guess." "I am the one who has to decide if you're a bad person or not, and I say that you're not." "You're blinded by love”. 

Mark hugged Haechan even tighter. 

"Yeah, I am, so Haechan, please, let me love you", his tone darkened suddenly. "Stop pushing me away. I can handle anything". 

"I'm going to fuck up", Haechan shook his head. 

"You won't and if you do, I still want to take my chances. What if I fuck up before you do?" 

Haechan laughed, resting his chin on Mark's chest, rising his face to look at the boy in the eyes. "Mark, you're a saint".

The saint’s eyes were those of a sinner though when he pressed his thumb on Haechan’s plump, lower lip. 

"Have you ever made love to someone before?", he asked with a deep voice. 

Haechan's eyes widened with amusement. "Are you joking? I’m a hoe.” 

Mark hummed. "No. I said, love. Have you? Because I haven't either and I desperately want to make love to you right now". 

And Mark was right. 

Haechan had never made love with someone before and he realized it as soon as the other's hands cupped his cheeks, kissing his lips softly, pushing him back towards the bed, making him sit on it, letting Haechan watch as Mark elegantly took away his sweatshirt first then the shirt underneath it. 

Haechan blinked, emotions he has never felt before invading his whole body as Mark pushed him down with a gentle touch, kissing his stomach and going up, taking Haechan's top with him, letting the cold air caress his skin making it all shiver. It would have shivered anyways, goosebumps forming at every feathery touch of Mark's lips. They took away all of the remaining clothes, touching each other slowly, curiously, exploring everything, with fingertips and lips and tongues. Attentive, remembering which stroke made the other whine louder, what kind of whisper pleased the ears more, what pet name made the other blush. 

It was still raining hard, but they weren't cold, tightly wrapped in each other arms, the heavy covers to hide their secret whispers from the world. They were hidden in giggles and heavy breaths, "here?", "yeah", "like this?", "hmm", and Haechan felt so present. He was there, at that moment and he was seen. Mark was looking at him, really looking and Haechan didn't have to do anything to make it happen. There was no reason to put on an act. He just had to be himself. Vulnerable and- "cute," Mark whispered, chests rising, short breaths, his thumb caressing Haechan's red cheeks. 

"Say it again", Haechan smiled. 

Mark imitated him, his lips murmuring the word until they didn't have to, the feeling of it lingering in the air by itself.

[tabloidtoc]

People, May 10

Cover: Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade

Page 3: Chatter -- Mindy Kaling on technology woes, Amy Adams on wanting to go into acting because of Grease, Gal Gadot on telling her daughters Maya and Alma about her pregnancy, DJ Khaled on using Rihanna's skin-care line, Christie Brinkley on showing off her body on Instagram at age 67, Whoopi Goldberg on writing a superhero movie about an older Black lady

Page 4: 5 Things We're Talking About -- Michael Keaton returns as Batman, Jane Fonda recalls her first and best kiss, Maya Rudolph would give Bridesmaids another go, the stars of ER scrub in one more time, popcorn and donuts team up

Page 7: Contents

Page 8: StarTracks -- one day before Prince William and Princess Kate's youngest child Prince Louis turned 3, Kensington Palace released a new portrait of the little royal to mark the occasion; Kate snapped the photo of Louis, who wore a school uniform and backpack as he rode his bike outside their home in London ahead of his first day of preschool

Page 9: JoJo Siwa and mom Jessalynn went for a roller-coaster ride at Disney's Hollywood studios in Florida, Madonna in a three-piece Gucci suit for dinner at West Hollywood staple Craig's

Page 10: Stars on Set -- Rachel Brosnahan was pretty in pink while filming season 4 of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel with costar Alex Borstein in NYC, John Cena flashed a peace sign when he took a coffee break while filming The Suicide Squad spinoff series Peacemaker in Vancouver, Tika Sumpter and James Marsden shot an action-packed scene for Sonic the Hedgehog 2 in Vancouver

Page 11: Katie Holmes was spotted on a Connecticut set preparing to film the drama The Watergate Girl in which she'll play Watergate prosecutor Jill Wine-Banks, Awkwafina and Bowen Yang filmed the upcoming season of Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens in NYC, Melissa Benoist suited up for Supergirl in Vancouver

Page 12: Brooke Shields who is recovering after breaking her femur in a gym accident walked arm in arm after a lunch with husband Chris Henchy, Britney Spears and boyfriend Sam Asghari posed for a photo before attending a friend's wedding

Page 15: Stars in the Sun -- Maren Morris flaunted her new tan while enjoying a tropical getaway, Simone Biles and boyfriend Jonathan Owens cuddled up during a trip to Florida, Lindsey Vonn caught some waves and some rays while paddleboarding in Tulum, Derek Hough cooled off in the ocean during a beach day in L.A., Brie Larson enjoyed a dip while on vacation in Hawaii

Page 17: Scoop -- Life After Their Split -- how Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez are moving on

Page 18: Inside Caitlyn Jenner's run for governor

Page 20: Heart Monitor -- Tarek El Moussa and Heather Rae Young ready to wed, Pete Davidson and Phoebe Dynevor going public, Zac Efron and Vanessa Valladares split, Billie Eilish and Matthew Tyler Vorce new couple?

Page 23: Jana Kramer and Mike Caussin's messy divorce

* Susannah Constantine -- my royal friendship with Princess Margaret

Page 24: Open House -- French Montana

* Baby Boom -- the latest on Hollywood's growing families -- Marie Kondo and Takumi Kawahara welcomed a son, Nick and Lauren Carter welcomed their third child

Page 27: Ed Helms talks life after The Office

Page 29: Passages, Why I Care -- Lisa Kudrow is working with doctors at UCLA to end the stigma surrounding mental health issues

Page 31: Stories to Make You Smile -- most cats can't stand the water but 8-month-old Marlin can't get enough and his Instagram is @carolinejarvis, a first grader's airplane kits give wings to kids' travel dreams

Page 35: People Picks -- Tom Clancy's Without Remorse

Page 36: Limbo, One to Watch -- Shadow and Bone's Jessie Mei Li

Page 37: Pose, Pet Stars

Page 38: The Handmaid's Tale, Thomas Rhett -- Country Again: Side A, Q&A with Olivia Holt

Page 39: The Mosquito Coast, Inspiring America: The 2021 Inspiration List

Page 41: Books

Page 42: Oscars 2021 -- The Return of Glamour -- the show was unconventional, just 170 guests were allowed in L.A.'s Union Station, and COVID restrictions were strictly enforced, but stars did their part to bring back some movie magic

Page 43: Andra Day

Page 44: Fabulous Fashion -- crop tops, ball gowns and bows ruled the red carpet -- Angela Bassett, Zendaya, Carey Mulligan, Maria Bakalova

Page 45: Margot Robbie, Reese Witherspoon, Viola Davis, Amanda Seyfried

Page 46: Behind the Scenes -- Regina King -- the actress closed out awards season in a custom Louis Vuitton creation

Page 48: Shine Bright -- there's no such thing as too much bling -- Laura Pausini, Vanessa Kirby, Zendaya

Page 49: Maria Bakalova, Daniel Kaluuya, Glenn Close, Tiara Thomas

Page 50: Very Well Suited -- these sharp dressers put their own twists on the tuxedo -- Lakeith Stanfield, Colman Domingo, Paul Raci, Tyler Perry, Sacha Baron Cohen, Alan Kim

Page 53: Getting Ready with Andra Day

Page 55: Getting Ready with Angela Bassett

Page 56: Romance on the Red Carpet -- these couples only had eyes for each other -- Sacha Baron Cohen and Isla Fisher, Halle Berry and Van Hunt, Chloe Zhao and Joshua James Richards, Riz Ahmed and Fatima Farheen Mirza

Page 57: Steven Yeun and Joana Pak, Leslie Odom Jr. and Nicolette Robinson, Paul Raci and Liz Hanley Raci, Aaron Sorkin and Paulina Porizkova

Page 58: Best in Show -- there were A-list stars, groundbreaking moments and social distancing as Hollywood gathered safely to honor the best movies of the year -- Reese Witherspoon

Page 61: Alan Kim, Angela Bassett, Rita Moreno

Page 62: Major Moments -- these artists broke barriers during the most historic ceremony ever -- Emerald Fennell, Chloe Zhao, Daniel Kaluuya

Page 63: H.E.R., Anthony Hopkins, Yuh-Jung Youn with Brad Pitt, Mia Neal

Page 65: Yuh-Jung Youn and Daniel Kaluuya and Frances McDormand, Elton John and Dua Lipa, Andra Day and Winnie Harlow

Page 66: Cover Story -- Dwyane Wade and Gabrielle Union -- Dream Team -- the actress and NBA champ open up about protecting their family, fighting for what's right and why they're stronger than ever

Page 72: George Floyd's Killer Found Guilty -- We Can Breathe Again -- friends and family of the Minneapolis man killed by police rejoice after a jury's verdict and vow with supporters to keep fighting systemic racism

Page 76: Bethenny Frankel -- what I know now -- the irrepressible former Real Housewives star and businesswoman is newly engaged and back as a boss with a new show

Page 80: A Son Lost to Suicide, A Father's Mission -- we loved him every day, but it wasn't enough -- after the shocking death of his 12-year-old son, Brad Hunstable has a message for parents: talk to your kids about suicide

Page 84: Andrew McCarthy -- I was never suited for fame -- the beloved actor, and author of a new memoir, looks back on his enduring films, surviving his '80s stardom and how his affiliation with the so-called Brat Pack was a mixed blessing

Page 88: Prince William and Duchess Kate Middleton's 10-year anniversary -- remembering the big day -- those who made the wedding a fairy tale share their memories

Page 92: Country Singer Thomas Rhett -- fame, family and finding my way -- the star opens up about overcoming struggled with his wife Lauren in their 8-year-marriage and learning to put their family first

Page 98: Murdered Soldier Vanessa Guillen's Fiance -- every day I pray for justice -- a year after losing the love of his life, Juan Cruz is determined to make sure the Army specialist's legacy is never forgotten and that her tragic death inspires lasting change

Page 102: George W. Bush -- painting with a purpose -- the former president avoided making waves, until his party's nativist prompted him to use his art to celebrate immigrants

Page 106: Pop Star Julia Michaels -- how I learned to love myself -- the singer talks falling in love, managing anxiety and writing hits for Britney Spears and Selena Gomez

Page 116: One Last Thing -- Josh Duhamel

[alexsfictionaddiction]

12 Transgender Books Everyone Should Read This Pride Month

How beautiful is the transgender flag?! There are actually several versions of it but the original with these soft pastel colours (representing the traditional colours given to baby boys and girls with the white signifying transition) is the prettiest, in my opinion. This post comes at a time where the UK government are planning on scrapping the right to self-identify your gender. It comes at a time when one of the world’s most famous, previously beloved authors has publicly stated that she doesn’t believe that transgender women are real women and that they’re a threat to cisgender women. Trans people are consistently misunderstood, dismissed as ill or dangerous by those in power and often forced into boxes that they simply don’t fit into, purely so everyone else can ‘understand’ them. The following books are vital in giving these vulnerable, silenced members of society a chance to see themselves in fiction as well as offering cisgender people a chance to learn something of the transgender experience. Enjoy! -Love, Alex x

1. The Gender Games by Juno Dawson.

Part memoir, part reflection on the meanings of gender, The Gender Games is Juno Dawson’s manifesto for a world where no one is restricted by society’s expectations of their genitals. With insights from a range of other gender and trans writers and activists, this is an eye-opening account of Juno’s experience of life as a British transgender woman.

2. Birthday by Meredith Russo.

Eric and Morgan have been inseparable their whole lives but as they reach their teenage years, they can both feel that something is changing. Told over six shared birthdays, this is a heartwrenching YA book about friendship, grief and self-acceptance that will have you reaching for the tissues.

3. Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender.

Mixed-race transgender queer teen, Felix believes he isn’t deserving of love and when an anonymous source begins circulating photos of Felix pre-transition, he plans his revenge. The message at the heart of it is that everyone is deserving of true love and that they don’t need to change their true selves to get it, which is possibly the most important thing a struggling transgender person can ever carry with them.

4. The Art Of Being Normal by Lisa Williamson.

David knows that she is really a girl called Kate but is afraid of revealing that to everyone at school. However, things are about to unravel. The Art Of Being Normal tackles some dark issues such as transphobia and bullying but there is a wonderful friendship to enjoy as well as a heartwarming coming-of-age story.

5. Dreadnought by April Daniels.

When a superhero falls out of the sky and hands his powers over to Danny, there’s no more hiding the fact that she’s transgender but coming out isn’t quite as brilliant as she thought it would be and a murderous enemy is hot on her heels. Dreadnought is a fun, much-needed addition to the superhero genre with characters that you’ll fall in love with.

6. George by Alex Gino.

Melissa really wants to play Charlotte in the school’s production of Charlotte’s Web but when everyone looks at her, they see a boy called George so how will she ever manage to nail her longed-for role? This novel of acceptance, self-discovery and courage is vital reading for middle-graders and pretty much anyone who loves a powerful, moving story.

7. Nevada by Imogen Binnie.

Maria is a transgender woman and punk in New York, whose life takes an unexpected turn into mentorship, when she takes a road trip after being simultaneously dumped and fired. Nevada is a dark comedy with highly affecting characters and offers a different, enlightening take on the Great American Road Trip Novel.

8. Pet by Akwaeke Emezi.

In the utopian city of Lucille, there are no monsters anymore but when a creature called Pet emerges from one of her mother’s paintings, Jam is forced to confront the idea that they may still lurk. Pet is a very strange, thought-provoking YA novel that is unlike any other but unbelievably clever and immersive. 

9. Trans Like Me: A Journey For All Of Us by C. N. Lester.

This insightful memoir tackles key discussion points facing transgender people including correct pronouns, hormone treatment, intersectional feminism and so much more. Trans Like Me is essential reading for cisgender people wanting to further their understanding of the real issues of being a transgender person today.

10. Nothing Ever Happens Here by Sarah Hagger-Holt.

Shy girl Izzy’s dad has just announced that she’s actually a woman called Dee and now everyone is talking about it. It’s a comforting, wholesome, middle-grade read about the different ways that members of a family adapt to the change within it. Full of love, honesty and acceptance, it’s a must-read for every pre-teen.

11. Small Beauty by Jia Qing Wilson-Yang.

Chinese-Canadian Mei is a recently bereaved trans woman, who reflects on her own history and uncovers some secrets and local mysteries while living in her dead cousin’s house. This strange novel is a unique, stunning exploration of the struggles of living with multiple marginalised identities that will speak to many transgender readers directly.

12. Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love and So Much More by Janet Mock.

Revisiting her teenage years of hormone self-medication and surgery through to the success of her adult life, Janet Mock tells her story with stark honesty. She touches on all of the issues facing transgender youth and inspires everyone to be completely, unapologetically yourself. 

[nothing-stupid-buck]

Band Of Brothers Character Guide

Band Of Brothers CHARACTER GUIDE

To All You New BoB Watchers Out There...

First of all, WELCOME. We are happy to have you as part of Easy Company.

When I first watched the series, I had a lot of difficulty keeping track of who was who and it made it hard to follow the storyline until the 3rd or 4th round watching it through... so I thought I’d make a bit of a guide for those who have had the same struggle.

(Keep in mind, you may want to read this after you’ve watched it at least once, as many of the characters’ significant plot lines are outlined in spoilers.)

Throughout the series there are different episodes based around different characters’ points of view. As you watch each episode you learn more characters but because it is so accurately portrayed, they had to include as many of the characters as possible so each of them get a little bit of their story shown.

I myself have watched the series over 10 times and still pick up on things each time I watch it. It’s not a series to be watched once if you want to enjoy it to its full extent and understand it thoroughly (which I highly recommend because it is such a great series anyway).

Here is a list of some significant traits about most of the main characters (WARNING: Spoilers May Be Present Ahead):

Major Richard Winters: leader of Easy from D-Day, assumed main character, episodes 1, 2, 5, 10 bases around him.

Captain Lewis Nixon: Winters’ best friend, shortly promoted to an intelligence officer after enlisting (as seen in the first episode), often sarcastic, an alcoholic and loves Vat 69, episode 9 is based around him.

Lieutenant Harry Welsh: platoon leader and officer, replaces Nixon in easy Company in the first episode, noticeable tooth gap, is saving his reserve chute to bring home to his fiancé Kitty (SPOILER: hit by shrapnel in Bastogne at the end of episode 6)

Lieutenant Lynn “Buck” Compton: platoon leader, white blonde hair, first appearance near the end of the first episode, is known to see himself amongst the men rather than as a superior (SPOILER: shot in the behind during the holland campaign, is evacuated after seeing Toye and guarnere lose their legs and suffers battle fatigue, returns in episode 10)

Captain Ronald Speirs: starts off in D company, basically takes the fourth gun by himself on D-Day, rumoured to have shot POW’s on D-Day (although never confirmed), (SPOILER: takes over as the leader of Easy Company in episode 7)

Lieutenant C. Carwood Lipton: can be seen shooting from tree on D-Day, goes out of his way to look after the men, episode 7 is based around him. (SPOILER: gets hit by shrapnel in Carentan in episode 3, becomes the Company first sergeant shortly after, gets promoted to lieutenant at the end of episode 7)

Sergeant Don Malarkey: Sobel calls him ‘Private bulls*it’ in the first episode. Notably said, ‘really? It’s hot in Africa?’ In the first episode while on the boat to England. Runs through an open field on d-day to get what he thinks is a Luger, but he is wrong. Makes friends with a german POW in episode 1 after he discovers they came from the same state back home. (SPOILERS: loses his best friends Muck and Penkala in episode 7 after they are blown up together in their foxhole, is clearly suffering from battle fatigue in episode 8.)

Sergeant Bill Guarnere: discovers his brother has been killed in action a day or two before D-Day, shoots Germans before winters’ command on D-Day, nickname is Gonorrhoea, has a fantastically shaped jawline (literally cracks me up every time he looks around a corner or something) (SPOILERS: tries to drag Joe Toye back to a foxhole during an artillery barrage in episode 7 and gets his right leg blown to bits, remains best friends with babe Heffron until the end of his life)

Corporal George Luz: impersonates Major Horton during training while Sobel is lost, which then results in Sobel cutting a barbed wire fence, often seen imitating either superiors or other easy men, most notably dike and sink, best friends with Perconte, (SPOILERS: never gets hit)

Corporal Eugene “Doc” Roe: called Doc by almost all of the men, heroic medic of the company, episode 6 is based around him, always seen rushing around to help soldiers who have been wounded.

Sergeant Joe Toye: lists everything he has to carry whilst preparing his gear for D-Day, has two grenades go off next to him on d-day but doesn’t get hurt (notably says: Jesus Christ, f*cking twice), (SPOILERS: is in the aid station probably more times than any other easy man as he manages to get hit in just about every battle, gets his right leg completely blown off during an artillery barrage in episode 7)

Corporal Frank Perconte: literally never stops brushing his teeth, quite a bit smaller than most of the others, best friends with Luz, (SPOILERS: gets shot in the behind during the attack on Foy in episode 7, is seen being carried away by Bull Randleman, returns very shortly afterwards)

Sergeant Floyd Talbert: often called ‘Tab’ is seen with a dog in the beginning of episode 5, (SPOILERS: in episode 3 he is stabbed by Smith for waking him up dressed in a german poncho, but recovers, and Gordon writes a poem about the incident, resigns as company first sergeant in episode 10 as he wanted to be back amongst the men)

Private David Webster: episode 8 is based around him, (SPOILERS: gets shot in the leg in Holland in episode 5, and missed the Bastogne campaign, earning resentment from a lot of the men as seen in episode 8)

Corporal Joseph Liebgott: it’s established that Liebgott is Jewish pretty early in the series (he gets into a brawl with guarnere on the boat to England in episode 1) which becomes important later, has a stronger hatred for the Germans than a lot of the other men, (SPOILERS: translates at the Jewish camp, and is seen crying after having to tell the prisoners they are to be locked up again so they can be monitored)

Sergeant Warren “Skip” Muck: best friends with malarkey and penkala, and usually seen beside them, is notably eating ‘kraut cheese’ from a tube in episode 3, and then proceeds to describe the rumours about Speirs to the men, sings a song about having enough socks in episode 5, one of the main jokesters in the group (SPOILER: is blown up and killed in his foxhole with penkala during an artillery barrage in episode 7)

Private Alex Penkala: usually seen besides malarkey or skip Muck, also a jokester, (SPOILERS: gets shrapnel in his arm in episode 6, is blown up and killed in his foxhole with Muck during an artillery barrage in episode 7)

Private Edward “Babe” Heffron: replacement and debut episode is episode 3, almost immediately taken under guarneres wing, (SPOILERS: loses his friend Julian in episode 6 after not being able to get to him through german Fire, and is forced to watch him die, remains best friends with guarnere for the rest of his life after the war)

Private Albert Blithe: episode 3 is based around him, can be seen terrified in his foxhole during the battle of the bloody gulch in episode 3, suffers hysterical blindness, (SPOILERS: is shot in the neck on a patrol at the end of episode 3, and the show incorrectly states the year of his death, he recovered from his neck wounds but died around 20 years later)

Sergeant Denver “Bull” Randleman: can been seen chewing tobacco often, close friends with Martin, speaks up about Sobel hating easy Company during the march in episode 1, to which winters jokes that Sobel just hates bull, episode 4 is based around him, is seen looking after the replacements when some of the other men turn a blind eye, notably bigger than a lot of the other men in the company (SPOILERS: gets a piece of shrapnel to the shoulder and also gets lost in episode 4)

Sergeant Johnny Martin: is the one who receives the letter about guarnere’s brother being killed in episode 1 and purposely swaps their jackets so guarnere will see the letter, is often called ‘Pee Wee’, close friends with Bull Randleman, spots a tank and tells a British soldier in episode 4, leads a patrol in episode 8, often appears annoyed or serious

Corporal Walter “Smokey” Gordon: wrote ‘the night of the bayonet’ about the incident between talbert and Smith, has multiple Purple Hearts, always on a machine gun, (SPOILERS: is shot in the arm in episode 6 and is paralysed)

Other Characters (brief significant traits)

CONTAINS SPOILERS:

Sergeant Darrel “Shifty” Powers: best shot in the company, never misses

Sergeant Robert “Popeye” Wynn: shot in the behind on D-Day, returns shortly after for holland campaign

Sergeant Wayne “Skinny” Sisk: is seen with multiple wood chunks stuck in his leg in episode 6, notably says ‘Im real sorry frank’ to Perconte after Perconte tells him he got blood on his trousers

Private Alton More: takes the photo album from the eagles nest

Sergeant James Alley: is hit by a grenade and is seen being carried in covered in blood and badly injured at the beginning of episode 5

Sergeant Chuck Grant: shot in the head in episode 10 by another American officer

Colonel Robert Sink: commander of the 506th infantry regiment

Sergeant Pat Christenson: drinks from his canteen on the Friday night march in episode 1 and is forced to repeat the march with no water, usually operating a machine gun

Corporal Joseph Ramirez: knocks down a fence after trying to jump over it in episode 3

Private Roy Cobb: shot in the plane on D-Day, is outwardly hostile to the new replacements, is rude to his superiors while intoxicated in episode 8

Corporal Donald Hoobler: often mentions how he wants to find a Luger to take home, when he gets one in episode 7 he leaves it in his pants and it accidentally fires and hits the main artery in his leg, killing him very quickly

Private Lester Hashey: a replacement in episode 3, best friends with Garcia, gets shot in the arm in episode 7 during the artillery barrage

Private Tony Garcia: best friends with Hashey, replacement at the end of episode 3

Lieutenant Norman Dike: also known as ‘foxhole norman’, takes over easy Company after moose heyliger is accidentally shot by a fellow American soldier, notably useless and makes no decisions, disliked by most of the men, and poorly leads easy Company during the battle at foy, but is relieved by Speirs before the battle is over

SIDE NOTE: some of the ranks may be incorrect or outdated, and I do apologise, I either could not find the correct rank or have remembered it incorrectly.

[daresplaining]

Are there any instances where superhero’s would give Daredevil something to look at and he has to wing it/ tell the truth that he’s blind?

    Yes, there are! This happens all the time, and not just with other superheroes. My favorite example is a major moment in DD history: when Ben Urich uses this exact strategy to get Daredevil to reveal his secret identity.

[ID: Excerpt from McKenzie’s Daredevil run. Daredevil is wearing head bandages and a hospital gown (over his costume). Ben Urich sits next to him, a lit cigarette in his mouth, and holds up a photograph.]

Ben: “It’s the story of a lonely little boy blinded by a freak accident. And it’s the story of how he overcame his handicap to become a successful lawyer and a Man Without Fear. It’s your story, Matthew Murdock, and I can prove it!”

Matt: “Now just a minute, Ben! You can’t seriously believe I’m–”

Ben: “Well, if you’re not Matt Murdock and if you’re not blind, just describe this photograph to me and I’ll leave. I’ll forget the whole thing.”

Matt: “Photo–? Ben, I… I really don’t feel like playing games. I’m not Matt Murdock, I’m certainly not blind– and I don’t see why I have to prove anything to you. It’s none of your business… who I am. It’s… it’s… it’s true…”

Daredevil vol. 1 #164 by Roger McKenzie, Frank Miller, and Glynis Wein

    I love this interaction– the facial expressions, Matt’s flustered struggle to come up with an excuse, its significance as the start of a beautiful friendship, the fact that Ben barged into Matt’s hospital room (while smoking!) to get this interview– and it’s a testament to how vulnerable Matt is to this sort of situation. Years later, after Matt has faked his death and reappeared as a “new” Daredevil during Chichester’s run, Ben uses this same ruse to check if his friend is actually still alive. Sadly, what could have been a moving/hilarious recreation of this iconic scene is ruined by some silly sensory writing. 

[ID: Ben confronts Daredevil, who is dressed in the black and red armored costume from the end of Volume 1, on a darkened rooftop. Ben hands Daredevil his wallet, which contains a photo of himself and his wife Doris.]    

Ben: “Tell me about this picture.”

Caption: “Ben Urich has played this bluff before, to prove Matt Murdock and Daredevil were one and the same. Make a blind man describe a photograph. It worked then. Murdock can’t afford to let it work again.”

Matt: “Sure… okay. Bring it over here in the light were I can see it…”

Caption: “Light and dark areas absorb degrees of heat from the lamp above. Enough difference to paint a crude picture for hypersensitive fingertips. Some deductive guesswork on the photos a man might carry in his wallet. All adding up to enough for a stab in the dark.”

Matt: “That’s you… and she’s your wife?”

Daredevil vol. 1 #339 by Alan Smithee, Alexander Jubran, and Christie Scheele

    Sigh…

    In any case, as I mentioned, Matt (as Daredevil) is frequently confronted with these types of situations, thanks to people’s assumptions that he can see. The degree of success he has in maintaining that illusion of sightedness varies. Below are a few of my other favorite moments.

    This is another major one, and another rare instance in which Matt decides he has no choice but to reveal that he’s blind. During his early adventures in San Francisco, he develops a brief alliance/friendship/romanic tension with the cosmic hero Moon Dragon. When she gets seriously injured, Matt is the only person around to operate the machine that will save her life. Unfortunately…

Matt: “Moon Dragon… there’s no way I could grasp this–”

Moon Dragon: “Please… just… do exactly as… I say… Begin… with the… yel… yellow… dial… turn to… Dare… devil… what is… wrong? Begin…”

Matt: “I– I can’t!! Moon Dragon… I–I’m blind!”

Daredevil vol. 1 #106 by Steve Gerber, Don Heck, and George Roussos

    Being a cosmic entity, Moon Dragon deals with this inconvenience by casually restoring Matt’s vision. He asks for it to be removed again shortly afterward because he finds it annoying. 

    I pointed out Matt’s hand-wave-y deciphering of Ben’s photo (and Matt also mentions feeling colors in the Moon Dragon scene), and while that sort of thing has mostly been abandoned, unfortunately it informed many of these types of moments in early Daredevil stories. Rather than acknowledging the limits of Matt’s perception, the writers would simply skew and amplify his other senses to explain the problem away, as in this moment in Roy Thomas’s run: 

[ID: Daredevil is leaning on Foggy Nelson’s desk. Foggy hands him a newspaper, and Daredevil (with his gloves on!) runs his fingers over the front page.]

Matt: “Tell me– who were the joy boys?”

Foggy: “This paper will explain things…! Read it and weep!”

Matt: “Let me pore over this for a minute! (–’Specially since I’ve got to do my speed-reading casually– with my fingers doing the walking!)”

Daredevil vol. 1 #68 by Roy Thomas, Gene Colan, and Artie Simek

And this even more extreme example from the same run: 

[ID: Daredevil (still with his gloves on!) is running his fingers over a framed photograph, while a tearful Karen Page watches.]

Karen: “How could you have known that we needed you… when even I didn’t know it… until a few moments ago?”

Matt: “I’ll… explain all that later, Karen! Right now, let me study your father’s picture! (And I do mean study… not see! But she’s too upset to notice that I’m using my fingertips to learn her father’s appearance!)”

Daredevil vol. 1 #56 by Roy Thomas, Gene Colan, and Artie Simek

    Matt reading newsprint is fine; there’s a ton of precedent for it, it makes a certain degree of sense, and it’s been a part of his power-set for a long time. Matt reading newsprint with his gloves on without Foggy noticing anything weird is much harder for me to believe. And don’t get me started on his perceiving a framed photograph by touch with his gloves on. 

    Fortunately, more recent writers have moved away from these types of shortcuts, and are willing to acknowledge that Matt’s other senses can’t fully compensate for his lack of vision. The usual outcome is that Matt manages to improvise an excuse/alternative approach that allows him to maintain his secret, or he’s lucky enough to have someone else inadvertently help. 

[ID: A bystander shows Daredevil an image of a man (labeled as John Powers) on his tablet screen. Daredevil’s radar sense perceives the screen as a blank rectangle.]

Bystander: “Except this guy! He’s not one of us!”

Matt (caption): “What?”

Bystander: “I’m not on the list, but he is! See? Who is he? Do you recognize him?”

Matt (caption): “Ummm…”

Judge: “John Powers. Does anybody here know that name?”

Daredevil vol. 3 #31 by Mark Waid, Chris Samnee, and Javier Rodriguez

[ID: Daredevil is standing by as a man feeds a key card into an old-fashioned computer. The address “13 Wall St.” appears on a small screen.]

Matt: “Can you determine what building this key is for?”

IT guy: “Certainly! That data is coded into the key with magnetic particles which our computer can decipher– and there’s the address as you can plainly see!”

Matt: “Uh– yes. Are you sure there is such an address?”

IT guy: “Thirteen Wall St.? Of course!”

Matt: “Thanks! (I wonder what that technician would think if he knew Daredevil was blind and couldn’t ‘plainly see’ anything!?”)

Daredevil vol. 1 #144 by Jim Shooter, Lee Elias, and George Roussos

[ID: Matt (in civvies as his alter ego Jack Batlin) is “watching” a muted TV with his friend Stithy. The TV appears as a vague box shape in Matt’s radar. On the screen are the symbols of the U.S. government, the Fantastic Four, and the Avengers.]

Stithy: “Maybe I start makin’ ‘em for Uncle Sam though, huh? Plenty o’ need in the Big Apple now!”

Matt: “What do you mean?”

Stithy: “See for yourself…”

Matt: “I… uh… turn it up, will you?”

Stithy: “Picture there doesn’t say it all? Lazy S.O.B.!”

Daredevil vol. 1 #329 by D.G. Chichester, Scott McDaniel, and Joe Andreani

[ID: Daredevil is inside a building. On a table in front of him is a bomb, with several wires exposed. He is communicating with Steve Rogers (Captain America) via communication devices.]

Steve (off-panel): “We’re all right. I can talk you through defusing it. You’re looking for two wires. Green and yellow.”

Matt (caption): “Damn. He doesn’t know you’re blind.”

[ID: Daredevil dives out the window, comes back in with one of the guys who set the bomb, and slams him down on the table.]

Matt: “Turn it off.”

Daredevil vol. 5 #4 by Charles Soule, Ron Garney, and Matt Milla

    And finally, my other personal favorite category, in which Matt deals with this problem by just… leaving:

[ID: Daredevil is standing on a city street, talking with two cops.]

Cop: “Nobody recalls anything… except running to escape… from something.”

Matt: “Then, Lieutenant, we’ve got a first class menace on our hands.”

Cops: “Can you give us a description, DD? Hair color? Eyes? Distinguishing marks? We’ll put out an A.P.B. on him right away.”

Matt: “I’m, uh, still a little shaken, I think… Let me get some rest, okay…? Collect my wits. I’ll be in touch.”

[ID: He runs and swings away.]

Daredevil vol. 1 #101 by Steve Gerber, Rich Buckler, and George Roussos

[ID: Daredevil is standing in the middle of a diner. Two bystanders are sitting at a table next to him, reading a newspaper article that reveals his secret identity.]

Bystander: “Hey, Daredevil… Hey, uh, Daredevil… what color’s my shirt?”

[ID: There’s a moment of awkward silence, then a loud boom from outside. Daredevil runs out of the diner.]

Bystander: “He didn’t answer…”

Daredevil vol. 2 #35 by Brian Michael Bendis, Alex Maleev, and Matt Hollingsworth

    While Matt has worked hard over the years to maintain his secret identity and hide his blindness as Daredevil (with… varying success), it’s definitely a relief to him when the people around him are in on the secret and he can be honest about his limitations. 

[ID: Daredevil and a cop are on a rooftop at night. The cop shows Daredevil a smartphone screen.]

Matt: “Someone want to describe to me what’s on that phone?”

Daredevil vol. 4 #8 by Mark Waid, Chris Samnee, and Matt Wilson

[nivks]

top 5 nick holidays <3

decided to get emo over nicks previous historic holidays for the amazing @grimmyappreciation​ fest ❤️ BIG BIG thank you to Writ for organising this all, its fucking amazing 💞

5. coachella 2013. 

its the ny/ldn crew all together which is a rare gift these days

special place in my heart cos rj. soaking wet after running into the pool holding hands? thats hot.

also cos was got some amazing looks

look how short his shorts look here

look how short his DEMIN shorts look here

also that one vine on nick and alexa in the bathroom

OH the vine of alexa unbuttoning her shirt and its nicks rug

with the sister video of henry unbuttoning his shirt and it being aimees boobs <3

also nick DJin for henry with JBeibz

the pink sweater really!!!!!!

also aimee looked fucking amazing which she always does but!!

and alexa <3

this pic that aimee posted years later as a #tbt

4. puerto rico 2012-2013

okay i barely understood how to use tumblr/social media for like fandom purposes and shit so i was barely keeping up with this but! the puerto rico new years trip! the first holiday i was around for! <3<3

theres a high chance why i love this one so much is cos guy took such amazing photos and it looks dreamy and makes me want like 7 best friends that i can go chill with and do this with

oh wait this was the nicks ‘well #LADDY’ trip

just one of the guys <3

alexa this pic of aimee and this pic of nick are beautiful

this pic of all three? <3

3. miami/ny 2017

WE DIDNT EVEN KNOW what was to come we just thought there was gonna be a prerecorded nick/harry interview while they were both busy but instead we got THIS holiday

this is me @ me living with what happened now

aka the holiday where nick flew his mama to miami

and they hung out at the beach

so much beach time

so happy too <3

eileen put up with nick being extra on insta

nick rly is a mamas boy <3

eileen everyday probably: this is rly my son ayye

nick documenting their target experience

his work experience or whatever at a dentist office must have made a real big lasting impression :/

but hten they FLEW TO NEW YORK 

ykno got some bargins and shit

then

‘lovely boy showing lots of love to his mama. have fun you two xxx’

<3<3<3 when we realised they were at the snl taping <3<3<3

then nick and eileen partying till the early hours with jimmy fallon???

‘not hungover at all. feeling fresh. wish it was hotter.’

cosy home time flyin look <3

technically not the holiday but the first thing he does when hes home is hangout with sunday and instagram his husband holding her so

sidenote did harry have all his gucci shit organised all the w ay back then and was already makin sure all his pals were wearing gucci on his big debut day like nick continued to wear it the first day he was home

 2. miami 2015-2016

i know that we were all disappointed for 0.03 seconds about this trip but like

nick was on the BALCONY in nothing but his PANTS and SHIRT

looking TIRED and HAPPY

looking like hes about to give a shout-out to someone deep swimming

it was just a REALLY nice day

he could star in his own romantic indie seaside drama

that lil peak of hip!

we also got nick and ian <3

oh this jorts masterpeice was a fucking hot look

his cosy airport look

i always rly liked this pic of nick and rita

aimee and iannnnn

NICK and aimee and iannnn

nick and his husband george

oh when nick looked like a pimp wearing tom ford to a new years eve party wHERE HE WAS GIGGLING INTO LEWIS HAMILTONS neck and we never saved the video :( im STILL mad

back to him on the balcony <3

he looks like hes PAST drunk and jus tlike......... wrecked fully completely singing beiber

the artsy dramatic paddling

fake tattoos that i still actually want to be real

OH SHIT THIS IS THE HOLIDAY WHERE THEY NICK AND HIS HUSBAND GEORGE WERE TOO DRUNK FOR THE HAMMOCK

nick eyelashes in the first part but also the part where hes like Mrs Doubtfire is the greatest piece of cinematography ive ever een YEH

oh i giffed his eyes thanks @ past me

FUCKING lol

#natureboy

oh his RUG

oh wow the david attenborough thing aka ‘this man is the alpha. he will smash you up. he will kill you. hes very aggressive. very large. thats the alex.

1. mallorca/barcelona 2018

aka the holiday that started as the #nsfw holiday but really was just a REALLY nice holiday.

a mix between a farewell to breakfast and his dream job while celebrating his birthday and relaxing for the longest amount of time hes ever had off since the breakfast show started <3

a well deserved break that literally felt like lasted a lifetime and had a new rotation of friends every week

everyone from kim jones to liv tyler to helena christensen making an appearance 

nick gettin his ass out for the internet in picture form.

nick getting his ass out for the internet in video form.

and there were the dick pics.

gettin ready for his bday partyyyy

honestly this trip was? the HAPPIEST and LIGHTEST hes ever looked ill stand by that till i die

glad that he and his husband take 97% of their vacations together and im glad they do some really  dumb shit

SMILIN.

like u thought it was over but no. they went to barcelona.

still a hun in the sun.

still drunk and still happy <3

hes a freak tho like i know we were all like yeh hes literelly been drunk for 3 weeks straight now but like. HE exercised.

i love him and i hope he always holidays and is always happy <3

love a self aware holidaying instagram bitch.

ALSO i cant not give a shoutout to nicks mallorca 2015 birthday trip in with

the tin foil hats? tin foil SKINNY JEANS? daisys tin foil bra?

the rug looks when he was really feelin himself (bonus) holy shit his eyes

douglas booth showinhg up and giving us the ultimate dad nick

his drunkass birthday night where he wore his topman shirt and his hands were weirdly massive and i cant rememerb who this guy was but these two pics really......ended me

also the zefron tweets which he probably flipped about to everyone for the rest of the trip

nick and george are actually married in mallorca

also it mustve been announced just like that week that nick was gonna be xf judge cos <3 which STILL makes me ?? but also !!!

also painted nails <3 which seems like a standard holiday thing that he does tbh

wouldnt be a nick holiday unless he wore something on his head randomly either

[justlostpuppies-blog]

Tips for Wedding Photographers

The application we as a whole love and love to despise. It's a passionate rollercoaster that we can't get off of, yet rather, proceed to remain and ride out the consistently evolving calculations. With the 'Gram being so open to question, it tends to be difficult to comprehend what's the most recent tip that will be ensured to work. In spite of the fact that we can't represent what is new with Insta today (I mean, can anybody truly?), we are here to share our most loved Instagram tips! These time tested tips have been useful to us throughout the years and we trust they will be of a similar help to you!

#1 SCHEDULING APPS

Booking applications can be a lifeline when your plate is full. Many planning applications help you make posts early, compose subtitles and hashtags, post in a split second or send you updates, give investigation, thus considerably more! Here at Photobug, Onlypult is our top choice, yet there are a huge amount of extraordinary ones like UNUM, Later, Planoly, and Hootsuite. Invest less energy quickly endeavoring to make sense of what photograph to post next that is tastefully satisfying, and rather, put aside time toward the start of your week to design out a little while at once!

#2 METRICS

Regardless of whether you have assistance from booking applications and they're measurements or not, it's constantly useful to survey your posts without anyone else time and jump somewhat more profound to perceive any reason why something may do as such well (or not all that well). This implies, setting aside the opportunity to go in the course of the last 9-15 posts and draw what's progressing admirably so you can do your own examination on it – see what these posts share for all intents and purpose. Is it the season of day you're posting? Explicit hashtags? What do the subtitles resemble – nonexclusive or authentic, about the couple or about you? There's so much you can learn by completing a brisk investigation of your posts!

#3 HASHTAGS

Before you moan and feign exacerbation, tune in up. We as a whole know hashtags can help extend your span, however precisely how you use them can represent the moment of truth a post. It appears as though Instagram is centered around shadowbanning posts and records that appear to be malicious, and you don't need that! So as to keep things certifiable and not raise any warnings, we have a few fundamental hashtag tenets to pursue:

#4 ENGAGEMENT

Talking about spam, one approach to give your record somewhat more believability is by associating with your devotees. Regardless of whether it's answering to remarks, DMs, or utilizing stories, the more certifiable and keen your collaborations appear to be, the more outlandish Instagram is going to stamp you as spam. Additionally, you can build the soundness of your presents just by answering on remarks. So as opposed to tapping the heart beside each new remark you get, take two or three seconds to hit answer and state a speedy much obliged.

#5 VULNERABILITY

Consider a portion of your most loved records to pursue. I wager that a large portion of them (if not all) are accounts where the individual will in general be genuinely open and legitimate to their identity outside of their business. Furthermore, I'm not looking at having a slogan that is tied in with shooting "bona fide couples who are fiercely infatuated". I'm looking at demonstrating your identity, in and outside of your business. You can discuss an ongoing show you've as of late marathon watched, give a look into in the background work life, flaunt your adorable pet, anything you need. That is the magnificence of this application – it is whatever you make of it!

50 Photography Quotes to Lean On in 2019

Motivation can be found anyplace – individuals, films, light, music, and, in this occasion, words. We have concocted 50 photography statements that are certain to give you a portion of motivation. So whether you complete a snappy read through or plan to hang a couple of top choices where you can see all the time (vision load up anybody?), any wedding picture taker is certain to discover comfort in these motivating statements.

"There is one thing the photo must contain, the humankind existing apart from everything else." - Robert Frank

"Photography is a method for feeling, of contacting, of adoring. What you have gotten on film is caught perpetually… It recollects seemingly insignificant details, long after you have overlooked everything."

"Photography has no principles, it's anything but a game. It is the outcome which tallies, regardless of how it is accomplished." - Brandt

"The photos are there, and you simply take them." - Robert Capa

"The best pictures are the ones that hold their quality and effect throughout the years, paying little heed to the occasions they are seen." - Anne Geddes

"My enthusiasm for photography isn't to catch a picture I see or even have in my psyche, yet to investigate the capability of minutes I can just start to envision." - Lois Greenfield

"It's tied in with responding to what you see, ideally without assumption. You can discover pictures anyplace. It's just an issue of seeing things and sorting out them. You simply need to think about what's around you and have a worry with mankind and the human satire." - Elliott Erwitt

"Light makes photography. Grasp light. Appreciate it. Adore it. Be that as it may, most importantly, know light. Know it for all you are worth, and you will know the way to photography." - George Eastman

"On the off chance that a picture taker thinks about the general population before the focal point and is humane, much is given. It is the picture taker, not the camera, that is the instrument." - Eve Arnold

"It is one thing to photo individuals. It is another to make others care about them by uncovering the center of their humanness." - Paul Strand

"The craft of photography is tied in with coordinating the consideration of the watcher." - Steven Pinker

"Photography is a little voice, best case scenario, yet once in a while one photo, or a gathering of them, can draw our feeling of mindfulness." - W. Eugene Smith

"In the wake of following the group for some time, I'd at that point go 180 degrees the careful inverse way. It generally worked for me." - Elliott Erwitt

"Photography is the excellence of life caught." 

"A great deal of picture takers imagine that on the off chance that they purchase a superior camera they'll have the capacity to take better photos. A superior camera won't complete a thing for you on the off chance that you don't have anything in your mind or in your heart." - Arnold Newman

"You know, I truly don't assume you gain from instructors. You gain from work. I think what you realize, truly, is the manner by which to be-you must be your very own hardest faultfinder, and you just discover that from work, from seeing work." - Garry Winogrand

"I don't believe there's any such thing as showing individuals photography, other than affecting them a bit. Individuals must be their own students. They must have a specific ability." - Imogen Cunningham

"There is just you and your camera. The impediments in your photography are in yourself, for what we see is the thing that we are." - Ernst Haas

"To me, it is smarter to 'surmise' at how something works, try, come up short, surmise once more, fall flat, and continue rehashing that procedure again and again until you either make sense of it or you find an assortment of other cool traps en route." - Trey Ratcliff

"Inventiveness needs to stretch out past the focal point. Find inventive approaches to exhibit your work and get it seen. Straight up persistence, diligent work and assurance will dependably be a piece of the condition, so get to it." - Jimmy Chin

"Be brave, be unique, be unreasonable, be whatever will attest trustworthiness of direction and innovative vision against the play-it-safers, the animals of the typical, the captives of the conventional." - Cecil Beaton

"I never have snapped a photo I've proposed. They're in every case better or more awful."

"Anybody can shoot bedlam. Be that as it may, the most insightful photographic artists can make convincing pictures out of uninteresting minutes." - Alex Tehrani

"Photography is for me, an unconstrained drive that originates from an ever-mindful eye, which catches the minute and its time everlasting." - Henri Cartier Bresson

"What I'm attempting to state is discover approaches to rouse yourself and your customers by taking on difficulties and thinking quick in circumstances that aren't moving, make them moving." - Jose Villa

"Individuals feel great before the camera just when you figure out how to enable them to feel good being there! It is tied in with mixing them with your energy and teaching them about the amount they will appreciate the procedure." - David Beckstead

"At the point when individuals take a gander at my photos I need them to feel the manner in which they would when they like to peruse a line of a lyric twice." - Robert Frank

"Try not to take a gander at other wedding picture taker's work. When you stroll into a room, locate the one thing that you are pulled in to and center around that. Your senses will control you to finding a picture that you cherish." - Ben Chrisman

"I need pictures like these. The benevolent that can catch a minute, make it genuine, make it last. I need pictures that accomplish more than reflect. I need pictures that are truth."

"It's extremely an extraordinary resource for be eager to fall flat and blow it, in a manner of speaking, and to approve of simply making stuff, sharing it and getting input." - Chase Jarvis

"What we are doing is giving a space to couples to perceive how delightful they truly are." 

"Purchasing a Nikon doesn't make you a picture taker. It makes you a Nikon proprietor." - Unknown Author

"Regardless of how exceptional your camera despite everything you should be in charge of getting it to the ideal spot at the opportune time and pointing it the correct way to get the photograph you need." 

"A decent photo is realizing where to stand."

What do we feel when we take a gander at a decent photo? We simply need to be there, comfortable precise minute tha

[f1version]

DATES WITH YOU ♥︎ F1 HEADCANONS

includes: charles, carlos, max, daniel, lando, oscar, lewis, george, alex, logan, pierre, yuki, lance, mick, and sebastian.

summary: f1 drivers’ and their favorite themed dates!

author’s note: happy valentine’s day my loves!! this is incredibly late (almost 15th where i am) but here it is <3

love on top, a vday special ♥︎ general masterlist

now playing ♫₊⊹ until i found you by stephen sanchez

★ CHARLES LECLERC ( 16 ) — Charles has a “dates bucket list”. Enjoys planning them curled up in bed with you, talks about how you shouldn’t repeat any until the list is done—unless it’s a Drive-in theater date, he loves them. When they're arranged in Monaco, it's usually for old romcoms and coming-of-age movies, which is perfect in both of your eyes. Charles makes sure to bring snacks, blankets and pillows, everything so you can be comfortable while cuddling him. He whispers sweet nothings in your ear as the movie plays, dusk falling over you, looking as beautiful as ever. He loves these type of dates… it even gives him a chance to show off his beautiful cars, but hey! that's off-topic.

★ CARLOS SAINZ JR. ( 55 ) — You and Carlos have a passion for trying out new recipes so, sometimes, when you have everything you need, you decide to put on matching aprons, as well as toques, and start working on your next masterpiece. Usually, old Spanish songs play in the background, Carlos singing, grabbing you by the waist to distract you and dance a little. He loves days like these, your focused face and little scoldings are all he needs, especially because in one way or another, you will end up laughing and dancing with him, sometimes covered in flour and seasonings, the kitchen wearing its best perfume.

★ MAX VERSTAPPEN ( 1 ) — Max is always looking for ways to impress you, to catch you off guard and surprise you, he loves how you tease him about it. That's why, when you go to one of your favorite places ever —the planetarium— as a date, he recollects as many details about the celestial objects as he can, waiting for your surprise when he drops a fact you didn't know he knew, starting a long, beautiful conversation about it. You know a lot more than him, but he's eager to learn, loves the way you explain every single thing to him, loves the way places like this brings you closer.

★ DANIEL RICCIARDO ( 3 ) — Daniel loves music, he spends hours on end with his headphones on, discovering new artists, sharing his songs and albums of the month with you, adding to his playlists your recommendations. It's no surprise you find yourself going to multiple concerts. Dancing and singing, hugging and fangirling. Sometimes artists know Daniel, and that’s when you laugh the most because there's always a chance of him ending up on stage, singing to you (or trying to).

★ LANDO NORRIS ( 4 ) — Lando loves your creativity, he’s a fan of getting to know what's on your pretty mind and seeing your ideas come to life. He also loves sharing his own ideas with you, feels free doing so. His favorite dates with you consist of this: having a canvas, paper, or even pottery to paint on, gossiping and laughing for hours, having picnics and enjoying food. Lando would buy hundreds of utensils, wanting to try everything with you, forever. PS: He would have you paint him and his car, probably.

★ OSCAR PIASTRI ( 81 ) — It didn't start as a date per se, Oscar just couldn't sleep one night and you suggested building the Star Wars lego in your closet, so you stayed up until 6 AM building it. Now it’s a “midnight date”. He loves the tranquility it brings, how you can go from discussing deep topics to a comfortable silence. Focuses on the little things, like when your fingers brush his while reaching for a piece or that little celebration when you find another. In his apartment, he has a shelf dedicated to the Legos you've built together and photos to go with them. So, in Oscar's humble opinion, these are the best dates in the world.

★ LEWIS HAMILTON ( 44 ) — You and Lewis can live off two things: Roscoe and the beach. Surfing is something you have always bonded over, that's why you love heading to the beach early morning, going for a run with Roscoe, and then jumping to surf (taking Roscoe back inside first). You can stay out there for hours, challenging each other, improving your skills, and lying on your boards, talking about everything and nothing, loving every second of it.

★ GEORGE RUSSELL ( 63 ) — While experimenting with extreme sports would be a lovely date for George, he chooses to call his favorite something more domestic: comfy clothes, a good bottle of wine, and a long puzzle night ahead of you. He enjoys the challenging but relaxing parts of the activity, loves to strategize alongside you, and loses his focus when looking at you, falling deeper in love.

★ ALEX ALBON ( 23 ) — Playing Mario Kart as if your life depended on winning has always been part of your relationship — "It's our love language," Alex says— That's why you love to spend a large amount of time (and money) in arcades. You usually play against each other, sometimes with. You can also spend forty minutes trying to catch that one stuffed animal from the claw machine, cheering (and almost getting kicked out) when you get it. Alex loves it as much as he loves you.

★ LOGAN SARGEANT ( 2 ) — Logan fully believes that the best date in the history of dating are theme and amusement park dates. Whether it's a local funfair or the infamous Florida parks, Logan loves walking hand in hand, map and snacks in the other, trying to go on as many attractions as possible, calming the nerves of each other when necessary, laughing at the photos quickly taken on the rollercoasters (and going again to attempt looking good), and many other things that make this type of date his favorite.

★ PIERRE GASLY ( 10 ) — Pierre loves chaos and what's more chaotic than doing karaoke? Your catalog goes from High School Musical's "Gotta Go My Own Way" to Gaye and Terrell's "Ain't No Mountain High Enough." Sometimes you end up drunk enough (from adrenaline, from love, or both) to sing French songs or attempt Celine Dion's highest notes. You can spend hours teasing each other, dancing to the rhythm, and sneaking kisses in between songs.

★ YUKI TSUNODA ( 22 ) — Contrary to popular belief, Yuki's favorite type of date isn't taking you to a restaurant or cooking together, because even though he does love doing those things with you, your trips to farmers markets are his favorite. When the season is right, you visit them hand-in-hand, no matter the country since there is nothing better than discovering new foods with his favorite person. And hey! If there is something to eat, why not mix dates?

★ LANCE STROLL ( 18 ) — No matter the weather or season, you and Lance will always be up for an ice cream date. You're on a quest to find the best flavors, and the fact that some dates end in small big disasters is enough to keep you searching together, chins full of ice cream and all.

★ MICK SCHUMACHER ( 47 ) — Two things about Mick: he really enjoys ice skating and he loves you. If you put them together, he's guaranteed to have the time of his life, so he's lucky you like ice skating as much as he does. You both spend hours on the rink, being careful not to fall while holding hands, yet most of the time it's Mick who ends up in the floor as you drown in laughter. He loves that sound. He loves making you laugh and smile, it's his favorite pastime, and seeing you shine on the ice rink makes him realize how much he adores this place, next to you.

★ SEBASTIAN VETTEL ( 5 ) — Seb’s favorite is going hiking and then camping with you in the beautiful Swiss mountains, away from the hectic side of life. Just you and him giving new meaning to the known, sharing not only the beauty of life but also the comfort of one another, wrapped around small info-dumps and timeless laughter. It’s therapeutic being so close to each other, so pure and loving. If you ask him, he would repeat this date a thousand times over.

[uglygothic-blog]

Survey

About Me TEN FACTS ► Name ➔ Annaliese ► Birth place ➔  North England ► Hair color ➔ Black ► Age ➔ 24 ► Eye Color ➔ Blue ► Birthday ➔ March 19th ► Gender ➔ Female ► Lefty or Righty ➔ Right ► Single or taken? ➔  In a relationship ► Happy? ➔ Not sad, just about to go to bed and on my PC, so content probably.

TEN THINGS ABOUT YOUR LOVE LIFE ► Are you in love ➔ Yes ► Do you believe in love at first sight ➔ No, not really ► Who ended your last relationship ➔ Not me ► Have you ever broken someone’s heart ➔ I think I have and I do not feel bad ► Are you afraid of commitments ➔ Yes ► Have you hugged someone within the last week? ➔ Yep. I love cuddling. ► Have you ever had a secret admirer ➔ Yes. ► Have you ever broken your own heart? ➔ I don't think so. ► Do you usually spend Valentine’s Day alone? ➔ Not the last few years, but it's not a big deal so its no different than any other day. ► Short or long-term relationships? ➔ Whichever makes you happy

TEN CHOICES ► Love or lust ➔ Love ► Lemonade or iced tea ➔ Lemonade but must be diet. ► Cats or Dogs ➔ Dogs always ► A few best friends or many regular friends ➔ No friends ► Television or internet ➔ Internet. Television annoys me as I have little choice. ► Pepsi or Coke ➔ Pepsi Max is heaven ► Wild night out or romantic night in ➔ Neither ► Day or night ➔ Whichever involves sleeping ► Text or Call ➔ Text. I hate talking on the phone. ► Make-up or au naturel? ➔ Make-up always too.

TEN HAVE YOU EVER ► Been caught sneaking out? ➔ No. Never had to I don't think. ► Fallen down/up the stairs? ➔ Yep ► Wanted something/someone so badly it hurt? ➔ I don't think so ► Prank called a store? ➔ Nah ► Skipped school? ➔ No. Skipped way too much college though, and then uni. ► Wanted to disappear? ➔ Not really ► Spent all your money? ➔ Regularly ► Met a celebrity? ➔ No one huge, but a few bands. ► Been really ill? ➔ Yeah, been in hospital for some quite bad things ► Gotten high? ➔ Yeah

TEN PREFERENCES ► Smile or eyes ➔ Smile, it makes me smile ► Light or dark hair ➔ Darkkkkk ► Shorter or taller ➔ Taller, I'm way too small ► Intelligence or attraction ➔ Intelligence ► Hook-up or relationship ➔ I suppose it would depend who the person was. I wouldn't like a hook up with anyone though. ► Funny and poor or rich and serious ➔ Funny and poor, as I'm poor so I can't expect richness to just come at me. ► Mac or PC? ➔ PC. Never had much experience with Mac computers though. ► Chapstick or lipstick? ➔ Lipsticks, the darker the better. ► City or country? ➔ City ► Driving or walking? ➔ Walking is one of my favourite activities.

LASTS ► Last phone call? ➔ Mummy ► Last song you listened to? ➔  I Feel For You - Chaka Khan �� Last thing you ate? ➔ 0% fat blueberry and elderberry yogurt, yum yum yum. ► Last thing you drank? ➔  Water ► Last place you were? ➔ With my nana and my great auntie, then home, then the shop, then here. ► Last kiss? ➔ A kiss on the cheek from my boyfriend as I was wearing lots of shiny wet lipstick so it wouldn't be fair to him to wear it too. ► Last picture taken? ➔ A picture of a painting I did. ► Last outfit? ➔ A black little dress, fishnet tights, knee high socks, platform boots, hooded jacket, leather jacket over it and some leather fingerless gloves as it's very cold now. ► Last purchase? ➔ Pack of ciggies. ► Last argument/fight? ➔ Can't remember, I hate fights.

RANDOM

1. Have you ever had someone pick you up off the ground & carried you? Yeah, my brother always picks me or my mum up and throws us on the sofa as we're both short and apparently easy to throw away the living room.

2. Are you a flirty person? Nah

3. Do you like coffee? How about tea? Neither to both. Warm drinks aren't that nice to me.

4. Where exactly was your first kiss? Stolen from me in a dark room at a house party. But really I was so desperate and embarressed that I'd never kissed anyone at that time, I was happy that it was over.

5. The last store you went to was…? Heron Frozen Foods haha.

6. A name you hate with a passion? I don't think I have one.

7. Do you have a friend named Alex? No

8. The last person you held hands with? I like to hold hands when I fall asleep when I'm cold so it was Mike.

9. How about the last movie you saw? Sight Seers, I think that is what it was called..

10. Did you like it? Yep, was quite dark but funny.

11. What is your favorite type of water (ex. arrowhead)? They're all the same really

12. Have you ever been to Warped Tour? Nope

13. Do you know anyone who wears fur? Maybe

14. When was the last time you were on myspace.com? A few days ago to look at ancient photos from when I was 16.

15. How often do you cuss? Every other sentence, swear words feel nice to say.

16. Have you ever cussed out a teacher? Nope, I liked all my teachers.

17. Do you know how many kids are at your school? I haven't been to school in 9 years, and I don't remember, maybe 700?

18. What did you think of the movie Juno? I really like it

19. When was the last time you had butterflies? Not sure, probably when I was worried about something.

20. How often do you eat meat? I'm a vegetarian so unless its accidental than never.

21. What grade did you meet your best friend in? I don't have one.

22. Would rather be loved or love someone? Be loved

23. Last time you cleaned your room? I swept my kitchen about an hour ago.

24. Have you ever gotten clothes from the kids section of Target when you were over the age of 10? My leather jacket is a childrens age 11-12 haha

25. Are you more of a science/math person or english/history person? Or how about science/history or something like that? I'm an art/history/geography/religious studies/english, I really didn't enjoy science or maths.

26. What is your biggest fear? My family being hurt or dying.

27. Have you ever been cheated om in a relationship? Yep and it was much more horrible than i imagined.

28. Your favorite children’s book you ever read? I liked Roald Dahl books, like Matilda or The Witches or George's Marvellous Medicine. I liked Enid Blyton books too. I loved big hardback children's encyclopedias too, or the Guiness Book of World Records.

29. When you were little, would you have rather watched Cartoon Network or Disney Channel? Neither, I liked Nickelodeon more.

30. Do you shave your arms? Nope

31. Since using the internet regularly, have you started to read less than you used to? I use the internet more but I do like to make time when I love a book I'm reading.

32. Are you a big fan of the Harry Potter series? Not a huge fan, I loved the books. I'm not really fussed by the films.

33. How often would say you pulled all-nighters, if you ever do? Never, I love sleep too much.

34. Do you wear make-up on a daily basis? Yep but only if I leave the house

35. Has a friend’s boyfriend/girlfriend ever had a problem with you for any reason? I don't think so

36. How old were you when you learned to drive? I can't drive :(

37. How many times a day do you find yourself cracking your joints, if at all?  Not purposely, but my ankles always click but it feels nice to do it before bed.

38. Do you find yourself feeling lazier when the weather is warm? I don't think it makes much difference

39. Is there a particular sport you follow on a regular basis? Not really

40. Are you a fan of the TV show Friends? Yep! All episodes can be watched any time!

41. How old do you think is too old to sleep with a stuffed animal? There is no such age

42. If AC wasn’t an option, would you rather sleep with a fan on or with the windows open? Window open, less electricity but it might give you bad hay fever.

43. Do you find it hard to fall asleep when you know you have to be up earlier than normal? Nah

44. Do you style your hair in the same way every day, or do you prefer to switch it up? I sometimes crimp it or might put it in a ponytail, but mostly just down and straight. I don't know much about hair and it's not thick enough for fancy styles, but oh well :)

[andrewuttaro]

New Look Sabres: GM 77 - DET - Us

I was listening to the Beyond the Blade Podcast yesterday before this game. Chad and Bill joked about how even during these truly rough times the Buffalo Sabres still pull us in: It was Lawrence Pilut’s call up and now it was Victor Olofsson’s call up. Here I am thinking long after the bleakness threshold and several games after this team was mathematically eliminated that I might miss a good Sabres game. Two games ago I kicked myself for skipping the Sabres game. I don’t know how to feel about this game. On one hand it saw the Sabres climb back from two, two goal deficits. On the other hand, it plays like all the season’s greatest disappointments like a best hits album: the opposition scored first, the opposition had more powerplay opportunities, when the Sabres did score it was mostly guys who haven’t scored much, when the Sabres did come back to tie it again in the third they forced overtime just to lose it. The highlight of this game is easily Jack Eichel looking Victor Olofsson in the eye and yelling “fucking right.” If by fucking right he means “fucking right I might have some good wingers in my future” or “fucking right the Amerks are going to win a Calder Cup” then amen! However, I think we’re all losing faith in this organization more and more by the day now. If it hadn’t been for Olofsson’s call up and (chuckles) Matt Tennyson’s call up, then the majority of the social media discussion before, during and after this game would have been about the circular logic of hiring a President of Hockey Operations. I weighed in on that conversation a couple days ago when it wasn’t dominating Sabres twitter and now it turned into some kind of all-roads-lead-to fuck the Pegulas somehow. I gave most of last game’s post to the Pegula’s comments, so I really don’t want to hyper analyze how what they said reveals certain leadership qualities or flaws of reasoning. If you think they can’t do a good job and will only continue to do a bad job as owners then what’s your recourse? In real life there are useless conversations, but I don’t know if twitter knows that. Either way, its easy to not have a lot of confidence in this team getting better over the summer and next season considering now they’re effectively tanking and will not even reach the minimum preseason expectations we had for them. It would seem we’ve decided as a fanbase here that Jason Botterill stood by all season and watched his team sink and his coach go down with the ship. It’s going to take a bang-up summer to restore faith in this organization again. Unfortunately, we won’t know that for a while, we’re still five games away from the end of the season. Until then, let’s talk about this game.

The shots were pretty even throughout the game except when the Sabres outshot Detroit in the second period. I mention this only because the Sabres should level a team like the Wings but here we are having just lost to the Senators and Detroit is only four points back. All expectations for this team have been killed or died a slow, agonizing death last month. Speaking of agonizing death, I saw Jordan Peele’s new horror “Us” during this game last night. Much like this game the movie involved dapple-gangers who look identical to the ones you love but actually suck. Don’t worry, I won’t write any spoilers here but trust me, it goes about as well as the Sabres season has gone. Buffalo found themselves down 2-0 a minute into the second period and then some dude tripped Johan Larsson and the Sabres on the powerplay. Kyle Okposo doesn’t score much but when he does he tries to look as much like Alex Ovechkin as possible. He got the puck in the circle all alone and rocketed one home past Jimmy Howard. For the first time in a few games the Sabres looked to have a little fight in them as the middle frame went on and Marco Scandella, whose recent scoring surge maybe attributable to breaking up with his girlfriend… yikes, Sabres twitter really sucks when the team is ass. Anyway, Marco Scandella gets the puck from Zemgus Girgensons in a quick pass that was too fast for Howard and launches the equalizer into the net. This game had some pretty weird stuff in it as you can see. Just like the villainous dapple-gangers in Us the people red came for business and Tyler Bertuzzi, on top of getting two goals and an assist, went around like a murderer. If you want a headshot photo that is quintessential hockey than look to his.

Dylan Larkin singe-handedly lifted Detroit into the lead again in the third. Two goals that utilized some skill but mainly poor defending by the Sabres got Detroit to 4-2 with five minutes left in regulation. That would seem like a great place to end a recap of the March Sabres but this game sprinkled just a tiny dollop of November Sabres in and what felt like a comeback ensued. First Jeff Skinner sliced a great pass in front of the Red Wings net to Casey Mittelstadt who proceeded to do his best impression of November Jeff Skinner. Casey held onto the puck for a hot second, did a little figure-skating spin and fired it past Howard to make the game 4-3. If Mittelstadt and Skinner didn’t joke about how Skinner-like that goal was afterwards than they’re no fun. Less than a minute later Victor Olofsson was carrying the puck along the right wall entering Detroit’s zone when he got it out to the middle of the ice where Jack Eichel was somehow all by himself. Eichel did Eichel and fired it past the netminder to even the game at 4. Victor Olofsson said in a pregame interview that he thinks he’s good enough to play at this level. If he keeps playing like that he will be. The guy hasn’t practiced with Eichel since Training Camp and registers his first NHL point as the first Sabres 7th round pick to play for the big club since… the George W administration? I don’t recognize the guy before him at all. Either way, the game was tied and went to overtime. That reminds you of a more joyous time doesn’t it? Well, drink that in and fantasize because this Sabres game happened in March not November. The Buffalo Sabres lost this game 5-4 in Overtime like the twist at the end of Us. That was the first point in five games and yet again we are at a fifth straight loss. I won’t be looking up how that puts the Sabres historically because I don’t want to be sad anymore than I already am about this team.

Well last night’s game was a little easier than the last few to write about I have really struggled writing these lately. I think it’s clear to see why but we’re just too close to the end for me to stop now, eh? I was laying in bed last night wondering if I should make the whole post a big Us review but I decided against that seeing a couple of the Sabres plays in this game. I did want to carry through one of the big metaphors in Us into this postgame thought. Jordan Peele did a great job loading his film with meaning and one of those themes was us versus them. When it comes to the Sabres right now I see a lot of us talking ourselves into corners: whether it be about the Pegulas like I mentioned earlier or whether it be about a President of Hockey Ops or a coaching replacement. When we’re mad at the team we separate ourselves from it and blame the shit out of them running it. That’s not wrong but when the team is doing good its very much an Us thing. This team is not us versus them. This team isn’t even us versus another NHL team anymore, the chance for improvement this season is basically gone. As we struggle to deal with another lost season I can’t help but remind us that being paid to handle this team only makes you more invested in its outcomes. You don’t need to shit on these guys non-stop to show your disapproval of this state of affairs. They know. They’re certainly looking for answers now. That said, Phil Housley definitely needs to get fired, eh? Like, comment and share this blog around if you want to make being a Sabres fan easier for one of your friends today! I can’t imagine I make it harder to be a Sabres fan, right? That’s it for today. Let’s Go Buffalo!

Thanks for reading.

P.S. I didn’t do Playoff Trash talk for Ottawa and now Detroit too? Well fuck it. None of them or us are going to the playoffs and frankly I don’t have it in me.

[dvddggs]

To the Four of Us (Part Twenty)

spremise: modern AU chronicling the squad as they make their way through college and deal with general life things. soundtrack song: Satellite - All Time Low full soundtrack: x words: 2,485 warnings: nothin really except swearing?? i went easy on u guys a/n: IM REALLY TIRED SO IM NOT EDITING THIS WE DIE LIKE MEN HSDGKJDG ((I’ll prob edit it tomorrow but i wanted to get the chapter out all chapters: x

tags: @heythereitsloey @anitheunicorn @newyorkyoucanbeanew @lafbagxette @justafangirlwithanavy @iamgrayfox @ordinaryornate @schuylerjoon @angelica-peggy-eliza @trashyperson101 @crazydragon15 @but-if-you-had-to-choose @geespilots @marvelous-hamilfan @5p00kygh05t @panda-powers @and-maria @lafeyettegunsandships @schokoobananaa @allthegoodurlshavebeentaken @aphboi @hell-yes-puns-and-ships @aham-threw-his-shot-away @hesitantcat @nonstopspook @hamrevolution @writethewayout @passmethegoddamnball @allthegoodurlshavebeentaken @sun-tree @angelizaandpeggy

dedication: @schokoobananaa for their AMAZING PIECE THAT I AM IN LOVE WITH ((ive been thinking about it all day tbh))

When Alexander pulled the car into the driveway, there was a dim light on the horizon which indicated that the sun was going to rise soon. He checked the clock on the dashboard. It was nearly 5 o’clock in the morning. Yawning, Alexander shut off the engine and tapped John lightly on the shoulder. They had been sitting quietly together until around an hour earlier, when he dozed off with his cheek pressed against the window. As hard as it was for Alexander to keep entertained by himself, he let John sleep.

They had two weeks to discuss what happened.

“John,” Alexander whispered, running a thumb along his boyfriend’s cheek.

John slowly began to stir, eyelids fluttering. He mumbled something incoherent and smiled sleepily at Alexander from under his mop of unkempt curls.

“We’re home.”

John cocked his head to the side in confusion until Alexander pointed out the window at the sign at the end of the driveway. The Washington-Hamiltons.

“Your house?” John asked in wonder, eyes widening. Alexander suppressed a giggle—he was still so dopey. “This is where…you live?”

Alexander nodded and searched John’s eyes, getting lost in them for a moment. He was everything good in the world. He had been through so much—none of which he deserved. The hint of sun peeking out of the horizon lit up the freckles that peppered his face and made his eyes turn an intense moss green. He looked peaceful, which made Alexander happy. He knew that it wouldn’t last—that soon John would fully awaken and remember everything that was happening. But for now he deserved a moment of tranquility.

Charles’ shrill voice broke Alexander from his trance.

“We’re home?” he asked loudly, waking up Aaron and earning an annoyed glare from the three other members of the car.

Alexander unclipped his seatbelt, walked around the vehicle, and opened John’s door for him. John slowly pulled himself out of the seat using Alexander’s hand to hoist him up.  Aaron and Charles watched them walk toward the front door in comfortable silence, Alexander with an arm tucked around John’s waist.

They hadn’t stopped touching since they found each other. When Alexander got to the train station, he’d jammed the transmission and thrown himself out of the car so fast that Aaron and Charles didn’t even have time to react—they were left alone in the idling car, hoping that Alexander would return with John eventually.

Alexander sped through the train station, cutting people off and even running into one woman who was half-asleep.

“Sorry,” he’d called breathlessly as he continued to follow the signs leading to where he thought John would be. When he ran down the stairs and opened the doors to the platform, he was met with a flood of people. How he was supposed to find John in all this he didn’t know…

He’d done two laps of the area before he had spotted him—sitting with his head in his hands, blinking hard, shoulders rising and falling quickly in time with his shallow breaths.

“John,” he’d murmured to himself, rushing towards his boyfriend. “JOHN!”

Relief washed over him when John looked up and smiled almost hysterically, jumping to his feet and running to close the gap between them. Alexander felt like crying as he held John, and they stayed locked in the close embrace for minutes on end, rocking back and forth.

“Are you okay?” Alexander had whispered, stroking John’s hair. John’s shoulders shook as he sobbed uncontrollable. He didn’t respond—he didn’t need to.

Alexander didn’t say anything else, he just held John until his breathing began to slow and his sniffles became less frequent.

“Alex—” John had choked, but Alexander shook his head.

“Let’s get you home, okay?”

John nodded and they broke apart, keeping their fingers locked as Alexander led John back to the car like a lost puppy.

When he opened his door and climbed in, Charles leaned forward with a goofy grin and said, “Hi, John! It’s nice to meet you—I’ve heard so much about you. I’m Charles!”

John sniffled and nodded with evident disinterest as Aaron glaringly punched Charles in the arm. Charles seemed to have gotten the message because that was the last time he’d spoken in the car.

John and Alexander held hands in silence, both staring out the front windshield as the road spread out in front of them. When Alexander stopped for gas, he asked John if he wanted anything—to which he responded with nothing but a small shake of the head.  Alexander knew that John would need to talk eventually, but he didn’t want to press the issue—if John wanted to sit in silence, they would sit in silence.

Alexander led the way into his house to find George, Uncle John, and Abigail asleep on the couch, leaning against each other like fallen dominoes. When George heard the door open, his eyes flew open and he stood up on high alert.

“You’re back!” he said, rushing over to Alexander and hugging him. “How did it go? How are—oh—John, how are you? Are you okay? Can I get you something—coffee, tea, hot chocolate?—Yeah, hot chocolate sounds like a good idea—Alex, can you get the kettle out? Never mind, I’ll get it. You go get John some clean clothes. Or—well, do whatever you want. I’ll make some hot chocolate.”

George got to work immediately, causing Uncle John and Abigail to stir. Abigail immediately checked on Charles as they gathered their things and got ready to go home. Aaron stood by the front door without taking his shoes off, watching the scene as Alexander sat John down at the dining room table.

“I think I’m gonna head home, okay Alex?” Aaron said lightly. “It’s been kinda a long day.”

Alexander nodded. “Okay. Hey, Aaron? Thanks, man. I owe you one.”

“You don’t owe me anything, Alex; don’t be dumb…I hope you’re doing okay, John,” Aaron added in an undertone. “Oh, and by the way, you’re all Alex can ever goddamn talk about.”

John felt the slight flicker of a smile twitch at the corners of his mouth when Aaron said that. He nodded his thanks and watched Alexander’s childhood friend leave. He wanted to speak—to say thank you, to apologize, to do something other than cry—but he didn’t feel physically capable of it, so he opted for silence. He was afraid that if he opened his mouth that he would shatter into a million pieces and never be put back together.

He nodded gratefully when Alexander’s father put a steaming mug of hot chocolate on the table in front of him. He let his eyes flutter shut when Alexander pulled up a chair beside him and began to rub his back. He took a deep breath when Alexander asked how he was doing. But he did not speak.

It was nearing 6 AM when George peeked out of the living room to check on Alexander and John. When he found them in the same place, he announced that he was going to bed. Alexander nodded, standing up himself. He picked up John’s mug—which was still almost full—and put it on the counter.

“John,” he said gently. “Let’s go to sleep, okay? You need sleep…you’ll feel better.”

John nodded absentmindedly and let Alexander pull him to his feet, leading the way to a bed—whose it was, he had no idea. Folding back the sheets, Alexander climbed in behind John, who was still wearing his jeans from the day before. He wrapped his arms protectively around John and pulled him close, and the pair fell asleep almost instantly.

When John woke up, the bed was empty. Through the window opposite the bed he was in, he could tell that the sun was setting. Had he slept through an entire day? And, speaking of beds, whose was he in? Where was he?

He turned his head. To his right, a blue wall with a Columbia University pennant on it. To his left, a nightstand. On that was a stack of loose papers, some pens, an alarm clock (which told him that it was 4:30 PM), and a framed photo of Alexander and his father with their arms around each other, grinning at the camera in front of the White House.

He was in Alex’s room.

As John woke up, he took in all the details of the bedroom, trying to commit it to memory. The clothes that littered the grey carpet. The plaid duvet that was thrown over the unmade bed. The photos and memories that sat atop his dresser. An empty coffee mug with a broken handle made John actually smile; Alexander texted him right after he’d broken it last night because something Charles had said made him frustrated.  

Charles.

Last night.

Suddenly, John’s smile was gone as it all flooded back to him.

“Alex?” he called. His voice was hoarse—that was the first time he’d spoken since the train station.

Footsteps thumped quickly through the hallway outside the bedroom door and Alexander burst into the room smiling. “Hey, sleepy-head,” he said.

“How long did I sleep?” John grumbled.

“Around ten hours…maybe more. I’ve been up since two.” John’s eyes widened a bit—he couldn’t remember the last time he’d slept that long. “How do you feel?”

John shrugged. “Better, I guess…not much.”

Just as he finished the sentence, Alexander’s laptop lit up with a Skype call.

“Oh—I told Laf and Herc what happened,” Alexander said gently. “They told me to tell them when you woke up…I guess this is why.”

Alexander answered the phone and instantly the screen was filled with a split-screen extreme close-up of Hercules’s face, and Lafayette’s left nostril.

“Back up, Laf,” Hercules snickered, pretending to pick his nose. Lafayette chuckled, readjusting his computer so his friends could see him.

“BONJOUR, MES AMIS,” Lafayette announced in a thicker-than-usual French accent.

“How’s Paris?” Alexander asked.

“It’s Auvergne. Fuck-toi,” Lafayette muttered. “John, oh my god, how are you?”

John took a deep breath and shrugged again. This was exactly why he never told people about his problems. Obviously he wasn’t okay, but how long could he keep telling people that before they got frustrated and stopped caring?

“I miss you,” he said honestly to Lafayette. He was the one person that John had gone to with his problems since the beginning—no judgement and no questions asked.

Lafayette pouted. “Do you want me to fly out? I can stay with you at Alex’s house. We can all share a bed.”

In spite of himself, John smiled. Lafayette always knew which jokes would make him laugh.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Hercules asked, concern lacing his expression.

John shook his head. “Honestly, the last thing in the fucking world I want right now is to talk about it, okay? I’ll be fine…it’s just another bump in the road.” Hercules, Lafayette, and Alexander exchanged a skeptical glance as Alexander put a hand on John’s shoulder. “Seriously. I’ll get over it.”

“That’s not the point, John,” Alexander said quietly.

“Yeah, well…it’s a lot easier that way, trust me,” John muttered. “So—anyways, are you happy to be home, Laf? How much do you miss me?”

Lafayette, Hercules, and Alexander humoured John and changed the subject, but as soon as he got up to go to the bathroom, Alexander sat in front of the computer and watched his friends’ expressions change instantly to heavy concern.

“That was the first time he’s spoken in over twelve hours,” Alexander muttered.

“He looks exhausted,” Hercules replied. Lafayette nodded in agreement, sadness in his eyes.

“He’s fucking traumatized,” said Alexander helplessly. “I don’t know what to do.”

“Let him have a good Christmas, Alex,” Lafayette piped up. “He’s never, ever had one without it turning to shit. Give him tomorrow, okay? Then let him deal with this. But give him tomorrow.”

“That’s a good idea,” Hercules said, nodding his head in agreement. “Just enjoy the fact that he’s there.”

“For now,” Alexander said warily as John reentered the bedroom.

“My mom is—je parle avec mes amis, Maman!! JE M'EN VIENS. Oh mon dieu—I have to go. My mom. Love you all! Oh, and Herc, text me later.” Lafayette smiled apologetically and waved goodbye, ending his side of the phone call.

“Yeah,” Hercules said. “My brother just got here so I should probably go too. Merry Christmas, guys. Have fun with your little sleepover! Don’t be too loud with the festive sex tonight.”



Hercules winked, making Alexander and John laugh. That had been the last thing on either of their minds.

“See ya, Herc.”

Once the Skype call ended, John put his hands on Alexander’s shoulders and leaned in to kiss him on the cheek. When Alexander looked back at him, the smile he flashed was so large and so genuine that Alexander couldn’t help grinning back.

Lafayette had been right—he deserved a happy Christmas.

That night, despite Alexander’s insistence that it didn’t matter, George laid out milk and cookies for Santa, then they all sat down to watch a Christmas movie.

“Which one do you want to watch, John?” George asked politely.

John turned a shade of pink and shrugged. It truly didn’t matter to him—he was snuggled up to Alexander on the couch and they were holding hands under a blanket. George lay on the carpet below them looking through the DVDs.

“How about Home Alone?” Alexander suggested.

George found the DVD and popped it into the player before hopping up and shuffling into his bedroom excitedly. He emerged holding his and Alexander’s Christmas Eve tradition—the classic pyjama gift.

“Oh—John,” Alexander stammered. “I’m so sorry…I didn’t even think—”

He felt terrible that he and his father would be opening a gift and John would be excluded.

“Lex, it’s totally fine,” John scoffed. “Seriously, I would never expect—I mean, I barged in on you.”

George smiled and silently handed Alexander a poorly-wrapped gift, followed by handing an identical one to John, whose entire face lit up in shock. Alexander grinned, grateful to his father for his eternal thoughtfulness. He handed his father his gift and they all opened on “three,” and all pretended to be surprised that they’d received pyjamas (except John, who genuinely was surprised).

After they all put their new pyjamas on, John snuggled back up with Alexander under their fluffy blanket, more comfortable than he’d been in months, and struggled to keep his eyes open as he watched the movie.

“Hey,” George said after awhile. “It’s twelve-o-one; merry Christmas, guys.”

Alexander kissed John’s forehead.

“Merry Christmas,” he murmured. “I love you.”

The glow of the fireplace warmed John’s face.

For a moment, everything was perfect.