#82nd over

[nfllivescores]

Bashir ends Ghulam's fine debut knock to leave Pakistan 243-5

Bashir In a thrilling encounter that showcased both the brilliance of debutant Ghulam and the resilience of the Pakistan batting line-up, the day’s play in the ongoing Test match saw a dramatic turn of events as the young Ghulam was dismissed by Bashir, leaving Pakistan at 243-5 at the end of the day’s play. The game, filled with excitement and skillful cricket, saw Ghulam’s promising start to…

[wosofutbolfan]

I Would Climb Every Mountain With You

Alexia Putellas x Explorer!R

14K of fluff and fun

For those interested this is the song that played in my head throughout the inception of this one;

You shoved the last of your gear into your duffel, relishing in the zipping sound that pierced the silence of your sparsely occupied apartment.

This was a quick turn around, even for you.

You were back for your nans 82nd birthday which was in a few days and to catch up with your friends and family.

You’d barely been back on UK soil for 18 hours, in your Cumbria flat for only 15, when you got a call offering you a trip as a tour guide in the Pirineus Aragonese, otherwise known as the Spanish Pyrenees, for 3 nights.

Usually you’d ignore such a request at this point in your career but for a 3 day trip there were more 0’s than you would expect on the pay packet. Too many to refuse.

You were one of the best in the business, so trampling around the low level bases of a fairley commercial mountain range was a bit novice for you.

These days you find yourself in the thin air over 6000 meters, or in a remote rainforest, or trekking through the Sahara, guiding millionaire white men who made the move from being armchair adventurers to have-a-go adventurers in the very safe manner which your expertise offered.

You did it because those IT consultants, those bankers, those surgeons, paid well.

Very well. 

Well enough to fund your explorations.

To go to those heights that really drove you. 8000 metres. The death zone. Where the air was so thin you couldn't stay long or your brain would lose oxygen.

Or the amazon, making contact with a tribe to warn them of encroaching foresters.

Or to the arctic. To witness the last of the planet untouched by man.

As you shut the door behind yourself, barely even checking it locked. Fuck. You thought, as you downloaded the boarding pass sent to you. 

Your mum was going to kill you. 

But god. You loved the outdoors. 

—-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“I hate the outdoors!”

Alexia growled smacking a hand against her forearm, trying in vain to swat the midgie which was trying to make her blood its next meal. She hated the high pitched zoom that travelled past her ear as it moved back through the mini bus to try and find a more peaceful meal out of one of her teammates.

“We know Ale…” a tired voice from next to her groaned “you’ve mentioned it once, twice. Maybe a thousand times.” Mapi rolled her head off of her girlfriend's shoulder where she had been in a light doze. Interrupted by her captain's loud complaints.

“I’m just saying.” Alexia continued to grumble “I don’t know why Jona is making us do this. Team Bonding? We are a very bonded team already! I make you all pancakes on sundays!”

Mapi rolled her eyes at the blondes protests. She’d heard all of this before since Jona had announced the 3 day team bonding trip at the start of pre season. She could recite Alexia's complaints by heart.

“I’m excited.” She shrugs, eyes cast over her girlfriend who had moved to nuzzle into her side.

“Traidora” The captain replies, eyes gazing out of the fast moving countryside out of the window. She felt worse and worse the more they moved away from the city into the endless empty space around her. She could feel civilization leaving her grasp as the bars of signal went down on her phone. “You’ve been brainwashed by your nordic girlfriend.” She lets out simply. Ignoring Mapis' offended scoff and dodging the light slap sent her way.

“Behave Maria.” A tired voice let out, without opening their eyes. Like a school child who had been told off, the tiny defender backs down and settles back into her girlfriend's shoulder. And if Alexia sticks her tongue out at her like a toddler then well. Who can provide it?

“God” she thought to herself as she settled her head back against the vibrating glass, starting a mental countdown of when she would return to her city center apartment  “I hate the outdoors.”

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“I probably should buy new walking boots.” You thought to yourself as you clambered out of the minibus which dropped you and your small team at the muster point. Your boots fit like a glove but they did look a little worse for wear. All scratched and battered. The green laces prominent against the dark brown leather.

Who are you kidding? You knew you would never buy new boots.

You could still make out the scratch deep in the leather where you hooked your foot behind a rock as you careered down a shale summit when you were still a novice. A mark against the toe protection where a dog in the Andes got a bit too friendly and attacked your foot. Nah. These boots were the closest friend you had.

A rumble of a car cut against the silence of the mountains around you and you could just make up another mini bus trudging up the mountain pass from the elevation you stood at. You had a few minutes before the clients arrived.

“Who ‘av we got then?” you asked and you turned to face Rio, your long-time guiding partner when you were in this part of the world.

Full name Mario he was a kind man in his 40’s who lived for bad 80s music and loved his kids more than you thought any human was capable of love.

“I am unsure, Mi Amiga. I just got the paperwork that told me it was a team of 23 ladies. They assured the operator we have no fitness issues. They have translators in the group, multiple languages so we're best sticking with English. I have all the health forms here, everything looks good. Some dietary requirements but nothing we can’t handle”

Huh. A weird group. 23 fit women with translators in the group? Weird.

“Women. Rio. We prefer the term women.” you gibe him, “Urght. 23 women is a lot. I hope it isn’t a hen party. Penis straws aren’t my thing, if you know what I mean.” you knock your elbow into his ribs and let out a cackle. 

You were very very gay. A fact that wasn’t lost on Mario as he had unfortunately been witness to more than a few hook ups after expeditions over the years. 

“Si, I know what you mean, that rock over there knows what you mean, tu idiota.” he replied, rolling his eyes and moving to help the team with the checklist of essentials.

Your knee deep in gas canisters and spare tent pegs by the time the mini bus holding the clients arrives.

You untangle yourself with a sheepish smile to Rio as you move to meet the van and he moves to tidy your mess. He’s the practical guy. You’re the nice guy. It's your job to go and meet the clients and explain the expedition and answer any questions.

“Hol… Holy shit.” you start. What you intended to be a lively welcome in your best spanish quickly got lost on your tongue with each woman who exited the van.

Fucking hell. These women were gorgeous.

Specifically the last women to emerge from the van. All blonde hair and hazel eyes.

And tattoos.

And fit.

And tall.

And. Not to be a dick about it. Very gay.

You shake yourself out of it. Come on. Be professional. Stop being a gross guy. You scold yourself.

You turn to Rio who’s finishing up with all the kit who laughs at your expression; “Not a hen party then?”

—-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“... so on day two we will reach the gorge, follow the treeline across the ridge, through the forest finding some good places to camp and then finally end in Arén. Where your bus will meet you and take you back to Barcelona. Is that good?”

The group lets out a murmur of agreement and an enthusiastic “Fantastic!” is heard above everyone else and Alexia rolls her eyes.

“Mapi, you really need to control your girlfriend. If you're not careful she's going to run away into the wilderness.” she mutters to her best friend.

“Shut up Ale.” Mapi hisses back, but it isn’t missed by Alexia how Mapi slowly inches herself closer to her girlfriend and hooks her fingers through the waist strap of her backpack, as though physically stopping her from leaving her, renaming herself Hedi and living the rest of her days in the mountains.

Alexia lets out a scoff of laughter, which was louder than she intended.

“There, at the back. A question?” 

Suddenly Alexia finds the eyes of the team watching her, most with a glint in their eyes as they were all victims to her complaining over the last few weeks.

Listen. She's not bothered she has 22 sets of eyes on her.

She's used to it. Especially these eyes. She's their captain.

That's not what causes her mouth to dry up and her pulse to race.

No. That's you.

For the first time since getting out of the van Alexia looks up and sees your gaze directed straight at her. Holy shit. You were the most beautiful woman she had ever seen.

And she had seen a lot of women.

But you, standing there in your khaki shorts, simple vest top, hair tied up and a bandana and dirty old boots took her breath away.

You gave off an aura of cool. Dark raybans perched on your face and muscles rippling against a backpack bigger than you.

You were the coolest woman she had ever seen.

“Sorry, the paperwork said everyone would understand English, or had access to a translator. That's my fault. Can someone translate? Or I can spe-” 

A ripple of laughter goes through the group but its Mapis cough and small kick that pulls Alexia out of her stupor.

“Vaya, I understand, lo siento, no. No questions here. Just. So excited to get going! Vamos Amigas!” Alexia cheerfully ended, ignoring her teammates' confused faces at her complete 180 as she hoisted her backpack on and threw you her most dashing smile.

Maybe she could make something out of this weekend after all.

—-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You threw a smile past 3 of your group on the trail as you made your way down the mountain.

“Hola chica’s” you let out cheekily, throwing a wink at the three, who had quickly become your favourites.

You loved love and you could see how much the small brunette you learned was Mapi hung onto every action of her girlfriend. Ingrid's enthusiasm was one you shared, born of a childhood spent outside and Alexia.

Well.

Alexia was a mystery. Quick to smile and eager to please but there was something there. So confident and yet you could make out the blush on her cheeks at your innocent wink.

And god. Was she gorgeous. Chiselled and…stay professional!

They made a very likable trio and you had been spending most of your hike with them so far but you had to share the love and you left them behind a few miles ago to go scout out the front of the pack.

This was how you and Mario worked. You would take it in turns to be at the front and the back of the group - keeping everyone together and pacing everyone so they remained in a close-enough group to manage safely whilst not hampering or rushing anyone.

You’ve got to admit.

These girls were fit.

Even you found it difficult to keep up.

Though, to be fair you had to hike double with the overlapping on the hillside and your pack that weighed about 6 extra stone.

Still, you wouldn’t swap this job for the world. You thought to yourself as you spied the last team member a few metres down the mountain you halted and waited for them to reach you. Feigning that you were just taking in the view so that they didn’t feel bad about being at the back.

Someone has to be.

“Don’t worry about it” you let out easily at Pina and Patris apologies, “You guys are doing it the right way. Take in the view! We’re hours ahead of schedule”.

And you were. These girls really were athletic. You really should find out what the hell they do for a living.

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Capi, what are you doing now?” Mapi grumbled as Alexia came to a stop.

She tosses her bag down and rummages through it, picking out a small bottle and spraying herself quickly before hiding it away.

“Vamos Mapi, you go up. I’m just… taking  a moment.”

“No problem Alexia, we can wait with you. Is it your knee? Are you okay?” Ingrid's kind voice asked, her brows furrowed in concern for her captain.

“Si Si I am good it’s just…”

“Ah! I know!” Mapi exclaimed “the sudden buen humor. The changes in pace. I can’t believe it! Capi has a crush! With the mountain boss lady! Wait… is that perfu…”

Mapi is quickly silenced by Alexia's large hand covering her mouth as the captain looks down the mountainside in concern. You’ve passed them and are out of view and she hopes out of earshot.

“Callate idiota” she hisses “Ew!” She pulls her hand away and wipes it on her shorts whilst Mapi grins cheerfully, her tongue safely back in her mouth.

“I do not! It is good to feel nice, that's all. I am just taking a moment. Please. Ingrid. Take her away before I push her down the mountain.”

Alexia pleads to the Norwegian, who is more than happy to grab her girlfriend's hand and continue the best weekend of her life, explaining all about the different types of trees they would see as Mapi hangs on her every word.

Alexia isn’t alone for long until she hears your peel of laughter as you round the corner with the two meneces that were Patri and Pina.

You say something that makes Patri laugh and she shoves you playfully to one side which makes Alexia's heart jump into her throat.

“Ay! Idiota! Do not push her! She could slip!”

She takes your bark of a laugh and the soft look you give her happily, embracing the warm feeling that it makes in her chest.

“Sorry Capi.” Patri mocks, saluting with a shit-eating grin on her face.

“Alright. That's it. What the hell do you guys do? You’re all mega fit, speak about 15 different languages and now you’re introducing this insane leadership structure. Is this some sort of new-age google thing?” you ask, incredulously, hands on your hips and question in your eyes.

There's a moment of silence and then all three of them burst into laughter at the same time.

“What? What did I say?” you ask. “What do you think we do jefa de montana?” Pina asks, as you all continue your hike upwards.

“I don’t know… really rich estate agents?” you ask, prompting more laughter from the group. “Erm… oh! I know! You’re all personal trainers in old folks homes but you’re taking it really, really seriously? OH! I know” You’re all spies!” you exclaim, just to hear Alexias laugh again. Which you are rewarded with.

“No tonta. We are all footballers. We are the Barcelona Femini first team!” Alexia lets out, arms wide, all three of them pausing with expectant looks on their faces in your direction.

“Ah. Makes sense. Cool.” you let out, smile their way and continue leading them up the mountain.

You sense you’re walking alone all of a sudden and turn to see all three of them standing like fishes, mouths open staring incredulously at you.

“What? What's wrong?” you call down.

“Footballers, you strange mountain woman! It’s more than cool! We’re the best in the world!” Patri lets out, incredulously.

It’s your turn to bark out a laugh. “Ha! Sorry chicas, I promise I will be suitably impressed once we reach camp” you wink as you all continue upwards, a peaceful silence settling over the three of you. 

“I’m more of a rugby person anyway.” you break the silence.

A moment of pregnant pause.

“Push her off the mountain Patri.” Alexia orders, jovially. “On it Cap!”

You cackle as you run away from the three chasing footballers and the only thought that is running through your head is, ‘God, Alexia smells good.’

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Ella es tan bonita” Alexia mutters to herself, as she watches you from across the clearing, after helpfully dumping herself outside of Ingrid and Mapis tent as Ingrid sets the whole thing up as well as going behind Mapi and re-clipping all of the clips and double checking all the poles, whilst ensuring Mapi doesn't see her.

“Ay, Capi. Stop creeping and come help. Or set up your tent, you need somewhere to sleep.” “I will, I will” Mapi takes a seat next to her captain who doesn't look like she's moving from her perch anytime soon.

“So, you’re in love, si?”

“Si…” Alexia lets out dreamily, “Wait. No! Shut up, I didn't say that.”

Mapi opens her mouth, ready to tease the hell out of her captain before… “We heard nothing Ale, don’t worry” Ingrid lets out from inside the tent. Mapis' mouth closes with a small frown at the idea of her teasing ammo being taken away from her.

“She is so cool though.” Alexia continues, “You know, she’s been to the arctic three times? And climbed 4 of the worlds highest summits. 4 of them? One on her own!”

“We know Ale,” Ingird responded, kindly, appearing from the tent “You’ve told us a dozen times. Come on. Let’s see if she needs help with anything.”

Alexia moves as though she’s just intercepted a stray pass in front of goal.

Rapid.

You stand, ignoring the aching in your back as you put the finishing touches onto the makeshift fire pit.

You’d spent the last hour scouting and setting up camp for the group. Mario was off helping some of the girls set up their tents for the night.

You both preferred the ease of a hammock slung between two trees with a mosquito net being the only thing between you and the stars. That meant you were both able to carry more provisions for the group and set up your camps quickly before moving on to help the clients.

“Do you need any help at all?” you hear accented english, you turn and Ingrid offers you a kind smile. “No, no you’re good guys, make yourselves at home.” you gesture to the logs that had been moved into a semi circle around the firepit. Logs collected by Mario waiting for the night to arrive.

You're on your knees setting some water to boil as you hear an annoyed grumble and a slap of skin “mierda!”. You turn on your knees and find yourself faced with Alexia, sitting on a log near you losing a one woman battle against a thousand midges.

“You must taste nice.” It takes you a minute of the blonde blushing and red face to realise what you’ve said. You stand and move to sit next to her “No! No sorry I didn’t mean… I mean…” you take a deep breath and…. “You smell nice.”

Mapis' bark of laughter makes you roll your eyes good naturedly, the blonde next to you still looking at you somewhat star struck.

“No really Alexia…” you move closer and breathe the blonde in, she smells sweet, floral…. Stay professional! 

“That’s why they’re attracted to you. Your smell, and…” you move slowly, gently and take her arm in yours… “some people just react to the bites more, this looks like it could become sore.” you brush over a large, reddening bite on her inner arm.

Alexia, meanwhile, is acting as though your touch isn’t setting her blood on fire. She’s apparently chosen to hide this by just staring at you, wide eyed. Another midgey lands on her skin and you feel her arm tense in your grasp as she moves to swat it but you hold firm.

“Ey ey, there's more of them than you and we’re in their territory. Take only pictures, leave only footprints and kill…”

“Nothing but time!” Ingrid jumps in, excitedly, “Yes Ing, that's the one” you reply, as Ingrid sits proudly. “Mascota del maestro.” Mapi teases her.

You move your attention back to Alexia, “Ale, you should go and wash off, there will be a stream over there, looking at the treeline and the game track marks. It’ll take the sweetness from your skin. It will help, I have some antihistamine you should take when you get back and I'm sure I smelt some wild garlic growing just as we entered the clearing. It acts as a repellent, I will go forage some and add it to your meal tonight. It will help for the rest of the trip.”

“No, I’ll be fi….” you move to stand, gathering your wilderness knife and attaching it to your hip. “I wasn’t asking Alexia. I’m in charge here, Captain. I know what I’m doing, now go. Please”

Alexia isn’t told what to do often.

Yes she has a coach and she has trainers but she is the captain.

The expert.

But your kind and gentle nature just became firm in front of her eyes. This was your world and it was clear you knew what you were doing in it. She felt like a puppet as she stood obediently and made her way to the stream.

As she stood there, in only her underwear in the cold water, listening to the distant laughter of her teammates and overlooking the most beautiful blue-green water of the gorge beneath the mountain side. She kind of understood this whole outdoorsy thing. It was peaceful, she could hear her thoughts. Alexia was never alone. There was always someone fighting for her attention, needing something from her.

But here, she felt like her mind had gone quiet. And she could think. And breathe.

She was feeling somewhat light and philosophical by the time she made it back to the firepit.

You look up from your pan and see the silhouette of the tall Barcelona captain making their way over. She looks lighter somehow. Hair hanging limp softens her features and her face is bare, making her look somehow more beautiful. You shake yourself out of your thoughts and start to plate up the meal for everyone. 

You feel Mario next to you; “Ay, smells goods, some of your best work Mi Amiga.” He mutters to you, shoving your shoulder gently, “ooh we’ve got fancy with the spices, si? Someone to impress” he obnoxiously wiggles his eyebrows at you and you very maturely, in your opinion, ignore his teasing in order to stir some sauteed garlic through one of the bowls. “Go give that to your apalastar. I’ll hand out the rest” he orders.

“I don’t have a crush” you hiss, even as you gather two bowls and make your way over to the blonde. Alexai looks up as you stand above her, seemingly having interrupted her thoughts. You offer a smile as you pass her a steaming metal bowl.

“Chicken and rice” you state, as you take a seat next to her, “with extra garlic, as promised” you smile as you start to shovel food into your mouth.

You take a moment with your eyes closed like you do before every meal before tucking in. Mario tells you that you eat like a wild dog who’s just found an open trash can, you don’t care, you love your food, especially after a long hike day cooked over an open fire. 

“How do you know these things?” Alexia asks. You make the universal noise of; ‘huh’? And eye her curiously. “The garlic. The stream. How do you know?”

“Ah, it’s my life.” you reply, “I grew up in rural England. Me and my brother would go for hikes for days at a time. Not much else to do. I learnt how to read the land. You get used to it…” a beat of silence, “the solution is always around.”

Now it's Alexia's turn to let out a confused grunt, around a mouthful of chicken.

“In nature. Nature always provides what you need. If it creates a problem, it will create a solution. That's why I love it so much. Sunburn? Mud is the best sunscreen money can’t buy. Stuck in a monsoon? You’ll be saved by a cave to shelter in that's carved by the same weather that's trying to kill you. Mosquitos making you their next meal? Garlic will grow and act as a repellent. You just need to learn to read the signs. That's why I love it so much.”

Alexia grows quiet, and you can’t quite place the look she's giving you. 

It’s open, and you feel maybe you shared too much so revert back to what you know. As you scrape the metal bowl clean you pull out a blister pack and present them to the footballer. “Sometimes, though, the answer is in a pharmacy in Perpignan” you grin cheekily and enjoy the blondes blush and laugh as she pops an antihistamine and swallows it. 

You root into your pocket and pull out some bite cream.

“May I?” you gesture towards her arm as you see she has finished her meal. She nods and presents you with her arm where an angry looking lump had formed. You grunt in sympathy as you carefully apply the cream. Making soothing motions with your thumb making sure the cream is absorbed fully.

You struggle to remain professional with the blondes soft skin under your hands. And you struggle to pull them away. You don’t know what comes over you as you gently blow on the bite to sooth it. You don’t think you’re alone in  your feelings as you hear a sharp intake of breath from the blonde, and feel goosebumps rise under your fingertips.

“I’m sorry, It helps to cool the area, it’s feeling a little hot” as you pull your hands away.

Alexia seems to be in a daze but you catch her eye as she lets out “eres tan caliente”. It’s quiet, under her breath and you see her eyes widen as she realises she's spoken aloud. “Pardon?” you ask, just to make sure you heard her.

“Oh sorry, nada, nothing. Thank you for your help. It feels better already. You’re really good at this.”

You smile at her happily, a proud buzz in your stomach at making her feel better, you're interrupted from any reply by Mario shouting your name across the fire pit. And that's when you realise you have 22 other clients all around, and you had kind of left your colleague to deal with them all.

Which makes it easier for him to convince you to fulfil his request. He always does this. And he knows you hate it. As he shakes the ukulele he’s carried up a frigging mountain at you. You can’t really deny him.

“Come on chica! Show the girls what you can do!”, you take it from him as you roll your eyes good naturedly as you settle back down, closer, somehow to Alexia, you can feel your thigh touch hers as you try to pretend that is isn't setting your world on fire. 

Alexia pretends that she can’t see Mapis' eyes light up and eyebrows wiggle at her from across the campfire.

As the stars start to make an appearance you serenade the group with campfire songs you grew up on, some songs that Mario sings along with you, you strum as Mapi excitingly dances around the campfire and you continue into the night as your fingers start to ache. Lucy even teaches you the Barcelona anthem, which you murder, but it's worth it to see the laugh in Alexia's eyes.

You don’t mind making a fool of yourself if that's your result.

You feel the blonde slump more into you as the night goes on, and you feel the tension between you both increase. However, when you look across to catch her eyes you see that she's practically asleep as she sits.

“Hey, Ale” you mutter as Pina takes a turn on your ukulele, rousing her from her light sleep, “come on, the tablets can make you drowsy. You need to get to sleep.”

“Oh, no. But I don’t want to miss anything.” she mutters, cutely, you don’t think she’d be so open unless she was completely exhausted. “And I need to set my tent up.”

“Don’t worry, I set it up for you when you were in the stream.” you respond, easily, and there's that look again, the one that puts your stomach into knots and makes you unsure of what you’ve said, so you continue, “It’s next to Mapi and Ingrids. I thought you’d want their protection from the bears.”

“Bears?!” she exclaims, which brings everyone's attention to the both of you, 23 worried looking footballers now looking in your direction as you bark out a laugh.

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding!” you respond, to all of them, hands raised as a sign of peace. They settle down… “well actually I’m not, but what did you think the singing was for!”

Mario is the only one that snorts out a laugh.

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alexia wakes up hot.

And thirsty.

She opens her eyes and takes a moment to remember herself and where she is. But as she hears the light chatter and banging of pans outside it comes back to her.

Last night, sitting around the firepit by your side, one she had gotten over how hot the vision of you playing the instrument was, she was being lulled into a drowsy state by your gentle singing, the stars shining above and the warmth of your body by her side.

She remembers your hands on her skin, causing goosebumps and her stomach to flutter, somehow those hands in the middle of a literal mountain range made her feel more safe than the most experienced medical professional in the most high-tech sports facilities ever could.

She remembers finding her tent from where you had set it up. Citronella candle burning outside keeping the bugs away, everything zipped up safely, and then seeing how you had set the inside up.

Sleeping bag open and inviting, all her bags set neatly, essentials on top of her bag, hiking boots sitting on pegs she definitely did not bring to air them and stop any creepies crawling into them. Water next to her cot.

God. She was in trouble.

As she crawled into the porch area she found a small metal bowl with what looked like a cut up cactus in it, goop oozing from it. She picked the bowl up and made her way over to her best friends, who were tucking into a breakfast of granola and fruits out of similar bowls to that in her hand.

“Hey, Ingrid. Nature lover. What's this?” She holds the bowl up with a curious eyebrow.

“I think you mean Hola Ingrid, How are you this morning?” Mapi grumbles, whilst her girlfriend rubs her knee and shushes her kindly, Alexia looks at her expectantly.

She takes the bowl and a smile overtakes her face, “This is Aloe, Ale.” “Aloe Ale? Are you making fun of me?” Ingrid smiles again, “No, Ale, it's Aloe Vera, it's the gel from the Aloe Vera plant. It's got healing properties and… good for sunburn, reducing irritation and swelling, some may say good for insect bites?”

“Oh, well thank you then Ingrid, that's really kind.” Alexia hums, happily.

“Ale. I love you, but I didn’t collect this.” Ingrid smiles, Mapi looks on in glee and not-at-all subtly points in your direction.

“It was the jefa de montana!” She whisper-shouts, “I woke up early and saw her coming back with that cool knife of hers… Hey… Ingri…?”

“No Maria. You cannot have a knife.” Ingrid lets out, not looking away from her breakfast.

Alexis misses Mapis' sulk, as well as the loving bickering between her two best friends, because she is distracted by you, sitting across the camp entertaining Jana and Vicky. Seemingly a boundless source of energy and knowledge. You must feel someone's eyes on you because you look up and it feels like you look directly into Alexia's soul.

She holds the bowl up with a shy smile and mouths thank you, and she re-iterates to herself how well as truely fucked she is as as you send a wink her way which makes her knees weak.

“Oh estoy jodida”

—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You smile as you waved the girls off from camp, it being your turn to stay behind and finish packing up the provisions and bringing up the rear of the group. With Mario leading the charge down into the gorge where you would make camp tonight.

It was your favourite day of the trek today, and you were excited about the girls reaction to the camp set up this evening. You expect that you would get there earlier than expected with these super-fit professional athletes, which would give you all more time to explore the lake. You found yourself looking forward to a certain blonde's face as she took in the view, the mountain above reflecting into the water.

It really was beautiful.

You knew yourself very well. That's the thing about being an explorer. You have to know yourself, you spend a lot of time alone and with your thoughts. You need to know your limits. Assess your feelings. Is this the half-way mark of my endurance? Do I need to turn around now? It was important for survival.

And with everything you've done you're not sure you’ll survive the next two days with Alexia Putellas.

You found her disarming. She was stoic but kind. She was serious but hilarious. Strong but vulnerable. She was stern but looked at you so softly it made your heart melt. 

She was a woman of contradictions in the best way. 

And you wanted to wrap your arms around her and keep her safe. Yeah, it was your job to keep everyone on this trip safe. But it wasn't your job that made you trek back 2 miles this morning to harvest the Aloe you saw yesterday. Or take an extra 20 minutes to set her tent up making sure she had everything that she didn't know she needed.

You knew why you did it, but you don’t think you were ready to be that honest with yourself yet.

You finished packing up camp and making sure there was no trace of your group and then continued along the trail. You thought you had a few hours before you encountered any of the famous fucking footballers you were guiding on account of most of them all being fucking olympians, but it hadn’t been more than 90 minutes before you spotted the same person who was clouding all of your thoughts.

“Hola Capi!” you shouted down the trail below you, you didn’t want to spook her and get to close as she looked lost in her thoughts, gazing down to the lake below.

“Ah, Hola Jefa de montaña” a smile overtaking her features. “I didn't expect you to be at the back, Capi” you tease, nudging her and continuing along at her side, “the young’uns making you feel old?”

There's that laugh again. The one that seems to fill a hole in your heart.

“no por supuesto que no, solo soy….” she trails off as you look at her curiously.

“Ah, lo siento, you don’t speak spanish, I’m just taking my time, enjoying the view, no rush, si?” she asks you, completely misinterpreting your look. You go to correct her but she speaks before you have a chance,

“So, where's your favourite exploration been?” and if there's anything that you can yap on about. It's your adventures.

Alexia loves the way your face lights up, loves the way that your whole body thrums with excitement. The way you describe the sights, sounds, smells of your travels. Her heart drops when you tell tall tales of alligator attacks in the south american swamps, her laughter bubbles as you tell her about accidental orders of bizarre and unusual foods in china, she blushes as you describe being run out a village in mongolia for sleeping with the mayor's wife (completely accidental of course).

You tell a story with your whole body, arms flailing and actions where appropriate. The time flies and the environment around Alexia is lost to the beauty she finds in your excitement.

You finally pause for breath and the silence makes you realise how long you have been speaking for.

“Oh my gosh, I am so sorry, I haven't stopped talking - ple…”

“Do not apologise” Alexia interrupts, “I like to hear you speak, your stories are so…” she struggles to find the word and takes a moment “...colourful. And exciting.” she snaps her fingers, happy with herself. 

“Exciting, me? Maybe. You though. Football, huh? That must be amazing. Free to travel the world… all of your adoring fans, huh?” you wiggle your brows and nudge her again, but her coy smile doesn’t appear like you expected it to.

She grows quiet, hand playing with the long grass as you both stroll by.

“Ah. Maybe. I thought so, but now… I’m thinking, maybe I am not so free?” she poses it as a question, and eyes lift to your face, and then her surroundings.

“I love football. Football is my life. But the other things… ah. I don’t know. Sometimes I wish I could walk down to mi Mamis without wearing a cap, or a hood. Just… go. You know?”

You do know. You couldn’t imagine such restrictions. Your spirit is a free one. And Alexia seems caged. Caged and wanting to break free.

“I get it, Ale.” your use of her name brings a blush to her face. And a smile you want to keep there. “Tell me about football.” you request, simply.

“What about it? It is the most beautiful game in the world! You are English, a good football nation, it’s coming home? No?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” you do. “I’m from the countryside. Football is played in cities. I cannot think of any football team not named after a City.”

“Football is played everywhere! It's the game of the Earth”

“Is it?” you ask, “tell me.” you request again.

And off she goes, she tells you how she loves her team, the fans, Barca, how the game brought her close to her father and she feels closer to him as she continues to play. You enjoy the excitement in her voice as she makes you both stop as she uses a stick to explain the offside rule. You force a cereal bar into her hand and make sure you both drink water as you go. Seamlessly, as she continues to talk about her life's passion.

Before you know it you notice the placement of the sun and realise you have nearly completed the miles for the day. You are shocked that you haven’t run into any of her teammates, though you suppose, you have both been walking slower as you chatted.

Though, that does mean you have left Mario with 23 clients. Fuck you owe him.

“The way you talk about it, It does sound like a beautiful game, capi.” you summarise, as she finishes telling you about the football camps for underprivileged kids she visits.

She pauses and looks into your face. The moment grows less jovial than the whole day had been and you hear Alexia whisper, “Eres hermosa”. “Huh?” you let out, surprised. “Oh, da nada, nothing. Sorry, I don’t usually speak too much English…”

“Ah, Capi!” you hear a third voice, raised across the clearing you had just entered, a canopy of trees above and now you are at the lake shore.

You are both shaken out of your trances as you realise you have made camp, and by the looks of it, the rest of the group had been here for a while. God, you really did owe Mario.

“Ah, chica!” you hear Marios best as he makes his way towards you, “you left me! These girls, they are loco!” you laugh as you see the sweat beading across his brow and his face still red, “the walk and walk and walk, they walk so quick!” 

Jana now makes her way over, taking Alexias backpack from her shoulders,

“We walk quickly because Capi told us whoever won she would give first dibs on shower privileges all seaso….” Jana is silenced by Alexia, who shoves her hand over her mouth. “Ay, Jana, she’s an iditoto, doesn’t know what she's talking about, Si. Vamos, Jana. You can help me set my tent up.”

Jana is practically dragged away as you focus your attention again on Mario.

“lo siento mi amigo,” you tell him, “I didn’t mean to.. I think I just got carried away…” you eyes follow the tall blonde as she makes her way across camp, Jana having abandoned her on route.

“Da nada my friend. I have not seen you like this before…” he smiles at you. “I think she is good for you.”

“Oh stop Mario. You know me. I can’t.”

“You won’t. That is different to you can’t. And I notice you do not deny, now, vamos, help me anti-bear this place.”

Your next hour is spent helping Mario set up camp, you're close to a huge water source now, and whilst bears will only come looking for food you need to take extra steps to not spook your clients, you keep the provisions away from camp, high in trees, you sprinkle ash from the fire around and you place dry leaves and twigs around, you and Mario are light sleepers, any visitor to camp will make you up.

Alexia has been abandoned by her team. “Team building, sure… you all have fun guys, I’ll be here…” she mumbles to herself as she struggles to feed the poles of her tent through the holes in the canvas. She takes a look up and sees you, lifting logs for the fire. All short, shorts and rippling muscles. Those same damn old boots on your feet so sexily rugged.

She gets lost in her thoughts, images swimming around her mind of making you sweat for different reasons, imagining being stood above you as you drop to your knees in front of her as she gathers your hair in her hand….

“Do you need me to help you with your pole?” you ask. SNAP.  Huh? Alexia looks up from the daydream she had embarrassingly got lost in. Ignoring the heat between her legs. She looks up, flustered.

“Q..Que?” she asks you, she looks down and sees the metal pole she was trying to thread through in two pieces in her hands.

“Oh… oops.” she continues. “Oh Ale… that's the centerframe pole. That's keeping the roof over your head. I can try to patch it up with some twine… but I’m not sure it will hold.” you tell her, examining the two pieces in her hands.

“Oh. Sorry. I don’t know what happened there.” Alexia tries to distract to get out of this awkward situation. “No problem, I will share it with Ingrid and Mapi. They won’t mind.”

You cast your eyes over to where Ingrid was walking into the lake in a two piece swimsuit, Mapi watching from the fire and almost setting her boot on fire as she paid no attention to her surroundings. You think they may mind.

“Okay Ale.” she knows her friends better than you, you suppose. “Now come, come look at this view.”

You lead her to the lakeside where most of the girls were settled, and you explain to the group some of the geography of how the gorge and lake was formed. And, to be fair to them, most of them did pretend to care. But you could tell they were just dying to jump in.

“Go on then Chicas! A few hours til dinner. Go have fun!”

The cheer that the group let out made you laugh, so did watching them as they scrambled over each other in the water as you and Mario made dinner.  Lucy having produced a small ball from somewhere they all start to play in the water. Somehow, you felt like you were all of a sudden guiding 12 year old boys.

You could make Ale out, in the middle of the fray, contemplative nature fully unleashed as she laughed and played around with her teammates. You loved seeing her so free and open. Especially after your chat today.

You find yourself at the campfire again, plating up dinner for the group and you see an open space next to Alexia.

You make your way over but before you get there the seat is taken by Vicky, you miss the scowl that takes over Ales face as she slaps the back of her younger teammate's head.

“That space was being saved!” she sulks, watching as you change direction and settle yourself next to Lucy. Quickly being drawn into conversation. “Yeah, Lopez, that's her girlfriend's seat!” Mapi sniggers.

“Lo Siento Ale, I didn’t know.” Vicky looks so apologetic that it tugs on Alexia's heart as her gaze softens and she pulls her head into her chest in an aggressive hug, she kisses her hair. “está bien pequeña”.

After another night of singing, card games and this time smores you get the attention of the group; “Okay girls, serious now. We are in bear country.” a gasp goes through the group, “Me and Mario have made the camp safe but there's always a chance a bear may wander into camp. I’m not saying this to scare you. I’m saying this to keep you safe.” you point down to your calf, where a slither of scar tissue can be seen,

“I’ve been on the wrong side of a hungry brown bear before. They are good creatures, just hungry. They hate humans. If, and this is a big if a bear wanders into camp you need to just make noise. That will be enough to scare it away and bring mine and Marios attention to you. Si?”

The group is quiet for a moment until Ingrid lets out an affirmative noise.

You think your little bear chat scared them because quickly it's just you, Mario and Alexia who remain awake, as Mario tells stories of his family and the mischief his children get up to. He lets out a big yawn.

“Mario, you can get to bed. I will sort this” you point down to the dying embers of the fire. “I owe you after today.” “You do” he smiles as he stands up and makes his way across camp to his hammock.

“I will go to bed also.” Alexia stands, and you offer to walk her to Mapi and Ingrids tent with your headlamp so she doesn't trip on any ropes.

That smile again. She nods and as you move closer to the tent you hear a noise. You put your hand on her arm to stop her, and cock your head to one side, that won’t be a bear, surely?

There! That noise again. Louder this time. Wait. A… groan?

“Oh my god.” Alexia whispers, a laugh in her voice. You're confused and then you hear it again, this time, it sounds suspiciously like a groan of a name. Maria. Oh. Oh for god's sake. 

“Maybe they took the ‘make noise’ instruction too seriously, si?” Alexia giggles into your ear. This makes you bark out a laugh, quickly hidden behind her hand that raises itself to your mouth.

“Qué fue eso” you hear from the tent. For some reason, this fills both you and Alexia with childish excitement and glee. As you pull her hand with you as you sprint away from the tent as though you are 9 in a school yard and have just been told someone has cooties.

You guide her to your hammock, and stand there, giggles subsiding, suddenly unsure of what to do.

“Maybe they forgot you were in with them tonight?” you ask the blonde, who shrugs and replies “with those two I don’t think much can stop them.” this makes you laugh lightly and then a beat of silence.

“Erm, you can take my hammock, sorry, some people don't find it comfortable but it keeps the mosquitos away and I can set up a roll matt by the fire.”

“No.”

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to make yo…”

“No, I mean. I am not kicking you out of your bed. I will go on the matt… “

“No Ale. With your blood you’ll be eaten alive without a net… maybe..”

“Si?”

“Maybe we can share? The hammock is huge and it's normal for people to share in survival situations, you know, to keep warm and stuff.”

“Creo que tener calor será el problema.” “Pardon?” “Ah, nothing, I just said yes we should share.”

This keeps happening, and you think it's hilarious, and you let out a coy smile, “roomies?” you ask, Alexia matches your smile as she nods.

You let her get settled into the hammock in her sleeping bag before you pull it wider, there being plenty of material to hold you both comfortably. You forgot, the design of the hammock encapsulates you both, the canvas bowing upwards forcing you both into the middle, and creating a shield around you, mosquito net a curtain around you.

Suddenly, all your senses are full of Alexia. Alexia beneath you and stars above you. God. Have you died and gone to heaven? No. In heaven you wouldn't be separated by 2 layers of polyester sleeping bags.

You shuffle around to try to take some of your weight off her and lie by her side. “Sorry,” you mutter, feeling a type of embarrassment you never do when usually sharing this space, probably with another explorer, usually in some death defying situation. 

You don’t know how this perfectly safe encounter makes you more nervous than those. In those situations, you don’t have time to be embarrassed by how heavy your weight is on the other person, how it's been 2 days since your last shower…. How your breath must smell.

“Estas bien” she lets out, softly, and those two words calm you more than a half a bar of phone signal after days of trekking in the Atlas Mountains ever could. One of her arms envelopes your shoulder and your head settles onto her chest. “Lo siento my arm is in the way…”

“Estas bien.” you reply, softly.

Alexia has never been more comfortable in her entire life. The warmth of your body weighs on hers, the smell of you infiltrating her senses, the stars above and the gentle sway of the hammock.

Sleep is already dragging her as you whisper, “buenas noches que duermas bien ale”. 

—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alexia wakes to the feeling of movement on her chest. Before she opens her eyes she takes stock of her body. Her arms now fully wrapped around you. Hands tangled in your hair. You burrowed into her chest. She is warm.

She is happy.

She knows you're awake. But there's no springing apart in embarrassment. God no. She's not ashamed. She wants this moment to last forever.

But it can’t.

You groan in her arms as you both hear Mario clanking pans to start breakfast. You pop your head up like a meerkat to take note of the surroundings. It's early. Dew still in the grass and an early morning fog over the lake. The light is dim, the sun not yet as awake as the occupants of your hammock.

“Morning Ale” you croak, morning voice in full effect. You finally turn to her and your breath is nearly taken away by her beauty. Her face is open, hair bedridden and eyes bleary from sleep but smile tugging on her lips as she looks at you with that look.

“Cómo estás aún más hermosa por la mañana?” she asks, in a whisper trying not to break the silence of the morning, it just comes out of her mouth without thinking, and she can’t stop it.

You freeze in her arms, and for a moment she tenses.

“...pardon?” you ask. Ale covers herself, “Ah lo siento, I asked. Did you sleep well?” you hum in acknowledgement and she isn’t sure what to make of the look that you sent her way.

“Yes, very well thank you. At least you’re softer than the floor.” you joke, eyebrow arched.

“I am not soft!” she replies, affronted, “I am all muscle actually!” She sits up and begins to tense her biceps jokingly. This is the Ale that frightens you the most. Frightens you how deep your feelings will run. All jokes and soft edges and smiles. You need a moment.

“Alright alright superwoman. Go put the kettle on, will you? I’m going to jump in the lake to wash off before your girls wake up.” and with that you lean out of the hammock and pull your shirt off as you go, leaving you in a sports bra and Alexia with her mouth hanging open.

Which is why, not 6 minutes later, Ona is awoken to the sound of her tent unzipping.

“Lucia” she hears whisper-yelling, into the entrance of the tent. She freezes, sleep-addled mind confused… is that… Alexia?

“Lucia!” more urgent this time. Ona rolls away from her girlfriend and sees Alexia's head popped through the tent. Looking around urgently.

“What do you want, Ale?” Ona groans. Her girlfriend is dead to the world, an atomic bomb wouldn’t wake her up.

“I need Lucia!”

“What for. What has happened… it must be… 6am?” Ona grabs for her watch, confirming her suspicions. 

“Si, pero eso no importa, I need Lucia to translate for me.”

“You speak better English than she does Spanish.” One is very very confused. “What needs translating?”

“I do not need English, I need British.” Ah. This is making sense now, The whole team had seen how love sick their capi had been over the mountain boss. It was unnerving for them, but all of them wish nothing but happiness for their well respected leader, still, it���s always fun to tease.

“Ah, mi Capi. This has something to do with the jefe de montana, si?” a teasing smile enters her face, “por favor, tell me, what's happened?”

Alexia looks frustrated, looking at something outside of the tent, but seems to accept her fate as she lets herself fall into the tent, practically on top of Ona, whilst holding a… kettle?

“She asked me to put the kettle on. But Ona, I don’t know what I’m putting it on! Is it a special kettle? it doesn't do anything, look!” and with that the young defender gets a metal kettle thrust into her face as though it's a rubix cube that she has 30 seconds to solve

Her captain looks at her so urgently it would be sad if it wasn’t so hilarious. Ona can’t help herself as she bursts out laughing. All this does is further aggravate her captain.

“Oh, olvídalo, idiota, voy a despertar a Kiera.”

“No, No, No, lo siento mi Capi. You forget, I lived in England for years. She means for you to go boil the kettle. For hot drinks.”

Alexia looks at her dumbfounded, “then why didn’t she just say that!”

“I know” Ona looks at her with faux sympathy, as she passes the kettle back to her she looks so determined to complete the little task she's been set that offers her a lifeline.

“Capi, wait.” Alexia turns to look at her expectantly, “I have… experience? With the English.” her eyes dart to the lump that is Lucy sleeping beside her. Well Alexia can’t argue that.

“Make her a Tea. Just trust me.” Ona continues, sagely, as though she had just passed on the wisdom of the universe.

Alexia looks at her, about to question until…

“Tea? Someone's making tea?” Lucy grumbles, rolling over into Ona, seemingly awoken from her deep slumber like a dog who's just heard someone mention a walk.

Alexia doesn’t have time to open her mouth when she hears from the next tent over where she saw Keira set up last night, a thick english accent,

“Ey wait, Is someone brewing up?”

—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It’s half an hour later and, with intervention from Lucy when Alexia tried to rip open a tea bag into your cup, that you have a warm enamel mug shoved into your hands. Alexia looked at you as though she had just handed you a pot of gold, all shining eyes and happy smile.

You feel much fresher after your early morning dip, trail shorts and vest back on and in two loose plaits that fall down over your shoulders. You look at the mug curiously, before you take a heavenly sniff of the liquid inside.

You thank the blonde, bashfully, and can’t help but place a grateful kiss on her cheek as you move past her. You pretend that your lips aren’t on fire from the contact. For her sake you also pretend that you didn’t see her stumble over a non-existent log at your action.

What you do miss though, is Ona sending her a wink, and the smug ‘i-told-you-so.” look at her face as she leans against her own girlfriend, who is happily drinking from her own mug.

You finish helping Mario make sure that all the girls are fed for the day before you stand in the middle of them and clap to gain their attention.

“Alright ladies! I hope you all slept well,- ” a mumble of affirmation goes through the group,

“I think Ingrid did not sleep so well.” Pina shouts across the group, “Si,” Parti joins in, “Did you see a bear Ingrid? Just I heard you screa-”

A rock is then thrown at Patris head, “ouch!” and you turn to see was directed by Mapi, Ingrid's face in a deep blush. The girls all burst into laughter.

God you were going to miss this group.

“Ok, Ok, Ladies calm it down. So, we have a choice today. Last full day on the hike… if you want it to be.” a curious mumble goes through the group. “Si, so, when we plotted this route someone…” you eye your partner “failed to mention that you are all literal athletes, so, we’re actually ahead of schedule, I’ve spoken to the bus company and if you want to then we can actually make it to the rendezvous spot today. It gives you a day back in Barcelona to yourselves before you start back at your traini….”

“No!” you’re interrupted as the group turns to Alexia who looks as though you’ve just asked her to never kick a ball again.

She takes a moment and realises that she's on her feet in front of the group, half of which are looking at her as though she's lost her mind, and the other half are looking at her with wry grins like they know exactly what's going on. 

“I mean, we should not. We need to bond. As a team. Si?” she asks the group “That is why we are here, and we should do that. Yes.” She looks at her teammates determinedly, nodding, as though daring anyone to question her. 

“But, Ale, you said that you hate–”, you see why Alexia is the best football player on the planet as you witness the speed in which she moves over to Jana and covers her entire face with her hand, stopping her words.

“No Jana, shhh pequeño. You look unwell. Are you feeling okay?” All Jana can do is nod under her giant hand as Mapi sniggers behind hers.

Okay, maybe you wouldn’t miss this group too much. They can be a bit weird. But you pretend that you don’t put more enthusiasm into your next sentence.

“Or, we can take the long way round to the rendezvous point, we’ll get some great views of the lake from that ridge over there” you point upwards and 23 eyes follow your movement, “set up camp for one more night, me and Mario can set up a Bonfire for our last night, yes?” he nods, “and then back to the bus in the morning if we would prefer?”

“Si, That we would prefer!” Alexia answers for the whole group, though the enthusiastic nods behind her assure you that they agree with her.

“Okay then, let's pack up campers, we'll have some elevation gains today!” you smile, clapping your hands together and a groan settles through the group as you move to pack up the breakfast items you hear Mapi and Alexia talking,

“Todos estamos haciendo esto por ti y por tu capitán de vida amorosa, recuérdalo el día del entrenamiento en circuito.”

Alexia responds in a tone you haven't heard from her before, “Lo sé, gracias Mapi. Simplemente no estoy listo para decir adiós todavía, ella es especial” she looks direct at you as she responds, no attempt to hide her spanish words, and the intensity of her gaze makes you look away.

—--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

All you wanted to do was a repeat of yesterday, hang at the back of the group and walk with Alexia. Maybe let your hand brush against hers a few times more than necessary and learn all about her life in Barca.

But, you were the best guide on this side of Europe for a reason. And you think Mario would push you off the mountain if you left him to do it again, even if he tells you he wouldn’t, you still felt bad about yesterday. 

So today, you found yourself at the front of the group. Weirdly, Alexia by your side with a few of the older girls, as well as Jana and Vicky who were hanging off Alexia's every word. It was cute, watching her with them.

Whatever fatigue she was suffering from yesterday which slowed her down so much seemed to have lifted, as her strong legs carried her with the rest of the group upwards. The elevation not bothering any of the women.

You were just hanging back with Mapi and Ingrid for a moment. Mapis backpack was bothering her, probably on account of her trying to carry all of Ingrids kit, you were teasing her as you helped to re-adjust the weight as Mapi was grumbling about how she definitely was strong enough to carry two sleeping bags, a tent as well as two sets of clothing whilst Ingrid was literally carrying a pillow, when the hair on the back of your neck stood up.

Something didn’t feel right, you looked up and could still see the front of the group, Alexia and Vicky chatting, going off Aleixas hand movements there was some deep football discussion going on.

You take stock of everything around you. In order to be in your line of work you needed to be aware of all of your senses, if one failed, another would pick it up, a smell in the air brought your attention and you turned to see droppings just off the trail. A large amount of droppings, and, oh no, green. You turned again and saw a tree bark torn up further away from the trail.

Fuck.

Bear droppings are green and quickly turn black as they oxidise, bears tear up trees and rocks as they pass through an area. These droppings were fresh, very fresh.

That, tied with your fantastic intuition, made you nervous.

The group had continued onward as you took stock and Alexia and Vicky had turned a corner just up the trail. You quickly help Mapi back into her backpack and move through the group quickly, making your way to the front.

“Detener!” you shout, wanting Alexia and Vicky in your sights. You turn the corner and your shout has caught their attention as they are both frozen, looking at you expectantly.

What they fail to notice, however, is a bear on the trail in front of them, not 20 metres away.

It’s a young bear, that you can tell, which is good because of its size, but the worst possible situation because young bears, like humans, are stupid. 

They are curious, they don’t see you as a threat, but if there is a bear this young here, there will be a mother bear somewhere around which you definitely do not want to be on the wrong side of.

You need to separate your group from this bear as quickly as possible. But without freaking them out.

“Alexia, walk towards me.” you instruct, seriously, arm out reaching towards the two girls, whilst you hold your other arm out behind you. Stopping the rest of the group before they can move forwards.

“What’s the matte— oh meirda…” Alexia has turned and seen what's on the path in front of her. Her back immediately straightens and grabs Vicky to pull her behind her. You hate the quick movement that they make as you inwardly cringe at their actions.

“Alexia, stay calm.” you slowly move towards them, “do not make any quick movements.” you don’t receive any sort of affirmation as both girls seem to be frozen in place.

“No te muevas rápidamente, no corras. Caminar hacia atrás lentamente” your use of spanish seems to get through the fear as you see Alexias feet start to scramble backwards, pushing Vicky behind her, who remains shielded behind her back.

You move forwards, slowly, arms still raised and as soon as in touching distance, pull Alexia behind your back. You can’t see her face as you refuse to move your eyes from the threat in front of you, but you can feel the terror running through her body.

Meanwhile, the bear is having a great old time, sniffing around and pawing at the ground. He’s stopped on the trail and is looking at you, curiously, as he starts to move towards you, you hear a yelp of terror from one of the girls behind you.

Usually, you know, to make yourself big and back up as slowly as possible, but you’re in a group of 23 novice hikers, and you knew you had to get this threat away as quickly as possible.

So instead, you make yourself big, you raise your arms in the air and start to move forward. You feel a tug on the back of your shirt and a frightened whimper from the tall blonde who seems to have grasped onto your shirt.

You take a big stride forwards as you move a hand back to untangle Alexia's grasp from your shirt.

“OYE, OSO. LO SIENTO AMIGO, TINES QUE MOVERTE!” you continue to move forward and wave your hands around. The bear cocks his head at you, curiously, you’re still moving closer and an alarm is going off in your mind, he’s gotta start moving or you’re going to be too close for comfort…

“SEGUIR. IRSE” you clap your hands together sharply, and that seems to frighten the curiosity from the young bear, who quickly scurries off the path and deep into the bush on your right hand side. 

The silence of the moment is suffocating. You take a moment and breathe some deep breaths. Filling your lungs and slowly releasing it. Once you feel your heartbeat settle down you turn on your heel and open your eyes to face the group behind you.

There, you are faced with 23 shell shocked faces. Mouths comically dropped as they all stare at you in awe.

The silence is interrupted as Mario catches up to the group, singing under his breath, you see his head pop up from the back of the group and an innocent smile on his face, “Hey chicas? What did I miss?”

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  

“...And then El jefe de la montaña practically tackled this enormous bear that was virtually salivating at the thought of eating Ales pert butt as a light snack!”

Mapi dramatically, and incorrectly recites her version of events for what feels like the 5th time for the rest of the group who were hanging back with Mario during the excitement of the day.

The whole group sat together at the bonfire that you and Mario had erected, you’d gone the whole hog and dragged logs over to create a circle around the fire. You’d cracked out the marshmallows you’d been hiding deep in your backpack and you and the girls had had an evening of jokes, stories and, after Matio whipped his ukulele out again, songs. 

You’re sitting with Ingrid and you miss the warmth at your side that had been present over the last two days. Alexia is sat with Vicky, and, whilst she’s been nothing but pleasant to you since the incident this afternoon, you feel like a barrier has come up between you.

You try to not overthink the situation, who are you anyway? She's Alexia Putellas, and, over the last 3 days you've learnt that that's a big deal. Of course she isn’t interested in you. God. You need to be a professional. You try to stay in the moment and stop your mind from running away. You feel the heat from the fire on your face as you close your eyes.

“... and how did you learn to do that?” you hear, and as Ingrid nudges your side, you realise Mapis question was aimed at you.

You open your eyes and see the attention of the group on you. There may be an entire football team's eyes on you but you can’t help but zone in on a certain set of hazel eyes which bore directly into your soul.

“I told you, I’ve been on the wrong end of a bear in my time.” you try to joke, pointing at the scar again running down your leg, and you get a few chuckles, but you note, Alexia's face remains stoic, and her frown deepens at your words.

“What happened?” Vicky asks, next to her. She receives a light slap to the head from her captain, “Aye, don’t be rude pequeño.”

“I don’t mind Ale.” you say, heart warming at Alexias protectiveness, “well, little football superstar” you address Vicky, “I was on a 6 month trek through the Andeas, we wanted to see if we could find any further remains from the Incas. We did by the way. Anyway, I was young, and stupid and we hadn’t stored our food safely, which, you’ll note, me and Mario have done today.” you reach across and give your partner a fist bump, “a mother bear wandered into our camp whilst I was alone. I was an idiot and got between her and an open packet of cheetos.”

“Cheetos!” Vicky asks, incredulously.

“Yes! Turns out they love those cheesy snacks” you wink at her, “she attacked and luckily, my camp leader was just coming back and managed to deploy his bear spray just as she managed to take a good swipe at my calf. I was lucky. But it wasn’t her fault. I was in her land and didn’t protect myself properly.”

Vicky waxes lyrical about your story for a while, asking you a million and one questions. The conversation across the campfire moves onto the upcoming season for the team as you and Mario start to set camp up for the night around them.

“Hey, Al, Me and Ing are heading to bed, I promise we’ll behave tonight, but I can’t promise I won’t cuddle you.” you hear Mapi address to Alexia,

“Great, look forward to it” Alexia replied sarcastically. Mapis retreat to bed seems to have set off a chain reaction amongst the team who all start to say their goodnights.

You can’t pretend that you aren’t upset that you won’t have a repeat of last night in your hammock. The sadness swirls in your stomach, but you remind yourself that the whole thing seemed to be a fantasy you’d made up in your mind. 

You look up to the sky and with your head torch can see that it seems to have darkened somewhat. You move away from camp and string a rope above your hammock, you throw over a tarpaulin which covers your hammock and protects you from any rain.

As you move back to the fire you decide you’ll wait it out instead of throwing water on to drown the fire. You have some excess energy from the excitement of the day and you know you’ll just lie awake in your hammock anyway. As Mario squeezes your shoulder in goodnight you notice that Alexia seems to be hanging around the edge of the circle. 

“Night Ale.” you say, kindly. It’s not her fault you have a massive unrequited crush on her.

You don’t know her well but she seems…nervous? Hands playing with themselves and feet unable to stay still.

“Nig… actually… Can we talk?” she asks, chin turning upwards and vulnerability showing on her face.

You nod and you are surprised when she sits next to you and asks, “why do you still do it?”

You look at her, curiously, she is so beautiful. Sharp angles of her face illuminated by the dying embers, perfect lips, the arch of her nose. She takes your breath away. You have a question in your eyes.

“This. As a job. You got hurt…” her hand moves, and god it's only been a few hours but you feel like you’ve been touch starved for years, as she lightly traces the scar on your calf. Leaving behind a wake of goosebumps. “You’re so brave…”

Maybe it's her touch that makes gives you the confidence but you dont think before you reply,

“I could ask you the same thing.” She has a question in her eyes now, so you repeat her action, hand moving to touch her knee where you can see the surgery scars that pull tight against her skin.

You feel her take in a breath and you think you may have overstepped until she takes your hand in her large one, keeping your hand resting on her knee.

You look into the fire as you continue; “I love my job. I can’t imagine my life without it. It gives me air in my lungs. It's my reason to live. And yeah. I got hurt. I've been hurt before and I’ll be hurt again.” Alexia squeezes your hand at that, “but that's why we do what we love, isn’t it? You’re so brave every time you step out onto a pitch again” you direct your question to her, “we learn from our mistakes, come back stronger from our injuries, not just in our skills but as people? No?” 

There's that look again, those open eyes, that expression you can’t place.

“Football is the same for you Ale. I can tell. When you talk about it. Think of that feeling you get. That's why I carry on. I love it, and it wasn’t that bears fault I got hurt, It was mine. Just as it wasn’t the rocks fault as I slipped 200 feet down Mt Kilimanjaro. They’re all lessons on how to adapt, on how to come back stronger.”

She nods, a look of understanding in her eyes and turns her gaze towards the fire. But doesn’t let go of your hand. 

You don't know what Alexia is thinking. You don't know that she feels like every word out of your mouth feels like you've plucked it straight from her heart. You're deep. She feels like finally someone gets her.

“You spoke Spanish today.” she lets out into the silence.

Ah, you think, she hadn’t missed it like you thought that she may have done in the heat of the moment. And, as usual, you try to break the tension with a joke.

“He was a Spanish bear. I wanted him to understand me.”

Alexia doesn't laugh but instead turns to you again, “I feel stupid.” 

There's that vulnerability again.

“No. Never feel stupid Alexia, you are the most intelligent person I have ever met.” you reply, instantly, and turn your body to hers,

“You didn’t tell me that you spoke spanish… everything I have said…”

“I meant to! Honestly I did, I mean I told you I lived in Peru for two years.” she raises her eyebrow at you… “Ale they speak Spanish in Peru.” “Oh.”

Her eyes drop down to the floor and you can’t physically allow that look of sadness to sit on her face for a moment longer.

“I think you’re more beautiful in the mornings too.” you whisper, the only noise around you the crackling of the drying embers around you.

Alexia looks up at this, eyes somewhat, hopeful? And it's that look that gives you the belief that maybe maybe she feels the same way?

“Si? Even though you made me smell like garlic?” she asks, before the syllable is even out of her mouth you reply. “Si, tan hermoso. Aunque tal vez sea más hermoso ahora con la luz del fuego.”

You stood in front of a bear today.

But the scariest moment of your day is as you move your head towards hers, slowly, more frightened of this rejection than any wild animal.

You look deeply into her eyes and the permission you seek is gained there, she gives you a small nod as she closes the distance between you both. Her lips finally meet yours in a gentle and sweet kiss.

It's like fireworks have gone off in your stomach. 

Your mouth tingles where it presses against hers, your lips softly encase her lower lip and you hear her squeak of satisfaction which is the cutest fucking thing you have ever heard in your life.

You kiss as though you have all the time in the world. It is gentle and slow. Until it is not. And then you kiss like a pair of horny teenagers as it deepens and you groan into her mouth as her tongue seeks permission in yours.

You would have continued all night had mother nature not intervened. 

You’re good with your senses and you hear the fizz of the fire going out before you feel the drops of rain on your skin. You pause your movements and look deep into Alexia's eyes.

“Y hueles deliciosa” you whisper, enjoying the way her eyes crinkle as you make her laugh.

“Will you sleep with me?” you ask, her eyes widen in panic at your question and it takes your lust-addled brain a moment to catch up, “wait. No! No Lo siento, no soy un asqueroso! I mean. Will you stay with me tonight in my hammock? No funny business, I promise!”. 

Your hands move off the taller girls hips where they seem to have found themselves as she settled onto your lap, and you hold them high in surrender.

Alexia saw you face a bear today.

And the look on your face now is more panicked than it was then. 

She smiles at you, god she has it bad she thinks.

“Si, I will, and… maybe some funny business?”

You’re lucky that your bark of laughter doesn’t wake up any of your campmates.

Content that the rain which is now falling more heavily will take care of the fire, you rush the blonde to your hammock, lifting the tarpaulin above her head so she could duck down and she settles herself into the material like a seasoned pro.

You open up your sleeping bag and turn it into a blanket which will cover you both as she opens up her arms and you settle into them. It’s pitch black in the tent and you feel as though your other senses are working to make up for it. The rain patters against the plastic sheet above you and you enjoy the sound as you enjoy the warmth beneath you, the hammock still swaying gently.

You shuffle in the blondes hold, moving so that you can lie stomach to stomach. Your face close to hers, you exchange gentle kisses and enjoy the feeling of her hands on your back as you gently scratch against her scalp.

Your head on her chest as sleep starts to take you, still enjoying the heat of her body and the ministrations of her hands which have moved beneath your t-shirt.

“Maybe the outdoors isn’t so bad.” you hear her whisper as sleep takes hold. 

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Life is funny sometimes.

You think to yourself.

You think about how you got here.

Not 24 hours ago stood in Arles, a minibus packed with footballers in front of you, and, in most cases, gawking at you, faces pushed against the windows, comically, as Ingrid moved through the inside of the bus, slapping heads and pulling them back into their seats.

You’d held Alexia's hands. You’d followed her lead this morning and since you both woke up and made breakfast at the campfire, she hadn’t stopped being affectionate, seemingly, no hint of hiding her affections from her teammates.

She’d hung behind with you and helped you pack up camp, as you both spent what you thought potentially was your last morning together.

It was light, you both had laughed easily and teased each other relentlessly.

Until that moment, when reality struck. You, due to fly back home to England in a few hours, and Alexia, about to board a bus which would take her miles away from you.

You’d already scribbled your number onto a trail mix wrapper and secured it into her hand. She had promised to message as soon as she could and you had promised to keep in touch, trying to keep the tears that teased your eyes at bay as you settled your face into her warm palm. 

But it hadn’t felt right.

It wasn’t fair. It was too soon. This had felt too right.

So you hadn’t been able to control yourself, as you faced her back as she boarded the bus when you asked; “Hey, Ale?” she’d turned and you knew you hadn’t misplaced that look of hope in her eyes, “Have you ever been to an 82nd birthday party?”

The grin that overtook her face could only be matched by yours.

So here you now found yourself. Standing in your nan’s garden under a gazebo as the English rain lightly drizzled, only 2 hours fashionably late for the event you actually arrived back in England for 4 days ago.

As your brother had opened the door earlier, you laughed at the shock on his face when he took Alexia in. All blonde, lean and mediterranean and very out of place in the middle of the drizzle of the English lake district.

Your whole extended family had popped up behind your brother, smiles and coy grins on their faces. Your mum broke the stunned silence at your arrival, more specifically, at the blonde by your side.

“I’ll put the kettle on.”

Alexia's face broke out into a huge grin that literally warmed your heart.

“I know how to do that!” she had replied, excitedly, her spanish accent thick.

Well, maybe not that out of place.

fin.  

[magnoliasforyourmedic]

I just read an article where a WWII medic by the name of John Burch of the 82nd Airborne Division discussed just how troubling of an environment the Battle of the Bulge was for a medic.

Under the Geneva Conventions medics were not allowed to carry weapons and were not supposed to be targeted. “The Germans didn’t respect at all,” Burch said.

Burch spent a lot of time at the hospital that had been set up in Reims after the Germans had just been ejected from the town, but he said that no one knew where the front lines were.

As the battle progressed, the wounded continued to flood in, as did some unwanted guests.

“Germans were dressed in American uniforms over their own and were dropping into areas by parachute.”

“(Once) some came in two ambulances dressed in American uniform and greatly hurt the medical staff of the 101st – they murdered really, the medics and we found out then it was not wise to be known as a medic.”

Let that set in.

German dressed in American uniforms hijacked ambulances in order to infiltrate the hospital, slaughtering doctors and medics.

The enemy was walking amongst them, purposefully targeting soldiers whose only mission for the war was to help their own.

To say it was “not wise to be known as a medic” was an understatement. The situation was so bad, in fact, that the general of the 101st Airborne offered some advice:

“The general of the 101st met with our commander and said, he couldn’t order us to carry weapons, but he advised that it was up to us. So, we taped over our steel helmets that had red crosses on them and hid our identification and were given pistols. We didn’t really know how to use them, but … we never put on our red crosses again.”

I wish they would have included a scene that shows this kind of thing because I think having to watch these unarmed angels of the battlefield cover up a symbol that was supposed to protect them would have been super powerful.

[srbachchan]

DAY 6082

Jalsa, Mumbai Oct 12, 2024/Oct 13 Sat/Sun 9:58 am

🪔 ,

October 13 .. birthday greetings to Ef Hriday Kawadia .. 🙏🏻❤️🚩

all good wishes from the Ef for this day to you .. love and prayers from the Ef family .. 🙏

Still getting over the blessings and wishes for the 11th and the 82nd Birthday .. takes a while to respond to several thousands .. but it is being done to the best of my ability .. if some do not get personal response, be assured that the message has been read and apprecited , but because the phone jams beyond a certain number of calls and messages , one has to go passed the msg and the call ..

Do understand .. apologies and regrets ..

🙏

A day when we shall meet again at the GOJ .. and the visit twice in a few days is so overwhelming .. so grateful for your blessings ..

There is strong desire to keep reading Babuji's works and to make every effort to bring to the World at large .. to understand and to be able to give wht his words and philosophies meant not just to him , but to an entire generation of thinkers and writers and readers and listeners ..

This is of utmost priority and I do pray with the support and cooperation of the many lovers of his poetry and words we shall be able to accomplish that ..

For the moment I beg to be excused .. rushing of for an engagement !

My love as always ..

बाल संवारते हुए

🤣🤣

Amitabh Bachchan

[whencyclopedia]

D-Day was 80 years ago today!

D-Day was the first day of Operation Overlord, the Allied attack on German-occupied Western Europe, which began on the beaches of Normandy, France, on 6 June 1944. Primarily US, British, and Canadian troops, with naval and air support, attacked five beaches, landing some 135,000 men in a day widely considered to have changed history.

Where to Attack?

Operation Overlord, which sought to attack occupied Europe starting with an amphibious landing in northwest France, Belgium, or the Netherlands, had been in the planning since January 1943 when Allied leaders agreed to the build-up of British and US troops in Britain. The Allies were unsure where exactly to land, but the requirements were simple: as short a sea crossing as possible and within range of Allied fighter cover. A third requirement was to have a major port nearby, which could be captured and used to land further troops and equipment. The best fit seemed to be Normandy with its flat beaches and port of Cherbourg.

The Atlantic Wall

The leader of Nazi Germany, Adolf Hitler (1889-1945), called his western line of defences the Atlantic Wall. It had gaps but presented an impressive string of fortifications along the coast from Spain to the Netherlands. Construction of gun batteries, bunker networks, and observation posts began as early as 1942.

Many of the German divisions were not crack troops but inexperienced soldiers, who were spending more time building defences than in vital military training. There was a woeful lack of materials for Hitler's dream of the Atlantic Wall, really something of a Swiss cheese, with some strong areas, but many holes. The German army was not provided with sufficient mines, explosives, concrete, or labourers to better protect the coastline. At least one-third of gun positions still had no casement protection. Many installations were not bomb-proof. Another serious weakness was naval and air support. The navy had a mere 4 destroyers available and 39 E-boats while the Luftwaffe's (German Air Force's) contribution was equally paltry with only 319 planes operating in the skies when the invasion took place (rising to 1,000) in the second week.

Neptune to Normandy

Preparation for Overlord occurred right through April and May of 1940 when the Royal Air Force (RAF) and United States Air Force (USAAF) relentlessly bombed communications and transportation systems in France as well as coastal defences, airfields, industrial targets, and military installations. In total, over 200,000 missions were conducted to weaken as much as possible the Nazi defences ready for the infantry troops about to be involved in the largest troop movement in history. The French Resistance also played their part in preparing the way by blowing up train lines and communication systems that would ensure the defenders could not effectively respond to the invasion.

The Allied fleet of 7,000 vessels of all kinds departed from English south-coast ports such as Falmouth, Plymouth, Poole, Portsmouth, Newhaven, and Harwich. In an operation code-named Neptune, the ships gathered off Portsmouth in a zone called 'Piccadilly Circus' after the busy London road junction, and then made their way to Normandy and the assault areas. At the same time, gliders and planes flew to the Cherbourg peninsula in the west and Ouistreham on the eastern edge of the planned landing. Paratroopers of the 82nd and 101st US Airborne Division attacked in the west to try and cut off Cherbourg. At the eastern extremity of the operation, paratroopers of the 6th British Airborne Division aimed to secure Pegasus Bridge over the Caen Canal. Other tasks of the paratrooper and glider units were to destroy bridges to impede the enemy, hold others necessary for the invasion to progress, destroy gun emplacements, secure the beach exits, and protect the invasion's flanks.

The Beaches

The amphibious attack was set for dawn on 5 June, daylight being a requirement for the necessary air and naval support. Bad weather led to a postponement of 24 hours. Shortly after midnight, the first waves of 23,000 British and American paratroopers landed in France. US paratroopers who dropped near Ste-Mère-Église ensured this was the first French town to be liberated. From 3.00 a.m., air and naval bombardment of the Normandy coast began, letting up just 15 minutes before the first infantry troops landed on the beaches at 6.30 a.m.

The beaches selected for the landings were divided into zones, each given a code name. US troops attacked two, the British army another two, and the Canadian force the fifth. These beaches and the troops assigned to them were (west to east):

Utah Beach - 4th US Infantry Division, 7th US Corps (1st US Army commanded by Lieutenant General Omar N. Bradley)

Omaha Beach - 1st US Infantry Division, 5th US Corps (1st US Army)

Gold Beach - 50th British Infantry Division, 30th British Corps (2nd British Army commanded by Lieutenant-General Miles C. Dempsey)

Juno Beach - 3rd Canadian Infantry Division (2nd British Army)

Sword Beach - 3rd British Infantry Division, 1st British Corps (2nd British Army)

In addition, the 2nd US Rangers were to attack the well-defended Pointe du Hoc between Utah and Omaha (although it turned out the guns had never been installed there), while Royal Marine Commando units attacked targets on Gold, Juno, and Sword.

The RAF and USAAF continued to protect the invasion fleet and ensure any enemy ground-based counterattack faced air attack. As the Allies could put in the air 12,000 aircraft at this stage, the Luftwaffe's aerial fightback was pitifully inadequate. On D-Day alone, the Allied air forces flew 15,000 sorties compared to the Luftwaffe's 100. Not one single Allied aircraft was lost to enemy fire on D-Day.

Packing Normandy

By the end of D-Day, 135,000 men had been landed and relatively few casualties were sustained – some 5,000 men. There were some serious cock-ups, notably the hopeless dispersal of the paratroopers (only 4% of the US 101st Air Division were dropped at the intended target zone), but, if anything, this caused even more confusion amongst the German commanders on the ground as it seemed the Allies were attacking everywhere. The defenders, overcoming the initial handicap that many area commanders were at a strategy conference in Rennes, did eventually organise themselves into a counterattack, deploying their reserves and pulling in troops from other parts of France. This is when French resistance and aerial bombing became crucial, seriously hampering the German army's effort to reinforce the coastal areas of Normandy. The German field commanders wanted to withdraw, regroup and attack in force, but, on 11 June, Hitler ordered there be no retreat.

All of the original invasion beaches were linked as the Allies pushed inland. To aid thousands more troops following up the initial attack, two artificial floating harbours were built. Code-named Mulberries, these were located off Omaha and Gold beaches and were built from 200 prefabricated units. A storm hit on 20 June, destroying the Mulberry Harbour off Omaha, but the one at Gold was still serviceable, allowing some 11,000 tons of material to be landed every 24 hours. The other problem for the Allies was how to supply thousands of vehicles with the fuel they needed. The short-term solution, code-named Tombola, was to have tanker ships pump fuel to storage tanks on shore, using buoyed pipelines. The longer-term solution was code-named Pluto (Pipeline Under the Ocean), a pipeline under the Channel to Cherbourg through which fuel could be pumped. Cherbourg was taken on 27 June and was used to ship in more troops and supplies, although the defenders had sunk ships to block the harbour and these took some six weeks to fully clear.

Operation Neptune officially ended on 30 June. Around 850,000 men, 148,800 vehicles, and 570,000 tons of stores and equipment had been landed since D-Day. The next phase of Overlord was to push the occupiers out of Normandy. The defenders were not only having logistical problems but also command issues as Hitler replaced Rundstedt with Field Marshal Günther von Kluge (1882-1944) and formally warned Rommel not to be defeatist.

Aftermath: The Normandy Campaign

By early July, the Allies, having not got further south than around 20 miles (32 km) from the coast, were behind schedule. Poor weather was limiting the role of aircraft in the advance. The German forces were using the countryside well to slow the Allied advance – countless small fields enclosed with trees and hedgerows which limited visibility and made tanks vulnerable to ambush. Caen was staunchly defended and required Allied bombers to obliterate the city on 7 July. The German troops withdrew but still held one-half of the city. The Allies lost around 500 tanks trying to take Caen, vital to any push further south. The advance to Avranches was equally tortuous, and 40,000 men were lost in two weeks of heavy fighting. By the end of July, the Allies had taken Caen, Avranches, and the vital bridge at Pontaubault. From 1 August, Patton and the US Third Army were punching south at the western side of the offensive, and the Brittany ports of St. Malo, Brest, and Lorient were taken.

German forces counterattacked to try and retake Avranches, but Allied air power was decisive. Through August 1940, the Allies swept southwards to the Loire River from St. Nazaire to Orléans. On 15 August, a major landing took place on the southwest coast of France (French Riviera landings) and Marseille was captured on 28 August. In northern France, the Allies captured enough territory, ports, and airfields for a massive increase in material support. On 25 August, Paris was liberated. By mid-September, the Allied troops in the north and south of France had linked up and the campaign front expanded eastwards pushing on to the borders of Germany. There would be setbacks like Operation Market Garden of September and a brief fightback at the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944, but the direction of the war and ultimate Allied victory was now a question of not if but when.

[malk1ns]

october 9 2024 v rangers, 6-0 loss

Geno’s uncharacteristically quiet on the bus to the hotel in Detroit.

Sid locks his phone and glances to his right. The street lamps cast eerie shadows over Geno’s face as he looks out the window, making his features look harsh, almost haggard. His mouth is in a tight moue, lips pressed together in displeasure.

Sid frowns.

Normally, Geno’s animated after games, even bad losses—he’ll talk shit about their opponent, sometimes even their own teammates depending on what went down in the game, and Sid always gets a perverse enjoyment out of snickering along with Geno’s jokes, adding in his own admittedly mean-spirited commentary to egg him on. After all, if you can’t be unkind and petty in the privacy of your own relationship, whispered together in their cozy little seat in the back of the bus, where can you?

And yeah, tonight’s game was worse than most. Worse even than the own-goal game from last season, probably, because as much as that was personally embarrassing for Geno, and caused a rift between him and Kris for almost two weeks before Sid told them to cut the shit and figure it out, this was a team embarrassment, them failing to produce even as much as one singular goal in front of their fans after making them sit through a long stressful summer, and Geno has always worn team losses worse than his own individual mishaps, felt more responsibility towards the fans than his own reputation.

Still, though.

Sid lets the silence settle, unlocking his phone again and scrolling his Instagram feed without actually seeing anything. Seguin sends him four snaps in a row, which Sid clears away with an irritated huff that’s more performative than anything; even that doesn’t draw Geno from whatever sulk he’s sunk himself into.

When they get to the hotel, Sid walks Geno to the elevator bank and plants him there with their suitcases, collecting their keys and spending a few minutes with the rest of the guys, murmuring encouragement and doling out pats on the shoulder. He takes a little extra time with Rutger, who looks a little shell-shocked, but the kid is still riding the high of his first NHL game despite its outcome, so it’s not long before Sid manages to extricate himself.

Geno’s waiting where Sid left him, slouched against the wall with his arms crossed. He barely makes eye contact with Sid, bats his hands away when Sid tries to grab at his suitcase and hoists them both up himself.

Sid lets him, ushers him into the elevator with a hand on the small of his back. When he turns around to look at the lobby as the door slides shut, he catches Kris’s eye from where he’s holding the rest of the guys back and nods once in gratitude.

There’s very little in his life that Sid prioritizes over his captaincy of this team. It’s a privilege and an honor to lead the Pittsburgh Penguins every year, and not one Sid takes lightly. Geno is one of those things, always has been and always will be.

Geno dumps their bags in the corner when they get to the room and lowers himself onto the bed with a sigh.

Sid lets him stew for a few more minutes, taking off his suit jacket and hanging it in the closet, loosening his tie and sliding his belt off as he listens to Geno mutter to himself. 

Once he’s down to his boxer-briefs and undershirt, he turns around.

Geno’s shoulders are hunched and he’s picking at his cuticles. He looks small. When Sid crosses the room and stops in front of him, he barely even looks up.

“Sorry,” he says, and Sid shakes his head even though Geno can’t see him.

“First game, bud,” Sid says, thumbing over Geno’s lower lip, dragging it down to expose his teeth. Geno lets him, maybe even pouts out a little bit more, flickers his tongue out over the tip of Sid’s thumb. Sid digs the digit into Geno’s lower teeth. “Couldn’t matter less. Wouldn’t matter if it was the 82nd game, either. That’s not why we’re here anymore, yeah?”

“Don’t like it,” Geno mumbles around Sid’s thumb. “Bad tonight.”

“It wasn’t our best,” Sid agrees, pulling his hand back and ignoring the frisson of heat Geno’s protest kindles in his stomach. It’s late, they played tonight and play again tomorrow, and they’re not as young as they were—sleep is more important. He can take Geno up on that tomorrow, when they’re home and away from prying ears from the adjoining rooms. “But that’s okay. Eighty-one more chances to prove them wrong, eh? And if we don’t…” Sid shrugs, thinking back to their conversations over the summer, Geno stretched out in the sun and pretending to sound understanding as he talked about maybe you’re want to go play for cup team a few years, it’s fine.

Geno’s a bad liar, always has been. Sid had appreciated the effort, though, even if it was never a question, not for him—it was nice to know that Geno would have bucked up and done his best, played the supportive partner and guided the Penguins while Sid was gone, if Sid had wanted to finish his career elsewhere.

“I know,” Geno sighs, leaning forward and resting his head on Sid’s stomach. His breath is warm and humid through the thin cotton, and Sid drops his palm on the back of Geno’s neck. “Still don’t like.”

“We have to do things we don’t like sometimes to get the results we want,” Sid intones, putting enough Boston into his voice to make Geno huff out a laugh into Sid’s shirt. “Hey, let’s get to bed.”

When Geno trails after him into the bathroom, he still looks tired, but the crinkles at the corners of his eyes look like he’s been smiling.

[judes-hoe]

https://www.tumblr.com/judes-hoe/757843482627948544/i-wanna-watch-the-match-with-him-being-cuddled-up

GIRL NEED A BLURB ABOUT THIS!!!!

Been a minute since my last spam…

You and Jude settled on the couch with your blanket over both you laps, and had snacks. It was the el Classico, it was late at night when the match had started since it was in America and your in England. You cuddled into his side and he had an arm around you, keeping you close to him. After half time it was 2-0 and Jude’s leg was bouncing up and down, he was nervous. When Madrid scored in the 82nd minute Jude thought they were gonna come back. But when the final whistle blew and it was still 2-1, Jude slumped back into the couch with a huff. “It’s okay love, it’s only preseason.” You try and comfort him. “I know I know, still wanted them to win..” he pouted. You and him went to your bedroom and laid down and you comforted him and fell asleep.

Please request🫶🏻 inbox is open always even if it’s just to chat

[maturemenoftvandfilms]

Prince Michael of Kent

Featuring Prince Michael of Kent

Being the PR Chief of the King of England has its perks, like fucking said king. In case of today, being invited to the Royal Box at Wimbledon, one of society's favorite events of the summer. The coveted seats come with an unparalleled view of some of the greatest tennis matches and the chance to rub shoulders with royalty and A-list celebrities. Guests are invited to a lavish sit-down lunch featuring an impressive spread of luxury meat and seafood, including halibut, Galloway beef and Cornish lobster tail before the tennis matches start.

It was there that I met Prince Michael of Kent, second cousin to Charles, Andrew and Edward. He had occasionally represented Elizabeth II at some functions in Commonwealth realms outside the United Kingdom during her reign. Otherwise, he manages his own consultancy business and undertakes various commercial work around the world.

He was handsome, looking quite distinguished with his gray beard as I greeted him with a handshake and bow. He had a stronger grip than I'd imagined. He was older than I usually go for, having recently celebrated his 82nd birthday, but still my type. And with Charles sidelined and Andrew being passed off, I could always use another royal fuck buddy I thought as we spoke.

Now being a confident, royal fucker, our conversation turned into how I would satisfy him if I got him into my bed. He laughed and said that his wife wouldn't appreciate that as sips his drink. Without saying another word, I slip a business card of mine into his coat pocket and pat it lovingly.

“For when you think I'm serious.” I said as I headed to my seat having planted the seed.

Throughout the matches, I'd scan the crowd, my eyes from flickering from one man’s face to another. I would occasionally look at the prince, fantasizing about him being naked. How much of that fur, if any, spread across the rest of him? Did being short of stature mean he had a small dick or was he one of "nature's surprises" like I'd met once or twice? I really wanted a chance to find answers to these questions, but knew it wasn't likely to happen. I am sure he noticed me looking many times but never said anything. Later that evening I went home and jacked off thinking about him.

During the last days of Wimbledon, after a very good meal in the dining hall, I began the walk back to my seat when I saw Prince Michael at the other end of a narrow corridor. He was finishing a conversation when he headed over towards me. Slowing as we approached each other, we exchanged pleasantries and shook hands.

Gesturing me to the side, he asked, "Were you serious about sleeping with me?"

I told him that I was and his face turned red in disbelief. The old man stared down at me without answering, as though he was thinking over my request.

"I may consider it." He said after a awkward moment.

As he turned to go I realized I'd stopped breathing. I exhaled slowly watching his retreat, remembering his gorgeous, piercing eyes and warm smile. What had seemed like just a cute, unobtainable older guy turned out to be a seriously hot daddy for which I was developing a major hard-on. With a dazed grin as I continued down the corridor, trying to smooth out the bulge he'd left in my pants before return to my seat for the final matches.

Later, after today's matches, as I was about to leave, I heard, “Wait.”

Turning around, I see it's Prince Michael briskly walking to catch up with me has he flashed that warm smile again.

"Yes, Your Highness. How may I assist you." I replied loud enough to sound businesslike.

"I'd like to discuss that business offer you mentioned earlier." He replied just as loud. I was enjoying the role play, particularly as it was real. I stepped back hoping he'd follow me in to my car that had just pulled up. The prince did a check to see if anyone had noticed us. No other words were spoken as we got into my car and started the engine. Pulling away, I could tell he was nervous when he said "Head to Kensington Palace. It's more private.”

“What about your…”

“She’s won't be home.”

Another nod and we’re off, arriving at the palace a few minutes later. The journey though his was unbearable with servants to nod away, but soon were in what I assumed was spare bed chamber. I could only catch a quick glimpse of the large room and spacious bed before the lock clicked and the prince was grinning at me again, his hungry eyes.

We fell into an embrace, sharing a long passionate kiss as we frantically start pulling off our clothes. As his shirt came off I saw that, though not quite as hairy as the other royals I've fucked, there was plenty of body hair to enjoy. The white white fur on his chest hung like moss on a branch. It continued down his stomach, getting thicker until it ended in a bush above his rising cock.

Coming up for air, I asked him if he’d been with a man before. He told me fooled around in the army, but all they’d done was jerk off together. I told him he was in for a treat as I laid him down on the bed. I licked and sucked his nipples before kissing my way down his chest, leaving a trail of saliva all the way to his already hard cock. Which was impressive for a man his age.

The head, bulging and purple, wobbled slightly close to my gasping mouth as the massive tip smeared a little of his pre-emission fluid on my lips before his head entered my mouth. His uncut rod had a thickness that filled my mouth nicely. There was a subtle musky smell along with his old fashioned cologne that aroused me even further as I worked his fully erect shaft, moving slowly up and down. As I deep throated his old cock and he let out a loud, deep moan, the first of many.

"Fuck…" The prince moaned as I began to suck while I swirled my tongue around his boner, "Marie has never done that to me, it feels so incredible."

Wanting to test him, tease him more and so I did something that the old guy wasn't expecting. I quickly lifted his legs and slid my mouth down to his asshole and started running my moist tongue back and forth against his virgin asshole. Suddenly the straight man was bucking and calling out like a woman. And when I forced my tongue inside his tight old asshole, he practically squealed with pleasure as he started writhing about while I tonguefuck him.

I tongue fuck him for a minute or two while he lay there stroking himself before the fear that I was going to make him cum, stopped me. I stood up, looked around for some lube when Michael to me to check the nightstand. I walked over towards it and bent over to pull the Vaseline out, as I bent over I felt him grab my legs, I looked back from under my legs and saw him kneeling behind me, his cockhead was resting on the floor, leaving a wet mark on the carpet. I let out a sharp gasp as I felt his tongue slide up and down my sweaty crack until it pressed against my hole and felt the wetness against it.

"Oh yeah." I moaned as he slid the tip of his tongue into me, tonguefucking me, eating my ass. Reciprocating what I did to him earlier.

He did that for around five minutes till I knew my hole must have been dripping, then he stood up and took the Vaseline tub from me. He was rubbing the Vaseline over his prick while heading back to the bed, I stood beside the bed, pinching my nipples as he lay back and spread his legs wide. Following onto the bed and lifted one leg to the other side, hovering over his crotch, his 8" pole was standing in attention. Guiding his cock into my hole with one hand and tweaking his nipple with the other. As soon as his dick made contact, he immediately thrust all 8 inches into me.

I winced until the head was totally in and then I easily slid down all the way till I felt his pubic hair brush my smooth butt.

"God… so tight." He said as I thought he would cum then from the look on his face.

Placing both my hands on his chest, I dig into it as I lifted my ass and slid back down again. Michael let me take control, so I rode his dick, stopping whenever I thought he was dead close to cumming. The sounds of him moaning with pleasure as I slowly thrust my hips onto his cock was music to my ears. After teasing him and prolonging the excitement, he was desperate to cum. Just then, this white haired older prince took charge and rolled on top of me.

Smelling the sweet scent of Aramis cologne that he wore mixed with his sweat was intoxicating to me as Michael fucked in and out of my tube. But the tightness of my tube soon got to him and he rose up, grabbed my ankles and immediately started stabbing his cock in and out of me at a furious pace. I grabbed my cock and jerked it to finish off, as the both of us were dead close to cumming.

To my surprise, I shot of first, spraying my cum over my chest and stomach. That must have excited Michael as let my legs go and repositioning himself. I grabbed him behind the head, staring him the eyes as he continued fucking me even harder and faster until he was close to emptying his seed. I could feel his cock swell in response. His grip became crushing and he was pushing into me as hard as he could, cumming deep inside of me groaning deeply with ecstasy. I let out a gasp and came on his stomach and mine for a second time. Then he collapsed on me with his cock still inside me and gave me a long grateful kiss.

I was able to coax him to fuck me several more times that night with him blowing his load in me twice! Impressive for a man his age. I couldn't let him show me up, so I blew my load once as he was fucking me, and then I blew it again while I was inside him! I knew Michael enjoyed every moment with his boy. And of course I did too. My old British royalty cravings are only getting stronger!

[fidothefinch]

It wasn’t supposed to end like this.

Bruce was hit with the thought mid-chuckle, a forkful of birthday cake halfway to his mouth.

Dick paused in his story, ever the perceptive one. He studied Bruce just a moment, the gray at his temples making the blue of his eyes even brighter. “Everything okay?”

Bruce looked around the lawn again with fresh eyes. Tim, Barbara, Duke, and their partners were sitting at the other picnic table under the canopy, cake all-but-forgotten in lieu of whatever they were talking about.

Jason ran by with a small child on his back – it was Damian’s youngest, and Jason had sworn after their last family outing that he wouldn’t attempt piggy-back rides again, but clearly the little girl had won him over with her doe eyes. They were chased by a puppy. Scamp, if he remembered correctly.

Members of the Justice League were scattered amongst the partygoers. Clark and Lois kicked a soccer ball with some of Bruce’s older grandchildren. Jim Gordon tapped his cane against his knee as Wally recounted an old speedster story.

As if she could feel his eyes on her, Cassandra looked up from her conversation with Damian, Stephanie, and Wonder Woman. She searched him a moment, before smiling softly at him. She had laugh lines around her eyes now, and Bruce cherished the sight of them.

Somewhere between losing his parents and becoming a vigilante, he had given up the idea of a future for himself. Familiar with contingency plans, he had mentally hedged his promises with “if I make it that long.”

He always thought he would die alone in the dark.

“Bruce?” Dick repeated, next to him. He would probably be more worried, if Bruce hadn’t begun to lose his hearing years ago.

The banner strung across the canopy read, Happy 82nd birthday! Someone had added ‘you old fart’ to the end with a marker.

“Yes,” Bruce answered, and found that he meant it. “Everything is okay.”

[captain-price-unofficially]

After securing Nijmegen bridge, US Paratroopers of the 82nd stand guard over wounded German prisoners. 17 Sept 1944

[bleedingcoffee42]

Atlanta Constitution spread on Toccoa with Derwood Cann front and center with Sargeant Extra on his leg. From Currahee Scrapbook

And this photo of Capt. Cann handing over some war bonds for the triplets who were 'adopted' enroute to New York on the Queen Mary by the 82nd. Guy in the middle is smitten and Cann looks like a movie star. Found on Ebay.

[wosofutbolfan]

I Would Climb Every Mountain With You (Teaser)

Alexia Putellas x Reader fluff fic.

A complete vanity project.

I know all anyone wants is angst fest When Somebody Loved Me pt 2 but I love nothing more than hiking and this silly idea popped into my head and I wanted to flex my fluff muscles.

Wanted to put a small teaser out here to see if its worth exploring. Any feedback greatly appreciated!

You shoved the last of your gear into your duffel, relishing in the zipping sound that pierced the silence of your sparsely occupied apartment.

This was a quick turn around, even for you.

You were back home for your nans 82nd birthday and to catch up with your friends and family.

You’d barely been back on UK soil for 18 hours, in your Cumbria flat for only 15, when you got a call offering you a trip as a tour guide in the Pirineus Aragonese, otherwise known as the Spanish Pyrenees, for 3 nights.

Usually you’d ignore such a request at this point in your career but for a 3 day trip there were more 0’s than you would expect on the pay packet.

Too many to refuse.

You were one of the best in the business, so trampling around the low level bases of a fairley commercial mountain range was a bit novice for you.

These days you find yourself in the thin air over 6000 meters, or in a remote rainforest, or trekking through the Sahara, guiding millionaire white men who made the move from being armchair adventurers to have-a-go adventurers in the very safe manner which your expertise offered.

You did it because those IT consultants, those bankers, those surgeons, paid well.

Very well. 

Well enough to fund your explorations.

To go to those heights that really drove you. 8000 meters. The death zone. Where the air was so thin you couldn't stay long or your brain would lose oxygen.

Or the Amazon, making contact with a tribe to warn them of encroaching foresters.

Or to the arctic. To witness the last of the planet untouched by man.

As you shut the door behind yourself, barely even checking it locked.

Fuck. You think, as you download the boarding pass sent to you. 

Your mum was going to kill you. 

But god. You loved the outdoors. 

—-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“I hate the outdoors!”

Alexia growled smacking a hand against her forearm, trying in vain to swat the midgie which was trying to make her blood its next meal. She hated the high pitched zoom that traveled past her ear as it moved back through the mini bus to try and find a more peaceful meal out of one of her teammates.

“We know Ale…” a tired voice from next to her groaned “you’ve mentioned it once, twice. Maybe a thousand times.” Mapi rolled her head off of her girlfriend's shoulder where she had been in a light doze. Interrupted by her captain's loud complaints.

“I’m just saying.” Alexia continued to grumble “I don’t know why Jona is making us do this. Team Bonding? We are a very bonded team already! I make you all pancakes on sundays!”

Mapi rolled her eyes at the blondes protests. She’d heard all of this before since Jona had announced the 3 day team bonding trip at the start of pre season. She could recite Alexia's complaints by heart.

“I’m excited.” She shrugs, eyes cast over her girlfriend who had moved to nuzzle into her side.

“Traidora” The captain replies, eyes gazing out of the fast moving countryside out of the window. She felt worse and worse the more they moved away from the city into the endless empty space around her. She could feel civilization leaving her grasp as the bars of signal went down on her phone. “You’ve been brainwashed by your nordic girlfriend.” She lets out simply.

Ignoring Mapis' offended scoff and dodging the light slap sent her way.

“Behave Maria.” A tired voice let out, without opening their eyes. Like a school child who had been told off, the tiny defender backs down and settles back into her girlfriend's shoulder. And if Alexia sticks her tongue out at her like a toddler then well. Who can prove it?

“God” she thought to herself as she settled her head back against the vibrating glass, starting a mental countdown of when she would return to her city center apartment  “I hate the outdoors.”

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[jinnieboosworld]

Strawberry Milkshakes

Eric Sohn x Fem Reader

Genre: Enemies to Lovers, Drama, Fluff

Summary: Eric Sohn loves his job working as a waiter at a 24 hour diner. So when the diner starts to lose its customers to a rival diner he has to go there to see what all the hype is about, and that’s when he meets you. A pink haired, neon colored- dressed, rollerblader, who makes amazing strawberry milkshakes.

Word count: 10,998

Part of the Meet Cute Series

˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

The bell over the door of MiMi’s Diner gave a sharp jingle as it swung open. Eric Sohn, standing behind the counter, glanced up from the schedule he was reviewing. Only two customers walked in—a middle-aged couple who were familiar faces in the diner.

“Morning, Mr. and Mrs. Lee,” Eric greeted, trying to keep his tone upbeat, even though a creeping sense of worry had been gnawing at him for weeks now. “Same as usual?”

Mrs. Lee smiled, but there was something distant in it. “Not today, Eric. Just a couple of coffees to go.”

Eric’s heart sank. They always stayed for at least an hour, chatting and enjoying the pancakes or waffles MiMi was known for. “Sure thing,” he replied, watching them settle by the window, their eyes wandering in a way they never had before.

He turned to Kevin, the new and extremely energetic waiter who was already bouncing over to the counter. “Hey, Kev, two coffees for the Lees,” Eric said, running a hand through his hair.

“Two coffees coming right up!” Kevin chirped, his usual enthusiasm undimmed by the day’s lackluster start.

Eric sighed and stepped over to MiMi, who stood behind the register, scanning the empty seats around them. “Twelve customers today. That’s it,” Eric said quietly, leaning on the counter next to her.

MiMi shook her head, her expression one of concern. “I just don’t get it, Eric. We’ve been through slow times before, but this? It’s like they’ve all just vanished.”

Sunwoo, leaning through the serving window from the kitchen, chimed in. “Not vanished—just gone to that new place on 82nd Street. The Midnight Shake or whatever it’s called.”

MiMi waved her hand dismissively. “We’ve had competition before. We’ve always been fine.”

“Yeah, but this place is packed,” Sunwoo said, pulling his phone from his pocket. “I snapped this on my way back from lunch yesterday.”

He held out his phone, and Eric and MiMi both peered at the screen. The parking lot of The Midnight Shake was completely full, with people actually waiting outside.

Eric frowned. “I don’t get it. What are they offering that we aren’t?”

Kevin, carrying the Lees’ coffees over to the table, paused and looked back. “Maybe they’re putting something special in their shakes?” he joked, flashing a grin.

Eric didn’t laugh. His eyes narrowed at the image on Sunwoo’s phone. “There’s gotta be more to it than just shakes. Our food’s just as good, and we’ve got a loyal customer base.”

MiMi sighed heavily, resting her hands on the counter. “Maybe it’s time we check them out.”

Eric’s brow furrowed. He wasn’t ready to throw in the towel yet. “I don’t know… it feels weird, doesn’t it? Spying on the competition?”

MiMi glanced around the nearly empty diner. “Call it market research.”

Eric opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted by the sound of Kevin’s voice from across the room. “Have a great day, Mr. and Mrs. Lee! See you tomorrow, I hope!”

The couple offered a polite wave as they slipped out the door, and the bell’s jingle felt far too loud in the now-empty space.

Eric crossed his arms, staring at the door. “Maybe I should go see what all the hype is about. Just to see if we’re missing something obvious.”

MiMi raised an eyebrow at him. “You sure? I’d hate for you to get too worked up over this.”

Eric glanced back at her. “I’m not worked up. I just want to understand what we’re up against.”

Sunwoo smirked, crossing his arms. “Or who you’re up against. Word around town is their main waitress over there is quite the spectacle.”

Eric frowned. “Spectacle?”

Kevin bounced back over, clearly eager to join in the conversation. “Yeah, I heard she’s on roller skates! And apparently, she makes the best strawberry shakes in the city.”

Eric blinked. “Roller skates?”

MiMi shrugged. “If that’s what it takes to get people in the door…”

Eric shook his head, his jaw tightening. “Well, gimmicks don’t last forever. If it’s just a flashy waitress, we’ll be fine.”

Sunwoo chuckled. “Maybe, maybe not. I hear they’re doing something right. Could be worth your time to swing by and see for yourself.”

Eric clenched his fists, feeling a strange sense of competitiveness bubbling up. “Fine. I’ll check it out tomorrow.”

MiMi looked at him, her concern evident. “Just don’t do anything rash, Eric. It’s just a diner.”

But to Eric, it wasn’t just a diner. MiMi’s had been his life for the past eight years. He wasn’t about to let some new place run them out of business.

˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

“Why do I feel like I’m about to go into battle?” Eric muttered under his breath, checking his reflection in the window.

“You look like you’re about to audition for a movie,” Kevin teased from across the counter. “Just relax, man. It’s a diner, not a gladiator ring.”

Eric shot him a look. “I just want to understand what’s going on over there.”

“Whatever you say, boss,” Kevin replied with a smirk, hopping over to refill a few ketchup bottles.

Eric turned his attention back to the door, then squared his shoulders. He grabbed his jacket and took a deep breath. “I’ll be back in an hour,” he called over his shoulder.

“Good luck!” Sunwoo shouted, his laughter echoing through the kitchen.

Stepping out into the cool evening air, Eric made his way down the street. He was on edge, wondering what exactly he would find at The Midnight Shake. Roller skates? Strawberry shakes? It sounded ridiculous, but if it was taking away MiMi’s customers, then it was serious enough.

As he turned onto 82nd Street, the neon sign for The Midnight Shake came into view. It was garish, bright pink and blue lights flickering in the evening sky, casting a glow over the busy parking lot. He could already see the crowds through the windows.

It was packed.

Eric felt a mix of disbelief and frustration. How could they be drawing so many people? He steeled himself and made his way closer.

Before he could even reach the front door, he heard it—the unmistakable sound of roller skates on pavement. Eric glanced to the side, and there she was.

Y/N. She zipped out of the diner’s side entrance, rollerblades gliding effortlessly over the concrete, her neon-colored outfit clashing with the night sky. She had pink hair that caught the last rays of the setting sun, and in her hand, a tray of to-go orders.

Eric stopped in his tracks, watching as she navigated through a small crowd, expertly balancing the tray while weaving between people. She didn’t miss a beat.

He found himself staring, not just at her skills, but at the way she smiled at every customer she passed, like she knew them all personally. There was something magnetic about her presence.

She glanced his way for a split second, and their eyes met.

Y/N gave him a brief, puzzled look, clearly not recognizing him, before skating off toward a group of waiting customers.

Eric blinked, his chest tightening for reasons he couldn’t explain. He shook his head, clearing his thoughts.

“Focus, Eric. You’re here for a reason,” he muttered to himself as he pushed open the door and stepped inside.

The interior of The Midnight Shake was bustling with energy, a stark contrast to MiMi’s. The walls were decorated with retro neon signs, and the atmosphere was vibrant, almost chaotic.

As he stood at the entrance, trying to take it all in, a waitress in roller skates—Y/N—zoomed past him with another tray of milkshakes.

“Welcome to The Midnight Shake,” she called over her shoulder before disappearing into the crowd.

Eric clenched his fists. This was more than just a diner; this was a circus. And somehow, they were winning.

˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

The bell jingled softly as Eric pushed open the door of MiMi’s, stepping back into the familiar space. It should have felt like a comfort, but after what he had just seen at The Midnight Shake, it felt strangely hollow. The contrast between the two diners weighed on him heavily. The buzzing energy, the vibrant colors, the constant hum of activity—everything at that place had felt alive. MiMi’s, by comparison, seemed quiet. Too quiet.

“Back already?” MiMi’s voice floated over from behind the counter. She was wiping down the register, her expression a mix of curiosity and concern.

Eric gave a noncommittal grunt and hung his jacket on the hook by the door. “Yeah. It’s… packed over there.”

MiMi frowned, the lines around her eyes deepening. “What do you mean? Like busy?”

“Busy doesn’t even cover it.” Eric exhaled, running a hand through his hair. “It’s chaos. But organized chaos. People are everywhere, and they seem to love it.”

Kevin, who was leaning against the counter with a milkshake in hand, raised an eyebrow. “So what’s the deal? Are they just giving away free stuff or something?”

Eric shook his head, the image of Y/N on her roller skates still lingering in his mind. “It’s more than that. They’ve got this whole atmosphere. It’s loud, bright, like a party in there.”

Kevin laughed. “A party at a diner? Sounds like a gimmick to me.”

“Maybe,” Eric muttered, though he wasn’t sure if he believed that anymore. “But it’s working.”

MiMi placed the cloth down and crossed her arms. “Do they have better food?”

Eric shook his head. “It’s not that. Their menu’s not much different from ours. It’s the experience. That waitress on skates? She’s the one drawing people in. She’s… flashy, I guess. And she’s good with customers.”

“Roller skates? Seriously?” Sunwoo appeared from the kitchen, leaning against the frame of the door. “What is this, the 70s?”

“It’s ridiculous,” Eric agreed, but his voice lacked conviction. He couldn’t stop thinking about how smooth Y/N had looked as she weaved through the crowd, or how every customer seemed to leave with a smile after interacting with her. “But they’ve got something we don’t. And whatever it is, it’s taking our customers.”

Kevin took a long sip of his milkshake and shrugged. “Maybe we need to shake things up too. Get roller skates, or maybe start doing karaoke nights or something.”

MiMi sighed. “We’ve never needed to do gimmicks before. Our food’s always been enough.”

Eric rubbed the back of his neck, feeling the weight of the situation pressing down on him. “Yeah, but if we don’t adapt, we’re going to lose everything. We need to find a way to stand out again.”

There was a pause, the silence hanging heavy between them. Kevin, always the optimist, grinned and clapped Eric on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, boss. We’ll figure it out. We always do.”

Eric offered a tight smile, but inside, he wasn’t so sure. He felt an unfamiliar sense of competition bubbling inside him, not just with the diner itself, but with Y/N. She wasn’t just another waitress; she was becoming the face of the place that was threatening everything he had built at MiMi’s. He couldn’t shake the feeling that this was personal.

Days passed, and the situation at MiMi’s grew more tense. Every shift seemed quieter than the last, and Eric could feel the frustration building in the air. Kevin kept trying to lighten the mood, but even his boundless energy couldn’t fully mask the growing worry that was settling over the diner

˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

He didn’t have a plan, not really. Maybe he’d just walk by, see if things had calmed down. Or maybe he’d confront Y/N, see what she was doing that was so special. He didn’t know why, but he felt drawn back to that place, like he had unfinished business there.

As he approached, he could hear the familiar hum of the diner, the sound of people talking, laughing. And then, over the din, the unmistakable sound of roller skates on pavement.

There she was again—Y/N. She glided out of the side entrance, her tray stacked high with milkshakes, her pink hair catching the evening light. She didn’t notice him at first, her attention focused on the customers waiting by the curb.

Eric stopped in his tracks, watching her again. She was efficient, no wasted movement, but it wasn’t just that. She had this way of making every interaction feel personal, like every customer was her favorite. He could see why people were drawn to her, even if it grated on him.

As she handed the milkshakes off to a group of teenagers, Y/N glanced up and noticed him standing across the street. Her eyes narrowed slightly, a flicker of recognition passing over her face.

For a brief moment, neither of them moved. Then, with a quick motion, she pushed off on her skates and headed straight toward him.

Eric braced himself as she rolled to a stop in front of him, her arms crossed and a smirk playing at the corner of her lips. “Well, well. If it isn’t the competition.”

Eric clenched his jaw. “I’m not here to spy, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

Y/N raised an eyebrow, clearly unimpressed. “Right. Just happened to be in the neighborhood, huh?”

Eric held her gaze, refusing to back down. “Maybe I was just curious.”

“Curious?” Y/N’s smirk widened. “Or worried?”

His fists clenched at her tone, that playful edge she seemed to have. She was enjoying this, that much was clear. “Look, I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing here, but MiMi’s isn’t going anywhere.”

Y/N tilted her head, looking him over like she was sizing him up. “Oh, I’m not playing any games. Just doing my job. If people want to come here instead of your place, that’s on them.”

Eric’s jaw tightened. “You think it’s just that simple? You’re stealing our customers.”

“Stealing?” Y/N’s eyes sparkled with amusement. “No one’s stealing anything. Maybe they just like the shakes better over here.”

Eric took a step closer, his voice dropping lower. “It’s more than just shakes, and you know it.”

Y/N looked up at him, her smirk fading slightly. For a moment, there was something else in her eyes, something he couldn’t quite place. Then, just as quickly, she shook her head and pushed off on her skates. “Whatever you say, Mr. MiMi’s.”

She started to roll away, but Eric’s voice stopped her. “I’m not done.”

She turned back, raising an eyebrow. “Oh? What else is there?”

Eric opened his mouth to respond, but the words caught in his throat. He didn’t know what else to say. He wasn’t even sure why he had stopped her.

Y/N gave him a long look, then shrugged. “See you around, Eric.”

And just like that, she skated off, disappearing back into the busy diner.

Eric stood there for a moment, feeling a strange mix of frustration and something else—something he didn’t want to admit to himself.

As he turned to walk away, he couldn’t shake the feeling that this rivalry was only just beginning.

˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

The next few days dragged on for Eric. Every shift at MiMi’s felt like a reminder of how quickly things were slipping away. He could see it in the eyes of his coworkers too, even Kevin’s usually upbeat attitude seemed a little deflated. Each day was slower than the last, and the conversations in the diner were quieter, as if everyone was waiting for something to change.

“So, how’s business today?” Kevin asked one afternoon, his voice carrying an almost forced cheerfulness. He was leaning against the counter, tapping his fingers absentmindedly.

Eric didn’t even look up from the receipt he was staring at. “Same as yesterday. Dead.”

Kevin let out a dramatic sigh and slid into one of the stools by the counter. “You think MiMi’s gonna close down if this keeps up?”

“Not if I can help it,” Eric muttered, though the weight of his words felt heavier than he wanted to admit.

Kevin studied him for a moment, the usual energy in his voice fading. “You’ve been real quiet lately. You’re not seriously letting that other diner get to you, are you?”

Eric clenched his jaw. “It’s not just another diner. It’s her.”

Kevin blinked. “Who?”

“That girl on skates,” Eric snapped, his frustration boiling over. “Y/N. She’s the one pulling all the customers.”

“Ohh,” Kevin said, his voice suddenly full of interest. “Wait, wait, wait—are you mad because of the competition, or because she’s kinda hot?”

Eric shot him a glare. “This isn’t about that.”

“Uh-huh.” Kevin grinned, leaning closer. “Sure. But you gotta admit, there’s something about her, right?”

Eric’s mind flashed back to their brief confrontation, the way Y/N had looked so confident, so unbothered by the rivalry. “She’s annoying,” he said flatly.

Kevin laughed. “You sound like you’re in high school. Come on, man, if she’s the competition, why not make things interesting?”

“How exactly?” Eric’s voice was thick with sarcasm.

Kevin shrugged. “I don’t know, get creative. Push back a little. Or you know, maybe… ask her out.”

Eric scoffed, shaking his head. “Not happening. She’s the reason we’re losing customers, and I’m not about to make this personal.”

Kevin’s grin didn’t falter. “You sure about that?”

Eric didn’t answer. He turned his back on Kevin, pretending to busy himself with straightening the silverware at the tables. But no matter how much he tried to focus on the task, his mind kept drifting back to Y/N. To her teasing smirk. To the way she glided through the diner on her skates like she owned the place. To how she had brushed him off like he didn’t even matter.

The thought burned at him. This wasn’t just business anymore. It was personal.

˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

It was a late Friday afternoon when Eric found himself standing outside The Midnight Shake again, this time deliberately. He hadn’t told anyone he was coming, especially not Kevin, who would have had too many jokes about it. Eric wasn’t sure what had compelled him to return, but part of him was itching for another encounter with Y/N. He had convinced himself it was to see what else the diner was doing to pull customers away, but deep down, he knew it was more than that.

As he approached the diner, he noticed the same lively crowd, the parking lot full of cars, and the hum of conversation spilling out onto the street. But this time, he wasn’t just watching from across the road—he was going in.

Pushing open the door, he was immediately hit with a wave of noise. The place was packed, even more so than before. The neon lights flickered cheerfully, casting a warm glow over the booths filled with customers laughing and chatting. The atmosphere felt electric, like everyone was part of something exciting. And right in the middle of it all, as if she were the ringleader of the chaos, was Y/N.

She was gliding between tables, her skates moving effortlessly across the checkered floor. Her bright pink hair caught the light as she laughed at something a customer said, handing over a strawberry milkshake with a flourish. She didn’t even notice Eric standing by the door, and for a moment, he wasn’t sure whether to feel relieved or annoyed.

He took a deep breath and walked toward an empty spot at the counter, trying to blend in. The last thing he wanted was to cause a scene, but he couldn’t deny the strange sense of anticipation building inside him. Maybe he was hoping for another confrontation. Maybe he just wanted to prove that this place wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.

As he sat down, Y/N skated up to the counter, still not noticing him. She was busy making milkshakes, her hands a blur as she poured, blended, and garnished each one with whipped cream and a cherry. Her focus was impressive, and for a brief moment, Eric found himself watching her with a kind of reluctant admiration.

“Order up!” Y/N called out, pushing a tray of shakes toward the end of the counter.

And then her eyes flickered up—and landed on him.

Her expression shifted in an instant, from casual indifference to something sharper, more focused. She raised an eyebrow, skating over to where he sat. “You lost, MiMi’s?”

Eric met her gaze, refusing to back down. “Just curious about the competition.”

Y/N crossed her arms, leaning against the counter. “Thought you said you weren’t spying.”

“I’m not,” Eric replied, his tone even. “Just seeing what all the hype is about.”

Y/N tilted her head, her eyes narrowing. “And? What do you think?”

Eric shrugged, trying to appear unfazed. “It’s loud.”

She smirked. “That’s not what the customers think.”

Eric clenched his jaw, the frustration bubbling up again. “Maybe they’re just here for the novelty. Doesn’t mean it’s going to last.”

Y/N’s smirk widened. “You really don’t get it, do you? People come here because they like it. It’s not just about the food—it’s about the experience.”

“And what experience is that, exactly?” Eric challenged. “Skating around and flashing neon lights?”

She leaned in slightly, her voice dropping. “It’s about giving people something different. Something fun. They’re not just here for a meal—they’re here to have a good time. Maybe that’s what MiMi’s is missing.”

Eric’s eyes narrowed. “We don’t need gimmicks to keep our customers.”

Y/N straightened up, shrugging. “Maybe not. But you’re here, aren’t you?”

Eric opened his mouth to respond, but before he could, a group of customers called for Y/N from the far end of the diner. She glanced over, then back at Eric, her expression softening just a fraction. “Look, I get it. You’re mad because things aren’t going the way you want. But if you really want to know why people are coming here, you should stop thinking about it like a competition.”

Eric frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Y/N gave him a long, searching look. “It means you’re so focused on beating us, you’re not paying attention to what your own place needs. Figure that out, and maybe you won’t have to worry about us anymore.”

With that, she pushed off on her skates, rolling back into the sea of customers like she hadn’t just left Eric standing there, speechless.

The walk back to MiMi’s felt longer than usual. Eric’s mind was racing with everything Y/N had said, and he couldn’t shake the feeling that she had gotten under his skin in a way no one ever had before. It wasn’t just the rivalry anymore—there was something more to it. Something he couldn’t quite put his finger on.

˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

As he stepped into MiMi’s, Kevin was waiting by the door, his usual grin plastered across his face. “Well? How’d it go?”

Eric hesitated, then shook his head. “It was… fine.”

Kevin raised an eyebrow. “That’s it? Just fine?”

Eric didn’t respond. Instead, he moved behind the counter and started wiping it down, trying to focus on the mundane task to clear his head. But Kevin wasn’t letting it go.

“Come on, man. You went there for a reason. What’s the deal? Did you talk to her?”

Eric’s grip tightened on the cloth. “Yeah. We talked.”

Kevin leaned in, his grin widening. “And? Was she as annoying as you thought?”

Eric paused, the memory of Y/N’s words still fresh in his mind. “She’s… not what I expected.”

Kevin let out a low whistle. “Ohhh, so that’s how it is. You’ve got a thing for her.”

Eric shot him a glare.

Eric’s glare only made Kevin’s grin wider, the playful teasing written all over his face. “I don’t have a thing for her,” Eric muttered, turning back to the counter, scrubbing furiously as if it would help him escape the conversation. “She’s the competition. That’s all.”

Kevin let out a laugh. “Sure, sure. But you’re thinking about her, aren’t you? I mean, it’s been weeks since anyone’s gotten under your skin like this.”

Eric didn’t respond right away. The truth was, he had been thinking about her—more than he wanted to admit. But not in the way Kevin was suggesting. Or at least, that’s what he kept telling himself.

Kevin watched him for a moment before leaning closer, lowering his voice as if he were about to share some great secret. “Look, man, maybe she’s right. Maybe we’ve been so focused on trying to beat them that we’re missing what makes us special.”

Eric paused, his hands stilling on the counter. He’d been thinking the same thing ever since Y/N’s words had echoed in his head. Maybe MiMi’s didn’t need to change into something it wasn’t. Maybe it just needed to find a way to bring back the energy and excitement it used to have.

But before he could delve deeper into those thoughts, MiMi herself walked in from the back, looking around at the empty diner with a sigh. “Another slow day, huh?”

Kevin shrugged. “Could be worse. At least we’ve got the regulars.”

MiMi’s face softened. “Yeah, but we used to have so much more. I remember when this place was packed. People couldn’t get enough of our food, the atmosphere…”

Eric glanced at her, his heart sinking a little. MiMi had poured everything into this diner. It wasn’t just a business to her—it was her life. And if it failed…

“We’ll figure it out,” Eric said firmly, though he wasn’t sure if he was trying to reassure MiMi or himself.

MiMi gave him a small smile, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “I know you will. You’ve always had a way of bringing people in, Eric. Maybe you’ll find that magic again.”

Eric nodded, though his mind was already wandering back to Y/N, to the way she had talked about creating an experience, not just serving food. Maybe that was the key. Not trying to copy The Midnight Shake, but finding something that would make people want to come to MiMi’s again—something authentic.

The next day started like any other, slow and quiet. Eric showed up early, as he always did, to get everything ready for the day ahead. Kevin had rolled in not long after, full of energy as usual, chatting about random things that Eric only half-listened to.

But it wasn’t until later that afternoon that something strange happened.

˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

Eric had been walking through the park after his shift, needing to clear his head and figure out a plan for MiMi’s. The sound of kids playing and people laughing filled the air, offering a brief distraction from the diner’s struggles.

As he rounded the corner, though, he saw something—or rather, someone—that made him stop in his tracks.

There, gliding effortlessly down the path on her rollerblades, was Y/N.

She hadn’t noticed him yet, too focused on weaving between people as she made her way through the park. She had on the same neon-colored outfit she always wore, her pink hair bouncing with each movement. She looked so carefree, so at ease, like she didn’t have a care in the world.

Eric felt a strange tightening in his chest. Part of him wanted to turn around and leave before she noticed him, but something else—something he couldn’t quite name—kept him rooted to the spot.

He watched as she skated toward a group of kids who had gathered by the park’s fountain. They were giggling and calling out to her, and she skidded to a stop, crouching down to talk to them. Eric couldn’t hear what she was saying, but the kids were laughing and pointing at her skates, and she was showing them some kind of trick, making them cheer.

For a moment, Eric forgot all about the rivalry. He forgot about MiMi’s, about The Midnight Shake, about everything. All he could think about was how different Y/N seemed outside of the diner. How she wasn’t just some competitor trying to steal their customers—she was a person. A person with a life outside of the neon-lit walls of her diner.

He didn’t realize he was staring until she looked up and caught his eye.

Her smile faltered for a second, but then it came back, though this time it was laced with something a little sharper. “You stalking me now, MiMi’s?”

Eric blinked, startled out of his thoughts. He cleared his throat, stepping closer but keeping his hands shoved in his pockets. “No. Just walking.”

She raised an eyebrow, pushing herself up to her full height, which wasn’t much taller than the kids she had been talking to. “And you just happened to be walking through this park?”

Eric shrugged, trying to play it off. “It’s a public park.”

Y/N let out a short laugh, shaking her head as she rolled over to the fountain, sitting on the edge. “Alright. If you say so.”

Eric hesitated, unsure of what to say next. He wasn’t used to this kind of conversation, especially not with someone like Y/N. But there was something about the way she sat there, casual and unbothered, that made him want to keep talking.

“So, do you do this every day?” he asked, gesturing to her skates.

Y/N glanced down at them, as if she had forgotten she was even wearing them. “Most days. Helps me clear my head.”

Eric nodded, though he didn’t know what else to say. He hadn’t expected to run into her, and now that he had, he wasn’t sure where to take the conversation. But Y/N didn’t seem to mind the silence. She just sat there, watching the kids play in the fountain, her expression thoughtful.

“You really care about that place, don’t you?” she asked suddenly, catching Eric off guard.

He frowned. “What place?”

“MiMi’s,” she said, looking at him. “It’s not just a job to you. I can tell.”

Eric wasn’t sure how to respond to that. He hadn’t expected her to bring it up, especially not here, in the middle of the park. But the truth was, she was right. MiMi’s wasn’t just a job to him. It was part of his life. It had been for years.

“Yeah,” he said quietly. “I do.”

Y/N studied him for a moment, her expression unreadable. Then she let out a sigh, stretching her arms over her head as she stood up. “Well, good luck with it. I mean that.”

Eric blinked, surprised. “You… mean that?”

She smirked, giving him a playful look. “Don’t get me wrong, I still want to beat you guys. But it’s nothing personal.”

He stared at her, trying to process her words. She wanted to beat them, but it wasn’t personal? How could it not be personal?

Before he could respond, Y/N pushed off the fountain and started skating backward, giving him a quick salute. “See you around, MiMi’s.”

And with that, she skated off, leaving Eric standing by the fountain, more confused than ever.

For the rest of the day, Eric couldn’t get Y/N out of his head. Her words, her teasing smirk, the way she seemed to float through life without a care—it was all swirling around in his mind, distracting him from everything else. He found himself replaying their conversation over and over, wondering what she really meant.

“Eric, you okay?” Kevin’s voice broke through his thoughts as they both wiped down the tables before closing time.

Eric blinked, shaking his head as if to clear it. “Yeah. Just… thinking.”

Kevin grinned, leaning on his broom. “About that skater girl, huh?”

Eric shot him a look. “I told you, it’s not like that.”

“Sure it’s not.” Kevin’s grin only widened. “But seriously, you’ve been acting weird ever since you ran into her. What happened? Did she say something?”

Eric hesitated. He didn’t want to tell Kevin everything, especially not about the part where Y/N had wished him luck. It felt too personal, too complicated to explain. “Nothing important,” he said finally. “Just the usual.”

Kevin watched him for a moment, his grin fading into something more thoughtful. “You know… maybe it wouldn’t hurt to talk to her. Like, really talk to her.”

Eric frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, she’s obviously not the enemy,” Kevin said, shrugging. “Maybe if you stopped seeing her as the competition, you’d realize she’s just a person. A person who’s running a diner, just like you.”

Eric didn’t respond, but Kevin’s words stuck with him. Maybe he was right. Maybe this rivalry was more in Eric’s head than anything else. And maybe, just maybe, it was time to stop seeing Y/N as the enemy—and start seeing her as something else.

What that “something else” was, though, Eric wasn’t sure yet.

˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

The next few days passed slowly. Eric found himself slipping into a strange routine: wake up, go to MiMi’s, work a slow shift, and inevitably think about Y/N at some point during the day. Even though he tried not to, her words, her carefree smile, the way she seemed both competitive and friendly, stayed lodged in his mind.

Business wasn’t improving. MiMi had started adding more specials, offering discounts to try and bring customers back, but none of it seemed to work. It felt like they were trapped in a spiral, each day slower than the last.

“You’ve been quieter than usual,” MiMi remarked one afternoon as she refilled the sugar containers at the counter. “Everything okay?”

Eric wiped his hands on his apron, hesitating before answering. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just thinking.”

MiMi chuckled softly. “You think too much, Eric. Sometimes you’ve just got to let things be.”

He smiled at her, appreciating the sentiment, but he knew it wasn’t that simple. He couldn’t just “let things be” when MiMi’s Diner was at stake. He felt responsible. Like it was up to him to figure out how to turn things around. And no matter how much he tried to push it aside, Y/N kept coming back to his thoughts, almost like a challenge he couldn’t quite solve.

Kevin, as usual, noticed right away.

“You’ve got that look again,” Kevin teased as they worked side by side that evening. “The ‘I’m thinking about the enemy’ look.”

Eric rolled his eyes. “I’m not thinking about her.”

“Yeah, right. Look, man, it’s okay if you are. Just admit it—you’re curious. It’s human.”

Eric sighed, leaning against the counter as he looked out at the empty diner. “It’s not just that. She’s… I don’t know. She’s different than I expected. I thought she’d be all about trying to take us down, but she’s not like that. And now I can’t stop wondering what it would take to really beat her.”

Kevin’s eyebrows shot up. “Really? You think this is about beating her? You sure you’re not trying to figure out something else?”

Eric shot him a look. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Kevin grinned, shrugging. “I don’t know, man. I just think there’s more going on here than you’re willing to admit. Maybe she’s not the competition you think she is.”

Eric opened his mouth to respond, but before he could, MiMi appeared from the back, her face lined with worry. “We’ve got a problem,” she said, holding up a flyer.

Eric frowned, taking the paper from her hands. It was an advertisement for The Midnight Shake, plastered with bold, neon lettering and a list of new specials they were rolling out, including a new menu of shakes that promised to be “unlike anything you’ve ever tasted.”

“New shakes?” Eric muttered, feeling a knot tighten in his chest. It wasn’t just that Y/N made incredible milkshakes—it was that she had somehow managed to make them a central part of their rivalry. And now she was pushing even harder.

MiMi shook her head. “We can’t keep up with this. We’ve tried everything—new specials, discounts, but it’s not enough. If we don’t figure out something soon…”

Her words trailed off, but Eric didn’t need her to finish. He could feel the pressure building inside him, the weight of their dwindling business pressing down on him harder than ever.

He folded the flyer in half, shoving it into his apron pocket. “We’ll figure something out. We always do.”

˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

But the truth was, he wasn’t so sure.

It was later that week when Eric found himself wandering back through the park again. He hadn’t planned on it—it just sort of happened. The diner had been slow, his shift dragging by without any real distractions, and before he knew it, he was back at the place where he had first run into Y/N.

This time, though, he wasn’t caught off guard when he saw her.

She was skating again, weaving between people effortlessly, her neon outfit catching the sunlight and making her look like some kind of beacon. She hadn’t noticed him yet, but he found himself watching her again, his thoughts tangled in a mess of confusion.

Before he could decide what to do, she skidded to a stop by the fountain, just like before, and turned around—only this time, she saw him right away.

Her eyes narrowed, a smirk tugging at the corners of her mouth. “Back again, MiMi’s?”

Eric shoved his hands in his pockets, walking toward her but keeping a safe distance. “It’s a public park.”

She rolled her eyes, her smile widening. “You’ve got to stop using that excuse. You’re not very convincing.”

He shrugged, though his heart was beating faster than he wanted to admit. “Maybe I just like walking here.”

Y/N raised an eyebrow, pushing off the fountain and gliding closer to him. “Or maybe you’re just curious. Wondering how we keep beating you guys.”

Eric’s jaw tightened. “It’s not about that.”

“Sure it’s not.” She tilted her head, her smile teasing. “But I get it. You want to know what makes us special, right?”

He didn’t respond, but the look on his face must have given something away, because she laughed softly, shaking her head. “It’s not some big secret, you know. People like what they like. Maybe MiMi’s just… isn’t their thing anymore.”

Her words hit him harder than he expected, and for a moment, he felt that familiar surge of frustration. But then he remembered what Kevin had said—about seeing her as more than just the competition. And despite the teasing, there was something almost… sincere in her voice. Like she wasn’t trying to rub it in. Just stating a fact.

“Why do you care so much about beating us?” Eric asked suddenly, surprising even himself.

Y/N blinked, clearly taken aback by the question. She hesitated, skating in a small circle before answering. “I don’t know. I guess it’s not really about beating you guys. It’s just… I want to do well. You know?”

Eric nodded slowly, though he wasn’t sure he fully understood. Y/N wasn’t what he expected. She wasn’t just the enemy, the rival diner owner trying to take them down. She was someone who cared about what she did, just like he did.

But that didn’t change the fact that their businesses were in direct competition.

“So, what’s next?” he asked, trying to lighten the mood. “You guys rolling out new shakes or something?”

Y/N’s smile returned, this time with a hint of pride. “Actually, yeah. You’ll have to come by and try one sometime.”

Eric gave her a look. “You really think I’m going to set foot in your diner?”

She shrugged, turning to skate away. “You never know. Maybe one day you’ll be curious enough.”

˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

Back at MiMi’s, things were getting worse. The new shake specials had drawn even more customers away, and by the end of the week, they were barely scraping by. Eric could feel the weight of the situation every time he walked through the door. It was like a cloud that hung over the diner, growing heavier with each passing day.

MiMi wasn’t talking about it, but Eric could see the worry in her eyes every time she counted the register at the end of the day. Even Kevin had started to look more serious, his usual joking attitude replaced with something more somber.

One evening, after a particularly slow shift, MiMi pulled Eric aside as they were closing up. “I’ve been thinking,” she said quietly, her hands wringing together nervously. “Maybe it’s time to… consider some changes.”

Eric frowned. “What do you mean?”

MiMi hesitated, glancing around the empty diner before lowering her voice. “I’ve been thinking about selling.”

The words hit him like a punch to the gut. “Selling? You can’t be serious.”

She gave him a sad smile. “Eric, we can’t keep going like this. We’re losing money every day. If things don’t turn around soon, I’m going to have to close up shop.”

Eric felt a surge of panic. MiMi’s was more than just a diner to him—it was home. It was the place he had grown up in, the place where he had made countless memories. He couldn’t imagine life without it.

“There’s got to be another way,” he said, his voice more desperate than he intended. “We can’t give up.”

MiMi sighed, placing a hand on his shoulder. “I know you want to save this place, Eric. But sometimes… sometimes it’s out of our hands.”

Eric didn’t know what to say. He just stood there, the weight of her words sinking in, making everything feel even more impossible.

Eric didn’t sleep much that night. MiMi’s words echoed in his head, and every time he closed his eyes, he could see the neon lights of The Midnight Shake flashing like a warning. Selling? That idea gnawed at him, twisting his gut in knots. MiMi’s Diner was too important to just let go. He had to figure something out.

˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

The next morning, Eric dragged himself into the diner, trying to shake off the heavy feeling from the night before. As usual, Kevin was already there, his upbeat attitude grating in a way that usually wasn’t so bad.

“You look like you got run over by a truck,” Kevin said, pouring himself a cup of coffee. “Late night?”

Eric rubbed his eyes, sighing. “MiMi’s talking about selling.”

Kevin paused mid-sip, his expression sobering. “What? She can’t be serious.”

“Dead serious.” Eric grabbed a towel and wiped down the counter, trying to channel his frustration into something productive. “We’ve got to figure out how to turn this around.”

Kevin set his mug down, leaning against the counter. “Have you thought about… doing something drastic?”

Eric glanced at him, eyebrows raised. “Drastic like what?”

Kevin grinned, mischief dancing in his eyes. “You know… sabotage.”

“Sabotage?” Eric repeated, incredulous. “You can’t be serious.”

Kevin shrugged. “Why not? It’s not like they’re playing fair. They’ve been stealing our customers for weeks.”

Eric rolled his eyes. “We’re not stooping to that level, Kev.”

Kevin’s grin widened. “Fine, fine. But you can’t deny that it’d be fun.”

Eric shook his head, but couldn’t help the small smile tugging at his lips. Kevin was ridiculous, but at least he kept things from getting too heavy.

Their conversation was interrupted when MiMi walked in, her usual upbeat demeanor noticeably absent. She gave them both a tired smile, her eyes reflecting the strain of the last few weeks.

“We’re gonna get through this,” Eric said, more to convince himself than her.

MiMi smiled weakly, but didn’t say anything. She just busied herself with the morning routine, and for a moment, the diner fell into an uneasy silence.

˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

Days passed, and the tension between MiMi’s and The Midnight Shake only grew. Word about their rivalry was spreading around town, and customers were starting to take sides. Some were loyal to MiMi’s, citing nostalgia and history, while others raved about the “fresh energy” at The Midnight Shake.

It didn’t help that the rivalry had started spilling over into more than just business. Flyers from The Midnight Shake were mysteriously appearing in MiMi’s parking lot, and rumors were swirling that someone from their team had been badmouthing MiMi’s to customers.

Eric hadn’t set foot in The Midnight Shake again, but he didn’t need to. He could feel the tension in the air, almost like it was personal now. And maybe, in a way, it was. He couldn’t shake the feeling that Y/N was involved in some way, even if he didn’t have any proof.

˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

The next time Eric ran into Y/N, it wasn’t in the park. It was purely by accident, at a small grocery store on the edge of town. He had been reaching for a carton of strawberries when she appeared on the other side of the display, her neon jacket standing out like a beacon.

They both froze for a moment, eyes locking across the strawberries. Then Y/N smiled—though it wasn’t her usual teasing grin. It was more like a challenge.

“Well, well, well,” she said, crossing her arms. “Fancy seeing you here.”

Eric raised an eyebrow. “I could say the same.”

She tilted her head, her eyes glinting with amusement. “You buying ingredients to make your shakes better?”

Eric didn’t bite, though part of him wanted to. “Maybe I just like strawberries.”

“Sure,” she said, though the teasing lilt was back in her voice. “You should try one of ours sometime.”

He placed the carton of strawberries in his basket, ignoring her suggestion. “No thanks. I’m not a fan of your diner.”

Y/N chuckled softly, her eyes sparkling with something he couldn’t quite place. “I could’ve guessed that.”

The exchange was casual enough, but there was an underlying tension that Eric couldn’t ignore. Every time they spoke, it felt like they were circling around something—something neither of them was quite willing to say out loud. Maybe it was the rivalry. Or maybe it was something else entirely.

“What’s it like over there?” Eric found himself asking before he could stop himself.

Y/N raised an eyebrow. “Over where?”

“The Midnight Shake. What’s it like running the place?”

She hesitated for a moment, like she hadn’t expected the question. Then she shrugged. “It’s busy. Chaotic, most days. But it’s fun.”

Eric nodded slowly, though he wasn’t sure what he had been expecting her to say. “And the rivalry? Is that fun, too?”

Y/N’s smile faded slightly, and for a moment, something like regret flashed across her face. But it was gone as quickly as it had appeared, replaced by her usual smirk. “What can I say? I like a good challenge.”

Eric didn’t respond, but his mind was spinning with questions he didn’t have the courage to ask. There was more to Y/N than he had realized, and he couldn’t shake the feeling that their rivalry was more complicated than just business.

As they parted ways, Eric couldn’t help but feel like something was shifting. The tension between MiMi’s and The Midnight Shake wasn’t going away anytime soon, but there was something else simmering beneath the surface. Something he wasn’t quite ready to face yet.

˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

Back at MiMi’s, the rivalry only continued to escalate. Flyers and rumors were one thing, but it didn’t take long for things to get more direct. One afternoon, a customer came into MiMi’s, their voice low as they leaned over the counter.

“You hear about what they’re saying at The Midnight Shake?” the man asked, his tone conspiratorial.

Eric frowned. “What do you mean?”

The man lowered his voice even more. “They’re saying MiMi’s is on its last legs. That it’s only a matter of time before you guys shut down for good.”

A surge of anger flared in Eric’s chest, but he forced himself to stay calm. “Thanks for the heads-up.”

The man nodded, tossing a few dollars on the counter before heading out. As soon as the door closed behind him, Kevin appeared at Eric’s side, his expression serious for once.

“Did you hear that?” Kevin asked, his voice tight with frustration.

Eric nodded, gritting his teeth. “Yeah. I heard.”

“They’re spreading lies about us now? That’s low, even for them.”

Eric’s jaw clenched as he thought back to his conversation with Y/N. Could she really be behind this? He had started to think there was more to her than just the competition, but now… now he wasn’t so sure.

Kevin punched his palm, clearly itching for a fight. “We should do something about this.”

Eric shook his head. “We’re not going to stoop to their level.”

Kevin threw his hands up in frustration. “Then what are we going to do, Eric? Just sit here and let them run us into the ground?”

Eric didn’t have an answer. All he knew was that the rivalry was growing uglier by the day, and if they didn’t figure out a way to turn things around soon, MiMi’s might not survive.

˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

The following days at MiMi’s Diner felt like they were running on borrowed time. The rivalry between the two diners was at an all-time high, with rumors flying, subtle sabotage at play, and tensions running hot. Kevin’s attempts to keep things upbeat were faltering, and even MiMi was starting to lose the spark that once defined her.

Eric had kept his distance from The Midnight Shake, trying to focus on helping MiMi’s survive. But it was impossible to ignore the lingering thoughts of Y/N. He wanted to believe she wasn’t the type to spread lies or play dirty, but every day there were new rumors—new hits to MiMi’s reputation that seemed to come directly from their rivals.

On the fifth day, Eric was in the middle of prepping tables for the evening shift when MiMi stepped out from the back, holding a letter in her hand. Her face was pale, her hands shaking slightly.

“We’ve got trouble,” she said quietly, handing the letter to Eric.

He took it, unfolding the paper to reveal an official notice. MiMi’s was being sued by The Midnight Shake for defamation. The letter claimed that MiMi’s had been spreading false information about their business practices, accusing them of theft and underhanded tactics. It was a legal nightmare.

Eric’s stomach sank. “This can’t be real…”

MiMi nodded slowly. “I wish it weren’t. But they’ve got a case. Someone’s been spreading rumors about them, and they’re pinning it on us.”

Kevin stormed over, looking furious. “They can’t do this! We haven’t spread any rumors—if anything, they’ve been doing it to us!”

Eric clenched the letter in his hand. “We need to talk to them. To Y/N.”

Later that evening, Eric found himself standing outside The Midnight Shake, the neon lights casting an eerie glow on the sidewalk. His heart was pounding as he pushed open the door, stepping into enemy territory for the second time.

The diner was packed, but amidst the crowd, he spotted Y/N behind the counter, pouring strawberry milkshakes with practiced ease. She looked up, and their eyes met across the room. There was a flicker of surprise in her gaze, but she quickly masked it with her usual smirk.

Eric approached the counter, his anger barely contained. “We need to talk.”

Y/N raised an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything, motioning for him to follow her into the back.

Once they were out of earshot of the customers, Y/N crossed her arms, leaning against the wall. “What’s this about?”

Eric handed her the letter, his voice tight with frustration. “Your diner is suing us.”

Y/N unfolded the paper, her expression unreadable as she scanned the contents. “I didn’t know about this.”

Eric crossed his arms, trying to control his anger. “Didn’t know? Your diner is accusing us of spreading rumors and defamation. You’re ruining MiMi’s.”

Y/N met his gaze, and for a moment, something vulnerable flashed in her eyes. “Eric, I swear, this isn’t what I wanted. I didn’t want it to go this far.”

“Then why didn’t you stop it?” Eric asked, his voice sharper than he intended. “You’ve been playing this rivalry game for weeks. You’ve been part of this—fueling the tension, the competition.”

Y/N sighed, running a hand through her hair. “I never thought it would get like this. It was just supposed to be business, you know? A bit of fun competition. But… I guess it spiraled out of control.”

Eric studied her, searching for any sign of deception. But for the first time since they’d met, Y/N looked genuinely conflicted, like she hadn’t meant for things to go this far.

“I don’t know if I can fix this,” she admitted, her voice quiet. “The owner… she’s not someone who backs down easily. Once she smells blood in the water, she goes for the kill.”

Eric shook his head, his frustration mixing with disappointment. “This isn’t just a game, Y/N. MiMi’s is like family to me. If we lose the diner, it’s over for us.”

Y/N bit her lip, clearly wrestling with her thoughts. “Maybe… maybe there’s something we can do. Together.”

Eric frowned. “What do you mean?”

She straightened up, her expression determined. “I’ll talk to the owner. I’ll convince her to drop the lawsuit. But in return… we need to make peace between the diners. End the rivalry for good.”

Eric’s heart raced at the idea. “And what if it doesn’t work?”

Y/N’s eyes softened slightly as she met his gaze. “It has to work. For both of us.”

˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

The next few days were tense, but Y/N stayed true to her word. She spoke with her boss, negotiating behind the scenes to drop the lawsuit and repair the damage that had been done between the two diners. Meanwhile, Eric worked to keep MiMi’s running, doing everything in his power to keep customers coming in.

It wasn’t easy. But slowly, things began to shift.

One evening, Y/N walked into MiMi’s for the first time since their rivalry had started. She didn’t wear her usual bright neon jacket or rollerblades. Instead, she looked almost subdued, a quiet determination in her eyes as she approached the counter where Eric was standing.

“Truce?” she asked, offering a small smile.

Eric studied her for a moment before nodding. “Truce.”

There was a long pause between them, the weight of the rivalry still lingering in the air. But something else had shifted, too—something unspoken, simmering beneath the surface.

“I’m sorry,” Y/N said quietly. “For everything. I never wanted things to get so out of hand.”

Eric’s expression softened, his anger fading. “I’m sorry too. I guess I let it get personal.”

Y/N smiled, a genuine smile this time. “Well, we did start off as enemies.”

“Maybe we don’t have to stay that way,” Eric said, his voice softer than he expected.

Y/N looked at him, her eyes searching his. “Maybe not.”

˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

The rivalry between MiMi’s and The Midnight Shake wasn’t completely over, but it had changed. It was no longer about tearing each other down—it was about healthy competition. And through it all, Eric and Y/N found themselves growing closer, their animosity giving way to something neither of them had expected.

Maybe, just maybe, their story was only beginning. It had become routine—at least, it felt like it. Most evenings, when their shifts ended, Y/N would lace up her skates and glide around the block. Sometimes, she’d spot Eric leaning against a nearby lamppost, his arms crossed, a smug smile playing on his lips.

She tried to act annoyed when he popped up, but truthfully, she’d grown accustomed to the sight of him. He was always there, waiting to walk her home or invite her out for coffee.

Tonight was no different. Y/N spotted him from across the street, and before she could tell him to leave, he was already walking toward her with a familiar ease.

“You’re getting predictable,” Y/N teased, pushing herself forward on her skates.

“Is that a bad thing?” Eric asked, falling in step beside her.

She shrugged playfully. “Depends.”

“On what?” Eric glanced at her, his eyes twinkling with amusement.

“On whether or not you’re buying the coffee this time,” Y/N smirked.

Eric chuckled. “I think I can manage that.”

They wandered through the dimly lit streets, the evening air crisp as they sipped their drinks. Y/N was keenly aware of how natural it felt—this strange routine of theirs. The banter wasn’t quite as sharp as before, and though she’d never admit it out loud, she was beginning to enjoy his company.

As they reached the small park near her home, Eric slowed down, staring at the ground as if he was deep in thought.

“What’s on your mind, Sohn?” Y/N asked, noticing his sudden silence.

“I’ve been thinking,” he began slowly, his voice soft, “about how much time we’ve been spending together.”

Y/N felt her heart skip a beat. “What about it?”

“I don’t know… I guess I never thought we’d get along. Not after how things started.” He smiled at her, a little sheepishly this time, without his usual cocky edge.

Y/N stopped skating, turning to face him fully. “Yeah, well, I didn’t think I’d ever tolerate you either,” she admitted with a smirk, trying to lighten the moment. “But here we are.”

They shared a brief laugh, but it quickly faded into a comfortable quiet. Y/N wasn’t sure when it happened—when the annoyance she felt toward Eric melted into something warmer, softer. Maybe it had been gradual, over the course of their accidental meet-ups. Maybe it was the way he’d become more thoughtful, less insufferable. Either way, she didn’t hate him anymore.

˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

Days passed, and soon, what began as a nightly tradition of walking home together grew into something more. Their conversations were no longer filled with competition or sarcasm; instead, they talked about their lives, their dreams, and the things they cared about beyond their rival diners.

One Friday, after work, Eric showed up outside The Midnight Shake, hands in his pockets, waiting for her like always. But tonight, there was something different in his demeanor.

“You’re here again?” Y/N teased, stepping out of the diner, wiping her hands on her apron.

“Surprised?” Eric quipped, flashing that familiar grin.

“Not at all. You’ve been here more than my regulars,” she joked, her voice laced with something lighter than the irritation she used to feel around him.

He glanced up at the sky, then back at her, his expression thoughtful. “I was thinking… how about we go somewhere different tonight?”

Y/N raised an eyebrow, curiosity piqued. “Different?”

“Yeah. There’s a new place that just opened downtown. Thought maybe we could check it out,” he suggested casually, but there was a flicker of nervousness in his eyes.

Y/N hesitated, but the idea of spending more time with him—even outside of their usual routine—was strangely appealing. “Sure, why not?”

The restaurant was quaint, nestled in the heart of downtown, far from their diners and the usual rivalry they were used to. It was dimly lit, with fairy lights strung across the ceiling, casting a warm glow over the tables. They found a booth near the back, and as they sat down, Y/N realized something she hadn’t before: this felt suspiciously like a date.

They ordered dinner, and the conversation flowed easily, like it always did these days. They laughed about work, shared stories about their childhoods, and talked about their favorite things—things they hadn’t thought to share before. But as the night went on, Y/N found herself growing more aware of the way Eric looked at her. His gaze wasn’t challenging or competitive like it used to be. It was… soft.

It wasn’t until the waiter brought them the check that Y/N froze, the realization hitting her like a ton of bricks. This wasn’t just two people hanging out. This was a date.

And judging by the way Eric was smiling at her, he realized it too.

˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

The next morning, Y/N entered The Midnight Shake with a sense of unease. Last night had been… something. Something unexpected, and something she wasn’t quite ready to admit to herself. But as soon as she stepped behind the counter, her unease grew tenfold—because sitting in one of the booths was Kevin, grinning at her like the cat who’d caught the canary.

“Morning, Y/N!” Kevin called out, far too cheerful for this early in the day.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, trying to hide her confusion as she adjusted her apron.

“Oh, you know, just grabbing a shake before my shift at MiMi’s,” Kevin said nonchalantly. But then he leaned forward, his eyes twinkling with mischief. “So, how was your date last night?”

Y/N blinked, her heart skipping a beat. “It wasn’t a date,” she said quickly, too quickly.

Kevin raised an eyebrow, leaning back in his seat. “Really? Because that’s not what I heard. Eric wouldn’t stop talking about it this morning.”

Y/N felt her face heat up. “He… he did?”

“Yup. And I gotta say, he looked pretty happy about it.”

She swallowed hard, unsure of what to say. Kevin wasn’t one to let things go, and she knew that if she didn’t leave this conversation soon, he’d start prying even more.

“I’ve got work to do,” Y/N muttered, grabbing a tray and heading to the back.

But even as she busied herself with the orders, Kevin’s words echoed in her mind. Eric wouldn’t stop talking about it. Maybe it had been a date, after all.

˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

A few days passed, and while Y/N couldn’t shake the feeling that something had shifted between her and Eric, she tried to ignore it. She had bigger things to worry about—like her mom, who had been asking more and more questions about where she’d been spending her free time.

It wasn’t until one particularly busy evening at The Midnight Shake that everything came crashing down.

Y/N was in the middle of making a strawberry milkshake when her mom walked into the kitchen, her arms crossed and a stern expression on her face.

“We need to talk,” her mom said, her tone leaving no room for argument.

Y/N set down the blender, turning to face her. “About what?”

“About Eric,” her mom said bluntly.

Y/N’s stomach dropped. “Eric?”

“Don’t play dumb, Y/N. I’ve seen you two together. I know he works at MiMi’s. And I know that you’ve been spending a lot of time with him lately.”

Y/N’s heart pounded in her chest. “Mom, it’s not—”

Her mom held up a hand, silencing her. “I don’t care if he’s a nice guy. I don’t care if he’s the sweetest boy in the world. He works for our competition. And you know how I feel about MiMi’s.”

Y/N felt a lump form in her throat. She had known this conversation was coming, but that didn’t make it any easier.

“I… I really like him,” Y/N admitted, her voice barely above a whisper. “And I know you don’t like MiMi’s, but Eric isn’t just a rival. He’s… he’s different.”

Her mom’s expression softened slightly, but she still looked conflicted. “Y/N, I don’t want you getting hurt. The rivalry between our diners is more than just business—it’s personal. You know that.”

“I know,” Y/N said quickly, “but this isn’t about the diners. It’s about me and Eric. And I need you to trust me on this.”

There was a long pause as her mom considered her words. Finally, she sighed, her shoulders relaxing. “If you really care about him, I won’t stand in your way. But you better make sure he’s worth it.”

Y/N felt a wave of relief wash over her. “He is, Mom. I promise.”

˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

The next time Y/N saw Eric, she didn’t hesitate. She found him at MiMi’s, leaning against the counter like he always did, and without thinking, she marched up to him.

“We need to talk,” she said, her voice steady.

Eric raised an eyebrow, clearly surprised by her sudden assertiveness. “About what?”

“About us.”

Eric blinked, setting down the order he was working on. “Us?”

Y/N nodded, her heart pounding in her chest. “Yeah. I’ve been thinking… about everything. About how much time we’ve spent together. About how much I’ve grown to care about you.”

Eric’s expression softened, and he stepped closer, his eyes locked on hers. “Y/N…”

“And I realized something,” Y/N continued, her voice barely above a whisper. “We’ve been going on dates this whole time. Haven’t we?”

Eric smiled, reaching out to take her hand. “Yeah. We have.”

Y/N took a deep breath, her heart swelling with emotion. “So, let’s make it official. Eric… will you be my boyfriend?”

Eric’s eyes lit up, and without hesitation, he pulled her into a tight hug. “I thought you’d never ask.”

As they stood there, wrapped in each other’s arms, Y/N couldn’t help but smile. The rivalry between their diners might never end, but at least they had found something worth fighting for—each other.

˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚

A/N: I’m on a writing streak, so sangyeon’s part will be out at the end of the week.

＼（＾▽＾）／

Taglist: @deoboyznet @a-dream-bookmark

[catdotjpeg]

Around 100 Jewish American and allied activists were arrested in New York City Wednesday after they blocked President Joe Biden's motorcade route to protest U.S. complicity in Israel's genocidal war against the Palestinian people and to demand an immediate Gaza cease-fire. The group Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) led the Upper East Side demonstration, during which activists sat down in the intersection of Fifth Avenue and 82nd Street, where the president was attending a nearby fundraiser. "As Jewish New Yorkers we want to make crystal clear that President Biden is not welcome in our city while he continues to fund and arm the Israeli government's genocide of Palestinians in Gaza," said JVP's Jay Saper.

JVP activist Maya Edery noted that this is Biden's first visit to New York since the October 7 Hamas-led attacks on Israel. "Instead of answering to the majority of his base that is calling for a cease-fire, he is meeting with corporate donors behind closed doors," Edery said. Biden's staunch support for Israel—which includes asking for an additional $14.3 billion in U.S. military aid atop the nearly $4 billion the country already receives from Washington and repeatedly bypassing Congress to expedite armed assistance to the key ally—has prompted many activists to call him "Genocide Joe." The president has also come under fire for casting doubt on the number of Palestinians killed and wounded by Israeli forces.

As JVP noted:

The Israeli military has killed over 27,000 Palestinians in Gaza, over 11,000 of whom were children, in four months of bombing and military assault. Gaza has been made uninhabitable by design, with Israeli airstrikes destroying 70% of infrastructure, including hospitals, universities, and the electricity and water grids. Nearly 2 million people have been forced to flee their homes; 1.9 million are sheltering in the southern city of Rafah, where the Israeli military has lately launched airstrikes.

"Biden says that he is funding and arming Israel for Jewish safety. We're here to call his bluff," said JVP's Eve Feldberg. "The president is advancing the U.S.' own military interests."

-- From "100 Jewish Cease-Fire Supporters Arrested Blocking Biden's NYC Motorcade Route" by Brett Wilkins for Common Dreams, 7 Feb 2024

[myveryownfanfiction]

18+ MINORS AND THOSE WITHOUT AGE IN BIO DNI

tags: @illiana-mystery, @iobsessoverfictionalmen, @cassieuncaged

warnings: none

AN: Happy 82nd birthday Harrison ford! ❤️

I leaned against the doorframe to Indianas classroom. He glanced over at me and smiled before turning back to his students taking a test. I slowly entered the room and leaned against the wall. He shook his head and ducked his head as I blew him a kiss. The bell rang and he tried to talk over the noise as the students walked past his desk, papers spilling over it. I walked over and started to shuffle them together as the last student left the room.

“Midterm?” I asked. Indy nodded. “They seems to be working down to the wire. You don’t go easy on them do you?” Indiana laughed and took the papers from me.

“I’m also not too hard on them. They were given an option of writing an essay for extra credit. That’s what they were working on. Not that any of them really need it.” He shrugged as he shoved the papers into his briefcase.

“so now that that’s done, anything special planned for your birthday professor?” I asked, batting my eyes at him. Indiana rolled his eyes and threw his arm over my shoulders. We walked out of his classroom and down the hall, saying hello to a few students that walked past us.

“I have plans to go out with my wonderful partner tonight. They apparently have something planned and won’t tell me what it is.” He teased. I squeezed his waist and laughed.

“yeah. And there’s a good reason for that. It’s called a surprise for a reason.” I shot back. Indiana laughed before pushing the doors open and heading out onto the grounds. We made our way to his car and headed to my house. “Remember, I’ll meet you at your house at 5 for dinner and then we’ll come back to mine.” I said, leaning in the drivers window. Indiana nodded.

“You keep reminding me.” He said, smiling at me as I ran my hand over his stubble. “I love you.” He whispered, letting me pull him in for a sweet kiss.

“I love you too.” I whispered back, moving to stand on the curb. “I’ll see you soon!” I called as he pulled away. Turning back around, I hurried into my house and smiled as I saw Marcus and sallah decorating the house. “Oh good!” Sallah came over to hug me as he let go of the last balloon. “You’re nearly done!”

“for a second I thought he might come into the house.” Marcus sighed. I laughed.

“nah.” I waved him off. “It’s Indy. He’s gonna be a gentleman through and through.” Marcus rolled his eyes and went to hang some streamers.

“so how are you going to keep this a surprise from him?” Sallah asked. I winked at him and tapped the side of my nose, making sallah laugh.

“you underestimate me sallah.” I said before heading into my room to change. I entered the living room and smiled. “You two knocked it out of the park!” I exclaimed, clapping my hands together. Sallah bowed and Marcus blushed.

“guests will be arriving just after you leave. So give or take ten minutes.” Marcus said. “And it’s going to take you about that long to get to his house.”

“thanks for all your help.” I said as I hugged both of them before heading out. It was a quiet walk to indianas house. He kissed me when he opened his door, ushering me over to his car and heading over to the restaurant. “So what do you really want for your birthday Indiana?” I asked as we sat across from each other.

“just a quiet night with you.” He sighed. “With everything going the way it had lately, just being home with you is enough this year.” I smiled sympathetically at him.

“you still getting those calls from the government?” I asked. Indiana shook his head.

“not for the last couple weeks.” He admitted. I nodded and watched as the waiter brought over the check. “I know. I know.” He chuckled, holding his hands up. “I don’t like it but fine. You pay for my birthday dinner.” I nodded with a smirk and put down the money with a big tip. We headed out to the car, Indiana draping his jacket over my shoulders when he noticed me shiver. Indiana kissed my hand as we neared my street.

“I think you’re going to enjoy tonight.” I said. He smiled at me and raised his eyebrows.

“really?” He asked. I nodded. Indiana looped my arm through his as we neared my door. I opened it and tried to bite back my smile as I turned on the lights.

“surprise!” Everyone yelled as they popped out of their hiding places. Indianas eyes went wide before he looked over at me with a smile.

“happy birthday baby.” I said, leaning over to kiss his cheek before pushing into the waiting crowd.