#Astrid is just trying to get to class

[fancyfeathers]

With the bat family daughter darling, did she already go to the same Gotham rich kid academy or did Bruce have her transfer there?

Referencing this post

Nope, her mom left Gotham before she was born traveled for work so she went with her so essentially she grew up around the world with maybe one or two homes in some place like New York or Singapore where they would stay for longer periods (1-3 months) when not traveling, with a tutor/governess teaching her. Like when her mother was originally engaged to Bruce he was more wealthy than her but she certainly has quite a bit of money to her name, like think Astrid Leong from Crazy Rich Asians, like the the first scene we see her in she buys earrings in Shanghai that cost 1.2 million (at cost), she has money.

Now I think Bruce would want her to attend a private academy, especially with Damian (despite the fact that she is terrified of him, it’s good sibling bonding). Now this could go one of two ways, she wants to go or she does not.

The first of two is if she might not be the best behaved and school would be her only way of socializing with other people her age, she is in a different class than Damian since he’d probably be older than her so he is not there to watch her every move throughout the day despite how much he would try to.

The other way is that she would not want to go to school there, like I mentioned earlier her and her mom had houses in New York and Singapore and while NYC isn’t too far away from Gotham, Singapore is and she has friends in both places and if she went to regular school it would be harder for her to see them when their own families were in town for business or if some good grace allowed it, being able to go back to see them.

Now the second option is very much less unlikely unless there is some serious good behavior from both of the darlings, mother and daughter. Bruce could certainly be convinced, especially after seeing his little girl’s wide smile when she finally gets to see her friends at the wedding of her parents.

Now her brothers certainly would not be happy, namely, and in order of how upset they would be, Damian, Dick, and Tim (Jason would not care enough that it would be a major issue for him).

Damian is very much that scary big brother that scares everyone away, there is no way he can look after her if she is with a bunch of people he’s never met besides maybe once or twice tops.

Dick is clingy, he doesn’t think his baby sister old enough to have friends outside of her family (ignoring the fact that she was raised by her mom and these are the kids she grew up with), he knows she doesn’t like his company much but to see her actually enjoy herself around people he does not know, it gets under his skin.

Then Tim, he has looked into everything about both of their darlings, he knows all about her friends, he knows those friends’ parents are friends of her mother, he knows of those parents and their sketchy business deals that come with most other socialite circles, and Tim certainly does not approve of them because children could turn into into their parents, he just doesn’t like the way it sits with him.

So while Mother!Darling tries to convince Bruce of allowing her to homeschool Daughter!Darling, the little girl is in the other room playing, pretending her old friends are with her.

[finelinefae]

semi-finals [tennisplayer!harry x tennisplayer!y/n]

synopsis: y/n gets distracted and harry just wants the girl he likes to like him back

word count: 10.7k

contains: fluff, angst, enemies to lovers, set at a boarding school, slow burn, angst, tennis rivals, strict parents, first kiss(es), jealous!h, jealous!yn, inaccurate height of certain characters who may actually be taller in real life but this is an au so it's fine, a crazy confession but not really bc we all saw it coming

this is part 3 of the game! read part 2 here

. . .

Y/N watched him from across the room, studying the way people walked up to him as though he was some kind of celebrity. He smiled and laughed but it didn’t reach his eyes, not in the way it did when they were together. 

But it wasn’t his charismatic smile and booming laugh that constantly grabbed her attention when she was trying to listen to Sarah’s story about the cat her parents had fostered back home. It was the blonde girl beside him, the one who hadn’t left his side for the entire night, who laughed along with him and stole glances whenever he wasn’t looking. 

Her opponent for the next tournament that was now a month away. 

Astrid Anderson had once been a student at Crestwood. They’d all been in the same infant class together and every boy in their year group was obsessed with her. Harry and Astrid hadn’t started dating until the year before Harry left for Australia. They were the ‘It’ couple of Crestwood, everyone treated them as though they were some kind of celebrity couple. 

All that lasted until Harry had to leave for Australia. He broke things off and then Astrid moved to Trinity Academy which was Crestwood’s biggest rival in most competitive areas. Y/N didn’t know or care what Astrid had gotten up to since she left school. There was no bitterness between them but they both knew they weren’t the type of people to share the same social circle. Whilst Astrid cared more about her social life, Y/N was completely focused on academics and there was nothing wrong with either of those things but it didn’t give them much to talk about. 

“Right Y/N?” Sarah asked, her head whipping around in her direction only to realise she had no idea what she was talking about. 

“Right,” Y/N nodded, having no clue as to what she was agreeing with. 

Adam held back a smile as he sat on the couch across from her, “Mitch, come get a drink with me,” Sarah stood up, tugging the hem of her skirt down, “I need you to push past all the tall people.”

Mitch, all five foot eight inches of him, rose from his place beside Jake on the couch with a self-satisfied stretch, as if flaunting his height as proof that his girlfriend needed him. "Coming, babe," he declared, a hint of smugness in his voice.  Everyone laughed as Mitch winked, following behind Sarah through the crowds of dancing bodies. 

Y/N glanced over at Harry who was now standing with his back to her, talking to Astrid with his hand propped up against the refrigerator. “If you’re not careful, you’ll burn holes into his back,” Adam spoke from beside her. 

“That’s the idea,” Y/N murmured. 

“Hm, I thought you didn’t like him?” Adam asked the question causing her to turn and face him. 

“I don’t,” She answers immediately but the words are like metal on her tongue, “I-I mean I-” 

Adam’s lips curve into a knowing smirk, “I see,”

Y/N wanted to protest but found herself unable to muster the words. Her mouth seemed to glue itself shut as she attempted to argue against Adam’s assumption that she liked Harry even a little bit. Her emotions had been all over the place ever since she asked Harry to coach her. He seemed to bring out a part of her she didn’t even know she had. One moment she was angry, the next she was laughing, and sometimes her heart would beat so hard against her chest that she felt like it was trying to leap out and walk right into the palm of his hand.

She couldn’t comprehend how the wires in her brain had seemingly rewired themselves, transitioning from loathing someone to now seeing visions of them before she drifted off to sleep. It both frightened and excited her, this inexplicable shift in her feelings consuming her thoughts and diverting her attention from the actual game - a game that had never required feelings before. 

“We both agreed on not seeing anyone if this was to work out,” She confessed.

“Did he make that rule or you?” Adam quirked a brow.

“It was a mutual agreement I guess,” Y/N shrugged. 

Adam nodded slowly, his eyes darting to and from Harry. “C’mere,” He motioned with his finger. Y/N leaned in at the same time as he did, until they were only inches a part from each other, “Laugh,” He says.

“What?” Y/N questioned. 

“Trust me, just laugh.” Adam glanced over her shoulder again before smiling. 

Y/N hesitated for a moment before complying, a hesitant laugh escaping her lips to which Adam joined in. The more he laughed, the more she laughed with him until he stopped, “Uh oh,” He smirked, leaning forward and grabbing his drink from the coffee table, “Looks like you started something now.” He motions his head behind her and Y/N turns to find Harry no longer with Astrid but striding towards them, anger radiating from him. 

“Adam, what did you do?” Y/N exclaimed, sitting on the edge of the couch as Harry approached them. 

His eyes were darkened, his jaw tense, “Y/N,” He said her name over the music, “Can I talk to you?” Each word was tense as he spoke them like he was trying to control himself. 

Maybe it was the bit of alcohol she’d had that was taking over her senses but she felt a sudden boost of confidence. Y/N folded her arms, “Ask me again,” She smirked. 

Harry scoffed, “Can I talk to you?”

Y/N’s expression was smug as she spoke the next word carefully, “Again,”

Harry’s jaw tightened, gritting his teeth he spoke again just as she asked, “Can I talk to you, please?”

Adam snorted beside her and Y/N’s lips curved, “Okay,” She stood up, ignoring the way her head spun, and stumbled as she followed him down the hallways of his apartment to a room near the back right by the bathroom that people were queuing up to use. He stood in front of an unopened door and pulled out a key from his back pocket to unlock it. 

Stepping inside, Y/N glanced around the room and noticed how different it was from the rest of the apartment. It had calming blue walls and a simple bed with white sheets. A big window let in soft light, making it cosy. There were personal things like photos and an old music player. There were posters on the wall and pictures of his friends on the corkboard by the desk. On one of the shelves in the corner, she saw the trophies she had previously seen in boxes now displayed on his shelf. 

She smiled but it quickly disappeared as she faced an angry-looking Harry. “What are you playing at?” 

“What do you mean?” Y/N crossed her arms.

Harry's eyes narrowed, his frustration evident as he took a step closer to Y/N. "Don't play dumb with me, Y/N," his voice tinged with a raw edge. "You know exactly what I'm talking about. You and Adam? I thought we agreed not to date anybody?”

Y/N scoffed, “So did I until I saw you hanging around your ex-girlfriend who - might I add - is my opponent for the next game!”

Harry took a step forward and Y/N took one step back until she was backed up against his door. He placed one hand on the wall right by her head and hung his head to look down at her. Y/N’s breath hitched at how close he was, “Are you jealous?” He murmurs. 

“Jealous of who? You and your ex?” She emphasised the ‘ex’ like she was reminding him that Astrid was his ex-girlfriend. 

Harry's eyes flickered with a mixture of emotions, his lips curling into a knowing smirk. "You are, aren't you?" he murmured, his voice low and filled with a hint of amusement.

Y/N's heart pounded in her chest as she felt the heat of Harry's body so close to hers. She swallowed hard, refusing to let herself be intimidated by his proximity. "I'm not jealous," she insisted, her voice tinged with defiance.

Harry's smirk widened, his hand still resting against the wall beside her head. "Really?" he challenged, his breath warm against her cheek as he leaned in closer. “You don’t think I didn’t see you and those pretty eyes staring holes into the back of my head?”

Y/N rolled her eyes, her frustration evident. "You're more arrogant than I thought," she muttered under her breath.

"Do you like him?" Harry's question caught her off guard.

"I've already told you I don't," she replied, a hint of annoyance colouring her tone.

"You know it kills me?" Harry's voice softened, his expression pained. Y/N's confusion was clear as she waited for him to continue. "It kills me to see you with him, to see you with anybody but me. Especially when you laugh like that, I only want you to laugh like that with me."

"Well, unfortunately for you, you don't tell me what to do," Y/N shot back, her heart pounding against her chest.

"I thought I was your coach?" Harry smirked, attempting to lighten the mood.

"You're my coach, not my keeper. If I want to talk to Adam or laugh around him, I will. In fact, I'm going to," she declared, spinning around and pulling the door open, the noise from the party flooding her ears.

As she walked back into the living room, Y/N spotted Adam with Mitch, Sarah, Jake, and some others playing beer pong at the dining table. Adam's smile faltered when he noticed Harry behind her. "Hey, everything okay?" he asked, concern evident in his voice.

Y/N nodded determination in her eyes. "Can I play?"

"Sure, it's my round so you can be on my team if you want," Adam offered with a smile.

Y/N grinned. "Who are we playing?"

Suddenly, the boy she had been locked in the room with stood at the opposite end of the table. "Mind if I join?" Harry's question hung in the air, his eyes fixed on Y/N.

Y/N tried not to react as Astrid approached him, placing a manicured hand on his shoulder. "I'll be on your team, H," she said with a smile, and Y/N's jaw tensed at the sight.

Harry smirked, glancing at Y/N, “Alright then,” 

“You sure about this?” Adam asked.

“Mhm,” Y/N nodded, “It’s just…How do we play?”

Adam laughed which caught Harry’s attention as he spoke to Astrid, “Just follow my lead, you’ll get the idea.”

As the game started, Y/N sensed Harry was intentionally trying to make her jealous when he laughed and spoke to Astrid far too enthusiastically. But she refused to let it bother her the way he wanted it to. She focused on the game with Adam, watching as he tossed the ping pong ball into one of the cups.

She noticed Harry scowl whenever they got remotely close to each other, high-fiving or giving each other a hug whenever one of them managed to get the ball into a cup. It gave her a sense of satisfaction whenever she’d see his eyes narrow as Adam placed a hand on her elbow to help her aim the ball in the right direction. 

Towards the end of the game, Y/N could feel herself slowly starting to fall under the effects of the alcohol. She had only ever drunk alcohol at functions or dinner parties with her parents and now she was countless drinks in. Her brain was turning fuzzy, there was no thought behind her words whenever she spoke and every time she aimed the ball, it would fly off the table somewhere across the room. 

As Y/N took her last turn, she was already very drunk and she knew she'd feel bad about it in the morning. Even with her friends cheering her on, she struggled to focus. She aimed carefully at the last cup, but the ball bounced off the table and landed in a plant pot nearby.

"Oops," Y/N slurred, her lips curving into a drunken giggle. "Looks like it's my turn to drink."

Before Adam could reach her, she took a step forward, catching her foot on the table edge and tumbling to the floor. Y/N laughed as she lay flat on her back looking up at the ceiling, “Are you okay, Y/N?” Sarah’s voice called. 

"Are you alright?" Adam asked, helping her stand back up again.

"Whoa," Y/N said, putting a hand to her head as it started to pound.

"Okay, I think that's enough for you," Adam chuckled.

"Are you okay?" Harry appeared in her view. "Hey, look at me." He gently lifted her chin with his finger.

"I'm fine," Y/N swayed. "I'm really, really great."

"Yeah?" Harry smiled. "Your knee's bleeding."

Y/N's brows furrowed. "It is?" She looked down.

"Mhm, c'mon, let's go clean it up." He took her hand.

"Oh, but the game!" Y/N looked over her shoulder to see everyone returning to their own groups.

"The game's over, love," he sighed when he realized she wasn't going to take another step on her own. He threw her over his shoulder and carried her down the hallway to his room.

"Hey, quit calling me that!" she slurred, banging her fists against his back.

The noise from the party softened as Harry closed the door behind him. Y/N found herself on Harry's bed, her body bouncing lightly as he carefully laid her down. She gazed up at the ceiling, her legs dangling over the edge of the mattress.

Harry stumbled into his bathroom and dampened a cloth under the cold water before walking back to her. Y/N propped herself up as he approached, observing him closely as he knelt between her legs.

He gently took her calf in his hand, “Are you drunk?” Y/N asked. 

Harry chuckled, his cheeks flushed. "Just a bit," he admitted, a lazy grin spreading across his face. "Maybe more than a bit."

Y/N giggled, “Me too,” She confessed.

“I know that,” He chuckled, his hair falling in front of his face, “You play a mean game of beer pong.”

“If it weren’t for you I probably wouldn’t be so competitive,” Y/N admitted.

"But it was fun, right?" Harry's smile softened. “You like spending time with me?”

Y/N relaxed, her shoulders dropping, “I think…” She starts, her mind whirring, “Okay shhhhh,” She puts her finger to his lips and his lips pout automatically against them, “Don’t tell anyone this but everyday I wake up and I look forward to spending time with you.”

Harry smirks, “You do?” 

“But don’t tell anybody,” She insists.

“Okay,” He nods, “I won’t tell anybody.”

“How do I know you won’t tell anybody?” Y/N frowns. 

“Hmm,” Harry thinks, “How about I tell you something?”

Y/N nods, “Okay.”

Harry’s eyes look into hers, “No amount of time in the day is ever enough for me. I want to spend every moment of my days with you, every second of time and even more than that.” 

“Woah,” Y/N’s eyes widen, her hand resting on his shoulder, “That’s a lot of time.”

“And it’s still not enough,” Harry whispers, his head leaning closer to hers. The cloth slipped from her thigh, Harry’s cold fingers wrapping themselves around her ankle that was right by his knee as he knelt on the floor. 

“Harry,” Y/N murmurs, “Do you still love her?”

Harry shakes his head immediately, “No,” He says, “For someone so brilliantly smart how do you still not know?” 

“I’m not smart when it comes to people,” She whispers, “Or you. I think that’s why you frustrate me so much.”

“You frustrate me for an entirely different reason,” His hand lifts to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. She could feel his breath fanning her face, smelling the scent of alcohol. 

Her hands go to his shirt, scrunching the fabric into tight fists, “Tell me,” Her eyes flutter shut as his lips ghost over her cheek.

“Not today baby,” He says. 

“Y’ said it again,” Her lips curve, “You called me that in the car too.”

“You remember that?” 

“I remember everything,” 

As Harry parted his lips to reply, Y/N seized the moment, her hand darting to the back of his neck as she planted a quick peck on his lips. His eyes widened in surprise as she giggled, "Whoops."

Before she could fully retract her hand, Harry leaned in, closing the gap between them and pressing his lips to hers once more.

Y/N melted against him, feeling his lips merge with hers as he caught her bottom lip between his. Her eyes were closed and her senses were overwhelmed with the taste of alcohol and the scent of his aftershave. His lips were soft and everything about him was so warm. Every time she would try to catch her breath he would just steal the air right out of her as if she were his source of oxygen. 

They both pulled away. Y/N needed a moment before she could open her eyes again as she tried to regain her breath. When she did, green, hazy eyes looked into hers. Her lips curved before she spoke, “I haven’t kissed anyone like that before,” She admits.

"Really?" Harry asked, his voice tinged with surprise.

Y/N shook her head, her laughter bubbling up. "I mean, I kissed Jamie Keller once in the fourth year, but it wasn't a proper kiss."

Harry rolled his eyes, a hint of amusement in his expression. "Fucking Jamie Keller," he muttered.

Y/N laughed, unable to tear her eyes away from him. "Yeah," she murmured, "Fucking Jamie Keller."

Harry's fingers brushed against Y/N's cheek, “Do you think we’ll remember this in the morning?” He asked. 

Y/N couldn’t find an answer, instead, she brushed the curls in front of his eyes to the side and wondered just how much she had had to drink to end up in the one place she’d been trying to avoid. 

. . .

“Shit,” Y/N hissed, “This isn’t real.”

Her head was pounding like someone was hammering against her skull and her spine felt like she had been sleeping folded in half as she sat up straight in bed. She was in a room, a room she didn’t recognise and hoped it wasn’t just some random stranger’s. 

The last thing she remembered vividly was sitting on the couch with Adam and Harry standing somewhere across the room with Astrid, everything afterwards just seemed to blur all into nothing. 

It was her first time getting drunk and probably her last too from the awful state her body was in. She wanted nothing more than to shower and sleep in her own bed, eat foods high in sodium and drink gallons of water. 

Her heart leapt inside of her chest when she heard soft snores coming from somewhere in the room. She looked down and saw Harry curled up asleep on the floor, his arms wrapped around her ankle and holding it to his chest like a teddy bear.  

Y/N's heart swelled with a mixture of confusion and tenderness as she gazed down at Harry's sleeping form. She couldn't deny the warmth that spread through her at the sight of him, even if she couldn't quite understand how they had ended up in this situation.

Carefully extracting her ankle from his grasp, Y/N shifted to the edge of the bed, wincing as her head throbbed with each movement. She needed to get home. She had so much to do and prepare for now that her first game was over. She cursed herself as she tiptoed past Harry, not before grabbing a blanket to place over him as she walked to the door. 

Harry sighed, “You don’t remember do you?” 

Y/N frowned, wondering if he was talking in his sleep or actually asking her a question. She shrugged and pulled the door open, closing it softly behind her. 

Harry’s apartment was a mess. 

There were beer cans littered across the room and silly string on bits of furniture. She wondered whether or not she should stay to clear up but then remembered it was technically Mitch’s party which also made it his responsibility. 

She tried to spot someone who might have been able to offer her a lift home so she didn’t have to get the bus back to her dorm. Fortunately for her, Adam was lying on the couch asleep so she walked right over and gently shook him awake.

“Hey,” She whispered, “Sorry to wake you up,”

“Y/N?” Adam groaned, “I thought you went home,”

Y/N didn’t know why she was suddenly blushing but she replied, “Any chance you can give me a ride home?” She knew he had a car because he lived with his parents.

“I’ve been drinking,” He groans.

“Please?” She was desperate, “I know you only drank water for most of the night,”

He yawns, “Fine,” 

In the car ride back to her dorm, Y/N tried to recall the memories that had been missing from the previous night. She vaguely remembered playing beer pong and Harry playing alongside Astrid but the more she drank, the more her memory seemed to fade.

“You okay?” Adam asked, glancing over at her from the driver’s seat. 

“No, I can’t remember anything from last night,” Y/N groaned, running her hands over her face. 

Adam chuckles, “So you don’t remember falling over?”

Y/N’s eyes widened as she turned her head to look at him, “I fell?”

He nodded, “You tripped over the dining table when we were playing beer pong. Harry took you somewhere to fix up your knee,” 

Y/N looked down at her knee and frowned, “My knee?” She murmured, seeing the cut on her knee and the blood that had dried up around it. 

Seeing the cut on her knee must have triggered something in her brain because all of a sudden everything was beginning to piece together. 

Harry’s eyes look into hers, “No amount of time in the day is ever enough for me. I want to spend every moment of my days with you, every second of time and even more than that.” 

Harry's words echoed in her mind, sending a shiver down her spine. She could almost feel the warmth of his breath against her skin as he spoke those words and when he leaned and… 

“No fucking way,” Y/N blurted after everything came flooding back.

“Are you okay?” Adam looked at her concerned.

How could she possibly answer that? Was she okay? Clearly not, considering she had ended up in the bedroom of her longtime rival and kissed him.

She had kissed him.

And she had enjoyed it enough to want to kiss him again.

This wasn't good. It felt like she was breaking all the rules she had set for herself. Harry wasn't just any boy she went to school with; he was her coach, her rival, and someone she had known for years. He was the boy who used to tease her on the court, the one who always seemed to be one step ahead.

It must have been a drunken mistake. Y/N had no idea what she was like when she was drunk and clearly, she wasn’t the most sensible. It didn’t matter if things had suddenly changed between them, she couldn’t be with him, she wouldn’t allow herself to. Her focus was on winning that scholarship at the end of the school year where afterwards they’d be on two separate paths moving away from each other. 

Her feelings weren’t forever, tennis was. 

Thankfully, Adam had pulled into the front of her dorm building. She opened the door and leapt out of the car, “Thanks for the ride, Adam.” She tries to smile. 

“Hey Y/N,” Adam stops her, a look of concern on her face, “Are you okay?” He asks again and she realises she never answered him before.

She bit the inside of her cheek and gave him a tight-lipped smile, “I’m okay,” She lied and closed the door, spinning on her heel and walking to her dorm where she hoped she’d be alone so she could have time to work through her thoughts.

Even when she felt like she was winning, he always managed to one-up her, and this time was no different.

. . .

Y/N walked into school the Monday after the party at Harry’s house. 

When she returned back to her dorm, the first thing she did was shower and then spent the rest of the day wallowing in self pity and trying not to cry at the thought of kissing Harry. 

She had managed to go avoiding him the entire weekend and planned on doing the same today. He had sent her text messages asking her if she was okay but she’d ignored them, putting her notifications on silent like it was enough to trick her mind into believing nothing happened between them. 

Sarah had walked in on her hiding under her bed covers, watching episodes of Gilmore Girls and eating cold pizza. It was a sight she had never seen before which left her wondering if something had happened at the party but Y/N refused to tell. 

People congratulated Y/N in the hallways as she walked to her locker. She wasn’t used to getting attention from everybody. Most of the time, people didn’t really acknowledge her unless they needed help with their homework.

“Heyyy court queen,” Sarah beamed.

Y/N immediately shook her head, “Sarah, no,” she snorted, trying not to laugh.

“What?” Sarah frowned, “I’m trying to think up a catchy nickname so it catches on and people put it on merch and signs for your game.”

This time Y/N did laugh, “Are you trying to make money off of me?” She teased.

“No, of course not, I’m just being a supportive friend. You know my mother is designing a new clothing line? I can totally get her to design something for people to wear for your games.”

“Sarah,” Y/N put her hands on her friend’s shoulders, “I’ve won one game for a school competition. As much as I love you for it, I don’t need you to create merchandise or give me catchy nicknames.”

Sarah’s shoulders slumped, “I know, it’s just… You’re playing against Astrid Anderson. Not only is she popular at her new school, but she’s also still pretty popular here too. Jake told me he saw her volunteering at a homeless shelter, offering them invites to come to the semi-finals.”

Y/N rolled her eyes, “We’re playing tennis. It’s not a beauty pageant. Whatever happens, won’t be up to how many people turn up or what everybody’s wearing.”

“But don’t you think she’s trying to do it to throw you off?” Sarah asked, “I’m pretty sure she still has feelings for Harry. Isn’t that weird?”

“Weird?” Y/N replied quickly, “Why would it be weird?”

Sarah looked at her suspiciously, “Because she’s Harry’s ex-girlfriend? And your opponent for the next game and did I forget to mention Harry ‘your coach’s’ ex-girlfriend?”

“What Harry does outside of our training is none of my business,” Y/N cleared her throat.

“Did something happen between you two? At the party, Mitch said he saw you two go off somewhere and now you’re being weird,” Sarah questioned.

“Nothing happened, Harry was just being his usual, annoying self,” Y/N hoped she was convincing enough to drop the subject, but Sarah continued to look at her like she knew there was something she wasn’t saying.

Thankfully, the bell for the first period was a perfect interruption. Y/N slammed her locker shut, “I’ll see you later?”

Sarah nodded, “Lunch, right?”

Y/N froze, remembering that Harry was a member of their usual lunch group, “Um, I-I have tutoring.”

“What?” Sarah furrowed her brows, “I thought you tutored on Wednesdays?”

“Change of schedule?” Y/N blurted out, grasping for an excuse.

Sarah’s eyes narrowed, “Something very weird is happening… Are you pregnant?”

“Okay, love you so much, bye,” Y/N rushed, giving Sarah a quick hug before walking quickly past her to avoid blurting out any more hideous lies.

As she turned the corner, she accidentally bumped into someone, her shoulder colliding with theirs. Y/N looked up, and her heart was in her mouth when she saw Harry looking down at her, something flashed in his eyes, his lips parting the same way hers did as she finally laid eyes on him after ignoring him all weekend. He was wearing his blazer for once, but his tie was loose around his neck.

“Y/N,” he breathed.

Y/N’s eyes softened, she wanted to speak to him, but then her cheeks flushed as she remembered the night in his bedroom. “I-I-” Her throat felt like she’d swallowed cotton wool as she tried to get her words out, “I can’t.” She shook her head, walking past him and ignoring him calling her name.

. . .

Y/N had hoped by ignoring the things that were bothering her, everything would fix itself on its own. It was a bad habit she hadn’t learned to kick and the situation with Harry was no different. 

They hadn’t spoken a word about their kiss since it happened, in fact, they barely spoke about anything at all. Y/N had hoped Harry would go back to their usual back-and-forth arguments and forget about everything but whenever she tried to say something that would push his buttons, he’d just ignore her or use one-worded replies. 

During tennis practice, he’d barely even look at her when she asked him a question and stopped arguing with her when she wanted to do things differently from the way he worked. She was even beginning to think her friends had figured out that something had gone down between them from the way Harry would completely shut down whenever she opened her mouth to speak during lunch break, 

As much as she hated herself for it, she missed him. Missed the way they would argue over everything but smile at each other because they both knew it wasn’t serious, missed the way he calmed her down whenever she would get too passionate about something and the way he looked at her like she was the only person in the room. 

She had tried to forget the kiss but she went to sleep dreaming about it. Every time he got anywhere near her, thoughts of his lips on hers flashed through her mind like a showreel. His low, drunken mumble when he spoke to her outplayed the music in her ears whenever she tried to listen to the playlist he had made for her. 

Worst of all, it was affecting her gameplay. Y/N was pretty sure she had never seen such terrible volleys or groundstrokes in her entire life. Every time she would try to aim the ball, she’d get distracted by Harry wiping sweat from his brow or watching her so intensely when she wasn’t looking like he was trying to set her on fire with his own eyes. 

The game was two weeks away and the dream of winning that scholarship was slowly slipping out of her grasp with every passing day. 

It was the end of the week and Y/N was sitting in her dorm room, eating cereal at her desk with her pyjama bottoms and her school shirt on. She was finishing up the last few questions of her math homework when Sarah walked in. 

“I need to show you something,” Sarah dropped her bag on the floor and pulled out a newspaper. 

“What’s wrong?” Y/N frowned, taking the rolled-up paper in her hands and unrolling it on her desk. Y/N’s eyes widened, her mouth falling open when she took in the image before her. 

It was a blown up picture of her and Harry on the front cover of the school newspaper. Harry had one arm around her waist and they were both looking into each other’s eyes, a smile on his face and a surprised look on hers. 

To everyone else, it looked like the front cover of a Nicholas Sparks novel and it probably didn’t help that the title was written in big bold letters with the words ‘The coach and his student’. 

“What the fuck!” Y/N stood up, gripping the newspaper in her hands she thought it might rip apart. 

“I know,” Sarah cringed, “I had no idea they were going to do that, Y/N, if I did I would never have gotten Luke that interview.”

“Sarah, ‘The coach and his student’? What is this? The title of a porno?” Y/N couldn’t believe what she was seeing. “How many people have seen this already?”

Sarah didn’t answer until Y/N gave her a stern look, “Everybody,”

Y/N groaned and threw the newspaper in the trash can beneath her desk before sliding on her trainers and storming down the hallways of her dorm. 

“Wait where are you going?” Sarah ran after her. Y/N ignored her as well as the people whispering about her as they held copies of the newspaper in their hands. She made a beeline for the car park, her gaze drawn to the familiar sight of his black Audi parked in its usual spot. There he was, leaning casually against it, engaged in conversation with Mitch, Adam, and Jake.

Mitch’s head turned when he saw her pacing towards them, Sarah still running behind her. Harry’s attention shifted to her. She saw the flash of amusement on his face before it fell flat again. 

“Have you seen this?” She held the newspaper up in front of him.

Harry’s eyes darted to the newspaper before landing on her face again, “Yes.” He said the usual one-worded reply he had been giving her all week. 

“And you approved of it?” She could feel the anger bubbling beneath the surface of her skin. 

“No,” He replied, “But it doesn’t bother me as much as it bothers you it seems.”

“Of course, it would bother me!” Y/N exclaimed, “If I’d have known they would make it look like we were a-”

Harry stilled, his jaw clenching, “If we were a what?”

Y/N paused before answering, “A couple.” He seemed to react in a way she couldn’t put her finger on, “I would have never done that stupid interview in the first place.”

Harry scoffed, “Why does it bother you so much to like me?” 

“It doesn’t bother me,” It did but she wouldn’t tell him that.

“You haven’t talked to me since Mitch’s party,” Harry started but she cut him off before he could say anything else.

“There’s nothing to talk about,” She stressed.

“You and I both know that’s not true.” 

“Harry you’re being ridiculous,”

“Says the girl who ran out here in her pyjama pants,” He quips.

Y/N looked down to realise she was, in fact, still in her pyjama bottoms. She glanced around at her friend’s who quickly looked away to act as though they weren’t all watching their argument like it was some kind of reality TV show moment. 

Harry’s shoulders dropped and he let out a sigh. He reached for her wrist and pulled her in closer. Y/N inhaled, it was the first time he had touched her since the party. “Look,” He murmured, keeping his voice low, “If I’d have known this was how you’d react I would have never have done it.”

Y/N looked surprised, “Really?” She couldn’t help but feel a sting at his words but she ignored it. 

He nods, “I went too far and I know things with you are different,”

“What do you mean?” But before Y/N could get a reply, she felt her phone vibrating in her pocket. 

She pulled it out and felt a pit form in her stomach when her mother’s name lit up the screen. She immediately answered it and walked to the back of Harry’s car to speak to her. “Mum?” Y/N answered. 

“Your father got an email this morning,” Her mother replied. No hello, no how are you or how’s school, just straight to the point. 

“He did?” Y/N already knew where this was going. 

“It was a copy of the school newspaper,” Her mother’s voice sounded as though she was trying to keep her anger at bay, “We opened it hoping to see our daughter somewhere on the scholar’s page but low and behold there you were right on the front cover - with a boy no less.” 

“Mum-”

“We want to see you,” Her mother snapped, interrupting her, “Your father has reserved us a table at Château Blanc two weeks today. It’s the only day off he could get so be grateful.” 

Two weeks from today was the day before the semi-finals. She needed to train but she couldn’t say no to her mother, “Okay, I’ll be there.”

“Good.” Her mother replied before hanging up the phone. 

Y/N slipped the phone back and sighed, “Are you okay?” Harry’s voice sounded. 

“My parents have seen the newspaper,” Y/N’s jaw clenched, “They want me to have dinner with them.”

“Do you need me to come with you?” Harry looked at her with genuine concern.

“No, what I need you to do is leave me alone.” Y/N had shut down. It was the way she always got whenever she spoke to her parents. 

“Y/N I didn’t know-” He reached for her hand as she walked past but she quickly pulled it away. 

“Leave me alone Harry,” She said, completely defeated. 

Y/N made her way back to her dorm and collapsed on her bed letting out a sigh of frustration. She looked up at the ceiling and wondered if she would ever find the off switch that would finally offer her a break from the life she was living. 

. . . 

Harry stood on one side of the tennis court, sending tennis balls flying with his racket toward Y/N, who stood on the opposite side, swiftly striking them back. She tried to ignore the intensity of his gaze, which seemed to linger on her every move as if he were observing more than just her technique. 

Every time she attempted to slice or backhand the ball, it would completely falter landing somewhere off the court. Whilst her body was on the court, her mind was elsewhere like it had been every day since her parents had called. 

She made an attempt to drop-shot the ball only to end up missing it completely. “Fuck!” Y/N cried out and hit her racket against the ground over and over again in a fit of rage and frustration. 

“Okay, slow down there, love,” Harry chuckled, “Y’ gonna break the racket and I’m pretty sure it’s school property.”

“It’s my own racket,” Y/N replied. 

The corner of his lips tilted upwards, “You still mad about that kiss?” 

Y/N glanced around them to see if anyone heard him. It’s not like it would change anything, everyone already thought they were dating after the school newspaper came out, “No, I’m not mad. In fact, I’ve already forgotten it ever happened, my brain has fully wiped it from my memory.”

Harry’s lips transformed into a smirk, “Oh really?” He took a step forward and she took one back, “Replaced with all those books…and…tennis,” His eyes dart down to her lips. 

“Tennis…” She whispers, her heart thudding in her chest. 

“So you don’t think about it at all?” He asks. 

“N-not at all,” She lies, terribly. 

“Okay,” He shrugs, wiping the smirk from his face, “Well clearly something’s bothering you because those hits were the worst thing I’ve ever seen.”

Y/N gives him a look, “It’s my parents. I’m meeting them for dinner this Friday and I haven’t seen them since they dropped me off here at the beginning of the year.”

“Are they that upset with you over the paper?” Harry looked concerned. 

“I guess so. My dad even reserved a table at Château Blanc. It’s his favourite place to get mad at me and my mum. He can book a booth and then try to control his anger whilst eating steak and mashed potatoes - honestly, it’s his dream scenario.” Y/N laughs but Harry doesn’t see the humour. She sighs, “I’m worried it will throw me off of the game.”

This time, Harry does smile, “I don’t think anyone could do that.” 

“Everything is piling up and I just feel so mad and I don’t know where to put it,” She huffs. 

Harry's smile softened. "Here," he offered his racket, "Use mine. Can’t have you breaking yours when you have a semi-final to win."

Y/N hesitated, then accepted the racket, seeking confirmation from Harry. With his nod, she began to hit the racket against the floor repeatedly, releasing her frustration with each strike. 

"Ugh," she screeched, "I’m so pissed."

"Oh, yeah, let it out," Harry encouraged with a chuckle.

With each slam of the racket, Y/N vented her frustration. "I just wanna play tennis!"

“I just want to win my next stupid game!”

“I just want my parents to like me!”

Suddenly, Harry joined in, mirroring her actions. “I hate that I have this stupid injury!

“I think my dad’s disappointed in me!”

“I just want the girl I like to like me back!”

They continued hitting the rackets on the ground until they started to crack and split from the force. As the rackets began to splinter, they exchanged a glance, a mix of exhaustion and relief evident in their eyes. With a final forceful slam, they both dropped their broken rackets to the ground, the sound echoing in the quiet of the tennis court.

Y/N looks down at their broken rackets on the floor, her chest heaving up and down. Unable to help herself, she starts laughing feeling relieved to have finally gotten all her anger out. Harry watches and then starts laughing with her. 

“Feel better?” He asks. 

Y/N nodded, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "Yeah," she replied softly, meeting his gaze, “I do.”

. . .

Y/N’s parents sent a car to pick her up on the night of the dinner. She sat in the back of the car in a pair of tights and a navy blue dress with a pair of brogues laced up on her feet. Her hair was in loose curls fastened with a clip at the back. Whenever she was around her parents, she always had to dress smart. 

She glanced at her phone to make sure she wasn’t running late as they pulled in front of the restaurant. She tipped the driver before leaving even if her parents wouldn’t agree if they found out later. 

The dimly lit restaurant looked elegant, with fancy lights and dark wood furniture. There were long curtains on the windows and the tables had white cloths and polished silverware. Gentle jazz music played in the background as people chatted across tables.

Y/N spotted her parents in their usual booth at the back. She made her way towards them but immediately began to panic when she realised they weren’t alone. 

Sitting across from them was Harry’s mother, Anne, who Y/N had last encountered briefly before when she had visited his apartment for the first time. She looked regal in her fancy dress and matching pearl jewellery. 

Beside her sat a man wearing a finely tailored suit and tie who resembled an older version of Harry, with grey hair and a face lined with wrinkles, but he didn't seem a day over sixty. His eyes were a darker shade of green than Harry’s were and his demeanour wasn’t as friendly. 

“Y/N,” Anne was the first to acknowledge her presence, smiling as she walked over.

It caught the attention of her own parents, who turned and forced a smile as though to project a united front in front of Harry’s parents. “Hello,” Y/N bent over to kiss her mother and father on the cheek in greeting. 

“Y/N, you remember Anne and James from the country club?” Her mother, Theresa, spoke.

“Of course,” Y/N sat in the chair beside her mother.

“We invited them to eat with us considering this matter contains them both.” 

Y/N nodded, not knowing what to say in response. She knew the dinner with her parents would have something to do with her participation in the Academy Slam but she hadn’t been expecting to see Harry’s parents too. 

“Did you see Harry on his way in?” Anne asked, “He said he was on his way earlier.”

“Mind if I sit here?” His voice appeared out of nowhere and Y/N’s entire body reacted in a way she couldn’t control around him.

Her head lifted to look up at him and the air knocked out of her. Unlike his usual casual attire, he was wearing a black suit with golden buttons and a black tie. His hair was better styled than the usual unruly mess of curls. He smiled down at her, his eyes seemed to brighten beneath the dim lights at the sight of her. 

He winked and sat down in the chair beside her, “Sorry I’m late.”

His presence overwhelmed her senses, the faint scent of his cologne filling the air as he settled into his seat. Whatever this dinner was meant to be had completely changed for her; she suddenly felt less alone.

“Harry,” Y/N’s father, David, spoke, “Haven’t seen you since you left for Australia.”

“It’s certainly been a while,” Harry spoke, smiling forcefully. 

After ordering their food, David speaks, “I assume you know why we’re here,” He directs the statement towards Y/N who feels everyone’s eyes on her.

“The newspaper?” She says.

“The tennis,” Her father replies, saying the words with a hint of disappointment. “Y/N, you don’t seriously think you’re going to get anywhere with this tennis thing do you?” 

Y/N’s cheeks warm in embarrassment, “What?”

This time Theresa spoke, “We understand you enjoy it for fun but don’t you think you’re being greedy taking the opportunity of a scholarship away from girls who want to waste their lives on it?”

“Mum,” Y/N starts, “Tennis… tennis is everything to me. I-I’m not doing this because it’s some game to me. I’m doing this because I don’t have a choice.”

Y/N feels Harry’s knee bump hers beneath the table like he was silently praising her for sticking up for herself, “Don’t be ridiculous Y/N,” David says, “All you’ve ever talked about is going into medicine.”

“Because it was all you were willing to hear,” Y/N quickly responded.

A throat cleared from across the table and Harry’s father looked directly at him, “Don’t think this doesn’t apply to you.”

Harry frowns, “What are you talking about?”

“Coaching Harry? Seriously? After your injury? You know the doctor said you could worsen the damage if you continued and you disobeyed that for what? A silly game of girl’s tennis?” 

He scoffed, “Here we go,”

“Harry,” His mother warned. 

“You know we all agreed that if you were to go back to school you’d need to pick up on other subjects so you could actually go somewhere in life? Instead, we have to hear from your teachers how your grades have fallen only to find you on the front cover of the school newspaper with a girl who can’t hire her own coach and has to put you at risk?” 

Harry’s hands ball into fists beneath the table. Y/N didn’t know whether she felt more embarrassed or ashamed, all this felt like her fault and she didn’t know what to do. 

“I-I didn’t mean to put him at risk, Mr Styles,” Y/N stutters. She feels Harry place a hand on her knee. 

“Y/N, this will stop at once. I’m requesting the school pull you out of the competition.” Her father says and Y/N swears she feels her heart breaking.

“No please,” She was willing to get down on her hands and knees and beg, “Please Dad, this means everything to me.”

David raises a hand, “I won’t hear any of it. If it means you can focus on passing your exams and Harry no longer has to think about his injury then you can quit.” 

“N-no, I won’t let you take this away from me. I’ve been good, I study every day and I’m top of all my classes, why can’t you let me just have this one thing?” She didn’t care if she sounded childish or insane, this competition was all she had been working for. 

“Oh quit blubbering Y/N,” Her mother spoke, rolling her eyes, “You know I hate it when you do that.”

“Please, please,” Y/N doesn’t know what more she can do or say, they wouldn’t listen. 

Harry pushed his chair back, the sound catching everybody’s attention as the legs scraped against the floor, “I think Y/N and I will eat elsewhere,” Harry spoke, taking her hand beneath the table and flipping it over to intertwine their fingers. His thumb rubbed over the pulse point on her wrist in a way to calm her down. 

“What are you talking about?” James huffed. 

“Do any of you actually know how hard Y/N works?” Harry spits, “I doubt it because you’re all too busy counting the paper in your wallet to look up at your own fucking kids.” 

“Harry,” Anne gasps.

“No,” He glares at both his father and Y/N’s parents, “Y/N studies six hours a day, every day. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen her take a break from it. When she’s not studying, she’s on the court blistering her hands just so she can get at least one perfect shot. She is the most brilliantly smart person I know and you may not care or fight for her but I will. I always will and right now I will not let you take away something she has worked so deeply hard for.” He stands from the table, still holding Y/N’s hand and everyone can see it as she refuses to let go. 

“Harry, sit down,” James orders but he ignores him.

“You’ve been disappointed in me since the moment I injured myself. I know you think I’m no good to you anymore, in fact, I’ve accepted it and I am glad for it because I have never been so happy and if you looked long enough you’d realise it.” Harry looks down at Y/N, his eyes filled with passion and anger and sincerity, “I am happy.” He says, “Because of what she has given me.” 

James scoffs, “And what is that?”

Harry’s head spins in the direction of his father, “Something you know nothing about.”

And with that, Harry tugs on Y/N’s hand to lead her out of the restaurant. 

Before they could fully walk away, Y/N felt her mother pulling her back, “If you walk out of this restaurant…”

“You’ll what? Never speak to me again? As if that’s anything new,” Y/N scoffs, “Nothing I do will ever be enough to either of you, will it?”

Y/N ignored the throbbing in her chest at her mother’s lack of reply, instead, she walked alongside Harry, holding his hand as they left the restaurant and reached his car.

Outside, the cool breeze felt nice on her warm skin. They shared a glance before Y/N started laughing so hard she started to cry. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she sobbed softly. Harry looked at her with a gentle expression, giving her space to let out her feelings and make sense of everything that had just happened.

“I don’t normally cry so can you look away?” Y/N sobs, unable to help herself as the tears fall from her eyes.

“No I don’t think I can do that,” Harry says, “You’re too pretty,”

Y/N huffs a laugh through her tears as she tries to wipe them away with the back of her hand, “I feel stupid,” She whispers to herself, her head falling forward. 

She sees Harry’s shoes on the ground and lifts her head up to look up at him towering above her. He smiles and pushes her hair out of her face, “Hi Y/N,” He murmurs.

“Hi Harry,” She whispers.

“Sorry for kidnapping you,” He says and Y/N chuckles.

“S okay,” She murmurs, her hands balling at her sides when he steps closer until his face is right in front of hers. 

“Can I admit something? You can pretend to be a little shocked if you want,” Harry asks. 

“Okay,”

“I’m crazy for you,” He admits, the words stealing her breath, “I’ve been crazy for you since third year since you followed me around the playground threatening to beat me up with a tennis racket if I didn’t show you how to use one.” 

Y/N’s lips parted, unsure of what to respond with so she let him talk, “And I’ve spent all these years pining for your attention even if it was just a scrap but I don’t think I can take it anymore. I like you Y/N, I like you so much I don’t know how to breathe until I’m around you. I thought tennis was what bought me happiness but I don’t think it ever has. The only reason I ever loved tennis as much as I do is because of you.” 

“Harry,” Y/N’s eyes glisten at the boy in front of her. The boy she had spent her whole life arguing with because no one had ever frustrated her as much as he had. 

“Do you hate me?” He asks, his eyes worried, “Because after that kiss I thought you did for a moment.”

Y/N shook her head, “No,” She murmured, “I don’t hate you.”

He let out a sigh of relief, “Okay, well that’s good.”

“No one has ever stuck up for me before,” Y/N says, “Or believed in me the way you do. I’ve always done it all on my own.” Harry’s expression softens, “I think all this time I thought I was hating you, I was actually afraid of you because you make these things happen in my brain that I couldn’t seem to ever figure out.”

“Have you got them figured out yet?” Harry cups her cheek in his hand, it’s warm and soft and everything she needs.

“Not everything, but I do know one thing,” Y/N stands on her toes, looping her arms around his neck and smiling harder than she’s ever smiled - ever. “I like you an awful lot, Harry,” 

Harry’s smile outshone the moon. It was the happiest she’d ever seen him and maybe the happiest she’d ever been too. A sense of relief seemed to feel the air, Y/N felt lighter like she was a tennis ball flying through the air right into the palm of his hand, “You mean that?” He murmured, lips ghosting her cupid's bow. 

“I do,” She says, “But if you make me say it again I’ll lie and say I don’t mean it,”

“Okay,” He whispers, his mouth grazing hers as he holds her face in his hands, “I won’t make you say it again.”

Instead, Harry surged forward with such urgency and kissed her upper lip between his. Y/N’s eyes flutter shut but the whole world becomes brighter when she does. She was consumed by him, all of her senses had just become Harry. His tongue darted and tangled with hers, his hands pulling her in impossibly close trying to mould them together. 

When Harry’s lips pulled away, Y/N’s eyes remained shut and she was immediately desperate to experience that feeling all over again. Harry chuckled and she opened her eyes, his lips were pinker from the lipstick she was wearing, his eyes hazy and she was pretty sure her own pupils were carved into hearts just from looking at him.

“Can we go back to my place?” He asks.

Y/N didn’t even need a moment to think about it, “M’kay,”

. . . 

Harry could barely contain his desire as they made their way to his apartment. With a forceful push, the door swung open, and he pressed Y/N against it, his lips hungrily exploring every inch of her face and trailing down her neck. Despite her attempts to remove his shirt, her hands kept gravitating back to his tousled curls, pulling him closer for more intense kisses.

As they tumbled onto the couch, Harry hovered over her, his gaze filled with desire. "Harry," Y/N's voice quivered with a mixture of excitement and nervousness, "I-I've never done this before," she confessed, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment.

"What? Never kissed anyone? That's hard to believe because you're really good at it," Harry teased, peppering kisses along her neck.

"No, I mean... I've never..." Y/N trailed off, the implication clear.

Understanding dawned in Harry's eyes. "Is that what we're doing?" he smirked, enjoying her flustered reaction.

His expression softened. "Would it make you feel better if I told you I haven't either?" he confessed.

Y/N's eyes widened in surprise. "What? But what about Astrid? You were together for a year."

"Astrid's family is Catholic," Harry explained. "And if it ever came to that, I don't think I could go through with it."

"Why?" Y/N questioned, her curiosity piqued.

"Because," Harry shrugged, "I've only ever wanted you."

Y/N's heart fluttered at his words, a rush of emotions flooding her. "Don't act so surprised," Harry chuckled.

"Why didn't you tell me before?" Y/N inquired, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Because..." Harry paused, his gaze locking with hers, "I knew I needed to be careful with you.”

Y/N huffs, “I’m not fragile,” 

His smile is sweet and gentle when he replies, “Maybe not to everyone else,” His breath fans across her cheeks, “But you are to me.” 

Y/N melts into the couch when he kisses her again. She didn’t know kissing could be so magical but suddenly they were eight years old again where life was simpler and games were just for fun, books were read for enjoyment and Y/N’s emotions weren’t so difficult to navigate. 

It was strange having someone understand her the way Harry did. Her whole life she thought no one was paying attention to her, not even her own parents, but he had been admiring her from afar for most of their lives together. 

“We don’t have to do anything tonight,” Harry says, “I don’t want to rush this with you. I want to do it right,”

Y/N’s lips curve, “You could never do it wrong,” 

He holds her to him, their legs intertwined on the end of the couch. Y/N had always thought the court was where she was meant to be but maybe this was where she needed to be all along. After all, tennis would not be in her life if it weren’t for Harry. 

. . .

“Okay, you gotta go baby,” Harry slurs against her mouth as she continues to kiss him. 

“Wait,” She whines and he smiles, feeling delirious whilst their lips connect repeatedly. His hands reach are holding her thighs as they wrap around him, her hands in his hair pulling him closer. 

They hear Y/N’s name from the umpire once more and Harry has to find the strength to pull away. His lips ghost the skin of her cheek, “Y’ gonna go and win this?” 

“Mhm,” She sighs, releasing herself from his hold and grabbing her tennis bag.

“Hey,” Harry pulls her back into him and she makes a little ‘oof’ sound. He holds her face in his hands, “You think you’re so hard to read? Not with me,” 

Y/N huffs, “I’m nervous. What if I don’t win? She’s your ex-girlfriend and everybody’s made a big deal about this because they already think we’re dating.”

“We are though aren’t we?” Harry quirks a brow, “Dating?”

Y/N looks at him blankly before hitting him on the shoulder, “Obviously Harry!”

He chuckles, “Okay, okay,” His hands slide down her arms to thread his fingers with hers at their sides, he lifts them up so their hands are pressed against each other and leans in close, “Remember what I told you about your anger? And how it’s the hottest thing I’ve ever seen and now that you’re my girlfriend I’m allowed to say that but honestly it’s the hottest thing ever and I almost die everytime I watch you play and I see you get all mad and-”

“Harry, focus,” Y/N snapped before she grinned and kissed him quickly, “But thank you, your ass looks pretty good on the court too.”

“Are you being for real?” Harry says, his mouth falling open, but he shakes his head to bring himself back to the main point at hand. He couldn’t pull her away for another make out session not when they were already late as it was, “But anyway, this game is no different to the others just because you’re playing against Astrid. Use everything you have and channel it against her.” 

Y/N nods, her eyes twinkling when she looks at him, “You’re a pretty good coach,” 

“You’re a pretty hot tennis player,” 

“Okay stop,” She pulls away and grabs her tennis bag.

“What?” He throws his hands in the air and laughs, “Now that I’m your boyfriend can I freely look at your ass under that skirt whilst you play?”

Y/N spun on her heel and glared at him, “That’s misogyny.”

“But I’m obsessed with you,” He argues.

She pauses for a moment and then nods, “Fine but don’t make it obvious,” 

. . .

Harry stood on the sidelines, his heart pounding as he watched Y/N prepare for Astrid's final serve. The tension in the air was palpable; it was match point, and the game had been intense.

Harry had always considered Y/N the greatest tennis player he had ever seen. Maybe he was biased because he’d also been hopelessly infatuated with her since they were in third year but nothing compared to seeing his girl play on the court. 

He couldn’t seem to breathe as Astrid threw the ball into the air and hit it so hard with her racket, the sound echoed across the court. 

Y/N ran to retaliate, backhanding it straight back to her. His eyes stayed fixed on the girl who he had confessed his feelings to just last night. 

Astrid had tried to throw Y/N off multiple times during the game. Waving to her fans in the crowd whenever they would take a moments break or trying to remind her that she was Harry’s ex-girlfriend. Harry had told her to ignore it but Y/N didn’t exactly need advice on how to hit back at her opponent, she’d do it all in the game. 

It was a long match of back and forth before Y/N finally decided to go all in, hitting the ball with so much power and precision it landed in the line and bounced straight off the court. 

Crestwood students erupted in cheers as Astrid threw her racket to the ground having lost the game. Harry could feel the rush of elation over his entire body, his fist pumping the air when the scores appeared on screen with Y/N winning the entire thing. 

Y/N didn’t need to go anywhere to celebrate because the one person she wanted was standing right in front of her. She dropped her racket to the floor and ran into his open arms, “That’s my girl,” He spun her around, “You did it, baby, I knew you could.” 

Y/N was beaming, leaning down to kiss him in front of the whole crowd of people. “We’re going to the final,” She squealed, hugging him tightly. 

“You and me,” Harry responded. 

. . .

taglist: @storyschanging @lilbredsticc @esposa-do-harry @st-ev-ie @itschelseacisneros @hermionelove

[cobaltperun]

Darkest Part - Gives You Hell

Astrid Deetz x female Reader

Summary: You will never, in life or afterlife, if such a thing exists, meet anyone as infuriating, rage inducing, entitled, or frankly awful, as Astrid fucking Deetz. There isn’t a single thing you’d like more than to never be around her, but as your luck would have it, you just can’t stay away from her.

Masterlist / Next Part

Word count: 4.3k

-If you find a man that's worth a damn and treats you well, then he's a fool, you're just as well, hope it gives you hell-

Four minutes left.

You rushed through the park, cursing that the tiled path wasn’t straight. More than anything you cursed your own refusal to run over the grass just to save half a minute. Damn Miss Harrington for keeping everyone after class.

“I dismiss you, my ass,” you wasted precious air to complain and knowing you’d have to go back if you went for the gate, you just jumped over the fence, wincing as it shook behind you. Someone yelled at you to be more careful, but you just began running again, just barely crossing the street before the light turned red.

You spared a moment to look at your watch, two minutes left, and the library was finally in sight. You picked up the pace, luckily avoiding the crowd. Your lungs were burning, tempting you to stop and take a break. So what if you were a minute or two late for work? The world wouldn’t end if you failed to get there on time.

As if. The world might not end, but you were too proud of your perfect record to accept that. You would be there on time and then catch your breath.

“Watch out!” a cyclist yelled a warning, and you looked to the side and just narrowly avoided colliding with him.

“Sorry!” you yelled back as he cursed after you. Well, you did cross his path, so he had the right to do it. Not that you had the time to contemplate on your reckless running as you skidded to a stop in front of the library and went up the stairs as fast as you could. “Right on time,” you went through the door with less than twenty seconds to spare and were met with the annoyance of the people in the library trying to read.

You chuckled sheepishly and then sighed, hanging your head low as you walked through the library as if it was your personal walk of shame. You could just feel the disapproving glares following you, and though you knew it wasn’t exactly everyone in the library judging you it still felt like that. In reality it was more like three people out of about a dozen currently in the library.

“Maybe next time ruin your perfect record instead of barging in and disturbing everyone,” your co-worker and best friend Alex whispered as you went into the break room to leave your things.

“Leave her be, I think it’s cute,” one of the regulars at the library, a pretty, tall girl whose name you somehow kept forgetting whispered and winked at you.

You just shrugged, nodding thanks out of politeness. You were still not sure if she was trying to flirt with you or if she just so happened to always pick the table closest to the counter you and Alex were sitting behind.

~X~

A bit over six and a half hours later, with your backpack on your back and a small paper bag in hand, you opened the doors of the apartment on the seventh floor. You glanced back at the staircase and then at the elevator that worked once in a blue moon. ‘Guess I’m lucky I’m in shape,’ it was a thought that often crossed your mind. Well, childhood spent playing different sports helped.

You locked the doors behind you. “I’m home!” you exclaimed, yelling over the sound of the TV, some animal documentary from what you could hear. Whales? Probably whales. Your mom liked whales a lot. You looked around, the fading scent of cleaning products grabbed your attention, and you noticed it immediately. The lack of any dust, the clean mirror in the hall, tiled floor being so clean you could probably apply the three-second rule to the food if any was dropped on it. The apartment was too clean for your liking, she was cleaning again. Desperately trying to at least take that off your back. “Mom, don’t push yourself,” you sighed as you stepped into the living room and saw her lying on the sofa.

She looked… fragile… in pain, and you swallowed hard, remembering how healthy she was just a year ago. How did things change so quickly?

“Y/N,” she sat up, wincing and holding her back as she did so. “Hey, Sweetheart, how was your day?” she still gave you a gentle, loving smile as you set your bag next to the table and leaned in to kiss her cheek and hug her.

“Great, don’t worry about it,” you whispered and pulled out the medicine from the paper bag, pain killers, for her. Her back’s been killing her, so much so that she could no longer work.

She still went and cleaned the apartment because you just had no time to do it these past few days. The guilt gnawed at you, even if deep down you knew you physically couldn’t do everything.

You felt her hugging you tighter. “I’m so sorry,” she apologized to you on a daily basis, her voice quivering with regret. You couldn’t even begin to imagine how she felt, seeing you work two jobs to take care of her and try and ensure you could continue your education.

“It’s going to be okay, everything will be okay,” and like always you reassured her, fearing something would break if you didn’t. You let go of her and went into the bathroom to freshen up and then heat the dinner up. You weren’t doing bad financially, with just the two of you and owning the two-bedroom apartment instead of paying the rent you had a comfortable life. The issue was saving money for the future, primarily for your college education, and there was no telling if your mom’s health would deteriorate further.

“Alex said hi, by the way. His parents invited us to come over for dinner if you’d like,” you said as you got the lasagna out of the fridge and set the table.

“He’s a good kid,” your mom commented, and he was. Alex was about a year older than you and working at the library, where you met him. You hit it off fairly quickly, he was easy to be around, easy to talk to, cheerful and always willing to encourage those around him.

“So, will you go with me?” you asked, and she nodded, while leaving the apartment would be a bit of a struggle you knew it would be good for her to go outside and be around other people.

~X~

Astrid Deetz was many things, but here, in the library, she was just another girl. No one but the people that worked here needed to know who she was, so, at least here, she wasn’t a freak. She was just another girl reading books. The library allowed coffee to be brought in, as long as the one bringing it was responsible for any potential damages and wasn’t borrowing one of the more valuable books that couldn’t easily be replaced, which was why she preferred reading here instead of going home.

Summer vacations forced her to spend time at home, with her mother, so, the more of that time she could spend away from home the better. Especially since Rory was often at her mother’s house. She was actually surprised he didn’t move in yet, but maybe her mother wasn’t completely blind after all. Who was she kidding? It was only the matter of time before he manipulated her mother into moving in.

Eventually she felt the need to go and grab a bite, so she got up and went to return the book only to see a rather annoying sight and freeze on the spot. There you were, the one flaw of the library she was currently in.

You were currently talking to a tall, blonde girl that looked ridiculously smitten with you, listening to every word you spoke as if you were solving all of life’s mysteries for her. How naïve did the girl have to be to get fooled by the soft, easy smile on your face and patience as you helped her find a new book. And you? Leading the poor girl on, knowing she didn’t really need help and being completely aware that she was just trying to flirt with you. Cruel pain in her ass, that’s what you were.

Luckily, she noticed Alex, your co-worker there as well and went toward him to return her book.

“Miss Deetz, hope everything was to your liking,” he greeted her politely, though Astrid noticed your mood immediately souring the moment her name was said. There it was, your true face. You hid it well though, and the girl blindly in love with you didn’t even notice the shift in your mood.

“Other than certain someone being here, absolutely,” Astrid didn’t even bother hiding her disdain for you.

Alex brushed it off and took the book back. “Good thing I’m here as well,” he said and Astrid wholeheartedly agreed.

“Chihuahua,” you faked a cough to hide the insult, and Astrid felt a vein pop on her forehead.

“Ignoramus,” she spat back and walked by you as you straightened your back, and she didn’t need to look back to know your eyes widened as you stared after her.

And she smiled, knowing she got a more genuine reaction than the girl a head taller than her ever could, no matter how much she flirted.

~X~

You were running on coffee and spite and simple need for money, otherwise you were sure you could fall asleep on your feet while you were washing the chisels and other tools Delia used. Tomorrow you could sleep in, relax just for a bit and recover from the grueling week. Morning job at Delia’s place, four hours, then summer art classes, preparing you for college. You were going to study architecture, hopefully to pursue your passion and design green and sustainable buildings.

And while working with Delia was helping you with your financial circumstances, it was also slowly letting you meet people, make connections and your life at least a bit easier in the future. Still, between working for Delia, the classes, and then the library you were away from home for roughly thirteen hours, which wasn’t exactly ideal for someone who just recently turned eighteen.

“Y/N, could you go and fetch new carving set I ordered?” Delia asked, well, it was more of an order, rather than a request.

“Now?” you asked as you glanced at the clock. You’d have to run again, and you’d probably still be ten minutes late, but work was work.

Delia must have followed your line of sight because she hummed. “No, pick it up on Monday,” she genuinely surprised you with that, she was usually a lot more absorbed in her own work to notice things like that.

“Thank you,” you smiled slightly.

“Architecture, right?” and she surprised you again, you didn’t think she’d remember a conversation you had several months ago.

You nodded and began drying the tools. “Green architecture, I hope,” you knew your eyes shone brightly as you said that. You loved talking about it, about how that was the future, the way to reach a compromise and protect the environment.

Delia looked lost in her thoughts for a moment and then she abruptly began laughing. “Hilarious,” she commented and shook her head.

You were confused, and frankly a bit annoyed, she didn’t strike you as someone who’d find it funny. Hell, she sounded a bit impressed when you first told her, so this reaction genuinely puzzled you. “What is?” you asked slowly, hoping your voice didn’t give away how you felt.

“Just how similar your views and goals are, yet you bicker all the time,” Delia pointed out and walked back to her sculpture, still chuckling every now and then.

You scowled, knowing exactly who she was talking about. The chihuahua that consumed the thesaurus and forced you to Google several words, ignoramus included. You should have guessed it basically meant someone ignorant. The damn infuriating pain in your ass. And Delia’s granddaughter, well, step-granddaughter.

And now Delia said you and Astrid had something in common.

Your day was ruined.

Beyond saving.

Well, maybe making Astrid Deetz lose her composure or force her to Google something would salvage your day, but how the hell were you supposed to make the walking thesaurus Google anything?

~X~

Work sweet work, well, compared to working for Delia. Sure, working for Delia was closer to your artistic side, but the library just had a charm to it that not a lot of places could compete with. The smell of old paper, layers of dust hidden from passing glances since the place was rarely properly cleaned. Not that you blamed anyone working here, you helped with the cleaning three times since starting to work here in the library, and your muscles ached at the mere thought of those times. Moving shelves upon shelves worth of books was not a fun activity. Still, the next one was still far off and perhaps you’d even be away from this city by then. Going off to study somewhere else, somewhere other than your hometown.

It was a slow day, and you leaned back, relaxing with one earbud in so you weren’t completely mentally absent from your workplace. You could just read, you likely will, in a bit, but you had a long sleepless night last night, studying and catching up on your art projects as well.

Eventually you cracked open a book about Renaissance architecture you meant to get your hands on for a long, long time, and now it was finally available at your workplace. Perks of working in the library, you guessed. Just as you were about to start reading the doors opening and a rather annoying girl walking in made your mood drop instantly. She didn't even look at you, just began looking through the shelves, clearly looking for something you could easily help her with if she wasn't so damn proud. You took a deep breath and walked over to the girl, at least you could get it over with quickly. "Deetz, what are you looking for?"

And she ignored you, completely, she didn't even go around you and instead moved with such certainty that you actually had to step back so she wouldn't walk into you.

So, she chose this approach today. It was either insults or pretending you didn’t even exist.

Infuriating entitled brat.

"This would be so much easier if someone worked here," she had the nerve to complain as your jaw dropped and you simply looked at her, flabbergasted by the girl's behavior yet again.

"Unbelievable," you shook your head as Alex came up to the two of you and you couldn’t be happier to see him jumping to your rescue.

"Hey, could you help me find a book?" she immediately asked him, and he looked between you and her with a raised eyebrow, as if he couldn’t already tell what was going on.

You just shrugged. "You're not invisible, good for you," you didn't leave yet, mostly out of spite. Astrid Deetz would not have the satisfaction of knowing she got under your skin, and she especially would not have the satisfaction of you backing away.

"What the- oh, you two are just playing another one of your games," he decided, completely ignoring the absolute dislike bordering on hatred between you and Astrid Deetz.

"I am not playing any games," you both said at the same time and huffed when you realized that.

"Would you look at that, you're in sync as well," he whistled as if he was trying to tease you.

"Bullshit!" you both denied it, once more at the same time and you just waved him off, though you were really tempted to flip him off, and went back to your desk. Pride and the damn Deetz gloating over her ability to indirectly annoy you be damned, you couldn’t stand being anywhere near her.

Eventually, your teasing, traitorous co-worker joined you. “She really likes reading, doesn’t she? And you’d think she’d be some rich kid who scoffs at the very idea of borrowing books instead of buying them, or even hate having the actual book in her hands instead of reading an e-book,” Alex commented, sounding actually impressed by the short annoyance.

You just grunted as a response, after all, you’d never admit you did notice what he just now pointed out. You noticed that from the moment you saw her, months ago, studiously going through several books seeking something rather specific. The unbreakable concentration impressed you back then, but back then you were blind to her actual personality. Still, if there were two things one could count on as far as Astrid Deetz was involved was that she hated her mother and loved reading. That being said Alex did not need to know you had any positive thought about the girl in question. You’d rather die than admit anything nice about the girl, even if deep down you did admire her love for books and reading.

“You’re not going to answer?” he probed for answers, though he should know better by now.

“I’ve got nothing to say,” you muttered and leaned onto your hand, if you could just avoid Astrid for the rest of your life, you’d be the happiest person alive, but no, you just needed to bump into her almost on a daily basis. Either in the library, or at your other work. Granted, it was mostly at the library, but sometimes she would drop by and visit her step-grandmother. That was, beside Delia sometimes getting ridiculous ideas, the only actual downside of your other work. Imagine your surprise when you went to work one day and saw Astrid there, you nearly quit right then and there.

“Yeah, cause she makes you Google new insult she hurls at you every other day,” Alex snickered, trying not to disturb anyone.

You groaned, facepalming as you leaned back in your chair. She really did make you Google things she said a lot. You still remembered Googling barnacle, her favorite word for you. Leave it to Astrid Deetz to declare you as something difficult to get rid of, when you’d do anything in your power to never see her again.

~X~

Astrid did not enjoy making trips to the parts of the town where her family might be, she seldom wanted anything to do with them, especially her mother, but it also began including her step-grandmother after she went and hired the worst possible candidate. You.

But, she had to go and visit a store a few floors above her grandmother so, here she was, in the elevator and certain she would not run into you the very next morning after your encounter at the library. She wasn’t that unlucky, was she? How she almost always ended up visiting during your shift was beyond her grasp. Maybe there was something in all the bullshit her mother talked about, and she was actually cursed with how often she encountered the one person she despised the most.

The elevator stopped and the doors opened, and she nearly didn’t look up to see who was coming in. She should have ignored it, should have stared at the wall or something, but no, no, she just had to look!

Astrid could not believe her misfortune as you, carrying a fairly big box, walked into the elevator one floor above her and so far down from her own floor so she would need to actually be in a closed space with you. And she despised the very idea of that. So, just as the doors were about to close she bolted outside.

"What the- that was reckless Deetz!" she heard you yelling. And if there was even a hint of worry in your voice it was absolutely because her grandmother would rope you into whatever funeral arrangement she would choose for her if Astrid happened to tragically pass away.

"Shut it!" she yelled back.

"Fucking chihuahua!" you cursed, and she could feel her blood pressure skyrocketing as the elevator went up. You and your awful nickname for her.

"Damn barnacle!" she yelled back loud enough for you to possibly hear her. She would have the last word no matter what! Insufferable thorn in her side that she couldn’t get out of her life no matter how hard she tried. And to make things even Delia occasionally mentioned you just to get a rise out of her.

Not that anyone needed to tell her anything, she knew you worked two jobs, for whatever reason. Barely any difference in age, yet such different circumstances. While Astrid could do nothing for the rest of her life and still be fine you apparently didn’t have that luxury.

And in those rare moments Astrid would actually notice you despite trying her best not to, she never once heard or saw you complaining about anything. She was actually the only reason for complaining you ever had as far as she could tell. So, while she could find it in herself to admit your work ethic was somewhat admirable, you still could go right back to whatever hell you came out of.

Because that is exactly what you deserved.

Hell.

Okay, maybe not hell.

But definitely not much better than hell!

~X~

You weren’t just annoyed, you were beyond pissed off. How reckless was that girl? “Yeah, I really need that on my consciousness,” you bit out, knowing you’d blame yourself if she ended up getting hurt just because you happened to get into the elevator when she was already inside it.

How were you even supposed to guess she’d be there?!

You opened the doors to Delia’s studio with your elbow and went inside, closing the doors behind you with your foot. You really should have just taken the stairs, but the box you were carrying would have been a pain in your ass if you went with that. Sore muscles might still be a better alternative to having this encounter with Astrid. “Chihuahua,” you gritted out through your teeth as you set the box down.

“Astrid?” you jumped when Delia suddenly spoke up.

You stared at her blankly, as if she needed to ask. She’s seen several of your and Astrid’s hateful clashes.

“She takes after her mother,” the older woman commented as you began pulling out different art supplies from the box.

You had no idea why Delia would even tell you anything about Astrid. You did not need to know, didn’t care about knowing. “I find it hard to imagine anyone could be as infuriating as her,” you frowned, causing Delia to laugh, almost delighted by the comment. Lydia seemed okay, a bit paranoid and utterly blind to her boyfriend’s true intentions, but otherwise she was nice. You couldn’t imagine Lydia being anything like Astrid when she was younger.

“Oh, you have no idea. I reckon Astrid’s attitude is karma finally paying a visit to Lydia,” she sure sounded certain of that claim and you just hummed, internally feeling sorry for whoever had to deal with Astrid being their karma. That seemed like a rather cruel and unjust punishment.

“Mr. Deetz won’t be joining us today?” you asked, noticing the absence of Delia’s husband, though you asked the question mostly to avoid talking about Astrid.

“No, no, he went bird-watching,” she dismissed and you nodded, knowing just how much the man loved doing so, even if it meant traveling the great distances. It was admirable, really, to see someone as old as he was still being passionate about something to that extent. You could only hope you’d have as much energy as him and Delia when you reach their age.

~X~

That night you stood in front of the canvas, a bit of paint smeared on your cheek, an old white shirt you were wearing and your hand. You held your paintbrush as you observed a fairly accurate painting of the Durham Cathedral. It’s been about a month since you started working on the painting, using what little free time you had to work on it, and here it was, finally complete. You set the brush and colors down on your table and sat down, just looking at it with a smile on your face.

You really wished you could go and visit it. You actually had a lot of places you wanted to visit, to study, to touch the old buildings, feel their history and the flow of time coursing through them. The flyer on your table caught your attention and you reluctantly picked it up. It was an ad, seeking volunteers for planting trees. You sighed, massaging your shoulder and wincing at the dull pain in your muscles. You had two days off, you should rest, but you already knew you’d go, you couldn’t help it, that was how you were.

So, knowing you’d go there early in the morning you went and got ready for bed, hoping the shower would relax your aching body.

~X~

“What the fuck?” Astrid halted in the middle of the park, hoping it was just the summer heat. Yeah, that had to be it. The heat was making her see things. It was your damn day off, wasn’t it? Why were you in the park digging a hole for a tree?

Astrid narrowed her eyes, furious at everything. At your shirt clinging to your arms. At the drop of sweat you just brushed off your forehead. At the concentrated look in your eyes and the focus and the way you still had the energy to come and volunteer despite working two jobs.

“Barnacle,” she hissed under her breath and went to the other part of the park, as far from you as she possibly could go while still doing her part as one of the volunteers.

A/N: So, tell me what you think and if you’d like to be on the taglist?

Masterlist / Next Part

[chanelrolls]

Love and Deepspace Men as College Students AU

pairings. sylus x reader, zayne x reader, rafayel x reader, xavier x reader, caleb x reader

notes. my headcanons of how and what would they be if they were set in an alternate universe of a college setting. requests are open!

SYLUS

Everyone knows Sylus. Whether it’s because of his absurd wealth, the way he dominates the racing scene, or how he carries himself among the crowd, he’s the kind of student people admire from afar but rarely dare to approach.

Definitely owns the most expensive bike on campus. He would pull up to lectures late, engine roaring, only to park in the most inconvenient places. The professors hate it, but no one dares to tell him to stop.

Never attends classes on time. He shows up whenever he feels like it, slides into his seat without a care, and still manages to ace every test like it’s effortless.

His major is a mystery. Seriously. Some say he’s in business because of his family’s influence, others think he’s in engineering because of his obsession with bikes. The truth? He’s studying something completely unexpected. (Design)

The one who gets professors to bend rules. He hands in assignments late, yet somehow convinces the professor to accept them. Probably through sheer confidence and the undeniable fact that his work is always top-tier.

People constantly try to get on his good side. Fake friends, clingy admirers, opportunists, he sees through them all. It’s a rare feat to actually earn his trust.

People think he’s cold, but he’s actually just selective. He doesn’t waste words on people who don’t matter. But when he does care? His presence is all-consuming, and he keeps those people close to him.

Has a reputation for getting into fights. He doesn’t start them, but if someone dares to push him? He ends them. Fast. Brutally. Efficiently.

Despite his reputation he's ridiculously smart. No one expects him to be the guy who casually dismantles complex theories in class. He doesn’t even study much, his mind just works differently.

He doesn't date, at least not publicly. People wonder if he’s ever been in a relationship, but no one has proof. His affairs, if they exist, are shrouded in complete secrecy.

He knows the underground side of the university too well. He’s got plenty connections, some legal, some… not so much. The kind of guy who could get his hands on things no regular college student should have access to.

SCENARIO

It’s late. The campus parking lot is empty, except for the flickering streetlights and the distant hum of a few motorcycles.

You’re walking toward your dorm when you hear the deep purr of an engine slowing to a stop.

You glance over your shoulder. It turns out to be Sylus.

He’s sitting astride his bike, helmet balanced on his thigh, one hand gripping the handlebar loosely. His gaze? Fixed directly on you.

"Didn’t take you for the type to stay out this late," he murmurs, voice low.

You shrug, trying to ignore the way the cold air makes you shiver. "Didn’t take you for the type to care."

A slow, lazy smirk spreads across his lips. "I don’t." A lie. You can tell.

He watches as you move closer, eyes flickering down for a fraction of a secon, too quick, but you catch it anyway. You don't want to make your conversation longer with someone this well-known, so you walk ahead, hoping that that's the end of it. Until you hear him speak again.

"Need a ride?" It’s an invitation wrapped in something dangerous. How unexpected.

You hesitate, then tilt your head. "Why would you...?"

Sylus chuckles deeply, like he wasn’t expecting the challenge. "Guess there’s only one way to find out."

And just like that, he tosses you the helmet. As if he already knew you’d say yes.

ZAYNE

The epitome of a model student; Perfect attendance, straight A’s, every professor’s favorite. If there’s a student the university would use in a promotional video, it’s certainly him.

Teachers' favourite

Always impeccably dressed. Button-down shirts, slacks, polished shoes—never a wrinkle, never a stain. He treats college like a corporate internship, and it shows. He also often walks around with long trench coats, it's his favourite piece of clothing.

Sits in the exact same seat every lecture. Second row, dead center. First row is too eager and attention-seeking, but anything further back is inefficient.

Has the most organized notes you’ve ever seen. Typed, color-coded, formatted like a research paper. If you ask to borrow them, he’ll hesitate before sighing and handing them over.

Never late, never rushed. His schedule is meticulously planned. If he’s ever late, something catastrophic must have happened.

Carries a leather-bound planner around. Digital calendars are unreliable for him. He writes everything down, from deadlines to coffee appointments, in perfect cursive.

He's always chosen as a delegate for external competitions or division-level activities, earning several awards.

Rarely seen at campus cafeterias. If he does eat on campus, it’s either a perfectly balanced meal prepped in advance or something minimal like black coffee and a protein bar.

Always smells expensive. Not overpowering, just subtly present. Clean, crisp, like fresh pages of a book mixed with something chic and sophisticated.

Somehow has dirt on everyone. He doesn’t gossip, but he listens. A passing remark, a detail others overlook, he collects information without even trying, possibly even using those against those people when needed.

Once you earn his attention, it’s hard to shake it off. If he chooses to focus on you, it’s deliberate. And his attention is the kind that lingers, even when he’s gone.

SCENARIO

It’s late. The campus library hums with a quiet stillness, the air thick with the scent of old books and freshly brewed coffee. You’re seated at a wooden desk, buried under an avalanche of textbooks and half-written notes, struggling to finish an assignment.

“Your handwriting is inefficient,” comes a smooth voice from behind you.

You glance up, blinking as Zayne pulls out the chair across from you, uninvited but completely assured of his place there. He sets down a sleek leather journal, flipping it open with precise movements.

You scoff. “Not all of us are programmed for perfection.”

His lips quirk—just slightly. “Clearly.”

You glare, but he’s already scanning your notes, his sharp gaze dissecting your work with effortless precision. Without asking, he reaches over, flips your notebook around, and rewrites an equation.

“You missed a variable.”

You stare at his elegant script, then back at him. “Do you enjoy making people feel incompetent?”

Zayne exhales, amused. “No.”

His fingers brush against yours as he slides your notebook back. It’s fleeting—so subtle you might’ve imagined it.

"Then what?" You ask. But when you meet his gaze, there’s something else there, something unreadable, something intentionally left for you to decipher.

And for the first time tonight, your exhaustion is replaced with something else entirely.

RAFAYEL

Skips classes religiously, claiming the "academic system is a plague on creative minds." He’s only seen in class when he’s legally required to be there—or when he’s bored enough to entertain himself with a professor’s suffering.

If he does attend, expect dramatic sighs, exaggerated eye rolls, and the occasional muttered insult about how the syllabus is “the death of passion.”

Knows everything about everyone. It’s not that he seeks out gossip—it simply comes to him. He has a way of prying secrets out of people with nothing more than a lazy smirk and a well-placed question.

Unapologetically nosy. If you so much as whisper in the hallway, he’s tilting his head, eyes alight with curiosity, waiting for the drama to unfold.

Despite his disdain for academics, he has the highest scores in philosophy and art history—because, according to him, “those are the only things worth knowing.”

Causes scandals effortlessly. One time, he casually implied that two professors were having an affair, and within a week, half the campus believed it. Was it true? He won’t say.

His art is chaotic, emotional, sometimes terrifying, and always raw. Professors either worship him or think he’s insane—there is no in-between.

Constantly broke despite having expensive tastes. Has a habit of buying ridiculously overpriced lattes just for the aesthetic of holding them.

Everyone thinks he’s a flirt, but he’s actually just very comfortable with physical affection. Will drape himself over his friends, lean against them, play with their hair—but the moment it’s turned on him? Flustered beyond belief.

The type to disappear for days and then show up like nothing happened, holding a new painting and a cryptic comment like, “I was emotionally exiled to the mountains.”

Claims to be a “nihilist” but secretly gets way too invested in people’s love lives. Will drop devastatingly accurate predictions about who’s going to break up next.

Often idles in the clinic when it's physical education time, just because he doesn't want to sweat.

SCENARIO

It’s midnight when you find him, half-sprawled on the studio floor, surrounded by unfinished canvases. The room smells like paint thinner and something distinctly him—smoky, a little sweet, like the remnants of a late-night adventure.

“You’re out past curfew,” he drawls, not even looking up. He’s playing with a paintbrush between his fingers, tapping it idly against his knee. “Breaking the rules? How rebellious of you.”

“Rafayel, I need to close this room now. Ms. Evans told me so.” You cross your arms, stepping over a discarded sketchbook. “You aren't allowed in here this late.”

He finally looks up, eyes gleaming with mischief. “No. But neither are you, so now we’re both criminals! How romantic.”

You roll your eyes but step closer anyway. He’s watching you now, head tilted in that way he does when he’s analyzing something—or someone.

“You should go,” you tell him.

“So should you.” His lips twitch. “But instead, you’re here. Seeking me out. Really suspicious of you, but it's okay, I get people who have crushes.”

You sigh, exasperated. “Rafayel—”

“Shh.” He shifts, suddenly closing the space between you, paint-streaked fingers brushing against your wrist. His touch is warm, even through the cold air of the studio.

“I have a theory,” he murmurs, voice lower now, softer. “I think you like me.”

Your heart stumbles. “Excuse me?”

“I think,” he continues, ignoring your attempt at indignation, “that you pretend I annoy you, but you keep coming back.” His fingers trail higher, barely grazing the inside of your wrist. “I think you’re more interested than you want to admit.”

You swallow hard, pulse betraying you. “You’re insufferable.”

He grins. "That's what you like about me."

XAVIER

Rarely speaks in class, but when he does, it’s always something unexpectedly insightful. Professors are lowkey impressed.

His navigation skills are atrocious. He’ll confidently walk into the wrong lecture hall, sit through 20 minutes of an advanced physics course before realizing he’s supposed to be in philosophy.

Has a perfectly neutral expression 99% of the time. No one ever knows what he’s thinking, and it drives people crazy.

Falls asleep in the most inappropriate places. He’s been found dozing off in stairwells, under trees, and even once, standing up in a crowded elevator.

He doesn’t understand social norms at all. If someone tells him a joke, he’ll just stare at them before giving a delayed, monotone “Ha. Ha.”

Awkward in a way that somehow makes him more attractive. He doesn’t try to be charming, and yet, that’s what makes people drawn to him.

Has absolutely no idea he’s a campus heartthrob. People whisper about him, but he’s too oblivious to notice.

Has an oddly intense gaze. Even if he’s not trying to be, the way he stares at people makes it feel like he’s reading their soul.

Carries a handkerchief like some 19th-century nobleman. And yes, he will hand it to you if you’re crying.

Oblivious to flirting. Someone could directly say, “I like you,” and he’d just nod and go, “Noted.”

His humor is so dry it’s almost undetectable. Half the time, you can’t tell if he’s joking or being serious. One time he approached you suddenly while you read a book about being different, "How many yous would I find in the next school year?" Huh? "Being different, right?"

The most inconveniently attractive person on campus. He’s not trying, but the rolled-up sleeves, the lazy ruffled hair, the calm but unreadable expression? Yeah. It’s a problem.

A student council member but always absent during meetings.

SCENARIO

It’s late, probably too late to be out walking around campus. But here you are, beside Xavier, the cool autumn air pressing in around you.

“You should go back to your dorm,” he says, his voice as calm as ever. “It’s getting late.”

“You’re literally out here too.”

He tilts his head, like he hadn’t considered that. “…Fair point.”

The two of you walk in silence for a while, the faint glow of streetlights casting long shadows over the pavement. He doesn’t say much, but that’s normal. Being with Xavier isn’t about filling space with words.

Then, out of nowhere...

“Do you want to hold hands?”

You nearly stumble. “What?”

He just looks at you, expression unreadable. “It’s statistically safer to walk in pairs. Handholding ensures proximity.”

You narrow your eyes. “That’s… the worst excuse I’ve ever heard.”

He shrugs. “I know.” But his hand is right there, fingers slightly curled, waiting.

After a beat, you sigh and take it. His grip is warm, steady—but then, a slight squeeze. A tiny motion, but enough to send a shiver up your spine.

When you glance up at him, there’s something different in his expression. Just for a second, an almost-smirk. A teasing, knowing glint in his eyes.

Like he’s enjoying this.

You squeeze his hand back.

And he lowers his head to smile.

CALEB

The golden boy of the campus. He’s effortlessly popular—everyone knows him, everyone likes him, but he doesn’t care for any of it.

A natural-born athlete. Captain of the basketball team, but he’s also good at soccer, swimming, and anything that involves physical endurance. He lives for competition.

Too charismatic for his own good. People are drawn to him, but he keeps a natural distance, his warm exterior masking the fact that his attention is extremely selective.

Flirty without meaning to be. It’s not intentional. He’s just too smooth, and it drives people crazy. A smirk here, a casual arm around someone’s shoulders, it all means nothing to him.

Has had dozens of love confessions, but never accepted a single one. No one knows why.

Straightforward and assertive. If he wants something, he takes it. If he doesn’t like someone, they know.

Has a ridiculous amount of stamina. Can play a full game, go to the gym, and still have energy left to pick someone up and carry them effortlessly.

Would rather fight than argue. He’s not one for petty debates, he settles things physically or with an unshakable finality in his tone.

Territorial as hell. His seat in the cafeteria? His parking spot? His people? All his. No one touches them.

Cooked once during a cookery lesson and was annoyingly good at it. Now people keep begging him to make food, but he only ever does it for someone specific.

A terrible tutor. He has zero patience for slow learners and will resort to bribing, challenging, or outright intimidating someone into getting the right answer.

He doesn't always resort to violence, no. When someone pisses him off, tying the person's bag around their chair is all that he needs to do. Sometimes, secretly putting huge rocks inside the bagpack.

Cannot sit still for long periods. He’s either tapping his foot, spinning a pen, or stretching every five minutes.

Despite his unpredictability, he's ranked as the valedictorian of his batch.

SCENARIO

The student lounge is crowded. People are chatting, studying, and lazily scrolling through their phones between classes. You’re sitting on one of the couches, laughing at something your friend just said when Caleb suddenly slides into the seat next to you.

No warning. Just an unbothered, entirely possessive claim of the space beside you.

“Hey—” You barely have time to react before he does something even bolder.

His arm slings over the back of the couch, effectively caging you in. His fingers tap lazily against your shoulder, casually.

You turn, confused. “Caleb…?”

He doesn’t look at you. He’s staring at your friend instead with a forced smile, his usual easygoing nature laced with something colder.

“Are you leaving?” Caleb asks in a deceptively polite tone.

Your friend hesitates. Then, after a forced chuckle, stands up. “I—yeah, I have class.”

They’re gone in seconds.

You blink, not being able to say anything.

“What?” Caleb finally turns to you, his smirk lazy, but his eyes? Entirely unrepentant.

You frown. “You didn’t have to do that.”

He hums, tilting his head slightly, watching you too closely.

“Didn’t I?”

The implication hangs in the air. Like he knows something you don’t. Like he’s already decided what’s his.

[howtodrawyourdragon]

Does Berk think Hiccup is frivolous in Httyd 1? Maybe a little bit aloof?

Stoick tells him to stop joking around in the opening scene of the movie, after the dagons have left. "This isn't a joke, Hiccup!" He tells him. And he tells him that after his rant about how he has things to worry about, like making sure the village doesn't starve in the coming winter, Hiccup answers to with a sassy "the village could do with a little less feeding, don't you think?" Which really only manages to make Stoick even more mad.

After their first lesson in dragon training, Gobber asks the class "where did Hiccup go wrong?" and Astrid's response is "he's never where he should be." I think she means it literally. Why is Hiccup, of all people, in dragon training? Ruffnut and Tuffnut make sense. Snotlout makes sense. Even Fishlegs makes sense. (especially since Fishlegs has already shown effort by memorizing the Book of Dragons, effort Astrid clearly approves of given her shock at the twins and Snotlout disregarding Gobber's order to read the book.)

But Hiccup? Hiccup McSassyPants? Who gets told that his village could starve in the winter and answers with "well maybe they should eat less"? Who steps outside during a raid and actually causes more damage than the dragons pretending he's capturing a Night Fury? What is he doing in dragon training? That class literally ended with Hiccup almost losing his life to a Gronckle.

This is further backed up when after she has to protect both herself and Hiccup from a Deadly Nadder, which happened because Hiccup wasn't paying attention the whole time, getting them both in trouble. (Which is because he's fixating on figuring out a certain Night Fury, but they don't know that. To them, it just looks like he's annoying Gobber with meaningless questions. Why are you asking about the Night Fury? The one dragon who's single instruction is "hide and pray it doesn't find you"?) She explicitly asks him "Is this some kind of a joke to you?"

Followed up by "Our parent's war is about to become ours. Figure out which side you're on."

Once again someone questions Hiccup about how serious he takes things. But it's more than that, she's trying to give him a wake up call! Wake up, Hiccup, our parents are actually fighting a genuine war here and someday it'll be your turn! Stop making everything a joke before you get yourself or someone else killed!

Astrid actually isn't as much against Hiccup at this point as people often believe. There are actually a few points in which she eithers feels sorry for him or tries to help him in her own Astrid-y way. (And if the deleted scene hadn't been deleted, there would've been an almost friendly conversation had between the two before dragon training even starts)

Let's also not forget Hiccup's and Stoick's talk before dragon training even starts. When Stoick shows some actual vulnerability by laying his son's life in his son's and Gobber's hands when he decides to give in and let Hiccup go to dragon training while he's off on a voyage.

Hiccup tells his father "I don't wanna fight dragons!" in a tone that is rather pleading. To which is father chuckles and says to him "come on, yes you do!"

Remember in the opening, Hiccup practically makes the claim that he lives and breathes to kill dragon, it's "who he is." And now he suddenly claims he doesn't want to fight dragons at all? Can't fight them?

Stoick keeps his tone light, telling his son that he will fight dragons, don't you worry about that, Hiccup. With Hiccup doubling down that he's very extra-sure that he can't fight dragons, which makes Stoick double down in return, his levity disappearing.

"Can you not hear me?" Hiccup asks, desperate to be heard.

"This is serious, son!" Says Stoick. Which makes this three times that Hiccup is explicitly told to take something serious. (And you can just see the disbelieve or realization in Hiccup's eyes as he's once again not being listened to.)

(Followed by Stoick telling him to act like everyone else and to stop being Hiccup, which gets him, you guessed it, a sarcastic remark from Hiccup.)

We know that Hiccup changed his mind about participating in dragon training because he found out he couldn't kill Toothless. (or rather, he can't kill the scared and the defenseless, as the Red Death would later show) But Stoick doesn't know that. Berk actually seems to know very little about Hiccup and that's why they think that he's joking around at all times.

I'm willing to bet that the "disasters" he causes "every time he steps outside" aren't much of a help either. (and I wonder how many of these are actually Hiccup's fault or if Hiccup happened to be involved, so the blame is just automatically put on him.)

And this isn't a post to bash Hiccup. I love him to death, I love his sass as much as any other fan. And I am very much of the opinion that Hiccup's sass is a defense mechanism.

His feelings get hurt, so he tries to hurt someone else's back. Like when he probably feels guilty about his father worrying about the village getting through the winter, so he makes that comment about how the village could eat less to offset that guilt. (Which again, only makes Stoick angrier.) And I think the proof is in the rest of the franchise.

Hiccup sasses the most when he's 15-16, a.k.a from Httyd 1 to DoB. But by the time we see him again in RttE (chronologically) he sasses a little less and in a friendlier and more playful context, but he has also matured to deal with his negative feelings differently. RttE is, chronologically, when Stoick actually begins to consider if his son is ready to be chief. He can see how much Hiccup has matured, especially when there's such physicaly distance between them. It's the equivalent of not seeing someone over summer break or watching someone go traveling and see how much they've changed when you reunite with them.

(also, he can knock Snotlout unconscious with a single punch, I bet that helps as well.)

But it is the way Hiccup chooses to defend himself, giving sassy comments (think "Thanks, I was trying!" to Snotlout's comment about the mess he made) to either painful comments about him or actual serious statements like the ones Stoick makes that still gets him in the feels that make him seem so shallow and unserious in the eyes of Berk.

Then there is his apparent history of crying wolf. When he actually does manage to shoot down a Night Fury, his father doesn't believe him and Hiccup explicitly says "this isn't like the last few times, I mean I really actually hit it! It went down!"

When you combine all of this, you get a teenager who doesn't appear to take anybody serious, including the lives of himself and others. Terrible traits to have as a person, let alone when you're the chief's son.

Somehow, a narrative of frivolity and aloofness was build around Hiccup that he just could not escape no matter how much he tried to crawl out of it. At some point, Berk put him in a box, marked it "jokester" and Hiccup's efforts to get out of that box only grew and grew. When his efforts failed, whenever he sassed back, Berk just pushed him even deeper into that box. Not looking further into what Hiccup actually needed or was trying to say.

Do I think Berk was right? Not at all, because this is all surface-level, things Hiccup legitimately says and does to protect himself and nobody realizes this.

Toothless doesn't speak a single word to him during the Forbidden Friendship scene, yet he can get across exactly what he expects from Hiccup (mainly "keep your distance, I don't trust you enough") without being mean about it. He doesn't snap, he doesn't bare his teeth. He just gives him faces that Hiccup understands. Only growling or hissing when Hiccup passes a boundary Toothless very clearly isn't comfortable with. (or, let's say, when his feelings are hurt, like when Hiccup steps on toothless' first drawing.)

And it's because he's not mean about it that he actually makes more progress with Hiccup in half a day than Berk does his entire 15 years.

And that's sad. That's what this post is about. About how sad it is that Berk takes Hiccup at a very shallow level and decides that must be his entire self as a person.

[freddleafton12345-blog]

PLATONIC! Flightmare & female reader! (You meet your dragon)

Arvandil's fire. It was in the sky.

And when that happened, it brought along the vicious Flightmare. A dragon everybody feared since it overpowered Fearless Fin, the uncle of your childhood friend.

But you? You wanted a closer look at the dragon. You thought it's banshee-like scream and blue glow was gorgeous and scary, all at once.

That's why you were went along on Toothless, with your two closest friends of Berk.

As you, Astrid, and Hiccup took off on Toothless, you spoke. "So, I'm very glad you guys let me come along, but, I'm sorry I didn't borrow a dragon from the others. Hope Toothless doesn't think I'm heavy!"

Toothless grunted and gently snacked your head with his tail, almost as if he was telling you 'I can handle three vikings!'

Hiccup chuckled. "Oh don't worry, we don't mind. Astrid, maybe we shouldn't kill this dragon though? I get you're upset about your uncle, but we stopped killing dragons, remember?"

Astrid gritted her teeth, but once she felt your hand on her shoulder, she calmed down. "You're right, Hiccup. I...I won't kill the Flightmare. I just wanna get it off of Berk so it stops hurting others."

"That's the spirit, Astrid!" You smiled.

Pretty soon, you guys heard a loud screech accompanied with a bright blinding shine coming up over the hills. Hiccup made Toothless stop and hover.

"Olay, there it is! Maybe if we stay still it won't attack!" He suggested.

The Flightmare flew closer and closer until it was inches from Toothless. The Nightfury growled as a warning, clearly not frightened by the glowing dragon.

The Flightmare then made its body shine even brighter, and that's when things took a turn for the worst.

"GAH! TOOTHLESS!" Hiccup screamed as Toothless shut his eyes and fell close to the ground from the shock of the bright shine. Astrid held onto Hiccup and you as you all plummeted towards the ground.

Unfortunately, you fell off the saddle from how rapid Toothless was falling, and in that time, the Flightmare targeted you.

Astrid panicked. "HEY! LEAVE HER ALONE, SHE'S MY FRIEND!" She quickly threw her axe at the dragon, but it simply dodged the attack as it dove down and grabbed you in its claws.

You flailed and panicked, trying to escape the clutches of the vicious dragon. But it was far stronger than you were.

"Y/N!!!" Hiccup screamed, reaching out towards your direction until they hit the ground. All of their visions started to get black as they passed out.

~~~

The Flightmare carried you through Berk, it's glow still bright, but not so much that you had to shut your eyes.

"Um...hey!" You spoke up to it. "Where are you taking me? I promise I'm not a threat!"

The dragon suddenly hovered and looked down at you, grunting curiously. Almost like it was asking you, 'are you lying?'

"I'm not joking. I'd never hurt a dragon as gorgeous as you..I really just...I don't know, I wanted to study and observe you more. You know? Get to see you up close. Oh great maybe the twins were right. I am almost as crazy as them. I'm talking to this thing like it understands meEEE!?"

The Flightmare snorted and dove down into a nearby forest, then it set you on the ground. Giving you a look of 'follow me,' before it started walking off.

"Hey! Where are you going now!? Wait please!" You followed the dragon, looking all around. "I hope no Whispering Death's decide to come out and join us..I hate those things."

At this, the blue dragon nodded with a snort.

"Hold on...did you understand that?"

Another nod.

"This is incredible! I thought dragons had to be trained to respond to certain words but you're clearly very smart! Um..I'm y/n!" You smiled at it.

The glowing mystery class dragon brought you to a glowing river that was just as gorgeous as the dragon was.

You stood in awe as you saw the Flightmare drink from the river, causing its body to shine brightly for a moment. Then you put the puzzle together.

"I get it. This trail of glowing algae attracts you. This is the route you always take into the village, because it's your food source. And with the town growing bigger every year, you fear we're gonna take your food source?"

The Flightmare snorted with a nod, licking its lips.

"Well..." you hesitated, then started inching closer with your hand out. "I promise you that'll never happen. I'll help you protect your precious glowing algae, and I'll tell the chief that this area is to be respected and not touched by humans."

The dragon stared you down as you crept closer. But then, it too, started taking smaller steps towards you.

And soon enough, you guys were just three feet apart. With your hand still out, you turned your head away and waited, eyes screwed shut incase the dragon decided to eat your arm.

But it didn't. You felt smooth scales against your palm, along with a low, rumbling purr.

"Wow..." you smiled in shock and fascination, looking at the Flightmare as it kept its nose in your palm.

"It's nice to meet you." You said, scratching it's chin, making the Flightmare purr even more.

Wait till Hiccup and Astrid hear about this...

My writing is garbage and it's 12AM but whatever))

[sweetdispatch]

No hope - L. Hughes

masterlist pairing: Luke Hughes x girlfriend!reader summary: Luke's girlfriend is facing huge problems with her relationship warning: drinking, drug use, addiction, depression, suicide, death note: this one is personal, i'm struggling with the pain but i decided to write about it to help me in this day since it's the first time without her on her day... happy birthday A, wherever you are queen❤️

Astrid and Luke had been definition of high school sweethearts. They’ve met when they were 16 but for two years none of them make a move to be together. Everyone could see that they are flirty with each other. Luke’s friends knew he has a crush on her and Astrid’s friends knew she has a crush on him. Their dynamic changed on one of the parties.

They played truth or dare. Luke picked dare and had to kiss Astrid. He blushed after hearing this, but he did it. The kiss was full of love and faith. When they pulled away, they were laughing staring into each other eyes. Luke found the bravery to ask her to be his girlfriend. She gladly accepted this offer, and they became inseparable.

Their idyll hasn’t lasted long. Couple months after they became official couple, both were leaving for college. Luke was going to Michigan University when Astrid was heading to New York University. They decided to do long distance because they were seeing future with each other. Everything was going smoothly. Luke had been calling her every single day, Astrid was sending him pictures and nonsense texts all the time. Until New Year’s Eve 2021.

Astrid was stuck in New York and Luke was stuck in Michigan. They couldn’t see each other when they’ve been planning this since the college started. She was mad that things haven’t worked out and she got drunk. She found out that alcohol helps her to deal with the pain she’s having from being away from each other. She stared drinking more and more. Every weekend was a great opportunity for her to get hammered.

Luke knew about it but haven’t said a word. He understood that she might be overwhelmed with her major and just wants to party in her free time. Although, he didn’t know she’s drinking because of their long distance relationship. Her classes had never been an issue but Astrid haven’t corrected him. She preferred him to believe it’s because of the college. She didn’t want to make him feel guilty.

Year 2021-2022 was over. Right after final exam, Astrid went to Michigan to see Luke. They spent every day of their summer break together. His brothers were joking that they are glued to each other but none of them cared about it. They tried to make as many memories as they could before going back to their separate lives. Three months went super fast, and they had to split again.

Luke in his second year put all his focus on hockey. He started to neglect their relationship. There wasn't everyday calls, he barely responded on her texts. On the other hand, Astrid focused on her major. She knew that her constant partying wasn’t a good idea, so she wanted to be the best student. It worked only for the first semester.

Soon after, Astrid came back to her old habits, but drinking wasn’t the problem now. She started to experiment with drugs. Luke was ignoring her to focus on his career. She understood that. She always felt that at some point, he’s gonna pick hockey over her. When he heard from her friends that she’s doing drugs now, his world stopped. Luke felt responsible for this. He decided to concentrate on her. He knew that he must train her if he wants to achieve big things but now, Astrid was his priority.

Her addiction got worst; she couldn’t function without drugs. She started ditching her classes. Astrid felt like a failure the whole time. She felt that she’s failing everyone, her family, her friends and most importantly, her boyfriend. She didn’t want to be a burden for others. She preferred to suffer alone. Luke was trying his best to help her, but it was difficult on long distance.

In April, Luke signed contract with New Jersey and soon after he was there in the city playing in NHL. Astrid was proud of him. She was very vocal towards him about her feelings with the signing. He moved to his brother’s apartment to live closer to the rink, but in every chance, he had, he was visiting his girlfriend’s dorm.

Instead of feeling grateful for having him by his side, Astrid felt horrible. She didn’t want him to see her in this state. She was pushing him away, always making excuses. She was telling herself that she didn’t deserve him. He was a professional hockey player, and she was just a student with depression and drug addiction. Her mind was playing tricks on her.

Astrid haven’t had the bravery to break up with him. She loved him deeply, but she knew there’s no hope for their relationship. She tried to do everything to force him to break up with her. Luke’s mind never crossed the thought of breaking up with her. She was the best thing that happened to him, and he wanted to help her with getting out of it.

After the season was over for Luke, he left her for couple of days. He needed to be back in Michigan. He told Astrid about this trip and promised her to be back as fast as he could. She was delighted that he was leaving her. She didn’t want to be a burden to him. She was into her mind for too long and wanted this to end. While he was gone, she decided to go on her last party.

Astrid went wild that night. She drank like there’s no tomorrow. She was mixing every alcohol and every drug she could. After the party, she hasn’t woken up. She never woke up again. She finally felt free from the pain she had been dealing with for the past two years. One thing she haven’t thought about before she decided to commit suicide was aftermatch of her decision.

Her family was heartbroken, their only child was gone. All her friends were mourning over her death. The one that had the biggest problem to accept this was Luke. He felt like it’s all his fault. He was beating himself for leaving her. He knew about her problems and struggles yet; he hasn’t helped her enough.

Luke was carrying the grief with him. He couldn’t forgive himself for what happened. He carried with him her picture in his wallet and her hair band on his wrist. He couldn’t believe she was gone but decided to cherish every moment they’ve spent.

[hannahssimblr]

It’s an innocuous day in January when, for the first time, I realise my life can come apart just like anybody else’s. Like theirs, mine is a seam, a thousand tiny threads holding it firm, an analogy somewhere about a stitch saving time. Or nine. I don’t remember. My mother is too high class to sew her clothes. When they tear or wear at the elbows and knees, she buys more, because people like us don’t need to repair. 

Friends at school with fraying cuffs on their uniform sleeves, hems of their trousers unrolled and hanging raw about their ankles. Shirts, a rectangular echo of a pocket on the breast of the thing worn for years after being attacked in the hallways by boys who tore them off for fun. Happened to me too. Inevitable. A rite of passage on my first week of school. I wore a shirt still creased from the packet the next day, because my clothes never had to be old, worn, damaged. When something tore, another one appeared in my room. I was from the big house on Vernon Avenue. I had the PlayStation 2 before everyone else. My clothes were always new.

But this, all of this, is like when Jen’s school trousers ripped up the back the time she tried to climb on the cistern to have a cigarette out the window. The threads had been giving for a while. They just waited until that moment to let her know, in a violent display of embarrassment in front of the girls she was hoping to impress. It���s like when the elastic in your swimming togs gives up one day, falling to bits around your body after months of cooperation, eaten secretly by the chlorine the whole time. 

It starts with nothing. A pretzel. The bakery near the university I get my breakfast some mornings. Simple, a bagel and a coffee which I’ll take with me to class. Tuesday, that day. The day I have art history at nine with Steffen, the lecturer that fancies my girlfriend and loathes me. It’s my most dreaded hour of the week, one that calls for the comfort of a pretzel and a coffee, essential to get me through the slog of it, keep me sane while he pretends he cannot understand my German and corrects me sneeringly in front of everyone, determined to embarrass me. 

Card declined. 

“Ah, weird.” Trying again then, and another denying beep. Smiling sheepishly at the barista, explaining I don’t have cash on me. 

“It could be a problem with the machine. You can take it. You come here all the time, so just pay later if you want.”

Thank her. It was nice of her. Tell her I’ll be back in a couple of hours, after my classes, but I won’t be. My card is declined in the little Italian deli where I’ve met Astrid for lunch. It’s awkward this time. They’ve already made our sandwiches up. 

“I’ll pay it,” says Astrid after a long, uncomfortable pause, and presents a little blue debit card while it strikes me I’ve never actually seen it before. Never knew what her debit card looks like, and sort of assumed in some sense she didn’t even own one. Why would she? I think. What does she ever have to pay for?

The sandwiches, I suppose. Tasting worse than ever now, they are spoiled by the pungency of my guilt. We eat them by the river, hands freezing around the tinfoil wrapping, frowning at the water, as the wind lifts white peaks from its surface. “So weird about my card,” I say, but Astrid is disinterested, doing that flippant waving thing with her hand. “Sometimes the machines just don’t work as they’re supposed to. That’s why having cash is good.” She wants to talk about this Iranian film she and Dalia saw in an indie theater. I let her, all the distracted by thoughts of my bank account. It’s fine, surely. I have money. People like me have money. 

Early evening, with my earbuds in on the gym’s treadmill, and I hear a message chime. Jonas. I wipe the sweat from my brow and read it. It’s about the water bill. A message so unbelievably dull that usually I’d ignore it for a few hours, but now my stomach twists. I went back to the bakery after college to pay for my breakfast, and my card was declined again. It looks like I stole that pretzel now. I told the barista I’d come back in the morning with actual euros for her, and she smiled in this vacant way that made me feel like a liar, wanting so badly to explain to her I’m not, like, poor, or whatever. I can pay for it, while knowing that explanation would only make me look worse. 

And now Jonas is asking about the water bill, saying I never paid it. I step off the treadmill and stare at my phone. A drop of sweat hits the screen, magnifying the pixels, little dots of coloured screen, and emphasises the word paid for me, like I didn’t already understand the central theme of the text. As in, I have not paid my share of the bill. 

“I have,” I respond. “It should just come out of the account automatically.”

“It hasn’t,” he says, and sends a photograph of the bill, big überfällige Zahlung across the top of it in terrifying red lettering. Overdue payment. Surely not. My legs start feeling a bit weak, which is very dramatic. It’s fine. I have money. I hold on to the arm of the treadmill anyway, in case I decide to fall over. Someone is asking if I’m still using it. I tell him no and head for the changing rooms. 

I call Jonas from the UBahn on the way home, immediately confrontational on the phone to him. “I paid that bill.”

“Well, you haven’t,” he’s eating something. “If you had, then the letter would not say ‘überfällige Zahlung’.”

“That’s obviously a mistake.”

“I don’t think so,” rustling noises, him unfolding the paper for further examination. “I have never seen a mistake before like this, if that is the case. It’s more likely you didn’t pay.”

“I’ve direct debit set up, so.”

“Okay, then maybe your account is empty.” He says it so casually, mouth full of whatever he’s having for dinner. The nonchalance enrages me. 

“Don’t be so stupid,” I hiss, and someone on the train looks over. “There’s no way. I have loads. There’s something going on with my account today, is all. This is normal.” I have no idea whether it’s normal or not, but am sure there’s merit to saying it with such conviction. 

“When did you last check your account balance?”

Well, I’ve never checked it. The sight of it frightens me and reminds me of the drain and eventual cessation of life. Completely reasonable reason. “Jonas, I am telling you that this is a mistake.”

“You can check. When you get home, check.”

“Yeah,” I say, and hang up as the train hurtles from a station into a black tunnel, rumbling through the darkness. 

“You look unwell,” Jonas greets me as I arrive and untangle my scarf from my neck, choking me now, and kick my boots outside the door. Indeed, I do. My reflection is pale and wild-eyed, hair tousled from grabbing at it, like one of those Wall Street guys in the documentary my economics teacher made us watch to explain the recession. 

“Where’s my laptop?” I already know where it is. Need to look. Can’t bear to. Pushing through the apartment now with everything in a dizzying blur, shaky cam, the smell of Jonas’ cooking, him trailing behind, offering me a plate of it, as if I can even think about putting food into my mouth. 

My laptop is on the bed, tossed all casually on the rumpled duvet. Macbook. How much are these things worth? I never cared before this moment. Jonas is in the door as I type the banking website into the address. My codes then. Fuck sake. Don’t know them. I have to navigate through a chat with my mother to find them, heightening the suspense. Then punch them in. Check balance. 

It’s like being punched in the head, the feeling. Then there’s this long, deathly silence, because Jonas knows without me having to say it. He knows by the look on my face. 

“Do you–”

“I have four euros in my account.”

We look at one another for one endless moment, and I can tell he wants to laugh a bit, because it’s a funny kind of shocking. Four euros. A comically depressing number. 

“It’s fine,” he’s saying now. “You just top it up with more,” and then I look at him with the most scathing look I have in my repertoire, because for the first time, he’s the one who looks like the privileged idiot. I feel I have to speak to him slowly to control the emotion in my voice. Tremors anyway, wobbling there beneath every word. “Where do you suppose I get the money to top it up, Jonas?”

He falters. “I thought your parents gave you money.”

“They don’t.”

“But you… We all thought they were funding your lifestyle.”

“They weren’t.”

“Oh.”

“Yes. Oh.”

“But Jude,” he says, shaking his head at me. I don’t like that. “You were spending so much money all the time. We all thought you had an unlimited amount.”

“I wasn’t,” I snap. “I wasn’t, really.”

“The holidays you went on. The gifts for Astrid, the way you eat at restaurants every day…”

“Those things didn’t feel expensive. I thought I had enough money to cover it, or, I don’t know, I didn’t think. When I sold my car, I–it looked like…” I break off helplessly. “I got an A in maths, Jonas. How can this happen?”

“It’s basic subtraction.”

“This shouldn’t be happening to me.” my laptop fades to black now, the account disappearing from sight, but the reality still ringing in the surrounding air. I think of all I am about to lose. A vision of my life crashing down around me like a house of cards. “Astrid! Oh, God, Astrid. What is she gonna do?”

“She will have to buy her own things for once.”

I groan, head in hands, unable to formulate a response. How can I speak when my life is basically over? Condemned to the streets. One of those people rummaging through skips with holes in my shoes, saying mad things to people at the bus stop, terrorizing the feral pigeons in the town square. There he is, crazy bird man, a cautionary tale. He got an A in maths in his leaving cert, and this still happened to him. 

Jonas, there by the door, deciding it's the perfect time to ask whether I've paid rent this month.

Without looking up. “No,” One glance at my account was enough to show it’s been struggling along for a while. Hundreds becoming tens, whittling down through December to the last few euros. Pocket change. It’s been bad for a while. “No, I didn’t pay rent.”

“Hm,” he says. “And how do you plan to do that?”

Looking at him in despair, considering, briefly, a tantrum of some sort. Pure childhood panic. If I cause enough of a scene, this will all go away. Looking into Jonas’ face is frightening, because I can see it there. He doesn’t know what to do either. He isn’t going to help me. 

“What do I do?” I ask, as if he knows. Pity in his eyes, watching me flail. 

“I don’t know,” he admits. “Perhaps you can get a job.”

A job. Oh, Jesus fucking Christ. A job. An actual job. Kill me. That’s the last thread. The one causes the seam to give and ruins my life. You don’t understand. I want to explain. I’m from the biggest house on Vernon Avenue. I had a PlayStation 2 before everyone else. Instead of saying that, I lie here like a corpse, staring at the ceiling, wishing some heavy piece of furniture would crash through it and turn me into one for real. 

“It’s not bad,” he says, not understanding how bad it really is. Unable to fathom the intricacies of my life. 

I don’t bother to answer. It’s the financial equivalent of being pantsed in the schoolyard. The blankets ripped off my sleeping body on a winter morning. I am a creature accustomed to the shade beneath a rock, exposed at last to the light, nothing left to shelter me.

A job. 

Beginning // Prev // Next

[p-artsypants]

Interference

When Hiccup accidentally overhears a conversation between Astrid and Heather about him, he assumes Astrid's telling the truth about not having any feelings for him, and it makes him reevaluate his life plans. Thankfully, it's only a misunderstanding.

Hi! This is my first time participating in a fandom challenge. This is my entry for the @httydhiccstridweek Day 4 prompt: (Not) Stubborn. It might be a bit of a stretch….

@sorushing

Ao3

Hiccup meandered through the Edge woods. Toothless was taking his mid afternoon nap (poor nocturnal soul) and Hiccup had been tinkering in his hut. He had a few ideas for a tail fin improvement, but he was trying to combine them all and it simply wasn’t working. 

So, like he often did on Berk to clear his head, he went on a walk in the woods. The day was pleasant, Heather was back for a while, maybe even to stay. Everyone else seemed to be finding ways to stay busy, which meant not annoying him. 

Yes, a pleasant walk indeed. 

He found himself heading toward Astrid’s clearing where she’d set up targets for axe throwing. Not surprising he’d seek her out. It would have been more surprising if he hadn’t. 

Through the brush, he could hear Astrid and Heather talking, interspersed with the thunks of blades into wood. 

Maybe he ought to let them catch up in peace. He didn’t have anything particular he wanted to talk about, and both of them could use quality girl time. 

As he turned to leave, he swore he heard Astrid say his name. Not calling out to him, but talking about him to Heather. 

Too curious for his own good, he kept low and his steps quiet. He stayed hidden among the bushes and behind a tree, safe from arrant axes. 

Just for a minute, he told himself. It wasn’t polite to spy. 

“You guys are a thing, right?” Heather asked. 

Hiccup felt his face flush hot as he heard Astrid’s axe fly wildly off in the distance. 

“What?! No! J-just friends!” 

He hugged himself, trying to stave off the heartbreak just that sentence caused. 

“Hmmm. He’s pretty cute.” 

“Sure, if you like the unassuming, heroic, dragon rider type, heh.” 

“Fishlegs said you guys used to kiss. Did it not work out?” 

“Wh-what? Used to—no no, he’s got it all wrong. Yeah, I kissed Hiccup in front of everyone, but it was just the one time. It was after he lost his leg and he was finally up and walking around. I was relieved that he was alive.” 

“So you kissed him?” 

“That’s—er—that is to say, I was relieved, and he had ended the war, so I thought he deserved a kiss.” 

Hiccup couldn’t recall the last time he’d heard Astrid flustered. It was confusing, but exciting? Talking about him, kissing him, made her nervous. 

“Oh, I get it. A reward for a good deed.” 

“Exactly.” 

“What about the other two?” 

“Other—? Oh I’m going to kill Fishlegs.” 

Heather laughed. “You should know better. He gave me all the hot gossip!” 

Astrid grunted, and hurled an axe at a target, sinking the blade into the wood. “Well, no use in lying. Fine. I kissed him a total of three times…but those were years ago! One was during Snoggletog. All the dragons left to go have their mating ritual, which we didn’t know they did, and we were all sad. Toothless couldn’t initially go, so Hiccup made him a tailfin he could use on his own, and then he left too.” 

“I remember this story,” Heather giggled. “Fishlegs locked Meatlug in a barn and she laid eggs…also how he found out she was a girl.” 

“Yeahhhh…”

“And how you guys found out that boulder class eggs explode.” 

“Let’s gloss over that part,” Astrid rubbed the back of her head. “When Meatlug got free, Hiccup somehow got caught up in her escape and went with her to the rookery. A day later, he returned with all the dragons and their babies…all except Toothless.” 

Hiccup craned his head to listen more, as Astrid’s voice had grown softer. 

“We were all so devastated they left. I was heartbroken that Stormfly just left so abruptly, and then Hiccup was there with Stormfly and all her babies. He returned her to me…but he was still so profoundly sad and clearly missed Toothless. I was so grateful and he was so…” she sighed. “So yeah, I kissed him again. Just a peck.” 

“I can see why.” 

Astrid sighed again, grunting at the end as she heaved her axe over her shoulder. “The last time was during Thawfest. An annual tournament to decide the best Viking. Snotlout had won every year since we were in diapers, and you know how much of a sore winner he is.” 

“A little unbearable?” 

“A lot unbearable. Truthfully, I always thought I’d be the one to beat him, but my family has a notorious curse on our Thawfest performance. No Hofferson has won a point in a hundred years. Just bad luck.” 

“So no chance of humbling Snotlout?” 

“Not initially, no. But these Thawfest games would be the first to include Dragons. And with a Nightfury, well, now there was an even playing field.” 

Hiccup smiled at her recollection. Hearing it from her perspective was interesting. 

“Snotlout was always mean to Hiccup, but he became a lot more respectful after Hiccup lost his leg. Thawfest brought the ugly back out, and Hiccup was right there, handing it right back. I honestly didn’t recognize him. He’d always taken bullying and criticism so tactfully, either letting it roll off his shoulders or turning it into a joke, but now he was showboating and hurling insults…granted, Hiccup hadn’t ever won anything before, so he probably didn’t know what that felt like.”

Ouch, Astrid. Hiccup thought.

“He had the chance to beat Snotlout. And I think Spitelout, Snotlout’s dad, was very aware of that. Spitelout’s always been cruel, and reamed Snotlout out in front of all of us, while Stoick just told Hiccup to do his best.” There was warmth in her voice as she finished, “during the final race, Hiccup ‘had a problem’ with Toothless and Snotlout was able to win. Everyone else thought there was a malfunction with the tail, but I could tell it was on purpose. Hiccup gave up his chance to finally win Thawfest and ‘be the best viking’ because he knew the pride and accomplishment would last a little while, but the shame and humiliation Snotlout would feel would last a lifetime. He let Snotlout, the boy that bullied him his entire life, win, because they were friends now and that’s what friends do.” 

“And you thought he should at least win something.” 

“Exactly.” 

Hiccup rested a hand on his blushing face. He assumed Astrid had figured him out, and that was why she kissed him, but to see that she had so deeply and thoroughly read his mind and heart…

But she’d been good at that for years. He could never hide his feelings from her. With one look, she was able to determine what was on his mind or what was bothering him. 

All but one thing, and he was fairly sure she knew and just didn’t comment on it. 

“So you don’t have any feelings for him at all? None whatsoever?” 

Hiccup held his breath.

“I mean…of course I like him, I love him! But like—not love love. A platonic love.” 

“Like a brother?” 

“Ehhh, like a friend. A good friend. I trust him, but that’s really it.” 

Crack. Hiccup was pretty sure his heart just stopped, and maybe they could hear it snapping in half from where they were. 

Tears bit at his eyes, but he was determined not to let them fall. Astrid was entitled to feel however she wanted. Her friendship was so important to him, he’d take it in whatever form she was willing to give. 

No wonder the random kisses stopped. She just…didn’t like him.

Then he started spiraling. What was the tipping point? When did she realize he wasn’t all that special? Because you don’t just kiss your friends, there had to have been some fondness she held for him at one point. And then it disappeared somewhere along the line. 

He did something to repulse her. 

“So…you wouldn’t mind if I asked him out?” Heather asked. 

Hiccup choked, a wheeze slithering up his throat. He had to place a hand over his mouth to keep it silent. 

What?! Heather?! Why?!

It seemed like Astrid had similar thoughts as she barked, “excuse me?!” 

“Yeah,” Heather replied, calm and cool. “If you don’t like like him, I think he’s pretty cool. Maybe he’d go on a date with me.” 

“That’s—!” Astrid balked. Then, after a moment, she said, “you know what? You’re right! You’re both clever and cool, I bet you’d get along great. You should go for it.” 

What?! Hiccup screamed in his mind. Astrid, don’t! 

“Really?” Heather chirped. “You sure you don’t mind?”

“Nah, I was just concerned since you just got here. But why not? He seems to like you.” 

Yeah, Hiccup liked Heather, about as much as he liked Ruffnut. She was a friend that he trusted. Granted, he did think Heather was pretty, but that was the extent of his attraction. 

Hiccup shook his head, feeling all sorts of hurt and betrayal. He needed to get out of here. 

Just as quietly as he came, he tiptoed away, careful to not make his foot click or even brush against leaves. 

Once he was far enough away, he booked it back to the Edge, eyes stinging with tears. He didn’t want to cry, but gods how he loved her! 

And now he would have to navigate putting his heart back together while figuring out what to do with Heather. 

He’d turn her down, obviously. He was in no condition to agree to any sort of date, no matter how casual. 

He needed time. 

He turned the path to the Clubhouse and saw Snotlout and Tuffnut wrestling in the grass. He tried to pass them without a word, but Snotlout spotted him. 

“Hey, why the long face?” 

Hiccup didn’t answer, but kept walking. 

“Whoa, yeah! You been crying? What happened?” Asked Tuffnut. 

“I’m fine,” Hiccup protested, his voice thick with sorrow. 

Snotlout and Tuffnut quickly abandoned their training and flanked Hiccup, one on each side. 

“You say that, but your face is soaked with tears,” Snotlout smirked. “What? Did you see a big scary spider?” 

Hiccup never appreciated Snotlout’s teasing, who would? But right now, he was ready to break. Instead, he found a safe lie and said, “my leg is killing me.” 

Snotlout’s face steeled into something more serious. In a blink, Hiccup was up on his back, being carried back to the Outpost piggyback style. 

“You don’t have to—“ 

“Don’t comment on it,” Snotlout grumbled. “Just let me get my weight training in…though you weigh nothing, so it’s not going to do any good.” 

Hiccup just hung on and hid his face in Snotlout’s shoulder. Pain was pain, no matter where it was coming from, and comfort was comfort, even if it was coming from his dickhead cousin. 

Snotlout carried him all the way back to his hut and sat him on his bed. “You good if you just chill for a bit? Or do you need me to get Fishface?” 

“No, getting off of it for a while is fine. Thanks Snotlout, I appreciate it.” 

“No problem,” he smirked. Then he punched Hiccup in the shoulder. “If I see you up before dinner, I’m bringing you back…and it won’t be a pleasant piggyback ride next time.” 

“Noted.” 

Snotlout gave him a salute and left, leaving Hiccup all alone in his hut. 

All alone, and miserable. 

It had been such a nice day too!

Hiccup sighed as he laid down on his bed. Curling up helped with the pain. 

He didn’t want to sulk. He didn’t want to cry his eyes out, but wow how quickly his world flipped upside down! He always thought there was something special between him and Astrid. They could almost read each other’s minds. 

I don’t want to live in a world without you. 

And she had repeated that to him. Had that meant nothing? Or just not as much as it meant to him? 

How many sleepless nights had he tossed and turned thinking about her, dreaming about her, planning when he’d make that step? He was so certain that this was mutual and just unrushed. When he finally did kiss her, she’d reciprocate. 

Because he trusted her. He trusted her too much, apparently, and never thought she’d hurt him. 

And it stung. All the way down to his toes, he felt a blinding ache. He and Astrid hadn’t dated, no, but she was so intrinsic to his life, as deeply intertwined with every aspect, there was no escape. She was in all his happy memories. She was there cheering him on in all his victories. How was he supposed to face her now? 

How was he supposed to move on? 

A sob cut through his mental tirade and he buried his eyes in the crook of his elbow. 

Gods, this hurt. And that meant it was real. It wasn’t puppy love or a little crush, it was all encompassing desire and adoration. 

He loved Astrid Hofferson. And she didn’t love him back. 

“Wurrr?” Toothless warbled in his face. 

Hiccup looked up sharply, meeting those empathetic green eyes. “Oh. Hey bud, didn’t hear you come up.” 

“Weerrp?” 

“I’m okay…or I will be.” 

Toothless sniffed over his body, checking for injuries. 

“No, no it’s…it’s not that. I um…I found out that Astrid probably doesn’t feel the same way I do.” 

“Rrrummp.” Toothless rolled his eyes, clearly showing a large degree of doubt. 

“No ‘rruummp’! I heard it! With my own ears! She and Heather were talking and she asked her if we were a couple and Astrid denied it up and down. Said she liked me as a friend and that’s it.” He clenched his eyes shut as they started to water again. “She actually encouraged Heather to ask me out.” 

“Rreweerr?” 

“Your guess is as good as mine. I thought…well, it doesn’t matter what I thought. I was wrong.” He tucked his head into his arm again, putting pressure on his eyelids. 

Toothless, ever the faithful companion, climbed up onto the bed and wormed his legs under Hiccup. Then he dragged him back and cocooned him in paws and wings, blocking out the world and whatever hurt his boy. 

Hiccup could cry in peace. 

Hours passed, and Hiccup cried on and off. He’d gather himself, hype himself up to some sort of mantra of ‘it’s going to be fine, you’ll get over it’. And then he’d break down again as he remembered something else that Astrid’s presence was intertwined with and was now ruined. 

He hadn’t cried like this in years. Not since…not since he lost his leg. That time was a whirlwind of emotion. His father disowned him, and the pain of being cast out of the tribe was excruciating. Losing everything he loved, everything he had tried so hard to protect and those he tried to impress. It was ripped away. 

But Astrid remained, standing by his side and encouraging him in her own abrasive way. She poked and prodded at him until he kicked himself into gear, then she was with him through all of it. She helped him train the others, flew him to Helheim’s gate, did everything he asked of her and helped him fulfill his destiny. 

Back then, gaining his father’s love and acceptance had come from his arrival. Just coming to help was enough for Stoick…though seeing the Red Death with his own eyes probably helped. 

But for the rest of the Vikings, for everyone else that ridiculed him, his outcast had to be traded for. He lost his leg, but found a place in the tribe. 

Except…Astrid never needed any of that. She was there from that magical flight, and by his side, she’d remain. Without her, he’d still be on that cliff, watching his father and Toothless sail away. 

Without her…

What was he going to do? 

Stopping the hunters, saving the dragons, it was all the right thing to do, and he was driven to do it. But for how long? Without her rallying beside him, how long would his spirit hold up before it broke? 

He was just one man. Less than one man, really, with less than a whole dragon. They could do great things, had done great things. 

But without Astrid, the victories wouldn’t be as sweet, and the losses would hurt even more. 

But he’d do it. He’d smile and keep her at arms length, if that’s where she wanted to be. All he wanted was for her to be happy. 

Oh gods, what if she fell in love with someone? With this new perspective, he was certain she was just not interested in love and more interested in the fight. What if that changed? What if she met someone on their travels? What if he had to watch her fall in love and he had to pretend to be happy for her? 

No. No Odin, please no. That might actually kill him. 

The dinner bell rang. Everyone else was probably gathered already, and this was just for his benefit. 

Dare he bother? Well, if he didn’t go, Astrid would surely check on him. And he just couldn’t handle that right now. 

He patted Toothless’ belly. “Alright, you big lug, let me up.” 

Toothless warbled a protest, but unfurled his legs and wings so Hiccup could crawl out. 

From here, Hiccup could see and hear that it had started raining. Not too hard, but enough to be a pain to fly in. 

“Ah, sorry bud. Probably no flight tonight. Looks like you can go back to napping.” 

Toothless cocked his head to the side, concerned. 

Hiccup went to his wash basin and splashed the freezing cold water on his face, hoping that the evidence of tears would wash away. Maybe Snotlout had told them what happened, and any redness would be attributed to his leg instead of the real problem. 

The rain storm did make his calf ache though, and thinking about it made it flare up. A twinge, enough to be uncomfortable, but not enough to be debilitating like Snotlout thought. Still, to be proactive and to help with his cover story, he took out his cane. A gift from Gobber when they left home, only used on the worst days. 

Well, this was a pretty terrible day. 

“Weerrr?” 

“I’m okay. I’m going to make an appearance, eat some dinner, and then come back. I might even be able to get some work done on that tail.” 

Toothless didn’t seem to care about the tail, just his boy. He let out another concerned wuff and padded closer. 

“You’re smothering me,” Hiccup scolded. “Just…I’m dealing with it.” 

“Rrrggh.” 

“I know…I love you too, bud.” 

Hiccup gave him a scratch behind the ears and then headed out into the rain. 

By the time he reached the clubhouse, he was soaked. As he thought, he was the last to arrive, and everyone looked up as he entered. 

Astrid was up like a shot, jogging over to him. She took his free arm and draped it over her shoulder. 

“You don’t have to—“ 

“You have your cane.” 

“Yeah…” 

She led him to his normal spot, right next to her, and sat him down. Then she took his cane and placed it out of the way, but close enough for him to grab. 

A plate and mug were placed in front of him, probably by Fishlegs, but he wasn’t keeping track. He just stared at his food and idly pushed it around with his fork. 

Having Astrid fret and dote on him made his appetite evaporate. 

Someone was talking, maybe Snotlout or the twins. They were telling a joke, or maybe a story. There was laughter which petered out to companionable silence. 

“What about you, Hiccup?” Heather asked. “We didn’t see you at all today. What were you up to?” 

He frowned slightly, scrounging up a story. 

“Ex-nay on the ay-day,” whispered Snotlout, still loud enough everyone heard. 

“Yeah, on bad leg days, you don’t want to know what he was up to,” said Tuff, who then received an elbow to the gut. 

He took it and ran with it. “Well, I had an idea for a new tailfin,” Hiccup began. “Then I got stuck and went for a walk. I…pulled something, and spent the rest of the day laying down.” He shrugged. “Not very interesting.” 

“…I’m sorry to hear that.” 

Hiccup nodded, always awkward when people apologized for his leg pain. It wasn’t anyone’s fault. No one needed to apologize. 

Heather got this big, mischievous grin across her lips and said, “I know what will cheer you up!” 

Astrid whipped her head over to glare at Heather. “Not now.” 

Heather seemed to ignore her, however, as she declared, “let’s go on a date!” 

The room went silent. Snotlout dropped his fork. Ruffnut choked on her drink. 

Not so subtly, everyone looked at Astrid. Hiccup glanced at her from his periphery, but didn’t linger. 

Her face was stony cold, and borderline murderous. 

“Well?” Heather prodded. “What do you say? Unless…you have your eye on someone else…” 

“Heather.” Astrid snapped. 

Ah. So this was a game she was playing. Well, unfortunately, this wasn’t a game to Hiccup. His feelings, Astrid’s lack of feelings, it wasn’t amusing. It wasn’t fun. It was beyond painful, and he wasn’t doing this. 

“Not interested,” he said coldly. 

The gasps from the group weren’t a surprise. He never spoke harshly to anyone without good reason. And even then, Heather hadn’t ever been on the receiving end.

Then he stood, left his cane behind, left a full plate of food, and walked with purpose out of the clubhouse and into the pouring rain. 

He could hear the chaos before he was out of earshot. 

“I tried to warn you, Muttonhead!” Astrid shouted, clearly angry. 

“What the hell was that?!” Ruffnut barked. 

“I didn’t think he’d react like that!” Heather defended. 

And then he was off, trying to get away from them. Going back to his hut was a sure fire way to get sought out quickly, or Toothless would be smothering him again. 

Either way, back out into the rain it was. No particular destination, he just wandered, letting the rain soak him through. 

Eventually, he walked to the edge of the landing strip, and his escape came to an end. No where else to go, but he was far enough away for now, and in the downpour, in the dark of the evening, no one would look for him out here. 

Fresh hot tears mingled with the cold rain on his face. 

He sighed in exasperation. “Just stop crying already,” he scolded himself. “It’s not doing any good.” 

But that only made him feel worse and cry harder. 

“Hey,” Astrid’s voice cut through his sorrow. It was stern, almost motherly. “Why are you out here? Why are you standing?” 

So much for getting away for a while…

He didn’t respond, didn’t turn to her, nothing. But he did cross his arms, more to hug himself than anything. 

“Snotlout said he found you weeping in pain earlier. Do I need to carry you?” 

“No.” 

“I brought your cane. Let’s go back to your hut and get you a hot rag.” 

His breath hitched. She was so thoughtful, so thorough. And so self-sacrificing! Heather, her best friend, was here, and Astrid was doting on him. 

He couldn’t let her do that. 

“Astrid, could you leave me alone?” He croaked. 

That was decidedly not the correct thing to say to get her off his back, as she was immediately in front of him, brows drawn and frowning hard. “No way in Midgard am I leaving you alone right now. It’s my job to make sure you’re taken care of.” 

He clenched his eyes shut. “Who gave you that job? My dad?” 

“I gave it to myself.” She poked his chest. “Because you’re too reckless and impulsive for your own good. Someone needs to make sure you don’t break your neck!” 

“You don’t need to do that.” 

“No? You’re all good to just stand out here and get sick? You’re content to be out the rest of the week with leg pain?” 

“My leg isn’t the problem!” He barked. “Now leave me alone!” 

Her eyes went wide and she took a step closer, resting a hand on his shoulder. “What happened?” 

He scoffed and turned away. 

But Astrid persisted. She reached up and pushed his sopping wet bangs out of his face. Her touch was tender and so full of love, it might as well be a blow from a mace. 

“Talk to me, Hiccup. You can trust me.” 

He looked back at her, a lump in his throat. Hopefully it was dark enough out that she couldn’t see the redness on his face. 

Might as well just rip the Nadder quill out, right? Have this conversation and figure out where they stand? That was the smart thing. It would probably help figure out where to go from here. 

A hot tear slipped between the frigid rain drops. 

“I did go on a walk,” he began. “I went to your clearing, and heard you say my name…and I decided to eavesdrop.” 

Astrid’s eyes blew wide as she covered her mouth. “Oh Odin…how much did you hear?” 

“It started with Heather asking if we were a couple and I left when you encouraged her to ask me out.” 

“All of it,” she cringed. “You heard all of it.” 

“So…I just…I thought…” he sighed. “I’m trying to come to terms with it. I had…expectations, or maybe assumptions, and didn’t realize you…didn’t feel the same.” The last bit came out with a croak. 

“Hiccup…” 

“So that’s what happened,” he glanced away. “You’re so deeply involved with every part of my life, I’m trying to figure out how to get over you and —“ 

She pressed her fingers to his lips. “Stop right there,” she snapped. “You’re not making any decisions like that.” 

“Astrid…” he mumbled against her hand. 

“Let me finish.” She huffed. “That conversation wasn’t meant for you.” 

“I know, I shouldn’t have lis—“ 

She punched him in the arm, though not too hard, just enough to shut him up. 

“Ow!” 

“I’m not done,” she scolded. “Hiccup, I lied to Heather. I didn’t want to talk to her about my feelings for you, but I know her. She would have pestered me until I told the truth. I still don’t think she believed me.” 

“You were very convincing.” 

She held his face. “But it was a lie. You know I care a lot about you, right?” 

He felt his mouth tremble. “Yeah…?”

She smiled and wiped over his cheek with her thumb. “You think I’d come looking for you in this storm and worrying myself sick over you and somehow not be utterly crazy about you? You’re not the genius I thought.” 

He started to feel better. A smile pulled on his lips. “You’re crazy about me?” 

“Apparently you’re the only one it wasn’t obvious to.” 

“Sorry for being dumb.” He sniffed. “I think there’s something wrong with my brain sometimes, because I can’t accept compliments or take people at face value.” 

She shook her head. “You aren’t dumb, Hiccup. We never talked about it. I guess we both just made assumptions.” 

He nodded, before clenched his eyes shut to stop the fresh round of tears that cropped up. “No no, no more of that please,” he muttered. 

“Hey, it’s okay,” Astrid pleaded, gently brushing his face with her fingertips. “I’m sorry I hurt you.” 

“You didn’t mean to.” 

“That doesn’t mean it didn’t still hurt.” 

He took a shaky breath. “Why did you encourage Heather to ask me out?” 

She actually laughed. “Oh my gods, that was so stupid! I knew exactly what she was doing. She likes Fishlegs after all. She was trying to get me to protest and get all possessive. But it was obvious, so I called her bluff.” 

“You sure did.” 

“I definitely didn’t think she’d go through with it. Maybe she was trying to get me to throw up a stink at dinner. Or she was hoping that you’d say ‘sorry, but I have someone I like’ or something.” 

“Was I too harsh?” 

“No!” She cackled. “That’ll teach her to be nosy!” 

Hiccup exhaled, feeling much better. Things weren’t as dire as he feared, and he hadn’t hurt Heather’s feelings. “What were your assumptions?” 

She smiled softly, playing with the hair at his nape. “Well, I assumed you still had that ginormous crush on me that you had when we were kids. I figured when the time was right, and you felt like things were stable, you’d make a move. You need a wife and heir, afterall. What did you assume?” 

Even though he knew she’d take it well, confessing still was difficult and his words got caught in his tight throat. With glassy eyes and a wispy voice, he told her, “I thought you’d always be by my side. I thought we’d grow old together. I thought…things wouldn’t be too different, but I’d be allowed to kiss you and hold you…I assumed you were mine.” 

She smiled. “Well, it sounds like we’re on the same page now. I’m not going anywhere. Things are pretty crazy, so feel free to take as much time as you need. Make that move when you’re ready.” 

“Okay.” 

He grabbed her roughly by the hips and pulled her to him. In a flash, his lips were on hers, clumsy and desperately kissing, driven by need and desire. Hope was rekindled in his heart and he wasn’t wasting another moment.

Astrid smiled against his lips and returned the kiss. She dug her fingers into his drenched hair and pressed herself firmly against him. 

Hiccup pulled away far enough to press more fierce kisses across her jaw and down her neck. “I’m crazy about you too,” he murmured against her skin. “I spent the day thinking about how I was going to go on without you. What my life would look like if I didn’t have you by my side.” He hungrily grabbed her and held her tight, nuzzling into her neck. “I don’t think I could do it.” 

“I don’t want to live in a world without you,” Astrid reminded him. “And you don’t, babe. I’m not going anywhere.” 

“You swear?” 

“I don’t want to be anywhere else. You’ve made me the person I am today. Even the darkest, roughest days we have are tolerable because I’m with you.” 

“I feel the same,” he confessed, before kissing her again. “I love you, Astrid Hofferson. I'm going to make a contract with your parents as soon as possible, because I’m going to marry you. If there are no objections?” 

“None from me.” 

“Then let’s iron out the details later.” He kissed her fiercely, digging his fingers into her hips as he held her possessively. 

Astrid returned the hold, almost painfully tugging on his hair.

They nipped at each other, trying to figure out how this whole ‘kissing’ thing worked, and trying desperately to devour the other. 

Tongues brushed together, though neither knew who started it. Soon their desperate kisses turned into lustful exploration, filled with pleased moans and the awkward mouth noises that came from sloppy kissing. Then that led to giggles. 

“How long were you waiting for me?” He asked before kissing her jaw and neck. 

Astrid lazily looped her arms over his shoulders and tilted her head to the side to give him more access. “Hmmm…I liked you for a long time. That first flight with Toothless, when you showed me how good life could be and that peace was possible…I remembered thinking ‘I’m probably going to end up marrying this boy’ kind of out of nowhere. And the thought didn’t disgust me, so I hugged you.” 

He remembered that hug. Her arms around him were a sign that he’d won her over to his side. He just didn’t realize how much he’d won her over. “Really?” 

“Mmmhmm. Of course, I didn’t know what the turning point would be. I just knew that you were going to do great things and I wanted to be a part of all of it.” 

“Astrid…” 

“I think I started getting impatient after we took down Dagur at Outcast island. Our enemies were all taken care of, and there was finally peace.” 

“Three years ago?”

“More or less.” 

He frowned. “Why didn’t you make the move?” 

“I did. Three times. But you never really acknowledge it. Just kinda smiled at me.” 

His jaw dropped. She had him. She was absolutely right! “Oh Astrid…I’m so sorry. I didn’t know—” 

“Hush. You just weren’t ready.” 

“I’m pretty extra sure I was, I just—I didn’t—!” 

She silenced him with a kiss. “All in the past, babe. You’re mine now.” 

“Always have been.” He returned the kiss, overwhelmed with the sheer love for her that this day had stirred up inside him. “Always will be.” 

She pulled away for a moment, pushing his sopping wet hair out of his face. They were both drenched to the bone, but the heat they were giving off kept them plenty warm. “You know, once we let people know that we’re officially together, Berk’s going to be reluctant to let us live out here unsupervised.” 

He pouted for a moment, knowing she was right, before growing a wicked grin. “You know who you’re talking to, right? I’ve obliterated every tradition thrown at me. If I tell my dad we’re together, he’ll give me some half-assed lecture about being careful, and then he’ll give me a wink with a twinkle in his eye.” 

She chuckled. “You think?” 

“That’s what he did when we moved out here.” 

She barked a loud laugh at that, throwing her head back in delight. 

Hiccup took the opportunity to swoop in and kiss at her throat, tonguing her when he reached her pulse point. 

The action made her shiver. 

“Oh my lady,” he pouted, though he wasn’t all that choked up about it. “You're soaked through! Maybe we should go back to my hut…” he leaned in and spoke in her ear. “And get out of these wet clothes?” 

She poked his nose. “You’re naughty. I’m going to have to keep an eye on you.” 

“You can say no.” 

“I didn’t.”

His eyes widened in excitement. “Race you?” 

“You can try, Peg-Leg Pete.” 

“Excuse me?!” 

She burst from his arms with a cackle and ran down the ramp towards their huts. 

—-

Toothless was resting. Not sleeping, not even dosing. Just resting. He had his head on his paws as he grumbled in irritation. 

Something had hurt his boy. And it was a pain he couldn’t do anything about, because it was inside. One of those pains that would take time and love to heal. 

Just as Toothless shifted on his rock again, trying to get comfortable, the roller door to the hut opened, and he perked up. Hiccup was back! 

With Astrid? 

He tilted his head in confusion. Wasn’t Astrid the cause of his pain? What was she doing here? 

Toothless watched as the two talked in hushed tones, punctuated with that weird human lip contact and giggles. 

The smile on Hiccup’s face reassured him that things were turning around. 

Then the two were taking off their outer skins and draping them near the fire. Then they were down to their vulnerable pink states and touching each other with their paws and tongues. 

Toothless really didn’t want to know where this was going, as humans were notorious for having the weirdest mating rituals. 

Hiccup seemed fine. Better than fine, really, so Toothless made his hasty retreat to the stables to get away…not without smacking his boy’s bare butt with his tail. 

“Hey!”

[tgirl-swagless]

Making a Perfect Date

Tags: big sister, little sister, sisters, incest, underage sex, OC, highschool, smut, porn, masturbation, trans female character

Summary: Astrid, a cisgender older sister, makes sure her transgender little sister Emily has a good first date. Although it is tough on them as they know what they really want.

Word count: 3858

AO3 link

Chapter 2

Chapter 1: Preparing for a Date

Emily finally got her first date, not that she was too interested in dating to begin with.  She is only really doing it to satisfy her highschool friends.  I mean, she's 17 and still hasn't went on a single date, so her friends felt the need to pressure her to get out there and find someone.  Deep down though, Emily has someone she wants, and it's none of her classmates.  She might not realize it's what she wants right now, but her big sister Astrid is all she thinks about.

Emily and Astrid are inseperable, or... at least they were.  Astrid graduated just last year, leaving Emily to fend for herself while at school.  They used to meet up every lunch period to hang out and joke around with each other.  As long as they weren't in any of their classes, they'd always be seen together.  But since Astrid graduated, Emily has gotten noticably distant and lonely when at school.  Her friends are only trying to help her.  They care about her.

Astrid hasn't bothered leaving home yet.  Nothing has really called to her.  She got a job at the corner store in order to give back to her parents at least a little, which they are very appreciative of.  She got today off work due to some schedule mix-up, but that is no bad thing to Astrid; she gets to see her baby sister come home from school!  To her dismay, Astrid doesn't get the chance to see Emily too often anymore.

Emily walks through the door, letting out a big sigh, her bookbag falling off her shoulder to the floor right by the front door.  Astrid is just sitting on the couch, half waiting for Emily, half just killing time watching TV.  As soon as Emily notices her though, her entire expression changes.

Her eyes light up and she lets out a high pitch, "Oh, Astrid!  Hi big sis!"

Without a care for her belongings left at the door, Emily rushes to the couch and bounces onto it right beside Astrid.  "I wasn't expecting to see you so soon today," Emily exclaims with a big smile across her face.

Astrid can't help but get a little giddy at the sight of her little sister being so excited to see her.  "Yeah, work had a mix-up and I dont work today.  How was school," Astrid asks.

Emily rests herself on the couch facing Astrid.  "It was ok, nothing special."  Astrid is about to reply, but Emily cuts her off saying, "but... my friends kinda pushed me to ask someone out, so I guess I have a date tomorrow."

A rush of gloom flows through Astrid.  Why would she feel so bad at the thought of her little sister seeing someone?  She should be happy for Emily.  She knows her little sister has been feeling down while at school for some time, she should be happy that Emily is finally getting out there some.  It's not like she would be able to be there with Emily forever.

The unenthused statement definitely reaches Astrid, though.  She teases Emily saying, "What's with that, not excited for your first ever date?"  Astrid has been on tons of dates, had a couple boyfriends and girlfriends at different points through highschool as well, but she too has been in a slump of sorts since graduating.

Emily sits facing forward now.  She can tell Astrid is still looking at her in her peripheral.  "Well... like I said, my friends kinda just pushed me to do it.  They have been for a while now, and I guess I just caved because I was getting annoyed with them.  So I asked out one of the first girls I saw.  She must have been into me because she was really excited when I asked."

Throughout Emily's reply, Astrid could tell she was not interested in this one bit.  She hates to see her little sister so unhappy though, she has to think of something to help cheer her up.  Astrid gives an acknowledging hum after Emily finishes, and looks off into the distance, thinking of anything she could do.  An idea comes to mind, she lets out an "Aha!"

Astrid turns towards Emily again, and Emily towards her.  Astrid takes her little sister's hand and says, "What if we go out and get you a brand new outfit for the date, something cool and you.  Maybe you'll feel more into it if you get something nice for it."

Emily thinks on it a moment.  She couldn't possibly deny going out shopping with her big sister, even if it wasn't for Astrid or for them.  "That's a great idea," Emily says with a big smile on her face, trying to hide the dread of a date with someone she honestly doesn't really care about.

The two sisters get in Astrids old, beat up Subaru and head to the mall.  Astrid prefers stores like Hot Topic and Zumie's, but Emily hasn't really had a preference.  She always was happy to follow her big sister through stores and seeing what she would pick out.  She usually just got Astrid's hand-me-downs anyway.

Once they arrive, as the sisters jump out of the car and start walking for the entrance, Astrid asks, "So... who is your date?"

Emily looks down at the ground as they walk to the entrance.  "Eh, it's just Jocelyn Danials." 

Astrid audibly gasps.  "Damn little sis, you scored a baddie," Astrid exclaims.  "I remember her pretty well still.  She always had killer style, and I was a little jealous she got her hair colored pastel before mom and dad would let me even cut mine this way."  Astrid lifts the hair on the side of her head, revealing a large part that is shaved down to the skin.  The way it was cut and styled made Astrid look a little wild, or feral.  Either way, when she initially styled it that way, Emily was in awe of how cool she looked.  She isn't nearly as brave to do something so crazy with her hair right now, but is envious of her big sister's raw style.

Now inside the mall, they gotta decide where to go.  Astrid asks, "Where is your date gonna be at, by the way?  Should help us decide what kinda clothes you want to get."

Astrid takes Emily's hand again and Emily can't help but blush a little and look around to see if anyone is staring.  It embarses her a little when her big sister is so physical like this.  She manages to get out, "I-it's actually the theater here, we were gonna go see [redacted] right after school."

Astrid ponders a moment, then replies saying, "Ok, ok... so something a little warm.  Although, the theaters here tend to run a little hot.  Made that mistake one too many times... uh, anyway, so maybe something light with a jacket?"

Emily looks up to her sister and says, "I like that idea!  Where should we go for that?" 

Astrid starts pulling her little sis by the hand off to the store she has in mind without bothering to say where.

They enter a Hot Topic, typical Astrid.  "Around the sides and back you can find most of the clothes.  They have a ton of cute dresses.  You go pick one out, on me."  Astrid pushes Emily in as she goes elsewhere in the store.  Just a little confused, Emily follows Astrid's direction and goes to look at the dresses.

There's frilly ones, long and short ones, a few really bland ones, and also some fandom ones that Emily has no context for.  Eventually, Emily spots a cute little thing that draws her in.  It's like a dress, but the top is connected to the skirt bottom by a couple straps on each side.  She rushes to the changing room to give it a whirl.  Once changed, she pops out to show her big sister what she found.  To Emily's surprise, Astrid was right there holding a very punk looking leather jacket, complete with sharp studs on the shoulders and a few metal loops at the elbows and down the sides.

But as soon as Emily notices her big sis standing there, she instinctively does a little twirl to show off all the angles of the dress she picked out.

Astrid blushes bright red at the sight.  Her little sister's curves are perfectly captured.  The top of the dress is basically a croptop, showing the world her soft belly, her cruvy sides, and her lower back.  Plus its just tight enough to make her perky little nipples poke through.  Astrid tries hard to hide her sudden arousal.  Emily notices the reddening face of her big sister and gets aroused thinking of what could be getting her big sis all red.  Did she really get turned on by her little sis?  It's not like she was trying to. Why did that thought make her little estrogenized dick leak a little?  She can't help but blush as well now, thinking of how the skirt of her dress would be tenting if it wasn't for her panties she has on.  Now tight around her hips with her bulging dick.

After a moment of silent staring at each other, Emily pipes up with, "S-so uhhm... what do you think, big sis...?"  Emily looks so innocent standing there, hands held together in front of her to try and hide any semblence of her being turned on.

Astrid stumbles over her words, feeling like she is in free fall as she tries to speak.  "I-it uh um y-you are p-pretty, yeah, uh y-you I mean the dress is i-its good.  Yeah." God , Astrid thinks to herself, how dare I have these thoughts of my little sister?!  She must be doing this on purpose.  Her eyes are clearly pleading for me.   This is so wrong, I need to distract myself.   Her mind is flooded with images of her little sister barely clothed, beckoning to her.  "H-here try on this jacket.  Maybe not quite your style, b-but it looks pretty cool in my opinion."  Astrid thrusts the jacket towards Emily, nearly smacking her face with a sleeve, making sure her face stays blocked from Emily's view.

Emily takes the jacket from her big sister and tries it on.  Astrid was right, definitely not her style, even though she looked very cool with it.  In the end, she decides to just get the dress.  She has a couple of jackets she could wear with it, anyway.  She thought it was alright, but the way her sister reacted to seeing her made her need to have the dress.  Does she actually want to make her big sister lust for her?  It sounds so wrong to think about, but she can't help herself.  The thought of her big sister going crazy at the sight of her little sister's body in turn drives Emily crazy.  She tries her best to brush all these thoughts aside as she changes back into her clothes, but her buldge is still so obvious through her shorts at this point.  She has to take a few extra minutes to calm herself so she can tuck her dick back in place.

The two sisters checkout the dress and head for the exit.  They start to pass by the theater when Emily slows.  She stares into the theater, thinking of her date tomorrow.

Astrid notices her lagging behind, so she asks, "Are you alright, sis?"  She walks back to Emily, radiating comfort for her little sister, cheeks still a little red.

Still staring into the theater area, Emily replies, "I'm just... nervous.  It's my first date, and I'm just... yeah, nervous."  Emily doesn't want to do this, but she already fell to the pressure.  No going back from that now.  She doesn't have it in her to turn Jocelyn down at this point.

"Well," Astrid says after a moment, "we could go see a movie.  You can pretend it is a date too, like, to practice for what you'd do tomorrow."  Emily's face lights up red again thinking about going on a date with her big sister.  It's not like they've never seen a movie together before, but the way her big sister worded it makes her feel so elated.

Emily's eyes twinkling with glee, barely hiding her enthusiasm, "yes, please.  I mean, uhm, I really like that idea." 

Astrid replies, "I'm full of those today," and shoots her little sis a wink, instantly making Emily blush and want to hide her face again.

It doesn't even matter to them what movie they see.  Emily is just excited to go on her first, albeit technically fake, date with her big sister.  Astrid is trying hard to hide it, but she is also ecstatic that Emily said yes.  Astrid just wants to cheer up her little sister.  A smile on her face is all she needs.  They get a couple tickets to see a random movie, grab a bag of popcorn, and find their seats.

A ways into the movie, as the sisters are intently watching the movie, Astrid goes to grab some popcorn from the bag sitting in Emily's lap.  She completly misses the bag and lands her hand on her little sister's bare leg, just above the knee.  She prodes for just a moment until she realizes what she's done.  Astrid whips her head to the side to see what she just did and whispers to Emily, "oh my god, I-I'm sorry, sis."

Astrid yanks her hand away, ashamed of having touched her little sister, even just on accident.  She has been so on edge today with everything going on.  Emily whispers back to her, "I-it's alright, sis.  Think nothing of it."  Although, Emily herself is unable to stop thinking about it.  She froze as soon as she felt her big sister's hand on her.  It felt good, even just a very momentary touch.  And now her dick is begging to be free again.  Luckily she has the bag of popcorn to hide her bulge, she thinks to herself.

"Here, uh, I'll hold the bag," whispers Astrid, as to not make the same mistake again.  Even in the dim light of the movie screen, she can see how turned on her little sister is.

Emily goes bright red and excuses herself saying, "I need to use the bathroom.  I'll be right back."  She then hurries down to the exit of the room and to the bathroom.

Alone in a stall, she pulls down her shorts and panties, freeing her rock hard cock.  "Ahh... Astrid... why...?"  Emily grabs her little dick and starts to slowly stroke it, her glands already soaked with precum.  She can't help but question why it turns her on so much, but her mind is too hazy to think straight right now.  She continues stroking herself off to the thought of her big sister.  She imagines Astrid pushing the bag of popcorn away and undoing her button and zipper, pulling out her little sister's cock right in the movie theater.  She imagines her big sister's hands stroking her dick, making her feel like the prettiest little sister anyone could have.  She imagines her big sister whispering in her ear, "I didn't realize how much my baby sis wanted me, wanted this.  You're so dirty, Emmy."  She lets out a whimper at the thoughts flooding her mind.  Luckily she's aline in the bathroom right now.  Emily continues to stroke her dick until she finally orgasms, leaking a few drops of cum into the toilet and down her shaft.

Just as Emily is cleaning herself up, Astrid enters the bathroom and calls out for her.  "Emily, you still in here?  The movie just ended."  She spots the familiar shoes of her little sis underneath one of the stall doors and waits near the entenace to the bathroom for her.  Astrid's entrance makes Emily scurry to finish cleaning up.  She exits the stall to see her big sister with a worried expression on her face.  "Are you feeling alright, sis," Astrid asks.  Emily's face is flushed after having just orgasmed.

Making her way to the sink, she replies, "Y-yeah.  I-I'm alright, sis."

The way she walks, the flushed face, the dazed words coming out of her mouth; Astrid knows exactly what her little sis was just doing.  And it makes her mind go wild.  She notices she's starting to get wet as she tries hard to push the thought away, but it lingers still.

Astrid waits for her little sis to finish up as she steps out of the bathroom.  They walk to the car in silence, keeping a gap between them.  The tension is so palpable.

In the car, as Astrid is starting it up, Emily's stomach growls.  It catches Astrid's attention.  "Sounds like you're hungry."  Not a moment later, Astrids stomach also grumbles.

Emily giggles.  "You're one to talk."

Astrid lets out a small laugh.  "We should go get some food on the way home.  That alright?"

Emily gives her big sis a smile and says, "You're right again.  Lets."

The sisters can feel the tension loosening as they drive towards home.  They stop at a local borito joint, a favorite of Emily's.  They order and sit down.  Emily stops a moment and notices her sister's face.  Nothing has changed, other than the little bit of guac on the side of her mouth.  She giggles at the sight of it.

Astrid stops, too.  With food still in her mouth, she teasingly says, "hey, what're you laughing at?" 

Emily can't help but smile.  She feels so warm, just her big sister and her at one of her favorite places.  "It's just... thank you for today.  It means a lot to me you want to help with my first date."

Astrid gulps down what was in her mouth, a little surprised to hear Emily so grateful.  She replies, "Oh, well, of course Em.  I know you haven't had a great time lately, and I wanted to be sure you were prepared for your first date.  It just eats at me to see you so unhappy."  Only now does she bring a napkin up to wipe her face clean.

Emily let's out another giggle.  Full of her little sister brattiness, she says, "yeah, and I can't believe you would steal my first date from me, too," while grinning the whole time.

Astrid scoffs at Emily's remark and her cheeks lightly glow red.  "What?!  I-it was just to test it out!  For you!  I mean, it was like, uh, I was just trying to make sure you would have a perfect first date.  I mean the real one!  Not the one we just did."

Emily can't help but laugh at how embarrassed her big sister got from her little teasing.  "Aww, come on now, sis.  You know I joke," Emily says and sticks out her tongue.

Astrid gives a little chuckle and continues eating her borito.

Once the sisters finish eating, they head home, listening to their favorite radio station the whole way.  It is pretty late by now, so they both retire to their rooms and ready themselves for bed.

Astrid lays on her bed, contemplating the weird day she just spent with her little sis.  She really enjoyed it, but her mind kept getting flooded by thoughts of her Emmy.  That dress she chose looked so perfect on her.  Her skin was so soft when she accidentally touched it.  Her flushed face right after having orgasmed.  God, her face.  There's no doubt she thought of me when she left to use the bathroom , she thought.

Astrid's hand starts to drift down her body, feeling the goosebumps on her skin as she goes lower.  I could clearly see her buldge in the theater.  God, I want to see her.  I want to see her little dick.  I want to feel her soft skin.  She continues down until she reaches her panties, slowly rubbing her clit over her underwear to the thought of her little sister.

Astrid lets out a small moan.  "Ahh, Emily..." she whispers to herself.  Again, and again she calls her baby sisters name as she picks up the pace, rubbing her clit until she can't take it any more.  Astrid pulls down her underwear revealing her wet lips to the open air.  She spreads her labia as she moans, a little louder this time.  Astrid penetrates her pussy with her middle and ring fingers as she moans and writhes for her sister.

Emily lays in her bed, about to drift off to sleep when she faintly hears her name be called.  It sounded kind of like Astrid calling to me , she thought.  She brushes it off and closes her eyes, but hears her name called again.  That's definitely Astrid's voice.   Emily decides to get up and drearily walk towards Astrid's room.  The house is otherwise quiet.  All the lights are off except for a dim light peeking out the bottom of Astrid's door.  Emily turns the door handle and opens the door just to the point she can see into her big sister's room.

But as soon as she does, Astrid lets out another moan, "ffffuck~ Emily, ahh, ahh."  Emily freezes with the door slightly ajar as she stares in astonishment at the sight of her big sister fingering herself while moaning her name.  "Mmm, Emmy, ahh, Emmy..." Astrid breathily cries out, completely oblivious to the fact her little sister is watching her now.  Emily can't help but turn bright red as the buldge in her silky-soft panties grows bigger.  She cant fight her urge.  Her hand drifts down to stimulate her little dick as she intently watches her big sister pleasure herself.  Emily's breathing starts to pick up as she feels herself up, her other hand groping her tender breast.

It only takes a few more moments for Astrid to climax, spraying her juice all over her hand as she falls limp.  Emily decides to scurry away before she can be noticed.  Astrid turns her head to her door and notices its open.  She could have sworn it was closed.  She shakily gets up and peeks out into the dark hallway.  Nothing.  She shrugs it off, closes her door, and gets herself ready for sleep.

Emily back in her room is now furiously stroking her cock.  Big sis, you really want me, Emily thinks to herself.  Sheets out a small whimper as her fingers go over her glands.  But, no, it's not right, this is so wrong, I cant do this.  Wrought with shame and anxiety, her hand slows and her little cock slowly goes limp.  Now she lay in the darkness of midnight on her bed, contemplating her emotions.  So much shame.  What if mom and dad found out, she thinks.  They would make Astrid move away, no doubt.  They may even disown her.  Or maybe they would blame me!  She holds one of her plushies tight.  Emily silently weeps as the anxiety spirals in her mind.  Until she has worn herself out so much she drifts off to sleep.

[headfullof-ideas]

A second ‘Httyd/the deep rivalries’ post, as a sequel to the post i did of all the rivalries that will appear in my fic of characters from httyd and The Deep that wouldn’t interact otherwise (Ala Snotlout/Alpheus, Kaiko/Viggo, Astrid/Fontaine, etc.). Only this one’s a little different, as only one of these counts as an actual rivalry, while the other two are a little more ‘these are dynamics that are going to be REALLY fun to write’. Anywaaayyys

Ingrid and Astrid are more of a one-sided rivalry. Ingrid is one of the older girls in the village, about nineteen years old. She was top of her Dragon Training class, being the student who participated in the final test, and she had one of the fastest records to date. Ingrid is popular, if not always well-liked, and she’s really good at fighting and dragon-killing. Astrid doesn’t care about how popular Ingrid is, or about how pretty she is and how many boys faun after her, but another thing about Ingrid is that she is REALLY good at getting under someone else’s skin. And Ingrid REALLY likes getting under Astrid’s skin. Astrid prides herself on her resolve to be the best warrior she can be for her tribe, and her skill as a warrior, and Ingrid loves to make all of Astrid’s feats out as something unimpressive or subpar. She loves to suggest ways Astrid can improve in a way that makes it clear she’s saying Astrid isn’t near as good as she thinks she is, she loves to show off by doing whatever move Astrid is practicing and doing it better and acting nonchalant about it, and she ESPECIALLY loves to comment on Astrid’s skill with her ax. Obviously, this is something that drives Astrid nuts. Ingrid is hard to get back at though, so Astrid is just stuck seething and working as hard as she can to prove she’s better than Ingrid, who time and time again just brushes off Astrid’s efforts like they’re nothing more than childish feats

Fontaine and the older Riders is going to be a really fun dynamic for me to explore writing, mostly because of when they all finally meet up. I don’t want to say too much, because i want to leave it to the story, but what I will say is that it’s not really a rivalry like the others. On Fontaine’s side of it, she’s found out that her dead baby brother that she didn’t even know she had until a few years prior isn’t actually dead, and not only is he not dead, but he’s surrounded himself with his own little makeshift family in the absence of his biological family. And that family is largely composed of a lot of kids all her own age. This produces a lot of feelings such as jealousy, frustration, and self-doubt. The older Riders don’t know what to think of Fontaine at first, the idea of meeting Ant’s biological family a notion that they knew could possibly happen. But the actual presence of Ant’s older, biological sister, interacting with them and trying to get to know Ant, is one that’s making them realize that Ant’s biological family may want him back. And by this point in time, the Riders have long since settled on Dragon’s Edge. Most of this is coming from Fontaine, but both sides have a lot of complicated feelings to work through that I for one cannot WAIT to get to writing.

Mala and Eret is the least rivalry-esque of this batch, but it’s a dynamic that has been fun to figure out and write in segments as the characters watch the movie. Mala is the Queen of the Defenders of the Wing, a tribe dedicated to protecting dragons. Eret is the son of a dragon trapper who is the son of yet another dragon trapper, who have both had run-ins and minor dealings with Viggo Grimborn, who has been personally attacking Mala’s Caldera to try and get to the plethora of dragons they keep there beyond their Eruptodon. Naturally, there’s a little bit of contention between these two at the start, mostly from Mala who’s having a hard time grasping the idea that not all dragon trappers were in the business because they wanted to, and that some of them might want to get out. Eret is trying really hard to get Mala to at the very least tolerate his presence, especially when he is introduced to the young queen through the Dragon Riders. There’s gonna be a lot of fun bickering between these two, who are relatively around the same age, and trying to keep the peace in the presence of the young, impressionable riders.

Dagur and Eret are also going to be fun, because Dagur being Dagur is like ‘oh who’s this? Who’s this big brother shaped person with a dragon as well?? WHO’S THIS-‘ and Eret’s just trying to get along with the kids other friend. It’s like when you have two different friends from two different friend groups, and are trying to introduce them to each other. The Riders are in for a lot of PR control between the various groups they pick up as friends along the way as the story progresses

[cheerleaderman]

More under cut

So of course Astrid has indebted Azul with 2 favors 1, was just getting ingredients for him during class and 2, was saving him from falling down the stairs.

Azul would first try to give Astrid a coupon for the lounge but went straight to Ruggie saying that Ruggie would have more use for it. Then Azul tried learning his favorite things which he has very surface level info of. Give him food? Straight to Ruggie, Offer to play chess? he plays with Idia instead so on and so forth.

More with the coupon is that after giving it to Ruggie Azul said Astrid had to be there to use it so Astrid did go but didn’t eat anything and gave his meal to Ruggie. When questioned Astrid responded that he just had to be there not that he had to eat anything. Also Jamil literally gave him something eat before going to the lounge.

Azul gets frustrated, offended? a lot of mixed emotions about this. Jade and Floyd tried but also failed they know they can’t threaten Astrid or beat him up. The 3 starts to pester Astrid about his desire it went on for awhile until the moment of the comic.

The thing is Astrid doesn’t hate or dislike Azul but has no interest in a transactional kind of relationship and knows Azul was only trying to do those nice things because of the debts.

[sc0tters]

Umich boys being possessive of their girls Astrid, Aspen, and Emmy.

I actually really like this kind of series!

Ethan

As guys flirt with Astrid Ethan just wants to touch them to remind the guys that she is taken.

He doesn’t get jealous though because it just reminds him that his girlfriend is hot “baby.” Ethan whined as he watched her laugh at something that Nick said.

Astrid would just smirk as she could feel Ethan’s hand wrap around her waist “can I help you?” She furrowed her eyebrows falling back into his lap “just wanted to say hi.” His quiet tone made her know exactly what he was trying to do but she loved it.

All she needed to do was kiss his lips “love you baby.” She mumbled staring up to him. All Ethan needed was her to be with him and that’s exactly what she did.

Luca

When he gets possessive everyone and their mother might as well know because Luca gets physical when he gets possessive “you enjoy listening to JJ?” Luca mumbled pinching at her waist.

It made Apsen jump “I just spoke to him.” She whined as Luca kissed up her neck “you saw the way he looked at you.” His fingers were warm against your stomach “like he wanted to sleep with you.” Aspen felt like a naughty child in that moment.

Luca pinched her chin in his fingers “but you know that I’m the only person who gets to do that now don’t you?” Luca asked as he began nipping at her jaw “I’m yours Lu.” Aspen tried pressing her hips against his wanting to relieve some tension between her legs.

Rutger

Bless his soul Rutger when he gets possessive because it’s usually when Emmy is talking to someone from one of her classes.

Joe was her partner for a project and Emmy couldn’t seem to forget about mentioning him to Rutger. But on this day Rutger ended up at the library with her and Joe showed up. At first it was fine but even as Emmy was in Rutgers hoodie he couldn’t help but grow jealous at how Joe was flirting with her “baby?” Rutger called out looking up from his phone.

nothing

It irritated him as Joe explained then asked if they could spend more time together “maybe tonight?” Joe offered making Rutger laugh finally making Emmy turn to him “sorry bro but my girl always comes back with me after a game.” Rutger shrugged seeing Emmy smirk at him “my bad, I’ll see you later.” As Joe got up Rutger didn’t wait to pull Emmy’s seat closer to his.

Rutger wrapped his hand around her shoulders “you know you’re cute when you’re jealous right?” Emmy giggled leaning up to kiss his cheek.

[cafesunnydale]

owl post || s.b.

sirius black x ravenclaw!fem oc one shot

⟢ perhaps sending letters in the middle of the night wasn’t the best idea.

note: final part !! this was so hard to start ngl. but i did have fun writing this, lmk if i should make more of these or just stop idk (pls don’t im sensitive)

part 3

wc: 1k

cw: none

tags: slight angst with happy ending, slowburn finally burns, intended lowercase

part 1 | part 2

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺

the redheaded ravenclaw half listened to professor mcgonagall drone on about transfiguration spells, her mind too preoccupied by other thoughts. her realization the previous night had lingered in her brain all morning. she found herself unable to sit still, her mind has been overwhelmingly loud since she had woken, and accidentally locking eyes with one sirius black during breakfast certainly did not help.

“i still like him” she blurted out. rosalie and her two friends were sat in the library, deciding to spend their free period there as opposed to going up to their dorm room. they were about an hour into reading their respective books when the redhead spoke. “what?” the two other girls asked in unison, sharing a confused look at their friend’s sudden confession. rosalie looked defeated as she sighed, repeating what she had just said. “is that why you were all jittery this morning?” astrid asked, trying to suppress a smug smirk, remembering how she saw how the girl sat opposite her was looking quite intently at the gryffindor table that morning not that she hasn’t also been looking herself. “no! i… maybe..” the redhead said hotly, feeling her face warm up as the memory replayed in her mind. their table became lively, any thought of reading had slipped their minds. more questions had been asked, to which rosalie still had no answers for.

“are you planning to tell him?” the mere question made her stomach drop. did she still have to? her letter was already packed full with confession, it was practically a profession of undying love. albeit being written by her 14-year-old self, but the way she felt was still quite the same. “i…i don’t know, i’m haven’t even got a clue if he feels the same.”

luck truly was not on rosalie’s side as she ended up sharing a table with the some gryffindors. the only thing that eased her nerves was that lily was also there. the gryffindor girl sat beside her, acting as a wall against the boys. sirius, on the other hand, looked quite helpless, sitting next to lily (much to james’ dismay) in hopes to be closer to the ravenclaw. he had tried and failed to bribe lily into switching seats.

“come on, evans, you can sit next to james” the dark haired boy whispered desperately, earning a glare from the redhead. “what makes you think i’d want to sit with him?” the girl asked, praying to the heavens no one notices her turning as red as her hair.

class ended soon enough, and rosalie practically bolted out the door, trying to get as far away from sirius as possible, at which she failed at.

he grabbed her arm to stop her from leaving, ‘great,’ she thought ‘another public execution.’ sirius turned her around before giving a sly smile. “leaving so soon?” he asked. “what do you want, black?” she sighed. his heart twinged at the name, and the implication that came with it. his grip he had on her forearm loosened, he looked down as an attempted to avoid her eyes. but the redhead saw a look of pain flash in his eyes, she tried to ignore it. “can we talk?” he asked, his demeanor changing, a hint of helplessness evident in his voice. she pursed her lips, glancing at her friends before pulling her arm away from his grasp and taking his hand in her own. “alright” was all she said before leading them both into an empty classroom. the teens tried their best to ignore how hot their faces were as they made their way into a classroom. their minds both racing.

once they were inside, rosalie hastily dropped sirius’ hand. the boy glanced at it, still feeling her hand in his. they were soft, he thought. rosalie walked a few steps before speaking. “what do you need?” she asked rather sharply, she grimaced slightly, not meaning to sound so rude. “i want to know if you meant it” sirius said, earning a confused look from the ravenclaw. “what?” she was completely taken aback by his statement. she looked at his face, trying to read his expression. she couldn’t. sirius looked at her for barely a second before looking at his hands, playing with his fingers as a means to soothe himself. “the letter, did you mean it?” he asked once again. she felt her heart quicken, all the jitters from breakfast coming back to her tenfold. “we’ve talked about this, sirius” she said softly, stepping towards him. “but did you? do you?” desperation evident in his voice as he looked at her eyes. sadness filled his silver eyes, rosalie couldn’t help but look at him with sympathy. “do you know how many times i read that letter when you sent it? all the words you wrote, i memorized, just… just tell me if you mean it” he said rather quickly and avoiding eye contact, bracing himself at the blow of rejection. she tried to look at his eyes, feeling just as unsure as he was. “why do you need that information, sirius? we were fourteen, i don’t even thi-“ “because i want to know if i missed my chance, alright?” he exclaimed. “so just… tell me if you feel the same so i can leave you alone.”

silence filled the room as rosalie stood there, mouth slightly agape while looking at him. she was still trying to figure out what happened, or if she was dreaming. sirius let out a heavy sigh, taking her silence as an answer. he started to move towards the door, when rosalie spoke “i do” she said, her heart thumping louder than her own voice. sirius froze. his heart dropped, then doubled its pace. “what?” he asked, wanting to make sure he heard her right. “i do still feel the same” it was now her turn to avoid eye contact. she looked at her hands, trying her hardest to stop them from shaking. relief washed over sirius, his lips curling up into a smile. his hands found their way to her waist, pulling her close. “you don’t know how long i’ve wanted to do this” he mumbled before leaning in and finally feeling her lips on his.

[newcaptainofsquad9]

Was This Vacation a Mistake?~Crazy Rich Asians (Astrid x black! fem! reader) ~Part 3

Parts: 1 2 3 4 5 

Summary: After a traumatic night, you decide to stay with Astrid a few nights before you depart back to America. The situation left you angry and terrified, but Astrid proved to be an amazing hostess and a shoulder to cry on.

Word Count:

Warnings: Talk of racism and microaggressions. 

Author’s Note: Here’s part 3 guys! As always tell me how this is going so far and what you like about it. Idk if this is good or not but I really want to finish this series soon. Anyway, hope y’all enjoy.

The cup of tea Astrid offered grew cold in my hands as I sat on her fine couch in the living room, my head against Rachel’s shoulder. Astrid strolled back into the room, returning from putting her son Cassain back to bed. 

“Do you need anything else, Y/N?” Astrid said as she circled the couch and leaned against its back. “Blanket or something, you and Rachel look like you’re about done for the night.”

She wasn’t wrong, my eyes were heavy and Rachel was quiet for a while. Her phone dinged, awakening her from her semi sleepy state.

“Mmh, N-Nick! He’s outside!” she said, eyes and fingers sweeping her phone simultaneously. 

I sat up to the best of my abilities and try not to blink too much with grogginess and stress already pulsing around my temple. Grading papers should have been the move from the beginning; I wasn’t welcome here from the start, people like me weren’t welcome from the start.

“Y/N,” Nick’s caring voice broke me from my thoughts thankfully. He stood in the center of Astrid’s living room with Rachel at his arm, his eyes sparkling  in concern. “First of all, I’m so sorry this happened. Come here.”

Nick pulled me into his arms, nearly making me weep from the contact. His tall frame was soothing, yet I felt terrible because of all that’s happened; this happened because of me. If I stayed home, they wedding would have gone on, Rachel probably wouldn’t have to worry as much as she has to. I wouldn’t be the center in all this, so much pity. It isn’t pity, I should know that, it’s racism. Full blown racism in my face and I can’t fathom it for some reason. I don’t know why. Frustration pooled at me, tears and heat pricked my skin and eyelids.

“Y/N? Are you all right?” Nick asked. He pulled back to pat my elbows. 

Rachel sunk to my side, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. “Y/N?”

“I-I’m OK. I-I’m fine, I-I just need a night to, I don’t know, forget all of this,” you said as you leaned into Rachel. “I want to go home though, I’m sorry, guys.”

Nick shook his head. “No, no. In fact, I booked you a ticket home the day after tomorrow. First class of course, my friends stay in style. It’s the least I can do for how uncouth and down right disgusting my family and our associates were. I can even book you the best hotel around here.”

The thought was nice, a little too nice but I had to declined. 

“Sorry, Nick, I don’t think that’d be a great idea. Don’t want to seem out of place again.”

“Would a coastal house work? A short heli ride would get you there in--”

“Nick, I don’t think that’ll help,” Rachel said, cutting him off. “Traveling somewhere that isn’t home won’t help, yeah? Y/N?”

I nodded. Nick’s amazing, I love him but throwing money at everything isn’t going to bring me the comfort he thinks it will. It is endearing though. 

“She can stay here for tonight, tomorrow as well,” Astrid said, speaking up from her position behind the couch, hand smoothing out the plushness of it. “Anything she needs, I’ll be willing to provide, no issue.”

My heart skipped a beat at the offer; Rachel’s trying not to grin from ear to ear, brought me closer by the shoulder to look at me with those brown eyes. They’re still glossy, all authentic for me I know but know she’s using them to her advantage I swear. 

“Astrid sounds like great company, yeah?” she said. Her voice dropped to a whisper. “She’ll look out for you, I promise.”

Nick embraced Astrid prior to turning back to Rachel and I. “Thank you, you don’t know how much this means to me.”

Astrid smiled, it reached her beauty mark, highlighting her face perfectly. How was I going to survive a night in her home? Two nights even. Rachel beamed back as if she heard my mental question, squeezing my shoulders.

“You got this, call us when you feel a little better. OK?”  

I nodded. Rachel and Nick gave me quick hugs, doing the same with Astrid before they left, leaving me alone with her. Alone with Astrid Leong. Alone with my thoughts. Alone with all that’s happened.

“Y/N?” Astrid called.   

Her voice soft, as it was before yet lower, tender. I didn’t want to look at her, didn’t want her pity. I just want to go home already. 

“Y/N?” she called again. I glanced at her, she’s close now, right in front of me; the pity I harped on wasn’t there in her eyes though, hurt and worry, similar to how she seemed at Nick’s grandmother’s house.  

“C-Can I hug you?” she asked, opening her arms a bit. Her mouth twitched in a tiny smile while she hesitated with her movements. “Hugs always put me at ease, I-I want to put you at ease.”

The word ease broke me, almost. Tears pricked at my eyes, Astrid found them as she inched closer. She didn’t hug me though, still gauging my reaction. I nodded and met her in a warm embrace; it eased me as she said: her arms wound around me perfectly, fit me well and the tears slipped. A sob broke through too. Why the fuck am I crying? I was supposed to forget about all of that shit. 

“It’s all right, darling. Let it out, it’s OK,” Astrid whispered. She pulled back to wipe my tears. She nodded to her couch. “Want to sit?”

I nodded, pursed my lips to keep from tasting the salty tears. 

Astrid led me by the hand toward the couch, left some space between us when we got there, still holding onto me. Her touch proved pleasant, more so than it has been before--I was at ease. Her hand wrapped around my own wasn’t a huge deal either. I’m not even sure how long I can last but its working so far.  

“T-Thank you, i-it means a lot, letting me stay here,” I managed to say. Astrid’s thumb rubbed my knuckles a little prior to her pulling it away. 

“It’s nothing you have to thank me for,” she said. “Do you want to talk about it at all?”

This is a safe space I realize, however I’m not completely sure about opening up about these racially charged encounters. Sure, she’s non-white but like Rachel, sometimes it’s difficult bringing these matters up and talking through them. Sometimes I just need to deal with it on my own, then again, I do need to talk it out--somewhat. 

“I-I just expected to tag along with Rachel and for this to be a normal vacation,” I started. “But I got centered, I-I should have known. Anti-blackness is global. I should have thought about it more, researched. I’m a professor for God’s sake, I always tell my students this. Maybe this vacation was a mistake, maybe I should have just stayed home.”

Astrid’s hands flocked to mine again, her eyes glossy once more. “No matter how much research or preparedness you set yourself up for, no one deserves to be harassed or see something like that.”

I nodded. “Yeah, but I don’t think it’s the same. We both experience some fucked shit, I’m sure, you went to schools in England right? Most of those posh white folks, right?”

Astrid giggled at the description. “They were the living embodiment of posh. And you’re right. My experience is not the same but I can tell you about them. Take some of the weight off from today. Will that help?” 

“Yeah,” I said. 

Maybe I said it too quickly. It was her touches and how intense she looked to me: attentiveness deep in her brown eyes, paying all the mind to me, I had to glance to the spotless carpet below. 

“As you know, or maybe you don’t, I’m not sure how much Nick has shared about me, I attended Harvard during university,” Astrid explained. She ceased holding my hands, calming my heart for a bit. “At this time, I was eighteen, away from home with enough money to make my posh peers turn their heads. Unfortunately, my money wasn’t the only thing they noticed.”

Astrid grimaced and I didn’t want her to delve back into anything like that. It’s different yes, but it can still hurt people. Rachel’s told me plenty.

“Astrid, you don’t have to tell me, if it’s too much,” I said. My hand moved on instinct, holding her hand myself. “I-I get it.”

“Darling, it’s fine,” she said. “It’s not the most pleasant story to look back on but it happened. First semester, I was the only Asian girl in my class. There was an Asian boy, but he flocked with the white boys and a grade above me so there wasn’t too much we’d mutually have in common besides our ethnicity. I was Astrid the princess, according to Nick and I wished my white peers saw me as just some spoiled girl. Instead I was Astrid the girl who could grant you a happy ending; Astrid the girl who had to sit up front because her eyes were too slanted. There was worse things but, Y/N, you shouldn’t have to limit yourself because of what history has done. What these systems and institutions have done. Don’t let that stop you.”

She’s right. Astrid’s  absolutely right. The dam broke again at this obvious realization and I’m crying again, trembling and all. 

Astrid just pulled me toward her, embracing me yet again. I feel so stupid.

“I’m sorry,” I sobbed against her shoulder. “I-I don’t mean to do this. I hate feeling like this.” 

“Don’t apologize, it’s OK.”

We stayed like that for a while: Astrid wrapping her arms around my back, my head against her chest, heartbeat nearly lulling me to sleep. Tiny footsteps neared however, along with a few creaks of the floor and staircase. 

“Mommy?” 

Astrid tore herself away to face the child standing in a purple satin sleep shirt and matching pants. His hair askew, face clearly scrunched up from sleep. Cassian. Astrid’s son. I pulled myself further from Astrid, wishing I could sink into the couch altogether. 

“And what are you doing up, sweetie?” Astrid said, grin plastered on her face, not feeling awkward about her son seeing his mother hug a woman he doesn’t know. “You should be in bed.”

Cassian rubbed his eyes with the back of a fist, attention on me while Astrid lifted him up to her lap, showing the boy off to me. 

“Who’s that?” he asked. 

Astrid’s eyes shined, love filling them to the brim as she stared at her son, then to me. I still wanted to disappear; Astrid’s got my heart flipping again and skin set to a scorch. Maybe Rachel had a point, definitely not telling her about all the details of tonight.  

“This is Y/N, Nick and mommy’s friend and our guest for a few nights,” she cooed, kissing Cassian on the forehead. “How about we go settle in bed and give her some space, hmm?”

I waved at the boy awkwardly. He seemed delicate in Astrid’s arms, fluttering his eyes, squishing and yawning as she stood engulfing the boy in tender love. 

“C-Can you read me a story too?” Cassain whined. 

“Of course we can, my love,” Astrid said. She was halfway up the stairs; I couldn’t stop looking at her. She turned back toward me, voice dropping a bit.“I’ll bring you some blankets to get comfortable, darling.”

Astrid’s gone before I can react, off to her motherly duties like the day we met. I’ve talked with her, seen her heart, been catered by her heart and I’m still skeptical about the entire thing. A mother, divorcee and a rich person. Rich rich. Loaded and her actions, her demeanor already triggers me, in a great yet intense way. Is she just being nice? Or is Rachel right? Should I talk to Nick about this? Should I not take this venture? Leave it alone before something drastic occurs again, her family is still old money, old traditions, old systems. Maybe I shouldn’t be looking at a potential straight woman like this? 

The thoughts continued to linger while I sunk deeper into the couch. 

Astrid returned after a while, a set of fancy comforters and covers hulking her arms. “I wish I would have prepared the guest room better but the couch is just as comfortable. Make yourself at home, stretch as much as you’d like, all right?” 

I nodded, laid across the couch and reached up for the covers. Astrid pouted and shook her head. 

“No, no. Let me, I am your hostess after all,” she said as she fluffed up the covers. “I need everyone under my roof safe, sound and more importantly, tucked in.”

My face and heart raced among-est each other each time Astrid placed a layer on me, tucked a cover against my arm and back, patted in place. She’s so close, there’s no way she’s just being nice. 

“Y/N? Are you all right? This didn’t make you uncomfortable, did it?”

I shook my head fervently. “No, this is so much more than I can ask for Thank you.” 

Astrid’s eyes softened. “Not a problem, darling. I hope your dreams are sweet and more pleasant than today.” 

Those words tingled me to my bones, warmed me more than the massive quilt bulking me and allowed sleep to overtake me. 

[mythicalmagical-monkeyman]

I once said you can never have a fav if you’re in the Lego Dreamzzz fandom because all the others get neglected... THAT BEING SAID- *slaps down Cooper hurt/comfort* @fruity-legos & @murkystarlight if you wanna come see. Under the cut as always 

Summary: 

Cooper’s friends have a habit of getting themselves into trouble good thing he’s there to keep them out of it, though often times it’s at the expense of himself But he loves them just a bit too much care about that last bit  -or- Me: *explaining how ex Cooper’s lightning works* My friend: “ooo more protective Cooper with him ignoring his limits to try and protect his friends? With bonus hurt/comfort” Me: … alright bet.

Additional Tags: 

Minor Cooper/Mateo Garcia. Implied Astrid/Logan Chan. Hurt/Comfort. Semi-Canon to my au. Character Study, Kind Of. Angst with a Happy Ending. attempted possession. Cooper has many issues but most of them are implied. Badass Cooper Williams. Cyborg Cooper. OOC for canon Cooper, i think. Protective Cooper. Cooper centric, Yes i have a fav, clearly. All the kids have been enhanced by the dream world in some way, hence fast boy Coop, also please imagine the fight scene as anime as possible, As that’s how it was written. no beta we die like terry. Implied Lore. Platonic Love.

Note:

My villain oc: Genderfluid dreamling ghost who goes by the name Ecko, obsessed with finding a way to leave the dream world and doesn’t care who they have to go through to get it. He can turn invisible and possess people

___

Long story short, maybe Cooper was an idiot… which was ironic considering the fact that he had almost all A’s and B’s in his classes.

But yeah ok, put him in a situation where his friends had been their regular loveable selves and had gotten themselves in to deep shit, they were just like that he honest to god could not control their actions don’t look at him like that, he usually found himself tossing all logic out the window.

Logic and, very dumbly, self preservation.

If you put his friends' lives on the line, threatened them in any way, he suddenly became very uninterested in his own chances for survival. He was self aware enough to note how odd that was; how a “rational and studies driven”, or even anxiety ridden and unrisk taking, guy like himself would throw that all away at the idea that he might lose Astrid.

Or Oz or Albert.

Nova.

Izzie.

Logan.

Zoey.

Mateo-

Could you blame him though? They were the only thing he had. The only good thing he had, them and the Dream World tied together in a neat little package that you could say he was a little territorial about. They probably didn’t even know it but if it hadn’t been for them, simply them being there and being the only good and light part of his day, he didn’t know if he would have made it through freshman year-

He hadn’t tried to show it but losing his memories and the Night of the Red Moon had done a number on him.  

So… so maybe he felt deep down he owed it to them but fully he knew it was because he loved them. He loved them in a way that he just couldn’t feel himself extending towards his family.

…Except maybe his cousin but that was a different conversion entirely.

They had been there for him, they’d listened to him being weird, and after years and years of hanging out with them there were just so many things Cooper felt himself cherishing about each of them.

Most of all though they liked him for him and not… whatever his parents wanted of him.

So yes! Maybe he was an idiot but at least he had sure grounds for said idiocracy. He had his own idiots to defend and take care of!

Though, uh, maybe he should’ve known when to quit as he was feeling pretty drained.

Downside to having lightning powers he supposed, it liked to use him as a battery. It drained him more and more the more he used it; because APPARENTLY it drew on his own energy to function. Which was bullshit in his opinion.      

Feeling as drained as he was however sucked based on the sole fact that he was currently stranded, barely being kept on his knees as he leaned against his tech bo staff, up on the roof of a Dreamling Village Library. The library was also on fire. The building was starting to burn and come apart below him all while a stone statue of a knight, stalky as fuck and some seven feet tall, pulled itself together across the roof from him.

Fuck.

Down below Cooper knew Zoey and Astrid were fighting off three more of these statues while Logan and Mateo tried in vain to put out the fire and Izzie was running around with Bunchu to help the dreamlings get to safety.

The statues had been brought to life by one of their recurring villains, the dream ghost Ecko, who had used some ancient Dream Keeper artifact to do so. To keep the statues from reforming and, well, killing anyone, he had to get that artifact and destroy it. Only one problem, the artifact was currently in Ecko’s possession who was very much invisible somewhere up on the roof at the moment after Cooper had chased them up here.

… someone really should’ve gotten him a shirt that read “#1 biggest idiot of the year”.

But alright, alright ghosts. Ghosts .

Well he doubted going all Ghostbusters up on their ass would work.

There was a thud from the statue… It looked like a Terry, he was going to call it Terry, as Terry’s foot hit the roof and signaled to Cooper that it had fully reformed.

Alright fun! He had to destroy this thing again, track down Ecko, and then probably fight them so he could destroy the artifact all while feeling like he had been hit by a car.

This was fine.  

There was another thud as Terry started to advance, slowly though its pure stone sword was held at the ready.

This is what he got for dating Z-God’s favorite, geeze he needed to sue them honestly.

With a groan that almost developed into a gag he struggled to his feet before giving his tech bo a small twirl and setting it into a position where it waited at the ready up by his arm.

He was feeling pretty weak, he couldn’t lie, but while Ecko still held that artifact they were a threat to his friends so his growing want to pass out could wait.

“Hola big guy,” Cooper singsonged, his face twitching slightly, “Know where our ghost buddy went?”

Terry simply took another few steps forward. Trying to banter with statues was awful, goddamn they simply had no taste!

“What? Got a sore throat or something?” Cooper asked innocently, scanning the air next to Terry for any sign of Ecko, a shimmer within the rising smoke, anything really!

“Do you want me to make you some Chamomile tea?” Cooper wiggled his free hand in front of himself as if he was showing off an invisible tea cup, straining his ears to maybe try and hear a laugh come from Ecko only to hear nothing out of the ordinary.

Hopefully Ecko hadn’t left yet.  

Cooper grit his teeth, “Wowie, tough crowd! They wouldn’t pull this shit with John Mulaney.”

Still nothing, and now he was ten steps closer to his doom.

Ah well, he had tried.

Cooper braced himself, glancing down at his hourglass. Low but not empty.

A split second decision lead him to shrink down his tech bo and stick it back in it’s holster to help preserve whatever energy he had left, it half ran on his lightning believe it or not, before he used most of the sand left in his hourglass to dream craft up two hand held paint guns. Gold and purple in color and looking decently sci-fi in nature one wouldn’t believe that they were just simple paint guns, but that’s all they were.

Click.

And there went the safety.

Terry was within striking range now, their sword raised.

Cooper cocked his guns in turn, “Bring it stone-buster!”  

A low growl noise reverberated from Terry followed by a second sound that reminded Cooper of two stones being scraped against each other as Terry hoisted their sword up and backwards.

The statue swung their sword in a wide arc, and Cooper swore he felt the world slow down, the electricity in his cybernetic arm humming excitedly. It wanted violence and Cooper was feeling more than happy to oblige.

The cyborg teen held himself steady, watching the sword slice through the air towards him much slower than it should have been as Cooper’s brain simply comprehended the events slightly faster than they were actually happening.

As the sword neared his shoulder he finally reacted, holstering one of the guns and planting his hand on top, flat part of the blade before pushing himself up. His feet hit the blade and he zipped up the length of it as he pulled his second free again at speeds that were far from normal for a human being.

Once he hit the end of the blade, where the hilt began, the teen threw himself into a side roll over Terry’s shoulder, twisting and swinging his right arm up as he became airborne.

Cooper took aim with his gun and fired.

Pop. Splat!

A wad of pink paint smacked Terry right in the back of their head.

Damage? Next to zero, but that was all a part of the show.

Cooper landed with a thud and skid backwards a few feet in a crouched position, his thighs screaming. Time sped back up as he came to a stop.

Was it all a little absurd? Oh yeah totally, but he was pretty glad his added ability was speed. Made pulling off stunts like that much easier.

Terry stumbled a little as the paint wad to the back of the head threw off their balance a little causing their sword to finish its arc albeit not as smoothly. The statue then seemed to pause for a moment as if wondering where Cooper had gone before they finally began to turn back around.

Cooper stood back up as Terry did so, tapping the tip of one of his guns against his chin. Casually he tried to blow one of the tufts of his hair out of his face only for it to fall back into place.

He really needed to get a haircut.

Terry seemingly squinted at him as they came face to face again but Cooper just grinned back.

“Aww come on Terry pink looks good on you!”

He wasn’t sure why he was trying to use his usual tactic of ‘piss off the villain by acting like he was entirely unfazed by them and whatever crazy bad guy shit they were pulling’ when his opponent literally had no emotions whatsoever and was made of rock but here he was anyway.

Old habits died hard he supposed.

The teen braced himself, ignoring how his body was starting to feel sluggish, and took aim with his guns again as Terry began to move. Time to make or break this fight.

Rapid fire pops! sounded off as he fired in twin, calculated arcs. Sure, to an outside point of view he probably looked like a drunk man, firing in all directions like he couldn’t even hit his target properly, but that was the thing… he couldn’t see his target.  

Terry kept on their one path trajectory however, towards him, and Cooper could only be glad his speed helped him fire off his guns as many times as he could. Many paint wads simply ended up hitting the roof, splattering pink, blue, green, purple, red, and yellow everywhere. Terry themselves got hit just as many times, a nice and colorful display getting splayed across their form even though it did nothing to falter them.

Yet one wad of color stood out. A green paint ball had hit Ecko, invisible as they were, and for maybe a second Cooper had seen the green paint splatter floating there before most of it had been wiped away. Luckily he could still see a faint green smudge if he looked close enough, but that was good enough for him. It was confirmation they were still on the roof!

Had the fire scared them into staying?

He couldn’t dwell on that.

Cooper shook his head, noting how in his effort to land a hit on Ecko, Terry had gotten to the point where they were basically on top of Cooper, one paint covered sword held up and pointed down to drop right onto Cooper’s head to crush him.  

Ah, bollocks.

With a yelp Cooper ducked down and darted between Terry’s legs as the statue brought its sword down only to pivot once he was on the other side of them. He eyed their back before sheathing his guns and jumping up.

The stiff angle of their body left almost no traction for Cooper’s feet to use to push off of but thanks to Terry’s weird belt… thing, that a part of his shoe was able to catch on, he was able to push himself up even higher and land with his legs around the statue’s neck.

Cooper raised his fully cybernetic arm before smashing it down and right through the statue's head, shattering it to rubble.

A thunk went up as Terry’s sword struck the roof and as the blade sunk in it broke violently causing the roof below them to started to crumble.

Cooper unhooked his legs from around Terry’s neck and jumped up to stand on their shoulders so he could push off and try to throw himself to safety as the roof caved under them.

Pain shook through him as he collided with the roof only for it to start to crumble beneath him as Terry fell violently to the depths of the library below with a loud crash.

Cooper scrambled at the roof, it was hot, and basically crumbling at his touch, and with the lower half of his body practically dangling over the edge it was tough to keep himself aloft. He choked on smoke, feeling the edge of the crumbled roof digging into his stomach, but thankfully his hands found a half broken and burnt wooden beam sturdy enough to clutch too. With a huff he pushed on the beam and pulled himself up onto the roof.

The teen rolled over, before forcing himself to sit up and back as far away as he could from the fresh new hole in the roof.

Following a violent wheeze, coughing shook Cooper which he hid in the crook of his arm.

The fire was getting worse, he had to end this as soon as he could.

“Your little sacrificial lamb is gone now Ecko!” Cooper shouted, getting to his feet despite the shaky feeling that was coursing through his bones, “So let's finish this face to face!”

Cooper scanned the roof, looking for the ever elusive floating green smudge only to feel a sense of dread wash over him as he felt a shadow on his back.

Slowly he turned and gulped as he saw the green smudge hovering there in the air. The air then rippled and Ecko’s invisibility faded away so they could reveal himself; in their left hand they held tightly the necklace with a diamond shaped orange gem hanging from it.

Ecko was definitely not someone you’d expect to actually be a dreamling in nature as they looked just a bit too human. Not only did she look human, with the same number of limbs, short grey hair, and everything, but he also dressed the part; wearing baggy striped pants, black curly toed elf shoes, and a leather jacket underneath a short blue shawl. But then you started to look closer and you just got hit with a wave of uncanny valley. Yes they looked human but they were a goldish grey and you could see bones being held under what Ecko would probably consider skin, not to mention their eyes were sunk a little bit back into her head.

Other dreamlings Cooper knew were very clearly dreamlings; walking mushroom people, giant flying manticores, an anthropomorphic bird person but Ecko looked human enough that Cooper was sure that by some weird standard regular people could even come to find the ghost handsome.

Ecko stared, the dark green of their eyes seemingly screaming envy only for them to scoff and begin to swing the necklace in their hand.

The orange jewel of the necklace started to glow intensely, and Cooper stuck his hand up in front of his face to protect his eyes from the harsh light.

There was a cacophony of sounds like sticks snapping and stones grinding against each other before a thump Eckoed out from behind Cooper and he groaned angrily as he realized what had just happened.

He turned again, and found Terry, or really Terry 2.0… 5.0(?) standing back on the roof a few feet away from him, though their sword wasn’t with them.                  

Cooper turned back to Ecko for a split second and gestured, “THAT’S CHEATING!”

“It’s not cheating.” Ecko responded back coldly as she brushed past Cooper, “It’s called reanimation.”

Cooper didn’t even have time to bite back a retort before Terry 2.0 snatched him up, damn his bewilderment fucking with his reaction time, and brought him up to dangle in the air by his neck.

Terry 2.0 didn’t squeeze, no not yet, but Cooper still felt himself beginning to choke. He was going to die if Ecko had their way.

Surprisingly he was kind of ok with the idea, but Ecko still had the artifact, they were still a threat.

He couldn’t give up now!

His friends…  

But he still had to get out of this shitty situation first.  

Cooper caught Ecko walking away out of the corner of his vision, back turned to himself and their statue.

An idea began to spawn and so he pulled his second to last card; the bullshit card.

“What?” Cooper choked out, “Not going to gloat?”

Ecko paused momentarily before continuing on.  

“Come on!”  Cooper yelled out in minor desperation, more focused on Ecko then grabbing one of his weapons, “Other villains would love to be in your situation right now! My death on your hands!? Doing something that not even The Insomniac could accomplish? Twice! Your reputation would skyrocket!”

He wasn’t wrong, he knew the type of reputation he held amongst the villains. The dreamlings.

He was a horribly persistent threat.

Who wouldn’t love to kill him?  

Ecko turned slightly, just their head to shoot back calmly, “Your friends would hunt me down to the ends of the dream world. They wouldn’t rest until your death had been avenged.”

Cooper could feel his throat closing up and his vision going black fast. He didn't have much time, “What’s a f-few enemies in the face of things you-you could gain? You could get anything you w-want!” he choked out.

Ecko fully stopped at that.

A few seconds past and Cooper could feel himself going limp so he began to reach a hand back-

“… release him.” Ecko ordered.

Terry 2.0 dropped Cooper back down to the roof where the teen crumpled as he hurriedly began to reclaim air, smokey as it was.

Cooper quickly found himself being picked back up, this time by the back of the shirt so Ecko could turn him around, grab him by the shirt collar and stare him down.

The teen forced himself to grin back.  

“And what makes you think I want something?” Ecko bit out, their breath ice cold on Cooper’s face.

“I can see it written all over your face-“ Cooper hummed. Anytime he had managed to look Ecko in the eyes he could see it, the slight desperation, the want to get out . Ecko was fueled by it and it was scrawled in every one of their expressions.  

Ecko bit their lip before turning away with snarl and dropping Cooper back down to his knees. She walked off, back turned as she gestured at Terry 2.0 to continue but this time Cooper was ready.

Cooper lurched off his feet into a mad dash as Terry 2.0 went to grab him, noting how Ecko had turned invisible again. He arched around at his godforsaken speed so he could look for the green smudge before happily finding it and rushing Ecko.

Football tackle style Cooper collided with Ecko, knocking them both down to the roof as the lightning wiggling around in Cooper’s arm buzzed loudly.

Ecko growled as Cooper landed on top of them and then in an emotional driven flurry, the teen found himself reaching out blindly for whatever he could find of Ecko. He gripped at what he assumed was Ecko’s shawl and forced them closer to him, raising his cybernetic arm above his head where he summoned up sparks of red electricity for show.

There was a panicked breath and Cooper suddenly felt a palm smack into his chin followed by a pulse of what he could only assume was magic.

The world around him faded away; Terry 2.0, the Library roof, and the dream world around him as he felt himself being yanked backwards.

In the blink of an eye Cooper found himself standing in a nearly pitch black room; a void which caused his breath to be caught in his throat as fear began to prick at his spine.

Wait a minute…

His fear cooled lightly as he realized he recognized the place.

It wasn’t a void, no, there were red sketch looking lines floating and wriggling around like live snakes as they came together in streams to make the vague out lines of a floor, walls, and what seemed to be a tree. In the distance, past the tree he saw grey sketch lines making up what seemed to be a pond where occasionally more bendy shaped grey sketch lines would poke out off the “water”. He also knew it wasn’t a void because in no way whatsoever was this place quiet. The void was quiet… this place screamed . The very essence of the place was making noise, the whole thing buzzing and was being filled with the sound of overlapping voices. Words, full sentences, it didn’t matter this place just wanted to talk and it didn’t care what it said;

Ford was founded on June 16, 1903.

The chemical formula for sugar is-

V O I D

My arm hurts

Some only live to die, I'm alive to fly higher-

What should we get Logan for his birthday?

Mateo still has our hoodie.

Hey Terry 2.0 is still out there

Fuuuccckk.

Is dry rice edible?

Paint gunsssss

I smell smoke-

Lamborghini used to manufacture tractors!

This wasn’t a void… this was his head.

Ecko had brought the two of them here in an attempt to possess him…

It had worked.  

Cooper glanced around, already beginning to tune out all the noise as he took it all in only to find Ecko curled up on the ground some distance away from him at the shore of the pond.

Hmm-

Without giving it much thought he walked closer and found Ecko clutching the sides of his head as he shook violently.  

“It’s-“ Ecko stuttered, “It’s so loud!” A small sob came from Ecko as she curled even further into themselves though it seemed any attempt they tried to block out the noise didn’t work.

Cooper tilted his head to the side and watched Ecko for a moment as small whispers started to make their way into his ears coming from the pond.

‘Ah, so that is what I think it is.’

This was going surprisingly well for him.

The teen bent over and grabbed Ecko by the ankle as the whispers from the pond grew stronger. With a harsh yank Cooper pulled the ghost back which caused her to flip herself over in a panic  

“LET ME GO!” Ecko yelled, his breath hitching.

Cooper squinted, crouching at their feet, “Let… you go? You put us in here buddy and now it’s just you… and me…” the teen trailed off as his eyes drifted behind Ecko to the pond where he could see the water rising and bubbling, “and the demons.”

Ecko’s eyes widened in fear, “The demons!?”  she screeched as the pond erupted, turning into a million little black hands that reached out to begin to grab at Ecko while voices began to come from the pond as well.

Only these ones were much more painful.

You are nothing !

Loser!

Get better!

Frankly, I don't trust you.

I thought you were smarter than this-

I’m just like them!

Doesn’t it feel like I’m replacing you?

Worthless

How could you forget

Don’t raise your voice at me!

Stop asking questions

Did you finish your homework Cooper?

Don’t let us down son .

I’m … useless.

…

No.

No he wasn’t.

Ecko let out a scream as the full weight of all the voices washed over them and the little pond hands began to grab at her, pulling him back into the pond like they wanted to drown them. Ecko fought against the pond of course, trying in vain to pull their limbs free but the more they fought the more the hands fought back.  

Cooper simply sat back and watched, letting the pond hands grab and pull at him too, as the thin smile he had been keeping on his face vanished.

“NOO-” Ecko screamed, “LET GO! STOP TALKING! SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP!”

“You did this,” Cooper responded calmly as Ecko struggled with the pond hands, “You free us.”

The pond hands had almost pulled Ecko halfway in at that point and Cooper could feel himself fully starting to get dragged in now too but then Ecko let out a muffled and frustrated scream.

There was a flash of bright light and Cooper’s mindscape vanished around them only to be replaced by the all too familiar rooftop.

Ecko sat inches away from him, sitting back and no longer invisible as she stared up at him in horror.

“YOU-YOU-” Ecko stuttered, panic still very evident in her voice as they began to hyperventilate and struggle to push himself away from Cooper.

Cooper winced, reaching up to clutch his face to calm his racing thoughts, both the good and the bad .

A startled laugh rippled through him as he started pulling at his hair, oh he thought he’d buried some of those.

Guess not.

Very slowly Cooper came back to himself. Breath, just breath and his own breath began easing out in echo of Ecko’s as they scramble back in a blurry minded struggle to put as much distance between himself and Cooper. They didn’t get very far.    

In the distance Cooper suddenly heard a scream cut through the air that drew him fully back to the present.

Astrid!

His friends-

His eyes darted to Ecko’s hand where the artifact was still tied around their hand while at the same time he heard the familiar stone grinding noise of Terry 2.0 draw near.

Oh yeah.

Cooper reached a hand back deciding that honestly he had no other choice and pulled his tech bo from its holster.      

“Hey E-Ecko,” Cooper struggled out.

“What?” Ecko hissed.

“What do you call a fried ghost?”

“ What? “ Ecko asked in disbelief as Cooper sensed Terry 2.0 right above him.

With a clunck he pressed the button on his tech bo to grow it to full size before violently smashed the end of it onto the roof.

“Hot air-” Cooper answered. Ecko’s eyes widened and all at once Cooper sent all the emotions he could summon along with whatever energy he had left into his tech bo.

His pain, anger, love. He willed all of it to the surface and his lightning responded in likes cackling happily at finally being able to be released before colliding with the amplifier deep within his staff.

“YOU’LL BRING THIS ROOF DOWN ON BOTH US-” Ecko howled but it was far too late.

Cooper chuckled dryly only to scream in pain as he felt his lightning run its course, it tore through his tech bo and Cooper himself before spitting itself out angrily in large arcs that flared upward and cut through Terry 2.0 like paper. The lightning also made its way downward, slicing through the roof under Ecko and Cooper and causing it to collapse under them.

“COOPER-”

Logan?

Why…  Cooper honestly could feel his ability to string two coherent thoughts together start to go as most of his common sense was turning to mush at expending all the remains of his energy.

With their own scream Ecko fell with the collapsing roof, Cooper, and the remains of Terry 2.0 down to the burning library below.

Cooper suddenly found himself weightless, why was he weightless?

Oh.

Right.

He was falling.

Falling … what a thing to get used to, but before he could even begin to wonder if he’d hit the ground his vision faded to black.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The voices came back long before his energy to open his eyes did. Hushed voices talking amongst themselves casually.

Cooper was kind of glad they weren’t his thoughts but actual human voices.

Next to return, and he was thankful for this too, was touch! He could feel full consciousness returning to his body along with his ability to feel some things. Someone was holding his left arm in their lap, rubbing their fingers absentmindedly up his forearm while his head rested on something soft, someone else's lap if he had to guess, their own arm draped over his shoulder and part of his chest. That same person’s other hand was resting gently in his hair so they could massage softly at his scalp.  

Dream world sunlight… ? Well the dream world didn’t have a sun so he had no idea where the source of the light was coming from but whatever type of light it was hit his face and body, warming him and making it feel like he was tucked under a blanket.  

This was nice, he felt warm. Happy. Protected.

As much as he would have loved to keep enjoying the bliss however he realized he should probably let his friends know he was ok.

Groggily he managed to crack open one eye and then the other, finding Mateo above him as the person that had his head in their lap. 

A pounding in the back of his head quickly cemented itself into reality and he let out a low groan which drew Mateo’s attention downward where they locked eyes for a split second. Something then tickled at the back of Cooper’s throat and he rolled over, turning towards the person holding his hand as a coughing fit wracked through his body.

Damn smoke.

Someone sighed and in an instant Cooper felt Mateo rubbing at his back until the coughing died off.  

“Yeah, you did inhaled a lot of smoke.” Astrid hummed from somewhere close by, speaking her thoughts aloud.  

“Heyyyy!” Logan cheered off to his right, “He lives!”

“He lives!” Izzie echoed happily.  

With a final pitiful cough and a groan Cooper rolled himself back over and went back to resting his head in Mateo’s lap, “Ughhhh, my head-“

A soft laugh came from Mateo and he looked down at him fondly, he must have been happy Cooper was alive.

Cooper returned the smile before reaching up with his free hand, biting back against the throbbing pain that flared up in his shoulder, and brushing his fingers against Mateo’s dreads. Light teasing popped up in the background and after a second of toying with the ends of Mateo’s hair he let his arm drop back down. He then struggled a little to sit up but with a little help from Mateo eventually managed to get up into a seated position where he took his friends in.

Izzie had been the one holding his other hand, letting go of it when he had gotten up but she sat leaned up against Zoey’s side who was twirling one of her arrows like one might twirl a drumstick. On his other side sat Logan and Astrid. Logan’s face was ashy from the fire but his face was half squished in Astrid’s lap as she pat his head, Logan’s hat on her head. Cooper’s tech bo also sat next to Logan though it was looking a bit worse for wear.

Across a small path opposite the grass patch the dream chaser rested on Cooper caught the burnt remains of the library where a number of dreamlings were salvaging what they could from inside. Nearby Z-Blob and Pyewacket were playing what seemed to be playing tag.  

Cooper rubbed at his face, “What hap-happened?” he asked.  

Logan pulled his face out of Astrid’s lap and massaged at his shoulder as he explained, “Well after that little stunt you pulled there I used my good ol’ shapeshifting to save you from the fall. And then we put out the fire.”

“And now here we are!” Izzie added,  

“Ah, nice.” Cooper found himself saying only for a brief silence to pass over the teens as Cooper’s friends all looked at each other. Said silence was quickly broken.    

“What were you thinking!?” Astrid demanded. 

“You could have died!” Izzie screeched.

Logan smacked his hands against each other, back to palm, “Bro I can not believe you tried to take Ecko alone!”

Cooper cringed into himself, his response tumbling out of his mouth before he could stop it, “I’m sorry-“

“Don’t be,” Mateo insisted, wrapping his arms around his shoulders and pulling Cooper back a bit, “you were just trying to protect us.”

Zoey sat up a bit, resting her arms on her knees as she pulled them up. She looked Cooper in the eyes, the arrow being twirled by her fingers coming to a harsh halt as she gripped it, “But you didn’t have to risk your own neck like that, we're a team. You can rely on us to back you.”

Logan scoffed but there was no hate behind it, “Rich coming from “Miss Lone Wolf”,” he said, making use of a pair of finger quotations.

“I’m simply speaking from experience.” Zoey shot back, her eyes slicing over to Logan for a brief moment.  

Cooper glanced down, holding his hands out to look at them where they greeted him by glinting slightly in the light. His cybernetics; the metal appendages that were a testament to the shit he had been through, all the times he’d been forced to do things alone.

They showed he had damage, that he had cracks… but they also showed the damage he could do, that even if you broke him he’d bounce back eventually and Cooper honestly wasn’t sure what to think about that. His cybernetics had always confounded him.

Izzie placed a hand on his knee and patted it, causing him to look up where she met him with a bright smile.

But in the end his cybernetics were a part of him, along with his lightning, for better or for worse, and whether he hated it or not.    

He smiled back, “I-I guess I’m just so used to being forced to face villains alone I didn’t… think about it. I just did.”

His friends watched him curiously, Logan and Zoey sending each other a telling yet concerned look.

“But Zoey’s right, you have us.” Mateo muttered, resting his head on Cooper’s shoulder lightly, “People who care, people who can help you. You don’t have to do things alone. None of us do.” 

At that Izzie began to hum, a distantly familiar tune that took Cooper a few seconds to realize was the My Little Pony theme song. Logan snickered.

Mateo let go of Cooper and slid forward a bit to kick Izzie in the ankle which she responded to by kicking him back and humming louder.

Cooper shook his head a little mystified, catching Zoey roll her eyes out of the corner of his eye.

Even after a decade of hanging out with the Garcia siblings he still couldn’t wrap his head around understanding some of their behavior. 

“Where did Ecko go?” Cooper asked, tearing his attention away from the sibling as they entered into a staring contest that Logan seemed to quickly get invested in.

Astrid shrugged, “Gone. We looked for them after but they disappeared. We couldn’t find their body.”

Cooper’s heart dropped a little, “And the artifact?”

“Destroyed, crushed by the fall or shattered by your lightning. We’re not sure which.” Astrid answered.

“Oh.”

At least he had succeeded in that.

“You saved us, by the way.” Astrid added, smiling a little.  

“Ah, just being a pal, you know.” Cooper responded sheepishly, ducking his head down a little.  

“Accept the compliment-”

Cooper blinked, a little caught off guard by Astrid’s bluntness, “O-ok, you’re welcome?”

Astrid grinned happily, glad Cooper had given in and somewhat excepted her compliment… could that even be considered a compliment?  

Zoey snorted at that. Cooper glanced over at her and frowned but she only responded by smiling smugly at him.  

Mateo hummed and wrapped his arms around Cooper’s arm, apparently done with his staring contest as Izzie let out a victorious “WHOOP!” before getting up to run around and celebrate with Logan.

The remaining dream chasers watched them amused.    

Quietly Cooper heard Mateo tell him, “Don’t worry about Ecko, they’ll show back up and when they do we’ll take care of them. Together.”

Cooper looked down at him, noting now Mateo was hiding his face in Cooper’s sleeve and so the cyborg teen pressed a kiss to Mateo’s head before muttering back, “And you should relax, I’m not gonna leave especially if I have anything to say about it.”

Mateo’s grip loosen a little at that.

“GROSS!” Izzie yelled suddenly and Cooper jumped a little only to tilt his head to look up at her and Logan.  

Logan made a face, “For real, chill with the PDA, ya nerds.”

Cooper glanced at Astrid and then back to Logan, “Wha-“

“You two should tackle them for displaying such atrocities,” Zoey mentioned off-handedly as she turned her attention back to twirling her arrow.

Logan and Izzie gave each other twin gremlin looks as Cooper could only give Zoey a betrayed look before Mateo screamed out a “DON’T YOU DARE!” and the two of them found themselves being crushed under two other bodies.

The four of them crashed to the ground in a heap as Mateo screeched, “LOGAN! IZZIE-“  

Astrid just laughed and Cooper couldn’t help but join her, followed by Izzie, and then Logan.

Sure they were crushed and they were all sore but the relief and happiness was much stronger.

There was a small wheeze from Mateo as Izzie began to tickle him, and very awkwardly Cooper tried to wrap himself around him in a half assed attempt to protect him though he could help finding his boyfriends small undignified screams adorable.

Yeah… stuff like this was exactly why he loved his friends.    

Slowly Cooper felt himself go limp under Logan, who shook him a little, as the tackle turned more into a really strange dog pile. His energy was utterly spent but he once again felt warm, protected, and so he curled himself into Mateo’s side as he finally let himself rest fully.