#EDIT**: I said tomorrow for some reason no it’s a week from tomorrow

[staycatcher]

Next week*** I’m taking it again I cannot be stopped the test fears me god fears me

I’m retaking my drivers test again pray for me send me vibes<333

[whenmemorydies]

The Claw, The Scrunchie and The Prayer Card

What - or who - do the hair claw, the scrunchie and the prayer card that appear in season 3 represent? I think I know, and no its not Claire or Mikey. Join me for an unhinged trawl through all 3 seasons of The Bear (with screenshots cos you know I love me some evidence).

A few weeks ago, @vacationship posed a fascinating question about the hair claw seen in Carmy's apartment in 3x01 Tomorrow:

This question branched off into many lovely and thought-provoking discussions including this post from @thoughtfulchaos773 about the significance of hair accessories and this post from @moodyeucalyptus on Catholicism and miracles. Both posts refer to another memento that we are shown in Carmy's apartment, a scrunchie, which we see at the end of 3x09 Apologies:

A particular theory that intrigued me was that the hair claw from 3x01 morphed into the scrunchie we see at the end of 3x09, as one of the many sleights of hand/instances of legerdemain in season 3, potentially indicative of a softening of Carmy's self-loathing and/or guilt (contrasting the hardness and teeth of the hair claw with the gentle grip of the scrunchie). I think the assumption behind this theory was that the hair claw was associated with Claire (in fact we see the hair claw in 3x01 sandwiched between scenes of Claire at home looking forlorn in bed and then later at work in the hospital) and the scrunchie being associated with Sydney as she's often seen wearing scrunchies throughout the series.

I was so intrigued by the sleight of hand theory that I went on a very ill-advised search throughout all three seasons to find these hair accessories (ill advised because it took ages and it meant sitting through every Claire scene in this show lol) I did not find either the exact hair claw or scrunchie (womp) but I did find the characters who'd be most likely to wear these items. Notably, Claire never wears a hair claw or a scrunchie throughout the show.

So who does?

Hair claw: Natalie

(Note: Tiffany is seen wearing a hair claw once in 3x09 Apologies but I think this is just a coincidence. There's no reason for Tiffany's hair claw to be in Carmy's apartment so I'm going to disregard this possibility here. If anyone has a reason why I shouldn't though, let me know!)

Scrunchie: Sydney

Now Carmy's personal interior design style is probably best described as...utilitarian? If that? The man has nails in his walls that have nothing hanging on them. He's got storage boxes strewn around his living space. There's the occasional bottle of painkillers and Pepto and a bundle of hanging herbs drying in his kitchen. And of course, his chef's whites and a large pile of culinary texts and cookbooks. Oh yes and denim in his oven. Other than this, we are not shown much of anything in Carmy's apartment that could be said to be overtly personal to him. Which is why the hair claw and scrunchie stand out. We've never seen Carmy wear a hair claw or scrunchie so their presence in his apartment is significant.

Similarly, there's one more memento we are shown in Carmy's apartment that is distinct from the rest of his belongings. This is the prayer card that Carmy pulls out of his suit jacket pocket and places with the scrunchie at the end of 3x09:

In the discourse of the show, this particular prayer card is often associated with Michael, as its presumed that this is the card that was available for mourners to take at his funeral. We also see it during the show edited next to images of Michael or of his last note to Carmy, reinforcing the association.

Note: I've previously misidentified the figure on this prayer card as St John the Apostle (apologies, I saw the lamb and the staff and assumed it was St John! I'm also not a practising Christian - my knowledge of the religion has been obtained entirely passively because...well I live in the West and my history is enmeshed with the history of European Christian colonisation of the majority of the world including the part where my family's historically from. Soz.). The image on this prayer card is actually "Fresco of Jesus as Good Shepherd" by Josef Kastner.

Prayer card: Richie

BUT...after going through the last three seasons again (much easier to do this time around lol), I've come to the conclusion that the prayer card is actually Carmy's memento of Richie, not Michael. This is primarily because prior to 3x09, whenever we are shown this card in the show, it appears either with, near or when someone is talking about Richie. Lets take a look...

So we first see the card in The Beef in 1x01 before shots of Mikey's body in the morgue and of the back of his head as he's cooking: these are memories Carmy is having while Richie is telling a story to The Beef staff and as Carmy finds his prized chef's knife on the floor of the kitchen.

We see the prayer card next in 1x02 Hands during a nightmare that Carmy is having that features a voiceover from Joel McHale's psychotic Chef Fields. Notably, the sequence of images where we see the card is as follows:

The next time we see the prayer card is in 2x01 Beef to the left of Carmy's head on the wall, when Sydney is telling Carmy that Richie does not have an appropriate certification because...he's Richie.

Later in the same episode we see the card again, after Richie tapes up Michael's Fenway poster (that Sydney had previously fallen through):

The prayer card is immediately followed by a shot of Mikey's last note to Carmy:

The next time we see the prayer card is throughout 2x07 Forks, the most Richie-centric episode of the series. This is because we find out that Richie keeps a copy of the card on his bathroom mirror, so he sees it everyday:

Given the above (i.e. the strong physical and visual association between the prayer card and Richie throughout the show), I believe the card represents Richie for Carmy.

So why would Carmy have a prayer card as a memento representing Richie and not an actual personal item of his brother from another mother/"cousin", like it appears he does for Nat and Syd?

I think this is because Carmy’s connection to both Natalie and Sydney is direct. The former is his sister, the latter his soulmate (I'm not arguing re: Sydney, check my metas if you want to fight). It makes sense that the trinkets he has of them would belong directly to them.

But Carmy's connection to Richie is not direct. Richie is cousin to Carmy because he was best friend to Mikey first. Carmy’s relationship to Richie has always been mediated through his relationship with Mikey. In life, Richie would only be in Carmy's orbit because of his proximity to Carmy's brother. In death, Richie and Carmy have been thrown together because of the restaurant that Mikey left to Carmy but where Richie works. As a result of that forced employer/employee relationship, they're also forced to navigate their grief and mourning for Mikey in close proximity. In this context, it makes sense that the memento Carmy has for Richie is emblematic of Mikey, and is also representative of that shared sorrow between the two of them due to Mikey's passing.

So why does Carmy have these mementos in his apartment?

I'm not entirely sure what the answer to this question is, but my hunch is that these mementos represent the three surviving relationships in this show that are the most important to Carmy but that have all been severed to some extent by the end of season 3.

Carmy's nosedive into Michelin Mode, his psychological spiral triggered by grief, his past traumatic work experiences, his family history, his entitlement borne out of his racialisation and socialisation (among other things) all of this has coalesced into Carmy pushing away those closest to him. He's slipping into that pattern of behaviour he described at Al-Anon in 1x08 Braciole where he cut people out of his life. Carmy doesn't recognise this though because physically, these people are around him all the time. He doesn't realise that you can be physically present but emotionally and mentally AWOL. I mean, the man isn't even physically present for his sister after Natalie gives birth to her daughter, Carmy's niece. He has some explaining and making amends to do! And hopefully we see this next season.

Its likely that the framing of the hair claw and the scrunchie on the show (via suggestive editing) has been a sleight of hand/legerdemain: to get us thinking their presence only has to do with Sydcarmy/Claire. And as I've discussed, the prayer card is widely associated with Mikey. I reckon this is also a sleight of hand too, for the reasons I noted above. Storer and co got us focusing on the romance and dead brother tropes while they continue to push the theme of chosen family home. By the end of season 3, the hair claw, scrunchie and prayer card appear as reminders to Carmy (and us) that he needs to fix his relationships with Nat, Syd and Richie, and that the loss of them is haunting him as well.

And so next season, Carmy needs to move through and past this:

And fight like hell for this:

After all, this show is about love in all its forms, but above all, its about the love we fight for, the love we choose.

Alright chef,

Tagging: @vacationship @moodyeucalyptus @currymanganese @thoughtfulchaos773 @brokenwinebox @espumado @tvfantic87 in case you're interested but keen to hear from whomever wants to discuss!

[bluefairyhere]

Same time tomorrow?|| Colby Brock scenario

¬Colby meets a girl at a coffee shop.

Pairing->f!reader x f!reader

w.c 1.7k

cw. very fluffy and corny

Almost every morning was the same for you. Get up, take a shower, grab your books and laptop and head to the coffee shop down the street to get productive. For some reason it was easier for you to focus and avoid procrastinating at said coffee shop, which was beautiful.

Vines all over the wall outside, this white, cottage-core-like vibe that you got from all the arrangements inside. The plants, the yellow-ish lighting, the kind old lady bartending--who you always thought was the owner--the bookshelves on two of the walls inside. Everything about this coffee shop was perfect and it screamed inspiration. It was the place you felt the most calm at. Until you saw him for the first time.

His dark hair falling a little on his forehead, his piercing blue eyes, muscular complexion and tattoos. His nose piercing and the chains plus the rings on almost every finger. He was so mysterious and edgy.

You could still remember the first time you saw him walk in. You usually never noticed whoever walked throught the door, but for some reason as soon as the little doorbell rang indicating someone'd come in, you felt an electrifying need to see who it was. And it was him, of course, with his sufficient smirk and careless demeanor. Yet when he ordered his coffee he acted so nice and happy, not edgy and damp. From the very first moment you found him fascinating.

Then the next morning he came back, but unlike the day before he actually stayed to drink his coffee while scrolling on his phone and didn't even notice you were there. Not like you were expecting him to. He was probably taken, or a total player and either way he wouldn't look in your direction. Why would he? you were just a simple literature major trying to get through the weeks without losing your mind. But you had no idea how wrong you were, because Colby had noticed you from the very first day.

He remembered going into the coffee shop Sam had told him about--apparently they made the best coffee of all times at the lowest price ever witnessed for such quality, or so Sam said-- and not being disappointed with what he ordered. But while he was in line to order he'd noticed you from afar, at the back of the whole establishment, focused on your books and laptop. He instantly thought you were the prettiest girl he'd ever seen, and your aura seemed so tender and pure. He knew right away he wanted to get to know you, but how? It's not like he could just casually sit down at the table, introduce himself and ask you out. So the next day, he went to the coffee shop again, and there you were. Same table, same books, same laptop. He went for a week and he started to bring his stuff as well, mostly his laptop to do some editing and research for his videos. Hell week was coming so all the recording was already done, now they just needed to do the editing, and he also found the coffee shop an extremely relaxing and nice place to get stuff done. Plus, when he got tired, he'd look at you for a few seconds and feel recharged again. It was the weirdest thing, he wasn’t one to feel so connected to someone he’d never talked to before.

When you noticed he started sitting in the shop and working as he ate and drank his now usual muffin and what seemed to be plain coffee, you couldn’t help but imagine little scenarios in your head in which you’d go up to him and say anything, or he’d come up to you and…

“Hey.” You looked up, killing your previous train of thought. It was him. A plain black shirt with a XPLORE inscription in white, ripped black jeans with chains, rings on his fingers and his nose piercing practically staring at you.

“Huh?” Is all you could mumble. You did not expect this.

“May I sit here?” He asked with a small smirk, and you nodded.

“I noticed you since the very first time I came into this coffee shop… please let me take you on a date.”

You were about to say something when your phone rang, waking you up. It was a dream, you dosed off on the chair, head on the table. You looked around and he was gone, luckily. You hoped he didn’t see you like that.

And so the days kept going by and you continued to see him at the coffee shop, still daydreaming about who this handsome stranger was and the things you could do together. You were already at peace with the idea of him being nothing but a proximity crush and never really knowing anything about him, not even his name. Until one day he just stopped going. One day passed, then three and before you knew it, it had been a week.

You had no idea why. It’s not like you were super sad, but you missed seeing him around. You thought your proximity crush would die with his absence, but much to your surprise it actually didn't affect the way you were starting to feel about this handsome stranger.

All of a sudden, one day he came back. What you didn't know is that he had come back from recording at another haunted location with Sam and the crew, where he had an epiphany. He needed to talk to you. So that day, when you walked into the coffee shop he was sitting at your usual table, at your exact usual spot of the table too. Why would he do that? Surely he must have noticed you sit there every morning. You looked around, unsure about what to do. You even looked at the bar tender, but all the old lady had to do about it was giggle and shake her head, clearly amused.

You sighed and decided you'd take the table next to that one, so you were walking right past it. You were about to put all your stuff on said table but Colby's raspy voice prevented you from it.

"You don't need to sit there." You stopped on your tracks, not believing what you were hearing. You turned back to him.

"Sorry?" You acknowledging him made Colby feel way less confident, but he didn't show it.

"I'm not new here, I know you usually sit here. I was just wondering if you wouldn't mind... sharing a table with me?"

You looked around, confused. At this time of the day the shop wasn't very concurred with people so there was no need to share a table with a stranger. Even so, you had no idea why you were pushing things since getting to know him was all you wanted to do since you saw him for the first time. "I'm sorry but... why?"

Colby seemed to hesitate, but he had gone through almost every possible outcome of this situation with Sam. He could do this. He had to, it was now or never.

"I just figured it'd be nice. I'm Colby, Colby Brock." He stands up and offers his hand for you to shake. However, youre too stunned to process that. Just what was going on? Was he asking you to sit with him? For real?

"Im y/n, nice to meet you too." You were a little hesitant too, but honestly this was all you dreamt of lately, and it was finally happening. You decided to not overthinking and just sit down, right in front of you.

At first it was a little awkward, neither of you knew what to say.

"So, I've always wondered," Colby broke the silence "what is it you do with so many books every morning? And like you stick post-it's on it and write notes on your laptop... are you like a writer doing research or?"

You giggles a bit.

"Not really, I'm actually a literature major. I come here in the mornings to do my homework and papers and stuff." You said still smiling. "I could show you if you'd like."

"Yea sure, I'd love to see." So you took out your stuff and showed him the goods. You were currently working with two books.

"So what we're doing is making an essay comparing the accuracy of The Song of Achilles with the actual Achilles legend thing, its really interesting because..." And he was actually listening! A couple of hours passed and you learnt a lot about each other. You learnt he's a youtuber, hasn't been in a relationship for a while, likes writing music, is religious, amongst other things. And he learnt even more stuff about you since he couldn't stop asking. He was so obviously very interested. But you both realized it was time to go and continue with the day.

"This has been lovely," you said "but unfortunately if I dont leave now I won't be able to make it to campus on time." You said almost pouting.

"Yea I know, I have a meeting with the crew as well... But before you go," he seemed unsure about whether to say this or not, but after what seemed like a quick internal debate, he decided he'd say it. "I had been wanting to talk to you for weeks, and I'm glad I did. Maybe we could exchange numbers, if that's something you'd like to do?"

You felt your cheeks instantly redden. You were so sure this was going to be a one time thing, but you were so glad he was asking because you wanted this to happen again. And again. And again. You nodded.

"Of course." You offered him your phone so he'd type your number. After he was done you dialed his phone. "All done, have a good day." And you left. When you reached the door you looked back, and there he was, starting at you with that cute, satisfied smile of his. You waved and smile and he did so back. Then you left, and before you got to the bus stop you got a text message.

Same time tomorrow?

[bullet-prooflove]

Home: Terry Silver x Reader

Tagging: @volumesofforgottenlore@kmc1989@somethingdarkside17@noonee333

The house where Terry lives changes subtly throughout his relationship with you. The dark, masculine paintings he used to favour are put into storage one by one, replaced with artwork that you’ve chosen together. Brighter pieces, with vibrancy and colour. A warm plush blanket appears on the back of his couch because you get a little cold in the evenings. His wine cellar begins to feature rosé, when it’s only hosted reds and whites.

He spends Sunday mornings at the farmer’s market where he buys seasonal wild flowers. He sets them in a vase he’s never owned until recently, placing them in the centre of the dining table where the two of you eat because he knows you like how pretty they are.

He starts to cook again. Once a week he sends his personal chef home and the two of you spend the evening cooking together. It gets a little messy but it’s a lot of fun, he loves the domesticity of washing the dishes in the aftermath. He can’t keep his eyes off you as you raise up on tiptoes to put things away.

Photographs begin to appear on the fridge, polaroids you’ve taken throughout the course of your relationship. You’d been thrilled to find the camera when Terry was making some space his closet. It’s an original from the 80s. He’d spent the evening cleaning it up for you, showing you the intricacies of it.

“You should keep a few things here.” He had said as he shifted around his clothes and a couple shoe boxes. “It’ll save you coming and going so much between here and Silver Lake.”

He’d stayed at your apartment a couple of times in the beginning. It’s tiny, although bright and airy. The whole place could fit within the confines of his living room. You’d been embarrassed but it had felt more like home than anywhere he’s ever lived. The only problem was the bed, he’s over six four, he doesn’t quite fit, which is part of the reason you spend most of your time at his place.

That night you’re curled up on the couch together, your head resting on his shoulder as you read the latest Karin Slaughter book. He’s flicking through Casino Royale by Ian Fleming, it’s one of his favourite books. He has the whole collection of first editions on his bookcase in the study.

“You are going to give yourself nightmares, reading that this late.” He reminds you with an amused tone in his voice. It’s happened before, if you read something too spooky or violent before bed. You have a vast imagination, one that he envies but sometimes it can work to your detriment.

“I know but it’s too compelling.” You tell him, closing the book and setting it down on the coffee table before you tuck yourself in against him. Terry sighs contently as he sets his own book down, his cheek coming to rest upon the top of your head.

“I’ve been thinking that maybe you should stay.” He says quietly as his fingertips doodle light patterns over your bare arm.

“I am.” You remind him, your palm coming to rest on the space where his heart resides. “You have me until tomorrow morning.”

“No my love.” He whispers as he tips your chin up so he can meet your gaze. “I mean you should come live here, with me.”

Love Terry S? Don’t miss any of his stories by joining the taglist here.

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Like My Work? - Why Not Buy Me A Coffee

[sunnyie-eve]

37 | Make a Move

Series: Unexpected

Paring: (Matt Sturniolo x OFC Brock!) (Chris Sturniolo x OFC Brock!)

Word Count: 1.2k

Warnings: feelings known

| MASTERLIST |

Once again the boys were back a home and Dani was with them of course. It's been a few days and at the moment the guys were out while Dani was at the house.

She was actually helping edit the video of them playing with toys till Marylou walked into the room. "What up?" Dani gives her a smile.

"I've heard from some little birds that you need an older figure to rant to." Marylou gives her a smile. Dani gets up from the computer rushing over to her to hug and cry into.

Meanwhile...

"Yeah, mom said she would do it. Help Dani out." Matt looks over at Chris.

"Shocker." Chris says sarcastically.

"Why is Dani not in car videos?" Nick reads off his phone, "Should we answer that for tomorrow's car video?"

"I don't think so." Chris says his opinion.

"Yeah, some will get the satisfaction thinking that they made her stop." Matt agrees not to bring it up as well.

Chris makes a face at that shaking his head, "But that's not even a reason."

"I think we should... Just say she's busy. that she'll be back. When she can." Nick thinks.

"We know the real reason." Chris says then looks over at Matt.

"Why did you look at me? You did it." Matt laughs at him.

"That was at the beginning of the month!" Chris turns his whole body to face him.

"You put her on the spot."

"Nick..." Chris asks for his help.

"You did. Right in front of her parents."

Chris rolls his eyes how he didn't have his back, "Since I'm not in the race, it's your turn." He tells Matt who looks at him in shock and speechless, "Shoot the shot."

"Uh, umm no." Matt laughs.

"There's no way that she doesn't have feelings for you. It's obvious to me now." Chris keeps going making Matt rub his face wanting him to stop.

When the guys get back home, their dad tells them Dani and their mom were still chatting and they were Matt's room. In reality, Marylou was running her hand through Dani's hair as she calms her crying down after their long talk falling asleep.

As Marylou slowly moves Dani grabs her hand, "Thanks mama." She whispers making Marylou smile.

"Night, sweetheart." She kisses the top of her head before leaving the room. Entering the living room she sees Matt on his phone. The other two have gone to their own rooms to get ready for bed. "She's falling asleep so don't be loud entering your room." She lets him know.

"Did it go well?"

His mom nods her head, "She really did need it. She even got me to cry at some point too." She chuckles a bit, "She's luck she has someone like you who cares about her."

"Well yeah, but Nick and Chris told you about it too." He puts his phone down.

"That's true but only you asked me to talk to her." She gives him a smile leaving him alone.

Matt gets up going to his room quietly getting ready for bed the tries not to wake Dani up as he gets in bed.

"Thank you." Dani says with her back facing him and her eyes were closed.

"Huh?" He stares into the darkness

"Your mom."

"Why do you say that was me?" He asks.

Dani rolls over to face him even though they couldn't see each other, "Only you would ask her to talk to me."

"The other two know how you feel too." He rolls over to face her too.

"They aren't you though." She smiles to herself, "Night." She rolls back over.

~

Since that night, Chris hasn't stopped bugging Matt about making a move and it was killing him. So for a week and a half and he kept sending him looks when he was around Dani. Even Dani could tell Chris was annoying Matt but she didn't know what a about.

Like today Matt and Dani were going out to run errands and on the way out Chris gave Matt a thumbs up who got a middle finger in return. As Matt enters his car Dani giggles waiting for him to notice what she did to him, "Did you seriously do that?" He looks in his backseat.

"Yes."

"I don't go mess with your car." He tells her so she rolls her eyes.

"You're overreacting."

"Am I?" He gives her a look.

"Oh wow, your backseat is full of pink balloons." She throws a sticker at him, "You did worse by betting Chris that he wouldn't ask me out."

"Sorry..." He looks out the window.

"Yeah... Why would you do that, honestly? Did you think I liked him?" She asks him.

"I don't know, I just didn't believe he would do it." He tells her truthfully, "Yet he did. My bad."

"I still feel bad for how it went." Dani thinks back.

"But he got over it quickly." Matt agrees.

"It just took us a week of awkwardly hi-ing each other at home. I feel like it would be completely different if it was like you who asked." Dani slips not even realizing as Matt smiles at her.

"Really?" He asks her.

"Huh?" She looks at him confused.

"If I ask you out, you would say yes?" He asks as she looks at him.

"I didn't say that." She shakes her head, "Where the hell did you get that?"

"You...just...said it." He can't help but smile more, "If it was like you."

Dani finally realizes she slipped so she awkwardly laughs, "Nahh, you heard it wrong." She laughs more as he just looks at her. "Hurry up and start the car because I gotta get stuff from the store." She tries to change the topic. Matt drops it for the moment but he was gonna go back to it to get an answer out of her.

As soon as they get to the store, Dani rushes to get out of the car to get some space between her and Matt. He laughs at her as he follows behind her.

"Stop laughing!" She shouts at him.

"Nah, I'm good!"

As they shop he kept pushing her buttons bugging the hell out of her, "Would you stop it?" She gives him a look.

"Would you just admit it you slipped up." He gives her the same look.

"No. Why do you care so much? So you can make fun of me?" She takes the cart from him to go check out.

Once they were back in the car, Matt starts it but doesn't drive off, Dani looks at him annoyed as he looks at her waiting, "I didn't mean it like at."

Matt turns to face her more leaning closer with a smile across his face, "I don't believe you."

"Stop it and stop looking at me like that." She whines.

"What if I say that I was too scared to ask you out because I didn't know how you felt about me and I didn't want to risk our friendship? That's why Chris did it because he knew I would never do it." Dani just looks at him, "I'm not joking around when I ask if you want to go out tonight?"

Dani turns her head to look out the window away from him, "I did say if you asked it would be different..." She looks back over to him and he smiles, "What do you have in mind for tonight?"

"I'm not telling you but that was a yes." He finally decides to drive, "But I'll pick an outfit out for you this time." Dani rolls her eyes as they head home.

[dearly-somber]

Haircut | j.jk

-> pairing. wolf shifter!jungkook x human!reader (f)

-> genre. slow burn, fluff, f2l (friends-to-lovers), humor, found family, angst, drama, eventual romance, eventual smut, high school!au

-> w/c. 1982

-> rating. 13+

-> a/n. This ended so silly so goofy smdhjaheb

-> warnings. None!!

-> collection. mini-series

-> started. Aug. 14th, 2022 @ 19:49

-> fin. Thurs., Nov. 20th, 2023 @ 04:43

-> edited. Fri., Dec. 1st, 2023 @ 12:55

-> divider credit. @mmadeinheavenn

“You’re kidding right?”

Jungkook pouts, looking down at his hands with a furrow in his brow. “No…”

Y/N laughs, rocking forward to smack his knee familiarly. “You seriously got detention because your hair was too long? That’s ridiculous!”

“I know,” he whines, running a hand through said hair and sighing deeply as he lays back with his legs crossed, splaying his arms over the bed.

Y/N giggles as she stands, sympathetically patting his shoulder. “Is there really no way out of it?”

“Not unless I can book an appointment before school tomorrow.” Y/N cringes. “Yeah,” he sighs.

It’s so dumb. He didn’t get in trouble the entire week! Not one teacher mentioned it, and then during his last period on a Thursday evening, bam! Detention slip. And, obviously, it was from his least favorite teacher, Ms Kang, who he was pretty sure hated his guts for no other reason than she couldn’t fuck him. He’s honestly surprised that she hasn’t been reported for sexual harassment yet, but he swears if she touches his shoulder in class one more time…

Jungkook’s brought back to the present at the sound of drawers opening and closing, his attention piqued. The thing that spurs him into motion is the realization that Y/N is rummaging through his drawers and she might accidentally happen upon his underwear.

“What’re you looking for?” he asks, pushing up off the bed to sit with his feet hanging off the side.

“A comb.” She closes his sock drawer with a sigh. “Do you have one?”

His eyes flit to the hand she has wrapped around the dreaded underwear drawer handle. “In my bathroom. Why?”

She mutters to herself, “‘Course it’s in the bathroom, why didn’t I think of that?” Then, louder, “Wanna comb your hair first.”

“‘First’?” Jungkook repeats quizzically.

“Mm,” she hums, turning to him with a smile. “Gonna cut it for you.”

His eyes widen. “Seriously?”

“Sure!” She pulls him into the bathroom by his wrist, crouching to dig through his sink cupboard and turning back to him with a smile on her face and a comb in her hand.

“Uh…” Jungkook isn’t sure what to think. Does he like it when she plays with his hair? Yes. Does he trust her with his life? More than yes.

But his hair?

“I think I’d rather just go to detention…”

She punches his arm with a shake of her head. “My dad’s a barber, dickhead. I’m gonna get the water ready so long—can you change into swim shorts?”

“I…” Jungkook wants to say no and drag her back to bed so they could watch their silly little dramas and forget about how their plans to go to the movies tomorrow would be canceled because of some stupid detention slip, but Y/N’s eyes are sparkling and her voice is light, so he groans instead.

She smiles knowingly, turning her back to him as she starts fiddling with the handles in the bath, the water running as he goes to change, closing the bathroom door behind him.

He pulls his pants down and briefly considers changing out of his boxers before ultimately deciding to keep it on under the plain black swimming trunk he pulls out of his bottommost drawer.

He’s a little nervous for whatever Y/N has planned, but more than that, he’s excited. Whatever this is, he can feel deep in his stomach it’s going to be domestic and likely set his wolf off in the most pleasant way.

As he enters the bathroom, his eyes fall on Y/N. She’s standing inside the bath with her pants rolled up just under her knees, her shirt sleeves rolled up above her elbow, a comb and a bottle of shampoo in her hands.

“Well?” She beckons him closer. “What’re you waiting for?” Jungkook lets out a baffled laugh. She leads him inside the bathtub before gently pressing down on his shoulders so he’s facing the wall with his back to her, his legs crossed in front of him.

He feels Y/N slot her feet next to him, feels how her legs cocoon his arms. The water is pleasantly warm around his lap as she begins brushing through his unruly strands of hair.

She giggles softly. “I can’t believe you didn’t cut your hair,” she says, running her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck.

“I didn’t think it was long enough to get me in trouble,” he grumbles with his eyes closed. “We grow our hair out all the time, so no one thought it would be an issue.”

Truthfully, Jungkook didn’t want to cut it because he knew Y/N liked it long, and wanted an excuse to keep it that way.

She tsks playfully, dragging the comb from the very top of his head (literally an inch short of his forehead) all the way down to the shorter strands of hair at his nape. “Guess it gives me an excuse to play with your hair, huh?”

“Guess so,” he mumbles, his chest warm and bubbly. “I didn’t know your dad was a barber,” he says.

“I guess it’s never really come up in conversation,” she replies, setting the comb aside and reaching for the detachable shower-head. She tests the temperature on her palm, water dripping onto the side of Jungkook’s arm before she interrupts with a little gasp, “Shit! I forgot about your shirt.”

“It’s fine.” Jungkook waves her off. “I’ll change into a different one when you’re done.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yeah.”

Jungkook imagines Y/N skeptically biting her lip. “Alright. Lemme know if the water’s too hot, yeah?”

Jungkook grunts as a reply, a soft noise leaving his lips without him meaning to at the feel of the water on his scalp.

She runs her fingers over his head, cupping her hands over his eyes to stop the water from going into his face.

“Did…did your dad teach you how to do all this stuff?” Jungkook asks, his brows furrowing as his wolf croons at the way Y/N lathers shampoo into his hair.

“Yeah, kinda,” she replies focused-sounding. “He took me to work sometimes, so I watched him a lot. Picked up on most of it that way, if I wasn’t asking questions.”

“That sounds really nice,” he mumbles distractedly, smiling softly at the image of baby-Y/N being taught how to wash one of those Barbie head’s hair properly.

“It was.” She makes sure to get the shampoo in the hair behind his ears as well. Jungkook can’t help but sigh contentedly, unable to find it in himself to care when Y/N giggles teasingly.

“You good?” she asks, a smile in her voice.

“Feels really nice,” Jungkook replies softly, his heart probably beating slow enough to make a cardiologist worry for his health.

After Y/N lathers the shampoo on, she rinses his hair out, applies conditioner, rinses that out, and then gently taps his shoulder. “C’mon Wolfy, let’s go downstairs.”

“Wolfy?”

“What?”

Jungkook smiles wide at her offended pout, throwing the towel she hands him over his shoulders. “Nothing, nothing.”

“Whatever,” she humphs. “Go down to the kitchen when you’re done changing so we can cut your hair.”

Jungkook salutes. “On it!”

🌕🌖🌗🌘🌑🌒🌓🌔🌕

“Okay, you ready?” Y/N asks, excitedly snipping the scissors next to his ear.

Even though Jungkook feels his stomach drop, he puts on a brave face. “Let’s go!”

Y/N grins, running the comb through his hair one last time before pulling the longer strands of hair at the nape of his neck between her forefinger and middle finger, waiting a second before quickly snipping off the hair.

“Your hair’s gotten so long…”

“Should you be talking right now? Shouldn’t you focus on not cutting off too much?”

“Yah!” Y/N laughs in disbelief as she smacks his shoulder with the fist she has closed around the comb, tsking disappointedly as she continues snipping at his hair. She moves strategically around the back of his head, eventually maneuvering around to the front to cut his bangs.

“Seriously though, your hair’s grown a lot. I didn’t think you’d ever let it get this long.” She brushes through his hair again.

“Why?” he asks with closed eyes, both to keep the conversation going and also out of genuine curiosity.

She shrugs. “I dunno. You just never seemed like a long-hair kinda guy? It looks good on you, though. The long hair, I mean.”

“What else would you mea—stop hitting me!” Jungkook pouts as he brings a hand up to rub at his bicep, scowling under his bangs.

“Just…shut up. Stop nitpicking everything I say.”

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry. Don’t be mad, eh?” He reaches out to tug at her shirt, smiling satisfied when she huffs defeatedly and pats his hand before she starts cutting bangs.

“All hairstyles look good on you, though. It’s kind of unfair, actually.”

Jungkook scoffs, letting his eyes drift closed as Y/N grabs the blow-dryer (which he assumes she brought down from one of the bathrooms) and plugs it into a socket on the wall. She starts it up, then immediately stops.

He turns his head to the side to look at her. “What?”

“I’ve never thought to ask, but does the sound not hurt your ears?”

Jungkook frowns for a second, then lights up in understanding the next. “Oh! No, not really. It’s loud, sure, but you’d have to have really sensitive ears for it to hurt.”

“Ah, okay.” Y/N nods as she puts one hand on his shoulder, standing behind him. “Just wanted to make sure I wouldn’t hurt you.”

As the blow dryer turns on and drowns out any attempt at conversation, Jungkook can’t help but smile to himself.

She doesn’t want to hurt him. That’s a relief. Hopefully, she won’t have to. Soon, right? At the very least, Jungkook knows any hurt isn’t intentional…

🌕🌖🌗🌘🌑🌒🌓🌔🌕

“Alright! We’re done!”

You set the dryer to the side as you pull the plug out of the socket, walking around to look at the finished product of your hard work, only to find him asleep.

You smile softly at the way Jungkook’s chin rests against his chest, lips slightly parted in sleep. His hair is not only shorter now (even though you kept some of the length, because you couldn’t find it in yourself to cut it all off), but it’s clean and fluffy and it makes you want to run your fingers through it.

Which you do—you reach out and card your fingers through his bangs and over his scalp, just kind of fondly staring at him while he sleeps, before realizing that that might be a bit weird.

“Jungkook?” Your voice is softer than you meant it to be, but you don’t mind. He’s so innocent when he’s asleep, it’s kind of awe-inducing. “Kookie?”

“Mngf?” Jungkook’s eyes open blearily, confusedly sitting straighter in his chair as he takes in his surroundings.

“I’m done, Koo. Go lay down on the couch if you’re feeling tired, you’ll hurt your neck.”

He grumbles something under his voice as he gets up from the chair, towering over you (damn his long legs).

Your eyes widen in surprise when Jungkook sleepily stumbles toward you, nuzzling into your neck as his arms wrap weakly around your middle. “Thanks, Bunny.”

You’re beyond happy that Jungkook can’t read minds, because in that moment you find yourself—for the split of a second—thinking about Jungkook in a not-so-best-friend way. “Sure, Kook.”

He drags himself to the couch, unceremoniously climbing over the back and flopping onto his stomach with a loud oof.

You press the back of your hands to your cheeks in order to cool them down, shaking yourself free of the stupid butterflies in your stomach as you grab a broom and sweep your best friend’s auburn hair out to the backyard.

Stupid haircut…

<- prev | next ->

[nevernonline]

✧.* he's all that; lsm mini series

✧.*synopsis: every year the kappa sorority hosted a 'hot or not' greek life pageant show. you've luckily escaped having to bring your own "nottie" to give a makeover to and train in hopes of winning a big prize for the rest of your crew. but, just when you thought your lucky streak was going strong your name get's chosen as a representative and your sisters had just the guy for you to make over.

part of my seventeen movie series. 

paring: seokmin x reader (y/n uses she/her pronouns.) 

genre/s: fluff, strangers2lvrs, neighbors2lvrs or whatever.  

warning/s: alcohol mentions, swearing, cigarette mentions, swearing, some pg-13 jokes. no funny business iykyk. lots of mean girls (rip)

word count: 4.2k

note: im notorious atp for not editing, pls. this edition of nmm is inspired by a true classic she's all that (w/ a bit of greek the tv show/sydney white energy if any of u have ever seen ALSO classics, this was supposed to be one part, BUT! I feel myself getting so carried away so … three parts.) i was going to post my gwag update today but im gonna wait till either tomorrow or Tuesday <3.

beginning ▸ middle ▸ end.

Y/n was dreading the meeting she walked through the front doors of the sorority for this afternoon, the pageant. Kappa and all the other sororities on Greek row participated in what they call ‘Hot or Not’ every year since supposedly the 1980’s something her now head sister Heather claims was started by the legacy that was her mother. Which maybe was true, but y/n could never figure out why it mattered? And while it was fun it was a little bit old school.

“Hey, girls. Everyone settled in? We have a very exciting tradition here at Kappa as you may know.”

The cheers rang through the sitting room, with its white walls, pale pink carpets, and sherpa couches, the cheers and claps of girls hoping Heather draws their name from the glass bowl with her perfectly manicured finger tips.

“Yes. It’s so exciting, we have a few new faces so since you haven’t been a part of this week in past years we left you out of the bowl, but we will have many things for you to participate in this week. Like dine and dash, our famous Good as Gold party, and of course judging the competition at the end of the week. Before we get to the drawing, I wanted to congratulate our last year's winner, Suni. Give it up for her.”

Smiling, y/n clapped along with the other girls, giving Suni her flowers. About to step out behind the two french doors to grab a water or something to drink, when you hear Heather call your name loudly. All of your other sisters and friends spinning around watching her looking like she was attempting to escape the reality of her name being the one chosen after three years of getting out of it.

“y/n! Finally, Come back here, girly.”

Walking through the clapping crown y/n took her place next to the blonde and pretended to smile with excitement as her gut was telling her it was absolutely the worst day of her life.

The only reason y/n was in this sorority was to get extra college credits, that and Heather and her mother met here and have been friends since that very day. Heather was obsessed with being a legacy and clawing her way to the top of the food chain at the university. Y/n was just there for the ride.

“Everyone, you all obviously know my very good friend and our smartest sister, y/n. I personally have been waiting for the day she got chosen out of this bowl. It’s something our moms, co-vp’s of their 1980’s class of Kappas have been talking about for years. So I’m just as excited as I’m sure y/n is to be our guiding light to another victory this year. Anything to say, y/n?”

“Uh, not really, you said it all.”

Another big fake smile appeared on her face. Laughing and giggling at all the congratulations coming her way.

“Girls, before we enjoy our lunch. Don’t forget tonight is dine and dash, please find your dates and bring them to Carol’s Diner at 8pm. See you there.”

Checking the time on your phone you had roughly 45 minutes before your lecture and enough time to take off the gaudy Kappa logo’d sweater you had to put on for what Heather calls “official business.”

“Y/n what are you checking the time for? We have a lot to do today.”

“I have a class in 40 minutes, I have to go back and change.”

“I don’t get why you won't just move back in here with us?”

“I told you, Heather. I can't. I have to focus on getting into Med School and no offense to you or the other girls, but this isn’t exactly the best place for me to focus when I have to study.”

“Med School can wait just one day right? We have to set up the table at Carol’s and set up for the party later. Would you mind going with the new girl Sam to grab the alcohol? And then you can meet me back here and we will go to the diner together. I’m going to have the girls go out and look for some Nottie’s for you today before that whale from Delta picks them all up. “

“No, but-”

“Thank you! Love you!”

“Also her name is not Sam, It’s Soyeon.”

“Okay got it, toodleoo.”

Searching the house for the person and so called new girl, Sam you stumbled upon her sitting out on the back patio writing in her journal.

“Soyeon?”

“Oh, hey y/n.

“Hey, sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“No, you didn’t. I’m just so used to everyone calling me Sam I forget people know that it’s actually not.”

“Yeah, it took Heather a whole year to not call Suni, Sunny and everyone just kind of follows her suit.”

“I thought you had class? I didn’t know you were still here.”

“I do. It’s just a lecture on the importance of mammograms and breast cancer research so, I guess it’s okay. I can just find it somewhere online.”

“Ready to head out?”

“Would you hate me if we stopped at my dorm? I cannot wear this fucking sweater for more than an hour or I may spontaneously combust.”

“Yeah, I don’t want to be seen with you in public while you’re wearing that.”

“I appreciate your honesty.”

“You should.”

Y/n and Soyeon escaped the general excitement of the rest of the girls by escaping out the outdoor gate and walked viciously together to change the heinous sweater on y/n’s back.

Turning the corner to finally reach the hall her single dorm room lived at the end of, she ran into a tall boy who’s books scattered all across the floor, a boy she had never once run into literally and physically.

“I'm so sorry.”

“No, no I’m sorry, I wasn’t watching where I was going.”

“You’re y/n right?”

“Yes? Why?”

“Oh, no. Nothing like that. I live across the hall from you. I see your name tag on your door all the time and all the photos of you from all your friends. Which now that I’m talking makes me sound like even more of a weirdo? I’m sorry. I’m Seokmin, my friends call me DK or Dokyeom , whatever. And now I’m rambling, please stop me.”

“No, you’re okay. Can we at least just get off the floor now?”

“Yes.”

Seokmin or Dokyeom whatever his real name actually is, crawled off the floor and stuck his hand out to you for assistance pulling your pink colored body off the floor.

“This is my friend, Soyeon.”

“Sorority sisters?”

“Wait. How’d you know? Oh, fuck the sweater. Don’t tell anyone you saw me wearing this, I know where you live.”

“Don’t worry, I never will. But, sorry to uh, cut this meeting short I have to get to class. I’ll see you again, I’m sure. Bye, nice meeting you y/n. And you too, Soyeon.”

“Bye.”

In unison you and Soyeon watched the tall boy walk towards the elevators. Both of you have differing expressions of looks on your face, one of pure enjoyment watching the awkward interaction and one of pure dumbfoundedness.

“He’s cute.”

Soyeon brought you out of staring at the boy walking away and stepping into the elevator, throwing his fingers up waving goodbye while clutching his mounds of books in his hands.

“What?”

“I said he’s cute and he’s your neighbor. Lucky girl.”

“Oh. Yeah, I can’t believe I’ve never met him before.”

“Why don’t you ask him out?”

“We just met. Plus, I’m busy with school and now this stupid pageant. I don’t have time for cute boys.”

“I’m sure you can make it work.”

Unlocking your door and letting Soyeon in before you so you can sneak a peek at his front door in front of yours. Plain, just a few funny messages and cute stickers of tangerines and tigers pasted on his whiteboard. Maybe he already has a girlfriend? But a boy like that with that many books is probably much like you and had no time for dating.

“Wait. Y/N your room is so nice? Maybe I should move out of the house. It’s loud as fuck anyway.”

“Why are you in the sorority? I’m not judging because I was basically dragged into it too. I’m just curious?”

“My mom always wanted me to join. She said it’s a good way to find friends, I always had a hard time making them. So I figured why not?”

“Got it. Makes sense.”

“What about you? You also don’t serve sorority girl to me.”

“Because my mom also got me to join, that’s actually how I know Heather. Our moms were co-captains of the sorority at some point in the 80’s.”

“Oh, so you’ve known her your whole life?”

“Mhm.”

“No offense or anything, but she’s… kind of a bitch.”

“Kind of? It’s only gotten worse since she’s been in charge. She was okay when we were younger, but you know.”

Slipping out of your jeans and sweater, you threw on a black pair of pleated pants and a loose white button down.

“Also you have tattoos and a sick body, stop dressing like an old woman.”

“I could never pull off what you wear? You’re so cool and confident.”

“Promise me. One party this year you’ll let me pick out something to wear?”

“Okay.”

“You’re very trusting.”

“What? You’re going to make me wear a hot pink dress and try to dye my hair blonde too?”

“Hell no.”

“Exactly.”

Hours passed on as you were getting to know Soyeon more, a part of you realized what you had been missing meeting girls outside of your own circle at school.

People who share your interests and enjoy talking about things other than clothes, shoes, and boys.

It was actually the least stressed you’ve been around someone at the sorority in a long time. Almost like a breath of fresh air.

Getting out of the Uber you took filled to the brim with alcohol and snacks, you were back at the big White House at the end of the street. Not a flaw in sight. Almost like it wasn’t a real reality.

“Should we ditch the diner? We could always go see my friend play at the bar across campus instead?”

“I would love nothing more, but Heather will have my head shaved or something.”

“Okay, well when we ditch later we can head there.”

“It’s a date.”

“Ew, you’re so corny. Save it for your new lover boy across the hall.”

“Shut up.”

Soyeon and you laughed, dragging the last box up the stairs into the foyer of the house. Met with the blonde at the bottom of the stairs.

“There you guys are! I was going to send a search and rescue team to come for you if you didn’t show up soon.”

“We got a little distracted. Sorry.”

“No problem. You’re here now, Sam go up and get ready, I’ll help y/n from here.”

“Okay.”

Soyeon or Sam, picked her poison and shoved down Heather still calling her by the wrong name and walked up to her room to change and get ready for the rest of her night. While you were stuck unpacking the boxes.

“Y/n. Don’t forget to look out for the boys everyone brings tonight. We can pick one from the litter for your Nottie.”

“Look, Heather-“

“I know what you’re going to say and don’t even think about asking me if you can drop out of the pageant, okay?”

“I just don’t think it’s worth it or fair anymore, why don’t we just get the other frat guys to do it? Like Mingyu or Wonwoo, Johnny? I don’t know. I don’t want to make anyone feel uncomfortable.”

“You raise a good point. And it gives me an idea.”

“Which is?”

“We have the other frats competing too, we’ll get more payout and the three uglies will be more profitable than ever for us. You’re so smart.”

“That’s not wha-“

“Ah! I’m so lucky to have you. I’ll let everyone know.”

Heather bounced off into the other room, texting rapidly with her manicured hands on her cell phone, making the fire bigger.

With your head spinning around and around you don’t even remember walking your way to the diner waiting for the freshman girls to bring their guys along to the large table set for someone’s embarrassment.

Taking a seat near the end of the table next to Soyeon and Heather on your other side, you sat and sipped at the Diet Coke in front of you, feeling your mix of anxiety and angel swirling in your stomach and begging for something a little stronger.

“Are you feeling okay?”

Soyeon leaned over and whispered into your ear, seeing the look on your face and noticing your obvious quietness.

“I’ll tell you after.”

“Okay, if you want to go early, let me know.”

“I will”

Heather had her vulture eyes on, waiting to see which she would inevitably have embarrassed by the groups around you with no remorse.

She looked into your eyes and signaled to a cute shy boy across the table, sitting and picking at his nails, making it clear she had made her mark.

“Let me use the bathroom first okay?”

“Yeah, of course. You wouldn’t want to miss it.”

“Right.”

Walking briskly into the old blue stalls in the bathroom, which you didn't even really have to use, but just needed an excuse to go somewhere and release your anxiety.

“Y/n? Hey. Y/n?”

Seeing Soyeon’s platform heels under the bottom of the stall door you jumped up and swung your head out of the blue metal.

“What?”

“Remember that guy you met today?”

“Yes, of course why?”

“He’s here.”

“Someone brought him?”

“No. He’s here with his two friends and Heather invited them to the table. One of them is that dude that’s friends with Mingyu with the that acts like a tiger, the hot nerdy one, and the other one is just some hot short buff guy, never seen him before. Anyway, We either have to get out of here right now or stay and hide in here until they're gone.” L

“Why don’t we just go-“

“No. I don’t want him to think you’re a bitch? Are you crazy? You can’t go dunking on nerds in front of three hot dudes?”

“Okay let’s go.”

As the two of you tried to make your exit from the ladies room you heard commotion outside in the dining room, so you both slipped back quickly into the bathroom, locking the door for some reason as you head the chairs scooting and the bell ringing meaning people were slipping out on one of the boys at the table.

“You think they're gone?”

“Yeah. I hear the sink running in the men’s room, come on.”

As you walked out of the bathroom in front of you Seokmin was sitting at the table covered in a turkey club sandwich looking at the long tab Heather left for him.

“Hey, what are you doing here?”

“Your ‘sisters’ dumped a sandwich on me and left the tab? Do you guys do this a lot?”

“It’s just some stupid shit Heather came up with when she became president. Me and y/n were hiding in the bathroom so we could come and pay the tab. But, you got to it first.”

“Right.”

Not saying anything and standing in your tracks cold, you watched as Soyeon took the check from his hands and waved you on to help him as she went up to pay.

“She dumped her food on you?”

“Yeah, my friends and I were just coming for takeout. I saw Soyeon so I went to say hi and she wanted to come get you. But the blonde girl,”

“Heather.”

“Yeah, Heather. She told me to sit down for a second and my friends went back to their dorm so they could keep studying and deliver food to some other guys. She was okay at first, but once Soyeon left she dumped her soda and sandwich on me and when I came back they were all gone.”

“I’m so sorry? Let me get you dry cleaning money or something.”

“No, don’t worry about it. I can handle it. I’m glad you two were here though, I don’t have my wallet on me. Are you okay though? Have you been crying?”

“I’m fine, just had a moment.”

The small black haired girl popped back over, tucking her card back into her wallet and smiling at the two of you sitting and talking with Seokmin covered in an orange beverage, a little bit of lettuce stuck in his hair.

“Want to come to a party?”

“If it’s at the sorority then sorry, no thanks.”

“No. It’s just some of my friends from the music department. They’re playing a show at O’Malley’s.”

“I don’t think orange soda is really a good look for a party.”

“That’s okay, y/n has to go change too. You guys just meet me there? I’m going to head out and get us a table.”

“Well I do owe you guys both a drink. So, sure.”

“Oh, and Seokmin?”

“Yeah?”

“Make sure y/n actually comes back out, she’s hard to get her hands on.”

“Of course.”

Walking back to your somewhat shared dorm, you and Seokmin walked in silence past greek row, watching all the girls running around to get ready for a greeting ceremony to the frat houses as escorts to their party.

The boy looked at you up and down, imagining you inside one of those grand houses gossiping and dishing on sister life just trying to figure out why you joined in the first place, your friend included.

Reaching your destination with only smiles and small giggles shared between the two of you on the walk over, you both slid into your dorm rooms and found clothes that were far more suitable for a night out.

You noticed the black tank top Soyeon had pointed out before and slid it on, matching it with a pair of dark ripped jeans and your go-to loafers, sliding back into the hallway, finding Seokmin on the other side of the door waiting for you.

He was somehow on your wavelength wearing an oversized black t-shirt and jeans.

“I figured I should try to match Soyeon's aesthetic somehow.”

“Me too. You look nice, I like your shoes.”

“Thank you.”

“Shall we?”

“Yes. I definitely need a drink.”

“So, y/n what is your drink of choice.”

“Anything strong and not sweet.”

“Oh, so not me then.”

“Shut up.”

Seokmin made you laugh, there was no way a boy like him was not taken or at least could be interested in you.

“Have you and Soyeon been friends for long? You guys seem close.”

“Actually, not really. We hung out for the first time today. I mean, I’ve seen her at parties and stuff, but she’s sort of been like a breath of fresh air for me.”

“Really? I’m surprised by that. Why are you in the sorority anyway? You don’t exactly have the same.. Vibe? Or whatever as the other girls. Especially the ones I met today.”

“My mom. The girl. Heather. Soda spiller, her mom and mine were friends when we were kids, they're legacy members. So I just thought it would be fun, but now.. I don’t feel that way.”

“Can’t you just quit?”

“I guess.”

“Why don’t you want to?”

“I guess I just want to be someone who sees things through. I also can’t offer Heather the satisfaction of knowing I left.”

“She really is that bad huh?”

“Worse. It’s a long story. Can we table it?”

“Of course.”

Reaching the door of the bar, you caught a glimpse of Soyeon’s shoulder tattoo near the stage, through the large crowd of people mingling.

“Go. I’ll order us drinks and meet you there?”

“You sure?”

“You said you needed it right?”

“What about your wallet?”

“Apple pay, y/n. Duh.”

“Your ID?”

“My friend is the bartender, just go.”

“So sassy.”

Walking your way through the crowd by pushing yourself through other bodies you finally reach the girl on the other side and wrap your arm around her waist as a hello.

“What the- Oh my god, you actually came? You look so hot. I’m proud.”

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“It’s fine. Where’s the puppy?”

“At the bar grabbing drinks.”

“On the leash already? You’re good.”

“No. He’s just nice.”

“True. But, he also likes you.”

“I don’t think it’s like that, but maybe someday you’ll tell me I told you so.”

“I look forward to it. I saved you guys a table.”

“My girl.”

Soyeon gestured her long manicured fingers behind you, noticing the boy making his way with two glasses in his hands and another tall figure following behind him holding a tray with various things on top.

“Hi, Soyeon.”

“Hi, Keom. Thank you for joining us. Who’s the glasses?”

“My friend Wonwoo, he works here, well he just got off. Is it cool if he joins us?”

“Of course.”

“Nice to meet you, Wonwoo. I’m y/n.”

“Hey.”

“So. Since I didn’t get to ask Soyeon what she wanted and I wasn’t entirely sure what you liked. We brought over options. But, we have to finish them all because Wonwoo was nice enough to gift them to us and it’s unfair to not accept gifts.”

“Very charming.”

You made your second flirty comment of the night to Seokmin, even though your sober self normally isn’t entirely as bold as you find yourself being with him now. But, in all fairness you were just trying to catch his vibe. He didn’t respond verbally, but just scrunched his nose in your direction almost as if he was letting you know that he’s interested.

“First, a simple vodka soda, little lemon, then just a couple of beer options, this is a sour, this is just a simple light beer, and an ipa, which ew, but I think Wonwoo likes, some tequila shots and some lemon drop shots, also a whiskey soda and a jack and coke, and then a uh, gin and tonic i think? Right, Woo?”

“Yeah, maybe you should be the bartender, Seokmin.”

“I have other talents.”

All eight of your hands reach every which way around the table and end up with different drinks sat in front of them, you beelined for the vodka and the sour beer, Soyeon went for the whiskey soda and the tequila, Seokmin for the gin and tonic and light beer, and Wonwoo for the jack and coke and the ipa.

“Who wants what shot?”

Soyeon dipped her arm back to the middle of the table covering her eyes with her opposite hand, grabbing a hold of the small glasses very carefully and placing them around the small group.

“There. Decided for you, me and Wonwoo get tequila and you and Seokmin get lemon.”

Smiling widely at your friend next to you, you grabbed a hold of the shot glass and held it up signaling everyone to cheers. Which they all happily obliged.

Soon after the alcohol was going through your bloodstream the band started playing their music that hit you right in the chest, songs about living your life to the fullest and choosing your own path, much to your surprise Soyeon was the one who wrote the music that spoke to your soul.

After the set ended, Wonwoo and Soyeon wanted to stay back and have a few more drinks to congratulate their friends, and enjoy their night, but you were beat thinking about all the work you still had to do over the weekend and dreading the choice of man Heather would embarrass. So you decided to leave with Seokmin walking you back safely to your dorm.

“What are you studying again?”

“Me? Oh, I’m studying to be a veterinarian.”

“Wow really? That’s cool, I didn’t know. You must be busy as hell.”

“I’m sure you’re just as busy, being a doctor for actual humans is way more complicated considering a lot of them are assholes.”

“That’s unfortunately true. But, I love it to be honest. I can understand why people are afraid of the hospital and surgery I guess.”

“That’s good, maybe we should study together sometime? I know it’s not the same exact thing or whatever, but it’s nice to have company?”

“I would love that, tomorrow? I mean if you’re free. We can go to the coffee shop or library or anything really?”

“Yeah, just knock around 10?”

“Okay. Cool. I’ll see you tomorrow??”

“Yes, absolutely. Have a good night, y/n”

“You too, Seok.”

Trying to get comfortable in your bed, some pesky person kept lighting up your phone screen, reaching over to turn on do not disturb you and realized it was Heather. She was asking a bunch of interrogating questions about your new friend Seokmin, begging you to bring him over tomorrow.

Unfortunately for you, you knew her interest in him was about to make your new relationship a very complicated one.

[sweater-daddiesdumbdork]

Life Is Short So Make It Sweet

Chapter Twenty-Six: Busted

Summary- 5.3k. Curtis Everett x Plus!Sized Reader. Everyone is getting together for a dart tournament at Paulie's when everything is derailed before the night even starts.

Warnings- Unwanted attention from drunken men, vicious comments and name calling, fighting, police not taking the situation seriously, talk about Curtis's past and his mental health.

A/N- Thank you so much! Everyone who takes the time to like, share, comment, leave me messages and asks. Especially those who just feel seen in this storyline. You all have all my gratitude and appreciation. (let's be honest, I totally tear up and get all emotional) You all honestly are part of the reason I continue writing and sharing. Special shout out to @what-is-your-plan-today for editing. Dividers made by the talented @firefly-graphics

A/N 2- Is there an award for terrible titles? Cause I should have that trophey.

Chapter Twenty-Five / Masterlist

You, Claude and Yona drove together after getting done at the school for the week, heading straight for Paulie's. The three of you were getting ready in Yona’s car, laughing amongst yourselves as makeup was applied in the car's vanity mirrors and someone played lookout while the other changed in the backseat. While you were doing the finishing last touches on your outfit, Claude was filling you and Yona in about having her first official weekend with Sophia present. You were finishing up your lipstick while in the backseat Yona helped Claude do her hair. “How are you feeling about this weekend?” 

“I’m excited. I have a bunch of games and stuff to do with her. I just… want her to like me being around when she's with her dad?” Claude fretted a bit, glancing out the window while Yona calmly braided her long hair in an intricate pattern. 

“You don’t have much to worry about. Sophia likes just about everyone. Ella and Grey are pretty good co-parents.” You assured her. “What are you doing this weekend Yona?” 

The woman whipped a couple of ties in Claude’s hair, patting on the braids to make sure none of them were loose. “Tomorrow I’m taking Edgar to do some indoor rock climbing.” She grinned in excitement. “He claims he isn't scared of heights and it's something I love doing, so we will see.” 

“Okay, that sounds pretty cool and Yona, are you like a professional stylist?!” Claude was leaning between the seats to look in the rear view mirror at the tight curls of braids Yona made in her hair, her head tilting left and right to check them out. “I would have paid a small fortune for this at a salon.” 

Yona shrugged as if it was no big deal. “I used to do my friend's hair all the time at home. What about you?” 

“Oh, I think tomorrow we are gonna have a game night with Tanya, Timmy, Ella and I think Grey was coming around too with you and Soph?” You asked Claude and she gave a nod confirming it. “Okay, I’m ready to get inside. Are you guys?” Another glance out the window made you catch sight of Curtis’s truck in its usual place as well as quite a few other regulars and out-of-state plates, meaning it was going to be a busy night.

Which you didn’t mind, that meant Curtis would spend some of the time helping Paulie at the bar making great tips and giving you a chance to shamelessly check him out while he was working. It always made some fun flirting and usually sneaking off together much to Paulie's dismay. Claiming his place of business was reputable. 

“I'm ready,” Claude said as she pushed the door open and the three of you piled out of the car to make your way to the front door, where a group of men were just stepping out and headed back to the cars that had out-of-state plates on them. None of you paid any attention to passing the loud boisterous group till one reached out to grasp your arm, stopping you in your tracks with surprise. 

“Where you running off to sweetheart?” He flashed a grin that was supposed to be flirtatious but came off more leering than anything. It made your heart tighten, reminding you so much of Jake’s grin that he flashed whenever he had you cornered. Your eyes widened in alarm as you pulled your arm from the stranger's grasp. 

“No thank you, not interested.” You said to brush him off, going to sidestep around him to re-join Claude and Yona who just noticed that you were no longer with them. You weren’t allowed to leave though, he stepped back in front of you, blocking your way. 

“Come on, I’m just trying to be nice. You could at least give me a smile.” His gaze fell down your body. You felt sick at his gaze, taking in your figure as if he was contemplating how easy you might be. From the gleam in his eyes, he wasn’t thinking you would pass him up. 

“Let me go.” You said calmly, good at hiding the flutter of unease building. 

“Y/N… You all good?” Claude re-joined you, glaring at the man in your path as she hooked her arm through yours, making you both a joint team. 

He sneered at the two of you, his circle of friends coming to enclose the space further cutting you and Claude now off from the door. There were a few cold snickers and the heavy smell of alcohol coming off of them. 

“Yeah, let's get inside, I’m sure Grey and Curtis are expecting us.” You went to lead Claude through an opening between the strangers but that too was cut off. Over their shoulder, you saw Yona take a few steps as if to join you but then dart inside. You were sure she was going for some help. 

In the few seconds all this took place, you felt helpless. It would take too long to grab the pepper spray from the keychain in your jeans pocket and Claude was gearing up to swing a punch, you felt her practically vibrating with anger next to you. “What the fuck is wrong with you guys? Fucking dickheads, MOVE.” She snapped, pushing against one's chest to back them up a step.

He was bigger though, an unmoveable force who she bounced off.

The original prick barked out as he waved a hand towards you. “That’s the problem with the girls around here, ungrateful bitches.” He stepped in closer to you, brushing against you momentarily to make you stumble back, his hands once more catching you to pull you aggressively in while you yelled with alarm, slapping at him while losing contact with Claude. “You should be thanking me for being willing to fuck someone like you.” 

You could have sworn you felt bile roll up your stomach while his liquored breath soured the air you were breathing, panic starting to set in. 

“Let her the fuck go.” Claude yanked at you once more into her hold and you lifted your arm, throwing a punch at the drunk stranger. Your aim fell wildly off its mark but it was enough for Claude to pull you out of his reach and then a sharp roar came up behind them. You only saw a flash of Curtis’s dark face, enraged before he struck. His fist landed firmly against the back of someone's head, pitching them against one of their drunk friends. 

“Get your fucking hands off those girls.” His voice was deep with anger, while he shoved his way between you and them, his fist landing in someone's gut, making them keel over and throw up the liquor. Grey came up to block you and Claude, sending you out of the mayhem while Edgar barrelled out of the bar to help Curtis. Yona followed out right behind him to get you guys inside. 

“Someone has to help them.” You rushed, ready to go right back out but Grey caught you to pull you back into the bar. Paulie was coming out with a bat in his hands muttering to himself as he went to go outside and from the distance, police sirens could be heard. “Curtis and Edgar are outnumbered, Grey.” You said in a panic and he shook his head at letting you go back outside. Claude and Yona went around the back of the bar to search for a first aid kit. 

“Trust me, it won’t last long. Curtis and Edgar are fine.” Grey assured you, catching you from slipping around him. “This isn’t either of their first fights. Just stay, okay? Curtis would ring my neck if I let you back out there. ” He let you go and moved to slip back outside. 

“Fuck, fuck fuck.” You swore, waiting all of ten seconds to burst out of the door following Grey. Several cop's cars were flashing lights and scattered around the parking lot. Officers were dragging both Curtis and Edgar into the back of one of the cars. “Hey!” You dashed down the steps to yet again be blocked by another man. 

A sober cop this time. You glared up at him while pointing to the car you just saw Curtis and Edgar piled into. “Miss, go back inside.” 

“Why the hell are you arresting them!?” Your voice raised in question. “They saved me and my friend from being harassed and assaulted.” 

“By who?” The officer stepped aside to show the majority of the men from before bloodied and being helped up. 

“Them obviously.” You snapped. “That one blocked me from going to the bar and the rest joined in him taunting us. Fuck, he even grabbed me.” 

“Okay Miss, we can take you down to the station if you want to put in a formal statement against them.” 

“You still didn’t answer why you arrested Curtis and Edgar. Why not those men?” 

You could see the flash of irritation at you, another officer coming up to join him. “Miss, please calm down.” 

“Don’t you dare tell me to calm down.” Your arms folded defensively against your chest as you kept pushing for an answer. “Why?” 

“Because Everett and Bell assaulted those men and…” He waved his hands at Paulie’s “Intoxicated.” 

“That is utter fucking bullshit.” You spat out and they narrowed their eyes at you. “Claude and I were attacked first and they haven’t been here long enough to be intoxicated. The guys who grabbed me, they’re the ones that are intoxicated!”

“That’s not your call to make Miss… What is your name?” 

“Y/N.” You snapped out. “When can they be picked up then?” You were raging now at the utter unfairness of what was going on. The men who harassed you were being treated by a few EMTs for what looked like bloody, possibly broken noses. They had all miraculously sobered up enough to put on a decent act. “Yes, I will be putting in a report on them.” You were shaking while you leaned enough to look around the cops. “THOSE ASSHOLES HARRASSED ME.” You flipped them the bird while behind you Paulie came up, bat still in hand. 

“She’s right, I just kicked them out for trying to start a fight.” 

“Yes, we are being told it was more like the other way around. That Edgar and Curtis were trying to start something inside with them and they left.” 

Paulie snorted in disgust while you rolled your eyes at them. “Bullshit, Curtis, and Edgar weren’t doing anything but hanging out at the dartboards waiting on the girls for a game. It’s a tournament night here. This lot took up the slot next to them and started in on them looking for a fight. Kicked 'em out, we all look out for each other here. It was my mistake not checking outside to see who was in the parking lot.” Paulie gave you an apologetic look. “I’m sorry Y/N, if I just followed them out, and made sure they left...” 

You put a hand on your friend's arm, smiling at him to assure him you weren’t upset. “Don’t, you had no idea they would mess with us too.”  

“Well, we will look into it, if you got cameras set up or anything.” One officer offered a way to a solution, the other looked like he wanted to be doing anything other than dealing with you and Paulie. 

“Yeah, I have some covering the front door, it should see everything that happened out here.” He motioned to go inside, the officer following him. That left you with the one who seemed to not give a shit. 

“So, I just have to go to the station to get Curtis and Edgar?” 

“We will still be keeping them overnight.” 

You wanted to continue about how ridiculous it was, but it was clear that was the most you were going to get. Turning away, you went back into the bar to grab your stuff. “They are not letting Curtis or Edgar out tonight.” You informed the group, Yona immediately grabbed her jacket to slip back on. 

“I can drive us over.” She informed. “They were arrested?” 

“Yeah, supposedly for being publicly intoxicated. And possibly assault.” Claude handed you your purse you had ditched earlier. 

“Do you want me and Grey to go?” She questioned worriedly while Grey went to dig out his car keys. 

“No, Grey you probably shouldn’t go if you have had anything to drink or else they will find some bullshit to charge you with.” You sighed in aggravation. 

He hesitated before pulling you aside. “Listen, I don’t know what Curtis has told you, but they might give you a bit of a hard time.” 

“Why?” You frowned while listening. 

“It isn’t the first time he has been arrested for fighting and it’s been quite a while but they don't let shit go.”

“Of course.” You pinched the space between your forehead and nose. “Okay, thanks. I will drop you guys a message later about what's going on.” You waved at Grey, Claude, and Paulie on your way out with Yona. 

That little dark thought lodged in your brain, wondering if Curtis was hiding his previous arrest from you all along, or was it something he simply never thought to bring up? 

Edgar paced back and forth in the cell while Curtis leaned back against the wall, one leg stretched out ahead of him and the other folded closer to him, bouncing now and then with anxious energy. They hated this, both of them but all they could do was wait it out. The likelihood they would be let go tonight was slim. Not with his previous track record. 

His eyes were closed as he pictured the look on your face as you looked up at that asshole blocking your way on purpose. You looked calm at that moment, but he could see how wide your eyes were, shining way too brightly with alarm. He had been intent on just approaching and standing the guy down, already knowing he would back down the second he saw him.

But then the bastard had stepped into your space, purposely making you stumble back in an attempt to keep yourself out of his reach, laid a hand on you and that’s when Curtis was ready to rip the man’s head off. 

Curtis did manage to lay the man flat out with the promise that if he ever laid a hand on you or any woman again, Curtis was going to rip him apart. That was when the cops showed up. Familiar faces from years ago dragging him off and slapping cuffs on him. 

‘Bout time we brought you in again.’

He ground his teeth in aggravation at the memories it dragged up, his eyes slitting to open, watching Edgar pace back and forth muttering about asshole cops. Curtis worried about how you were dealing, were you okay? He knew Claude, Grey, Yona, and Paulie would make sure you were fine, but he just kept picturing your face. Hearing you afterward calling his name as the door slammed on him. 

You looked pissed at that moment and he couldn’t help smiling at that. 

“What are you grinning at?” Edgar stopped pacing and slouched on the bench next to him, still a ball of nervous energy. 

“Just thinking about Y/N giving those officers hell.” 

Edgar laughed then, leaning back much like Curtis was. “I saw out the back window, she was mad. Not like it do us any good, but she looked like she was ready to deck him.” 

“Yeah, she did.” Curtis barked a laugh. “I don’t think I have ever seen her mad like that before.” 

“When do you think they will let us out?” 

“They won’t, not till morning at least. Public intoxication and all that.” 

“Bullshit charge, we hadn’t even finished a beer yet,” Edgar muttered in outrage, glancing around the empty cell. “I hate this.” 

“So do I.” Curtis pushed up to stretch himself out, the bench a hard unrelenting place. He would much rather be in his bed with you, soft, and warm in his arms. “Probably those bastards will just get a slap on their hand and let go too.” 

“Fuck I hope not.”

It was hours later when they were finally let go, served with papers for fines they needed to pay. Charges were dropped against them for assault, much to Curtis’surprise. You and Yona were sitting out in the lobby, both of you huddled in the uncomfortable seats, heads leaning against one another in what must have been an unrestful sleep. Edgar was gentle when he touched Yona, his hand brushing along the side of her face, whispering her name. Curtis squatted in front of your seat, letting his hands slide over yours till your eyes slipped open and you gave him a sleepy smile, sliding forward to hug around his neck. 

“Hey, I didn’t think they were ever going to let you out.” You muttered into the crook of his neck

He squeezed you back assuringly, rubbing at your back. “They like to drag ass over this stuff. You ready to go home?” 

“Please.” You pulled back to let him go and Curtis held you against him a second longer before letting you ease off the seat, pulling himself back up to a stand. In the parking lot, you said goodbye to Edgar and Yona, who were quick to promise to call later to reschedule the missed triple date at the bar but you could tell they just wanted to head home. Neither had gotten a lot of sleep that night. Curtis was relieved to see his truck already there. 

“Grey?” 

“Yeah, he said he had a spare to your house and grabbed your extra keys.” You dug them from your purse to hand over to Curtis. 

Getting in, the drive back to the house was quiet. But not the typical comfortable kind that happened between you two, more like you had something on your mind and it was worrying you, causing unspoken tension. “Did you stay there all night Honey?”

“Hmm?” You turned back towards him just as he was pulling into the driveway, next to your car. “Oh yeah, Yona was set on staying till she at least saw Edgar, and good luck getting me to leave after what happened. Every time we asked to see either of you, they had an excuse not to let us talk to you.” You paused as if collecting your thoughts. “They seemed to not like you. At all.” 

“Mmhh, yeah,” Curtis said, he wasn’t ready to elaborate and you let it die there for now. Instead, you both made your way into the house, yawning loudly as you looked at the time. 

“Good morning, about the time I typically wake up.” You chuckle and Curtis rubbed at his face, making himself go cross-eyed a bit. 

“How about today we nap in bed instead, take a real lazy day?” 

“I could really go for that.” You shrugged out of your jacket and hung it up, offering to take his. 

“Deal, you wanna go get comfy upstairs and I will be up with some snacks?” Curtis offered. 

“I can make you something if you want?” You hesitated at the foot of the stairs, thinking out loud. “I have those veggies diced up and you got eggs, I saw them in there yesterday. I could make us western omelets.”

Curtis shook his head, directing you back towards the stairs. “Nope, I got it. Go shower if you want and get comfy… wear that tee of mine I love so much?” 

You went up a few steps, twisting to face him while still inching up the steps, grinning. “That and what else?” 

“Absolutely fucking nothing.” He gave a feral grin, even as tired as he was and you laughed while finishing going up the stairs. Curtis heard the house's old pipes groan, signaling you started your shower. It gave him plenty of time to get some of the quick easy snacks he had in the house. Grabbing some of Sophia’s granola bars, a bag of your favorite goldfish, his stash of Oreo cookies, and some other randoms he found in the pantry. Then he was sure to make you a cup of your favorite tea with generous dollops of honey to sweeten it to your liking. He took a quick sip, making sure it was how you liked it. 

Curtis finally made it upstairs where his bed never looked so good. Especially with a few of your clothes littered on it from where you undressed to shower. Dropping the snacks at the foot of the bed, he heard you turn the water off, steam flowing from out of the shower. Yanking off his shirt and pants, he walked into the bathroom in his boxers, preparing the tub for himself while you stood at the mirror doing a few last-minute things. 

“There’s a cup of tea on your nightstand Honey.” He brushed a kiss to your still bare shoulder, the towel firmly wrapped around you while you rubbed some of your lotion on your face and down your neck. 

“Thanks Curtis, water should be plenty hot. I was quick.” You smiled at him in the mirror while he shed the last of his clothes and slipped in behind the curtain. 

You finished what you were doing, sure to clean the sink off while listening to the water splash around Curtis, now and then the curtain would move with his movements. You retreated from the bathroom before he finished, crawling up on the bed and letting yourself lean back into the pillows. 

There was a lot to take in over the past several hours. Something you hadn’t let yourself ponder on till now when it was all said and done. You hated the doubt that crept in, the way Curtis had gone after all those men without any hesitation or fear, then Grey making mention that Curtis had been in trouble before. It wasn’t that you thought of Curtis as being violent, not towards you in the least and you had only heard him lose his temper with Edgar at Halloween. But Jake was always such a nice guy until he wasn’t and you never would have guessed that from him. You knew him your whole life, your father and his were partners in their consultation firm. 

But then one day it started and you always allowed it to continue while lying to yourself to be okay with it. As much as you loved Curtis, more than you ever felt for Jake, you couldn’t be that way with someone again. 

Curtis came back out, this time dressed in his plaid pajama bottoms and a faded old tee, ready to crawl into bed next to you. You took an appreciative sip of the tea that he made, letting the warm liquid calm you down a bit more while Curtis slipped into the bed next to you, making a grab for the snacks he had brought up and deposited them on the nightstand, grabbing a couple of oreo cookies and flipping one into his mouth. 

“Thank you for coming to get me at the station Honey.” He finally said, breaking the silence in the room while offering you his other cookie. 

You took it, nibbling on it a second before setting everything in your hands aside. “As I said, after seeing the way those officers were acting, I wasn’t about to leave you there.” 

“They dropped the charges surprisingly,” Curtis admitted while leaning back against the pillows, his hand coming up to your back and tracing patterns in it while he started to relax for the first time. “I wasn’t expecting that.” 

You let yourself sink into the feeling of his fingers on you, making your body slowly loosen from his touch, you were soon easing back and curling up next to him, your hand sliding against his chest while he wrapped an arm around you, pulling you into his side. “They had to drop them after Yona and I went down to fill out our reports against that group, Claude will be going in later today, she told me to do the same thing. Between us and Paulie pulling up his security videos, they weren't able to make anything solid stick. Keeping you overnight was just a way to hold you and Edgar for a while longer." You frowned with frustration.  

Curtis tilted forward to press an affectionate kiss to your forehead, scooping you in closer to him.

"It should have never fucking happened. You, Yona, and Claude should be able to walk across a parking lot at any time." 

You felt the tip of his fingers lift your chin so you looked up at him, the sheer concern in his expression, the way his eyes were a wide blue boring into you, you yet again felt foolish over your concern that this man would in any way hurt you. “Curtis…” You twisted to your hip to face him, letting there be a bit of space between you so you could comfortably look at him to talk. "Yes, I was scared at the moment, but I knew you were close.” 

“Mmmh, They will probably just get a slap on the wrist and nothing further than that.” He practically growled and you let your hand raise to smooth the worried lines in his forehead. 

“Unfortunately that is probably gonna be the case. I hope that they learned a lesson in what the word ‘No’ means though. You and Edgar left them quite a few reminders” You let your hand drop once his forehead smoothed out. “But Grey said that you were familiar with the cops picking you up?” You hesitated, not wanting to bring up his past like this, but you had to know. 

Curtis nodded a bit to confirm. “I can’t say the local Duluth precinct and I are on the best of terms. Of course, this was many years ago, but bar fights weren’t an uncommon thing for me.

You stayed quiet, intent on letting him continue with whatever he wanted to share. “As a young man… I was angry? Lost and unsure of myself, my grandparents did an amazing job being my parents. But I was still mad at the world for having never gotten to have that time with my mom and dad, I never got to see Tyler grow into the man he should have been. I had so many what-ifs built in me. Lillian and Wilford tried to help me, but you know when you are young you miss what is right in front of you.” 

“So all this anger, it turned into fighting?” 

“It did, I would get into it with other people. Looking for it I guess would be the best way to put it. It was the only thing that made me feel good.” He glanced at you worriedly but you kept your features neutral. “I don’t know if I’m explaining it right, I was an angry young man. I’m glad you didn’t know me then.” 

“Hey, we all have our shit, right?” You said with a gentle smile. “Keep going, what happened?” 

“I hit rock bottom. Had to spend some time at a minimum security prison. Not long, but it was several months. My Gram came to visit me several times, and my grandfather did a couple of times. But it was easy to see how disappointed he was. I hated it, I was ashamed of how low I went with it. The judge released me and I went to Nam for a more permanent job.” His fingers flowed up and down your arm, making pleasured sensations settle in you, retaining that connection even while you two were separated a bit to face each other. “Sent me to training and I started from the bottom up. Grandpa was retired by then so I worked up to his position.” 

“You must have wanted the change to work that hard Curtis.” You wiggled a bit closer. “Did all those feelings, the anger… they stop?” 

“Um, I channeled them in a new way. Grey and I were friends during this time, he was always trying to get me to go with him to his uncle's gym, just beyond the school called Big Jon Boxing.

When I got out, I finally took him up on the offer. Big Jon taught me some boxing, tossed me in the ring to punch and kick out all those feelings.” 

You half pushed up, leaning on an elbow. “You’re just sharing with me that you can box?” 

Curtis laughed, shrugging a shoulder. “Yeah, pretty good at it too, not to brag.” 

“Do you still go?” You eased down again, now back in his side, curling a leg through his. 

“I haven’t in a while, not since last summer. Grey was telling me Big Jon was asking when I’m coming back.” 

“So since you met me?” You huffed out, making Curtis chuckle again. 

“Well, I also have some equipment down in the cellar for when I couldn’t go. But yeah… I haven’t felt the need to.” 

You smiled a bit to yourself, it was hard not to feel a bit of pride that Curtis didn’t need such an outlet. Your hand slipped under his tee, tracing your fingertips on his belly, sinking into your thoughts. “Would you go back?” 

“Of course, it is like another home, much like Paulie’s is. I just… haven’t. Actually, in light of what happened, would you like to go?” 

“Me? To a gym?” You wrinkled your nose, the idea of it making you wildly self-conscious. Gym’s always felt like a nightmare, all those fit people and then there is you. You tried, in the past. You went to Jake’s gym using his membership. Always when he was at work, not that he ever said anything, but you could tell that he was embarrassed to see you struggling with the equipment. 

“Yes you Honey. We can teach you some self-defense moves in case you ever feel unsafe or have to be alone.” His hand was assuring on your side, all while his belly flexed under your fingertips. You felt him grasp at the back of your thighs, easing you over him till you were straddling him, leaning against his chest till you pushed up to a sit, using your knees folded under you to keep from leaning too heavily against him. Underneath you he looked perfectly relaxed and content, waiting on you to sort through your doubts and fears about going to the gym. “You could knock Edgar out next time he pisses you off.” He smirked at you and you couldn’t help the little amused smile you gave at your friend's expense. 

“So tempting, but…” 

“But what Honey.” His hands slipped up the bare part of your thighs to grasp gently on your hips and ease you to relax against him. “Tell me.” 

“It’s the gym, full of beautiful fit people.” 

“Nah, this is a cool gym. It’s for everyone.” Curtis said. His hands flexed against your hips, making him smirk a bit up at you. “I could buy you all those hot leggings too. All the leggings.” His eyes glinted up at you wickedly, making you feel heat flush your face and down your chest, your heart race in excitement and apprehension. 

“I have leggings already Curtis, you don’t have to buy me more.” 

“I know and you are always fucking hot in them.” He slipped a hand up your back to lightly grasp the back of your neck, pulling you in close for his mouth to find yours, drawing you into a heated kiss as he set out to prove just what he felt when seeing you in those leggings. Being tired completely forgotten when he flipped you to your back and hovered over you, chaining kisses down your neck and working your shirt up while you did the same with his to toss it away for the rest of the day. 

[golbrocklovely]

let's fall in love for the night // colby brock

A/N: wow, this fic felt like it took a decade to write. and fun fact, after finally finishing it (editing wise), come to find out it's one of my longest fics. not the longest, but one of them. so now it makes sense. so, the inspo for this fic is the song, and i hear it all the time at work. i love it a lot, and thought it was a good fic idea. hopefully that translate well. it's not a direct interpretation of the song, it's more just a couple of the lyrics at the beginning and end and the rest is vaguely related to the song. sorry this one doesn't have an outright happy ending, but i promise the next fic will be. please let me know what you think, and i'll see yall later :)

inspired by the song "Let's Fall in Love for the Night" by Finneas

prompt: it was simple idea: act like the two of you were dating for one night. what possibly could go wrong in just a couple hours? || colby brock x fem!reader

trigger warnings: light smut (but no sex), pretend dating, angst, possible happy ending (but still heartbreaking), club scenes/partying, drinking, romantic moments, super cheesy at times, fluff, cursing??

word count: 5590

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Let's fall in love for the night / And forget in the morning

~~

It started out as a silly joke - "let's pretend to date for a night". You were the one that brought it up, but immediately felt embarrassed by it. Of course, you were joking. You would never want to actually date your best friend, Colby. The only reason you even suggested it was because after a long night of talking about life, you both confessed how lonely you guys felt. How you both deeply wanted someone to be in love with. How much you yearned to have someone that was yours. But there was a lot of things in your way. For Colby, he didn't trust many. And it was hard for him to open up to those he wanted to be close with; including you, at first. And for you.... it was a bit of a laundry list of reasons. The main one? You just weren't sure there was "the one" for you. And for that reason alone, you didn't feel like breaking your heart over and over again just to search for someone that wasn't even real.

So, your suggestion was quite simple: pretend to date each other for one night, to get the experience of being in love. Maybe pretending even for a couple hours might alleviate some of the desire you felt. Maybe it would cool the fires in you that only came out when drunk and vulnerable.

Colby at first was against it, only because he couldn't imagine actually dating you. You were one of the few girls in his life he never had a thing for, but that wasn't because he didn't find you attractive. You definitely were, which is why he found it hard to believe your love life was as dry as his. But him... dating you? It felt strange. But the more he thought about - not spending a night alone again, going out on a date, actually planning one for the first time in months, holding someone's hand - it sounded nice. Relaxing, even. And having it be you and not someone he had to keep his guard up around made it all the more enticing.

He eventually said yes weeks later, which surprised you immensely. Especially given the distain look he had when you mentioned it, you thought there was no way in hell he would say yes.

"How do we do it?" He asked, taking a sip from his drink.

“Well... we would only date for the night. Until midnight. Tomorrow.” You stated.

He agreed. “That sounds good. Where would you like to go?”

“Where would you take a girl you've been with for a while?” You queried.

He snorted, “It's been a long time since I've had to worry about that.”

“You’ve got until tomorrow at seven to figure that out. Maybe a bit before. I would like some time to get ready for our date.” You grinned, raising your eyebrows.

“Okay then. I'll see you tomorrow...” Colby paused, his eyes locking with yours. “Girlfriend.”

You rolled your eyes jokingly, “And I'll see you tomorrow, boyfriend.”

The rest of the party you guys stayed away from each other. And all night all you could think of was what will tomorrow bring. Your stomach flipped with anticipation. But you tried to settle it down by thinking repeatedly it's just a "date" with Colby. There's no reason to be hyped for it.

You were just playing pretend.

~~~~~

It was after five in the evening when Colby finally texted you about the date - you guys were going out to eat. But he wouldn't tell you where. All he mentioned was that you guys had to dress semi-formal.

You started getting ready, not really sure what was completely in store for you. You showered, did your hair, and makeup in record time. Now... for the outfit. You weren't sure how "formal" Colby was actually going to be. That man very rarely ever dressed formal. But you figured the red cocktail dress you bought a couple weeks back would work well with whatever you two were doing tonight.

The benefit of living with Sam and Colby in this scenario was that if Colby wasn't dressed as formal as you, you could get change, which did calm your nerves a bit.

Slowly walking down the stairs, you could hear someone in the kitchen. As you reached the bottom, you turned and saw Colby waiting for you, staring down at his phone.

You inquired, “Calling an uber?”

“Yeah it should be here soon.” He mentioned nonchalantly.

Colby finally picked his head up, gazing at you. His eyes widened for a split second. He collected himself, calmly saying, "You look beautiful."

You giggled, trying not to notice the way he looked you up and down. "Thank you. I'm surprised to see you in actual dresswear."

You glanced at his outfit: black dress shoes, black slacks, and a dark maroon button up. He had his leather jacket on, giving him that little edge that you were used to seeing.

A shy smile came to his face. “Yeah, I don't really get a chance to get dressed up so I figured tonight would be a good time to do it.”

“You look really nice.” You admitted.

He nodded quickly. "Thanks."

There was a moment of silence between the two of you. You weren't sure what it was from - nervousness, lack of conversation, or just waiting for the uber. Either way, you hated it.

“The uber's gonna be here in a moment. Want to head outside?” He asked.

“Sure. Sounds good.” You replied.

You grabbed your jacket on the way out, slipping it on quickly. As Colby locked the door, the slight chill in the air made you shiver. Colby began to walk down the path to the street, his hand reaching out for yours. At first you were surprised to see him do that, but then you slipped your hand into his. His hand was warm and soft, somehow making your body feel even colder. The uber pulled up, and you two got in. He let go of your hand for a moment, only to grab it again.

The ride was quiet the whole way to the restaurant. You couldn't tell if it was your nervousness or his, but either way you could cut the tension with a knife. As you finally arrived, you felt your heart flutter.

Like many restaurants in Vegas, it was inside a hotel. And this was one of the nicer ones, from the way there was a doorman that propped the door open for you as you entered. Colby knew where he was going, so you followed right along with him; his hand still embracing yours. You cupped his arm with your other hand, squeezing him lightly. He didn’t want to admit it to himself, but you doing that made his heart race.

Finally reaching the restaurant, you could see by the name that it was an Italian place - and an expensive one at that. Everything on the outside seemed bougie, and that continued inside the restaurant.

“How did you get us into a place like this?” You questioned under your breath.

He smirked down at you, “I have friends in high places, I guess.”

“Good evening.” The hostess spoke.

“Hello, table for two under ‘Brock’.” Colby stated.

The hostess looked at her screen and nodded her head. “Okay, follow me.”

You glanced around as you followed behind Colby, feeling out of your element. You weren’t used to places like this. No man had ever taken you out to somewhere this nice. The last time you went somewhere like this was for a dinner Sam and Colby had thrown after a successful video series.

“I hope this table is to your liking. Your waiter will be with you shortly.” The hostess smiled, walking away.

Colby pulled your chair out as you slipped your jacket off, resting it on the back. He slid into his seat, you both finally making eye contact for the first time since leaving home.

You picked up your menu, Colby following suit. You both mumbled what you planned to have to eat that night, you settling on the three cheese ravioli, and Colby was getting some pasta dish neither one of you could pronounce. The waiter came to your table a moment later. You ordered the food and drinks, and then stared at each other again.

Why does everything feel so awkward? You and Colby had been friends for years, could talk about anything and everything. Why was now so strange?

Sure, you were pretending to be dating but... it shouldn't be that weird.

After the waiter came back with the drinks, you paused until he left to finally speak. You blurted out, "Is this not kinda awkward, or am I just going crazy?"

Colby sighed, happy that you picked up on the uneasiness between the two of you. "Yeah, this is a bit strange. Don't you think?"

You shrugged. “A little. Maybe it's because we aren't playing pretend enough.”

He raised an eyebrow, “What do you mean?”

“Well, if we were an actual couple, there wouldn't be all this tension. Assuming we've been together for a while.” You remarked.

“How long do you think we've been dating?” Colby added, “Hypothetically.”

You bit your lip and then thought for a moment. "Hypothetically, I could see us maybe having dated for... two years? Maybe going on three?"

He sat back in his chair, “Hmm, interesting. What would have been the starting point of our relationship?”

“I'm not sure... maybe us hooking up at a party?” You suggested, sipping your drink.

Colby grimaced, “No, I don't think so.”

“Well, what do you have in mind?” You responded.

"Hypothetically," Colby stared at the flicker candle at your table, then looked up at you. "I think we would have just happened to start dating. Maybe, we would have been on double date with Sam and Kat or something."

“You mean, basically any time we all hang out?” You laughed.

He shook his head. “Yeah, no. An official, actual date? We've never done that as a group.”

“I don't know, I feel like if that scenario did happen, we would have had to have been drunk at some point during the night.” You commented.

“Why do you say that?” He squinted.

You whisper-yelled dramatically. “We're both nervous as hell right now, and this isn't even a real date!”

He chuckled. “True, I guess. But the real question is what would make us want to start dating?”

“Ohhh, that's a good one.” You both paused for a second. You spoke first, “Hypothetically?”

He nodded his head.

“I think.... Oh! Two years ago, do you remember when we all went to that haunted hotel, but we weren't filming?” You described.

He blinked, “You're gonna have to be more specific. It's kinda my job to go to haunted places.”

“Shut up," you deadpanned. "Remember, we had a layover when flying to New York for some event, and we had to stay because the flight was cancelled due to the weather. And the closest and only open hotel was the –”

“Annamarie Inn, or something like that?” Colby chimed in.

“Yes!” You exclaimed.

“Oh my God, I remember that place. That was....” he shivered. “Fucking creepy.”

“It was so small, borderline a motel. And the front desk person was mean.” You remembered.

“Well, if no one had stayed at my place for months on end, I too would be annoyed by some out of town LA-ers.” He snickered.

“It didn't help you were wearing a Fendi hoodie.” You jeered sarcastically.

He gaped. “It was cozy!”

“You're a brand whore who sticks out like a sore thumb in the middle of Nowhere, America!” You sassed.

He glared, “If we were actually dating, I would break up with you right now.”

"Aww, don't like being roasted?" You mocked, pouting.

“Not when I'm paying, no.” He replied dryly.

You sat back in your chair crossing your arms, scowling jokingly. You took a swig of your drink, and then continued. "But anyway, that night would have been the beginning of us, in theory, I think."

“Why? What even happened?” Colby cocked his head.

“We had to share one bed, remember? Kat was insistent on sleeping with Sam because the building creeped her out, and so we shared a room instead. But when we got to the room, it was a single bed.” You recalled.

He hummed, agreeing. “Yeah, you're right. But why would that have been the night we started dating?”

“Well, I remember us sharing the room and I remember it was really cold and we just cuddled with each other, and I think being that close could have caused something to happen.” You stated.

“Maybe...” He mumbled.

"I just know that that night was really stressful but us being together in that room was..." Your mind drifted off to the memory of that night. You could remember studying Colby's face in the dark, how relaxed he looked after the stressful day you all had. You couldn't understand how he looked even more handsome up close. You remembered having to hold yourself back from touching his face, his lips.... "Nice. It-it was really nice."

You took another sip of your drink, hoping that Colby didn't notice your cheeks and how red they had become.

He did notice, but he didn't say anything. And part of him remembered that night. That was the night he woke up with your head lying on his chest and it was all he could think about the rest of the trip.

“Did you have a different idea of when we would have hypothetically started dating?” You asked.

Colby cleared his throat. “Sort of. But I kinda like your idea better.”

The idea he had in his head was also during an investigation, but it was when the cameras were off. You both had crazy things happen during the night; during the Estes Method it said your name, and Colby at one point thought he saw a figure at the end of a hallway. Everyone was taking a break outside, and you asked for a hug. Of course, he gave you one, and you offhandedly told him that you felt safe in his arms.

It took a lot to make Colby speechless, but you did it so easily in that moment.

The waiter interrupted Colby's memory, bringing out the food. You both chowed down, the pasta tasted extra delicious. You continued to talk about your made-up relationship, and also just talked about life in general. You ended up skipping dessert, and asked Colby if there was anything else planned for tonight.

He informed you, slipping his jacket on. “There's a new bar that opened up in the next hotel over that I was thinking we could check out.”

You smiled. “That sounds good.”

He slid his phone out, turning back to you as he walked. “Do you want to walk or catch another uber?”

You followed him, placing your jacket on again. “We can walk, I don't mind.”

Colby grabbed your hand as you left the restaurant. You felt giddy this time around, all the tension from before now gone after talking with each other for a couple hours. You couldn't help but smile as you walked outside onto the Vegas strip. The sky had grown dark but was somehow darker than usual. A distant boom bounced off the buildings on the strip. Thunder.

He glanced up at the sky, turning his head to you. “I think it's about to rain. Let's walk a little faster.”

You nodded your head, picking up the pace. Colby stayed near you, even though he could speed walk faster than you could run. He wasn't going to leave you behind. Finally crossing the street, you made it to the other hotel. You still had to walk to the doors though. But suddenly, the skies opened up and rain poured down onto you and everyone around. Some rushed into the hotel, others pulled out umbrellas. Colby pulled you two under an awning, his arm wrapping around you.

“Do you want to wait here until it lets up a bit?” He queried, getting close to you.

“Sure.” You nodded.

You stared out at the rain, watching it splatter as it hit the ground. It very rarely rained in Vegas, so to see it come down like this was both strange and fascinating. And somehow, for a moment, there weren’t that many people around. Most had ran inside, leaving the two of you out on your own. Having a solitude moment in Vegas was even more rare than the rain. A thought popped into your head: go dance in the rain. You didn't know why, but you had to do it. You slipped out from under Colby's arm and walked out into the street, letting the rain hit your skin and clothes.

“Y/N, what are you doing?” He called out to you.

You let the rain slowly soak you, turning towards Colby. "Live a little! Join me."

Colby shook his head slightly, squinting at you in amusement. A moment passed. He sighed and stepped out into the rain.

You started jumping up and down, laughing at him as he opened his arms wide. His maroon shirt grew darker as the rain drenched him. He turned back to you, grabbing your hands and spinning you around, almost dancing. You cackled as he pulled you close and picked you up for a split second. He spun around with you in his arms, and only stopped once you wailed at him to do so. Your eyes landed on each other’s and time froze. You felt hyper aware of how Colby's hands were on your waist, and how yours were wrapped around his neck. Your bodies were close to one another, his heat radiating onto you. You couldn't contain yourself, even if you wanted to. The closeness made it all the more easy to lean in, and Colby followed suit.

This wasn't your first kiss with Colby; that one happened a long time ago during a truth or dare drinking game. But this one blew that old one out of the water. Back then, you felt embarrassed to kiss him, kind of wishing you had just taken the five shots that was given as an option instead. But now, all you could think of was that you hoped this kiss never ended. Once his tongue slid across your bottom lip, you knew whatever relationship you had with him was going to be permanently changed.

He felt the same as you. There was a sudden craving that raced through his body the moment your lips touched his. How was it possible that all this time he had missed out on this? On you? There's no way the first kiss was like this. If it had been, he would have asked you to be his that night. Maybe he had been so wrapped up in his own bullshit, he couldn't have imagined asking you out. It was crazy to think that pretending to date for a night got him here.

And then it hit him: this wasn't real. You guys were on a fake date, pretending to be a couple. The light pain in his chest made him pull away, but part of him wished he never did.

“We... we should stop.” He voiced, breathlessly.

You stammered, trying to calm yourself. “R-right. And, uh, get out of the rain.”

"Yeah." He stepped back farther away from you, needing some space so that he could think again. "C'mon, let's get inside."

You both raced in, not wanting to get anymore wet than you already were. The cool hotel air hit you and made you shiver, Colby doing the same.

"So... where's the club at in here?" You asked awkwardly.

A brief smirk passed his face, his hand finding yours again as you walked. “It's a speakeasy, so it's hidden behind the back of some store. It's similar to the other one we go to all the time. Made by the same people.”

You exhaled, “That's fun.”

“Yeah, me and Sam were gonna check it out last week but never got around to it.” He turned to you, studying your face. “But if you don't want to, we can just –”

"No, I don't mind." You stopped Colby lightly, pointing at the signs for the bathroom. "Maybe before we go in, I should use the restroom and make sure I don't look like a complete mess."

He glanced down at himself, “Same here.”

You went inside and looked at yourself in the mirror. Not too bad for being drenched, weirdly enough. Your makeup had survived the rain, thank God for waterproof, and all that really looked a bit messy was your hair.

Realistically, while you were going in here to make sure you didn't look bad, you were really in here because of how nervous you were. It had finally really hit you that you two just made out in the rain. Something you had wanted to do with someone since you were a kid and saw 'A Cinderella Story'. And now you did it... on a fake date, no less.

Maybe he was the one for.... no. You couldn't allow yourself to think like that.

You dried your hair as best you could: drying the ends under the hand-dryer and running your fingers through the rest. You pinned it up with a clip in your bag, checked your makeup again, and then stepped back out into the busy walkway of the hotel. Colby was leaning against the wall waiting for you, looking ridiculously suave for no reason. He perked up when he saw you, sliding his phone back into his pocket.

His shirt looked mostly dried, and his leather jacket had been wiped down - something he had done in the bathroom while you were gone. He hoped you didn't notice; he didn't want to seem like he was doing too much. He prayed he was pulling off the effortlessness he could usually get away with.

You noted it, but didn't say anything.

Colby grasped your hand again, pulling you along silently to the store in question that housed the speakeasy. It looked like a regular Vegas gift shop. He stopped at the back of the store, in front of a "Employees Only" door with an eye-slot on it. It opened up, and a man asked "Password."

“’I'm looking for Piper.’” He quoted.

The man nodded, closed the slot, and opened the door. Inside was a dark, booming club. You were shocked to see it. Knowing how the other one looked, this was somehow more impressive. It was packed and the music was loud and fun. Colby smiled at you and pointed at a free table across the way.

“Wow, this place is crazy!” You yelled over the music.

He glanced around, “I know. I'm surprised how many people are here tonight.”

“What time is it?” You questioned.

Colby looked down at his watch. “It's... a little after ten.”

Your heart skipped a beat, hearing the time. “Oh.”

“What is it?” He furrowed his brow.

“We only have a couple more hours until midnight.” You explained.

“And then...” His voice grew quiet, “our fake date is over.”

The two of you stayed silent for a moment, Colby breaking it by looking up at you. "Well, we better make the most of it."

You ordered drinks, downing them within minutes. The upbeat music made you want to dance, so you grabbed Colby's hand and pulled him onto the dance floor. Colby didn't really like dancing. He was more of a people watcher when he was at the club. But you were not taking no for an answer.

You swayed your hips to the music as you faced Colby. He watched you, stepping back and forth to the beat. His hand still held onto yours, eventually spinning you and gliding you into him. He slid his hands down your body, cupping your waist sweetly. His body pressed against yours, his breath fanning across your neck. Your back arched at his closeness, causing goosebumps to form across your skin. How was it possible that he was doing all of this to you? You had danced with Colby on countless occasions, spent multiple times in your life at the club with him. But tonight, after everything... things really felt different.

Colby's mind was reeling just as much as yours, if not more so. He started out the night thinking this was going to be a fun night, but nothing too crazy. And now... he had to do everything in his power not to jump your bones in the middle of this club. But your ass pressed against his crotch was making that very hard to do.

His grip on your waist tightened as you grinded back into him harder, teasing him. You felt his chest vibrate as he chuckled. He buried his face into your neck before whispering "Fuck, Y/N, what are you trying to do to me?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." You smirked.

Colby suddenly spun you around, pulling you close. He leaned in, keeping his eyes on you. Somehow, even in the dark, his eyes almost glowed with lust. He kept his mouth close to yours, lips brushing against each other. But he never fully leaned in.

“Kiss me.” He dared.

You exhaled, closing the space between the two of you. The kiss became intense in no time. One of his hands landed in your hair, pulling lightly on your locks causing you to open your mouth, gasping. He took the opportunity to slide his tongue inside. You could taste the fruity cocktail he had finished not long ago. Your hands drifted up to his chest, tugging at his button up and jacket. His other hand snaked down your body, cupping your ass softly.

Your breath hitched, surprised by his forwardness. "Too many people are looking at us. Let's go home."

He wrapped his arm around you, pulling you off the dance floor. “Sounds good to me.”

The intensity had stayed between the two of you the whole time you were in the uber on the way home. You were nice enough not to make out in someone's car, but you couldn't help but squeeze Colby's hand every so often, knowing you guys were getting closer to home. He would do the same back, his eyes snaking up your body.

You weren't sure what was going to happen between the two of you, but you were excited nonetheless.

You both rushed inside after getting dropped off, thanking the driver quickly. Colby had you against the front door the moment it closed, kissing and sucking on your neck. You couldn't help the little noises that fell from your lips, him finding all of your most sensitive spots. All you needed was for him to take you to any of the bedrooms in the house, and you would be set.

Colby's hand drifted up to your shoulder pushing your jacket off, but suddenly his hand froze in place; his eyes staring at his wrist.

“What? What's wrong?” You murmured, breathlessly.

He hesitated. “It's.... five minutes to midnight.”

Your heart sank. And you would never know it, but so did his.

You inhaled. “Oh. So our date is-”

“Done.” Colby grunted.

He backed himself away from you, his hands falling to his sides. You leaned back against the door, running you hands through your hair. You looked back up at him, his eyes still on the floor.

“Why don't we just.... ignore it?” You felt bold saying it, but the way Colby looked at you made you realize you said something wrong.

He shook his head, “N-no. No, we can't.”

“But why? I mean, we had so much fun tonight.” You stepped towards him, trying to close the space again.

He turned and walked away, going to the kitchen. “I know we did, but it was... pretend.”

You couldn’t help but scoff at his words. “Oh, so none of that was real for you? You were just what, faking it? Pretending to want to kiss me?”

“Well no. Of course I wanted to kiss you but the whole point of tonight was just to... live out a fantasy we both wanted.” His voice lowered, hoping you wouldn’t hear him say, “Needed.”

“Colby, you can't be serious. The night started out that way, sure. But after we kissed in the rain, there's no way that that was just part of the plan,” you argued. “Or making out in the club. Or what we were literally going to do until you saw the time.”

“We both needed that, yes. But that isn't reality.” He clenched his jaw, “You and I are meant to be friends.”

You challenged, leaning across the island. “But we could try for more.”

“No, we can't.” Colby didn’t like how his voice trembled.

“We worked so well together tonight, why not give it a try?” You pleaded.

"I'm not willing to lose you as a friend. I care about you, and this was nice. But.... no.” He stuttered, trying to catch his breath. “I... I won't lose you as a friend just because I'm lonely.”

You almost winced, your mind going to the worse thought. “So, none of that meant anything to you. That was all just pent up hormones?”

He glared, his stare turning your body cold. “That's not what I said. Don't put words in my mouth. But what about you, huh?”

“What about me?” You sneered.

“How did tonight make you feel?” Colby asked plainly.

You huffed, “Clearly enough of a way to make me ask you to continue this!”

“What exactly are you feeling, then? Tell me.” He walked around the island, his eyes on yours.

“Well, tonight I felt...” You trailed off.

A certain word came to mind, but you shook it off. There's no way you were going to say that. There's no way you felt that way about Colby, especially not after one date.

He got in front of you, his arms on either side of the counter as he spoke. His voice was gentle, but intense. “Tell me. Say anything. Tell me what you're feeling.”

You gulped, “Right now, you're making me nervous.”

“Why?” He whispered.

You closed your eyes, his stare making it hard to form words. “Because it's hard to think when you're this close to me.”

“But other than that?” He questioned desperately.

You stayed silent, trying to figure out the feeling. A million words came to mind, but none felt quite right to say. They were all too vulnerable, too personal. And him staring down at you intently made it even harder to speak.

He stepped back, his face dropping. “That's the problem, Y/N. Neither one of us knows how to express how we feel. Which is why we went out in the first place. We don't trust ourselves enough to find someone and to trust them in return.”

“Why are you trying to make this more difficult than it has to be? Why can't we just... try? And if it doesn't work out, so what? We can still be friends.” You bargained, trying to make him understand.

He moved towards you again, his voice almost frantic. “You want me to be honest? To tell you how I'm actually feeling?”

“Yes.” You whispered.

“I'm terrified... of not having you in my life. That if we did try this, I would just make you miserable, or vice versa. I can’t give you everything you need. And I can't imagine you not in my life so I would rather take the safe route than try this.” He confessed, not able to even look into your eyes longer than a second.

“When have you ever taken the safe route on anything?” You insisted.

He bit his lip hard, shaking his head. “I'm not willing to bet on this. You are too important to lose.”

You whimpered, “Colby...”

“Maybe one day, we could do this. Maybe one day, this could be us. I'll take that chance later,” he laughed bitterly. “But having this happen tonight? No.”

“Can you promise me that? That we'll try.... later?” You grabbed his hands, holding them once more.

He nodded, doing his best to hold it together. “I'll give it my best shot. When we're both emotionally ready for this, when I'm ready for this.”

There was no way to persuade him, and you didn't want to lose him as a friend with. So... you just accepted what he said.

“Well, you know who to call.” You smiled, brokenly.

He slid your hands out of his, leaving the kitchen slowly. He turned back, not even knowing he was breaking your heart more. "This was nice, Y/N. Thank you for... helping me feel less lonely for an evening."

“You too.” You croaked.

As he walked to his room, he never felt more alone. Each step made him regret every single word he said as he got closer to his bedroom door. All he wanted was to run back to you and hold you as close as he could.

You followed him with your eyes, trying to hold back tears. You watched him go into his room, shuddering out a breath. How long were you holding it, you didn't know.

It took a lot to make you speechless, but he did it so easily in that moment.

~~

I know better / Than to ever call you 'mine'

[darsynia]

Don't Read the Last Page | Chapter 3 (Tony/Reader)

Summary: Your friend Nat claims her plan to distract Tony Stark with her sex appeal isn't working, so she wants you to do it with your brain--and a sexy red dress. Things start out completely over your head and get more complicated when SHIELD becomes involved.

Length/Warnings: 4,200 | none (future smut!!)

My Tony tag list is basically in shambles, going commando here, blame the surgery haha. Had this half done and decided to YOLO and finish editing.

OH FFS I PUT CHAPTER TWO AND IT'S THREE. BLAME THE EYE!

Masterlist | MCU Masterlist | Tony Stark Masterlist | Prev | Next

Exerpt:

“A conscience? You haven’t done anyth--” you start to say, but he interrupts you with mercurial suddenness.

“I’m dying. I want to touch you, and I’m dying, so I want to do it now. Not in a week, not tomorrow, not when I’m sober, now. But I can’t get out of the suit. I’m stuck.” His expression is bleak, and he’s watching you like he knows what you’re going to say. You say the first thing you think of, because it’s obvious he’s expecting it.

“That sounds like a lie meant to manipulate.”

“You’re right. Eighteen months ago I might have said I was dying to persuade a woman to sleep with me and not even feel bad. Eighteen months ago it wouldn’t have been true.”

Chapter Three: Gone With the Wind

Just when you thought the night couldn’t get more chaotic, someone wearing a silver version of Stark’s suit interrupts his drunken microphone speech and tells him to ‘shut it down.’ 

Natasha pulls you into an alcove shortly before the crowd stampedes away from the coming confrontation.

“Bad planning. They’re running away from him, sure, but that’s not towards an exit,” Nat laments. Seconds later, the two Iron Man suits power past you through multiple walls, the crowd panics, and you hear someone calling out for help. It’s the DJ.

Nat refocuses on you. “Okay, here’s what you’re going to do: go upstairs, turn left, go up to the keypad on the second door and put in 1122. That’s my code. You should be safe in there. If you get too worried, head into the bathroom, those are always reinforced.”

“You want me to stay here?” 

“He’ll associate me with the party, he already likes you, and someone’s got to stick around to keep an eye on him. Please?” Natasha is offensively good with puppy-dog eyes.

“Oh, all right. Are you going to help the DJ?” you ask. Nat nods and makes a shooing motion. You start up the stairs, slipping your shoes off and running when you feel the whole building shake. You barely make it into the bathroom (because yes, reinforced sounds like the only safe place to be, right now) when a gigantic crashing noise and sounds of fighting make you cower in the large bathtub.

There’s only one silver lining, and it’s really freaking thin: even Nick Fury couldn’t blame you for this, right? This could have happened even if you hadn’t ever set foot in the house. Stark was planning to get entirely hammered tonight, you’re completely certain of it. As you huddle in the bathtub (it’s basically hot-tub sized, and you have to laugh at yourself for having the glass doors around it closed, as if that will stop anything) with your high heels beside you, you feel a twinge of conscience.

You want to help.

You’ve always been good at coming up with rationalizations, reasons to do or not do things, and your helpful brain is starting to do that about this, even though you’re basically a Red Shirt in this scenario. The thing is, Stark did seem to want to listen to you, and definitely wanted you to think you were influencing him, even though you are completely sure he was planning to get hammered at the party. You’ve cared about the man for years, though more in a ‘what famous person would you have lunch with’ way than a ‘what famous person’s house do you want to cower in the bathtub of’ way.

In the back of your mind, a gossipy little voice points out that you could have gotten a few kisses and even some groping out of the man if all hell hadn’t broken loose.

Bottom line, aren’t you as qualified as any other ‘pluck a random pretty girl off the street’ candidate to try to persuade this man not to rush headlong into any more disasters?

“Too late, in case you haven’t noticed?” you groan.

On the other hand, if Natasha couldn’t trick him into calming down, what chance do you have? You’ve heard some of her stories, and even back when you thought she was just making shit up, they’d been impressive. Couldn’t Nick Fury find someone else to do his scut work? By the look on Pepper Potts’ face tonight, Stark seems to have alienated her fairly neatly without your help, which is a relief, really, because you’d really hated the subtle implications Fury had made about standing between a burgeoning relationship. You’ve always loved romance novels about two people that everyone else thinks aren’t meant for each other, but it all works out because they have true love.

That gossipy voice in your head really likes that statement, and not because of Pepper Potts. Having Stark’s attention on you had been heady, and you would have been all for it had you not been in such a public place. 

You’re certain he would have kissed you if you’d had let him, and just thinking that makes you shiver more thrill than fear, despite your current predicament. Now, though? Now he’s drunk. VERY drunk. Can’t consent drunk. Which is another great reason to get out of here, because if the man you’ve crushed on for years (so maybe you aren’t just interested in his brain after all?? That same voice asks tartly) expresses interest when there’s no crowd, no music, no other eyes on you, you’re still going to have to say no.

The smashing sounds stop, and you can hear arguing instead. Maybe there’s a chance to get out of the house while that happens? You are pretty sure there are holes in the floor, and that’s just not safe.

You stand up. You’re in the middle of picking up your shoes and reaching out to open the glass door so you can climb out of the tub when a gigantic shockwave knocks you off your feet, shaking the house and breaking the glass that surrounds the tub. You hit your head on the faucet as you collapse.

Everything starts to have a dreamlike quality to it, and you can see a few little cuts on your legs and arms. They don’t actually feel like anything, even though you can see the blood. At most, they sting. In any case, you feel like someone has injected you with some kind of drug, because you’re sleepy and don’t really care about anything but huddling up in your tub.

All your instincts are screaming that this is not the time to rest, but it’s too late to listen.

You come back to reality with a headache. Taking stock of your situation, you find that miraculously, you’re not really hurt. There are a few scratches, but that’s it. Either way, you sit up and see that the tub is basically littered with thousands of small chunks of tempered glass. Clearing your shoes of as much glass as you can while you feel woozy, you wipe off the bottom of your feet and put them on, so at least you won’t be stepping on glass to get out.

The process of climbing out makes you rant about the whole situation, and you don’t try to be quiet about it, either. There’s no way you could have predicted that a simple party invite would end up like this!

Though, maybe Nick Fury did?

You frown.

Stark’s voice calls up from somewhere below you. “Hello? Someone up there?” You’re about to respond, frozen on the spot when he continues, making it clear that he’s still affected by the alcohol. “If it’s Pepper, I blame you for inviting Rhodey. I told you he was a killjoy!”

The name sounds familiar somehow, but you can’t place it. Given that the only killjoy you observed was the man in the other Iron Man suit, you’re betting that’s who Stark’s referring to.

“Not Pepper,” you call out.

Technically, you’ve done what he asked. You stuck around. It wasn’t on purpose, though. 

When you walk out into the bedroom, you catch your breath. The floor has a hole in it. There are cracks spidering out all around it, and nothing looks structurally sound. You can see the door  maybe ten steps away in total-- but you don’t think there’s a safe pathway over to it.

“Shit, now what?” you say to yourself.

A strange sound catches your attention, and you look over toward the hole in the floor to see Stark levitating up through it, using the power of the devices in the hands and feet of his suit.

“Hey, you’re still here! Great.”

He starts sideways, like he’s moving over to land on the section of floor you’re worried about.

“Wait!” you shout. “It’s not safe.”

“Well, look at that,” Stark says. He sounds like he’s looking at a piece of confusing artwork, or a picture of some stranger’s grandchildren. You watch as he maneuvers over to the door, opens it, and lands on the other side. “Seems stable here. No cracks.”

Stark beckons, and you groan inwardly. 

“It’s not safe to walk on,” you say, speaking slowly in hopes of getting through to Drunk Stark.

“I can come get you!” he announces brightly.

“I’m not sure you’re in any condition to--”

He’s already levitated over, crouched down, and banded an armored arm around your waist by the time you make it through half of your admonition.

“If anything happens, I’ve got you,” Stark says. You give in against your better judgment, as he doesn’t wait for any confirmation from you to start heading across the cracked concrete. Once you’re through the doorway on the other side, you slump against the wall in relief.

“I wouldn’t have let you fall,” he tells you, leaning over to catch your eye.

“Knowing that and making my scared body believe it are two different things,” you tell him. You watch as he tries to parse that, still a bit too drunk for complicated phrasing. After a few seconds, he just shakes his head and looks you up and down.

“Couple of cuts, but I’m fresh out of band aids. You feel okay?” You nod, and Stark makes a wry face and looks down at himself. “Ordinarily I’d offer to ‘check for broken bones,’” (and he actually does the scare quotes with his armored fingers) “--but I’m kind of screwed into this thing, and the machine I use to get me back out is in pieces.” He does a little shrug thing that makes you smile. Something tells you that when he sobers up, he’ll care that he’s stuck in the suit, but for now he’s fine. Given how destructive his behavior was earlier that night, maybe it’s for the better.

“I was hiding in the tub, which was fine until that last shockwave. I fell down and the glass shower door shattered,” you tell him. It sounds a lot less dramatic than the actual experience, somehow.

“And yet, that damned gold shawl made it through!” he says, waving one gauntlet in the general direction of your chest. “You know, there’s no real evidence I’m not still passed out downstairs,” Stark muses, leaning over to look into the room they just came from. “I’ve had dreams like this. You’re probably not actually real, and I’m just imagining that I have one more present to open for my birthday.”

“And I hit my head, so this might all be an elaborate hallucination where I’m alone with you in your house but you can’t take your armor off,” you joke, reaching up to feel the back of your head. “It wouldn’t matter anyway. You’re drunk and can’t consent.” There’s a small lump there that’s tender, but it doesn’t seem to be anything serious. Stark is silent, and you feel your face flush at your presumption. You glance over at him after counting ten seconds in your head.

He doesn’t seem offended. He seems intrigued. He’s got one hand against the wall a few feet down from you, leaning against it. Stark’s looking at you, his head tipped to the side. 

“You’re more relaxed,” he says, sounding confused. “You were here through our whole fight, stuck in a bathtub full of glass next to a room with a hole in it, and here you are joking around with me! You were a nervous wreck earlier!” As he speaks, he punctuates his words with wild hand gestures, pointing and waving until he loses his balance and crashes into the wall beside you. “Okay, definitely still drunk,” he observes in an amused tone. He turns his body so he’s leaning against the wall with his back instead of his face. “I object, by the way. I think I could prove that if I’d consent to fooling around when I wasn’t drunk, drunk me would definitely consent to it, too.”

“I really don’t like crowds,” you shrug in answer to his first question. “And, that’s not how consent works.” 

“The real question is whether you would consent,” he says, reaching his hand out to trace his armored fingers along the edge of your shawl.

“That answer isn’t relevant,” you say quietly. He gives up touching the fabric and moves to lift your chin so you look at his face. There’s a question in his eyes, one that looks more genuine than a drunk proposition. “Maybe,” you whisper.

“Better,” he says approvingly. Stark shifts along the wall and winces.

“Are you okay?” you ask.

“Yes. Definitely.”

You see that he’s closed his eyes and is starting to slide down the wall. The house is probably not safe for the long term, but you start looking around for somewhere he can rest that’s more comfy than a hallway. The bedroom you’d been in is out of the question, and Nat’s code doesn’t work on two of the other doors. When you come back, Stark has slid all the way down, and is resting against the wall, his legs splayed out.

“Something tells me your helmet is not comfortable like this,” you murmur, noting the way it leans Stark’s head forward because of the bulk of the armor protecting his head. Awkwardly, you manage to kneel down in your tight dress, thanking fate that the man in front of you is insensate, because he would definitely have had something to say about that. Not that the gossipy voice in your head wouldn’t have enjoyed it. “Excuse me? Mr. Stark?” you say, raising your voice a little.

“Mmm? Oh, it’s you.” he says, opening his eyes and smiling in a dopey way. “I get to unwrap you now, right? Party’s definitely over.”

“Does your helmet come off?” you ask bluntly, ignoring his other comments. You like the sentiment, but being distracted isn’t going to help either of you right now.

Despite that, you will admit to feeling a definite rush of pleased excitement when this famous man you’ve been intrigued by for years said ‘oh, it’s you.’ The way the fates like to fuck with you is in strong evidence, though. First you make friends with a super assassin spy person, and instead of calling you in to help with something really impactful, she makes you go to a party, an activity you’ve never really enjoyed. Then, you get to actually meet Tony Stark, and the man seems genuinely interested in you!? But he’s drunk, and you’ll have to turn him down. It’s really just not fair.

“Ooh, very good idea. We should take it off.” Stark reaches up and runs his armored fingers around the contours of the helmet for a good two minutes, somehow brimming with confidence the entire time. Then he drops his hands. “Yep, can’t remember how.”

“You are completely hopeless,” you laugh. There’s something really adorable about him right now, and it tugs at your heartstrings. He has a party reputation but not so much a drunken one; does anyone even get to see him like this? It feels special in an odd way, but maybe that’s just your mind trying to make the moment something other than a complete mess that you have no idea how to extricate yourself from. Much like Stark and his helmet, actually. “Do you remember how but you can’t quite make your fingers work, or is the knowledge hidden in the amber liquid your brain is steeped in right now?”

“That’s poetic,” he says. He groans and leans his head back, but it doesn’t really work because of the helmet. “It was mostly clear liquid though.”

“Do you want me to try?”

“Kitten, if you want to put your hands on me, I’m all for it,” Stark says.

You’d been kneeling beside him, but when he says that, you sit back on your heels, a bit dazed by the lust-soaked grit in his voice. It’s like you’ve been playing a D&D game and someone just rolled a natural 20 on shifting the tone, or something.

“Uh oh, I lost you again.” He’s back to sounding like a slightly lost, adorable man-child. You’re getting dizzy from the shifts, here, but maybe it’s less dizzy than entranced. He’s still charismatic like this, but far more approachable. It’s dangerous, honestly.

“Pick a mood, Iron Man!” you protest.

“Honestly, don’t take this the wrong way, but if I could pick a mood, it would be asleep.” He does a sad little frown, pressing his lips together in wry disappointment.

“Sleep is good,” you tell him. “The problem is, I don’t know where you could safely do that. I also feel like I probably ought to stay with you until you’re out, because you? are not making good decisions tonight.”

Stark looks at you like you have the answers to all the problems of the universe, then opens his mouth and says, “Donuts.”

“You either hardly ever get drunk or your staff is insanely loyal,” you blurt out in irritation.

“I want donuts. In the morning I’m going to go get some. You should stay. I know a really good place. You can’t miss it, it has a huge donut on the roof. Huge,” Stark says, leaning in as if it’s really important for you to believe him. “I bet I could fit in there.”

His eyes widen and he starts scrambling to his feet, grinning.

“Woah, hold on. You are not qualified to decide what you’re doing or where you’re going right now, okay? Talk to me,” you instruct.

Mentally, you’re making a note to tell Nick Fury that you deserve overtime for this. Like you should start out with time and a half. With hazard pay.

“Bossy!” Stark complains, but he sounds almost enthralled. “No, no, you can trust me. Listen. Step one,” he says, holding up one armored finger. “There’s a couch in the basement. And the walls are gone so it’s not locked anymore, so you don’t need a code.” He grins as if this is some kind of brilliant move he’s made, rather than a result of getting drunk and fighting with expensive, unique technology that has seriously damaged the structural integrity of his million-dollar house. “Step two--” this time he holds up the first finger of his other hand, frowns, then puts the first hand up beside it and nods. “Step two, we use JARVIS to call Happy, so you can take a car home.”

From his buildup you had been convinced this step would be at least somewhat coherent, but it doesn’t make any sense to you at all. 

“Let’s work on step one, shall we?”

“Race you!” he says, and you’re forced to watch helplessly as he lifts off, cackling madly, heading for the room with the hole in the ceiling.

It’s clever, ridiculous, and somehow completely Tony Stark. Impulsively, you rip off your shoes and rush down the stairs.

“Shit, I have no idea how to get to the basement!” you exclaim, frustrated. For all you know, Stark flew from one hole to another, but it’s not like you can!

“Forgive the intrusion, but you’ll find them if you take a turn to the right, walk forward until you reach the wall, and turn right again,” a British voice says in a dry voice.

You look around, but you don’t see anyone.

“Does it help if I tell you that I am JARVIS, Mr. Stark’s AI assistant?”

“Yes, actually, it does,” you say, laughing nervously. You follow the instructions, expecting to see the AI’s physical form. “Stark?”

“I’m not answering to that,” he announces, and you follow the sound of his voice. He’s in a room with, yes, the frames for glass walls, but the walls are gone, just like he said they would be. “It’s Tony or nothing.”

“All right, Nothing, let’s figure out how to get that helmet off,” you say, walking into the room to see that he’s sitting on the couch he’d mentioned. “Could you call your AI down here? He helped me find a non hole in the floor way to get down here.”

Goodnaturedly, Stark nods, then calls out through a smile, “JARVIS, could you manifest a physical presence for my birthday present?”

You’re a bit distracted by being referred to that way, so you miss what he’s really saying until the AI responds. 

“I only wish I could, Sir.”

“It was worth a shot,” Stark says.

“He’s a program, not a robot,” you realize aloud. 

“Yep,” Stark says, yawning.

Over the next five minutes, you speak with the AI as Stark heckles you both between yawns. As time passes, he seems to be losing the nonstop giddy drunken behavior, inserting morose introspection into the mix.

You find out that ‘happy’ is actually the nickname for the Mr. Hogan you met earlier. He’s at the police station smoothing over the fallout from the fight between Stark and the other man, the ‘Rhodes’ you’d heard Nat and Hogan speaking about. Rhodes apparently left with the other suit, but considering that the device to take it back off is out of commission, it kind of makes sense. It’s not like Stark’s in any condition to fix anything.

With JARVIS’s (slightly snarky, which you kind of love) help, you get Stark’s helmet off.

“Thanks,” he says, launching himself to his feet to look at the black mirror of the flat-screen television across from the couch. He examines the skin of his neck with obvious consternation.

“Did I hurt you?” you ask, worried. You come over, but Stark stumbles back, putting his hands up. The gold shawl catches on a metal gauntlet and is pulled off of you.

“Okay, that was awesome, but I swear I didn’t plan it,” Stark says, waving the arm that’s caught in the shawl like it’s a trophy. Then he looks at you, instead of the shawl. “Oh.”

You are pretty sure your face matches your clothing in hue right now. He’s staring, amusement faded into an admiration that’s almost fierce. Stark’s eyes are glittering, and you can feel the heat of them as he looks up from your chest to your face.

“All teasing about presents aside, I really like the dress,” he says in a quiet, rough voice. He winces, reaches up to rub his eyes or his forehead in some way, but stops, frowning at the metal glove he’s wearing. Stark’s smile is bitter and humorless when he shifts his gaze back to you. “Ever since I’ve gotten back from Afghanistan, my life’s just been irony piled on irony. Fuck, even that term is apropos.”

He collapses onto the couch and groans. You’re completely taken aback. He’s gone from a somewhat expected reaction (you’d known he would like what you’d been covering up, he’s Tony Stark) to this display of utter frustration, but you have no idea why. You suspect Fury might know, though, and that thought makes you worried about the defeated cast of Stark’s shoulders as you watch him grapple with whatever is going on.

“The stupid part is, I didn’t even need to grow a conscience right now, but it’s there,” he says, looking over at you.

“A conscience? You haven’t done anyth--” you start to say, but he interrupts you with mercurial suddenness.

“I’m dying. I want to touch you, and I’m dying, so I want to do it now. Not in a week, not tomorrow, not when I’m sober, now. But I can’t get out of the suit. I’m stuck.” His expression is bleak, and he’s watching you like he knows what you’re going to say. You say the first thing you think of, because it’s obvious he’s expecting it.

“That sounds like a lie meant to manipulate.”

“You’re right. Eighteen months ago I might have said I was dying to persuade a woman to sleep with me and not even feel bad. Eighteen months ago it wouldn’t have been true.”

Something inside you shifts, clicking into place. It pushes away the guilt you feel about Nick Fury and SHIELD, turns your worry about your deadline into something hazy and indistinct, focusing instead on that thread of interest you’d had for Tony Stark for years. It solidifies that thread into braided wire, and before you even understand it fully, binds the two of you together.

The strength of that shift frightens you. It’s sudden, but durable. You don’t think you’re going to be able to shake it. You’re not sure you’ll want to.

“You look terrified. You should be.” Stark starts tossing the things that had been on the other cushion of the couch off onto the floor. “Go home. Have an uncomplicated life. Maybe come to my funeral.” He turns his body, throws his feet up, and arcs one of his armored arms over his eyes as he leans back on the couch.

“Miss, there is a tonic that mitigates his symptoms. It can be found in the garage refrigerator. It’s possible that part of Mr. Stark’s current melancholy stems from the combination of the effects of the alcohol and the period of time since he’s had any tonic.”

The brusque British voice startles you. “He’s really dying? What--”

“Palladium poisoning,” Stark says from under his arm.

“Tell me where the tonic is,” you say, looking up at the ceiling.

To be continued...

[kcdrawns]

Random Wb boys headcanons♪⁠ヽ⁠(⁠･⁠ˇ⁠∀⁠ˇ⁠･⁠ゞ⁠)

A/N: its 2:40 AM I am so so tired but i can't sleep so have this. This might contain English errors.

Edit: it is now 3:52 AM as I finish editing..

Characters: Kaji, Kiryu, Kusumi, Hiragi

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Kaji

- is the type to just banter playfully but no one really knows when he is cursing as a joke or playfully

- His classmates often add songs to his Spotify playlist and during recess they play music in speakers so kajo can take the headphones out and feel ok with noise

- The type to get jail every time while playing monopoly and to be in debt (Kusumi always wins and at this point Kaji thinks he is cursed and that Kusu cheats, so he refuses to play

-Same for Uno, he will get mad and swear to never play after everyone adds 15 on 15 on 15 on 15 until it reaches kaji and he doesn't have a card. (Will cuss and cross arms)

-will almost dance at home when alone especially when he is alone and needs to prepare dinner and lunch for tomorrow's school bento.

-Will yell that he hates physical touch but kusumi swears he almost cries every time they give a hug to their captain

-Social cues? None existent

-Tsubaki will often steal Kaji in recess to force him to record tiktoks with her and he hates it, she claims he is.pretty and it gets her views and he honestly couldn't care less but gets shy. He can dance but refuses to put effort out and affirms he dances like a brick.

- Got called a duckling because he was normally always seen near Hiragi and following him

Kiryu

- The assigned photographer of his class, he gets somehow the best and also the most cursed things ever and will use them for black mail as a joke (Sakura is mostly the victim)

- If anyone gets hurt in class he is always there with cute bandaids (Star ones, Sanrio ones, really if its a cute set he has it) and some disinfectant

- Would a 100 do the opposite of what his family tells and go out of his way to piss them off.

- His older sister has a lot of social anxiety due to their traditional family so he has at least once a week a girls night with her so she can try to relax and open up to him

-Will a 100 spoil friends since he has the financial stability and definitely is the one to buy good hair products to keep the hair soft and often gives it as presents for friends so their hair doesn't feel like straw due to dyeing it all the time

- Has a TON of double plushies from arcades by accident and gives them as present to classmates and when he sees someone who could use a plushie like some random girl or child that is sad like "Oh you don't seem to be doing well sweetie, you can have this"

Kusumi

-Will stop walking to take pictures of things he finds aesthetic and then send to a group chat (kaji and Enomoto)

-walks his dog at night and sometimes Kaji joins too when he is having trouble at home

-If anyone in class is feeling down Kusumi will definitely try to ask and offer help and support but never make anyone feel forced to share but since he is so kind and easy going most of the time people spill the beans

- Since in manga he said he saw kaji a lot around their hood school and is glad to be friends with him I believe he somehow looks up to Kaji and he might be the reason he started to participate in brawls and finding out he is good at kicking ass

- Has the perfect grades without trying and will often be at Enomoto's house with Kaji trying to teach them and explain. Kaji falls asleep and Enomoto folds a paper and very softly hits the top of kajis head

-He tries to keep 0 sugar lollipops on him so if kaji runs out he has spares and can help

- Definition if very respectful very demure, will give shoulder pats on anyone that is feeling stressed that he knows, which scared Kaji a lot in the beginning with a lot of cussing

- If he has a voice i think he doesnt like his voice so he doesnt speak but one day he is at home with Kaji and Enomoto and by accident hits the foot of the corner of a furniture and will yell "SHIT".. thr silence after and the shock face from Kajis face while Enomoto's just laughs while kusumi blushes out of shyness and types fast as hell apologizing

- In the opposite way now if he is mute from vocal cords damage or just never was able to talk I think Kaji in the first year would question and try his best to protect Kusumi because people can be cruel to things they don't understand. I believe if kusumi had bullies pre school he wouldn't give them attention and ignored but at furin high I believe anyone in class would beat anyone's ass for each other

Hiragi

-He sometimes as insomnias because of his stomach issues (definitely no projecting myself rn ༎ຶ⁠‿⁠༎ຶ)

- I mean he is the definition of Father at Furin High. Have an issue and want to talk to someone responsible and that wont make a fuss or cause havoc? he is the man.

- Very wise but still makes bad decisions for his health

- Definitely the one to post mirror photos with a rock band music on top

- Used to drag Kaji and Sako to concerts, since kaji likes rowdy places and music, but sako? Sako would go and suffer of "why was I dragged here.."

- Is the gentleman at the moshpits making sure no one hurts anyone and no one specially is an idiot to a girl

- Likes to go to the aquarium from time to time to watch Sharks and listen to music while doing so

- I believe he values his own free time and likes to spend it alone to relax but somehow always ends up overthinking if something bad is happening and what if someone isn't doing well and somehow ends up with stomach pain while texting everyone if they are ok or somehow ends up with kaji at his house and they hang out in silence listening to music

- Kaji stays so much time at his house that Hiragis mum considers him as a second child and assumes he is going to eat dinner there and sleep and if kaji says no she refuses to let him leave the house without eating something first

- Sleeps on one side due to his stomach issues since laying on the side helps to reduce gastric acid to come up to mouth (Y e p thats a thing..)

- He often cooks for his mum because she is always at work and he helps his best around the house and chores and since she arrives late at night he waits so they can eat dinner together and socialize a bit, besides his mum believes he is a better cook than her

-Hates phone calls because most of the times phone calls equal chaos and something bad so anytime he has a call from anyone you bet he is getting gas-kun out of his pocket at the same time

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[ppndos]

Weird connections between Papyrus and Deltarune

At first I'm gonna point out that Papyrus is the only character from the main cast who didn't show up in Deltarune yet. There are also Asriel and Mettaton (or Happstablook, or Mettacrit, or whatever). And here's the pattern in this.

Mettaton is not really Mettaton in DR. Alphys is not a scientist, she didn't build MTT body. He's completely different.

Asriel didn't die in DR. He's in college now and an adult. He's completely different.

Mtt will go out if we bring something "entertaining" tomorrow.

Asriel will come back from college next week (probably 7 chapter).

They both have established reasons to be a secret and established time to show up.

Papyrus doesn't.

ch1

ch2

But, eh, whatever. The thing is, Papyrus is probably also completely different. Why else he wouldn't go out? Oh, yea. He's "busy".

Toby said nothing about Asriel and Mtt, so it's save to assume that Pap's absence is very important.

Now less about the facts and more about coincidences (or not).

1. Trashy

DR ch2

Papyrus phone call

But it could be just a reference or foreshadowing. Pap did similar thing with Alphys' laboratory and dogs (I am not getting another pic there's already to much). (Btw I didn't find this connection myself, but I can't remember where exactly, sorry! :( )

Edit: I finally found the source (or at least the place where I first heard it). This is an awesome post, but it's very long, so be prepared.

2. Cages

At first Papyrus' "really cool regular attack" was meant to be circus themed (You can read more here).

And there's some similar cages in DR. Even with lions ON them.

But the idea was scrapped for "every reason" (according to Toby). So it's more of an interesting fact than a realistic theory.

3. Jevil

Papyrus Q&A

I'm not the only one who noticed. That one is pretty obvious.

There is MUCH more, but the post is already long. Just go and read Knight Papyrus theories. Seriously. They are interesting.

[ofbluesandyellows]

In Rainbows - TASM! Peter Parker / Reader

Summary: Peter Parker as the colors of the rainbow.

Word count: 5,191

Warnings: swearing, kissing lol idk, it’s mostly fluff. So yeah,

a/n: this is a little something that came to me two weeks ago, hope you enjoy it. Tried to edit it but maybe there are a few errors there, lmk if you see them. Have fun :)

Meeting Peter had been a happy coincidence. 

Red was all you could see while the photographs became from white pristine paper into an unknown image. Some were already hanging from the thread up your head while you waited. Fortunately enough you had chosen a moonless night to work on your photos at college. So when the door swung open there was no risk of ruining your work.

“Oh, I’m so sorry. Thought it was empty.” A voice said at your back.

“It’s alright, I’m almost done.”

The person stood beside you, eyes scanning your work and you turned to him just in time to see a smile appear on his lips. 

“Those are great shots.” He nodded with his head at the photo that was already developing in the transparent liquid. “I was there that night too, they’re a powerhouse.”

The Strokes had an unexpected gig on Wednesday and you had the fortune to get tickets and stand right in the press area to snap a few photos of them. You were really happy with what you got. It made you fill up with pride to hear someone else appreciate what you captured.

“They totally are, you took photos too?” you asked, turning to him, fully looking at the tall boy by your side. 

He seemed quite familiar now that you noticed. 

“No, a friend got us tickets, just went to have a good time.” He shrugged, putting his backpack on the floor with a thud. “What’s your favorite song of theirs?” 

He hadn’t stopped smiling at you. He started to put all his things out on top of the table. His camera, strap still on, the rolls of film and his phone. The screen was crashed and the edges of it battered, it had personality just like him; with his jumper and his tousled hair as if he had run just to make it there in time, as if he knew you could be leaving soon and didn’t want to miss you.

Of course you wanted to pretend that was the reason for his sudden rush a moment ago. 

“Well, I’d say the classics of course, YOLO and Welcome to Japan are just gems but I guess from their last album I really enjoyed Ode to The Mets. What about you?” 

And it started a full on conversation on your favorite The Strokes’ songs, it was easy to talk to him about music, about art, about playlists and pastries. With each word exchanged you could feel him getting closer to you, arms brushing, laughs shared, eyes making excessive staring, heart beats speeding and hands sweating. 

The boy finished hanging his photos, you could see friends laughing, dogs and incredible landscapes of the city. He had a good eye you wanted to tell him but he beat you to it with a new thought.

Casually, he leaned his side on the desk, arms crossed over his chest, pushing his biceps out, yeah you noticed. 

“They are doing another show in Brooklyn tomorrow… I got an extra ticket if you… you know… if you wanted to go… I could—we could meet there… I don’t know.” He said eyes going from your face to the rest of the room. 

You weren’t sure how but you could notice his whole face going one or two shades darker. It was hard to see under the red lights but the invitation made you feel funny inside, matching with all the rest of your body reactions during the half an hour you’ve been there. You balanced the options; he was sweet, and he was nervous and you were nervous too and you had nothing to lose really.

“Sure, I’d love that.” 

And he beamed, his shoulders relaxed and his eyes twinkled. “Great! Cool, so it’s in Brooklyn Steel. There's a subway nearby. If you live in Manhattan I could wait for you there or outside the venue, you tell me, it’s your choice.”

“I mean you can come pick me up, I live in Greenwich… and if you like we could have dinner before.” You felt your heartbeat in your throat.

“Oh…Yeah! Yeah sure, of course I know a pizza place, if you like Pizza of course.”

You chuckled. “I do love pizza, so it’s a date?”

His whole body filled with air and sudden pride. “It’s a date!”

“Cool,”

“Cool…. by the way my name is Peter Parker.” 

He laughed, extending his palm, which got your smaller one wrapped perfectly. 

You told him your name. “Great to meet you Peter Parker.”  and he grinned boyishly. 

•••

Orange wasn’t a color you often found yourself leaning towards, it never meant much to you, but it had been six months since you and Peter started to date in a very serious way. So you wanted the day to mean something, an unconscious choice,that was being expressed in an orange outfit, you tried it on and unexpectedly it looked good on you. 

Still the color meant nothing much, nothing until he said: “I love you.”

His lips were on the shell of your ear as you waited in line to get some gelato. Peter had his arms wrapped around your middle, he squeezed you a little tighter as his words reached your ear getting seared in your brain, the moment was typical almost ordinary, but it was golden hour and the sunbeams were casting a film of orange peachy tone, your heart somersaulted, belly twisted, and your lips turned upwards in the widest smile you’ve ever given to anyone. 

“I love you too,” you responded, turning in his arms, and you kissed Peter on his soft lips, he tasted like honey and something completely Peter’s. 

The sunset was upon you. Cherry and choco mint gelato flavored kisses. Peter left a peck on your forehead as he turned up to the sky while you walked down the busy streets of New York, a grin on his cold lips. 

“Look, you match the sky.” He pointed.

Furrowing your eyebrows you looked up as peachy skies started to turn slightly bluish on the far end. Peter gave a light tug to the fabric covering your ribs.

You indeed were matching the clouds and the day. From that moment on, orange made you reminisce about the first ‘I love yous’. 

Meaning was found in color.

•••

One night as the tv showed the film ‘Big Fish’ Peter found you crying on the couch to the scene where Ewan McGregor’s character had finally found the girl he loved and showed her how much she meant to him by flooding the outside of her house with flowers. The most beautiful act of love you’ve seen in a movie. 

You gasped when on your birthday the rooftop of your building was covered in yellow flowers, they probably weren’t as many as the movie had but you loved how the variety of them left a scent of sweetness and freshness in the air as Peter settled a picnic in the middle of the improvised garden, daffodils, roses, daisies, you weren’t even sure how many of them were there but you loved it.

“Over here,” With a flourish he showed you the path to the picnic and you followed him, fingers intertwined.

“Peter Parker you shouldn’t have,” hands on your chest and inevitably your nose tingled, your eyes watering.

Peter gave you a sweet smile.“Of course I have to! It’s your birthday honey, you deserve all the nice, most beautiful things there are in the world and I know the quantity of flowers isn’t near as the ones in the movie but the budget’s a bit tight this week.”

His face went a bit pink as you sat down the plaid tablecloth. 

Your heart squeezed. Reaching for his hand, his attention fully on you. 

“I love it, everything, even the mismatched set of plates and the fact that you are wearing the most horrible pair of socks I’ve seen.”

Yes, they were also yellow, they had tiny bright green cars printed on them. You snorted as Peter sent you a sharp look.

“What!? These are my good luck socks, I wore them when I met you, that has to mean something.” He smirked, “They're special.”

“That doesn’t mean they are pretty nor cool.”

Peter scoffed, he threw a napkin at your face, “I’ll let it pass because it’s your day. And I love you and respect you too much to start an argument over my styling choices.”

Another snort on your behalf and you didn’t see it coming but Peter launched against you. You both laid on the cloth as Peter held his weight on his elbows to not crush you. Kissing the tip of your nose, then kissing your lips. Soft lips over smiles and low chuckles.

“Happy birthday, baby.”

“Thank you for being the absolute best.” 

And all you saw was Peter’s chocolate eyes, the light freckles forming on his nose thanks to the summer time and a halo of yellow all around you.

•••

Peter had been so scared, literally he thought of cancelling last minute but a talk with May served him well. He loved you and he needed to show a bit of support, especially knowing your family would be there and this was the first Christmas you two spent together. 

You two took the subway all the way to Queens. Your mom’s side of the family had this pretty lovely house with a huge garden and one of the biggest kitchens Peter has set foot on. 

Peter wasn’t into Christmas but knowing it meant so much for you he made an effort, besides he wanted the rest of your family to like him, to love him if possible. So when your cousin asked you both to babysit littler Tommy while she put her new born baby to sleep, Peter couldn’t say no, and there you three were in the middle of the kitchen decorating gingerbread cookies with the five year old Tommy who had found a liking for Peter very quickly.

Maybe he could feel his Spidey senses too, kids had that kind of ability too sometimes, to predict stuff and shit. Well, Peter read that once so maybe it was true.

Sitting on the kitchen island Peter handed little Tommy a cookie as you put different color frostings on display for them to start their artsy gourmet pieces. 

Peter went for something that made him feel too clever, you’ve known for a while anyway. 

Red and blue, black lines, white eyes.

“A Spider-Man cookie, really Peter?” your voice was a bit judge-y but Peter saw your smile as you shook your head, and it made him chuckle. “Smartass.”

“Well… It made you smile. But it’s not just a Spider-Man cookie, it’s a Christmas Spidey, right Tommy?”

You laughed as Peter showed Tommy his Spidey-cookie, a Santa hat badly shaped on top of the masked hero. Tommy let out that childish giggle that made the both of you beam at the kid.

“See, Tommy boy appreciates my art, you should do the same, baby.” 

Rolling your eyes Peter smirked and continued on decorating cookies with the little boy in front of him.  

It warmed your heart seeing Peter getting along with kids, it made you think of the future, and in that moment the thought of a little Peter didn’t sound so bizarre.

“Can someone bring the little bunny I left in the car?!” you heard your cousin call, and just as an instinct you turned to Peter.

“Go ahead, we have it under control right ,Tom?” the kid probably didn’t know what you were talking about but he still gave you a nod.

So Peter saw you leave the kitchen. 

At some point during the decorating session, Peter needed the color green to complete his Christmas tree cookie. He only found green frosting inside a transparent plastic bag. With a shrug he took it between his palms.

“It can’t be that hard right Tommy.” The kid with those big doe eyes, grinned at him.

“Do it!” Tommy squealed. 

Peter laughed and started doing the edges of this tree. 

But the doorbell rang, Tommy jumped in his spot startled, Kiki the dog started barking, everything happened within the same five seconds and Peter– with incredibly enhanced reflexes put a little too much pressure on the bag. 

The next thing he and Tommy saw was green, green splashed everywhere in the kitchen specially Tommy’s face and Peter’s shirt. 

“Oh,” Peter said in awe.

“Uh oh, you are in trouble!” Tommy said singsonging, pointing at Peter’s shirt. And a second later he started maniacally laughing.

Peter couldn’t help but laugh too. This was definitely not the way he wanted to impress your family but at least Tommy knew how to lighten the mood.

Steps were heard as the two boys in the kitchen cackled louder while they licked their green fingers.

You appeared on the threshold, agape as you saw the explosion of color, snorting you went ahead to try and help the little kid, who only laughed harder at your face.

That was a moment in time that your family always reminded Peter of. Peter felt like he belonged right there and then when everyone made fun of him and Tommy’s green face.

•••

Coney Island was shining prettily against the darkness of the night, Peter had texted you four times to meet him there. He went to check near the cotton candy stand, you weren’t there.

He had been working his ass off for Jonah the whole week, so now that he had free time, he wanted to do something different and fun with you, and what could be more fun than going to Coney Island and getting on those rattly dubious carnival rides? 

The carousel was packed with parents and screaming kids, as loud music blasted all around, you weren’t there either, so he kept on walking. A man with a bunch of blue balloons was falling asleep on his spot near a trash can. 

Peter’s brain had an idea. He brought a balloon and wrapped it on his wrist. Took his phone out of his jeans and snapped a quick selfie.

Sent it to you instantly.

Peter🕷

I’m the guy with the blue balloon. Hurry up baby I’m starving :(

Two seconds later his hand buzzed and there you were, another selfie you had a blue balloon too.

You 🍯

Matching, now let’s see who finds the other first. 

Loser buys dinner. 

Peter smirked, he had missed you so much the whole day.

Peter 🕷

Deal. You are so gonna lose,

Forgot I got enhanced sight x

You 🍯

Too much talking Parker

We’ll see about that.

Peter loved a good challenge, and meaning he was getting free food and probably a bunch of kisses was enough incentive for him to start looking.

Five minutes and Peter decided to cheat a little. Hopping on the ferris wheel had been the worst idea ever, his eyes tried to focus on blue balloons but the colorful lights caused the opposite effect, overstimulation to his poor eyes, Peter felt dizzy.

When his ride ended, shoulders slumped, and a defeated sigh escaped him but it didn’t matter. He ran to your arms. Balloons tangling between one another, and Peter didn’t care if he had to buy dinner, he was just so happy to see you there.

“I won!” you grinned, as Peter’s hands found place on the side of your face. 

“Yeah I let you.”

“Nah, I saw when you went in there,” you smiled, as he caressed your cheeks with his thumbs. 

Peter leaned in to kiss you, it was sweet and full of love. 

“I sabotaged myself with those lights, so yeah I let you,” you rolled your eyes and Peter chuckled. “Come on, let’s get rid of these,” he punched his balloon, hitting your face with it.

“Hey!” 

He snorted, and kissed your forehead, “Sorry.”

“Just because you are buying dinner, but let’s keep them. This was a good idea to find each other in the crowd.”

“Blue Balloons seem to be better than GPS, right?” 

Peter tried to put his arm over your shoulders but the threads of the balloons were too twisted, thread tugged at your wrist wrong, you yelped and Peter grunted.

“Not very practical when I want to hold you closer.” Peter quivered his brows, but neither made the effort to unravel the knots of ribbon. 

You simply intertwined your hands and walked down Coney Island ready to eat your weight on hotdogs.

•••

“But baby my love my everything, this is so cool! I can go to work, get there faster, pick you up. We can drive to visit May, your mom! We can go on a weekend trip!”

Your face was a mix of fear and curiosity. The bright motorcycle was parked just outside your apartment building, it was indigo blue and it sparkled when the sun hit the paint. You couldn’t lie to yourself, it was a pretty motorcycle, however…

“But it’s dangerous!”

“But it’s convenient!” Peter put out a helmet from his backpack. “Look, I even bought you one! Come on, let's have a little ride, it’ll be fun.”

“Peter-“

“Don’t Peter me, c’mon”

With his doe eyes Peter persuaded you to do the unimaginable. You hated when he swung you places, the momentum of the web slinging made you want to vomit and you didn’t enjoy fast rides so this felt like a mixture of both things. Your stomach twisted uncomfortably as you put the helmet on.

“Hold onto me, if I go too fast let me know, okay?”

Your hands surrounded his waist, you weren’t too sure about the motorcycle but you trusted Peter with your life, so you nodded against his back.

“I got you baby.” 

The roar distracted you from the sudden movement, eyes closed tightly you felt Peter’s abs clench when he made a sharp turn or when he had to make a stop.

“You okay?” 

“I guess… so far,”

“It isn’t that bad, try to enjoy it.” 

You both were speaking loud to hear the other through the helmets, but Peter could sense your shaky hands against his stomach and the way you tensed your body on the curves.

But a few minutes later you started to loosen your grip on his body. Your eyes wandered as you moved between the city… Some streets were less trafficked than others but it was nice to feel the wind and the passing by colors. You didn’t even notice when Peter added a bit of velocity, you were immersed in the sensations.

The Brooklyn bridge was ahead, the view of Manhattan was breathtaking at the hour, some street lights were already turning on but the sky still reflected itself on the skyscrapers, mirroring the view.

“Move in with me?”

“What?”

You weren’t able to hear him because of the wind and the helmet.

“That you should move in with me!” Peter shouted.

“What movie?”

“For fucks sake,”

Peter mumbled as he came to a stop. His motorcycle roared still, but the noise was a lot less. Taking the helmet off, he turned around and took yours too.

“I said… move in with me”

Your eyes grew big, a little shocked, “Oh,”

“I mean we already spend pretty much all the time together so I thought… um, never mind, it was just an idea.”

You grabbed his shoulder, “I’d love to. I was just surprised you asked me all of a sudden. But yeah, let’s do it!”

Peter felt relief and a wave of euphoria. He hopped off the motorcycle, helmets hanging from the handlebars. He nestled your face between his hands, kissing you deeply, he smelt like sun, leather and spandex, with a touch of lemon thanks to his shampoo.

“I have everything planned, we can move my desk to the other room and we can make that an office for when you work from home, we definitely need to throw out my mattress, yours is way bigger and more comfy. Oh and we could get a dog, you like dogs I like dogs so why not.”

You were beaming at your boyfriend as he kept on rambling about the new accommodations of the apartment, what breed of dog and if he even had to buy new cutlery. 

“It’s alright, we can figure that out later.” The wind swirled around you and it all felt right. Even the oh so horrible motorcycle felt less wrong, like it had to be part of your trip or this decision. “We can also get rid of this indigo monstrosity too,”

Peter furrowed his brow, “I just bought it, come on, it's so cool.”

You couldn’t help but laugh. “It is not, it’s dangerous and you won’t even use it.”

“Oh I definitely will, I look so hot on it.”

Rolling your eyes you gave him a good reason to not like the motorcycle, “that’s why I don’t want it, people will be looking at my boyfriend a little too much.”

Peter smirked, “oh so you agree I look extra hot on the motorcycle, huh. Knew you liked it, kinky.”

“Oh shut up!”

“You love me, don’t try to deny it.”

You grunted, but a smile slipped on your lips. Peter took the helmet and was about to put it on your head again. 

“Love you.” He kissed your forehead sliding the plastic thing, he gave the top of it two knocks, making your head rattle.

“Ouch.”

“Oops,” he put his on and there you were again on the road back to Peter’s apartment, your new home.

•••

Lazy Sunday, as Peter liked to call them. They were pretty much that, after a long night of patrolling, he finally slept until his body couldn’t stand being in bed.

There had been five months since you moved in with him and he couldn’t be happier. You threw a party a month after you were settled in. May made meatloaf as if an army was about to arrive at the apartment, you and he had to eat that for two weeks straight until the last bit disappeared. 

Peter didn’t want to see or hear the meatloaf again, like ever in his life.

So lazy Sundays for him consisted of sleeping, working on his laptop, kissing you as many times as he could, washing dishes and watching basketball games. Sometimes he would change a burned out light bulb or fix the sink’s pressure but that day Peter decided to do laundry, it was his turn so he put everything in trying to finish the task as fast as possible.

When you came back from the bakery, with a fresh baguette and a slice of lemon pound cake for Peter, he went into the kitchen to prepare milkshakes at noon.

“We should wait until after lunch time, Peter,” you pointed as you put the dishes in place.

Peter grunted, “we can have early dinner instead, come on you love my strawberry milkshakes.” 

And with pouty lips and twinkly doe eyes how could you say no to Peter Parker.

“Fine… but I want mine to be extra creamy!”

“Your wish is my command, baby” 

He kissed the top of your head and started to work.

Two hours later Peter was trying to fix some of the coloring and contrast of his photos to send to The Bugle. Kendrick Lamar played through his laptop speakers as he nodded along.

“PETER!”

And Peter flinched on his spot, he sank deeper on the couch, pretending he hadn’t heard you shout his name. Kendrick did a good job trying to make this more believable.

“PETER!” 

Shit shit shit

Peter was panicking, he didn’t even know what he had done to get that tone from you, but he wasn’t risking it.

Maybe that was a bad move on his behalf, because when you appeared in the living room with  puckered lips and flared nostrils he feared for his life. Not literally but he knew something was coming down.

“What did you do to the washing machine?” you asked him, pretending you were totally chill, calm, but it was obvious you were about to lose it.

“Uh… fabric softener?” 

“What else?” your brow cocked and Peter wasn’t sure what his answer should be.

“I—um… clothes…” you sigh didn’t help him solve the puzzle, “listen honey, I don’t know what happened, I just did what I saw you doing, what May taught me.” 

Peter half shrugged. 

Crossing your arms over your chest you pivoted on your spot, “come see what happened.”

Peter winced, knowing that whatever it was was worse than he imagined.

The little room where the washing machine and the dryer machine were, had all the clothes on display just for him to see. Peter’s eyes widened.

“Oh.” he said. Hands on both sides of his hip bones. 

“Yeah oh, now what are we gonna do?”

“I… don’t know, baby.”

Your eyes turned to him, seeing his whole face contracting as he tried his best to not laugh.

“Don’t dare laugh Parker, this isn’t funny, those right there were my best pair of shorts!”

But Peter couldn’t hold it, he snorted and started laughing, until tears were forming on the corner of his eyes. Immediately afterwards you let yourself get involved in the same stupid feeling.

The clothes were violet, not lilac or pink, bright violet. Peter’s suit was the only cloth item that remained in its true colors, red and blue. 

“I shouldn’t have done that.” Peter was trying to stop laughing but the more he looked at the scene the funnier it became.

“Yeah you shouldn’t have, but you did it.” a little smile tugged at your lips, “at least you’ll have to use violet shirts too, and socks, I mean you wear those horrible yellow socks anyway so I don’t think that would be an issue for you.”

“Oh, not this again,” Peter was grinning, “but yeah right, I don’t care about the socks, violet isn’t my color tho, but it’s what I deserve.”

“Next time wash the damn suit alone”

“I will…” Peter saw you collecting the clothes, his whole body—even when he felt a pang of guilt for the damage he cause—felt alive, happy and eased, this was the most mundane thing that could’ve happened to him today and he was almost grateful for it, because he loved having moments like that with you. Homey, normal and funny. 

He loved spending life with you, no matter what happened or what color his underwear was, his life was technicolor since you were in it.

“Did I tell you the same happened to me a couple years back, I told May I washed the American flag, just so she wouldn’t suspect of me being Spider-Man…”

Peter said this between laughs, reminiscing of the past.

“And why didn’t you put it in the washing machine alone..”

“I forgot… I’ll buy you another pair of shorts I promise!” 

“Ugh, shut up spider boy!”

•••

Black was all you saw, lying in bed next to Peter as the rain pelted on the windows. His chest was pressed to your back, you being the little spoon.

Peter kissed the back of your neck as his arms wrapped your middle, putting you as near as your bodies could ever be. 

You didn’t need light nor words to express how much you cared for him or him for you, it was all in the actions, in the deep breaths he took to inhale your shampoo scent and the still lingering perfume notes on your skin. 

It was in the way he made tiny little circles on your stomach, his hands finding a way under your shirt and his lips brushing the skin of your shoulder. You felt his heartbeat at your back and you smiled, Peter made you smile when he was falling asleep and all of a sudden he jumped on his spot, that feeling of falling off the bed when you are getting swallowed by sleepiness. 

He grunted and snuggled against you.

Of course he felt your belly wiggle with the silent laugh, but Peter didn’t care his lips only turned upwards, enjoying just the feeling of you between his arms. Your hands found his, fingers tracing the shape of his fingers and the edges of his hand, his trapped yours and it  made you giggle, his index and thumb found the new addition in your ring finger. 

In the darkness everything felt more personal, this was a reminder of what the future held for you two, secret actions no one needed to know, so you twisted to face Peter as he fixed himself to let you. 

The pitch black room wasn’t an impediment, on the contrary it gave you permission to brush your knuckles over Peter’s jaw where a stubble was forming. Your lips found his naturally, Peter was almost out but he let you kiss him, only his hand giving your hip a light squeeze.

Rain was the soundtrack you fell asleep to. Peter your comfort, and darkness, the witness of little moments of joy and love.

•••

White were the balloons, the tablecloths and your wedding attire. 

The flowers decorating the space were yellow, they had to be. 

Seeing Peter dressed in black with his bowtie and teary eyes at the altar, all you could think of was how fortunate you were, how much you loved him and how happy your life became the moment you saw him under red lights.

Forever promises were made, with more I love yous than one could dare to count, and a bunch of kisses once they let you kiss one another. 

“I’ll forever be here for you, you are the joy of my life, the light, the sun, the stars, the moon, my compass and my reason to be who I am.” Peter kept on whispering even after the ceremony. With each word your heart grew a size, you couldn’t believe you felt this strongly  about someone.

First dance with Baby I’m Yours by the Arctic Monkeys in the background felt like the right call. Peter made you twirl and you sang to him, as he hid his face on your neck, kissing it lightly.

You saw your mom and May crying at some point; little Tommy became the ring bearer and was even more fascinated by Peter when for his birthday he got a lego collection of none other than Spider-Man. 

Cake was lemon sponge and they served strawberry milkshakes along with other alcoholic beverages. Peter and you danced until your feet couldn’t take one more step. 

“I love you!” 

“No, love you more!”

“Lies,”

“I asked you out, remember? I have dibs.” Peter pinched your nose.

“But I accepted, so I have the last word.” 

Peter rolled his eyes, pressed his forehead on yours, eyes connecting with your own. He leaned in, eyes fluttered shut and there; lips collided with so much care, love and softness you could feel fireworks inside you, colorful, fiery, bright and alive. 

Loving Peter Parker was like every single one of the colors, everything merging together, forming a rainbow inside your heart.

[einsatzzz]

OCtober Day 3: Old OC - ShioRin ⚠️The effects/flashes might hurt your eyes, so please watch with caution.

@amiahoshi and I's Haikyuu OC twins, Shiori and Rin. They walked, so KanaRumi could run-- just kidding, they walked so those mfs Shiki (Cloud Guardian) and Rei (Mist Guardian) could run.

Anyway, even after...s-seven...seven years (💀), I think this is still my magnum opus in terms of video editing, so I will always repost this every now and then (like right now). I don't even remember how I edited this. IIRC, the last solo Rin with the clean lines is by Sou!

A few more info & art below because they have a special place in my heart plus I feel nostalgic while trying to look at old art of them. 🥰🥰🥰

Kiriyama Rin: A student from Karasuno High and a member of its Girls’ Volleyball Team. She is also Shiori’s older twin sister.

Rin is usually a happy, cheerful and energetic person. She acts without giving a second thought and is always carefree. However, she is actually a person who finds it extremely difficult to express how she actually feels towards people, she acts happy to everyone, even those whom she hates.

Despite her love for volleyball, she doesn’t really have a motivation to become a professional player.

Kiriyama Shiori: A student from Aoba Johsai High. She is also Rin’s younger twin sister.

Because of her illness, Shiori is unable to play any type of sports that is physically taxing (which is almost all the sports). One thing that could be noted from her is her unusual in-depth understanding of volleyball, this is due to her curiosity for the said sport when she saw Rin all fired up and pouring lots of effort into it.

She could do well as a team manager, but she thinks she’s too unmotivated and it would be rude to her sister if she were to join in on her passion in that kind of uncaring way.

Their OCxCanon pair ft. mouse user Ein from 2016...

MAFIA AU ART FROM 2016...Ha, look what we have right now lmao

My sketch of them from 2020! That's ShikiRei at the back, don't mind them.

Then this is my last drawing of them from OC Week 2022! That's ShikiRei at the side, don't mind them.

Ignore the tug of war in art style/quality. I lowkey tried giving up art a few times in the middle but every time I come crawling back my art skill kinda resets so I have to relearn or just learn new shit each time 😭😭

More Infodump for no reason, I just want to yap about them: We got into some genderbending shenanigans for ShioRin at some point back then, and that's how ShikiRei was born. Then ShikiRei eventually developed into their own separate characters and we eventually shipped them with their opposite counterparts (ReixShiori & ShikixRin) sjhfvhdvfsh After a while, we locked them under a basement (we let them out sometimes when needed in an AU or when we need to bully Oikawa). After a few years, we needed OCs to fill up the Oniyanagi guardian vacant spots so we let them out of the basement for good. Now, they're KHR OCs, yippee! We're also using their voice claims for another pair of KHR OCs, but that's for tomorrow hehe

[itwashotwestayedinthewater]

edit: all 5 trax out NOW ❗❗ check it out n give ur girl a lil support <3 heres wht i said yesterday:

for some reason i have neglected to mention: the first Proper release of my own music is coming out tomorrow! it's on my good friend from Tūrangi's label Bankrupt Records and contains the beginnings of me actually creating with any sort of intent or drive, from 2019 to 2021. losing all ability to edit these songs at the start of '22 after my laptop died let me actually consider them complete reflections of something true to me! Some of you have known me for a very long time and known i've always been a music bitch at heart, and that this is a very long time coming. i'm proud of this! First track (audio at the top!!) from it was released last week, and it's the only time i've aimed for something that could be considered a House Banger, fed through my process of cutting everything from elsewhere, collaging it, warping it and shining it. dance music made from other dance music. CDs as an instrument. i hope you will like IM 1 !! cover by me:

yes that is a dyke badge <3

[cozyfoxy]

The Sacrifice

Summary: DanandPhilCrafts is back again, with a lot to say and even more to do. We all saw the video, but what happened when the camera wasn't rolling? What was edited out? What if what we all thought was an April Fools prank, was actually very real?

Read on AO3

Warnings: Blood, violence, mild horror

Genre: Au?

Note: Inspired by DanAndPhilCRAFTS-Slime

Phil watched as Dan paced the room that they were in, mumbling something to himself. This wasn’t unusual behavior for Dan, especially when it was time to summon Him. They had just finished creating their slime tribute, and the cut on Dan's hand was still bleeding down his elbow while he paced, not that he would notice.

“Danny, what has you worked up?” Phil asked, standing from where he was sitting and wiping glitter from his hands onto his jeans.

Dan stopped his pacing and looked into Phil’s eyes. He didn’t want to show weakness, but he already felt the hot tears in his eyes. As he tried to find the words, Phil lifted his bleeding hand and nuzzled it before kissing the wound, pulling off with blood on his cheek and mouth. Dan fought back a smile at this, Phil always made him smile.

“What if you don’t come back this time Philly? What am I to do? I can’t keep Him happy without your help. What if after tomorrow night, when Him is finally released from his prison, he no longer needs us? Or wants us? What if you die for real this time? I can’t live without you. I don’t know life without you!” Dan rambled, trying to keep his breathing even.

Phil hummed and his eyes softened, “Hey, hey, shhh. It’ll all be okay. We’ve lived at least a dozen lifetimes together, that’s not going to change in one night. Him may not always need us, especially after tomorrow’s sacrifice, but he will always protect us, as he has done for hundreds of years. I always come back Danny, you know that. That’s why I always volunteer to be the sacrifice. But if I don’t come back for some reason in this life, I will see you in the next.”

The brunette blinked back the tears in his eyes, nodding at Phil’s words. “If you don’t come back, I will use the same knife that we will use to cut out your heart and slit my throat. I will offer the blood to Him so that it won’t go to waste. I can’t finish this life without you Phil, I won’t even try it.”

The older man smiled at his companion through life, “Good boy. I’m sure Him is pleased with your plan.” He hummed.

Despite Dan’s nerves and fears, deep down he knew that there was no Dan without Phil, so Him would never even think of separating them for longer than a week. He looked at Phil with a shy smile, just in time for their lips to meet. He could taste his blood on Phil’s lips as they deepened the kiss. ~ Dan followed Phil into the forest, the camera hanging loosely in his palm. The cut in his hand had split open again just an hour before, so Phil had hastily stitched it closed. It wasn’t the first time that Phil had stitched one of his wounds closed, so he knew what he was doing, but they were also in a rush. Dan could already feel the string in his skin tugging in ways it shouldn’t.

“This is where Him told us to go,” Phil said excitedly as they walked up to a small cabin, “there’s a fire pit in the back so that we can burn the offerings!”

The younger of the two found himself giggling as he used the camera to zoom in on Phil’s eye, seeing that it had darkened slightly. It wasn’t unusual for their physical appearances to change slightly right before a sacrifice. Though neither man knew why, Dan theorized that they were seeing glimpses of past lives that they couldn’t remember.

Phil saw that Dan was distracted and ran at him, squeezing him into a tight hug, “Go inside and set up the circle. I have all that you will need in the backpack you’re wearing. I will prepare the fire pit for us.”

“Okay Philly, thank you,” Dan whispered, planting a feathery kiss on his friend's neck before walking inside.

“Call for me if you need me!” Phil yelled as he walked to the back of the cabin, seeing the fire pit had already been cleaned, it just needed more wood.

Phil wandered back into the forest, picking up sticks and dead leaves for the fire. He was excited for tonight, though a little nervous. He knew that he would be fine, he always was, but he was worried that Dan wouldn’t be able to kill him as was needed. The younger man had killed him as a sacrifice before, many times actually, but never like this. The love that they shared was so strong, that Phil worried that it would cloud Dan’s judgment and make him back out.

He shook his head at himself, trying to shake those thoughts away. No, Dan was very strong and brave, he would do what had to be done. If Phil didn’t believe in him, then who would? When Phil walked back to the fire pit, he heard piano music from the cabin and smiled.

One request he had given to Him was that a piano be in the cabin. Dan had played the piano in every life that Phil could remember, and probably in the ones that he couldn’t. It always calmed both men when Dan played, so he thought it would make tonight easier.

Phil looked up at the sky as he finished placing the wood into the fire pit, seeing that it was almost time to begin. He pushed all previous worries from his mind and walked inside the cabin, humming along to the music that Dan was playing.

He looked down at the circle that Dan had created and nodded proudly, impressed by Dan’s crafty nature. Dan stopped playing and looked longingly at Phil, not moving from his chair. The older man smiled and reached for Dan’s hand. Their hands quickly found each other and Phil grabbed the things they needed from the backpack before leading Dan outside.

“I wonder what will happen after tonight,” Dan whispered, staring into the fire as it began to glow.

“I’m not sure honestly, we’ve never done such a big ritual. Once Him is freed, we might not ever see Him again. Or we might see him more often. We might leave this life and move on to the next. I suppose only Him knows.” Phil said, watching the fire intensely.

Dan nodded at the answer, looking up at the moon, “is it time yet?” He asked.

Phil looked up and nodded, handing Dan some glitter and the slime he had made previously. The brunette smiled thankfully at him before turning on the camera and staring intently at the lens.

“The ice that binds Him.” “The glittering spirits that feed Him.” “The sigil of His house.” “The vermillion that will set Him free.”

Both men tossed their offers into the fire, watching silently as the fire grew and burned the offerings away. Dan looked at Phil expectantly, feeling a nervous, hollow buzzing in his stomach. His blood seemed to be running cold. It was time, and somehow, he knew it was time.

Phil looked into his eyes and smiled, taking his hand before guiding him back into the cabin. ~

Dan set the camera up to focus on the circle, looking into it one last time before heading to the bedroom where Phil was lying, prepared to become the sacrifice. Dan swallowed thickly, holding the knife tightly in his hand. He once again felt the string tear away against his wound, it would open up again soon.

“Dan, this is an exciting day. Don’t be scared, I will always come back to you.” Phil whispered, looking deeply into Dan’s eyes.

“I know you will, I believe that with all my heart,” Dan whispered, moving to straddle Phil’s hips.

Phil smiled up at him with tears in his eyes, the emotions overwhelming him slightly. He wanted so much to kiss Dan, to forget about the fears that were consuming him and lose himself in his best friend’s embrace, but now wasn’t the time.

Dan placed his hurt palm over Phil’s still-beating heart, sighing quietly at the feeling. He imagined placing his head on Phil’s chest, letting the sound of his breathing lull him to a dreamless sleep. He imagined early morning kisses and laughter over hot coffee. He wanted to lose himself with Phil but now wasn’t the time.

“I love you, Phil,” Dan whispered, using the knife to carefully draw around Phil’s heart, to make sure he didn’t damage it.

“And I love you, Dan. It’s time,” Phil whispered back, not looking away from Dan’s eyes.

Dan swallowed thickly and nodded, plunging the knife into Phil’s chest with all of his strength. Phil let out a soft scream, tears filling his eyes, but he still didn’t look away from Dan. The brunette blinked back his own tears and plunged the knife into Phil’s chest three more times, whimpering at the amount of blood.

Phil tried to keep his breathing steady as he touched the blood oozing from his chest and placed it over Dan’s heart. A final ‘I love you’. Dan cried freely now and climbed off of Phil. He had to act quickly.

He walked back into the main room with the knife and set it behind the camera before going back to grab Phil’s lifeless body. It took some maneuvering, but he was able to get the body into the circle properly. It was as if Him had given Dan extra strength. Without allowing himself to think too hard about it, he reached into Phil’s chest and pulled out his heart.

Dan’s cut hand had split open again, and blood oozed down his arm; mixing with the blood of Phil’s heart. He stepped into the circle, watching as the body beneath him floated up into a standing position. The knife suddenly flew from behind the camera and into Phil’s hand.

Dan took a deep breath and held Phil’s hand, clasping their fingers together as they had done so many times. Through so many lifetimes. Dan could feel a warmth behind them, the smell of charcoal and roses filling the air. He knew it was Him.

Him stood calmly, wrapping his wings protectively around both men. Dan smiled with tears in his eyes. They had done it, they had freed Him at last. It had taken more years than he could count, but they had done it.

“My children, I thank you. I am now free and I can now protect all of those who deserve it and need it. I am very pleased with your sacrifices. Daniel, you have shown me amazing strength, wit, and courage. I know how much it hurt you to do that to Philip, but you did it anyway. For me.” Him said in a deep, rumbling voice.

“And Philip, always so brave and selfless. Always filled with so much love for not only your Daniel but for others. For me. It is beautiful. I thank you. Now, I will be off. I have much to do. Soon, you will both return to your current life. Do not be afraid, my children, I will always be near. And if I need you again, you will know.”

Dan watched silently as a bright light filled the cabin, making him close his eyes tightly to escape the burning. When he opened them again, his brown eyes met familiar blue ones.

“Phil! You’re already back? What? What happened?” Dan asked, cupping Phil’s face with both hands, despite the pain in his left palm.

Phil chuckled and leaned into the touch, “I’m not sure, all I remember is seeing Him at last and a bright light. I don’t even know where we are.”

Dan looked around the room nervously, realizing that they were on a sofa, cuddled up together. His wound was properly stitched up, and Phil’s bare chest showed only scarring from where Dan had cut him open. His eyes focused on a grand piano in the corner of the room and he felt himself smile.

Suddenly, a phone rang in Phil’s pocket, startling both men.

“Hello?” Phil asked quietly after answering.

“Oh sweet, you guys are back. I was starting to worry. I got a jump start on editing the video for you guys, but I need you to look it over one more time. Also, the new merch is ready to launch once the video is posted.” Martyn rambled to Phil excitedly.

Phil blinked in confusion, looking around the house and beginning to recognize everything. They were back home, back in their lifetime.

“How long were we gone?” Phil asked quietly, rubbing his tired eyes.

Martyn paused, “About three days this time, not as bad as other times. But your fans were freaking out. There are so many theories about what you guys are planning for April Fools. None of them have any idea though.”

Phil chuckled and pulled Dan to his chest, playing with his curls absentmindedly. “Good, they’ll never see it coming. We’re going to rest up a bit, I’ll watch the video sometime tonight and change anything we need to. Thank you, Martyn.”

“You’re welcome. I hope you guys sleep well, and don’t forget to eat. You need food to survive in this realm.” Martyn laughed before hanging up the phone.

Dan turned and looked into Phil’s eyes lovingly, “I’m hungry. Do you think we should order pizza?” He asked.

Phil chuckled and nodded, pulling up the app on his phone, “yeah that sounds good Danny.” ~ After they had eaten and showered, they climbed into bed, the exhaustion from the past few days catching up to them. Dan buried his face into Phil’s chest and sighed happily, listening to his breathing. Phil wrapped his arms protectively around Dan, rubbing small circles into his back.

“Hey love, do you think we’ll ever hear from Him again?” Dan asked, letting his tired eyes flutter to a close.

Phil hummed, “it’s hard to tell, it’s possible.”

Dan nodded and yawned loudly, “Yeah, I just hope Him is happy. He’s done so much for us after all. Goodnight Phil, I love you.” He whispered.

“He really has… I love you too Dan.” He whispered back.

Phil was just about to doze off when he heard a soft bang as if something had fallen on the carpet. He gently pulled himself away from Dan’s sleeping form and walked to the area where the sound had come from. On the floor was his first-ever tarot card deck, the same one that he had used to predict Dan coming into his life years ago.

He smiled at the memory and lifted the box up, gasping when two cards fell out of the box. He sat the box back on the shelf and looked down at the cards, his blood running cold. Side by side, a mirror image, sat ‘The Devil’ and ‘The Lovers’. A reminder that this fight for love like theirs, was far from over.

“Phil? Come back to bed, I need cuddles.” A sleepy Dan mumbled, reaching out for Phil.

Phil smiled despite himself and walked back to his lover, “You’re so needy.” He said fondly, climbing back under the duvet and holding Dan close. His worries about the future could wait until tomorrow, tonight, it was about him and his soulmate.