#Honestly id rather get a job and an apartment first but my parents have made ir clear thats not an option

[garyfischy]

man idfk where ill go for uni im just applying anywhere with a fee waiver atp

[yvaineseleneposts]

The Troubadour

Requested: no

A/N: This has to be my longest piece ever! I hope it was worth the wait and that you enjoyed it. There could be a few mistakes in there both in English and Italian, sorry in advance. I loved writing this, it wasn’t exactly what I wanted but I am a perfectionist and I have rewritten this about 5 times. I just needed to post it now!

Pairing: OC!Diana Bianchi & Damiano David

Words: 3k

Warning(s): swearing, drinking, smoking (I mean it’s the 70s…), smoking weed, my Italian (I have been studying this beautiful language for three years now but people make mistakes)

West Hollywood, California // Mid-January 1972

Red eyes.

Sweaty foreheads.

That is all Diana would see when they screamed at her. “CAN I GET TWO BEERS AND A COKE PLEASE?!”

Working behind the bar was not her dream job. Diana remembered it like it was yesterday, she and her friend Tami had gone to The Troubadour to celebrate the weekend when she saw a “help wanted” poster. It was a godsend. Diana applied there and then and not long after she found herself behind the bar, handing out drinks to people who looked like they were having the best time of their lives. Another plus side was the fact that she could attend the concerts of all the artists and bands for free.

Obviously, there were also downsides to this job. For example, Diana couldn’t go out and live her teenage years. She isn’t allowed to drink (too much) on the job and the hours aren’t exactly great. The pay is okay though and the tips are even better. Half of the people don’t even know how much they are giving and walk off like they didn’t just hand you 20 for an eight dollar drink. She doesn’t complain much about her job but she does feel left behind sometimes. Like when Tami or her other friend chat about some weird adventure they had the night before and who they met or kissed. Diana felt like she missed out on a lot of things but she had no other choice.

Her parents had kicked her out when she was 15. Diana moved in with her grandmother and lived with her for a while until she passed away. She has been living alone in her grandmother’s old apartment ever since. A few friends had moved in with her but then moved out again when they had found a better place to live. So it was just Diana paying the rent for the place.

 “CAN I GET A RUM AND COKE?!” Diana gets snapped out of her thoughts. Shit, what did he want?! She thinks to herself as she stares at the intoxicated man.  “SORRY?!” She shouts back over the loud music. At least she had another reason for not hearing the man.  “RUM AND COKE!” That is all the man yells before turning his band to her so he could face the stage. Some weird indie band is playing tonight. Diana wasn’t really into it and honestly couldn’t wait until her boss would send her home for the night. She puts in a little less rum, the man will probably not even taste the difference.

The band had stopped playing somewhere around two a.m. However not all the guests had left around 2.30 which is something Diana hated the most. It wasn’t that she didn’t enjoy her job but after so many hours standing on her feet, she wanted nothing more than to clean up, go home and get into her warm bed.

 “Diana, can you come here for a minute?” her boss asked. What was that tone, was he going to fire her?! “It’s nothing bad, don’t worry.” Pfew. Diana walked behind him into his office.

 “What can I help you with, Doug?” She asked as she sat down in the very comfortable chair across from him. Doug Weston had somewhat become her parent over the last few years that she had worked here. He was always so kind to her and could always ask him for help if she needed him.

 “I want to get more bands from across the sea. I want interesting people and not just the same bands playing over and over again. New talent that no one has heard of before but will become known because of this place. Inspire new talent, you know?” He was rambling on with his sales pitch as if you had any input, it was his place after all. “And seeing that you can speak more languages than I have ever could, I was wondering if you could write small pieces for newspapers in Europe that will inspire these artists to come here and get all the fame and fortune they want.”

 “Sure, Doug. You know I would do anything to help this place… and you of course”, Diana said while a wide grin spread on her face. She felt like she was moving up when in reality it wasn’t a new job position. She would do anything to not have the same indie bands playing almost every night. Diana would never have imagined that she would change the lives of four individuals barely six months later, and change her own life along with it.

Rome, Italy // Mid-March 1972

 “The Troubadour. The place where artists and bands from all over the world can make it or break it in the United States. It all depends on the crowd. If they love you, you can come back for an entire week! If not you will receive the money for that evening but sadly you won’t be allowed back. It’s always packed with record executives so you could get a sweet record deal out of this experience. Do you have what it takes? Sign up and good luck to everyone competing in the battle of the bands! – D. B.” Damiano finishes reading. “Ragazzi, I honestly cannot wait till we get to play there! It’s going to be veramente stupendo!”

 “Bene Damiano, calm yourself. It’s less than five months away. We still have to play in this dump to even afford to go. We barely have enough money for a motel, we don’t even have the plane tickets yet!” Classic Victoria, always worrying as if she is the mother of the group.  “Calmati Victoria, noi staremo bene”, Ethan jumps in. “Let’s get back to practising before we start another fight, sì?” The rest nods their head and pick up their instruments.  “I was thinking, should we start with I wanna be your slave oppuro no? Is it too much?” Damiano suggest.  “Oh, and for outfits, I have a few ideas?!” Thomas adds like a little kid who is excited for Christmas day.  “Positivo, let’s look at those after practice”, Damiano says. Not even ten minutes later they had many up a little setlist. It was a battle of the bands so they had to at least practice 4-5 songs to play against other bands. Then if they were allowed to come back they had to prepare yet another 6 songs on top of those 5 they had already played. They could do it, they had enough songs in their database but were they going to sing their Italian songs or did they have to translate them? The members of Måneskin weren’t sure yet. Luckily for them, they had four months to think about it.

West Hollywood, California // Mid-July 1972

Diana hadn’t even woken up yet, but on the other side of the city, Måneskin had arrived at the airport.  “Finalmente ci siamo. Ce l’abbiamo fatta!” Thomas exclaims. Damiano chuckles and throws an arm around Thomas’s shoulders.  “Slow down, loverboy. We have not made it yet. We landed yes, but we have a long way to go from here to that stage tonight.”  “How every grown-up of you, Damiano”, Victoria teases. “I bet with Ethan that you would follow the first American girl that you saw in this airport and that we wouldn’t see you until much later.”  “Ha ha, molto divertente, Victoria. Sei una persona così divertente.” They continue their bickering whilst Ethan collects all of their suitcases.   “Addiamo?” He finally asks the group, they all agree and make their way through the busy airport to the designated taxi area. During this, they complain about how crowded it is and how much the air smells. It is nothing like their own country but you have to take chances if you want to become famous like their dream.

Later that day

Doug had told Diana to come into work later than she usually would. It was going to be a busy night and he’d rather have her work during the performances than during the day and wear her out. So here she was around six-thirty instead of two o’clock. It felt so weird because usually when she arrives there is no line out front and now there was one to the end of the block. She passed all the people waiting in line, hearing them complain and moan as she walks up to Mario, the bouncer. He doesn’t even need to see her worker-id, as she walks in he wishes her good luck with tonight. She liked Mario, he was working here before she came and even then he had told her if she ever needed anything him and his wife had an extra bed for her. Honestly, the sweetest guy… also the toughest guy you will ever meet.

As Diana walked to the changing area to hang her coat and bag, she ran into a few participants of tonight’s show. She greeted most of them but they were too busy with themselves, the fame they hadn’t even earned yet was already rising to their heads. Before she could make her way to the bar, Doug called her over.

 “Diana, come here for a second. I want to introduce you to a few people.” Classic Doug, always introducing everybody to everybody. If he believed you could make it, he would introduce you to all his workers. However, the bands did not know this, the workers would treat them a little extra. “They are from Italy as well!” As if Diana herself had moved for their, it was actually her grandparents. She could speak a little Italian but other than her last name, there was nothing Italian about her. Doug briefly introduced the members of Måneskin to Diana, who couldn’t keep her eyes off a certain member. To be quite honest she had not remembered everyone’s names and she stumbled to get her name out of her mouth. All because she was already head over heels with this handsome, tall, young Italian man.

After a couple of introduction, Diana was finally behind her bar, her safe space. Meeting Damiano had made her weak in her knees, she had never had a reaction like this before. She didn’t really pay attention to the competitors and focused on serving the people but when it was Måneskin’s turn, she started to lose focus on her work.

During most of their setlist, Damiano kept glancing over to Diana and winking at her. Or at least that’s what it felt like for Diana. However, after a rather sexy song (let’s be real most of them are) he kissed one of his male bandmates on the mouth. Now Diana is not one to judge people on who they love. She reasons that everyone should love who they want to love and receive love because of it. It wasn’t that she hated it, it kind of turned her on, but she was very confused. Had she read the signs wrong? Were there even any signs to begin with? At times like these she wanted to ask Tami for help yet she was afraid that if Tami came and tried to help her that somehow Tami’s charm would work on Damiano and Diana would still end up with nothing. No, she had to do this on her own, she decided.

After the battle of the bands was over, a few stayed behind to talk with record labels about future arrangements. Diana started cleaning up, and washing and drying a few glasses, secretly listening in on a few conversations.

 “I liked what I saw out there. Let your agent call me and we will discuss your expansion in the United States.” Well, that sounded very good. Diana turned around to see who the band was that this man was talking to, but when she turned around she looked right into Damiano’s eyes.

 “I have been trying to get your attention all night”, he says shyly.  “Really? I thought so but I wasn’t sure”, Diana responds. Damiano raises his hand and scratches behind his head.  “I was wondering, you know. If maybe- ugh. Perchè è cosi difficile?” He mutters, not looking Diana in the eyes.  “Provalo in Italiano?” she suggests and Damiano’s eyes shoot up to meet hers.  “Cazzo. Parli Italiano?” He looks even more nervous now.  “Si, parlo Italiano.” He laughs at her answer.  “Vuoi uscire domani sera?” Diana nods her head, she honestly cannot stop smiling.  “I’d love to go out with you. Do you want me to pick you up at the hotel? That would be easier than you trying to find my house.”  “Yeah, sure. We’re staying at the Millwood Motel, it’s not too far from the airport.”  “Ah yes, I know that place. I’ll see you tomorrow then.” He leans over and kisses her cheek before leaving her to finish her work.

That night Diana barely slept. Did Damiano know any places here to take her to? Did she have to come up with a place? What if he was some weird guy? What if he was a murderer?! She sure was happy now that she didn’t give him her address. The following day she woke up around noon. She went to the kitchen and grabbed her Cona coffee maker, if she was to get through the day, she was going to need a big cup of coffee. She put water and coffee ground on the lower half of the pot and put it on the stove. She hated having to watch the coffee boil and couldn’t wait for better times when you would just have to push a button to get your coffee.

Seeing that she woke up around noon, it didn’t take long before Diana met up with Damiano. She asked him if he had anything specific in mind. Surprisingly, he did. He explained that he and his bandmates did a little sightseeing and they walked past a roller skating rink. Damiano always wanted to try that and he thought this would be perfect for their little date. Diana absolutely loved the idea and couldn’t wait till they got there.

Both of them were sad that the night had ended so quickly or so they thought. It was in fact 1 a.m. and they had already spend ten hours together. Diana brought Damiano back to the motel with her car and of course he couldn’t leave without planting a kiss on her lips. They kissed for a while before finally letting each other go.  “We’ll be leaving soon”, Damiano said and looked at their intertwined hands in his lap.  “Already? You just got here two days ago”, Diana complained. She just met him and now he is leaving already? She wasn’t prepared for that. She knew he was leaving at some point, he had to he didn’t live in the US, but still she had hoped for a little more time together.  “Maybe we’ll come back soon. We have a meeting with our agent and that record label guy tomorrow.”  “Could we meet up after? We should catch dinner together, I have another day off”, she suggested. Damiano agreed, kissed her one more time before leaving her car and making his way to his motel room.

The next day

Diana waited for Damiano in front of a large building. She was enjoying the sun on her face when she felt two arms coming from behind and hugging her on her stomach.  “Ciao, amore mio. Sei adorabile oggi”, Damiano said into her ear before kissing the side of her face.  “Ciao, you don’t look to bad yourself”, she said as she turned around. She grabbed his face in her hands and kissed him on his lips, his mates cheering them on in the background. “How did it go in there?” With that question Damiano’s face broke out in a wide grin. “What?”  “Amore, we’re staying here in the US. We got a record deal, we will be here for the entire year!” he shouts and all five of them jump in celebration. “I was going to tell you at dinner, but I just couldn’t wait anymore. We can be together, amore.” Diana broke out in tears, nodding her head, for she had never met a man who she loved more than Damiano. Her Italian lover boy.

[moonlit-seren]

Reasons To Stay || Jung Yunho x Gender Neutral Reader

Summary: Y/n’s been working for one of the biggest news companies in Seoul for five years now, and like many others she/he wants a change in scenery. However, there are a handful of things keeping her/him from leaving, and one of them came in the form of an accidental blind date.

Genre: Fluff

Warnings: SOFTNESS OVERDOSE- None

Word Count: 7.7k

A/N: I’m posting my very first Ateez imagine on my two week anniversary as a new Atiny. I’m so psyched to be a part of this growing family and I’d like to thank @every1studio for welcoming me into it UwU. The main character’s best friend was inspired by this ray of sunshine right here @rubyyong, I wanted to show her a little appreciation for being one of the many writers who influence me to become better and let her know that I’m here supporting her from afar. So yeah, happy reading. <3

꧁Masterlist꧂

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I sighed, glancing through one of the floor length windows adjacent to my desk. It was a particularly nice day outside, the fluffy clouds casting dark shadows on the world while the sun lit it up with a brilliant glow. The contrast was nearly eerie, like yin and yang, both the sun and the clouds out of our reach yet seemingly tangible if you lay on your back and reach your hands for the sky.

The streets below seemed busier than usual, the already terrible traffic appeared far more congested than normal. Due to the lack of movement in the streets, the multitude of car horns blared in a messy diarray with one another, the loud sounds varying in pitch but all sharing one thing in common. They wouldn’t stop.

Looking down at the vehicles made me glad that the office’s walls were soundproof, otherwise everyone in the building would have gone deaf by now. However, there were a few unlucky people on the street who had to endure cacophony of car horns as their speed quickened while walking to whatever destination they had in mind.

“It’s terrible isn’t it?” asked one of my coworkers, the newly promoted intern seeming to appear out of the blue. Her name was Chloe and she was one of the few reasons why I hadn’t quit my job yet in this suffocating office building. We worked for one of Seoul’s biggest news companies, her in the creative department and me in the editorial department.

Our departments were located on different floors, so it surprised me to see her standing here, one hand fiddling with her ID badge and the other resting on her hip. Her eyes were trained on the streets below like mine were, before fluttering up to meet mine while waiting for my response.

I simply nodded as my eyebrows furrowed, hoping that the traffic wouldn’t be this bad when I had to drive back to my apartment in the evening. It already took a solid half an hour to drive back home without any traffic jams, and just imagining trying to get back while moving at a snail’s pace… Well, I honestly didn’t even want to imagine that.

“I heard someone in the elevator say that the city closed a few roads to repair them, so that must be the reason why there’s so much traffic,” I stated, eyebrows arched and lips pursed in an expression that read ‘I don’t really know’ while I shrugged to emphasize my lack of knowledge over the situation.

Chloe nodded as if to show that she’d agreed with my thoughts, her sleek high ponytail bouncing with the movement. She was wearing a knee length, peach colored sundress today, with soft magenta roses littering the garment like powdered sugar on freshly baked cupcakes. Her excellent sense of fashion always brought a bright burst of liveliness into the office, regardless of whether she was in a black, leather jacket or a pastel blue sweater top.

The comparison I always made, much to her distaste, was a small, yet thriving plant amidst a world of manmade objects and other inanimate items. I thought it was fitting. She just found it cliché.

It was a little off how we ended up as friends. Originally I thought that it’d be best to keep my distance, as bubbly people tend to get annoying after a while. Although, when I was asked to show her around the building, I realized that her perkiness was a breath of fresh air compared to the droopy gazes of the sleepy workers mulling about on my floor.

She was a ray of sunshine that lit my dim world and inspired me to let loose and remember what it’s like seeing things from an optimistic point of view. To put it simply, she helped me learn to live again, something I had forgotten when I reached adulthood.

Suddenly seeming to remember why she was up here, Chloe let out a small “Oh, right” while snapping her fingers before turning her body away from the window to face me instead. “I just wanted to inform you that it was lunch break, since you tend to forget while you’re immersed in the fancy world of grammar and punctuation.”

Her wild hand gestures accompanying the last three words of her sentence had me rolling my eyes. It was a known fact that no one on my floor, except for me, actually enjoyed correcting the numerous grammatical errors of others.

I couldn’t blame them though, since most of us were just here to make a living. Which brings me to my second reason for tolerating my job. I used to love the idea of doing something in this field for a living, words always had a way to entrance me in them which explains why I practically lived in libraries growing up.

I practically jumped at the opportunity when I was offered this job, but after five years of being stuck here, the magic of it all faded away into oblivion. Originally I was only working part time, since I was in my second year of college, but when I graduated I was given a full time job.

Of course, when I entered the company, I started at the very bottom of the corporate ladder. My main job was to be an errand girl like Chloe was before her promotion. I won’t even lie, it was absolutely horrible, and I know the girl in front of me would agree.

I can’t even recall how many cups of coffee just a single worker needed, as they would all fall asleep otherwise. In the first few hours of the morning, the demand for coffee was so great that I had petitioned for there to be five coffee machines rather than the two that we had.

Needless to say, I went home everyday with at least one new burn from the boiling hot liquid I had to carry around, and my hands really weren’t a pretty sight due to them. Thankfully I learned my lesson after the first week, opting to buy gloves that would help protect my hands and a bright red stop sign I attached to my tray so that people would stop running into me.

It was quite the sight, and really just a mortifying memory I have ingrained in the back of my head. Though Chloe didn’t have it as bad, shortly after I was promoted the company bought three more coffee machines as requested and hired more people so that there were more sets of hands dealing everyone their daily doses of caffeine.

Which brings me back to present day, as a 22 year old who seemed to age mentally far beyond my actual years living on this earth.

“Yeah, I didn’t notice the time. Do you want to go get a drink with me? I heard a new cafe opened up a few blocks down and so far there have only been positive reviews from the people I’ve asked about it,” I asked, kind of hoping that Chloe would agree to go, because who wouldn’t want some company?

However, I could see her response before she verbalized it in the way that she furrowed her eyebrows with a slight pout. “I can’t, there’s a new batch of interns that came in just yesterday, and for some reason none of them know how to work a coffee machine.”

I laughed at her predicament, imagining Chloe surrounded by a small group of college students too used to buying an overpriced coffee at a local cafe than to make their own brews with a machine.

“Okay, have fun,” I teased, standing up to stretch my back and roll a few cricks out of my neck. Chloe cringed at the little pops and cracks, reaching behind me to help pick up my bag that strewn across the back of my chair. It was pretty warm outside still, being in the early months of fall, which is why I didn’t have a coat with me.

I thanked her as I slipped the bag over my shoulder, before walking away with a slight wave. Since Chloe wouldn’t be going with me today, I decided to get her something at the cafe since I knew her taste in pastries and drinks quite well.

The elevator ride was pretty quick, albeit rather crowded as large groups of people were also on their way out to enjoy their break somewhere else.

The company was rather generous with its workers, allowing them a full hour long break before returning back to their 9-5 schedule. Maybe that was my third reason for staying at the company despite being sick of the mountain of words I had to go through daily.

The elevator reached the lobby floor with a small ding, the door nearly closing on me as everyone shuffled out of the metal box. I had allowed myself to get trapped near the back of the elevator as people piled in, which was why I had been the last to leave.

The front lobby was rather big, with a fancy granite front desk with gold accenting, and several marble columns spread around the floor to support the high ceiling.

To the right of the front desk was a small sitting area marked by a sprawling beige rug, dark leather couches, and a bamboo table resting in the middle. To the left of the front desk was a small water fountain with a family of koi fish lazily swimming about the bed of pennies and nickels thrown in.

I never really understood the point of throwing coins into fountains. People were basically wasting change, poisoning the fish, and drowning their elusive dreams in a supposed wishing well.

Still, I never voiced my thoughts out loud. After all, I didn’t want to crush the pure wishes of the children begging for coins from their parents in order to perform the simple act of hoping.

Not to mention that I had also fit into that crowd as a young girl, making desperate wishes to get the boy I liked to like me back. Of course, they were all left unheard, or maybe even ignored, which only served to fuel my distaste for making wishes on copper coins.

I’d much rather save my change to tip baristas, as I finally understood their struggle after having made hundreds of cups of coffee myself. It was a grueling task and I couldn’t help but sympathize with anyone who had to do what I did as an intern for a living.

Speaking of which, I made my way out of the front door of the office building, immediately cringing at the racket of noise that met my ears. Much to my bittersweet relief, the cars seemed to be moving a tad bit faster than earlier.

Albeit, the new set of cars didn’t sound any different from the last set, with their loud beeping at the mini traffic jams that hadn’t quite thinned out yet.

I reached into my purse and pulled out my earbuds, skilled fingers working quickly to untangle the messy knots the cord had fallen into. There had never been a day where I found them neatly folded like I had left them, so untangling them had become a regular part of my daily routine.

It didn’t take very long, and soon enough I had them plugged into my phone and placed in my ears. Going to my usual playlist, a slow smile spread across my face at the song that had arisen first by chance.

The noise of the car horns completely drowned out with the melody playing in my ears, and I happily mouthed along to the lyrics when the sidewalk before me cleared of any prying eyes as I walked down it.

The only people who could see me making a slight fool out of myself was the people in the cars adjacent to me, nevertheless, they all seemed far too preoccupied with their own lives to notice. Some were on their madly typing away at their phones, others messing with toys they had received with their fast food, and in the driver’s case: vigorously slamming their fists on their horns as if it would help resolve the situation.

“Snapping, snapping,” I whispered softly, eyes taking on a playful lilt as I fell into step with the beat of the song. Despite wanting to burst out dancing, I restrained myself as my mouth snapped closed with an audible click when a figure appeared several feet in front of me.

I wasn’t quite ready to let go of my dignity to the extent of having a little dance break in the middle of the sidewalk of a bustling city. I could practically see steam coming out of the nose of the young woman in front of me, so I popped out an earbud wondering what she could be fuming about.

“Stupid date left me waiting there… Screw men… If I ever get my hands on him… He’ll be dead meat…”

The rest of her words faded with the growing distance between us, having already passed by her as she was walking off in the opposite direction.

“She must’ve been stood up,” I thought, almost pitying her if not for her horrid attitude and snobby scowl. Her date might of had a reason for not showing up, who knows?

Realizing that I had reached my destination, I looked up to check the name of the cafe to be sure. The sign was done in a beautiful gradient with a faint blush pink fading into a vibrant fuchsia. Looking out front, there were bright posters taped to the windows advertising popular drinks and desserts.

Just from the prices on the posters, I could this was a higher class joint, as there was even a small seating area outside with large, turquoise blue umbrellas shielding the tables from the sun. Not to mention that the place also offered breakfast and lunch despite just being a cafe.

In spite of the high prices, I stepped through the door, taking notice of the white daisies growing in the pastel green window boxes. The golden bells above the door chimed, notifying my entrance.

Like always, I was instantly hit with the heavenly scent of freshly ground cinnamon and coffee beans that most cafes seemed to boost.

After becoming employed, I never really had to worry about spending a little extra on a higher quality drink everyday. The high paycheck was the fourth reason why I found the idea of leaving my job so difficult. Besides, It never hurt to have a little extra cash in my bank account in case of a financial emergency.

Slowly making my way to a booth, I took in the interior of the cafe. The walls of the joint were painted the same color as the window boxes, with accenting lining the corners of the spacy room matched the color of the umbrellas outside. The round tables had a translucent glass top with black metal legs, and the chairs sitting around them were made of the same black metal twisted into an intricate design.

I highly doubted the large jewels in the back of the chairs were made of real glass, though they shone the same way a real gem would in the soft lighting coming from the beautiful light fixtures dangling from the ceiling.

There was a marble front desk where the cashier was incase someone just wanted to grab a takeout coffee and/or pastry. Speaking of which, there were numerous display cases lining the marble counters filled with various treats ranging from rainbow colored macarons to cream filled mochi.

Although, there were waiters and waitresses that came to you if you get their attention, in case you have the time to sit about, which is what I choose to do. Standing in line in front of the cashier just seemed like far too much work today, so I decided to just skip the wait.

I sat down in one of the empty booths lining the wall of the cafe. They also had glass table tops, however they were rectangular and the seats were made of artificial black leather the same shade as the chairs in the center of the room.

Suddenly a tall figure burst through the front door, the bells in front of the door crashing together rather harshly unlike the gentle tingle they let out when I walked through.

The male seemed to be around my age, though it was rather hard to tell if he was older or younger considering how his youthful face was paired with a ridiculously tall stature.

The straps of his beige jacket fluttered behind him in the small gust of his abrupt entrance, nearly getting caught in the closing door. His almost puppy like features were framed was light blue hair that looked softer than the clouds I had been admiring in the morning.

I was suddenly struck with the creeping urge to run my hands through the strands, causing an immediate flush to race up my neck as I averted my gaze.

“What am I thinking?” I thought, embarrassment and guilt coursing through my veins. This was precisely why I avoided attractive men like my life depended on it, because I knew as a matter of fact that my dignity did.

The moment my eyes settled on someone who was remotely handsome, my heart raced so quickly that I felt a love struck school girl all over again. Nonetheless, I could never keep my eyes off beautiful specimen for long, hence why my gaze subconsciously traveled back to the male standing at the doorway.

His eyes had been roaming the room, his shoulders sinking dejectedly as he didn’t seem to see who or what he was looking for. However, when he continued to look around his eyes met mine, much to my horror.

His eyes lit up, his mouth forming a little ‘o’ shape, as my eyes snapped back to my lap. A string of curses flew across the forefront of my mind at getting caught staring, as I desperately hoped with all of my being that he wouldn’t walk over.

Of course the heavens ignored my plead.

The cute male slid into the seat across from mine with an apologetic smile. Which struck me as odd as I should have been the apologetic one. Yet the words that slipped out of his lips were far odder, in my opinion.

“I’m so sorry for being late, the traffic today truly was horrible and I ended up stuck in this one traffic jam for…” he started, trailing off as he lifted his wrist to check his watch for the time. “An hour.”

“Huh?” I asked, completely confused. An extremely attractive stranger suddenly appeared out of nowhere, approached me out of all the pretty girls sitting alone in this cafe, and started apologizing when we had never met each other before?

I was about as lost as the person across from me was hot. Like dang, his visuals really attracted the curious gaze of all the aforementioned ladies sitting around the room.

Suddenly something nagged at the back of my mind, the vivid image of the woman from early resurfacing from my memories.

Oh.

He must have thought that I was his blind date.

I opened my mouth to explain the situation, but before I had the chance to collect my thoughts, the guy started talking once again. He had been taking off his coat so he didn’t see the way I had been gaping while pondering how to tell him he had mistaken me for someone else.

He looked up at me, eyes widening when he realized that he never introduced himself. A spellbinding smile spreading across his soft features as he held his hand across the table for a handshake. “Right, my name is Yunho, it’s nice to meet you.”

I hesitantly took his hand, introducing myself with a shaky smile. One look into his warm eyes and I knew that I couldn’t break it to him that his real date had left like a fiery hurricane while spitting out curses like a tasteless rapper.

Yunho repeated my name slowly, as if the savor each and every syllable with a thoughtful smile. It was clear that he was about to drop a cliché pickup line from the way his eyes sparkled mischievously, however, that didn’t soften the impact as my cheeks flushed red. “What a beautiful name.”

What he did next completely caught me off guard as he started mumbling to himself with a sly smile. “I wonder what our ship name would be…”

Deciding that my heart wouldn’t be able to take anymore of his cheesiness, I waved one of the waiters over.

“Ready to order?” Asked the waiter, his ears tinting red when I directed my gaze at him. His grip tightened a little on his mini clipboard and pen, eyes averting to Yunho instead.

“How cute,” I thought, slightly flattered over his actions. Although I never really dated before, I could recognize that smitten expression anywhere. It was then that I recalled that I never actually looked at the small menu, however, that didn’t turn out to be a problem as Yunho ordered for the both of us.

“Have you been here before?” I asked, surprised because I never saw him look at the menu either before the waiter walked away. The cafe opened a few days ago, so it wasn’t entirely unbelievable that he had gone before, though I didn’t think that was the case.

“No, I just ordered the special today if that’s okay with you,” he admitted, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. His shy smile was a stark contrast to the confident front he had thrown up while flirting with me.

I smiled, nodding to assure that I didn’t mind as I would’ve done the same thing. From his timid gaze, I could tell that he never really went out on dates, which greatly relieved me as I hadn’t either.

The waiter came back around again in a few minutes with two plates of omelets with hot cheese oozing out of the seams and juicy, cubed tomatoes peeking through pale yellow egg. On the side of both plates were small bowls of freshly cut fruit topped with little mint sprigs.

It gave off a very insta worthy aesthetic, so I fished out my phone before taking a bite, raising the camera. A smile unknowingly spread across my face at how at peace Yunho looked with the warm afternoon sun perfectly catching the soft curves of his full cheeks while simultaneously dusting golden flakes into his umber eyes.

I lifted my camera a little further, so that it still captured the plate before me but also included Yunho’s adorably focused face. His eyes snapped up at the sound of the camera clicking, fork dangling an inch away from his mouth as I had caught him midbite.

I put my phone away, bashfully mumbling that he looked like an angel glowing in the sunlight like that and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to capture the moment. He blinked a few times in surprise, before laughing softly.

“You should’ve told me beforehand, I could’ve posed,” he teased, cheekily wiggling two peace signs in front of his eyes before drawing up two finger hearts.

I blushed, internally cooing at how cute he looked with such an innocent sparkle in his eye that I thought only existed in children. He was everything he looked like at that moment. A complete and utter angel who radiated purity under the glimmering sun.

Deciding to get something to drink, we called the waiter over once more, who whipped out his mini notepad habitually. And like earlier, he refused to meet my gaze for long, something both Yunho and I noticed.

Yunho flashed me a wink, nudging his head subtly at the waiter as if we weren’t on a date ourselves. I hid a giggle behind my hand at his goofy antics, quickly returning my arm back to the table when the waiter glanced up at me for a second.

“I’ll take two bubble teas with normal tapioca,” I requested, biting back a smile at the bewildered look Yunho shot me. He asked for an iced latte, eyes never leaving mine as the waiter walked away.

“Do you really like bubble tea that much?” He asked, a little awestruck. It wouldn’t have been all that surprising if I did, since everyone on Earth had one big craving they could never get enough of. So, I nodded firmly, looking him dead in the eye with a stoic “yes”.

He looked scared for a moment as if worried he said something wrong and at that I couldn’t hide my snicker.

“I do, but the second cup isn’t for me. I promised a friend that I’d bring her back something since she couldn’t go out for her break,” I explained, smiling cordially as his expression melted back into its usual peaceful bliss.

“How thoughtful,” he whispered, but I heard his sweet words as my disappearing blush suddenly bloomed all over again. I chose to ignore his comment, eyes flashing up to the waiter who reappeared once more with our drinks and a plate of bite size sugar cookies.

He placed all three cups down before putting down the plate with a quiet clinking sound. “Here’s a complimentary plate of sugar cookies for all customers who come during our opening week. Enjoy.”

And with that, he was gone again, almost tripping over himself in his haste to get away.

“Does he think I have the bubonic plague?” I wondered aloud, despite knowing why he was in such a rush. It was written all over the back of his neck and the tips of his ears in various hues of red.

“Maybe you should ask for his number,” mused Yunho, still very clearly amused over the waiter’s crush on me. I narorred my eyes at him, normally if a date encouraged you to pick up someone else then that’s a telltale sign that they’re obviously not interested in a relationship with you.

However, I could tell that Yunho meant everything that he was saying lightheartedly, so I decided to tease him back. “No thanks, I’d rather have yours.”

I could tell the unexpected flirt stunned Yunho, as his jaw dropped. I winked at him the same way he winked at me when the waiter came over, enjoying his flustered reaction. Despite the fact that Yunho would tower over me if we both stood up, he looked no bigger than a child at the moment shrinking into himself with a fiery blush. “Oh.”

I loved how table had turned, with how many times he caused my cheeks to tint pink. It was a small stroke of success, but I didn’t have the heart to continue. Taking the initiative, I asked him about himself, wanting to spend the time we had together developing a close friendship since he seemed to be a fun person to have around.

It wasn’t long before we fell into a deep conversation about ourselves. I learned that he was indeed younger than me by two years, and managed to convince him to call me noona but drop all other honorifics.

Honestly if anyone had told me that I’d end up on a date with someone younger than me, I wouldn’t have believed them. It was always a condition on my ideal type list that the male had to be older. Yet the ridiculous list completely faded away into nothingness in the back of my mind the longer I talked to Yunho.

Instead a new list wrote itself with only two conditions on it: His eyes had to sparkle like a galaxy of stars being reflected on a still lake and his smile had to hold the same warmth as a steaming cup of hot chocolate on a cold winter night.

In other words it was describing the person sitting right in front of me, as he threw his head back, laughing at one of the many comical stories I told him about my fanatical college days.

He was currently in college right now, majoring in the same subject that I majored in. It was nice having someone relate so hard to my past struggles, as he was going through the same things I had gone through with crazy strict teachers and boisterous students marching down the halls like they owned the school.

In return I told him about how I worked as an editor, along with a few facts about me that few people knew or cared to ask about, such as my lowkey love for the artist Chungha.

Yunho said that he had heard a few of her songs before too, leading us down another conversation about our tastes in music and other pop culture.

Sometime during the conversation, Yunho’s phone started to ring as he excused himself from the table. I called the waiter over again during that time, asking for a small takeout bag.

I stuffed the rest of the cookies into it, deciding to take them back to Chloe along with the drink. Pausing for a bit, I pulled out one cookie and placed it back onto the plate incase Yunho wanted one more.

It wasn’t long before he came back, brushing off the topic when I asked him if the call was important. I didn’t want to invade his privacy, hence why I didn’t push the topic. In fact, I only asked because I didn’t want to keep him if there was some sort of emergency.

We picked up on the tail of our last conversation, reengaging in a passionate debate over which Harry Potter book was the best and other things of the sort.

Before I knew it, half an hour past and my break was about to end in twenty minutes. As much as I enjoyed learning about Yunho’s love for sports, fascination over the Harry Potter, and sweet but wild group of friends, I didn’t even want to think about how my manager would breath down my back if I came back late.

Looking down to see my empty cup, I realized with a start that my hand had somehow ended up in Yunho’s. During our conversation his hand had gotten closer and closer to mine, as I had left it lying on the table. I didn’t remember when that had changed, from the tips of his fingers brushing mine to slipping his hand on top of my own.

I wasn’t sure if he noticed this, but when I tried to remove my hand back from his grip, his hold only tightened as his thumb brushed the back of my hand. It became clear that it had been quite intentional.

“Hey, Yunho?” I asked, eyes lifting from our hands up to his face.

“Yeah?” He asked, sweet smile never leaving his lips before the corner of his lips quirked up into a small smirk. It was clear that he was only teasing me by not letting go, as I uncomfortably shifted in my chair.

Deciding not to mention it to save a little bit of my pride, I glanced over at the antique clock on the opposite wall. “My lunch break is nearly over, I have to go.”

He nodded in acknowledgement of my statement, reaching over with his free hand to sling his coat over his arm. “Is it close to here?”

“Yeah, just a ten minute walk away.”

He got up, pulling me up with my hand in his. Before I could comprehend what he was doing, he intertwined our fingers, taking the last sugar cookie off the plate and stuffing it in my mouth to muffle my protests.

My ears were burning scarlet as he led me out of the cafe, pouting slightly as I chewed. This guy seriously… A question floated up, bubbling through my mouth as I looked up at Yunho with furrowed eyebrows. “Did we just dine and dash?”

Yunho shook his head with a little laugh, eyes shifting down to meet mine before looking forward again. “No, I covered the bill earlier.”

That had me pause in my step, causing Yunho to come to a stop too since our hands were intertwined. I don’t recall ever receiving the bill at our table, nor did I hear Yunho say that he was going up front to pay, otherwise I would’ve forced him to split the bill. Although, there was that one time he left to take a call…

That was when the realization of what had happened dawned on me and from Yunho’s knowing smile he could tell that I had figured it out. “You didn’t.”

“But, I did.” he chuckled once more, pulling me forward as he began to walk again. It was clear that he didn’t actually know where we were going, so I widened my stride a little so that we would be walking side by side. It was rather sweet how he intended to walk me back to my office, the same way a guy would take a date home.

Before we got far, my phone went off, the familiar tune of Chungha’s debut song filling the silence between us. My cheeks flushed pink at Yunho’s teasing gaze, deepening as he teased, “Didn’t you say you were just a minor fan?”

“Yeah, yeah,” I brushed him off, excusing myself to take the call. The caller ID read ‘Chlo~’ with a couple of red hearts after it.

“Where are you? You’re usually back by now!” Exclaimed Chloe from the other side of the line, the faint bubbling in the background signifying that she was currently in the lobby near the fountain.

“Sorry, I lost track of time,” I apologized, smiling sheepishly despite the fact that she couldn’t see me. I heard Chloe sigh, telling me to hurry up and get back because ‘she missed me’ before hanging up.

I slipped my phone back into my pocket, before swiftly making my way back to Yunho. “Sorry about that, my coworker was fretting over the fact that I wasn’t back yet.”

Yunho shook his head to dismiss my apology, saying not to worry about it since he was the one taking up my time.

Suddenly, a familiar voice could be heard from the distance coming closer and closer. “Stupid day… No, stupid date… Ditched by a guy now ditched by my clutch… I must have left if in that stupid cafe.”

The girl from earlier appeared in front of us as she rounded the corner, with her head down as she appeared to be typing away angrily on her phone. Pure and sheer panic coursed through my veins at the sight of her. If she was indeed who I thought she was, then the moment she opened her mouth, I’d be exposed.

However, before I could do anything, she slammed in Yunho’s chest due to not watching where she was going. Yunho’s hands flew to her shoulders to steady her, wincing at how he hadn’t seen her coming either since he had been looking at me.

“Watch where you’re- Oh,” she trailed off, eyes widening when she lifted her head up and saw Yunho’s face for the first time. It was almost comical how Yunho could attract the interest of everyone around him without even trying, me being included.

Her hands slowly slipped up to his arms, squeezing lightly while a flirtatious smile replaced her scowl. Since she was so close to Yunho, her back was to me and couldn’t see what I was doing.

Despite being wary of the situation, I couldn’t help but let out an over exaggerated, but silent, gagging noise. I muffled my own laughter at the act with the palm of my hand, however, Yunho didn’t have the liberty to, which was why he couldn’t hide his chuckle.

The girl clinging onto him was confused, but somehow took that as a positive sign as she started to bat her freakishly long eyelashes at him. “Hey, aren’t you Yunho? My name is Hayoung, I’m pretty sure a guy from my class set us up on a date. What was his name again… Junhao?”

I felt like my heart had stopped at her words, hands becoming cold and clammy as I looked at Yunho. Would he get mad at me? Maybe even leave and go on the date that he missed with Hayoung? In my defense I had tried to tell him that I wasn’t his date, though to be fair I really could have tried harder.

Still, Yunho didn’t notice my terrified gaze, instead looking at Hayoung’s hands which were shamelessly feeling up his biceps. He reached up to pry her hands off of him, stepping back to put some distance between the two of them.

“Yeah, that’s me, though I don’t think it’s appropriate to hang off a guy in front of his date,” he commented, shocking me to my core. Yunho finally looked at me with a soft smile, taking one of my hands in his once more.

Hayoung’s wide eyes weren’t nearly as large as mine as we were both baffled over what had just happened. My eyes kept scanning over Yunho’s face to see if I could get a read over his thoughts, yet all I could see in his eyes was the same warmth they always held.

He squeezed my hand in response, assuring me that he didn’t regret his actions as he turned back to look at a gaping Hayoung.

“Now if you’ll excuse us, we really need to go,” Yunho stated, quickly leading us away from the fuming girl.

Once we reached my office building, I stopped in front of it, saying that this was me. I gently pulled my hand out of his, shyly brushing a stray strand of hair out of my eyes.

Yunho, tucked both of his hands into his pockets as he stood in front of me, not quite wanting to leave, yet not having a valid reason to stay.

I took that as my que to ask the question burning in the back of my mind. “You didn’t seem very surprised at Hayoung’s appearance, did you know I wasn’t your date?”

Yunho nodded with a guilty smile, reaching up to rub the back of his neck in embarrassment. “Yeah, the call I took earlier was from my friend Jongho, saying that Hayoung called chewing his ear off. I also may or may not have known what she looked like beforehand…”

My jaw dropped at his confession, and to think that I had worried over nothing. “You knew and yet you approached me out of the blue? Why in the world would you do something like that? Not saying that I didn’t enjoy your company, but that’s kinda creepy you know…”

“Sorry, you were just the most attractive person I’ve ever seen in my life. Not to mention the fact that you seemed to be alone in the cafe,” Yunho apologized, eyes dropping to the floor as he was unable to meet my gaze in fear of being scolded. I was stunned into silence. That was the sweetest thing anyone had ever said to me, especially from someone so good looking.

Shoving down the reprimand I had in mind, I jokingly nudged Yunho in the ribs to get him to look at me again. “Well she didn’t really seem to be your type anyways.”

Yunho laughed at this, wholeheartedly agreeing with me. “It seems you know my type better than my own friends. Though to be honest, I’m pretty sure Jongho knew that I would never approach a girl like Hayoung and was only trying to get me back for finishing the last bottle of Sprite from his secret collection. We’re housemates.”

I laughed at his in depth explanation, relating to his struggles. Chloe moved in with me in the summer, a few months after we met. The air conditioning unit in her run down apartment kept breaking down and was twice the distance from the company than mine.

It was far more convenient with her as a housemate as we had more spare change to spend on the money we saved on rent with a split bill. However, with every housemate comes the temptation of stealing their things.

Just recalling that one time I finished the last slice of the cake Chloe bought… She deemed it fair play to sprinkle a few pinches of flour in our shared hairdryer while I was in the shower. Though I couldn’t get mad at her for it though, because she apologized immediately after, while laughing her head off. It was extremely fortunate for her that I loved her, otherwise she would have been in for it.

“Hey, you said you were an editor, but you never mentioned the fact that you worked for this particular company,” mused Yunho, drawing me back from the mini memory lane my mind had skipped down.

“Oh I must’ve forgotten to mention it,” I said, arching an eyebrow at Yunho who’s smile spread impossibly wider. I was curious as to why me working at this company sparked his interest so much.

“You know, I just passed my interview here a few months ago?” asked Yunho casually, eyes gleaming playfully at the way my eyes widened at his words.

“Holy spades, though why weren’t you with the other interns today?” I asked, recalling the reason why Chloe couldn’t join me today.

“Well we were toured around the company earlier this morning but when my group was handed off to this other woman I turned out to be the only person who knew how to work the coffee machine. I used to work part time as a barista,” he explained with a mirthful tone of voice.

“That’s explains it,” I thought, nodding at his words. As much as I loved talking to Yunho today, I knew my break was drawing to a close and that I needed to leave soon.

“Well, I guess we’ll be seeing each other more often then,” I smiled at him bashfully, already visualizing what it would be like seeing him around at the office in the future.

“Yeah,” he agreed, hesitating a little with his next actions before stepping forward and placing a chaste kiss on my cheek.

He pulled away with a burning red blush crawling up his neck as he waved goodbye and walked off, back in the direction of the cafe and what I assumed was his car.

I shoved down my own blush, trying to recollect myself as I stepped back into the front lobby of my apartment building.

Chloe was sitting on the rim of the fountain, seemingly preoccupied with her phone. It was clear that she hadn’t seen what went down outside, otherwise she would’ve pounced on me right then and there with a mountain of questions.

Sneaking up beside her, I dangled the paper bag of sugar cookies in front of her face with a small “tada”. Chloe looked up from her phone, smiling at the bag. “Ah, you’re back. Thanks.”

I also handed her the sealed takeout cup of bubble tea and a plastic straw that I had kept hidden inside of my bag. Miraculously there was still a few ice cubes left, as the cafe had its air conditioner turned pretty high to combat the early fall heat. Or maybe it was just that my bag had some sort of secret insulation tech embedded into the interior pouch. Who knows?

She accepted it with yet another “thanks” and popped the straw through the plastic covering. Taking a small sip, she hummed in content with the sweet drink. I grinned at her as she looked down at the sweet drink as if she was trying to see a visible difference between this mixture and every other milk tea she’s tried.

The cafe really did the name of bubble tea justice, with chewy tapioca pearls of a perfect consistency and a tea base with just the right amount of sugar and flavouring. It was a little pricier as expected, however the extra dollar was definitely worth it.

“It’s good isn’t it?” I asked, as she nodded without an ounce of hesitation much like I did at Yunho when he inquired about my love for bubble tea.

We made our way to the elevator arm in arm, with Chloe asking me why I had been gone for so long.

“Were you with a guy?” Chloe asked teasingly, expecting my usual mundane response of “no”. After all, dates were never my thing and she knew that quite well. I glanced at the bright red numbers flashing in the elevator’s screen, noticing that it had reached my floor.

“Actually, yes I was,” I stated mischievously, stepping out of the elevator when the door opened. I spun around, watching as Chloe’s eyes widened.

“What?!” she exclaimed, watching in horror as the door started closing before she could ask anymore questions. I knew that she wouldn’t risk angering her manager by going back late as she certainly would if she ran out of the elevator after me.

I waved at her as the door shut, laughing a little. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to get away from her later when we got home, however, I was too giddy to really think about how I’d suffer her wrath for dropping a bomb like that and just leaving.

Making my way back to my own desk, I plopped down in the spinning chair with a soft smile at everything that had occurred today. Sure, the traffic I’d have to deal with later might put a damper on my mood, and sure, I’d have to deal with Chloe’s inevitable interrogation but the carefree giddiness I felt at that moment felt like it would last forever.

When tomorrow comes, the internships will officially start and with them will come the one blue haired male that captured my attention today and heck, maybe he’ll be my fifth and final reason to stay.

[crystalninjaphoenix]

One Short Day

A JSE Fanfic

Yay, I wrote something that isn’t connected to pain for once in my life! Or at least, the most you get are hints and maybe a moment. I was planning on working on something else, but...I don’t know, I just felt like I needed something softer, and I’m sure there are people who need that too. So behold, an attempt at mostly-fluff! I just wanted to write the boys having fun out on the town, simple enough ^-^

It was rare that there was a full day they could all be together. A day where Schneep wasn’t working, Chase wasn’t recording, Marvin didn’t have a show, and Jackie didn’t have to bolt off at the last minute to do heroic vigilantism. A day where they could just do whatever they wanted, all of them, together.

They met up at Jackie’s apartment building. Naturally, JJ arrived first, then Schneep and Chase at about the same time. Just when they were starting to get worried, Marvin showed up, sprinting up to the group and skidding to a halt beside them.

“Late again, I see?” Jackie said when Marvin finally caught his breath. “Maybe we should just tell you we’re meeting thirty minutes earlier than we actually are.”

“Gimme a break.” Marvin rolled his eyes. “My phone was out of battery so I couldn’t check the time, then I got distracted.”

Jackie raised an eyebrow. “With what?”

“Um...” Marvin looked away, embarrassed. “I may have started playing Plague Inc...for an hour...or more.”

“Dude. Set a timer next time or something,” Chase said. “Ask JJ if you can borrow one of his watches if you have to, I dunno, anything.”

“Enough of this, we are wasting minutes,” Schneep said, checking his own watch. “Jackie decided what to do, what is it?”

Jackie immediately brightened. “Okay, so, we all know JJ hasn’t seen much of the town.” Everyone nodded. “So I thought we could give him the grand tour! Get lunch, go to the park, and I think the fair is open tonight so we can finish with that. That good with everyone?”

“So we’re just gonna walk all over town?” Chase asked. “Only two of us can drive, and none of us have a car right now.”

“Toughen up, Chase, walking’s good for you!” Marvin teased. “Right? Schneep, you’re a doctor, tell him I’m right.”

“He’s right,” Schneep said.

“See?!”

JJ snapped his fingers for attention. I thought we were wasting time? I certainly can’t lead the way, so I’ll ask one of you to.

“Right!” Jackie started off. “C’mon guys, lunch is waiting for us!”

They ended up at a local restaurant near the center of town called Kassie’s. It was a quaint little place, and since it was a warm day they decided to sit at a table outside. The chipper waitress gave them a plate of free fries, then took their order, and headed back inside.

“Is it just me, or is it kind of hot today?” Chase asked, fanning himself with some of the napkins.

“No, it’s not just you. God, I’m dying,” Jackie agreed.

“Jackie, you are not only wearing long sleeves, you are wearing two layers of them,” Schneep pointed out with a smile.

“Oh, you’re one to talk, Mr. Sweater-all-the-time!” Jackie rolled his eyes. “What about Jays? He’s got that vest/dress shirt on.”

JJ looked aghast. You four can run around and show your arms all you like, but I’ll have you know it isn’t proper for a gentleman!

“Are you implying we aren’t gentlemen?” Marvin asked, right before tossing a fry into the air and catching it in his mouth.

JJ raised an eyebrow. Indeed.

“I don’t care, it’s hot. I’m taking this off.” With a few flailing arms, Jackie pulled his hoodie over his head and tugged it off, revealing a Marvel-themed T-shirt underneath. “Ah. That’s better.” He looked around to see the others staring at him with wide eyes. “What?”

“Holy shit, Jackie!” Chase yelled. “Your arm!”

“Wh—oh fuck I forgot I was wearing short sleeves today.” Jackie looked down at his left arm. “Yeah, okay, I got scars, you can look all you want.”

“So that’s why I’ve never seen you in T-shirts,” Marvin realized. “Jackie, what the fuck happened?”

Jackie frowned, then coughed awkwardly. “Y’know...I’d rather not talk about it right now. Maybe later. Besides, Schneep already knows the story. ‘S how we met.”

“Honestly, you three are making mountains out of mole hills,” Schneep said. “Is fine now. You should see his torso, now those are scars.”

That only made the other three look more worried. Jackie sighed. “Look, guys, we’re having a fun day. We’re gonna have fun, and not gonna get all concerned, though I do appreciate it. And you—” he glared at Schneep “—need to stop saying that, ‘cause it makes it sound like I lost some epic battle instead of just having top surgery.”

Chase and Marvin relaxed in unison. “I’m still convinced you have, I dunno, fucking bullet scars or something,” Marvin muttered as Chase pulled the remains of the fries towards him.

“Oh yeah, but Schneep’s talking about the surgery. He’s done this before, and it’s no longer funny!” Jackie looked pointedly at Schneep when saying that last part, who just responded with a massive grin.

JJ was the only one who still looked concerned, but now that was paired with confusion. He looked around at the others. What is top surgery?

You could almost hear the hiss as the others all inhaled sharply in unison. They’d all forgotten for a moment that JJ didn’t know. Schneep cleared his throat. “Jackie, would you like to explain?”

“Right yeah. God, where do I start with this?” There was a slight pause in the conversation as the waitress returned with their food. The moment she was out of earshot, Jackie started up again. “Alright, so...” he leaned forward, hands clasped together, eyes wide and nervous. “You know how I call myself Jackieboy Man, right?”

JJ nodded. A moniker I never understood, but yes.

“Well, I didn’t always call myself that. Neither did anyone else. Because, well, they all thought that...I was a, uh, girl. Even I did. For the longest time I just sort of...accepted it. I only started to figure it out in high school. I got my first job, and one of the customers called me ‘that nice lady,’ and hearing it...just sort of surprised me. Like someone gave the wrong answer to a really easy test question. So...I started thinking, and eventually I realized that I wasn’t...actually a girl. That was when I renamed myself.”

JJ didn’t look any less confused. Why would they not understand that? Wouldn’t they be able to...see that you are not?

Jackie winced. “Well, no...you see, I...fuck.” Jackie put his head in his hands, took a deep breath, then looked up again. “I was born...in the wrong body. Top surgery is...it’s to get rid of the parts I didn’t want. Are you...are you getting this now?”

After a moment, JJ’s eyes widened. He nodded hesitantly.

“Okay. Good. Great.” Jackie sighed. “I don’t know if this word existed in the twenties, but nowadays we have ‘transgender’ as...a thing. When someone is something other than what their body is born as. I’m still a he. Or, just, anything but she, really. Literally call me anything but a girl. And please, don’t ask about what my name was before. Or what’s...down there. Those questions make me...really uncomfortable.”

My good man! JJ signed. Why would I do such a rude thing? And to my dear friend, nonetheless. 

Jackie’s shoulders slumped. He leaned back in his chair and exhaled in relief. He’d been dreading this conversation, but better to rip the bandaid off now. “Thanks, man. I...appreciate your understanding.”

JJ smiled. No trouble at all, Jackie! I may not fully grasp the concept, but that’s no reason to disrespect your wishes.

“If you want, I can answer questions. Just...later. And as long as you get I don’t represent everyone who’s trans.”

JJ nodded and gave a thumbs-up. There was silence for a moment, before Chase broke it by saying “Hey, guys, I made a Jenga tower out of fries.”

Schneep rolled his eyes, and immediately knocked over Chase’s tower.

“Aw you bitch!” Chase gasped. “You didn’t even play the game right!”

“Fuck your games. Actually eat the food like it’s supposed to be.”

“You’re just jealous cause you got a salad instead.”

“Maybe I am! Did you think of that?!”

“Dude, I just said I did!”

The rest of lunch was covered in the blanket of familiar banter. Jackie smiled to himself. God, he was so glad nothing changed.

About two hours later, the boys had made their way to the southern part of the city. That was where the park was. It had an official name, but everyone just called it “the park” because there was only one of them and it was shorter. The park itself was pretty big, with trees, paths, flowerbeds, and two playgrounds at either end.

Since it was the middle of the afternoon, there were quite a few families with young children hanging around, parents watching their kids climb all over the jungle gyms and pushing them on the swings. While Marvin and Jackie walked ahead, pulling JJ with them and talking his ears off, Chase and Schneep hung back a bit. Chase was staring at the families on the playground.

“Chase? Are you okay?” Schneep asked gently. 

“Yeah...yeah, I’m fine. It’s not a down day.” Schneep gave him a Look. “No, really! It’s just...y’know, seeing all the kids kinda bums me out. You know?”

“Of course I do, Chase,” Schneep said. He was probably the only one of the boys who did. “If you are feeling upset, you can go home.”

“No! God, no, that’s not what I meant at all. This has been good so far. I don’t want it to end.” Chase frowned. “Now I’m just...man. I’m starting to lose it.”

“Chase.” Schneep grabbed his hand. “If you are not enjoying yourself, we can always go do something more quiet. We would hate to push you to do something you are not up to.”

Chase considered it for a moment, then shook his head. “Nah, it’s not too bad. It helps that you guys are here, I think. But I’ll let you know...if it gets too much.”

Schneep gave him a long look, before finally judging that everything was alright. “Okay. You have to do that, or I am going to break into your home at night and yell at you for lying.”

“Okay, okay, I get the idea,��� Chase laughed. He looked down at their clasped hands. “You’re not worried people are gonna think we’re a couple, then?”

“What? Oh. Is there no such thing as regular hand-holding in this country?! Besides, it should not fucking matter. Also you are not my type anyway.”

“Yeah, you’re not mine, either. You’re a guy.” Chase and Schneep both had a good laugh at that.

Marvin looked over his shoulder at the two of them. “Are you two gonna walk fast or what?”

“Or what,” Chase said with a smirk.

“Oh, you’re hilarious. A fucking comedic genius. Hey guys!” he said that last part to Jackie and JJ. “We’re gonna slow down so these two assholes can join us.”

“Marvin, how dare you,” Schneep said, mock-offended. “At least be more creative in your insulting us.”

“No.” The two mini-groups merged together to form the main group once again. “So what’re you two talking about?”

“Chase is worried that hand-holding makes a couple,” Schneep tattled.

“Bullshit,” Marvin stated. Jackie went “yeah!” in the background. JJ frowned at the use of language, but nodded. “What makes a couple is the kissing. And romantic interest in each other, which leads to the former.”

“You say, having not been on a date in at least five months,” Jackie muttered.

“Shut your stupid face, you...lovely person.” Marvin pulled his wand out of his pocket and twirled it, like he did when he was nervous. “We’ve all been kinda busy lately.”

“Yeah...that’s true,” Jackie sighed. “But maybe if you went out more, you could find someone you could go out with. Just once, if a commitment isn’t your thing right now.”

Marvin frowned. “Why in the wide world of wingmen would I go on a date once deliberately?”

“A night of fun?” Schneep suggested.

“With a complete stranger that I have no interest in? No. I need to have some intrigue in whoever they end up being.”

“None of you are gonna get anywhere with him,” Chase said. “He doesn’t get one-night stands.”

“Damn right I don’t! There’s no point!”

And it just seems improper, JJ signed. If you aren’t going to court someone, don’t approach them at all.

“Marvin! You have an ally!” Jackie gasped. 

“Good. Finally, someone who agrees with me.” Marvin held up his hand and, after a moment of figuring out, JJ high-fived it. “Yeah! There we go, you got it!”

Jackie checked the time on his phone. “Alright, it’s starting to get a bit late. If we want to get enough time at the fair, we’re gonna have to book it to the eastern side.”

They didn’t actually run the whole way there, despite Jackie wanting to. By the time they got to the fair the sun was starting to set. They bought tickets and headed inside, where the Ferris wheel and the roller coaster towered over the smaller rides and the carnival games. It was a weekday, but it was one of the first days the fair was open, so the fairgrounds were crowded but not packed.

Chase gasped. “Games. We can do the games first.”

You do realized they’re all rigged, right? JJ asked.

“Who cares? They’re fun! Games now.”

Soon, the others started to suspect that the reason Chase was so eager to play games was because he knew he would win every time. The dude was scarily good. A combination of sheer luck, skill, and fuck-it-let’s-take-a-chance-ness led to many more victories than the others, something Marvin and Schneep immediately called him out for.

“You are cheating, I am sure of it!” Schneep huffed, folding his arms.

“Nah, just have a knack for it. And, in this case, practice.” Chase tossed one of the wooden balls back and forth while he waited for the carnival worker to hand him his prize. “Ya gotta aim for a bit above the spot where the third jug sits on top of the other two, then throw hard. It’s a bit of an arc.”

“No, you’re a cheater,” Marvin asserted, muttering darkly.

“Aw, c’mon! Here, will this make you less salty?” Chase accepted his stuffed prize from the worker, then handed it right over to Marvin. “I got it for you! You like cats.”

Marvin glared down at the plushie. “You’re lucky it has a cute face,” he said.

“See?!” Chase smiled. He was actually having a good time. It was a good change of pace from the park.

Eventually, everyone had a prize except for JJ. They were running out of games to play, but then Jackie spotted one of those ‘find the ball under the shuffling cups.’ “Hey guys, you up for that one?”

JJ brightened. I’m actually quite skilled at those!

“Well, then, let’s go!” Jackie pulled him over, the others in tow.

The carnival worker was calling out the rules of the game. “You get one, you win one of these lovely roses, you get two in a row, you win one of these tiny fellows here, and you get three in a row, you win one of these adorable penguins! Step right up, step right up!”

“Hey!” Jackie waved to get the worker’s attention. “We want to play!”

“Well then, young sirs, the rules are simple. Keep your eye on the ball, see right here, right here, it’s under the middle cup. Now watch as I take the cup this way, then that, then this and oh look at that! It’s goin’ fast, it’s goin’ fast don’t lose it don’t lose it! Now, which one is the ball under?”

Jackie was fairly sure he knew where it was, but he turned to JJ anyway. “So, which one?” he asked.

JJ bit his lip, then reached forward to point at one of the cups...only for the worker to slap his hand away. “I’m sorry sir, please don’t touch the cups. To prevent tamperin’, see? Just tell me.”

JJ looked a bit stunned at the worker’s aggressive tone. But he signed It’s under the left one.

“Excuse me?”

“He says it’s under the left one,” Marvin jumped in.

“...ah, I see.” The worker lifted up the cup to reveal the ball. “Seems you were right. Do you want to try again?”

The boys glanced uneasily between each other. The worker’s tone had dropped from the polite-carnival talk to one that was a bit...short. She was also talking much slower than she was before, drawing out the vowel sounds. “He can hear you perfectly fine,” Chase said. “He just can’t talk.”

“Mmm...I see...” The worker pursed her lips. “Do you want to try again?”

They all nodded. The worker was silent this time as she shuffled the cups, faster than before. When she stopped, she looked at Jackie. “Which one is the ball under?”

Jackie had a vague idea where, but he wasn’t sure. “JJ, do you know?”

The left one again, JJ signed, less enthusiastically.

“The left,” Jackie translated.

The worker frowned as she revealed the ball under the left cup. “You boys aren’t cheating, are you? Those weird gestures seem like symbols.”

Marvin laughed bitterly. “Yeah, they’re symbols alright. They stand for words. Do you not know how sign language fucking works? He’s telling us the answers ‘cause he’s the best one at it. Now let’s do this one more time.”

The worker shuffled the cups impossibly fast. Once more, she asked Jackie where the ball was. This time, he had no idea, and just looked at JJ. JJ, in turn, stiffened a bit, eyes hardening. It’s under the right one, though I wouldn’t put it past her to sneak it up her sleeve.

“Right,” all the boys said in unison.

The worker reluctantly lifted up the rightmost cup to show the ball sitting underneath. “Congratulations,” she said dully. “You win one of the big prizes. What color do you want?”

Turquoise, JJ signed. “Turquoise,” Jackie translated.

They walked away from the booth in silence. After a few moments of walking, Marvin said, “I could totally put a curse on her.”

“No,” Jackie said firmly.

“Just one little spell. She can lose her voice for a week.”

JJ shook his head, then tucked his prize under his arm so he could use his hands to sign. Revenge is never the best answer. 

“It’s what she deserves!” Marvin snarled. “She was making that difficult on purpose. I saw her, she was going much slower with the customers before us. JJ, I’m so absolutely sorry on her behalf, cause god knows she’s not gonna fucking apologize.”

It’s okay, JJ insisted. Believe it or not, I’ve faced worse, especially in my day. They were much less friendly back then.

“I am sure you are not using that word in the correct meaning,” Schneep mumbled.

Marvin shoved his hand into the pocket containing his wand. “One hex. Come on. Just one. I won’t even make her ears fall off or anything.”

Everyone refused to let Marvin curse the carnival worker, and he reluctantly relented. At this point, they’d finished with the games, and all that was left were the rides. They took turns, one or two of them sitting out to watch the accumulated prizes while the others spun and flew and then stumbled off the rides. After trying most of the rides out, they took a snack break for ice cream and cotton candy.

“I think the Ferris wheel is the only one left,” Jackie said. “Unless we want to catch that sideshow thing. There’s supposed to be magicians—”

“Fake,” Marvin interrupted.

“—clowns, animals, and they advertised a knife-thrower—”

Schneep nearly choked on his ice cream. “No.”

“Okay, got it. No show then.” Jackie nodded. “But I’m not too sure about the Ferris wheel. I know at least one of us is afraid of heights.”

“Yeah, uh, me.” Chase bit his lip. “But I think I’ll be fine if I don’t look over the edge. Unless someone else doesn’t want to go on it, then I’ll stay off with them.”

“I’m good,” Jackie said. “Schneep? Marv? Either of you scared of heights?” Both of them shook their heads. “Alright. JJ?”

JJ signed, A bit, but after all these dizzy rides, I’ll take something calm like the Ferris wheel, if you please.

“Alright. Guess we’re going on the wheel, then!”

Night had truly fallen by this point. The Ferris wheel wasn’t exceptionally tall, but it still rose above everything else in the fair, providing a fantastic view of the colored lights below. Instead of having the traditional two-person seats, this wheel had booths that could fit up to eight people, so all the boys fit into one just fine. The wheel turned, and the booth turned with it. Chase squirmed, resolutely not looking over the side. Jackie and Marvin did the exact opposite, practically leaning out of the booth to look down below.

JJ tapped Schneep, signing something real quick. Schneep nodded, then yelled “Can you two stop that?! You are going to fall out of the fucking side, and you are making Jamie nervous.”

“Oh, sorry.” Jackie sat back down.

“Aww,” Marvin groaned, but pulled back into his seat. “I hope you know I do this for you, JJ.”

JJ smiled. Thank you, it’s appreciated. And I’m sure your body feels the same way, having narrowly avoided a fall to great injury.

“Nah, I would’ve been fine.”

The wheel stopped. Their booth was right at the top. “Oh, fuck,” Chase muttered, covering his eyes with his hands.

“You know, you didn’t have to come,” Jackie said quietly. “We would’ve been alright letting you stay down on the ground.”

Chase peeked between his hands. “I know. But...it’s really nice up here. Quiet. And with just you guys. As long as I ignore the distance from the ground, I’m good. You’re my friends, you know, and you make everything better.”

“Oh, Chase,” Marvin gasped. “That’s...really sweet!”

“What? Didn’t think we where friends?”

“It’s...always nice to be reminded.” Marvin smiled softly.

Well then consider this your reminder, Marvin! JJ wiggled his mustache happily. I consider you all my friends, maybe even family. You are all wonderful people and I love having you in my life!

“Nooo, stop.” It was hard to see in the dark, only lit up by the lightbulbs on the Ferris wheel, but it was possible that Marvin was actually blushing.

“You know what? I love you guys.” Jackie grinned. “Not afraid to admit it! Best friends I’ve ever had.”

Schneep cleared his throat. “Yes, I feel the same. You are all great people, and I am fortunate to have met you. I...love you as well.”

“Aaaahck!” Marvin appeared to be trying to fold into himself. “Too much love! Fatality!”

Chase chuckled. “Marvin! Accept our love!”

We love you, Marvin! JJ signed eagerly. Now you have to say it back!

Marvin made a strange sort of groaning exhale before inhaling deeply, calming down. “Yeah...I—I love you guys too. God, I love you guys so much. You should all know that.”

“There we go!” Jackie said, triumphant. “Marvin, you are, truly, the emotionally constipated one. And I thought Schneep was the worst.”

“Excuse me?!” Schneep gasped. “I assure you I am very love-sharing. I just do not use words too much because they are complicated.”

“Understandable,” Chase shrugged. “I can barely speak half the time, and I was born in English.”

I thought you were born in Ireland, JJ signed, amused.

“Oh, you know what I mean!”

The Ferris wheel started lowering, stopping and starting as it let passengers off. The boys stepped out of the booth and onto land once again.

JJ yawned. I must say that I’m rather tired after all this. I think it’s time we go home.

“Yeah, I’m starting to feel it,” Jackie agreed.

“You all are weak!” Marvin countered. “I’m good for another couple hours.”

“Watch you crash immediately upon entering your room,” Chase laughed.

“Oh, shut up.”

“I think JJ is right,” Jackie said. “It’s time to go home.”

Schneep nodded. “Yes, I could stay up longer, but I have morning shift tomorrow so I should not push my luck. I will see you all later?”

“Oh yeah.”

“Course, dude!”

“Definitely.”

Count on it!

With that, they left the fair. Eventually they split up, each heading their own separate ways until they eventually got to wherever they were staying that night. Some went to sleep immediately, some stayed up a bit later, but eventually they all went to bed.

And when they decided to do it, none of them had trouble for once.

[rosegoldachievement]

Where Good Girls Go To Die (Chapter 3)

pairing: fahc x reader

word count: 2,316

series: Where Good Girls Go To Die

summary:  You’re not quite sure what compelled you to move to the infamous city of Los Santos, a ruthless playground for drug dealers, washed-up celebrities, and criminals alike. It was very different from your small hometown in the middle of nowhere, where nothing ever happened and you couldn’t even leave your house without running into someone you knew, but perhaps that was part of the attraction. But, after running into your ex-best friend, Jeremy Dooley, you began to think Los Santos wasn’t so bad as it seemed. Well, until the bank you worked at got robbed and you managed to get kidnapped all in the same week, leading you to become stuck in a penthouse with six very deadly males.

chapter 1 / chapter 2 / chapter 3 / chapter four

Chapter Three: Bittersweet

Later that night, you had found yourself being pulled out of your slumber by a phone going off. With still closed eyes, you mindlessly extended your hand and brushed it along the surface of the end table. As your phone continued to send its cry for attention out into the open air, you found yourself changing your technique to a patting motion. Finally, the texture underneath your fingertips changed as you found your phone. The rather cold phone case made you grown but miraculously, you managed to accept the call and press the phone to your ear before time ran out.

“Y/n?” Jeremy’s voice broke through the speaker. You quickly retracted the phone from your ear and forced open your eyelids to read the caller ID. Once you got confirmation that it was indeed Jeremy on the other end of the line, you allowed your eyes to rest again. You let out a small noise of acknowledgement as a response. “Hey, I’m just checking in. I got kind of worried that you didn’t text me after work like you said you would.”

The afternoon of your re-connection with Jeremy, you had sent him a message so he had your number. This sparked a conversation between the two of you, and it had been carried over into the past couple of days. In a way it was weird, the rekindled friendship of the two of you. Sometimes, the two of you acted like the relationship you had was totally new. Which, it technically was, neither of you were the same people as you were before. But, there was still that sense of familiarity in the way you spoke to each other, the way that either of you would somehow bring up an old joke like it happened yesterday. And for some reason, you hated it.

The night previous you had mentioned you were starting your new job in the morning and Jeremy insisted that you text him when you get home to tell him all about it. You agreed and after telling him your shift hours, you went to sleep. Because of all of the commotion this morning, you completely forgot this promise.

“Sorry Jeremy. Today was just...” You trailed off in an attempt to figure out how to explain the day’s events. Luckily, the amount of brain power needed to do this task woke you up slightly. “A long day.”

“Is that still code for ‘today’s been shit’?” Your lack of reply to this question made Jeremy’s tone of voice change. “That bad, huh?” You wouldn’t consider yourself as a optimist, but you were admittedly more calm about the situation than when it first happened. Your time at the station gave you time to reflect on how lucky you were that you, or anyone else, wasn’t dead from the interaction.  But, that goes to say that this day was far from the best in your life.

“Yeah, it was pretty rough.”

“Did your boss chew you out or something? Where did you even get a job at, anyway?” You sat up in your bed and leaned yourself against the headboard, fully aware that this conversation was not going to end anytime soon.

“Pacific Standard Public Deposit Bank.” You expected Jeremy to bring the conversation to how you followed your father’s footsteps. Silence seemed to pass through the speaker for a moment before Jeremy spoke up.

“You were at the robbery.;;”

“How do you know about the robbery?” You heard Jeremy shift his body, the distant sound of sheets being ruffled filled the speaker.

“I saw it on the news. Are you okay?” Concern was evident in his voice. “I’m so sorry that happened to you, Y/n-”

“Jeremy, relax. I’m alright, I promise. I’m not going to lie to you, I was apart of a hostage situation but I’m okay. I’m sorry for not calling you, I came home and immediately fell asleep.” You attempted to convince him that you were indeed fine with today’s previous events.

“Alright, I want to take your word for it but I’m still worried about you. When you said you moved here, I suspected that you would run into crime. Hell, it’s impossible not to in this fucking city, but I didn’t think it would be so soon…” A beat of silence came between the two of you before Jeremy spoke up in a more positive tone.  “If you’re comfortable enough to go out tonight, maybe I can show you one of the places that makes Los Santos worth it?” You had to admit, ever since you had ran into Jeremy, you wanted to hang out with him again and hopefully this could be what was needed to end your horrible day on a good note. Jeremy was the type of person that had a carefree aura around him, which allowed whoever he was with to feel it too.

“Yeah, I’m feeling okay enough to go out.”

“Nice! Text me your address and I’ll be there in a little bit, okay?” You could envision the smile on his face as he said this.

“Will do. See you in a little bit, bye Jeremy.” With this you hung up and managed to force yourself out of bed. You sent him a text with your address and tossed your phone onto your bed. Your bedroom was still a mess, but luckily your clothes were all unpacked and put away in the closet. After rummaging around for something decent to wear, you finally settled on a hoodie, jeans, and sneakers.

It wasn’t long until you had received a text from Jeremy, saying that he was outside. You patted your pockets, making sure you had everything before heading downstairs to join him. Once you slipped out of the front doors of your apartment complex, you noticed a royal purple Pariah sitting in front of the sidewalk. Before you could text Jeremy for confirmation, the passenger door opened to reveal him leaning over from the driver’s seat.

“Need a ride?” He asked, then shifted back into his seat. You only chuckled at this and walked over to the car. After you had climbed into the car and shut the door, you put on your seatbelt. The familiar feeling of comfort settled into your bones.

“Never thought I’d see you driving a sports car.” You hummed as he began to drive out of the parking lot.

“It’s no Big Blue, but it works.” You smiled at the reference to Jeremy’s rusted powder blue pick up truck, the one he received on his sixteenth birthday that drove you and him across every inch of your hometown. You found yourself looking out of the window next to you, focusing on the way that the buildings basked in neon colors of the city. “That reminds me, how’s everyone at home?”

“Anyone in particular you want to know about?” You could faintly hear Jeremy’s fingers tap against the steering wheel.

“How about the old troop?” Throughout most of your childhood, you and Jeremy were considered the dynamic duo but sometime around the second year of high school, the two of you formed a small friend group.

“Mark is still trying to do that archery thing and Edger managed to get a job as a stablehand a few towns over. Taylor and I haven’t talked since she got married. I heard she gave birth to a baby boy last May. Anyone else?” “My parents?” You tried to hide the shock on your face when he said this. You couldn’t fathom the fact that Jeremy hadn’t had some sort of contact with his family for the last few years.

“They’re okay. I honestly don’t see them all that often, but sometimes your mom will say hi if we cross paths at the market.” You answered truthfully. Upon saying this, questions began to appear in your brain. The overarching theme of Jeremy’s absence seemed to be prominent in each one. As much as you wanted to ask him all of them, you opted to stay quiet, not wanting to come off as the bitter friend who assumed was left behind. Once you opened your mouth to continue the conversation and bring it to a different topic, Jeremy parked the car. The two of you got out of the car and you were instantly met with the smell of salt water filling your nose.

“Welcome to Del Perro Pier.” In front of you sat a boardwalk overlooking the beach. Various amenities and amusement park rides covered a section that protruded out into the water. Just as Jeremy had said, a large red sign with blinking yellow lights read Del Perro Pier. You turned to Jeremy with a teasing smile.

“This is what makes Los Santos worth wild?”

“Give it a chance.” He remarked as he began to go up the ramp to the boardwalk. You followed, eventually falling back into step with him. You had to admit, the concept of the beach was very compelling to you. Growing up, the only large body of water within radiance of your home was the town lake. There was something euphoric about swimming in the lake on a nice hot summer day but since it was the only swimming spot in town, it was hard to enjoy it with the amount of people that often inhabited it. You and Jeremy walked towards the portion of the pier that stretches over the ocean, various shops and carnival games were lined up on either side of you. Jeremy paused, causing you to do the same.

Jeremy’s mouth opened to say something, but your attention was focused on the booth behind him. Nested onto the shelf fixated on the sidewall sat a collection of stuffed bears, all arranged by the color of their fur. Tied around each one of their necks was a crimson colored ribbon. Jeremy must have noticed, because he turned his head to see behind him before looking back at you.

“Let me guess, you want one of the bears?” He chuckled. You shrugged and a shy smile came across your face.

“A little, yeah.” Jeremy turned around and approached the booth in which you had eyed up. You followed, fully prepared to give the game your all. But, to your surprise, Jeremy placed down the cash that was required before casting you a smile.

“I got this.” He insisted. The man in the booth accepted the money and begun to explain the game. Behind him stood a mock shooting gallery that had zombie animatronics. The goal of the game was when the zombie’s eyes glowed bright blue, the person with the cork gun would send a cork into the large target on the zombie’s chest. He handed Jeremy the cork gun and got out of the way by standing on the side of the gallery.

“Ready?” The guy asked, which earned a nod from Jeremy. The man pressed a button on the booth’s wall, which activated the zombies. You watched in awe as Jeremy’s focus snapped to zombie after zombie as their eyes changed, hitting them perfectly in the center of the zombie each time. It was strange to see him so comfortable holding something that resembled a gun, but you chose not to think about it too much.

A loud buzzing sound could be heard after roughly three minutes, signaling the end of the game. Jeremy placed the cork gun on the counter of the booth. The game manager then went around, examining the glowing red areas where Jeremy had hit the zombies.

“Good job, dude. Perfect score.” He congratulated Jeremy, who only smiled broadly. “Pick any prize you want.” Jeremy looked towards you, indicating that the choice was yours. Your eyes locked upon a caramel colored stuffed bear and pointed at it.

“Can we have that one, please?” You asked. The man nodded and retrieve the bear. He handed it to you and thanked you guys for playing. After wishing him a good day, you and Jeremy walked away to find something else to do.

After riding the ferris wheel and practically being blackmailed onto a roller coaster called the Leviathan, you and Jeremy decided to get ice cream to end your night out. The two of you sat at one of the circular tables outside of the ice cream shop, chatting about anything that sparked your interest. With the stuffed bear he had won you sitting on your lap, you put another spoonful of the (favorite flavor) ice cream into your mouth.

“So, how was it. Did Pleasure Pier live up to the hype?” Jeremy asked. You shrugged lightly, making sure the food in your mouth had vanished before you answered.

“It was nice.”

“Just ‘nice’? C’mon, this place is the bomb!” You laughed at his words.

“I’m a big fan of the concept that it’s who you’re with and not the place that make it a good situation.” Jeremy’s eyebrows furrowed as he pointed his spoon towards you.

“Take your sappy bullshit,” He then moved the utensil to point in another direction. “And take it somewhere else.” A warmth resonated inside of you, this was definitely the Jeremy you had come to love. Nethertheless, you rolled your eyes at his reaction and shot back a protest.

“That was only, like, not even five percent sap.”

“So, you admit it had some sap?”

“Anyway,” You chose to ignore his question. “Thanks for taking me out, Jeremy.” The robbery seemed like it happens months prior now, even though it occurred only a few hours ago. The little outing he provided helped cease some of the tightness that still lingered in your chest when you were getting ready for Jeremy to pick you up.

“No problem, y/n.” The fluorescent light that was fixated on the wall behind him flickered once, covering him in a dark shadow before illuminating his features once more. “Anytime.”

[tricia-swritingcorner]

Bad Family Reunions (Sherlock Homes)

1st post yay

2,998 words

~Makenna’s  POV~

‘Oh look it’s raining…again, just like every other day in London.’ Pulling my hood over my ragged hair I left my box hidden in an alleyway and headed towards a familiar café where I had my computer stashed. Two months ago my parents had decided they were fed up with my passion of writing and tried to make me apply to a university such as Oxford to become a doctor or lawyer. When I refused to do so my father threw me and my laptop out of their house, telling me that unless I give up my foolish notion of being a writer I am no longer a Pond. To be honest I would rather be a writer with an anonymous name than a person forced to do what their parents want for the rest of their life. Reaching my café I went through the backdoor and quickly went to my locker where my uniform lied. Thankfully I had a job before my parents disowned me and when I told my manager the story he made sure to give me a shift every day as well as keep my computer charged. Changing quickly I placed my hair in a tight ponytail before going to the front, beginning the process of opening up. Hearing someone come in behind me when I turned around I was happily met with the sight of my manager, Ashton.

“Hello Makenna how are you today?” Shrugging my shoulders I started brewing the coffee whilst Ashton started baking the cookies and other various sweets we had. As we worked the rain seemed to die down and customers started flowing in. Easily getting the initial rush of being open I was finally able to take a breath two hours later when Ashton let me go on break since a fellow employee came in when their shift started. Taking my charged computer from the break room I grabbed a water before taking a seat near a window. Opening my novel I was relieved to see that it did save where I left off. You see I write murder mystery stories which is probably why my parents weren’t very fond of my stories however I didn’t really care. Recently I was writing about a story similar to that of one made by a John Watson, it’s title was Study in Pink though after reading the story I think it could’ve had a better title.

“I see you’ve read my friend’s story, Study in Pink.” Flinching at the easily recognizable voice I turned my head only to be face to face with the Sherlock Holmes. Feeling shock run through my face I could only nod my head in silence. Seeing the smirk grow on his face I was surprised again when he took the empty seat in front of me, setting his cup of tea down.

“As well as that you don’t seem to have showered in a long time, either meaning you don’t have water or your parents kicked you out undoubtedly because of your passion for writing murder mystery stories. Correct me if I am wrong, which I normally am never, but you have been on your own for about four months now and the only time you get to write is during your breaks here at work and since this is the third day in a row I’ve seen you here means your manager has mercilessly allowed you to work every day just so you can have food in your stomach. Also you are a fan of my work but you believe the stories my friend posts on his blog could use renaming am I correct on what I’ve stated?” Blinking slowly I simply nodded my head before shaking the shock away, knowing that when people’s mouths are open like a codfish’s annoy the consulting detective.  

“Yes you are correct Detective Holmes, now if I may say I don’t believe my well being is your business.” Seeing no shock pass through his face I checked the clock on my computer and saw that I only had five minutes left in my break before I had to head back. Turning back to the consulting detective who was sipping on his tea I tilted my head to him before closing my computer.  

“Well this has been an entertaining chat but I need to go back to work.” Noticing a knowing look in his eyes I returned to my post at the counter where the consulting detective moved to. Giving him a questioning look I started taking orders when Mr. Holmes raised his cup in a silent need a refill. Sending the newbie over to him I could tell he wasn’t happy with what I did. Giving him a cocky look I continued working when he raised his cup again and the other two working alongside me were busy. Coming over to him I held my hand out for him to hand me his cup when he just kept it in his hand.

“You know, I wasn’t done earlier.” Shrugging my shoulders I took the cup, checking the tea bag for what it was.

“I figured however some of us can’t skip out on work, you should understand that since you deduced me.” Giving him a smug remark I easily made his drink and returned it to him, going to the next customer. Too bad for Mr. Holmes but my break coincided with the lunch rush which meant I would have little to no time to converse with the man until later. Luckily for me though he wasn’t as much as a pain as I thought he would be, only raising his cup whenever he was truly empty and not really conversing with me.  

‘I wonder what is going through his head right now, what highly functioning sociopathic thoughts he must have.’ Taking order after order I was glad that over time I’ve gotten quick reflex skills as well as better hearing due to the hustle and bustle of rush. Easily dealing with the two hour long rush when I came back to check on the consulting detective he was gone, leaving a five dollar tip with a note expressing that the tip was for me. Pocketing the tip I continued working until my next break rolled around at 4. As I placed my apron in my locker there was a loud bang from outside in the back alley.

“Makenna could you go see what that was?” Hearing Ashton call out to me I simply yelled out an affirmation before going to the back door. Poking my head out I looked to the right, nothing there, and then I looked to the left where I was met with a handsomely dressed male smirking towards me.  

“Excuse me but are you by any chance Makenna Pond?” Eyeing him curiously I shook my head since that wasn’t entirely true.

“My name is Makenna but I don’t have a last name, my parents never gave the hospital their names when I was born.” Making up a quick lie I could only hope that it would work on the unknown enemy since I knew who the man was. James Moriarty, the opposite of Sherlock Holmes, was the world’s only consulting criminal and if you crossed paths with him you were screwed if he did not like you and also my cousin. Seeing him twirl a knife in his right hand made sure to keep myself calm whilst again him, seeing as how he thrived when his victims are held by fear.

“Oh come now Makenna, you and I both know you’re lying. What were you and Mr. Holmes talking about during your lunch break?” Giving me an amused look in his eyes I made sure that I was close to the door before answering.

“He was deducing me and my writing, that’s all that happened. Now if you’ll excuse me Jim–“ Turning to the door I mistakenly turned my back on Moriarty which gave him a perfect opportunity that he took. Hearing him rush up to me in no time there was a cloth placed over my mouth that I could instantly tell it was chloroform. Holding my breath for as long as I could before Moriarty held my nose close I could hear his melodic voice before I passed out.

“Nighty night little mouse.” Slumping into his arms I couldn’t keep my eyes open for any longer until the chloroform took its toll.

‘Sherlock, help me.’  

~Switch to Sherlock’s POV~

‘I wonder what Makenna is doing.’ Staring out the window of my apartment I couldn’t help but wonder what that girl at the café was doing. Even though she was writing a story based on my own adventures I could help but believe that she made up the story herself, seeing as how nothing between the two accounts matched. Despite the fact she never introduced herself to me I knew that she figured that I read her name tag seeing as how plainly obvious it was. Taking a sip of my tea, I continued watching the rain fall until my phone started buzzing beside me.

‘Must be John or Mycroft if he is having a meeting with the only person regaler than him.’ Quickly picking it up when I answered there was only heavy breathing on the other end. Checking the caller ID I saw that it was an unknown phone which reminded me of the first case I ever had against Moriarty.

“Who is this?” Hearing a shaky breath I instantly could tell the person calling was being forced to do so, which meant Moriarty was back at it again.

“D-do you recognize this voice Holmes? I saw you and this one at the café but you’ve been watching her for much longer haven’t you?” Recognizing the voice instantly I gritted my teeth at the fact Moriarty had the guts to kidnap his own cousin. Yes it was true that I had been keeping an eye on Makenna for a few weeks now but only to see if she was anything like her cousin but in truth the two of them were nothing alike. While Jim was manipulative and cruel she was kind and patient. I honestly don’t know why I felt an attraction towards her but that might be the reason why Moriarty took her.

“Why do this again Jim? And why take her?” Keeping a straight face I made sure to keep my calm in order to not show fear. Hearing another shaky breath on the other end I got myself ready to hear her scared voice again.

“B-because you always look s-so love struck whenever you see her and I...I want to see both of you suffer. Y-you have six hours to find her and if you don’t…boom.” Before I could ask any more questions the line went dead, sending me into a panic. What could Makenna have possibly done to deserve Moriarty’s anger? Dialing up Lestraude I only told him that he was back and instantly the man knew what I meant. Telling him all of the details he told me that he was having intel trace my call but I decided to take things into my own hands. Heading to the café where Makenna worked only to see it closed. Knocking on the glass door I saw the manager, Ashton, poke his head out from the break room. Seeing him quickly run over to the door I could see relief rush over his face.

“Mr. Holmes, I am so glad to see you. This note was left for you where Makenna last was.” Taking the note in his outstretched hand I wasn’t surprised to see a feminine typography. Rolling my eyes at the flashy style I was glad that he at least left a note.

“Time to start this game again now go to the place where you thought I was slain.” Rolling my eyes at the stupid rhyme I knew instantly that he meant St. Bart’s Hospital, more specifically the roof. Thanking Ashton for the note I quickly left the café and went to the hospital. Normally once I got this far I would call John to drop whatever boring thing he was doing and come help me but right now he and Mary were having a second honeymoon in the US since they couldn’t really leave the country during their first one. Climbing up the stairs to the roof where I thought I saw Moriarty shoot his brains out I was slightly surprised to see someone already there, waiting for me.

“Hello Mr. Holmes.” When the figure turned around I was met with none other than Moriarty’s right hand man, Sebastian Moran. Seeing his smirk I could tell there was something in his inner left pocket that matched what seemed to be a gun.

“Hello Sebastian, have something for me or are you just happy to see me?” Sending him a smart remark I could see his smirk grow before he reached into his pocket, making me reach for my own gun. Only he simply pulled out another note, making me take a hand off my weapon.

“Nothing crude, just another note from my boss.” Handing me the note before I could say anything he jumped off the side of the building, with a bungee cord strapped to his waist. Not bothering to check on his I opened the note only to see another stupid rhyme.

“Next clue, hope you’re ready. Look in the place that that you were for a wedding.” Even though his words didn’t exactly rhyme I knew that he meant the reception hall where John and Mary had their reception and I had to speak as John’s best man.  

‘Hold on Makenna, I’m coming’

~Time skip to five hours and thirty minutes later and to Makenna’s POV~

It’s been five hours and thirty minutes since I last talked to Sherlock and boy was I becoming scared, maybe he wasn’t looking for me. Remembering the first case he had against my cousin I couldn’t help but laugh when I remembered that he didn’t bother learning about how the Earth travels around the sun. Honestly being strapped in a jacket covered in explosives riding the London eye was not something I ever saw myself doing. You see my father’s sister married a Moriarty and we never saw them since they lived in Ireland so I figured my cousin would never learn of my name or my face. Sadly I couldn’t have been more wrong since he’s been watching me ever since he entered England and has been wanting to get to know me but when he found out I wrote stories where the heroes always won I guess he wasn’t a fan.

‘Come on Sherlock, I know you can beat whatever Jim throws at you.’ Looking out onto the Thames I couldn’t help but feel scared, if he didn’t get to me in thirty minutes I was going to take down one of the most iconic landmarks in London along with many lives. In all honesty I hated being someone’s pawn in a game and right now that was exactly my purpose, which made it hurt more that it was my own blood doing this to me. Hearing the phone next to me start ringing I picked it up only to see that it was a blocked number, which meant it was probably Moriarty.

“Yes James?” Answering the call with a slight annoyance in my voice I could hear a light maniacal chuckle on the other end of the line.

“Your time is close dear cousin, hope your boyfriend is close by. Oh wait he is and unless he meets you at the bottom you’re going to be seeing your ex in hell.” Rolling my eyes which I didn’t care that he couldn’t see I simply stayed quiet. Feeling the cart come to a stop I saw the door get yanked open by one Sherlock Holmes, who of which had a bomb squad right behind him.

“I guess I have another day to live, see you later cousin.” Ending the call I dropped the phone, crushing it under my foot. Smiling I slipped off the now inactive bomb jacket and handed it to the bomb squad, remaining as calm as can be. Feeling Sherlock place his hand on my lower back I let him guide me to the ambulance where paramedics searched for any injuries on or in my body. Luckily I didn’t have anything so they gave me the clear to leave and told me to go home, relax, and try to forget what happened. First off I still don’t have a home and second, how the hell could someone forget what happened here?! Removing the shock blanket they placed on my shoulders I went to take my leave and return to the café where Ashton was probably worrying sick about me but I heard a pair of heels clicking quickly on the pavement behind me which gave me reason to stop. Turning around I was slightly surprised to see Sherlock Holmes running to catch up with me.

“Was there something you needed from me Mr. Holmes?” Watching his mannerisms I could tell that he was a bit hesitant to talk which was something I never would have expected from the normally calm consultant but with what has happened recently I can’t say it isn’t uncalled for. Meeting his normally emotionless gaze I could see a hint of hesitation I was about to ask if he was okay when he started talking.

“Since you are currently without a home and will have your cousin gunning for you, would you like to help me with rent at my flat?” Giving him a questioning look I shrugged my shoulders, seeing as how I had practically no other option.

“Why not?” With those two words the consulting detective and the murder mystery writer began their relationship as partners in crime.

~THE END~

[theawkwardterrier]

In the Little Glimmers

Steggy Positivity Week, day 3 Prompt: Firsts

Summary: Parenthood is exhausting.

AO3 link here.

“Remind me again why we decided to do this?”

Weeks together in European trenches and days strategizing in underground bunkers, and Steve’s never seen Peggy look so drained. She’s still beautiful, but lipstick and curled hair are a distant memory. He knows he won’t exactly be winning any beauty contests though; he thinks he took a shower recently, but wouldn’t swear that it was actually within the last forty-eight hours.

“Expanding our family,” Steve manages around a yawn. “Every child deserves a home.” Even serum enhanced, he’s so tired that his head decides to fall back against the headboard without his permission. He doesn’t know how Peggy’s still sitting upright. He tries to force himself to stay in the same position. Hana doesn’t like to be moved while she’s eating.

“So I suppose a well-meant donation won’t suffice?” she asks idly, shifting Tomi. He doesn’t mind the movement, but he’s heavier. They trade off holding each twin, Peggy deciding whether she’d prefer her arms stiff from sitting frozen, or from holding a sweet but substantial weight.

“I think it’s a little late for that,” Steve agrees. Hana whines a little, trying to find the nipple that’s fallen out of her mouth, and he focuses on her for a moment. He really has no idea how they dealt with these two, plus more, at that place.

They’d been married five years before they’d even started talking about children. Steve’s aware that it’s not the normal way of things, but he’d loved those years of learning how to be married, finding how to balance work and their time together, figuring out how to fight without anyone getting a gun aimed at them, and how to forgive without grave danger involved. He’d loved getting to spend time just the two of them. Peggy had gotten her promotions, finally gotten at least some of the respect she was owed. And eventually, just around the time Steve had started looking at the kids in the art classes he taught and thinking about raising one of his own, she had brought it up.

By then, the rumors about her had moved away from her refusing to give up her career for the sake of a family, to the idea that perhaps she couldn’t have children. As far as they know, neither of them has any issues in that area, but while Peggy had been opening herself easily to the idea of a family greater than two, the idea of pregnancy totally lacked appeal.

He can no longer remember which of them had suggested adoption, but it seemed to fit them right away. There are men, men Steve knows, who think of adoption as a last resort or even an unthinkable decision. But in Steve’s experience, parents died or left to find work or lost their houses; children found new homes all the time. Maybe it wasn’t an adoption with courts or records or shared last names, but people built families and took care of children however they could, and Steve and Peggy could better than many.

The process had been months-long, and awful. They’d gone to agencies that had frowned on the idea that Peggy would be working and Steve planned to be the one at home. They’d been to places that refused to bring any but the plumpest little cherubs for Captain and Mrs. America, until Steve had politely excused them because those babies would be scooped up regardless. They’d been to an agency that Peggy’d had to bust for the worrisome ways they found their babies, and one orphanage they’d called the board of health on because a plant shouldn’t have been allowed there, much less a child.

And then one day they’d gotten a call from a Mrs. Jenkins. They’d met her weeks before at the Catholic children’s home she ran, but she hadn’t seemed particularly enthused about the two of them.

“Thank you for coming,” she said as they once again sat down in her office. “I had thought to call you because you had mentioned that you might be open to some rather...unconventional children. We recently started looking to place a pair of twins, born several weeks ago. Their mother survived the birth, but later developed an infection. Neighbors say that her husband had been killed in an accident during the pregnancy. No one has been able to find any family, and there’s been some trouble finding the appropriate home for the two of them.”

“Why?” Peggy asked. “Is it that difficult to find people willing to take in twins together?” She traded a very brief glance with Steve; they hadn’t really discussed more than one child at first.

“No, it’s not that.” Mrs. Jenkins stood evasively and walked to the door, indicating to someone outside. Another, younger woman in a crisp uniform came in pushing a wide baby carriage, and, without even asking, took two babies from inside, placing one in Steve’s arms and one in Peggy’s.

“You might know that the general policy is to place children with families of the same race,” said Mrs. Jenkins, wringing her hands. “But as you can see, we’re having a bit of trouble figuring out what these children are…”

“What the hell does that mean?” Steve asked immediately, looking up from the baby in his arms. He thought she was a girl, but knew he might be fooled by the minute delicacy of infant features. “They’re kids.”

Mrs. Jenkins cleared her throat. “Yes, well, it’s been difficult to tell their precise–” She cleared her throat again. “Their origins, if you understand my meaning.”

Steve did know what she meant, but he didn’t care. The baby looked up at him, and he felt nearly nauseated by the thought of her growing up refused a family because no one could tuck her into a category. Her fist closed sleepily around his finger and he found himself mesmerized by the contrast in their skin tones.

“Well, I know exactly who they are,” said Peggy. She looked away from the twin in her arms, and asked Mrs. Jenkins coolly, “I assume there is paperwork for us to complete?”

They’d been sent home together a few days later, along with all the personal effects delivered from the apartment and several pamphlets of advice.

Peggy had not planned to take time off, but it quickly became apparent that it would be more difficult than she’d anticipated. The babies might sleep a considerable amount of time, but they didn’t do it sequentially, refused the schedules the doctor kept mentioning, and generally seemed to be plotting to be as disruptive as possible. Mari was actually a decent sleeper on her own, but woke up as soon as Tomi opened his mouth to cry. Tomi would fall asleep halfway through a bottle, leaving Mari to take forever to find her way back. The whole thing was exhausting.

Steve honestly didn’t know how Peggy did it, sitting up for midnight feedings with him and then waking up for work in the morning, but she’d never seemed to regret their choice. They’d gotten the chance to look through the things that had belonged to their children’s birth parents, finding birth certificates with enough information to track down who those parents had been.

Aaron Brownley was a New York boy who had served with distinction in the 92nd infantry during the war and then found a job at a magazine. Aimi Ide had grown up in Seattle, been forced into Minidoka for several years, eventually come to Philadelphia for school, and then moved to New York to work as a food scientist. They’d been married two years and she was six months pregnant when he had been killed in an auto accident.

“Look,” Peggy had said, holding up a notebook with a list of baby names in two different sets of handwriting. “They were trying to come up with names that would have their children feeling comfortable no matter where they were.”

They’d already gotten looks in the street for having what some people perceived as the ideal nuclear family gone awry. And though Steve’s instinct was to swear to sock anyone who thought the wrong thing about his kids, he had wrapped an arm around her and just said, “We’ll do the best we can. We always do.”

“Seems like our best is being...tested,” Peggy murmurs, leaning herself carefully against Steve. She has work in five hours.

“I know.” He speaks carefully, glancing down at Hana, who’s lost her suction again. “But there are good things too. See?” He tilts his eyes down so she’ll follow his gaze.

She looks to Hana first, her wide, bright eyes and sweet way she’s looking up at them in the dim light. Then Tomi, sleepier and quietly snuffling, but just as lovely, looking right at her.

Babies, she’s found, give vague, vacant muscle movements that look like smiles during a range of activities: drooling, filling a diaper, finally dropping off the sleep. But this is the first time they’ve smiled precisely like this: purposefully, because they know her, they know them, because Steve and Peggy are their parents and they’ve made them happy.

Oh, she thinks. Oh, my darlings. She looks again at the twin smiles, each it’s own tiny, beautiful thing, a taste of years of future joy. She buries her own smile in Steve’s shoulder.

She gets a total of four hours sleep that night, and everyone goes after her the next day for smiling so much, but she can’t find it in herself to care.

[skiasurveys]

got this from bzoink LMAO.

All About My Boyfriend survey

How did it all begin...?

Where did you meet?- we met on Okcupid. a dating app.

When did you meet? -In person was Oct 3 2015.

Was it love at first sight?-No, but like 1 hour into the first date I was like wow i like him alot

how old were you both?- He was 25 and I was 18 at the time.

When did you have your first kiss? - First date, after dinner i went to his house to hang out more he asked to kiss me and so i did <3

Where was your first date?- It was at the college- we went to a supersmash bros club ahah and then the noodle house, then i went to his house to hang out and watch some youtube videosss.

How long until you met the parents?- I met his mom 2 weeks later. He met my mom pretty quick.

When was it 'official'?- Ok. Heres the trippy Part. we dated for one month, broke up, didnt really talk for a while, 5 months later we start to talk again, a month after that we started to date again and made it offical on May 10th 2016. That is our anniversary.

The good...

Whats your happiest memory of him?- Theres so many. Theres the time when we stayed up all night just talking about our future, theres when we told me he loved me so much, when he held me because i had a panic attack..

Whats the sweetist thing he has ever done for you?- slept behind a friends couch for 7 months because he didnt want to move away from me. ( we couldnt get  aplace)

Does he buy you lots of gifts?- No, but I am fine with that, I dont like gifts actually. I rather him tell me he loves me and spend time with me.

Whats your favorite thing to do together?- honestly. stay up all night and get deep.

When did you know you were falling in love?- when he told me I was his best friend.

Who said 'I love you' first?- Me

Is it true love?- I think so.

How do you know this?- Never felt like this before. 

The bad...

Whats his worst habit?- Not texting me back, but really hes gettings pissed at the dumbest shit ever, and hes really bad at plan making and especially when I pick him up..ill say “Ill be there at 5 PM” and his bitchass will be sleeping at 4:30

What annoys you about him?- when he talks really loud at 3 am when I was sleep, and his texting back skills.

Has he ever hurt you badly?- we did get into a fight where we hurt eachother really bad. ( emotionally).

Would he ever cheat?-No. 

Has he to your knowlege ever cheated?- No he hasnt. I know he wouldnt cause I just know that if he found someone else he would just dump me

Do you trust him?- I dooo

The ugly....

Best facial feature?- his entire face

Favorite part of his body?- his strong arms <3

Hair colour?- Brown 

What does he smell of?- I dont know how to explain it

Whats he wearing when you picture him in your head?- Black tshirt ?

Intimacy...

How do you feel when he holds you?- I feel safe.

How do you feel when you fall asleep and wake up in his arms?- Happy

How does it feel when he touches you?- depends ;)

Does his touch give you goose bumps?- it can

Does he kiss your neck?- Mmmhmm thats the best shit everrr.

Your tummy?- I like it.

Your forehead? It makes me feel loved idk why

Deep and meaningfull...

Could you be without him?- I dont think so.

Do you think about him constantly when your apart?- i am always thinking about him to the point where i get mad at myself cus im like bitchhhh

How long have you been together? 1 year and 2 months

Can you see a future together?- I can

Would you like to get married?- Yeah in the future. 

Have children?- No. I dont want kids, nor does he

Where can you see your relationship in a years time?- I see us having a nice apartment, and im in school and he has a good job. It depends. 

5 years time? Nice apartment. I dont think we will be in the same city, we are planning on moving cause his dad wants to do some buisness thing with him. Id be done school probably just starting my career. 

Do you know there is definatly no-one better out there for you?- Yeah, he just suits me so perfectly.

How do you know this? I dont.

Are you scared he might find someone better? I always am. But i guess the best thing to do is be the best that I can at this moment and trust him

Is he your best friend as well as your lover?- yes

Does he come first over everyone else in your life?- No, I dont like to do that boyfriend over family/friends. I like to see my friends and hang with my family but I do know when i need to spend time with Him. I would only choose him over them if it was  a serious thing, but if it wasnt he could wait.

Would you die for him? sure..but why am i dying

On a lighter note...

Whats the funniest thing you have ever done together?- theres too many things.

Say something that only you two understand- Best NA Heals.

Do you have nick names for each other? eh not rly.

Does he make you laugh? of course

Do you wrestle? sometimes. i usually do this tho cus for him to get on top lol..

Is he tickelish? yeah but im more.

Are you? ^

His Favorites...

Food? meat of all kind

Drink? water but i think mountain dew too lol

Sport? football? idk he doesn twatch sports.

Past time? Video games

Animal? cats

Aftershave? ??? he lieks to have a beard i think

Clothing style? He just wears tshirt and jeans. he doesnt care about clothes...

Band? Queen i think lmao He isnt huge into music like i am

Music? He likes classic rock, and techno/anime music lmao

Your 'things'....

Song? I cant help falling in love and wish u were here.

DVD? we dont own dvds 

Place to hang out? my house or colins 

Meal to cook together?- anything

Lasts...

Time you saw him? tuesday :( but i see him tomorrow.

Kissed him? Tuesday :((

Spoke to him? Just like an hour ago 

The last text he sent you? an hour ago

When will you...

See him again? tomorrow night

Speak to him again?- either tonight or tomorrow morning/day whenever

Tell him you love him again? maybe tomorrow. we dont say i love you just randomly, i personally dont cause i like it to be personal.

Have you ever? 

Spent the night together?- Of course. when he comes over he spends like 2-3 nights.

Been on holiday? No, but i kind of want to!

Met his parents? Yes. Just not his biological dad cus he lives far away

Had naughty time?- duh

Made him cry?- I think so by accident. i feel awful

Done anything spontaneous together?- yes

Lastly....

Is this love? durrr.

[surveysbygracelynn]

Are you an official couple with the last person you kissed? Pretty official lol we've been dating for 6 years. Looking back, did you ever think you would be where you are now? I definitely didn't think I'd be In the job I was in. I guess I thought I'd be married or engaged by now. I don't know. I feel like I didn't really have a plan. Do you like someone? Yep. Is a best friend pissing you off right now? Sort of. I guess. Are you happier now or three months ago? I guess now. I'm more independent now. What’s the greatest thing that happened to you today? I fell back asleep. Lol How old do you think you will be when you finally have kids? I'm not sure. I used to always think I was made to be a mother but as of late I'm not sure. Are you waiting for something? Yeah If you could change your eye color would you? I'm okay with my eye color. If like to change my eyes. What was the weather like today? It’s rainy and cloudy. Do you think you’ll be married in ten years? I don't know. Does your ex still love/like you? Well the kind of one said he does. The actual one has a girlfriend so I don't think so. Are you stubborn? I can be. Do you tend to hold a grudge? Yeah. Where were you at 9am this morning? In the hotel room. How has the week been? Preferable to being at work. Did you go out or stay in last night? Well we all went out to dinner so I guess that. Something you do a lot? Play on my phone. How many states have you lived in? One. Can you commit to one person? Yes. Who was the last person to hold your hand? Brandon. How many chances do you tend to give people before enough is enough? I don't know. I don't really put myself in any position to give people chances. Lol Do you think you and your best friend will be friends in 10 years? I hope so. Lately it's been dwindling. What do you miss most about your ex? The actual one I miss his friendship. Are you attracted to the last person that kissed you? Yeah. What’s a fact about the last person you kissed? He has brown hair. Something you really want right now? I guess I want another chance at closure though everything is telling me it shouldn't. I also want to know I'm missed by my job lol. How long have you liked the person you like? 2011. Does any part of your body hurt right now? My back kinda Did anyone see you kiss the last person you kissed? I don't know. Maybe. Can you recall the last time you liked someone? Yeah, now. Are you happy with the way things are going? Yeah I guess. Do you think you will be in a relationship 3 months from now? Yeah. What plans do you have for tomorrow? Hanging out in North Carolina. Has a friendship ended recently that you wish hadn’t? Nah. Ever given your ALL to someone who walked away? Mhm. Have you ever kissed the last person you texted? Uh. No. Do you and your last ex hate each other? No. When was the last time you were sick? Hmm. Im not sure. I got nauseous a few months ago. I don't get sick often lol Are you one of those people who are always cold? Yes. Do you tend to waste a lot of money? Not at all lol Have you ever regretted kissing someone? No. When was the last time you got a haircut? A proper one? A few months ago at least. Did you sing at all today? Not out loud but Paul has the Beatles station on so I've been singing a few lyrics here and there. Would you rather be able to control the weather or control traffic? The weather! Do you own any articles of clothing with skulls on it? Yeah I have a hoodie from high school lol Are you faster at text messaging or typing on the computer? I'm pretty fast either way. I don't know my wpm on the phone but I'm super fast on the computer If you won a trip to a nude beach would you go or give the trip away? Uh. I'd probably go because it's the beach lol but I don't think I'd be able to tell most of the people in my life where is be going. In your opinion which is the stronger emotion: love or hate? I think hate because you have to put a lot more energy into it. Tongue piercings - cute or trashy? I don't think either. When it comes to jeans: skinny, flared or boot cut? Skinny. Would you rather be a star ballerina or a star break dancer? Either would be nice but I think I'm too white to break dance lol Honestly - can you say that looks don’t matter at ALL? No.. they definitely do. When it comes to Baseball would you rather be on the field or in the stands?  In the stands. I’ve got to know, who do you prefer: Mario or Luigi? Mario Have you ever changed clothes in a public area (not a dressing room)? Probably lol. How many months apart is your birthday from your best friends? Two of them I'm less than a month. Yes or no: Techno music? No. Yes or no: pigtails? Yeah they're cute . They say diamonds are a girls best friend; what do you say? I say I can't tell the difference. Has anybody ever told somebody one of your secrets? Yeah. Have you ever kissed anybody who had a mustache? Brandon sort of has one. I'm indifferent to it lol If you were famous do you think you could handle the popularity? Probably not lol. I think I'd like the attention for a bit but I would also get sick of people being in my business or expecting something from me. Have you ever kissed someone whose name started with a letter P? Nope. Did you talk to one of your best friends today? What did you talk about? I told her I was traveling down to north Carolina. Do you get on better with funny or serious people? Funny. Do you have mood swings around the time of the month? I'm not sure if that's one of my symptoms lol Have your friends met the last person you kissed? Yeah. How old is your oldest cousin? Uhhh I'm not sure who's oldest by blood honestly lol. Taissa or Karen are my oldest step cousins though. What if you saw your best friend holding hands with your ex? For the one that counts I don't think they'd do that. The one that doesn't.. I'd probably feel something lol Your last relationship, who dumped who? For the one that counts I did. The one that doesn't he did. How old were you when you had your first boyfriend/girlfriend? Uh. My first serious boyfriend I was 13 or 14 I think Is your home town nice? I'm partial to it. What if you got stuck in a lift with the last person who Facebook messaged you? Well ;) nah we'd probably just laugh lol When/where did your last hug take place? At the hotel we stayed at lol Do you consider yourself mature enough to make your own decisions? I think so. Have your parents ever told you about their love lives, and any previous relationships they had before they met? Well my mom has told me a bit about her dad. Mike didn't really tell me much about his ex. You get a text from someone saying that they want to hang out - who would you most like it to be from? If I'm being honest, Danny. But that's not going to happen. Do you and your friends have any inside jokes? Of course. Do you think someone has feelings for you? Are these feelings returned? Yes and yes. What if the last person you texted were to ask you out? I'm pretty sure that's my mom. Lol Do you believe in love at first sight? No. Would you prefer to be somewhere else right now? If so, where? And why would you prefer to be there? Id prefer to be on a beach on a tropical island. Just because I would always want to be there. Lol or disney world When you listen to music, do you ever find that the songs affect your moods and change how you feel? Yes. Can you remember what you dreamt about last night? Sort of. It was a mix between work and church and people at church got mad at me because I was checking my phone during the meeting and then I got mad back at them.

[2gameprince]

Four Days Of Convenience

This was the first day. It was about seven a.m; sometime after I'd cut a bulb of lettuce, when I finally got to sit down on that blue crate over a bucket in the back room that served as my morning "resting seat". It was a slow morning, for a Monday, at least; and I could of sworn I was gonna get a stiff neck from all the quick darting my tired head was doing. At every beep and buzz my head shot out from the back room, expecting some new customer on the prowl for a complicated food order. But, no. This morning was slow, at least for now. It wasn't even eight and I'd already downed two or three cups of coffee, soaked in cream and weighted in sugar. I had gotten two hours of rest last night and should have come in at four. I was lax, especially after learning that the boss wouldn't be in till much later that day; or even much later tomorrow, if I was lucky. All I knew was that I was going to avoid a scolding in my tired state. A point at which I'd of probably retaliated in a dizzy rage, throwing down my apron and quitting before my manager could officially even hire me. But this job was off the books. About ten dollars an hour, ten hours a day, seven days a week, from four to three, no time and a half. I didn't mind. I got access to all the coffee and bottles of water I could ever drink. That, and whenever I was hungry I could whip up anything I wanted on the grill. And at the end of the day it was okay for me to take home any breakfast sandwiches that nobody had taken past ten. I still had three from yesterday festering away in my fridge. Or did I eat those... No matter. Like a buzz, the guy teaming me called my ass out from the back and ordered two buttered rolls to replace the ones in the front foil basket. We only made a handful a day. After that, the orders came fast. The guy training me had me strike up a slew of new breakfast sandwiches which I half-did by myself and wrapped to an astonishing array. I think he was pleased. It was my fifth day here and I was certainly getting quicker. I hoped they'd noticed that. Next on the bill was a ham and cheese sandwich, hot and buttered. The customer was an Italian man, about forty, which meant he was going to be difficult. The old Italian men always were. Usually hailing from New York, who come down to shitty suburban-farm life in Jersey. They do this as a means of escaping the chaos of the North, freeing themselves from the hustle and bustle. Instead they bring bad driving and a self entitled attitude, believing because they are older, the world owes them. They're a prick to you until you bring up one of the five boroughs, then they're your best buddy and begin a speech on how their bitchy generation was the best, despite their barbaric upbringing and closed minded ideologies. We got the order done quick, sure enough he wanted the sandwich heated up. A fact that would have been nice to know before we had wrapped it. The early Rush was done and I made some more breakfast sandwiches. Suddenly, all became quiet. The sky was blue and the highway outside was a bustle. The whole day came to a halt and it was smooth sailing for a while after that. I was late this morning, and the guy that had been training me went ahead and made twenty two sandwiches on his own, an hour and a half before I showed up. When I came in I avoided eye contact and waddled into the storage room to put away my coat and lace up my apron. I jumped at the voices of middle aged women on the other side of the storage room door. Sometimes the register would go off and I'd come running for nothing. The sandwiches were going quick, but only the ones we didn't have to replenish. I could rest easy for now. Just for now. The chaos died down and I began to talk to the guy that trained me. In a moment the statues of being coworkers evaporated, and he began to tell me of his ventures through India, the United Kingdoms and America. My eyes were widened by his life's story, since that was really all it was. I didn't have much of anything to throw in, but it was sure nice listening. This job was an experience in learning about the cultures of my fellow workers. It was a subject they would never hesitate to speak about, and a subject I would never choose to ignore. This was the second day. The day had hit a wall, at least for the few minutes I had to sit down and internally hate myself for not getting a full night's sleep. I was late again. The guy training me didn't care much. I wouldn't say it was my lateness that pissed him off, but rather my inability to remember the placement of rolls and bagels in the morning. I had only really practiced putting them away one time. I was too tired to try and explain it. He scolded me and I nodded until he stormed out, my mind in another place, distracted by double vision and the hazy sound of his voice. He stormed out to have a cigarette. I fumbled around a bit and he returned, much calmer. He apologized briefly and told me of what was expected of me. At least... I think that's what he was talking about. The day passed by rather quickly, to be honest. I flunked some orders, did some right and was sarcastically told to come in the next day at eight in the morning. While I would have loved to heed that offer, here I sit, well enough rested and awake at two. I figured I'd take an hour for myself in the morning, since I only have about four to three hours of free time a day now. I made an early coffee and some sugary fruit flavored cereal to start today. My boss had sold me two packs of ninety-nine cent baby cigars; and I couldn't wait to down one of those while waiting at the bus stop the next morning. I was actually waiting for this local cop to stop me. See, the other day I was waiting by the road, at about four, for my boss to come rolling up and open the store so I could start my routine. This cop pulls up and says somebody reported me for snooping around in cars. If by "snooping around in cars" they mean standing on the sidewalk, freezing my nuts off, then yes! I figured it was only a matter of time before someone called them. A bearded man in a trench coat, standing by a convenience store, with no one around… (Except the fuck in the pickup truck who was so paranoid by my presence.) It had all the red flags and makings of a terrible scenario in paranoid America. Though, it doesn't take much effort. Anyways, back to my story: The cop walked up with his flashlight in my face and he asked what I was doing there. I told him everything, was completely real and blunt with the guy; even displaying aggravation. I was especially tired that morning. He understood, I think, and just copied down my ID identification. He said it was incase he ever ran into me again. Whatever the fuck that means. I was hoping to run into him again, to cement my place at that street side. There was no law that said I couldn't be there. Plus, I had no other time or place away from my family to smoke my cigars. The only time I ever had to smoke was during the eight minute walk from my job to my house, where my brother was usually the only one home at the time. I was drinking so much coffee as of late, I thought it was gonna kill me. I was so tired of food and only wanted water, coffee and something to smoke every now and again. I'd given up pot for now, which especially made my free time a bore. I didn't have much of a personal life anymore. I didn't mind much. I wasn't expecting to stay at this job for much longer. Another month tops. I dreamed about traveling, maybe being a vagabond. But, then thought about joining the coastguard or the navy, all since my two favorite writers both went into the service in their respective times. That, and my life was going nowhere. I didn't much care anymore. Up till now, everything in my life felt so relative and distant; any point in holding on would prove to be null and void, just like my three hours a day. That only time to myself, which I wasted everyday, in fear and impatience for what I was going to do with my off-time the following day. This was the third day. The week that I had decided to up and quit being a porter came the day after, what would become my last day on the job; and before I served the two week period, all because my new boss wanted me to start at the convince store as soon as possible. At the time I had gotten into a nasty fight with Debora. We’d disputed over and old friend of hers fucking with me and a whole bunch of other jumbled shit I’d rather not go into right now. But, on the whole… deep down I believe my sudden rush, from leaving my old job and settling somewhere else, had something to do with a deep psychological need to keep myself busy and distracted by causing friction in my life. That way I wouldn’t think about her too much or the fact that we’d fallen apart. I wasn’t even sure if she was done with me. Honestly, for the first time, ever, I was scared, and by the time the week was up, faith or not, I found myself begging for her to come back. One day she’d finally messaged me and I turned around to find my last job despised me and my new one had me by the balls. So, one night, in a fit of sleepless energy and a carefree attitude, I declared a desire to join the Coastguard and leave this new store position behind. I was in a frenzy. Life was coming down all around me and I couldn’t keep track of everything that was happening. I feared that my love was unfaithful, I feared the hate of my old job, I feared seclusion from my friends who’d been busy living their lives, I feared the judgment of my parents, I feared being broke, I feared my smoking habits being discovered, I feared being kicked out and the list could have gone on forever. So, I did what I usually did. I went to bed and decided to solve it tomorrow. Procrastination was my biggest problem, and my besets friend. That very night my grandfather, the amazing man that he is, agreed to come with me to the store the next day, have me tell my boss that after a week of training, that I quit and request my due pay for the week. My manager attempted to haggle, negotiate and convince me to stay. He even tried to make men feel guilty, and it worked for about a minute before I caught on and shrugged my shoulders. This job wasn’t going to make or break me. At most, all it did was provide me time to think about my station in life and see into the lives of others. And that was a nice feeling. It was this sort of second sight into the world outside your own closed perspective. But that was it. Some nice conversations. That, and this job taught me in one week what four years of high school coking class never could. I could now cook a library of shit. And most of it being fast food which is all local eateries were anymore. I was out of a job though, and finding a new one was gonna be a bitch, especially after how I'd left the last one. I tried not to think too much about it. As I usually did. I felt it was time for a change. I had some good times in the past, but I longed to get far away from my life. I’d followed bands, I’ve cooked, I’ve hosted my own art shows, I collected games, and movies, and comics, and all of it had gotten me nowhere. Not all the money time in the world could fuel this tired streak I was on, and laziness always came back around to find me. Mistakes were made, but I wasn't going to be torn apart by them, or the judgments of those around me, for that matter. What the hell did anybody know about me? That I was a failure? Falling and taking time to do land? I guess so. Least, that’s how it seemed to me. And I tried not to give a damn. Cause not caring just made everything feel better. But, just for a little while. This was the forth day. I took to the grill hard and fast today! Oh man, there wasn't a better cook thus far along the eastern coast this morning! The guy training me sat back, did the bagels and rolls, letting me run my course. The foreign fellow at the front desk, in the middle of brewing coffee, even took time out to come over to me and compliment my work. Once I believed everything had been filled and finished, he came up to me again. Once more, the foreign fellow praised me for my skill that morning, all the while my trainer sat in the back, on his phone. I felt more confident, being left to my own devices. But, come ten o'clock the lunch shift would start and I would have to make up all the chicken and fries. The fried chicken was especially annoying, because it was this whole long drawn-out process. The true test would come in-between the breakfast and lunch preparations. I ran off a few orders with my trainer's help and began to make my own breakfast. I ran into S; an acquaintance of mine that I'd met back when I worked as a porter. He came in and glared at me for a good while, scratching his chin curiously. I stood up and walked on over to where he was standing on the other side of the counter. I asked him if he needed anything and pretended as if I was the twin brother of a guy who worked at the grocery store I'd previously met him in. He realized it was me and we chatted for a bit until the morning rush caught up and he grabbed a bacon breakfast sandwich, leaving as quick as he had come. The rest of that morning I was on fire! Never before had I displayed such ability in the work place. And u like pushing carts, this job was spent making food for people, which, when dwelled upon after the fact, left me feeling accomplished. Perhaps this was the day it was all going to turn around. Every meal I made quick and neat. Drop an egg. Make a new one in less time. The grill was my bitch and the meals, my children. Peace came at eleven. The whole store was dead and settled down to a day old cinnamon roll which I ate half of and threw out. An order came in for a roast beef sub and the manager sat by as my trainer who said that I have to fluff up the mean when I put it on a sandwich, as to not waste too much meat by making it look big. In confidence my trainer told me of how the manager is a schmuck when it comes to the percentages of meat that we put on sandwiches, and that a little more or a little less won't kill anybody. I agreed. He said if I wasn't sure about how much meat to give and I put on too much, not to worry. My manager then claimed that he could cook ninety percent of the things found on the menu. I bet he can't. And it appears the bad mood has found me. It all fell apart after one chicken buffalo sandwich. Or was it buffalo chicken? Doesn't matter! Nevertheless, I was told one more slip up would result in me being fired. Well... not fired. My training would be discontinued. Or some obscure shit like that. I don't know. The manager spoke about being clear and forward, but all I've known him to be, so far, was very vague and spitefully suggestive. He seemed almost insulted when I asked about pay, panicking to think of an answer as to why it might be low some weeks. I didn't care. I was here for the experience of cooking. And in one week I learned what four years of high school cooking could never teach me. That was all I really wanted out of this. If I got let go, it wouldn't matter. Nothing seemed to matter these days.