#I am sure many people have said this before

[withwritersblock]

Springsteen

~Springsteen by Eric Church~

Author's Note: Requested! I am sorry, this isn't exactly like the request has asked but it is a long one, I hope you guys enjoy it anyway. Summary: Quinn and Y/N experience a summer love and they find each other again after eight years. Warnings: implied smut Word Count: 13,300

Last summer was the first summer the Hughes brothers started staying at the lake house next door. Y/N lived in her house all year round. She was used to seeing families come in for a summer and never come back. She was expecting it to be the same way with the Hughes family.

She barely spoke to them throughout the first summer. She had a few conversations with Ellen throughout the summer. Y/N’s mother and Ellen had gotten close during that time. 

So when her mom told her that the family was coming back, she was shocked. She stopped getting close with the people her age that would stay at the house. She was tired of becoming friends with them and never seeing them again. She kept it polite but that’s all.

She sat on the porch swing with her mom waiting for their arrival. Her mom begged for Y/N to wait with her. Y/N didn’t argue it since it was the polite thing to do. 

“They bought it,” her mother whispered before she leaned back, almost as if it was a huge secret. Y/N met her mother’s gaze and nodded slowly. 

“That’s fun,” she mumbled before she switched her gaze back towards her lap.

“Ellen said that they’ll be here any minute now,” her mother said as she stared towards her phone screen. Y/N nodded again before she tapped her fingertips against the tops of her thighs.

A few minutes passed by and there were two cars that pulled up to the house beside them. As soon as they pulled into the driveway, the three boys climbed out of the cars dragging giant bags with them. 

“Come on, Y/N, let’s go help them out,” her mom said while taking a hold of Y/N’s arm.  Reluctantly, she stood up and followed after her mom to help the boys out.

“Louise! It’s so good to be back!” Ellen called out as she stepped out of the driver seat of one of the cars. Louise continued walking through the grass towards the other house. Y/N followed behind, keeping her gaze on her feet. Y/N awkwardly stood behind her mother as she stared towards the driveway beneath her feet.

“How’s school going, Y/N? How’s everything!” Ellen asked as she switched her attention towards her. Y/N lifted her gaze, meeting Ellen’s eager gaze. She forced a grin and nodded. 

“Everything is good! Excited for summer,” She explained polietly as she glanced towards Quinn who was walking towards his mom. Ellen shifted her gaze towards Quinn, smiling softly before she looked back towards Y/N. 

“Why don’t you help Quinn get some of the bags inside?” Louise expressed as she met Ellen’s gaze. Ellen’s eyes widened as she took a hold of Quinn’s arm dragging him closer to them. His mouth fell open as their eyes met. Y/N took a deep breath as she nodded slowly. 

“Sure,” she muttered barely above a whisper as she continued to watch Quinn shift awkwardly beside his mom. Quinn stepped back as he began to walk towards the trunk of the car. Y/N glanced towards Quinn as she reluctantly followed after him.

Ellen and Louise linked arms and began walking towards the newly owned Hughes house. 

Quinn took a hold of the trunk and popped it open. “You don’t need to help us,” he mumbled as he pulled out one of the many suitcases. She took a hold of it, their hands brushing in the process. “My brothers and I got it,” he continued as their eyes met briefly before looking back into the truck. The suitcases were stacked up like Tetris pieces.

“I don’t have much of a choice,” she mumbled before she took the suitcase and lifted it up from the ground. He chuckled dryly as he took two more suitcases and placed them on the ground. He lifted them up, looking down and meeting her gaze.

“You don’t sound excited that we’re here,” Quinn expressed as he fought off a grin. Slowly, he rounded the car, with Y/N, following behind him. Y/N let out a small laugh before rolling her eyes playfully. 

“Not used to seeing the same people more than once. It’s going to take a while to get used to,”  she expressed while laughing nervously. He nodded as he pushed open the front door to the house with his upper arm. 

Quinn glanced back, meeting her gaze. She looked into his eyes for what truly felt like the first time. Her eyes softened as the corner of her lips turled upward slightly. “These are all mine, so we can drop them off in my room,” he let out while chuckling. He rounded the corner towards the long hallway that held several bedrooms. Quinn nodded towards the room at the end of the hall.

“Did you pack your entire wardrobe?” she asked teasingly as she finally dropped the suitcase back down to the floor. She began to push it since her arms were tired already. 

“Pretty much, this isn’t just our summer house anymore. We’re spending holidays and other breaks when we can,” Quinn explained as he pushed open the door.

Y/N stepped into the room to see it was only half furnished. There was a bed in the corner of the room with a blue bedspread. A dark wooden dresser next to the door. There was a few Maple Leafs decorations on the wall. 

Her face scrunched up in disgust at the blue decorations. He rested the suitcases near the closet. He straightened his frame as he spun around to meet her gaze. She shoved the suitcase towards the dresser, standing up straight. 

“You’re a Leafs fan?” she asked while looking at the flag on his wall. He spun his head around to look towards the flag.

“My dad works for them,” he let out while shifting awkwardly back and forth. Her mouth fell open as she gasped slightly.

“No way,” she muttered, “That’s really cool,” she continued as she crossed her arms over her chest. 

“I guess,” he muttered as he walked towards her and the door. “Does your family watch hockey?” he asked as he took a hold of the door. He stood close to her, their bodies only a few inches apart. He looked down towards her, scanning her features.

She took in a shaky breath as she pressed her lips together. Slowly, she took a step back. “We’re football people but I’m a Canucks fan,” she explained as she began to walk out of the bedroom. He followed after her. 

“How does that happen?” he asked while chuckling. She began to walk slower, allowing him to walk side by side with her. 

“My grandparents are from Vancouver, used to spend all holidays with them,” she explained as they rounded the corner to the living room. Half of the suitcases were already inside. 

“That’s awesome,” Quinn mumbled as their eyes met as they continued to walk towards the front door; side by side.

~~~

She sat on the porch swing, a blanket draped over her lap. Slowly, she rocked the swing back and forth. A romance novel in her hands, she’s read the book three times in the last six months. It was a stereotypical young adult romance novel in which she would always picture herself as the main character. She always dreamed of her own life turning into a romance novel.

“Hey Y/N,” she heard from a distance. 

Lifting her gaze, she saw the Hughes brothers walking towards the wrap around porch. Her eyes widened slightly as she felt her heart jump into her throat. Quinn was leading the charge, his frame was only covered by swim trunks.

“Hi,” she mumbled as she placed her bookmark into the book before placing it beside her.

“We’re night swimming, wanna join us?” Quinn asked as he pointed behind him. His brothers stood awkwardly behind them. Y/N chuckled as she pulled the blanket up higher on her body.

“The water is going to be freezing,” she teased. 

“That’s what I said!” Luke peeped out from behind Quinn. Jack smacked his hand against Luke’s arm.

“I’m also waiting for my friend to come over,” she let out. Quinn’s face fell for only a second before he nodded.

“That’s cool,” Quinn let out, “Another time?” he let out as a car pulled into the driveway. Y/N glanced towards the car before looking back towards the boys in front of her.

“If you guys want to put on some actual clothes you can join our movie marathon,” she offered as she stood up. Quinn looked back towards his brothers; both Jack and Luke were nodding encouragingly. 

“Yeah, we can do that,” Quinn expressed while meeting Y/N’s gaze. She smiled widely as she nodded. “We’ll be back,” Quinn said while ushering his younger brothers off of the porch. She chuckled as she followed them off of the porch towards her friend Georgia’s car.

The car turned off and Georgia immediately climbed out of the passenger seat. “Hey girl!” she shouted out before she slammed the door. “I’m so excited for tonight,” she uttered as she pulled open the backseat and pulled out a large bag. “Bye mom see you in a few days!” she shouted into the car. 

Y/N and Georgia have been friends since Y/N was seven and Georgia was five. They were on the same cheerleading team. Y/N stopped being a cheerleader a few years after that. Georgia was the star cheerleader of their high school team; even though she was only a freshman.

“Don’t be mad,” Y/N said as the car began to drive away. Georgia rolled her eyes playfully as she walked towards Y/N. “I invited the boys next door to join us for the night, don’t be mad at me,” she said swiftly. 

“I don’t mind,” Georgia began as she looped her arm around Y/N’s, “Any of them cute?” she asked quietly. 

“Shush,” Y/N let out while walking back up towards the porch, “Maybe the oldest is a little cute,” she whispered through a giggle. 

“Anyone for me?” Georgia asked teasingly. Y/N shoved Georgia while they both sat down on the porch swing. Georgia picked up the book, showing it towards Y/N. “Seriously? Again?” she said as she placed it onto the side table beside them.

“I know, I know but it’s so good,” she let out as she tossed her head back dramatically.

“You need to experience real love,” Georgia teased, “How is it that I’m younger than you and I’ve experienced love?” she offered dramatically.

“We are not talking about this,” Y/N said while chuckling as she shifted her gaze towards the three boys walking towards the front porch again. Her eyes lit up as she saw Quinn leading the charge again. “That was fast,” she offered. Quinn chuckled as he walked up towards her.

“Was it?” Jack asked slightly out of breath. He shifted his gaze towards Georgia, grinning towards her. 

“What are we watching?” Quinn asked as she stood up from the bench, accidentally bumping into one another. Quinn shifted back, letting out a soft laugh. 

“Scream franchise,” she offered as she slipped past him towards the front door. Leaning against it, she pushed the door open letting the four of them step inside. 

After another thirty minutes, the first movie was playing and it was barely ten minutes into the movie. Georgia and Jack were sitting close to one another and were whispering loudly to one another. 

Luke was sitting in the corner of the L couch and fully engaged in the movie. A movie he’s never seen before.

Quinn and Y/N were sitting close to one another, not as close as Jack and Georgia. Quinn was shamelessly keeping his gaze towards Y/N. His eyes were admiring her side profile. She had a small smile on her lips as the screen continued to play the movie. 

Her lips were covered with a clear gloss that made her lips look so kissable. His eyes widened as the thought entered his mind. Shaking his head, he tried to push the idea out of his mind. Desperately needed the thought to leave his mind. 

Until she turned her head. Quinn forced his gaze past her towards the TV. He pressed his lips together to stop the smile forming to his lips. She felt a small smile on her lips. “Why is your face doing that?” she asked barely above a whisper. Quinn shook his head slightly while he pursed his lips.

She nodded as she scanned his features as she looked back towards the TV. As soon as her gaze was away from him, he looked back towards her features. She was beautiful. 

He noticed her all last summer from afar. Admittedly, she told him that she doesn't like getting close with the summer neighbors. But now his family was permanently there, every summer from now on.

She turned her head again, this time Quinn kept his gaze on hers. Her lips curled upward as she looked into his eyes. His breathing caught in his throat as he scanned her features. His gaze lingered on her lips before his gaze flickered back up to her eyes. 

“Q–” she let out barely above a whisper. He hummed as a response as he subconciously leaned towards her. “TV’s over there,” she pointed towards the giant screen behind them. He chuckled softly as he shook his head slightly. He leaned into her slightly before he looked back towards the screen. 

~~~

The weather was finally starting to feel like summer. She was laid out on the dock, a towel beneath her back. Her frame was only covered by a black bikini. She had a small speaker sitting beside her head. It was blasting One Direction. 

There were steps walking towards her. Lifting her head up, she turned around to see Quinn walking towards her. A small smile formed on her lips. His body was only covered by his dark blue swim trunks.

“Hey,” she mumbled before she laid back down. 

“Taking the boat out, wanna join?” he asked. She sat up again, spinning her frame to look towards him. She blocked the sun with her hand as she looked towards him.

“Your brothers coming with you?” she asked as she slowly stood up, taking the towel with her. She let it dangle in front of her as she met his gaze. He shook his head while he awkwardly pulled up his swim trunks slightly. 

“It would be just us,” he muttered as his lips curled upward slightly. She nodded as she leaned down and took a hold of her speaker and her phone. Pausing the music she continued walking towards him. After a few seconds, she stopped short as she met his eye. “If that’s okay,” he let out quickly.

She chuckled as her eyes lingered on his frame for a moment. “Let’s go then,” she mumbled as their eyes connected. Quinn’s eyes widened slightly as he nodded. He began to walk backwards, keeping his gaze on her the entire time. “As long as I can play the music,” she offered as she delicately tapped her hand against his arm.

“Deal,” he muttered as he spun around, walking normally as he guided her towards his backyard that had his family’s boat tied up. “I just got my license a few weeks ago, so bare with me,” he offered as he jogged ahead towards the dock. She laughed while taking cautious steps down the small hill towards the dock. 

“Oh man, you are trying to kill me aren’t you?” she teased as she continued to follow after him. Quinn was already inside of the boat waiting to help her on. She smiled towards him as he reached his hands out; awaiting the speaker and her phone she was holding. 

“If I was trying to kill you, I wouldn’t have asked so nicely,” he explained teasingly. She handed him the speaker and her phone and he quickly rested it onto a seat beside him. He held his hands out towards her again. 

Without hesitation, she held her hands toward him and he quickly took a hold of her arms. She stepped into the boat, allowing him to take a cautious hesitant hold of her waist as she stepped inside. Quinn stepped back giving her a bit of room.

His hand was still resting on her waist as she rested her hand onto his bicep. Their eyes met for a second before Quinn cleared his throat as stepped back. “Let’s get going, yeah?” he asked as he began to untie the boat from the dock. She nodded slowly before she sat down, her gaze following his movements.

“How long are you guys staying this time?” she asked softly. Quinn continued to shuffle back and forth getting the boat ready. 

“Uhm, we gotta be back before August,” he muttered before he walked past her towards the driver seat. Without hesitation he began to start the engine and soon steered the boat towards the center of the lake.

“So two months,” she mumbled, dropping her gaze towards her lap. The sound of the water lapping against the sides of the boat drowned out her voice but Quinn was glancing towards her every few seconds.

Every few seconds their eyes would meet before she would shyly look back down towards her lap. It didn’t take long for them to reach the center of the lake. Quinn hopped out of the driver seat and wandered to sit beside her. 

Her gaze was still staring towards her lap, her body was covered in goosebumps. He cleared his throat as he stared ahead, watching the sun hit against the water. “I can’t wait till I get my own lake house one day,” he let out as he continued to stare ahead. Carefully, he rested his arm behind her on the ledge of the boat.

“Yeah?” she asked softly, tilting her head to the side to meet his gaze. He nodded as he scanned her features. His gaze lingered on her lips before he looked back up towards her eyes.

“Jack and I have talked about it. We wanna buy a place,” he explained, “If the NHL works out at least,” he muttered.

“What do you mean if?” she asked with a soft laugh leaving her lips. He smiled softly, tilting his head to the side as he contemplated the best way to answer.

“Draft ranking could tank by the time the draft comes around,” he offered half jokingly. She rolled her eyes dramatically. “It could,” he let out while leaning towards her.

“Yeah right, I’m sure it’ll go up actually,” she offered as she took a small breath. He smirked as he looked into her eyes with so much admiration.

“You’ve never seen me play,” he teased.

“A shame,” she mumbled.

Looking into his eyes, she realized how close he actually was to her. His arm was wrapped around her back. His fingertips were delicately grazing the skin of her upper arm. Their noses were nearly bumping into one another as their eyes were connected. She watched his pupils dilate the longer their eyes remained connected. She took a deep breath as she tilted her head to the side slightly.

“Y/N,” he let out barely above a whisper. Her eyes flickered shut as her breathing started to quicken.

He raised his hand up and delicately brushed a small piece of hair away from her face. He tucked the piece behind her ear before he took a hesitant hold of her cheek. Her eyes opened suddenly as she tilted her head up slightly. 

“You are the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen,” he whispered as their gaze locked once more. He felt heat rise to her cheeks as the corner of her lips perked up. 

“Really?” she asked softly. He nodded as he glided his thumb along the apple of her cheek. “No one’s ever told me that before,” she muttered as she scanned his features. 

“It’s true,” he mumbled as he leaned slowly towards her. Almost as if he was waiting for her to stop him. Yet she remained still, her eyes fluttering closed. 

He smiled before he kissed her delicately. It was soft as their lips moved in sync. It was as if they knew exactly what each other wanted. After a few seconds, he deepened the kiss as his hand moved to the base of her neck. He entangled his hand into her hair as a soft hum fell from her lips.

She pulled back, leaning her forehead against his as she breathed heavily. “Q–” she muttered as she shifted awkwardly beside him. He nodded as he reached over, taking a hold of her bare thigh. He helped her climb onto his lap. Her hands rested on his shoulders for stability as their foreheads remained pressed against one another.

Her hands delicately glided along his shoulders towards the base of his neck. His hands rested on her hips as they shared smiles. She glided her thumbs across his jawline for a second before she leaned towards him pressing her lips against his with much more urgency.

His hands tightened along her hips as she slowly grinded against his lap. A breathy moan fell from his lips that was muffled by her mouth. 

Sure, she’s kissed guys before but nothing like this. Nothing that felt like her body melted from their touch or the way his lips moved with hers. His hands were so delicate against her skin that her body erupted in goosebumps against the hot windy air. 

Quinn pulled his lips away from hers as she tilted her head back. He began pressing wet kisses along her jawline and down her neck. Careful not to travel lower.  His hands glided along the skin of her back. He toyed with the string keeping the top of the bikini on. 

“Quinn,” she mumbled. He pulled back, leaning his head back as he scanned her features. His gaze dipped towards her frame, admiring the way her chest looked in the thin black bikini. He hummed as his hands continued to run along her lower back. “Not here,” she let out as she teasingly dragged her thumb along his bottom lip. 

A small grin formed on his lips. He nodded as he watched her climb off of his body and walk towards the other side of the boat. “Where are you going?” he asked as he rested his arms on the ledge as his gaze lingered on the curve of her ass. 

“Where does it look like?” she asked teasingly before she hopped over the boat and jumped into the water. He tossed his head back while laughing. After a few seconds, “Are you gonna join me or not!?” she called out.

Quinn chewed on his bottom lip for a moment before he followed her steps and jumped into the lake. Purposely splashing her in the process. As he resurfaced, he reached towards her. Looping his arms around her waist he pulled her towards him. 

She smiled widely before their lips met again with giggles falling from their lips.

~three weeks later~

Each day that passed, the sun was getting harder and the water was getting warmer. Just like every day before, she was sprailed out on the dock soaking in the sun. For the first time she had someone laying beside her. 

Quinn was sprailed out beside her, pretending to enjoy tanning in the sun. He didn’t mind listening to the music she played or doing things that she liked. He couldn’t find a single reason why she liked laying in the sun, he found it so boring.

Although, he didn’t mind peaking every few seconds to get a glimpse of her body. She was stunning to say the least. The red swimsuit on her frame was imossible not to stare.

“Quinn,” she said quietly. Her eyes remained closed as she had a small smile on her lips. He hummed while his eyes continued to scan her frame. “You’re staring,”

Quickly, he tilted his head back and shut his eyes instantly. He fought off a grin as his cheeks flushed red. “Sorry,” he muttered as he chuckled awkwardly.

A few more minutes pass, allowing Quinn to behave and keeping his head straight ahead, feeling the heat of the sun against his skin. For a while it felt nice, but as each second passed, the more bored he was getting. 

He wasn’t used to doing nothing. His mind was constantly busy. Whether that was from hockey or from school. He never sat still for this long unless he was sleeping. Even then, he was never a guy that stayed still while sleeping. 

He heard her shuffling beside him and despite his best efforts he watched her roll onto her stomach. She tilted her head to the side to face Quinn. A soft smile on her lips as their eyes connected for only a second. She shut her eyes, letting the sun hit against the skin.

Swallowing hard, his gaze trailed her frame, admiring every single curve of her body. He bit his bottom lip as his gaze lingered on the curve of her–

“Quinn,” she scolded breathily. His eyes widened as he pursed his lips forward to fight another toothy grin forming to his lips.

He forced his eyes shut as he repeatedly clenched his jaw, “Can you blame me?” he let out barely above a whisper. She chuckled softly before she began to hum along to the song playing out of her speaker.

After a few seconds, subconciously he tilted his head to the side and scanned her frame again. She was so beautiful and sexy. She didn’t even have to try and she looked perfect. He let out a huff of air as his already hot frame erupted in tingles. He dragged his tongue across his bottom lip as his gaze lingered on her somewhat exposed frame.

He sat up, urgently. “I’m gonna cool off,” he muttered as he stood up instantly. She peeked with opening one eye to see him diving off of the dock into the lake. A smirk toyed to her lips as she shut her eyes.

She heard him pop up for air, a dramatic intake of breath in the process. She giggled as she shook her head slightly. “You gonna join or what!” he shouted from the water. She took in a deep breath as she somewhat reluctantly began to stand from her lying position.

She jogged towards the edge of the dock and jumped into the water. She purposely landed close enough to Quinn. He leaned back with a loud laugh leaving his lips. She resurfaced and reached towards him. Quinn instantly looped his arms around her waist, pulling her towards him.

Instantly she wrapped her arms around his neck. “Come ‘ere,” he mumbled as he leaned towards her, desperate for her lips on his. She smiled into the kiss as her hands glided along his neck towards his cheeks. 

A couple hours later, they were laying together in her room. She was laying somewhat propped up, her back pressed against several pillows. Her gaze remained on the screen across her room. It was season sixteen of The Amazing Race. Quinn has never watched the show so over the summer she was showing him her favorite seasons of the show.

Quinn wasn’t paying much attention to the show, he was listening but he was exhausted. His body was a fresh shade of pink as he forgot to put on sunscreen and he was regretting every moment of it.

His face rested in the crook of her neck as the majority of his body was laying on top of her. She was delicately running her fingertips along his sensitive skin. Every so often, he would press his lips against her skin. It was almost a reminder that he was still awake and listening to the show that was playing. 

“Q–” she mumbled as she glided her fingers through his hair. He hummed before he pressed his lips against her skin for several seconds. “It’s almost midnight,” she mumbled. 

Slowly, Quinn lifted his head up and looked down towards her sleepily. “Your parents are out of town,” he mumbled before he leaned down and pressed his lips to her cheek sweetly.

“And you have a curfew, Q,” she let out as she raised her hand up and rested it onto his cheek. His skin was hot to the touch, his cheeks seemed to get more red as time went on. He pouted before he leaned down and pressed his lips against hers.

“Jack and Luke have curfews, I just have to let them know when I’ll be back,” he offered as he pulled back, looking into her eyes. She squinted her eyes slightly while dragging her thumb across the apple of his cheek. He smirked before he pecked her lips for a second. He flopped beside her as he reached towards his phone. “Watch,” he mumbled. 

She rolled her eyes playfully while she laid onto her side as she began to trace her hand along his chest. He tilted his head to the side as he began to type a message to his mom. It only took thirty seconds after Quinn hit send for his mom to reply. 

Her message wrote: okay, behave. Love you.

He flashed Y/N the message that his mother sent him with a smirk on his lips. She shoved him slightly, he winced in pain. Her eyes widened as her mouth fell open. “Sorry I forgot,” she mumbled half-heartedly. He rolled his eyes dramatically as he bit his bottom lip.

“You forgot?” he said as he waved his hand slowly over his red face and his chest. “My skin is literally red,” he let out while laughing. 

“Not my fault you can’t put sunscreen on,” she teased. He rolled his eyes dramatically before he carefully pushed her onto her back. A small gasp fell from her lips as he climbed on top of her.

“You think you are so funny,” he mumbled as he leaned towards her. Purposely hovering his lips over hers. A smile began to form on her lips as she raised her hand up and glided her fingertips along his jawline. She hummed as her gaze lowered towards his lips. 

A soft smile formed to his lips for a second as he watched her eyes flutter close with anticipation. Quinn brushed his lips against hers for a moment before he kissed her fully. Instantly, she parted her lips and deepened the kiss. 

Time seemed to fly when they were together like this, yet she never wanted time to stop. All she wanted was this moment with him to last forever. 

He pulled his lips away as she tilted her head back. He smirked as he pressed his lips against the side of her neck. Slowly yet urgently he began to suck the skin beneath her ear. A breathy muffled moan fell from her lips as she tugged at the ends of his hair. Quinn began to pull up the ends of her shirt, higher up on her frame. Y/N arched her back into him, allowing him to pull it over her head. She smiled towards him, “Hey,” she mumbled as she ran her hand across his cheek. He hummed as he scanned her features as he leaned closer towards her.

She hummed as he bumped his nose against hers. A soft giggled left her lips as she ran her thumb across his cheek. “Hey,” he muttered as he delicately kissed the corner of her mouth. “You okay?” he asked softly. She nodded as she glided her hand across the base of his neck. “Are you sure?” he asked again. 

“Quinn,” she mumbled as she tilted her head to the side, meeting his gaze. He chuckled as he rolled away from her. He laid onto his back as he stared towards the ceiling. Her eyes widened as she rolled onto her side. Slowly, she glided her hand along his chest. His heart was slamming against his chest. “Are you nervous?” she asked quietly. 

“A little,” he mumbled as he kept his gaze towards the ceiling. She took a deep breath as she reached towards his cheek. She took a hold of it as she turned his head to face her. He swallowed harshly as his gaze lowered towards her lips. 

A small smile formed to her lips before she leaned towards him, delicately pressing her lips against his. “Let’s just watch this, yeah?” she mumbled against his lips. He nodded as he took a deep breath. Quinn held out his arm and she quickly rested her head onto his chest.

Delicately, he ran his hand through her hair. He carefully twisted a few pieces of hair between his fingers. Slowly, she ran her finger along his chest in a figure eight. She pressed her lips against his chest before looking up towards him. His gaze was already looking down towards her.

“So beautiful,” he mumbled. Her lips curled upward slowly as her eyes squinted slightly. 

~~~

The pair were sitting on her front porch swing. A blanket was laid across both of their laps. Her back was pressed against the arm rest as her legs were criss-crossed together. She was facing him as he had one of his legs propped up beside him while his other leg was hanging off of the swing. He was slowly rocking the swing back and forth. 

He rested his arm on the top of his knee as he leaned his head into his hand. Their eyes connected as they were listening to the soft hum of the country music playing from her speaker.

“You look really pretty,” Quinn offered as he scanned over her features. She dropped her head, smiling shyly.

“I can’t believe you're leaving in two weeks,” she mumbled as she began to spin the ring on her finger. Quinn’s eyes widened slightly as his breath caught in his throat. Swallowing harshly, he reached towards her. He took a hold of her hands, delicately gliding his thumb along her skin to force her gaze towards him.

“But we’ll be back next summer. We can pick up right where we left off,” he explained with a soft smile forming on his lips. “If we’re both single of course,” he muttered, a chuckle falling from his lips. Furrowing her eyebrows, she nodded slowly. 

She pulled her hands away from his, “So we’re just not gonna talk for ten months?” she asked as she crossed her arms over her chest. He shook his head.

“That’s not what I meant but you know this isn’t a relationship,” he let out nonchalantly. She nodded slowly as she pursed her lips forward. Her eyes were shifting from everywhere but his eyes.

“Right,” she mumbled.

“It’s not like we’ve done anything to be in a relationship,” he expressed, completely oblivious to the fact that Y/N was upset. She began to blink rapidly, tilting her head back slightly.

“Right, we’ve done nothing like what people in relationships do,” she let out harshly. His mouth fell open as he scanned her frame.

“Y/N,” he let out barely above a whisper.

Her bottom lip quivered as she stood up from the porch swing, taking a hold of the blanket in her arms. Pressing her lips together, she collected the blanket in a giant ball in her arms. 

“You should go, it’s late,” she said walking towards the front door of her house. Quinn stood up, her name falling from his lips.

With zero hesitation, she stepped inside letting the door slam shut behind her. Standing still, she stared ahead. Her eyes brimmed with tears. Tears that she didn’t realize she was feeling. She promised herself to never get attached and now she was attached more than ever. 

She climbed up the steps, ignoring the faint sound of her mother’s voice calling after her. She spun the corner towards her bedroom and pushed the door open. Her eyes landed on her bed, a familiar image popped into her head. An image of her and Quinn, sprailed out on the mattress together. Innocent and nothing more. She thought Quinn was okay with that.

She tossed the blanket onto the bean bag chair sitting in the corner of her room. Y/N walked towards her bed and sprailed out onto the mattress, feeling a tear fall onto her cheek.

There was a soft knock on her door and she rolled to face the wall. Reaching in front of her, she took a hold of the pillow and squeezed it to her chest. “Y/N,” Quinn’s voice rang out. She squinted her eyes shut harshly, almost as if her name leaving his lips was like a dagger in her chest.

“Go home Q,” she muttered. 

“Your mom let me inside,” he expressed softly.

“Please go home Quinn,”

He took a deep breath as he dragged his tongue across his bottom lip. He shut the door delicately, pressing his back against the door.

“I didn’t think you liked me enough,” he mumbled as he raised his hand up and delicately rubbed the side of neck.

“Enough for what?” she questioned softly, still facing away from him. 

He tilted his head back against the door, watching her shift slightly on the bed. Slowly, she rolled and sat up, keeping the pillow near her chest. Her gaze stared towards the edge of her bed, avoiding his gaze.

“For more than–for more than just kissing or whatever,” he expressed, somewhat embarrassed. “Do you want a relationship?”

“What?” she questioned breathily. She lifted her head, looking towards him. 

He took a cautious step towards her, awkwardly running his fingers through his hair. “With me? Do you want a relationship with me?” he asked as their eyes met. Her heart jumped into her throat as she took a shaky breath. 

“I don’t know,” she mumbled as he continued to walk towards her. He sat down at the edge of the bed.

“If you don’t know then why did you get mad at what I said outside?” he asked, a sigh leaving his lips.

“You acted like I’m some backup plan,” she said, squeezing the pillow tighter to her chest. 

A scoff fell from his lips as he shook his head, “Like Y/N Y/L/N could ever be someone’s backup plan. You are my only plan, I only said that because you don’t like getting attached to people,” he explained as he scooted closer to her on the bed. She nodded as she scanned his features.

“I don’t know if I want a relationship,” she explained softly. He nodded as he reached for the pillow against her chest. He took it and tossed it to the floor. She watched his movements, cautiously. He stood up from the bed, taking a small step to be directly in front of her.

Their eyes remained connected as he reached down and took a hold of her thighs. He separated them as he tossed her onto her back. A sudden gasp fell from her lips as he climbed on top of her. Her legs wrapped around him as he instantly pressed his lips against hers.

“We’ll figure something out,” he mumbled against her lips before he kissed her desperately. 

“Yeah?” she mumbled against his lips. He pulled back, his lips hovering over hers. He nodded as his lips curled upward into a smirk. 

“Yeah,” he whispered with a soft giggle falling from his lips. He leaned towards her, taking her lips with his. She parted her lips, allowing their tongues to connect desperately. Her hands glided along his upper back, needing to feel his skin beneath her touch.

Slowly, she began to tug at the shirt. He pulled back, sitting for a second as he tossed the shirt to the ground. He smirked as he climbed on top of her again, pressing his lips against her jawline. She took a hold of the ends of her shirt, hiking it up her frame. Quinn leaned back, biting his bottom lip as he watched her pull the shirt from her frame.

 She bunched it up and tossed it to the floor. He shook his head slightly as his gaze scanned her frame. She took a shaky breath, shifting awkwardly beneath him. Leaning down, he pressed a delicate open mouth kiss against the skin beneath her collarbone. 

“So fucking beautiful,” he mumbled against her skin as he looked up towards her. She let out a huff of air as she tilted her head back. He trailed his lips up her neck as he continued to press his lips against her skin.

Her hand gripped the sheet beneath her as her breathing began to quicken. He began to suck and bite against her skin. Delicately, he swirled his tongue along the reddening marks to soothe the spot.

Quinn began to trail his lips up higher, pressing fast kisses along her jawline before he delicately kissed her. “I’m gonna be so mad at you later for that,” she mumbled. He smirked as he took a hold of her chin, tilting her head to the side. He bit his bottom lip to stop the smirk widening on his lips. 

“Don’t like it?” he asked teasingly. She rolled her eyes dramatically as she raised her hand up and took a hold of his neck.

“You’re an ass,” she teased as she glided her thumb along the side of his neck. 

“Let me show you something else you might like,” he offered, raising his eyebrows slightly. Her breathing caught in her throat as she nodded slightly. He smirked as he began to lower his body down her frame. His lips kissed every inch of her frame on his way down. 

He pressed his lips against her hip bone as he toyed with the waistband of her shorts. He looked up towards her, watching her arch her back slightly. “Can I?” he asked softly. Without hesitation she nodded.

“I will open this door in ten seconds and you better be decent in there,” her mother called out from outside of the door. Her mother began counting slowly back from ten.

A gasp left both of their lips as Quinn instantly stood up from the bed. He reached for their shirts that landed in a pile beside the bed. He tossed her shirt towards her as he quickly pulled his shirt onto his frame. She covered her frame with her own shirt as Quinn hopped over her and climbed under the blanket. His eyes widened towards the mark forming on her neck. He pointed towards his own neck. She nodded, pulling her hair off of her back, letting it cover her neck. 

Her mother pushed open the door, a sigh of relief leaving her lips. She kept her hand on the doorknob. “Quinn, you are welcome to stay the night. I spoke to your mother, but this door needs to be open. All. Night. Long. Okay?” Louise expressed, shifting her gaze from Y/N to Quinn. 

Louise pursed her lips forward as she continued to meet both of their gazes. “Got it?” Louise pressed, trying to sound authoritative. 

“Got it,” Y/N let out, forcing a tight lip smile to her lips. Quinn could only nod as he dropped his gaze towards his lap. 

“Okay,” Louise offered as she walked away, leaving the door wide open in the process.

Y/N leaned into Quinn, turning her head to the side to meet his gaze. She let out an awkward laugh as he pulled her to his side. He kissed the side of her head in the process.

Nine Years Later…

She couldn’t believe it. She saw his face all over the city of Vancouver. His name was in bright lights and his photo was all over the city. Especially now that he was captain. Vancouver was a big city, there was never a moment she thought that she would see his face again. At least not in person. 

He was sitting in the corner of the coffee shop, a girl across from him. They were smiling and laughing together. She stood on the opposite end of the coffee shop waiting for her latte. There was a brace on his hand that she has heard every Canucks fan talk about.

It was hard not to stare. She hasn’t seen him since she was seventeen. There was a moment when she thought her mind was playing a game with her. Maybe he was some other guy that looked a lot like Quinn. 

But that smile. She could recognize that smile anywhere. 

The girl sitting across from him was stunning. Probably a model, definitely someone who was not ordinary. She took a deep breath as she forced her gaze towards her friend, Ariana, walking towards her. 

Ariana didn’t say anything as she leaned against the table behind them. They shared small smiles before Ariana looked towards her phone screen and Y/N looked back towards Quinn. 

Seemingly infatuated with the girl across from him, he hasn’t noticed Y/N across the coffee shop. The thought that he completely forgot about her crossed her mind and stayed there. She watched as he tossed his head back at something the girl said to him.

“Y/N, lavender iced latte!” the barista called out. Y/N forced her gaze away from Quinn as she walked toward the pick up counter.

“Thank you,” she mumbled as she took a hold of the drink and stabbed a straw into the center of it.

Y/N met Ariana’s gaze for a second before she looked towards Quinn’s direction. This time their eyes met. 

She was frozen. It was almost as if she was starstruck. To any other person in the coffee shop, that’s probably what she looked like. His smile faltered as he continued to look into her eyes. He leaned back in his chair as he glanced towards the girl sitting in front of him.

“Ariana, oat milk latte!” the barista called out forcing Y/N’s attention elsewhere. Ariana walked towards the counter to take a hold of her drink. Y/N and Ariana’s eyes met before Ariana led the charge out of the coffee shop.

Y/N glanced behind her to see Quinn still looking in her direction. She forced her eyes shut before she spun around and walked out of the coffee shop following after her. 

She had to walk away. She had no choice. It’s been almost eight years since the last time she saw him. There has been a lot of life since then. She kept walking, half listening to the rant that Ariana was spewing out. 

“Y/N?” she heard from behind her. She stopped dead in her tracks. Ariana spun around, a gasp leaving her lips. She began smacking Y/N’s arm dramatically, begging for her to spin around. But she couldn’t. She couldn’t see him. Her eyes squinted shut again as his voice echoed in her ears.

It’s been years since she heard his voice say her name. She missed the way he said it. With so much admiration as if it was the best word in any language.

“Y/N, please,” he called out again. She pressed her lips together as she took a shaky breath. Slowly, she spun around. Finally stopping the smacks against her arm from Ariana. She met his gaze.

“Why does Quinn Hughes know your name?” Ariana asked in a hushed tone, yet Quinn could hear her loud and clear. Quinn chuckled softly as he looked over Y/N’s frame. He walked closer to them, his gaze only on Y/N.

“Ari,” Y/N muttered towards her. Ariana nodded instantly before she leaned back towards Y/N.

“I’ll cover for you, I’ll text you the story,” she whispered before she began walking away from them. Y/N forced a tight lip smile as she took a cautious step towards him.

“What are you doing in Vancouver?” he asked breathlessly, almost as if it was impossible to breathe. Her lips parted slightly as she looked into his eyes, he looked so tired. “What are you doing here?” he asked as he took another step towards her, their bodies were only a couple of inches away from one another.

“I moved here a few years ago,” she explained quietly. He nodded slowly, searching her features for something that she couldn’t quite figure out. “Quinn,” she let out softly. His entire body relaxed as his name fell from her perfect lips. His gaze traveled towards her lips for only a second.

“Few years?” he let out barely above a whisper. 

“Moved here for work,” she explained, awkwardly bringing the straw towards her lips as she glanced towards the concrete beneath her feet.

“Wow,” he let out, looking behind him to see the girl he was with waiting outside the coffee shop. “You did say it was your dream to move here,” he said while tossing his hands to the side. 

She nodded while chewing on her bottom lip. Glancing behind Quinn, she saw the girl starting to get frustrated waiting for him. “I have to get back to work and your date is waiting for you,” she explained as she began to step back away from him. 

“My what–” he muttered as he looked behind him towards the girl, “Oh um–” he let out, shifting his gaze back towards Y/N. She was already walking down the sidewalk away from him. Quinn let out a sigh as he reluctantly began walking back towards the coffee shop.

~~~

She sprailed out on the couch, a large blanket draped over her frame. She was half listening to the half time show of the Detroit Lions game. It was impossible to get Quinn out of her mind. She tried consuming multiple forms of media at the same time but nothing was working. She thought that watching the Lions would help but she was still distracted. 

The second half of the game began as there were five knocks against her door. She shot up, shocked to say the least. She was not expecting any guests or was she in the right attire for guests. Her frame was only covered with a hoodie and pajama shorts. She tossed the blanket towards the other end of the couch before she stood up. 

She took fast steps towards the door, her heart slamming against her chest. Delicately, she rested her hand onto the door as she leaned towards the peephole. She squinted slightly to see Quinn standing outside of her door. She pulled back, her mouth falling open as she unlocked the door. 

Quickly, she pulled the door open to see him actually standing there. She didn’t fully believe it was him standing there until the door was fully open to reveal him actually standing there. 

“Hey,” he let out softly. 

“How the hell did you find where I live?” she let out her face scrunched up in disgust. 

His mouth fell open as he took in a sudden breath. “You realize our moms are–like–still best friends right?” he explained while awkwardly running his fingers through our hair. “I’m honestly surprised my mom hasn’t told me that you lived here after all these years,” he chuckled nervously.

Y/N forced a tight lip smile before she stepped back, allowing him to enter her apartment. He shoved his hands into his pockets as he followed her inside. They let the door shut slowly behind them. His eyes scanned the room and instantly landed on the game on the screen. A smile formed on his lips before he dropped his head slightly.

She leaned against the countertop as she crossed her arms over her chest. She watched him shift his weight from one foot to the other. She took a deep breath as she tilted her head back. “What are you doing here, Quinn?” she asked barely above a whisper.

“Why didn’t you call me when you moved here?” he asked as he lifted his gaze. Their eyes met again, perhaps saying things that have been left unsaid between them for far too long.

“It wasn’t very high on my to-do list,” she mumbled, shifting her gaze towards the floor for a second before looking back up to meet his eye. He clenched his jaw as his cheeks slowly pinked up.

She took a deep breath as she shut her eyes, “My company needed people for the Vancouver branch and I volunteered to come out here. I was in a pretty bad relationship so when they were asking for volunteers I jumped on the opportunity. It wasn’t very high on my list to call another guy I had a pretty bad relationship with,” 

“I don’t remember it being bad,” he mumbled as he tilted his head to the side. 

“Quinn, come on,” she muttered as she let out a dry chuckle. He stepped towards her cautiously.

“I guess–uh–I think about the good moments more than the bad moments,” he explained as their eyes remained connected. She nodded. “Like–uhm,” he let out a dry chuckle as he ran his hand across his chin for a second. “The night we watched the Scream franchise?” 

“Which time?” she questioned with a small smile on her lips.

“The first time. Do you remember G and Jack leaving and making out in your bathroom within the first forty minutes of the movie?” he asked while chuckling. Her mouth fell open as she nodded. 

“How are they doing by the way?” she questioned. Quinn’s eyes widened as his breath caught in his throat.

“Wait, you don’t know?” Quinn asked. She shook her head slowly, “They broke up last year,” 

Y/N clenched her jaw as she tilted her head to the side. She took a deep breath, “That’s a shame, what happened?” she asked softly.

“Wait, why don’t you know this already? You and Georgia were inseparable,” he asked as he stepped towards her.

“We stopped being friends a few years back,” she explained softly. Quinn nodded slowly.

“I’m so sorry,” he let out. She simply shrugged, looking into his eyes to hear more of the story. “She thought that he was cheating on her and she wouldn’t let it go,” 

She nodded, “Was he?” she asked softly.

“Jack was so madly in love with her, he didn’t even think about another girl like that. She couldn’t get the thought out of her head,” he explained.

“That’s sad,” she muttered.

He nodded, “What happened between you two?”

She tilted her head to the side as she pursed her lips forward. Georgia flashed into her mind. Her friend for more than a decade. Every good memory was shadowed by months of arguments and perhaps shared hatred. Hatred may seem like a strong word but they were no longer friends or acquaintances. 

“Y/N,” Quinn let out softly as he took another step towards her, leaving less and less space between them.

“We argued over you, actually,”

“What?” he asked, furrowing his eyebrows harshly. 

Her mouth fell open as she met Quinn’s urgent gaze. She walked past him towards the fridge. He stood still as he scanned her frame. She opened the fridge and pulled out two bottles of water. He rarely drank soda in season, a detail she remembered him telling her years ago. 

“She asked for my opinion on her moving to Jersey with Jack. I told her that I thought she should go to college and try long distance. We argued but let it go. But then I moved to Vancouver, she accused me of moving here to be with you and that I was a hypocrite,”

“But you spent half your childhood in Vancouver,” he offered dumbfoundedly.

She handed him the bottle, “That’s what I tried to explain to her. I explained that it was for work and that I wouldn’t even be seeing you. But she was still so mad at me that I stopped answering the calls. Honestly I'm surprised she never asked you about me since she was so adamant that I followed you here,”

He took a deep breath as he shook his head, “She never brought you up but you and I were kind of a sore topic for a while,” he let out softly. She chuckled dryly. 

“You can say that again,” she muttered as she met his gaze. She took another deep breath as she took a hesitant sip of water. “Why are you here, Quinn?” she asked as she carefully put the bottle onto the counter beside her. Quinn squeezed the bottle in his hand slightly as he looked over her features for a second before dropping his head.

“That girl I was with–”

“You don’t need to explain, Quinn,” she let out while laughing awkwardly.

“I know,” he said as he stepped towards her, “It was a first date. I realized pretty quickly she liked the captain of the Canucks and not really me,” he explained, cringing at the words leaving his lips. 

She met his eye, squinting slightly as she looked over his features. The Canucks were her favorite team because of her grandparents. Of course, she’s watched the struggles the Canucks have gone through this season. The struggles Quinn has gone through this season. She hated watching him in pain, but the Quinn she knew was gone a long time ago. 

She saw how tired he was, how pale his skin looked. The resentment she had towards him was beginning to fade the longer he stood in front of her. The Quinn she knew years ago was definitely not the same Quinn in front of her.

“You looked like you were enjoying yourself,” she offered while pointing towards her couch; inviting him further inside of her apartment. She began walking away from him, taking the water bottle in her hand. Quinn followed after her swiftly, limping slightly in his step. 

“I was being polite,” he muttered. She chuckled to herself as she sat down on the edge of the couch. Taking a hold of her blanket and draping it over her lap, she glanced towards the screen to see the Lions winning. “Didn’t feel like being polite anymore after I saw you,” he explained.

“Oh?” she asked teasingly.

“You’re even more beautiful than I remember,” Quinn expressed. His cheeks pinked up instantly as it was evident the words slipped out faster than he intended.

She snapped her gaze back towards Quinn, seeing him already staring in her direction “Quinn,” she expressed, scolding him slightly. He fought off a smirk as he looked towards the TV screen.

“Still a football person I see,” he pointed subtly towards the screen. Her mouth fell open as she stared towards his side profile, seeing the smirk on his lips. 

“Quinn,” she said firmly. 

“I really think the Lions are gonna take it this–”

“Quinn, you cannot do that,” she let out urgently.

“Do what?”

“Barge back into my life and say that I’m beautiful. Not after the last time we saw each other,” she explained while trying to meet his eye but his gaze was still on the screen in front of them. “Quinn,” she let out again, sliding closer to him.

“It’s been–what–eight years since then?” he asked quietly. He kept his gaze on the Lions game. She hummed as she continued to look towards him; desperate to meet his gaze. 

“How many lives have you lived in those eight years? How many mistakes have you made in those eight years? Regrets? How much did you love someone else? Been loved?” he questioned, finally turning his head to the side. 

“I am nowhere near the same guy I was when I was seventeen. I can already tell you are not the same girl at seventeen,” He slid closer to her, scanning her features. Her lips parted slightly as she felt her breathing catch in her throat. He took a deep breath as he dragged his tongue across his bottom lip. 

“Very poetic of you,” she teased as she tilted her head against the top of the couch. Their eyes remained connected as he followed in pursuit. He laid facing her, chuckling softly at her words.

“Okay well–um–I read a lot more books since the last time we spoke,” he offered as a small smile landed on his lips. Her mouth fell open as she chuckled softly. “It’s true,” he said while laughing.

“What are you saying, Quinn?” she asked softly while brushing her hair away from her face. He pursed his lips forward as he fought off a grin. He shrugged. 

“I’m just saying, we are not the same people,” he expressed while scanning her features once again. Y/N squinted her eyes as she looked into his eyes, she nodded slowly. 

“You’re right,” she mumbled, “I work a corporate nine to five and you are the captain of a professional hockey team,” she offered teasingly. He tossed his head back and laughed.

“What has your life been like? I wanna know everything,” he asked as he reached towards her, he stopped himself as he brought his hands back towards his chest.

The announcers started yelling on the TV, they both quickly shifted their gaze towards the TV. David Montgomery broke free and started running towards the end zone. She tossed her hands into the air.

Quinn shifted his gaze towards Y/N, smiling to himself as he watched her grin widely. She let out a sudden giggle. He felt his heart beat rapidly, feeling like he was a teenager all over again.

Her smile soon faded as she looked back towards Quinn. “Do you want to hear something funny,” she offered as she scanned his features. She was very fond of the beard on his face, it suited him well. He hummed as he kept his head on the top of the couch. 

“You ruined the Canucks for me for a while,” she muttered. His eyes widened as an awkward laugh fell from his lips. “I couldn’t stand watching the games or hearing your name from the broadcast,” 

“That’s funny to you?” he asked while laughing.

“It is hilarious because of course my ex boyfriend would get drafted to the team I love,” she explained. He continued to laugh. “I couldn’t watch the games until you became captain,” she explained further.

He smirked as he took in a deep breath, scooting closer to her. Her breathing quickened as she watched his movements.

“You’re only saying that because that’s the first season we made the playoffs since the bubble year,” he teased, “You’re only a fan when we’re playing good.”

“And unfortunately you and your Norris trophy made my favorite team good and bearable to watch again.” she offered with a soft laugh leaving his lips.

“I don’t think unfortunately should be in that sentence,” he let out while shaking his head. 

“I think it is quite unfortunate,”

“Oh really?”

She hummed as a reply as she looked back towards the TV with a smirk toying to her lips. 

~~~

Quinn had left her apartment, with her phone number in his phone, around one in the morning. They spoke for several hours effortlessly. Sure, Y/N had resentment and anger towards him buried inside of her over the last time they saw each other. But it was eight years ago. She knew that she couldn’t stay mad at him forever.

But she had a new person that she was mad at. She was mad at her mom for telling Quinn where she lived. Which was insane of her to do, but it was even more insane to let him in. But here she was calling her mom to find out an answer.

It was her fourth attempt at trying to reach her mom and finally she decided to answer. “Hello, my beautiful daughter,” Louise said joyfully into the phone.

“Why the hell did you tell Quinn where I live?” she asked, wanting to sound harsh but she giggled halfway through the sentence.  Her mom barked out a laugh. 

“Do you know how hard it was keeping that secret from him every year! Oh and poor Ellen having to lie and say nothing to him. It was toture!” her mother explained while giggling. 

“You also could’ve told me in advance that my ex boyfriend would be showing up at my door,” she explained while rolling her eyes dramatically.

“Well what happened?” Louise asked in a sing-song tone. 

Y/N let out a long drawn out sigh before she explained that all they did was talk and reminisce from when they were teenagers. She explained that it was suprisingly easy. She thought that she would’ve been mad at him still but seeing him like that was like a breath of fresh air.

“So what does this mean?” Louise asked with a faint sound of clapping in the background. 

“Nothing! It means nothing, it was just catching up. That’s all,” she explained while chuckling slightly.

“Lame!” Louise let out dramatically. 

“Next time you would like to send an ex boyfriend to my front door, can you at least tell me beforehand?” she asked as she stared towards the phone screen, a pout to her lips.

“Well, it’s a good thing that I have only liked one of your ex boyfriends. The only one I think shouldn’t be an ex,”

“Mom, just because you and Ellen are best friends, doesn’t mean I need to be with Quinn,” she explained while rolling her eyes playfully. 

“Well, Christmas is coming up, are you able to come home?” her mother asked, seemingly changing the subject. But Y/N knew what her mother’s intent was with that question.

Her parents started celebrating the holidays with the Hughes family the year before her and Quinn broke up. Since her parents were still close with the family, they have celebrated every holiday together. She didn’t want to be around them and decided to celebrate the holidays with her grandparents every year since. 

It wasn’t all awkward and bad. It was usual for her family to visit Vancouver after the initial holiday to see them anyway. She didn’t mind that the holidays were different. It was her own fault, she didn’t want to see him. She was not going to let her break up affect the way her parents had their life. She has always been friendly with the Hughes family after the breakup, from the brief interactions she had with them over the years.

“Grandma and Grandpa were thinking about coming to Michigan for Christmas this year anyway. So yeah, I’ll be there. I have a week of PTO,” she explained. 

“Wait really?” her mother asked.

“Yes,” she let out with a soft smile on her lips.

“That’s so good to hear, saves us a trip to Vancouver,” her mother said chuckling. 

“It does,” she let out while laughing, “I gotta go, I love you Mom,” she let out with a smile on her lips. 

“I’ll call you tomorrow,” her mother offered. Y/N hummed before she hung up the phone. Quickly, she walked towards the couch and sat down. She reached towards the remote beside her and turned on the TV. Slowly, she turned on the Canucks game.

She wasn’t lying when she told Quinn that she started watching the team after he became captain. Although, she didn’t watch every game like she used to before he was drafted. She still enjoyed watching them.

She rested the remote onto the arm of the couch as she shifted her gaze towards her phone. She began to scroll through her Twitter feed. Her breath caught in her throat as the broadcasters called out saying that Quinn was down on the ice. 

Her gaze shot up towards the TV to see blood pouring out of Quinn’s face. Her phone fell to her side as her posture straightened. She felt her heart race as she watched him stand up, holding his hand against his face. Blood started dripping down his hand. 

It looked awful and painful. Her body shook slightly as she watched him dart down the tunnel. She pulled her knees against her chest as she draped the blanket over her lap. The broadcast showed an up close of Quinn and his shaky hand. She shook her head as she squinted her eyes harshly. 

Her eyes were glued to the screen, scanning each person on the ice. Reading and rereading each number for the next fifteen minutes, waiting for Quinn to get back onto the ice. She chewed on her bottom lip, as her heart was beating hard against her chest. Lifting up the end of the blanket, she snuggled it up to her chin as she waited and waited.

“We have some good news, Hughes is back on the bench,” the announcers said as they zoomed in on Quinn on the bench. He was wearing the bubble and his face was swollen and half stitched up. Her face scrunched up as she felt a phantom pain against her own lip. She couldn’t imagine how he was feeling, let out imagine still playing the game after that.

The rest of the game was hard for the entire team. It seemed like they barely survived, and Quinn looked like he was in so much pain. He did everything he could to push through the pain but the team couldn’t pull out with a win.

She was on the edge of her seat the whole game. It was probably the hardest game of hockey she’s had to watch in a long time. 

The game ended an hour ago and she kept staring at the new contact with a new phone number that belonged to Quinn. 

She took a hold of her phone, reaching towards the call button when there was a knock against her door. She furrowed her eyebrows as she placed her phone back down onto the couch cushion. Y/N tossed the blanket onto the corner of the couch before standing up. 

Brushing a few pieces of hair away from her face, she walked towards the door. She pulled the door open instantaneously to see Quinn standing outside of her door. His head was hanging low, avoiding her gaze.

“I was just about to call you,” she mumbled. He nodded as he kept his gaze low. “Quinn?” she asked as she stepped aside, granting him permission to step into the apartment. He stayed still, keeping his head low. 

She took a deep breath, staring towards his hesitant frame. He looked so exhausted and he looked like he was in so much pain. Without fully thinking it through, she reached towards him. Slowly, she stepped towards him while delicately resting her hand onto his shoulder. Carefully, running her hand along his arm.

Hesitantly, he lifted his head up to meet her gaze. Her lip fell into a pout before she wrapped her arms around his neck. Quinn’s eyes widened as his arms held up in limbo. She glided her hand through his hair as her other hand glided along his upper back.

“Y/N,” he mumbled through the swollen lip. 

“Just let it happen,” she whispered into his ear. He wrapped his arms around her lower back. He guided her inside of the apartment. She let the door swing shut behind them.

“Fucking hell,” he mumbled into her hair. Her back was pressed against the door as she continued to embrace him. Maybe it was to comfort him, or maybe it was because she needed him to be that close. It was like breathing cold air, almost as if you’ve been breathing wrong your whole life.

“I’m sorry for not calling,” he mumbled. 

“It’s okay,” she whispered as she continued to run her fingers through his hair. “I was going to call and see how you were doing,” she explained quietly. 

“Yeah?”

She hummed while pulling back slightly. He kept his hands onto her waist while she kept her hands on the base of his neck. “I’m sorry,” she let out as she stared towards his swollen lip. He shrugged as he glided his hands along her lower back. “Come on,” she slipped away from his grasp. He stayed still. 

“Come lay down with me,” Y/N said simply as she walked towards her bedroom. 

“Y/N,” he let out softly, staying near the door. “Are you sure?” he mumbled.

“Come lay down with me,” she let out again from outside of the door of her bedroom. He took a deep breath as he followed after her. She pushed the door open and pressed her back against it. He walked past her, standing awkwardly in the center of her bedroom. 

“Thank you,” he let out softly. She shut the door as she walked towards her bed. She climbed onto the center of the mattress. 

“Come on,” she let out with a soft giggle leaving her lips. She held her arms out waiting for him to lay with her. He kicked off his shoes before he followed in pursuit. At first, he sat at the edge of the bed, looking over her. “Will you just lay down,” 

He tried to let out a chuckle, but it caused an eruption of pain to web across his skin. He swallowed harshly as he laid beside her. She kept her arms out waiting for him to lay on her chest. He rested his head onto her chest as their legs entangled together. Delicately, she began to run her hand along his back.

“You barely came within two feet of me last night, what’s all of this?” he asked as he slowly shut his eyes, hoping to not scare her away.

She didn’t reply at first, she continued to run her hand along his back. Taking in the familiar smell of his cologne, it was elevated, perhaps a more expensive version. Her heart was beating rapidly as she continued to take in what was actually happening.

“I don’t know,” she mumbled out. He hummed as he glided his hand along her side. Careful in the ways his hands moved. “It was scary,” she let out barely above a whisper.

“Was it?” 

“Blood was pouring from your face, Quinn,” she said as she ran her fingers into his hair. 

“It wasn’t pouring from my face,” 

“Q–” she let out. 

Quinn wished he could smile because it would be a wide grin. He hasn’t been called that in years. He hasn’t been called that since they were last together. “I’ll be alright,” he let out. 

“I know but–” 

“Y/N Y/L/N, do you still care about me?” he muttered teasingly. 

She chuckled as she continued to glid her hand along his back. “You were my first love, Quinn, I’ll always care about you,” she explained. He hummed as he toyed with the end of her shirt, twisting the fabric between his fingertips. “And you were right,”

“Right about what?” 

“That we’re different people than we were at seventeen,” she explained, “I’ve been looking back a lot on that last week before you left,”

He was sitting in the corner of the couch in her home theater. Her head rested in his lap. Quinn wasn’t paying attention to the movie as his attention was on her. He ran his fingers through her hair. Carefully, twisting the strands between his fingers. 

“We have to talk about it,” Quinn let out before he ran his hand down the side of her frame. He toyed with the end of the tanktop, lifting it slightly.

“We have four days, Q,” she offered, keeping her gaze on the TV screen. 

He tilted his head back, rubbing his thumb against her hip. “Baby, I won’t be here for New Years,” he let out.  Her body tensed as her breath caught in her throat. “I have a tournament that I can’t miss,” 

“Okay,” she let out barely above a whisper. 

“I can’t miss it, since it’s so close to the draft. Every game matters,” he explained further.

“I know,” she let out with her voice cracking slightly. 

“Baby,” he let out while gliding his hand up and down her frame slowly.

“So we won’t see each other until after the draft?” she asked as she sat up, keeping her body close to him. He froze as he began to chew on his bottom lip. For a few seconds, he avoided her gaze. “Right?” she asked quietly. He took a deep breath as he reached over and took a hold of her thigh. He pulled her closer to him, he started rubbing his hand along her skin. 

“The coaches at UMich want the team to go to campus during summer. They want us to do team bonding and build chemistry and stuff,” he explained, his voice got quieter as he spoke. She nodded slowly as she pulled away from him. “Baby,” 

“So we’ll just never see each other again? Is that it?” she said as she stood up from the couch. 

“No–we’ll figure it out!” he let out urgently. She crossed her arms over her chest as she started pacing back and forth. “You’re going to MSU and it’s only an hour away, we’ll figure it out,” he stood up, trying to stop her in her tracks but she kept avoiding him. 

“You realize that’s a year away right? A year without seeing you! I can handle a few months, I can barely handle a few months! Let alone a year without you, Quinn,” she let out, a sob climbing in her throat. 

“We can survive this,” he expressed as he took a hold of her arms. “Please,” he mumbled as he took a hold of her chin. Her lips fell into a pout as she tilted her head to the side. “Please,” he asked again. 

Quinn glided his hand along her jawline as he rested it onto the base of her neck. She took a shaky breath as she nodded slightly. “These last few days will be perfect, okay?” he let out softly. 

“A year is a long time, Quinn,” she mumbled and she pulled back. She crossed her arms over her chest.  She wiped her cheeks. “I don’t know,” she muttered. 

He reached towards her, pulling her towards him. Instantly, he pressed his lips against hers. She was frozen for only a second before she wrapped her arms around his neck. She jumped up and wrapped her legs around his waist. He took a hold of her thighs and guided her toward the couch.

“I think I was so scared of being alone, I hated when you were gone. I couldn’t imagine being alone for that long,” she explained. He continued to run his hands along her side, listening intently. “You were so mad that I didn’t want to go to UMich–”

“I wasn’t mad,” he interrupted. “I was sad that you didn’t want to go,” he explained softly. 

“I wanted to be with you, Quinn,” 

“I know,”

“I’m sorry for the way I spoke to you that last day,” he mumbled. 

“I know,” she mumbled as she ran her hand along his cheek briefly.

“Thank you for this,” he mumbled as he sneaked his hand beneath her shirt, gliding his hand along her hip. 

“I’m sorry I never called when I moved here,” she let out. He chuckled softly as shifted on her frame slightly. 

“It’s okay. I don’t think either of us were ready,” 

“Ready for what?”

“This,” he mumbled.

[randomfoggytiger]

Collector's Edition: Mulder, Scully, and Season 8 Healing (Part 1, CONT.)

Had more time and too many favorites from these authors, so: I came back with more of their work. >:DDDD

@ghostbustermelanieking/skuls's 28 and/or 29 for MSR?

She ignores them all and buries her tear-stained face against Mulder’s head, focusing on the rattle of his hot breath against her neck, the fact that he’s breathing and alive in her arms. She never thought she’d see him again.

AU-- TINH Scully saves her partner (via Jeremiah Smith) and is there to tell him the great and miraculous news.

@myownsuperintendent's Fic: “Better Late Than Never”/Better Late Than Never

No, she wouldn’t have wanted to miss seeing that.  He was usually so articulate, but not then.  “Really?” he said, and “Really, Scully?”, and “You’re really…?”, and “You mean…did we really…?”

“Really,” she said.  “I’m going to…”  And then she amended it, when she saw the look on his face.  “We’re going to have a baby.” 

“Oh,” he said, and his voice was so quiet, but she could tell that he shared her joy.  “Oh, Scully.”  

AU-- TINH Mulder didn't die; and has turned into a very doting father-to-be (with a surprise up his sleeve.)

@baronessblixen/BaronessBlixen's

Fictober 2020 - Chapter 23

She stares at him for a long moment. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees her fingers curl around the doll. He’s glad he gave it to her. Seeing her with it is one of the few things that seem right these days.

“I’m not sure I can ask you,” she says in a small voice that puts a dent into his heart.

“You can ask me anything, Scully.”

“Just be here when I wake up?” Tears spring to her eyes.

AU-- Post Empedocles Mulder is still gunshy; but he and Scully are trying their best.

Prompts & Drabbles - Chapter 47

“Quite the kicker you’ve got in there, Scully. Maybe he, or she, wants you to eat.” Without taking her hand off her belly, his eyes plead with her.

“All right. But only a bite or two.” Even though it’s awkward with his hand on her stomach, he leans forward and puts a slice of pizza on one of the plates. Mulder offers it to her and Scully is uncertain what she’s feeling or what she should be feeling. She looks into his eyes for a short moment before she bites into the proffered slice.

“Taste good?” She’s still chewing so she nods. Mulder, instead of taking his own slice, bites into hers. Now that she’s had a taste, she is not sure she wants to share after all. 

AU-- Post Empedocles Scully and Mulder are still a little wonky.

Just Follow The Instructions

“Do you need any help?” Skinner adjusted his glasses, obviously as uneasy as Mulder in that moment. He hadn’t meant to say it - that much was clear. Mulder, for once speechless, nodded automatically. He didn’t mean to nod. And if he did, he didn’t mean for it to be an invitation. Skinner, however, stepped into Scully’s apartment taking off his jacket. Mulder stared into the empty hallway; maybe Scully was pulling a prank on him. Eventually, he closed the door and joined Skinner, who stood there completely misplaced in the middle of Scully’s living room.

Post Vienen Mulder and Skinner put together a crib.

« Scully i can’t even keep fishes alive how am I supposed to take care of a baby ? »

“To be fair, Mulder” she starts, cradling her large belly. Their child is asleep and for once not playing kickball with her bladder. “You weren’t exactly... able to take care of them when they died.” That one molly. Her fault, not his. 

“Not the first fish that died, Scully.”

Alone Mulder panics after leaving Lamaze class.

Mulder and Scully pick out baby furniture.../Preparation is Everything

His naked body is still adorned with pale scars, but they’re healing, slowly fading away. Soon, they will be gone, and with them the only proof of what he went through. How many people can claim to have come back from the death? Mulder doesn’t even want to know. The other day, Scully left a pamphlet for group therapy on his coffee table. His first instinct was to throw it into the trash, but then he reconsidered. Scully isn’t pushing him. No one is. They’re all just glad he’s back among the living. Well, most of them. He bets that Kersh can’t wait for him to die for real. That feeling, he realizes, is mutual.

Post Alone Mulder let Kersh fire him, more interested in the future he and Scully will build together.

Landslide

“Why are you dancing?” He concentrates on the here and now. And here, in her kitchen, Scully is unmistakably dancing. Still swaying gently back and forth, his eyes follow her, mesmerized.

“Come here.” She holds out her hand and he takes it, letting her pull him closer. For a moment he is dazzled by her closeness, grins, but she doesn’t have eyes for him. She puts her finger on her lips even though he is quiet, not saying a word. Maybe it’s her who can read minds, he marvels, chastening himself to silence his thoughts. He needs to listen. There, behind the wall, he hears it. A soft tune, bleeding through.

“Is that…” This time her finger lands on his lips, warm yet firm, effectively shutting him up. The music gets louder in his mind as he recognizes it, a funny trick of the brain, and he feels himself swept up in the melody, in the sentiment.

“Dance with me,” he whispers against Scully’s hair and she giggles like a young girl out on a date for the first time.

Post Alone Mulder finds Scully up early one morning.

Could you maybe write something fluffy and domestic where Mulder and Scully are "nesting"

“You want me to do laundry at 6am? Scully, are you all right? Is everything all right with the baby?”Mulder puts his hand on her stomach, strokes it absent-mindedly. The baby, itappears, is sleeping.

“I’m fine, Mulder, really. I justneed to do this. The apartment needs to be clean before the baby comes. I won’thave time to clean it once it’s here.”

“Oh.” Realization dawns onhim and he can’t suppress a smile.

“Exactly, ‘oh’. We need to do thisnow, Mulder because-”

“You’re nesting.” He interruptsher.

“Excuse me?” She stands upstraight, or as straight as she possibly can, and shoots him another glare.

Pre-Essence Scully is on a rampage.

amorfati3215/Amorfati32’s (FFN)

Mulder does not have an attitude post-abduction and reconnects with Scully immediately instead of being distant

“I prayed a lot,” Scully tells him as she stands before him. “And my prayers have been answered. In more ways than one.” Mulder’s gaze follows her hand as she places it on her stomach. She’d been wearing a baggy sweater, but when she presses down Mulder suddenly notices the bump she’s been hiding over the past few days beneath loose fitting shirts and blankets.

AU-- TINH Mulder was saved, and returned to the land of the living grateful for peace (and in for a happy surprise.)

I have a prompt if you could write it?

But there was something else on his mind, and Scully had a good idea of what it was. She’d seen his eyes gravitate to her abdomen when she’d stood up the first time in his hospital room, a look of shock, confusion and what may have been frustration crossing his features. He hadn’t mentioned the fact she was obviously pregnant, but from that moment he’d changed in his interactions with her. 

Post Three Words Scully realizes where she and Mulder went wrong.

'I love you, Mulder...' Scully whispered desperately.

“Because right now I don’t think you’re telling me you love me because you want me to know that. I think you’re only saying it because you want a piece of this.” He holds up the giant double chocolate cookie that Scully’s been side-eyeing not-so-subtly for the past few minutes, so that it comes into full view. “I think you’re regretting eating yours so quickly and now you want mine too so you’re trying to butter me up.”

“I’m not trying to butter you up,” she protests, a little too weakly for her liking. Mulder grins in response, well aware he’s got her sussed.

Pre-Essence Scully desperately wants Mulder's cookie.

Thanks for reading~

Enjoy!

there are 8394 fanfic tropes i need to read after mulder comes back fuckkkkkkk

i wanna see a good reaction to the pregnancy

i wanna see mulder finally admitting he has ptsd and telling scully about it and about what he remembers

i wanna see scully kissing his scars

i wanna see mulder being more empathetic about what scully has been through bc he knows if the roles were reversed he would have fucking lost it

i need all of it!!!!

[sweetbans29]

Back to You (3) - CC

Pairing: Caitlin Clark x Reader

Summary: Things are different now...

Warnings: more little pains, also for the sake of this story we are going to say the other player mentioned is 28 🙂‍↕️ also because I may or may not have a new W love, and maybe a big pain...I promise the pains will go away eventually!

Word Count: 2k

Previous Part

Back to You Masterlist & Sweetbans Masterlist

"No," you say as you walk from your bedroom to the kitchen.

"Why not?" Kate asks following you with her hands outstretched, over exaggerating per usual.

"Just no," you say feeling around your left ear lobe, putting your second earring in when you find the opening.

"I came all this way," Kate says as she is staring you down from across the island. You look back at her and know she is right.

You take a second to think through the decision you are about to make.

"Fine," you say, causing Kate to jump up and down then pulling you in for a hug. You don't hug her back.

"We are going to have the best time! There are going to be so many players there and I know for a fact there is a certain Lynx player who has had an eye on you for a while now," Kate rambles and you just laugh.

"Kate, absolutely not!" You yell while laughing.

She gives you the most serious looks she can muster.

Before you know it you are surrounded by people in a dimly lit room for another big Nike launch. You are attached to Kate's hip and have no intention of leaving it. And you have been doing a pretty good job of that until someone is pulling her away while you are waiting for your drink and you find yourself left alone.

The bartender hands over your drink and you thank him, nodding at the fact that you are now alone in a room full of people who you know but have no idea who you are.

You walk around looking for a place to sit but find yourself wandering and looking at all the decor they have chosen.

"You may be the only person here more interested in the brand than the company it keeps," a voice says as someone joins you in a less crowded part of the room.

"And what does that say about you for noticing such a thing?" You ask, not bothering to turn to face the one who approached you.

"Well...," she begins and steps a little side step closer to you. "I may or may not have had an eye on you for a little longer than your appearance tonight."

That is enough to get a little more of your attention. You turn your head and look up to see Kayla McBride, her eyes on the mural you were just engrossed in.

"Well I am flattered," you say with a smile.

"Kayla," she says as she extends her hand out to introduce herself.

You find the smile on your face widens just a little.

"I know who you are," you say and shake her hand.

"And I know who you are," Kayla says with a wide smile, seeming reluctant to let your hand go.

"You said that already," you say with a little laugh. "And if I wasn't flattered, I would be slightly creeped out right now."

"Well I'm off to a great start," she says as she rubs the back of her neck.

"You are," you say, bumping her arm with your shoulder and you notice her body ease slightly. "So, where did I first catch your eye?"

Even in the dimly lit room, you can see a blush run up Kayla's neck into her cheeks.

"If you must know," she starts.

"Oh, I must," you say. She chuckles.

"All-Star weekend last year," she says and you think back to how Kate invited you to join and you did but did everything in your power to avoid any of the players. You were there to watch Kate in the 3-point competition and you didn't even stay for the All-Star game since Caitlin was one of the team captains. And the only reason you agreed to go was because Kate made sure Claire was with you the whole time.

"All-Star weekend?" You ask. "I was only there for half a day."

She nods, pretty rapidly.

"I know," she says, still nodding. "I was hoping to introduce myself then but you were gone before I had the chance and when I started asking around, Kate was kind enough to tell me who you were."

You shake your head, "That was almost a year ago."

"I know," Kayla says. "One long year."

You are both laughing as Kate comes over.

"There you are!" Kate says.

"You are the one that left me," you say and give her a little push. "Kayla here came and kept me company."

"I see that!" Kate says then looks over at Kayla. "Glad you finally got around to meeting this one."

"Me too," Kayla says. "Although, I may or may not be tanking it."

You shake your head no. "Not tanking it," you say with a smile.

Just as you are feeling comfortable and feel like your walls have finally been put down, you are left in a field of regret.

Just past Kate you see Caitlin walk in and look around. Her eyes fall on you and you can see her begin to make her way towards where you are.

Your hand comes up to grip Kate's arm and she looks at you. Her eyes follow yours and she immediately excuses herself and intercepts Caitlin on her way over. She slows Cait down but her eyes are still on you.

"Everything okay?" Kayla asks as she looks between you and where Kate excused herself to. When she sees Caitlin she looks back to you.

You don't know when but the grip you had on Kate is now Kayla as she moves to stand in between you and Caitlin.

"Ya, everything is fine," you say but the hand you have on her continues to grip her forearm.

Kayla looks at you with soft eyes.

"Why don't we get some fresh air?" Kayla suggests and you nod, following her out onto the balcony.

The two of you stand looking out at the city. She leaves space between the two of you which you appreciate but after standing there for a few moments, you take a step to be just a little closer.

"I'm sorry," you say after some time. "I'm a little bit of a mess."

"You don't have anything to be sorry for," Kayla says. "And you are not a mess."

"No, I am a mess," you say with a little laugh.

"If you are a mess, then we are all a mess," Kayla says and it comforts you more than you realized she could.

"Thank you," you whisper.

Before she has time to say anything, you hear your name come from behind you and you know immediately it is not Kate.

"Hey CC, I don't know if now is a great time," Kayla says as she moves to stand between you and Caitlin.

"Respectfully, you are not a part of this," Caitlin says to Kayla and you had already heard enough.

You turn around and put a hand on Kayla's shoulder which Caitlin immediately notices and takes a step forward.

"I got this," you say to Kayla who keeps her eye on Caitlin.

"She's got this," Caitlin says with a little smirk and you want to slap it right off of her.

You can feel Kayla tense and for just meeting her are grateful for her support.

"I'll come find you after," you say and she turns to look at you. You offer the best smile you can and she nods, making her way back inside but not before glancing back at you once more.

When it is just the two of you, you wrap your arms around you as if they are a shield against what is in front of you or are a way to hold yourself together.

"I have been trying to talk to you since that game," Cait says as she walks closer to you.

"That's close enough," you say, taking a step back.

"C'mon," she says.

"Caitlin, please," you say and close your eyes. Opening them shortly after once you remember what happened the last time you closed your eyes in her presence.

"I've tried to come by your office but was always met by your assistant saying you were busy or in a meeting or some other excuse. I haven't seen you at any other game since then and know for a fact that you have met with every other player on the team weeks ago. You have been avoiding me," Caitlin says.

"Can you blame me?" You ask, looking her dead in the eye. Your eyes are hard and when she sees them, hers soften.

"Things are different now," she says again.

"How? How are things 'different now' Caitlin? I have spent the past 3 years trying to crawl out of the hole you threw me into and you expect me to stand here and listen to how you have changed and times have changed. Of course there has been change, it's been 3 years. You are not the only one who has changed," you say.

You have changed. You were broken, you healed and you're still healing. You are proud of how you have grown over the past few years and seeing Caitlin is only a reminder of why you have needed that growth. Maybe someday you'll appreciate it, but right now you don't see it that way.

"The way I ended things was not my choice and ever since then I see how cowardly I had been to accept that was the only option I had. It was not fair to you, not fair to me," she says and takes a little step forward. You give her a look and she stops moving. "But things are not what they were and-"

Caitlin is cut off by someone else walking out.

"There you are babe," a girl says as she walks up to Caitlin and hooks her arm around Cait's waist. "I've been looking for you everywhere."

The girl fits into Caitlin's side almost as perfectly as you did.

You try not to look phased but the way your heart drops into your stomach as you see a girl walk up and have everything you so desperately wanted is hard not to show. And Caitlin knows how to read your eyes like she knows how to read the court.

"Is this person bothering you?" She asks, a hint of annoyance in her tone.

"No," Caitlin says at the exact same time as you say 'Yes'.

Caitlin's head whips to you.

"Please let me explain," Caitlin says as she watches you break in front of her for the second time. None of this is how she wanted it to go.

"There's nothing to explain, I'll stop being a bother. No need to worry about me," you say as your arms wrap around you tighter and you begin to walk back into the party.

Caitlin reaches out and grabs your arm, stopping you in your tracks.

"Please,' she begs but you don't have it in you to listen. If anything you should be the one begging for her to stop torturing you like this. You can see it all crystal clear now.

You pull your arm back and keep on walking.

It was never you. She never wanted you. It was why she kept you a secret. All the good, all the beautiful that you remember from your relationship is ripped away when you see her out in the open with another girl. Something you wanted so badly but respected because it was what she wanted. The love you thought you had wasn't love at all.

As you step inside, the room is spinning and you are overwhelmed.

Someone calls your name and before you can respond, you are grabbing the nearest trashcan and emptying the contents of your stomach into it.

AN: Well well well, what do we have here? How are feeling? Everyone okay? Let me know what you think! And as always, thank you for your love and support 🤍

[panelshowsource]

i have a lot of episode requests i'm working on so i'll make another post with those shortly!

———

this is such a fun question — i wish i had an answer! most of my "conspiracy theories" have more to do with certain comedians being misunderstood (in both good and bad ways), as people tend to want to like who they like and hate who they hate out of selfishness that is somewhat at odds with reality. at times. like, for example, not a lot of people want to talk about how many comedians actually didn't like sean lock at all in the early 00s because of how cutthroat and competitive he was on panel shows (mock the week flashbacks, anyone?); we don't enjoy thinking about that because, as fans, we all like sean and think he was a hilarious, honest, decent person. i could talk more about this but tbh defending someone i think people misunderstand or tearing down someone people love is kinda...not the kind of discourse i'm trying to do on this website 😅 anyways, that's where most of my theories lie (that and dating theories? maybe?), but that's not enough to call them conspiracy theories ig? this isn't a conspiracy theory, right? because i so passionately believe everything i said there hahahaha

do you have any you'd share? 👀🌀

i think argumental is probably the most underrated to me, because as much as...no one...talks about shows like duck quacks don't echo and rhod gilbert's growing pains, they've had enough high-profile or just popular-within-britcom guests that people have checked them out even for just one specific episode. but i feel like no one has watched argumental!!!!!!! which, i get it, it's a lot of straight white guys standing around doing fake mainsplaining lol (please remember that before, like, 5 years ago, that's about all panel shows were) but i think the premise of impromptu debate is really funny, some of the formats really bamboozle the debaters which leads to funny banter and improv, and it was so fun to see sean lock in menace mode as host 😋

i can't say it's the best ever made or anything — because, like series like there's something about movies (jennifer saunders i love you!!!!), rob beckett's smart tv, etc it's just two opposite panels answering kinda boring questions — but if you love david tennant and i know you do because everyone rightly does then you should try comedy world cup! he's such a wonderful host and there are a lot of panel show faves as guests

and on the topic of meh-to-decent formats with A+ hosts and big name panels, have you ever tried was it something i said or insert name here? they each have their moments for sure, i think a lot of people wanted to see wisis come back (maybe we're all just obsessed with david 🤷‍♀️)

you MUST listen to the unbelievable truth if you haven't, it's such a stellar radio show

another required panel experience is the recent series guy mont spelling bee and i'm holding a gun to your head when i say this watch it and watch it right now

as many of you know i'm not a fan of a league of their own but the road trip series are def some of the better episodes so if you like the panelists you can check that out for sure

does that help a little? tbh most of what i WANT to recommend isn't panel shows but scripted series or tangential reality shows (like travel man), but you asked about panel shows specifically so i stuck with them!

i haven't, and i surprise myself because lily savage was so iconic and i am sure i scrolled past her era a bunch of times back in the day. i'd give it a try if an episode had the right amalgamation of guests, so i'll check it out!!

omg there are so many moments from so many series — and i added quite a few to these random panel shows moments posts i did last year so i'll try not to repeat myself — but let me rack my brain real quick...

as i always say THIS is my favourite wilty clip ever and i stand by that

david the tortoise

yoshi the actual tortoise

"if this turns out to be a lie you are a shamless little light entertainer"

tell 'em david!! cuz she really does have horrible views lol

the elephant :/

for the last six months i've been secretly liasing with david's wife behind his bak

obviously the horse story

omg and the THERE'S NOOOOOO UNIVERSITY story

and on the topic of classics this was always my bob mortimer fave maybe because of the genuine awe of the panel in the end lol

and on the topic of genuine awe definitely this one

this miles jupp car crash

bermuda

i love rhod's potato tattoo and it's so funny that denise is like 'why have you got that??' so sincerely she was so astounded lmaooo

i was genuinely invited to harry and megan's wedding today but i said no because i had to come here and do this

i once shared a tent in kent with susie dent

another recent fave is this adorable one<3

oh man anon there are soooo many more maybe i can work on a masterpost of both funny moments funny whole lies/truths, or a youtube video or something (i said i'd get back into making videos). did i mention even one of your faves?? hehehe

omg anon you must watch this if you haven't the ben whishaw obsession is NOT a drill

he also talks about it in his book!

god he's so relatable

OMG I DID the nostalgia...

the way they didn't want to just talk about popworld but they didn't go one whole minute without saying popworld hahahaha they're soooooo cute

richard the popworld horse mentioned!!!!!!!

miquita being a whole child when she got cast for popworld, like it's so wild to think about

"has it been clear from what we've discussed that i'm a reclusive genius and master of cinema?" + "we pretended to be pretentious directors in berets...and i have become that guy now"

i know they were 98% kidding but the 2% of them that would go through with the popworld baby?? CAN YOU IMAGINE

you can't be surprised that a guy who wears false teeth in the name of absurd comedy for a living enjoyed a film about a man who wears false teeth in the name of absurd comedy!

a friend of mine gifted me a while of nordvpn, so that's what i've been using lately, but it depends what you need a vpn for. for example, if you're torrenting and need to seed content (for ratios or whatever), you'll need something with port forwarding like airvpn. if you're just trying to find something to switch between countries' netflixes or abuse streaming services, surfshark is very popular but i'd say expressvpn comes more highly recommended. once you pick the vpn you'd like to use, it's easy to find tutorials on youtube!

aww you're too kind 🥹🫂

———

☆ FAQ ➜ PANEL SHOW WATCH LINKS • NON-PANEL SHOW WATCH LINKS ♥ https://ko-fi.com/panelshowsource

[thisismyrandombloooog]

Young Nat Scatorccio x Reader

Summary: you go over to Nats house after school and find yourselves so distracted neither of you notice her dad coming home

Tw: readers internalized homophobia, cursing, violent altercation, use of slurs, panic attack description(ish)

Wc: 1370 (edited version)

Part 1



It’s 96 degrees in New Jersey the day Natalie Scatorccios father accidentally kills himself.

It’s 96 degrees in New Jersey the day you and Nat start unofficially dating.

Sometimes you used to wonder if it was your fault somehow- the dying. But the day had no traces of sinister energy, only thick June heat that signified the beginning of summer and the end of Sophomore year. You hadn’t known Nat for very long. Tryouts for the Yellowjackets had been a week ago and, before that, she was just some girl in the hallway who listened to weird music and wore cool clothes. Now, she intimidated you, intrigued you, and confused you, just a little. But you hadn’t made many real friends since you moved last year and, well, you liked her. Enough that when she asked if you wanted to come over after the final day of school, you said yes.

You trail behind her through the dust of the trailer park, taking in your surroundings- a wilted plant, a waving neighbor, a sweltering blue sky. When you reach what you assumed to be her trailer, she stops short and turns abruptly. “Ok, we have to be super quiet,” she says nervously, glancing down towards some unknown point, “my mom is probably asleep and she wouldn’t… she doesn’t really like it when people come around,”

“That’s fine,” you say simply with a slight smile. She looks up grinning, though apprehension still lingers in her eyes. She nods and you climb the stairs together.

Nat lightly eases open the door. Sure enough, her mom is asleep on the couch, the glow of an old movie flickering on the small tv screen. Nat grabs your wrist as you slip down a narrow hallway towards her room. She quietly shuts the door and you hear her breath out a sigh of relief. She turns to you with a smile that makes your heart jump and crosses to the tape deck, rifling through cassettes. You definitely don’t have the same music taste, but you find yourself unable to care. It was too fascinating to see Natalie like this: smiling, relaxed, and putting on a tape in her room. You feel your heart begin to race.

“What,” Nat asks, looking over at you staring.

“Nothing,” you say back, quickly looking for something else to talk about. “I like your posters.”

“Thanks,” she says, flopping down onto her bed before grabbing your hand to pull you down next to her. “ Sooooo…. do you think we’ll make the team,” she asks, propping her hand on her chin, with an almost shit eating grin.

“I know you will,” you groan. “They need like 4 midfielders and you were so good, I missed like half of the goals.”

“Well then it’s a good thing Sweepers hardly ever have to score,” Natalie says. You roll your eyes but smile back at her.

“You know, I wouldn’t have taken you for a soccer player,” you say, sitting up to face her.

“What’s that supposed to mean,” she asks with a touch of sarcasm.

“I don’t know, you don’t seem like the type for organized school sports,” you say. When you first met Natalie, she seemed like she didn’t give two shits about anything, but as you got to know her she surprised you all the time. She played soccer, she cried at movies where the dogs died, and she was actually pretty smart.

“I’m not really. I guess I just like soccer.” She says it thoughtfully, as though she hadn’t figured it out herself and let her head fall back to the mattress. Her dark hair is splayed out around her face and her cheeks are flushed slightly from the heat.

Suddenly the room feels small.

“You’re staring,” she says, though she sounds more nervous than teasing.

“Am not,” you say, trying to laugh it off and looking down at your hands.

“Are too,” she argues back, like you’re toddlers again.

“Well you’re blushing,” you shoot back, your throat beginning to feel thick. Bees in your stomach and concrete in your esophagus suffocate you at the thought of this conversation.

“Well, it’s like a million degrees out, Y/n,” Nat mutters, licking her lips. Your eyes track the movement and she notices. Her gaze flickers back to yours and the air feels thick and buzzing. She’s watching you intently now. You should look away. You should say something. But you don’t.

Instead, Nat props her elbow underneath her, sitting back up. You can see her eyelashes clumping around her mascara and the way her breath disturbs the dark hairs farming her face, just a little

“I kinda want to kiss you,” Nat says quietly and quickly, avoiding eye contact.

Your heart stops all together.

“I’m, uh, well… I’m not.. uh I’m not gay,” you stutter.

“Okay,” Nat shrugs, as if that isn’t the point.

“Okay,” echo. But you still find yourself leaning in, slowly, leaning in until your lips touch Nat’s soft, full ones.

You had kissed boys before. Hell, you had a boyfriend at your last school. But this was different. You were afraid to even think the word ‘better’, but somewhere in your subscious, you were screaming it. She was gentler: her nose was smaller, her skin was softer, and her hair tickled your cheek.

She pulls back a fraction, eyes flickering between yours, with anxiety. ”Was that okay,” she asks, voice softer than you’d ever heard it. You wish you could scream no. Tell her that you were in fact, not gay, and run out of the trailer. But you can’t. Because it was okay. It was more than okay.

So you nod, not trusting your voice. And she returns a shy smile.

She leans in, this time with more confidence, and your lips meet again. You remember something you mom used to say: once is an accident, twice is on purpose. This time it’s less tentative and more certain. You’re painfully aware of the way she pulls you closer. How her arm snakes up to cup your cheek. How she pulls you down flat onto the bed…

The door slams open.

“Fuck,” Nat says and you can only register the panic in her eyes for a moment before she’s darting towards the distrubance. You hear the screaming before you see his face.

“Who the fuck is this Natalie,” he says, trying to move the girl out of the way. You realize he means you. ”Is she a fucking d*ke. Are you fucking d*ke Natalie.”

Your stomach drops. Shock begins to wave over your body, depriving you of your higher senses.

“Dad stop, it’s nothing, just stop” Nat screams, pulling him back before he can reach you. Your ears ring with the word ‘dad’.

“Do you think I’m fucking stupid,” he yells. You look over at Nat as she comes toward you in a blur.

She’s horrified, her breathing is erractice, and she seems to be on the verge of tears. She grabs your arm and pulls you up. “Just go,” she says, desperate and panicked.

Disoriented, you stumble to grab your bag and begin to run out the door. Out of the corner of your eye you Nats dad grab her arm abrasively and your heart jumps to your throat. You stop short and turn back to look at her. What would he do for this? You want to stop it, to do something, anything. Her cheeks are wet now. “Fucking go,” she says, sadness etched over every part of her features, and you run. You can hear her dad screaming all the way down the block. Youwonder why her neighbors have never stopped him, but it occurs to you that maybe they’ve tried.

You sprint all the way home and the time you get there sweat has soaked your clothes and you’re on the verge of passing out. Heat laps viciously at your skin and you grab at your chest, willing yourself to breathe. Your mind flashes with all the things that could be happening to Natalie and you’re hit with a wave of nausea.

You stumble inside, tears forming in your eyes, as you go to wash up before your parents arrive home.

[quitealotofsodapop]

It was a normal day when the sky opened up. Well, that's a bit of an exaggeration. The sky didn't literally open up so much as a very noticeable portal to did and a eight figures had slipped through. They were warriors wearing celestial armor, each bearing a crest depicting a plum blossom. The only exception being the eighth figure, a black dog that trotted at the heel of the leader of the group, long slender tail wagging happily. The Celestial Warriors were quick to move out fo the public eye, slipping into a nearby alleyway to prevent themselves from being seen by mortal eyes.

"Remember," Erlang Shang reminded them as they looked took stock of their position and took the time to debrief, "We aren't to be recognized by mortals. If we are, our quarry would surely be notified and flee."

"Erlang, exactly who is it we are chasing?" One of his subordinate asked, "When you were called into His Majesty's chambers, you left eith suck a shocked and severe face and refused to say anything!"

"It was confidential and not to be spoken of where any could hear." Erlang explained, absentmindedly petting Xiaotian Quan as the hunting dog nudged affectionately agaisnt his leg, "I was ordered to keep quiet on the matter until we reached the mortal realm, for fear that it could cause chaos and panic among our people."

"Chaos and panic!? But the only person who is known to cuase such a reaction by their very mention is-"

"Our old friend, Sun Wukong."

The plum hill sages fell silent at their leader's words, taking in what Erlang has spoken of. Sun Wukong had been a figure many of them had not thought of in a long time, having disappeared over 500 years ago and never been seen again, in spite of many attempts to search for him over the centuries. That Erlang seemed so certain and to be given such instructions could only mean-

"He's back." The second in command of the soldiers stated, looking his leader directly in his eyes, "That's why we're here. He's causing mischief again and we need to bring him in."

"Soemthing happened during New Years." Erlang confirmed with a nod, "We do not know if this was something the Great Sage had orchestrated or not yet, but a powerful wave of very familiar chi has spread across the realms, originating from this city, and shortly afterwards three powerful relics had been stolen. All of them connected in some way to Sun Wukong, whom myself and many others recognized as the owner of the chi. We aren't here to punish or harm him, but the Emperor wants Sun Wukong in custody as soon as possible, before he can go to ground again. This is the first time in centuries that we have had a solid lead on his whereabouts and it is essential we do not do anything to risk him running because if we lose him here, we may not find him ever again."

"We'll have to wear human disguises." The second in command said, and with an brief flash of magic, each celestial placed a human glamour upon themselves. Illusions in place, they spread out, searching for clues as to what might have happened on New Years and, hopefully, the location of their old friend.

Erlang became hopeful when he heard tell of a young mortal boy who had taken up Wukong's staff, who was lauded to have recently saved the city from a terrible attack by a demon that had used some sort of venom to inflict a form of mind control on the inhabitants, the time coincidentally being at the time when Wukong's chi was felt and the items had gone missing. A solid lead, and according to the locals, when the boy isn't protecting the town from rampaging demons he works at a popular noodle shop owned and operated by a grumpy pig demon.

With that Erlang decided to investigate.

Across the city in Pigsy's Noodles' a golden monkey let out a yelp as he banged his head on the sink, rubbing the sore spot as he glared at the pig that was frantically cleaning.

"Exactly why am I fixing your leaky faucet!?" Wukong complained, "I'm a mechanic, not a plumber!"

"And I don't have time to listen to your complainin!" Pigsy yelled back as he dusted the ceiling for the fifth time that day, "We got an important guest coming over and the place has to be perfect! You owe us for lyin' for years, so get to fixin' it!"

"I-I didn't lie!? I just... didn't tell the whole truth!" Wukong tried to defend himself, before grumbling to himself, "What was I supposed to say, 'Hi, I'm the goddamn Monkey King! Please don't tell anyone!?'"

A spoon swiftly made it's point as Pigsy smacked the monkey upside the head with it.

"Don't get cute! I offered to make you lunch for this, so get to it! The VIP is going to be here any second!"

With a roll of his eyes, Wukong went back to his task, ducking his head back under the counter as Pigsy and MK cleaned around him. He was so busy grunting and cursing the faucet out, he hadn't even heard the bell over the door ring until he heard Pigsy greeting whichever customer came in.

"HEY! Dogs aren't allowed in the restaurant!"

He heard a muffled reply from the customer, something about a service animal, before the padding of feet caught his attention. Flicking his ear back, Wukong's tail twitched as he listened as the dog sniffed around, somehow having wandered from its owner and began investigating the place while it's owner argued with Pigsy. Wukong tried to shrugged the thought off, trying not to think about how the padding of those clawed feet or the huffing and sniffing sound of the mutter sounded just a little too familiar.

It wasn't his job to watch the dog nor is he responsible if Pigsy and the owner don't notice it wandering. He just wishes it didn't sound like it was coming closer to him. He has nothing agaisnt canids, but he will be the first to admit that ever since Xiaotian Quan had bitten him that one time he had been rather wary of them. Unfortunately for Wukong that didn't seem the case as he heard scratching and whining at the bathroom door where he was working. And the dog must have been smart too, as he soon heard a click and a creak as the door swung open, the panting getting louder.

And then he felt fangs nip at his tail.

With a yelp, he swiftly turned only for his eyes to widen in horror as he realized why the dog's whining sounded familiar. An all too familiar pair of golden eyes gleamed at him from a black and golden body, tail wagging victoriously as the very dog he had been thinking of mere moments ago stood in front of him, panting happily. Shit! Shitshitshitshitshit!!! If Xiaotian Quan was here than thay could only mean the owner outside was-

"OH! Hey, Doggy!" MK appeared at the door, taking one look at the puffed up and frightened monkey within and realizing soemthign was up. He tried to herd the hunting dog away. "No no, don't mess with Uncle Wu! He doesn't like dogs!"

Before Wukong could warn MK not to touch the dog, he reached out to try to grab the scruff. Instantly the dog went form happy to aggressive, growling at the boy as he snapped at him, causing MK to fall back.

"MK!" Wukong called out, "Get out of here! That's not an ordinary dog, it's a celestial hound! He won't let anyone but his master touch him!"

"A what!? Why's a celestial hound here!?"

"Believe me bud, I wish I didn't know. There's only one reason for this particular dog to be here and thats-"

Xiaotian Quan barked, a loud sound that Wukong knew from experience meant he was calling his master. He heard Pigsy letting out curses as he realized where the dog was and the customer, no longer muffled by the door and oh Buddha it really IS Erlang, making apologies as he presumably ran to get his dog. Wukong panicked as the footsteps, those oh so familair sounds of Erlang's boots, began to tower hesd in there direction.

"Shit! MK we need to hide, now! That's Erlang Shen on his way, he's here for me!" Wukong panicked, trying to get up form where the still half laid on the floor only for a large paw was placed on his chest, pinning him. Xiaotian Quan is smarter than any mortal dog, smart enough that Wukong has long known he could understand human speech just fine and act on what he heard, and now he's trying to stop Wukong form escaping.

Considering Erlang has his own true sight and any attempts he made to force the dog off of him would end in a very possed off Plum Hill Sage and a bite to the jugular, Wukong could only think of one solution. Get small enough to hide!

"MK! Hide! I'm gonna shrink myself."

"Sh-shrink yourself!?"

Wukong didn't have time to explain, he began his transformation just as the celestial realm's most powerful warrior rounded the corner, becoming the size of a bug within seconds, XiaotianQuan letting out a surprised yelp as Wukong suddenly disappeared form under his paw. He had only time to meet Erlang's surprised face before he fell into the drainage pipe, barely fitting for how small he had been, the sound of MK screaming following him as he too fell. Oops, it looks like he accidentally shrank MK, too!

Wukong resolved to fix MK later. Right now, they don't have a lot of time until Erlang follows.

Smash Bros Announcer voice: "With his Eyes on the Prize! It's Erlang Shen! And who's the goddest girl in the world but; Xiaotian Quan!?"

The second Wukong let his powers loose on New Years; Erlang's third eye lit up like a fire alarm. He'd know that energy signature anywhere!

So now the whole Plum Hill fraternity is in Megapolis tryin got find their monkey!

Xiaotian Quan's disguise is just her in her Service Dog vest - Erlang had her certified once training became available. She only gets so far into Pigsy's because of this fact.

Once Erlang actually catches up to Wukong, the monkey is surprised that the warrior wants answers rather than bloodshed. The most powerful demon king goes missing for half a millennium without so much as a letter, and it takes a full-scale zombie-spider invasion for him to come back! Not only that - but a bunch of stuff is missing from Heaven; namely things that could be used to create a cure/antivenom, but most importantly The Furnace itself!

Xiaotian Quan meanwhile, takes a slightly different route when she hears a distressed monkey pup. When MK runs from the Lady Bone Demon, he finds Quan, the celestial hound looking at him worriedly.

The Lady Bone Demon preys on another aspect of MK and Wukong's relationship, asking the Monkie Kid why his hero is always running away to make others clean up his mess?

At first MK thinks he's been left to face the hound on his own, only for Quan to push her nose at him - gesturing him to follow her towards her master and his mentor. Finding the Monkey King will be easier if she manages to reunite him with his pup!

It's a major sign to MK that not all of the Monkey King's past opponents want to meet him again for malicious reasons....

[starshideurfics]

A Mother’s Love - Part Four

part one, part two, part three

omegaverse, pre-steddie, wayne x benny, steve with powers

Eddie’s not sure why Wayne needs his help after school on Tuesday, but it gets him out of the house. Not that Wayne is too forthcoming about what’s going on, and the one time Eddie asks Wayne just says, “I’m not the best at explaining it.”

He’s even more confused when they pull up to a big house outside Loch Nora, and Wayne knows enough to cut him off with a gruff, “We’ll answer everything inside.”

Which is how Eddie ends up sitting at a fancy dining room table with Wayne, Mr. Hammond, Steve Harrington, and Mrs. Harrington. All the adults are looking at Eddie. Steve is looking at his lap.

“I’m sure this seems odd to you, Eddie,” Mrs. Harrington says, “But for today, I was hoping you and Steve could just talk. It will help me find a baseline.”

Eddie tilts his head to the side, looking up at her. “Baseline for what?”

“For how Steve reacts to you.”

Looking back to Wayne, Eddie stands and whispers, “Why am I here, Wayne? Really?”

“Because Benny asked,” Wayne whispers back.

His voice get’s louder. “So? I still don’t-”

He’s cut off by a small, quiet voice. “Mom and M- Benny think you can help, since you helped before…” Steve is still looking down, hands on the sides of his head like it’s too loud in the room.

Eddie looks around at the grown-ups, all their serious faces. “You really just want us to talk?” he asks Mrs. Harrington.

“Yes, just talking for today.”

“Okay but… Not if you’re watching us, it’d just…”

Be weird? Awkward? Impossible maybe.

“Steve, why don’t you take Eddie outside? You can sit by the pool.”

Steve doesn’t answer, just nods and gets to his feet. Eddie notices Benny squeezes his shoulder. He’s still *so* confused.

But he lets Steve lead him out through the sliding doors into the backyard, the spring air cool, but not cold. They sit across from each other at the patio table. Eddie rests his hands on the glass just long enough for the cold to be uncomfortable. “So… What are we supposed to talk about?” Eddie asks, picking at a hangnail.

“Anything, I guess…” Steve returns. He shrugs, pulls his hands inside the sleeves of his Hawkins Middle Swim Team hoodie. He’s still looking down. “Thanks… For, you know, getting me to Wayne.”

“Wayne always knows what to do,” Eddie says softly with a shrug of his own. “He’s always able to answer my questions since-” Eddie freezes. He can’t think about her right now.

“Since?” When Eddie looks up, Steve’s eye’s are shiny.

“Doesn’t matter…”

“You miss her.”

“What’re you talking about?” Eddie growls, confused. Scared.

Steve rubs at his temples. “I can feel it. Not supposed to talk about it.”

“I thought the whole point was us talking.”

“Not about this!” Steve is breathing too fast, shallow.

Eddie holds up his hands. Breathes slow and deep. Waits for Steve to match him. “What aren’t you supposed to talk about, Steve?”

“You won’t believe me.”

“Try me.”

Steve hunches in on himself, takes a deep breath. “I feel things.”

“Everyone feels things, that’s being a person.”

Eddie realizes he must have sounded snarky saying it because Steve lifts his head and makes a face. “I feel things that aren’t mine to feel.”

Eddie takes a minute to really think about the words Steve has used and what he has said. Part of him wants to say, ‘Sounds like you’re sticking your hand in other peoples’ pants.’ To make a joke of it. Because if Steve really means it *like that* then he’s- “How? I mean… How do you know they aren’t your feelings?”

“Because they don’t start out here,” Steve says softly, patting his chest. “I don’t really hear them, no words, but if there are too many they fill my head and it hurts.”

“Even if the feelings aren’t painful ones?”

“I dunno. Usually, if there are enough to hurt, the big ones are the painful kind.”

Eddie drums the fingers of his right hand on the table. “So it started when you presented, all the feelings? You some kinda X-Man?”

Steve shakes his head. “I think I’ve always had it. I just used to be able to… turn it down? It used to be like a radio playing a couple rooms away, and then it was like the volume was turned all the way up. Like I was standing with my ear pressed to the speaker.”

“Can you feel my feelings now?” Eddie leans forward, like he’s ready to pounce.

“Yours are all over your face,” Steve replies with a grin. “But yeah, I can. You’re like a puppy, wagging your tail so hard your whole body shakes.”

He feels about ready to shake out of his seat, tilts his head, and smiles. Then he closes his eyes, and chases his excitement away with his go-to said thoughts.

“I’m sorry you lost her.”

“I thought you couldn’t hear anything. No words?”

“Big feelings have impressions. Yours feel familiar. Like Mama’s.”

“Wouldn’t have pegged you as the type to say mama, Harrington.”

“Fuck off,” Steve says, still grinning.

❤️❤️❤️

Eddie’s emotions are LOUD. But Steve likes them, at least the excited ones, and Eddie has trouble holding back the excited ones.

They talk for more than an hour, Eddie trying to project different emotions, but sadness is the only one that can push through his fascination with what Steve can do. With the fact that this is real. It’s fun for Steve too, even if it leaves him exhausted.

When they head inside, Eddie agrees to keep helping and Steve tells his mom how it went. Wayne takes Eddie home, and Steve hides his face against his mama’s chest as Benny rubs his back. His headache calms right away, and he wishes he could fall asleep there, just stay pressed to Mama’s sweet apple scent where he’s safe. Steve knows he can’t, that he needs to be able to go to school without barfing and he wants to be able to hang out with friends. He wants to have a life.

“That seems like it was a good first session,” Marsha says softly, and Steve knows she’s talking to Benny more than to him. “Tomorrow will be more controlled.” She pets through Steve’s hair. “I’m glad you boys got along.”

“Eddie’s a good kid,” Benny agrees. He pulls back, looking down at Steve. “You hungry?”

“I could eat.”

❤️❤️❤️

The next day, Steve and Eddie talk inside, Marsha asking questions to prompt Eddie’s emotions. Or she tries to, but Eddie’s parked at nervous and embarrassed, which is jittery but muted in Steve’s head.

She turns to her son, asks, “Honey, think you can try what we practiced last night? I can see that I’m a confounding variable.”

“Yeah, I’m fine, Mom.”

Marsha squeezes his shoulder and heads to the kitchen where Wayne and Benny are waiting.

“You don’t need to be scared of my mom,” Steve says with a smirk as Eddie slouches in relief.

“I’m not scared! This is just weird, I can’t just turn on being angry!” His voice is sharp, face red, but he keeps his volume low. Irritation itches behind Steve’s teeth.

“You seem fine at it now.” Steve shrugs. Eddie’s annoyance spikes and Steve flinches. He closes his eyes, tries to imagine a wall in his mind like his mom walked him through last night, but it only dulls Eddie’s emotions in his head a little. He pushes at them on instinct, pain building-

“Shit, Steve! Are you okay?” Eddie is all sharp panic now, bigger than the anger, and Steve can hear him get up from his chair, a warm hand against his. The panic warms, turns to care, like worry, but softer, and a tissue is pressed into his hand.

He feels it then, the trickle of blood from his nose. He pushed too hard. “I’m fine, sorry. I should have warned you; Mom didn’t think it would happen with only you here.” Steve holds the tissue to his nose. “But this is good, more information for the experiment.”

“Should I go get your mom?”

“No, I just need a minute. And I don’t want to scare Mama more.”

Steve feels Eddie’s confused look before he sees it. “I don’t think anything scares your mom. Not this stuff, at least.”

“I thought Wayne told you. Mama said he knows…” Steve checks the tissue, moves it so he can track whether the bleeding has slowed. “I’m adopted.”

“Oh!” Eddie’s surprise is bright, but it dulls quickly as he thinks, putting together the pieces. “That’s why Benny cares so much.”

“I should thank you for that, too. Wayne’s got some of Mama’s stuff in his nest… I might not have found him without you.” When Steve starts crying, it’s all his own big emotions fueling his tears.

Another tissue makes its way into Steve’s hand. “Benny must be a great mama. You’re lucky, Steve.” Eddie’s sadness is back, bone deep and cold, feeling so much like the pain that scarred his mama’s heart. “Two moms to look out for you…”

Steve reaches for Eddie’s fingers and squeezes hard. “You’re lucky, too. You have Wayne.”

“Yeah…” There’s anger now, underneath the pain, and Steve doesn’t want to push it away; he wants to help, to share the load. They’re quiet together for a long time, Steve still holding Eddie’s fingers as they both calm down.

“Do you want to stop?” Steve asks gently, checking his nose again, the bleeding completely stopped.

Eddie shakes his head, purses his lips like he’s really thinking. “Is there anything that makes the radio quieter?”

Steve answers instantly, “Mama.”

Eddie nods, like it makes perfect sense. “What if you imagine Benny here, turning down the radio.” His excitement is rising, warm and loud, so loud.

Taking a deep breath, Steve thinks of Mama, sweet apples and solid arms around him, strong hand on the volume knob, twisting it to the left—

And everything softens. His own excitement spikes, his grip on Eddie’s fingers tightens as he jumps to his feet and drags him into the kitchen to review their findings.

❤️❤️❤️

The next day is the real test, taking Steve out in public. He practices again with Eddie, and then his mother takes him to the grocery store. It isn’t too bad, there are few big feelings at Bradley’s Big Buy, but enough for Marsha to be comfortable sending Steve back to school on Friday.

School is a challenge, especially with how Tommy and Carol are looking at him in the hallway. The whispers when he walks past. His mother called him out with a stomach bug, but there’s pity mixed in with all the other soupy, hormonal teenage emotions now. Being an omega made Steve weak.

He shakes his head, shakes away his own feelings of inadequacy—no matter how much his parents assure him otherwise, he still feels broken—and imagines Mama turning down the volume on the radio. When it’s still too loud, he pictures Mama’s hands over his ears, protecting him from being overwhelmed, smelling like safety and home.

That’s enough. Steve feels almost normal as he takes his seat in Mr. Clarke’s class. He smiles when his teacher welcomes him back, keeps it in place when he’s handed his make-up work. Heats and ruts may be fully excused absences (except for tests), but illnesses don’t get you out of doing the work you miss. Mr. Clarke is nice enough to give Steve a Milky Way bar at the same time. “Happy early birthday, Steven.”

“Thank you, sir.” Steve’s barely thought about his birthday. He was supposed to have a sleepover with Tommy, but his mother has already called to cancel with Tommy’s mother. It wouldn’t be right for an omega to have a sleepover with anyone but another omega, even an unpresented pup like Tommy.

Steve doesn’t want to have a sleepover anyway. And definitely not with Tommy. Or with Carol for that matter. She had her first heat over winter break; maybe she expects to take Tommy’s spot as Steve’s best friend because of it.

He does his best to avoid them both in the halls and in the classes they share, and at lunchtime he hides in the same stairwell as Jonathan Byers. They don’t talk; it’s great.

Steve slips a few times throughout the day, including a bad spell in Gym where he needs to sit down with his head between his knees, but each time he puts his barriers back in place. It gets easier every time he does.

By the time his mom picks him up from school—he wasn’t allowed to bike—he’s comfortable saying, “I think I’ve got it under control,” as he climbs into the passenger seat.

“That’s good, honey, wonderful. But I don’t want you testing your limits right now, do you understand? Don’t put yourself in a position to lose control.”

“I know.” Steve stares out the window, looks up into the branches of the trees with their green buds. “For my birthday, can we invite Mr. Munson and Eddie? Since it’s just dinner now?”

“It’s a bit of a short notice, but I think that sounds like just the thing.”

❤️❤️❤️

The rest of the school year flies by after that. Steve keeps to himself, joins the track team so he can run alone and still do a sport. The competition is with himself more than with others, no one gets in his face with their feelings.

He spends the summer hanging out at Benny’s or swimming. Steve has Eddie over to swim at least once a week, and they ride their bikes around town with Eddie’s friend, Ronnie. Steve thinks Ronnie is the coolest beta girl he’s ever met. Ronnie doesn’t seem to think much of Steve at all, which just makes her cooler.

People have started talking about what a shame it is that the Harrington boy fell in with the likes of Al Munson’s son. The talking gets worse in August, when Al gets arrested again for felony theft. It’s his third strike, so he won’t be out of prison for a long while.

Eddie officially moves in with Wayne, or rather, Wayne moves in with Eddie since Al had a little two-bedroom place to Wayne’s one, right before school starts again in September. Steve tags along with Mama to help Wayne move his stuff in and to box up some of Al’s junk.

The boys helping quickly becomes Steve and Eddie hanging out on the couch, watching daytime TV. “What if we don’t have the same lunch period?” Steve asks as a commercial starts.

“There are only two, it’s a 50/50 shot. And if not, maybe you’ll be in the same period as Ronnie. Or you could do what I do: find an empty table and read.”

“Read?”

“Yeah, read.”

“Nope, not gonna work.” Reading takes too much focus, asks him to empathize with the characters. It turns the volume back up, so Steve only reads alone in his room now.

“Then I guess I’ll just have to change my schedule if it comes to that. Can’t leave you to suffer the Hawkins High cafeteria on your lonesome, X-man.”

Steve perks up, leans forward in his seat to get a better look at Eddie, the older boy still staring ahead at the television. “You’d really do that for me?”

“Course I would, Stevie. You’re my best friend.”

❤️❤️❤️

Steve’s worries are unfounded; he and Eddie have first lunch along with Ronnie and Matt. Matt plays the drums and he’s helping Eddie start his D&D club since they need to actually write and turn in a proposal for it, and Ronnie only says she’ll join but she’s not being in charge of shit.

Lots of their lunchtime talk is complaining about school, most of the rest is D&D and movies and books. Steve is usually quiet, Eddie’s pet freshman who has no interest in playing D&D (because of the big emotions, he wants to hang out with Eddie), and who is very slowly working his way through The Hobbit so he at least knows what they’re all talking about.

He’s better with Star Wars, saw it 3 times in theaters just like everyone else and their mother. He likes Star Trek, but it never comes up in conversation, and he reads plenty, but it’s mostly Mills and Boon romance novels. Steve will never admit it, but gets wet reading about the omega heroine’s dresses being torn, their alphas too impatient to touch, the biting kisses over milk-white breasts; his pussy aches as they are thrown down and ravished. He’s pretty sure no one is ever going to ravish him.

Eddie starts talking about needing money to save up for an electric guitar, and Steve says without thinking, “Ask Mama, he’d hire you.”

The table goes quiet. Steve covers his face with his hands and mutters, “Shit,” under his breath. He’s not supposed to talk about it, for safety. Mom and Mama both say it isn’t safe, and he doesn’t *know* why, but he can guess.

“Mama’s what we’re calling Benny, since Wayne is always mooning over him,” Eddie covers. “Not like I’m a good enough reason not to make a move, whole town thinks we’re queers and freaks anyway…”

Ronnie nods and Matt offers Steve a tiny smile. They both think Steve accidentally outed someone. Thank god for Eddie and his quick thinking, saving the whole thing.

“You’re right, Stevie, he probably would if I asked.” Eddie smiles, moves the conversation along, and Steve is quiet the rest of lunch.

He decides that night that he needs something to keep him busy besides running, homework, and tagging along with Eddie. “Hey, Mom,” he pipes at dinner, “I was thinking of maybe starting baby-sitting. Make my own money, spend time with pups.”

Marsha smiles indulgently at him. “Do you remember, when you were six, asking for a little brother?” Steve shakes his head, and she goes on, “I think it’s a great idea. Good practice. I’ll ask around, see if anyone needs you.”

❤️❤️❤️

A week later, he’s knocking on recent divorcee, Claudia Henderson’s door.

[descendant-of-truth]

Actually I think we need to be talking about Darkside more. Why have we as a fandom (as well as myself specifically) been neglecting Darkside when it's the most consistently recurring boss in the whole franchise

Literally the first boss we fight and it's this thing that rises up out of Sora's shadow in his dreams, and that still looks like Sora for a few seconds before it transforms into the version we fight:

This is Sora's dark side, quite literally. And what just so happens to be there at the destruction of Destiny Islands?

Man, with a thing that big and powerful, it's probably responsible for most of the damage to the islands all by itself.

Hey, what was that thing Zexion said to Riku, again? "It was you who destroyed your home"? Boy I sure am glad that the truth is what we hear and not what we see with our eyes--

Oh. Hm. That's a rather pointed dream sequence for you to be having, Xion.

Guys, I don't know why it took me so long to put these specific pieces together, but I'm pretty sure Sora's darkness was what actually destroyed the Destiny Islands. Whoever opened the door to darkness is still responsible for letting it out - it seemed otherwise occupied in Sora's dreams - and that's an interesting puzzle, too, because we're told that Riku did that even though Kairi was the one closest to the door, but that's not a mystery this post is here to solve.

My question is, what the HECK was going on with Sora for him to have a darkness so potent that it manifested outside of him before he had even been on any adventures? The guy's got insecurities for sure, but at this point in the series, they're kinda... normal ones. Feeling overshadowed and jealous of his best friend who's always better at everything than him, always stronger and cooler, it's not nothing but it doesn't make sense for it to be that. If Sora was going to have a darkness that strong, I'd expect it to come from a later point in the series, maybe around KH3 when the number of Terrible Things that have happened to or around him has reached truly insane levels.

But... the Darkside comes from the Realm of Darkness, right? Where time doesn't exist, and if you walk through it, you can be hit with people's emotions from the future?

So, I dunno, maybe it's a conglomeration of Sora's darkness from various points in time, though it still doesn't explain why his in particular gets to become something so giant. But it's definitely a Sora thing, because in Coded, the record of Sora's Heartless develops into a Darkside, as well.

But how can it be Sora-exclusive when there's so many of them down there??

Well, it might not be... but I'm not ruling out the possibility of time loop shenanigans, either. If Sora can live through the Keyblade Graveyard stuff at least four times (five if you consider the theory of KH3 in its entirety being a second loop from the get-go), then who's to say that doesn't double up on the number of Darksides in the Realm of Darkness?

Sora's already got a narrative history of reliving his past, after all. CoM has him going through his memories of his first adventure (albeit altered), Coded has another version of Sora going through his first adventure (altered again), even DDD has him revisiting Traverse Town and re-meeting his friends (in different ways than he originally did but it still counts).

I'm just saying, the heart remembers what the mind doesn't, and that can surface in a lot of ways. A Sora that's been time-looping a bunch but doesn't remember it probably would be having weird prophetic nightmares and thoughts about whether any of this is "for real" or not.

But honestly, even with the time loop theory I ended up going with in this post, the main thing I wanted to get at is that the Darkside is weird and unexplained but suspiciously tied to Sora in the narrative. These are just the connections I've put together on my own, but there could be a lot that I'm missing! I want to know what this thing's deal is, and I welcome anyone who wants to share their take on the matter.

[kimi-co]

wait whats the tea w kimi and paul aron

in short you can skip over to 2024-03, but i wanted to put together a rough timeline for those interested (≈3 people on here lmao):

2017: kimi antonelli (11) was scouted by the mercedesf1 junior team (mjt) and introduced to toto wolff

2018: paul aron (14) won the CIK-FIA OK Junior Karting European Championship and was officially signed into mjt. so was kimi, who won several WSK titles and was offered a one-year sponsorship

2019: paul stepped up to a full season of italian f4 with prema but finished 3rd behind hauger and his prema teammate, and 7th in ADAC f4. kimi won more karting titles with the rosberg racing academy, so merc offered him a 10-year contract and he got full sponsorship for the 2020 season

2020: mjt decided to move paul up the feeder series ladder anyways, and he finished 11th in the renault eurocup (the old freca). kimi won the CIK OK european title but fractured his leg and arm in the world final

2021: paul finished 3rd in freca. kimi was recovering from his injury so he only did three italian f4 races with prema

2022: mjt put paul through another year of freca in which he finished 3rd behind his prema teammate, but let him compete in formula regional asian as well in which he finished 8th. i get that, at this point paul was probably already thinking he should be sent to f3 instead. and he was not too happy with repeating the 3rd. so at prema's year end party (or maybe in the 2023 one i cant remember) he said something like i wish the team championship trophy is my driver championship trophy instead. last year i was consistent but didnt have as many wins as my temmates, so this year i got the most wins, but still dino got the title (because the team fumbled some of my races)

kimi won both the f4 adac and f4 italian titles. broke his wrist in the fia motorsports games qualifying, won the final, but missed the winter test

and because paul and kimi were the only mercedes juniors in the team they filmed quite a lot of cute content together as a duo (the hatewatch was getting too serios i almost forgot about all the prema media💀) pretty sure their trainers knew each other too.

2023: everybody thought kimi would move up to f3 but he was sent to formula regionals. won both the freca and frmec titles thereby earning enough f1 super license points. paul got 3rd in f3 behind his prema teammate again (i swear all this man ever did was finished third). he considered himself worthy of the merc-sponsored f2 seat because the top 6 in that year's championship all moved up

2023-09: merc announced that kimi would be moving up to f2 with prema and the other seat was already taken by ollie

2023-10: kimi already won his freca title but with a last lap overtake in the last race he won the title for the team as well. paul was also there because his brother ralf aron, who's a team manager at prema, was racing GT the same weekend. he went to greet kimi before the race start

all of the above was honestly just to show why paul thought he should move up and why merc wasn't so sure about that. i am assuming paul felt robbed regarding the f2 situation, and he did the logical thing to deviate from mjt's plan for him by doing the final 2024 f2 race with trident. i am not sure when exactly he left but the announcement came out late in november that he would no longer be a merc junior driver. he subsequently signed with hitech f2 (team principle oli oakes). he liked some tweets saying prema and mjt failed him. should have promoted him instead

2023 post-season: kimi left a final like on paul's ig? they might have talked to each other at the award ceremony. some fans asked paul to sign a merc shirt to which he said you know i hate those guys

2024 pre-season: lewis's ferrari move. toto wolff couldnt keep his mouth shut so kimi was put under immense pressure as the to-be 'lewis hamilton replacement'. media cooked up rumors about kimi going to williams. prema flopped. so people started to call toto crazy and kimi antonelli the wonderkid a big joke

2024-03: bahrain: ollie in a ferrari. australia: kimi qualified p2, reverse grid for sprint and moved up to p4, spun on his own. vershoor took avoidant action and also spun. vershoor clipped paul's front wing. paul was beyond frustrated after the race, and said on socials that he really disagreed with the action of some driver. went on twitter to like more hate posts against kimi. said to his fans in his ig subscriber groupchat that he would have won the race if not for kimi antonelli doing his wonderkid thing. feature race, almost pushed kimi sideway to the wall. kimi avoided it so fia investigated but said no further action. kimi finished p4 in the feature race but paul was on the podium.

before the summer break: hitech was doing good and paul got more p2/p3s, leading the championship. at imola where colapinto overtook him rather agressively on the last straight he was so pissed off that he just walked off the podium after getting the trophy, so no champange no group photo whatsoever. then throughout the first half of the f2 season the narrative was just mercedes sacked the wrong driver. give paul an f1 seat. more false rumors on kimi replacing logan sargeant. people saying kimi's an even bigger joke. kimi should be in f3 intead. kimi's gonna be the next logan sargeant. stuff like that. kimi got his first wins in f2 before paul. some weekends with scarcely any points

after the summer break: oli oakes moved up to alpine. hitech began to flop. kimi turned 18, debut, spun, contract announced and some fans didnt really need him to turn 18 to start their hatewatching anyway. turned out colapinto would replace logan. i think paul might have liked one or two posts in between but definitely not the announcement itself. no interactions from kimi.

2024-11: they were at the qatar fanzone, sitting like

host ollie kimi paul jak isack. (fun stuff: paul and jak are best friends with ollie because they've more or less always raced in the same categories with prema growing up. as for kimi you can go to anybody's bearnelli tag for this just not mine) basically ollie moved his chair towards kimi so they began to sit like

host olliekimi paul jak isack.

paul was doing a collab with parcferme (a feeder series media account that took a lot of the f2 driver photos) so he got a couple merch he wanna throw to the fans to advertise. but the host was just talking to ollie and kimi. paul: there are three other drivers on the stage let us talk too

2024-12: very dark month for kimi and me i am not gonna elaborate... paul finished 3rd in the championship (AGAIN) and got announced as the alpine reserve (not surprised considering his connection to oli). turned out he might have a shot at f1 afterall but then alpine signed colapinto lol

paul seemed to be liking kimi's posts idk man but you can go through the aronelli tag (it's very disorganized you've been warned)

[winniethewife]

I'll be your gravity, you be my oxygen

(Creature!II x F!Reader)

Words:1928

A/N: I'm really excited about this one!! This fic has a They/them Editon posted on Ao3, I wrote it both ways and I couldn't decide which way I liked it more so I posted the two versions! As Always if you want to hear me shout into the void about this band (And others) Please follow me over at @lyricallymelodic

Disclaimer: All fan fic written by me for this fandom is based on a fictional depiction of the personas of the band members, no real people were perceived in the making of this fiction.   Tags: Creature Feature AU, Fluff,

He waited for her like always, waiting almost too close to the edge of the forest. Watching the smoke billow up from the blacksmith in town. II had waited here every day since the first day, the day he had wandered into town, unaware that the humans would try to hurt him. Well most of the humans. She would never. That day even as a small child she had seen him and tried to secret him away.

“They don’t really like anyone whose different around here, and you’re even more different than I am”  The memory of their fist interaction played in his head, How she had snuck him into her home, giving him a small amount of food before throwing her father’s winter cloak over him and guiding him back to the forest. Ever since they had met up almost every day. When she was young it was to play games, tag and hide and seek. Now it was more often to talk, to explore the forest, just being near each other. Today was special though, he had planned this exact day out for a while. He had talked with the others, made sure everything was exactly right. Just then he saw her approaching. He felt the feathers on the back of his neck stand up slightly in excitement, reminding himself not to extend his wing span. He was so eager to see her, but didn’t want to be seen by anyone who might be watching her leave.

She could see him in the distance and she picked up her pace. She couldn’t contain her excitement. It didn’t matter how many times she saw him in a week, every time was special to her. She was used to being completely isolated in her own home, no one seemed to notice her in town. No one tried to be her friend, no one tried to get to know her past the surface, except for him. That day he had stumbles into her life was the best day of her life. Once she was close enough she took in his appearance. He short and sort of bulky, but she knew this was mostly just fluff. She took in his piercing blue eyes, his dark grey feathers and grey hued skin. Folded against his back were his gorgeous wings, his body covered in her fathers old winter cloak, modified to allow his wings to be free, with the hood pulled over his head. She smiles at him as she finally closed the massive distance between them.

“Hello, II! I missed you!” She said excitedly as she embraced him, feeling the soft velvet of his skin as he wrapped his arms around her.

“And I missed you.” II muttered, his voice low and filled with an unusual vibrato, something she had become familiar with despite how strange it sounded. “I have something to show you. Something I’ve been wanting to show you for a while.” She could hear the excitement in his voice. She was curious, with all the years they’d known each other what in the forest of Eden had she not seen?

“Well then, sounds like we’re going on an adventure! Good thing I wore my boots.” She said with a grin. He couldn’t help but chuckle, He took her hand in his and started to lead the way down the winding forest path. They conversed along the way, she told him what had been going on in town, the gossip and the rumors that he so enjoyed, and he told her about his last visit to see Vessel on the other side of the forest, and his recent adventures with IV and III. When the two of them pass their usual spot by the river she starts to wonder what his plan is.

“So, where are you taking me exactly?” She asked as she hopped across the stones leading across the calm part of the river. II was ahead of her using his wingspan to balance as he also carefully makes his way over the path.

“What you don’t trust me?” he jests taking a jump to reach the other side, turning on his heel to face her, offering her a hand to help her. She takes it with a smile and once her feet are back on solid ground she gives him a smile.

“If I didn’t trust you I wouldn’t be following you deep into the forest to places unknown.” She countered with playful look in her eyes. “But I would like to know where you’re taking me.” II grinned at her request. He shrugged, the movement of the muscles causing the slightest movement along his wings.   

“I guess you’ll just have to see. We’re almost there anyway.” He chuckled, the odd vibration of his voice tickles the back of her mind. She could listen to him talk for hours. They kept walking for a little longer, until they made it to a cliffside. II stood on the edge and she stood next to him looking over the continuing forest below, in the distance she could see the ocean. She had known the forest of Eden was expansive but this was something else. II looked over at her, this is the part it would get risky, but it was worth it.

“Are you sure you trust me?” He asked hesitantly. She was still looking over the view below, rendered speechless by the beautiful vista. She looked back at him and nodded. He took this as a go ahead, and he lifted her into his arms, wrapping one arm around her back and lifting her by the back of her knees until she was cradled in his arms. She gasped softly watching as his wings spread, the sun hitting the dark feathers causing them to show their true iridescent nature. He turned his gaze to her reaction for just a moment, and he was glad he did, the way her eyes lit up and her mouth opened in awe was worth the momentary distraction from what he was about to do.

“Hold on tight” He muttered tightening his grip on her before he took a step off the cliff. She grabs at him quickly, shocked by his actions, but she wasn’t afraid. She knew she should be, he could easily drop her and she would plummet to her death but she knew he wouldn’t. His wings flapping gracefully as he moved through the air, circling down to the cave that was embedded into the cliff side that he called home. When he landed he steadied himself before setting her feet on the ground.

“II! That was…Amazing!’ she said breathlessly as she finds her sense of balance again a wide smile on her face. She took a look around the cave, and that’s when she started to realize what this was, where he had brought her. “Is this?”

“My nest, yeah.” He said softly, looking at her with adoration, he wasn’t sure what else to say. She thought back to the day that she had brought him to her home, how he had reacted. He had resisted and was confused, jabbering at her in what she would learn to be Sleep’s speak. Later when he knew how to speak her language he would explain that generally his species didn’t invite someone into their nest unless they were courting or wished to court the other, so at the time it hadn’t made sense why this child was pulling him into her home. They had laughed about that for years. Now it seemed less funny, a warmth blossoming in her chest as the realization came to her.

“You…I…Me? But I…and we…” Her thoughts were running faster than she could speak them. How would this even work? They were so different? And yet she had known him all her life, it made sense even, she never spent time with anyone in her home town, and she was in love with him.

Oh.

Oh…

She was in love with him. She had never thought that before, how long had she been in love with him? How long had he been in love with her? II took her face in his hands, he could tell she was over analyzing everything.

“Deep breaths.” He muttered, gently running the pads of his thumbs across her cheeks, his icy eyes looking into hers with such soft affection. He knew this would be a lot for her to take in at first, but as she put her hands on his face as well he knew he had made the right choice. He pressed his forehead to hers and let out a soft sound, the quiet Perch-coo like that of the doves that would fly through the village in the early morning. She melted, letting herself relax, leaning into his touch, breathing deeply.

“I can’t believe I didn’t…how could I have been so blind?” She hummed as she found her hands drifting to the back of his head holding him closer to her. II let out a soft laugh, adjusting his stance so he could hold her closer to him.

“I could make a joke about bird folk having better vision than humans but that feels in bad taste” He joked, moving his hands from her face to her waist. She laughed, he was so funny once you got to know him. She closed her eyes and took another deep breath in, letting his scent fill her senses.

“Well, at least we both know now…right?” she whispered, they had gravitated so close together that he could feel her breath on his lips. II had no impulse control left, he had to kiss her. His lips press against hers, his eyes flutter closed, his hands travel up her back gently pulling her closer. She let out the sweetest little noise II had ever heard in his life, and he instantly knew he needed to hear it again. Pulling at her hips as he deepens the kiss, licking into her mouth, tasting her, feeling her, memorizing every bit of her. He couldn’t get enough, especially as she started to pull at him, eager to be even closer if possible. To know she was his, to know she wanted him as much as he wanted her was a euphoric experience. Instinctively his wings moved to shroud them as he pulled away from the kiss, out of breath. She looked into his eyes, the way they glowed softly in the low light of the shadows of the cave and the cover of his wings. Everything about this moment sang with love, a love she had thought she’d never known, but now realized she’d known since the day he walked into her life. II mutters something in Sleeps speak as he stared in her eyes.

“What was that?” She asked, thinking in the back of her mind that she needed to learn that language at some point. He repeated the short phrase.

“I don’t think there’s a good direct translation, but it basically means, I will follow you though life until the day we both die because I will not spend a single minute without you.” He spoke reverently, like he was making a vow. She looked at him stunned for a moment.

“Now just saying ‘I love you too’ feels uniquely inadequate.” She mumbles. II shook his head.  

“You would never be inadequate my love.” He presses a kiss to her forehead, then her nose, then finally back onto her lips.

For once in her life.

She felt wanted.

And she was.

~

Masterlist

Taglist: @silvernight-m @my-secret-shame-but-fanfiction @stellasplendens @ierofrnkk

[xeversayfishxace]

"Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha...oh my god...you are so far up your own butt I am surprised you know how to breathe. Yes, it is all given to you! Everything is given to you! You never earned anything! Sure, you might have had to work, train, mold your body into the shape you once had. But, you had a safe place to sleep, warm food in your belly, a roof over your head! But, no that stuff never mattered to me."

Xever stopped with that tactic since well, it was basically Raz's tactic from way back then. Meaning it was stupid and petty! Xever only used it so much to give Raz a taste of his own words. That tended to be what the pair always did to one another. Throw the same tricks and tactics back and forth with little care over and over. Unlike Bebop and Rocksteady these two loathed one another. They hated each other, on a level that likely grew worse and worse as time went on.

"You were the one who gave a crap about that stupid class bullshit! Always going on and on about me being a street rat and having nothing. How I didn't deserve to be there, when I had no choice but to say yes otherwise I would be left in jail! You were the one pushing me away right from the start! I was snide I laughed at you, but that was because you were such a joke of a person. How the hell could anyone ever take you seriously? You might dress it up with all your masks, but deep down what you are Bradford is a total loser."

Xever had only ever needed to take one look at the man to know what he was. Or at the least an idea of what kind of man he was. Xever had been in this world for a longtime doing many things to survive. He never reflected on what he had only what he could gain. So upon seeing a man who never had to consider that it was annoying.

"You wanna know something? Back then, I didn't care what you thought of me. This was just a job, I was willing to be professional about it all even if you weren't. I never said squat about you to the boss, I acted like a grownup while you threw tantrums like a kid. You were the one going against orders, you were the one pushing buttons and rocking the boat. If our roles were reversed and I hated you as much as you hated me I would have kept my mouth shut. Because a man doesn't complain he gets the job done! People work with others they hate on a daily basis the whole world is like that!"

"So when that day came and you did what you did. I thought really? This is it? This is how I die? All because of this stupid bastard?! A guy with such an inferiority complex that he can't take that someone with even a shred of tact is better than him? You would have killed me that day if no one had been there to help. I would have suffocated right there! Right on the streets of this cursed city all because of you! Your actions would have killed me Chris Bradford!"

Xever pulled Raz's head closer with his ear before then wrapping his tail around the dog's neck trying to strangle him as best he could.

The wolf smirks. Amusing, was it upsetting him?

“You already told me before what it is about. The truth is? I don’t care. I get to punch you into the dirt for once, that’s all that matters. You wanted this fight for what you had to go through because of me, but, if you want me to be completely honest with you? It served you right. Is this the truth you wanted?"

Because everything else he refuses to give.

A surprised yelp the moment his ear was pulled. On hindsight, leaning down his head? Bad idea.

It would be so, so easy to just shake him off in some way with their current position. But he also did not want to free Xever out of his grip just yet. His grip only tightens.

“You were going easy on me? Don’t make me laugh.”

Rahzar scoffs. As if that was even possible for him. Still. there was a light snarl. Everything given to him? His parents throwing their money at him? Bad choice of words - but he controls it. No point in losing his temper and give the street rat that kind of satisfaction.

Deep breath.

It's what he wants. Maybe if the fish didn't made that obvious it would have been easier to kick down these walls around him. This only made him want to bite back harder - and push away further. An oversized ego he may have, but it comes with a lot of self hatred that nobody knows about. Masking his true feelings is all he has ever known and in the careers he worked in, something like that is of great importance.

Still, at the taunting, Rahzar used his other hand and his claws traced ever so gently along the cable of the breathing device. He has no intention of breaking it, though.

"Go on. Care to repeat the whole everything given to me? I advise you to chose your next words very carefully."

[fangirlforthewin]

Stolitz Thoughts

I just rebinged the Helluva Boss episodes, and I have a new take on the Stolas x Blitz relationship. It wasn't that I didn't see it before, but I think when I wait so long between episodes, it inflates the time in the show to me.

The first six episodes of the first season it very much seemed they had a fuck buddy relationship, and that was all. I'd argue that Stolas showed his feelings a bit more as I found he seemed very protective of Blitz, but to me, it seems Blitz was very much sticking to their arrangement- he wouldn't allow himself to think it could be anything more.

I think in episode 6, we can see that he feels chained to the arrangement they have between them. I feel like he sees himself as beneath Stolas. He doesn't allow people to get close, but he craves it all the same.

Then episode 7, we see, I feel, for the first time that Stolas really does want Blitz for more than just sex. We can tell he's starting to really have feelings for Blitz, and this is just the first time we see how excited he gets because Blitz called him first. He's likely been waiting for this same call for a while, we just don't see it. And it makes Blitz's outburst at the end make more sense to me. To Blitz, it's never been said that they are anything other than fuck buddies, and now that Stolas is trying to change the dynamic, he doesn't know what it means, and it probably feels a little weird. Or that maybe they'll start doing the nonsexual things but Blitz thinks it will end in sex no matter what. But I think it's important that Blitz is setting boundaries and saying no. I feel like that's important.

The Circus is by far my favorite episode. I love that we get that backstory, and it sort of makes sense why Stolas falls for Blitz first. He was his first friend and thinks Blitz came to seduce him. For the first time, with Blitz, he feels passionate, emotional, more himnself- something he never felt while married. Meanwhile, to Blitz, it was a means to an end, and while he doesn't dislike Stolas, he didn't actually go there for that. So they came into the relationship with different reasons, and it makes sense how Stolas starts wanting more but Blitz doesn't really think about more. At the end of the episode, we see Stolas has been looking into the Asmodeus crystals, seemingly thinking about giving Blitz an out of their transactional relationship.

Then season 2 episode 4 is where things are going to start taking a turn. It's the first time Blitz realizes Stolas isn't infallible. I wonder if seeing this is what is making Blitz try to make amends with Fizz and Barbie Wire. Life is short, and he doesn't want to be alone.

Season 2 episode 6, we hear Stolas confirming that he has feelings for Blitz and is actively trying to find a way for Blitz to not be dependent on him for his job.

It really makes me excited for what's to come, and with all the growth that Blitz is showing with Fizz, that maybe once Stolas says out loud how he feels about Blitz that Blitz might actually listen. Can I also see Blitz running from his feelings or laughing it off as a joke? Yes, I can.

[an-internet-introvert]

Countdown to October 19th (19/19)

Happy 15 Years of Dan and Phil 🩵🩵🩵

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

hi I just wanted to say your comics and art style is so fucking cute. I have a friend who’s into mdzs and I plan to read it soon (like. ya know, soon like maybe in a few years haha) so I won’t linger for too long round here lest I get spoilers but yeah!

Aw, thank you so much! I hope you enjoy the story, whenever you get around to it. The silly comics I made for it will always be here B*)

I *do* draw things outside of MDZS (link to the directory here), so you are free to avoid spoilers while still reading my comics. Take care!

[needyraincandy-u]

For one reason or another, Ame couldn't help but chuckle to herself at first. In all honesty, who wouldn't want to abuse powers like hers? She was already manipulating the humans around her to an extent. If Ame herself didn't get a bit more powerful, it was because of procrastination...and her mix of mental problems.

"If anything, I'm jealous of what you can do. But who wouldn't? I feel that's a common sentiment. That, or like you said, people would be tired of having you around."

Hearing her attempt to pronounce the names of the city and the district was amusing, however. At this point, her shoulders relaxed, partially as if she wasn't even scared of dying here and now- her suicidal ideation or recklessness didn't help.

It's that slap to the hand that brings her back to reality for a second; a soft and tiny gasp escaping her lips before she has Lenora behind her, invading her space again to feel that touch on her shoulders...then her waist.

"Hmh..." Ame half-closed her eyes, frowning slightly and looking over her shoulder, at least until an idea came to mind and she could be seen smiling a little instead.

"Actually...maybe you can help me increase the reach of my influence." She said, before her hands and slim fingers would slid down, going to rest on the older vampire's hands. "Maybe that could help with finding that person you're looking for...I've been thinking of becoming a streamer lately...people love those. They are like idols on the internet. If you are lucky, they're even like Gods to some."

Of course, it was obvious that Lenora didn't need her powers to manipulate or convince Ame. The lonely vampire herself already saw a chance here to have something to cling onto. At least, something that was more real.

She's been...isolated for too long, in front of that screen.

"There are so many fucking nerds online, that I'm sure some of them would be good with tracking down people or getting into shady shit."

"Silly isn't it?" Lenora chimes with a smile, she doesn't seem bothered by the other's words, unlike other Vampire lords who claim dominion over lands, cities, sects of vampires and the underground. Lenora is far more down to earth, even if her appearance and mannerisms are indeed odd.

"They banned me because if I were allowed to be in the same room for more than minutes, I could simply do what I want with them. Or so they think, ego or not... they're wise. I'd of used them all to get what I want, on a whim." It's for their safety, and for the hassle this woman brings to every gathering she goes to.

"Kabu...keecho. Shinjooku. Even after a few decades, I suppose my mingling with strangers has lessened. I ought to pick up the language a little more if I am to be wandering about. But.."

She slaps her hands and stands, waltzing a few steps over to rest behind Ame, placing her hands on her shoulders and soon around her waist.

"Then I think you ought to come with me for a little bit. Teach me these little oddities you're so interested in. I'll feed you well, and in return I hope you'll help use your local knowledge to help me find someone. In return, anything you need here afterwards. I'll make happen."

"How's that for a completed deal hmm?" Of course, she's not ashamed to do it, even without glowing eyes. The charming woman is going to let her aura swoon over Ame just to make her feel cozy about the request.

For Ame is perfect, unremarkable, confidence and words that don't shimmer as they should. A perfect little girl to possibly lure in her real prize...

[tiredgeekgirl]

fellas it has been three months since the beach episode and thinking about neil and eva in any capacity still makes me ILL