#I have made Noah and DJ kiss before and I will do it again

[horse-plinko]

NJ kissing NJ kissing

[starryluminary]

hi, sorry, love your au! its really. really good, and i admire the fact that you have drawn a whole comic, especially one so good, thats incredible!

don't know if this has been asked before or if you have answered this already, but how does the afterparty (I don't remember the name exactly, but the eliminated contestants plus the contestants that didn't get in) feel about this whole situation between cody, noah and sierra, are they being being stupid like duncan or mean and malicious like alejandro, are they on noahs and codys side or sierras? how do the rest of team e-scope feel about it (eva and izzy), are they ready to fight sierra for hurting noah and cody?

also, how do their families? specifically noahs, since codys mother and father are implied to be neglectful and likely wouldn't care to watch a show their son was on and I don't know if its the same in your au, sierras we don't know (I can't remember if we ever met her family members), and noah we know to have 8 sisters and a mom and since noahs like. the baby - I think their reactions are going to be very interesting if they are even established at all

sorry, that's a lot. thank you for making your comic. it's kind of fascinating seeing how things progress over time in this new narrative and how different things are from canon. you're doing a great job. - 🍓 anon

Oooooo this is a long one! Uuuhhh let's go one block of text at a time

Thank you so much!! I'm really glad you like my au!! It always wows me that this impulsive decision I made turned into something people really like and even anticipate. That's so cool

This ask actually made me pause and seriously think about the Peanut Gallery. So I made a bullet list of all the contestants in the Peanut Gallery and their (mostly) individual opinions on the situation. I'll let you decide if they're stupid or not

Katie and Sadie: Sympathize with Sierra. All she is is a girl in love, who's Noah to ruin that?! Like, soooo not cool!

DJ: Doesn't sympathize with Sierra, but doesn't agree with how noco kissed without setting her straight. Isn't really on anyone's side.

Leshawna: Does not like Sierra's persistence. Completely understands Noah and Cody doing what they do behind her back.

Harold: Compelled to agree with Leshawna. Also likes Cody, therefore feels bad he has to deal with Sierra. He's happy Noah makes him happy.

Beth: Thinks Noco's "forbidden love" situation is super sweet and sappy. She's on their side.

Justin: Cannot fathom why Cody would want to be with Noah when Sierra is so much prettier and treats him like a God. Also doesn't like Noah in general.

Trent: Is happy Cody's happy with Noah, but feels bad Sierra's heartbroken, regardless of what she's done. Mostly neutral.

Izzy: Noticed Noah had a crush during her time on the game, but only found out it was on Cody when she watched the London episode. She's proud he went after who he wanted. Got a pit in her stomach when Sierra attacked Noah in Greece.

Eva: Finds the whole situation incredibly stupid. Cannot understand how love makes Sierra so obsessed. Would maim her if she had the chance. Someone put them in the ring, actually.

Lindsay: Is not paying attention. Sees Tyler is friends with Noah (more on that later) so she likes Noah too!

Gwen: Made friends with Cody in the first half of the season and helped him out with his feelings for Noah where she could. Understands Sierra's insane and feels bad for Cody.

Owen: Feels awful about ever doubting Noah after watching Alejandro try to manipulate Cody by flirting with Noah. Plans to apologize to Noah as soon as he sees him again.

Now about their families (which I also had not thought too much about before this ask). They're on a scale to me. Cody's parents are on the "Not watching the show at all" extreme of the scale, Sierra's mom (cause I don't think she has a dad?) is on the "Obsessively watching the show" extreme of the scale, and Noah's family is somewhere in the middle, tuning in and out. Cody will come home, have his parents ask "How was the trip?", he'll answer an empty "fine" and they'll move on. Sierra's mom is loudly cheering her daughter on, cause she knows if she was there instead of her daughter, she'd be doing the same thing to Chris. She's proud of her for going after Cody and has an unhealthy hatred for Noah for getting in the way. For the first half of the season, Noah's family would watch the episodes as they aired if they could catch them. Most of them were there for London though. After that they started putting in more effort to catch the episodes. His parents are mostly worried for his well being, but his siblings are mostly cheering for him and Cody with every episode. They're gonna jump him (with affection) when he gets home.

You don't have to apologize Strawberry. (Can I call you Strawberry?) I'm always happy to receive asks about this au! And I'm glad you're having your fun with it. It's what I strive for. The fun

[luckyqueenreign]

I was thinking what FB can do for season 6 if we got one and I was like they could bring back a character for previous season who wasn't really an LI opinion before. I would like to get a normal Tim route. Or maybe Rohan too. Or someone who hasn't have a chance really before.

Not if they butcher the art like they did Bobby 😭😭 Can you imagine the uproar and hate they would get from screwing up a beloved character like Tim?! I do love Tim, but I think I would rather them just make EVERYONE an LI...and give us someone with Tim's personality. There's a ton of Geordie Shore DJs I'm sure another would apply for LI! Also I would love to just see more personality in general. Seasons 1 & 2 had the best personalities. You could see the differences in routes and in the choices you made. How some LIs were forgiving of the Noah kiss in Operation Nope but others weren't. I want that again! I want consequences for our actions!

[julemmaes]

Honey extra - The Sex Playlist + a little scene

Elide Lochan x Lorcan Salvaterre roommates au

A/N: I posted part five on the same day acosf was released, so if you didn’t see it, go read it, cause it’s.. long and it took me years to finish and I saw it didn’t get the same attention the previous parts did, and yeah

fic masterlist

this takes place somewhere between part five and six

Elide was one of the few lucky girls whose period was never too bothersome. The pain was always very bearable and only lasted a few hours, and most of the time, it wasn't even a real pain, just a slight pressure in the lower abdomen. She could go about her day without having to stop every few minutes because of a cramp - unlike Aelin, who died every month as if someone was stabbing her in the guts.

She also didn't have a heavy flow, which she would always thank the gods for, if they existed. She couldn't understand how her friends could put up with such misfortune.

Not that they could do otherwise, of course, but she was always in awe when they told her about their period-catastrophes. She knew that if it were her turn to suffer like that every time, she would rip her uterus out of her belly.

And at that moment, lying in a fetal position on Lorcan's bed, she wasn't entirely sure she'd be able to keep from doing it herself before the cramping stopped. Because for some strange reason, her body had decided to turn against her this month.

The last two weeks had gone by in the blink of an eye, she and Lorcan had fucked on every surface in the house and between work and classes and studying, Elide had gotten very little sleep. Considering also that every time she lay down, her boyfriend would slip in behind her and she couldn't say no to herself, to that pleasure so exhaustive and ecstatic, it made her forget that her body needed rest.

It had taken Lorcan to remind her that they couldn't go on like this.

So when she'd found a bloodstain in her underwear the previous night, just before going to bed after her shift at the diner, she hadn't worried so much and had thought that they'd finally take a few days off and maybe her body would calm down.

Elide wasn't a fan of period sex and the few times she'd done it she'd been so grossed out that she'd risked barfing in the middle of it. It simply wasn't for her.

What she hadn't expected though, had been cramps so strong they had pulled her from sleep in the middle of the night. Elide had gotten up and gone to the bathroom because she'd started moving around too much and didn't want to wake up the boy sleeping blissfully next to her. She had started pacing the living room, trying to figure out what the fuck she was in such pain for.

When it felt like someone had stuck both hands in her uterus and was digging their nails into her ovaries, Elide had knelt on the floor by the couch, leaning forward with her fists pressed against her stomach.

Lorcan had found her in that position around half past four.

To say he'd been scared out of his wits would be an understatement.

He'd thrown himself to the floor beside her almost immediately, all traces of weariness gone the second he'd heard her whimper in pain and seen that Elide was biting her lower lip so hard it was drawing blood.

When they had established that it was just her cycle, Lorcan had taken her back to his bed and now they were both lying between the soft blankets she had given him.

They had both been puzzled by this new symptom. After all, Lorcan had never seen her suffer from her period in all the years they had lived together and neither of them had expected it to be any different this time.

Elide had had to joke that it was the fault of his huge cock that had literally stabbed her in the uterus, and Lorcan had apologised in earnest, looking at her with wide eyes and pulling away a little, as if he really felt guilty. She had burst out laughing and then pulled him to her again, taking one of his arms and putting it around her body so that his big hand covered her belly.

He'd started moving his fingers over her lower abdomen, applying pressure from time to time when she seemed to tense up due to a cramp. It helped, somehow, to have him there to massage her. To hold her to his chest as they cuddled.

Now, Elide kept her eyes closed, his head resting on top of hers as they both dozed. Or at least she thought so, because Lorcan spoke, his rough, low voice too close to her ear, "How do you feel?"

She sighed, pulling her knees up slightly. His legs immediately followed her, as if they couldn't bear to be away from her body. She smiled, "A little better." then yawned, "I guess it's the fact that I was already tired as it is, what with university and all."

Lorcan hummed behing her, "I see," then he moved, pulling away only briefly, "maybe we should take it slower, with everything I mean."

Elide nodded slowly. She turned her head towards him, still with her eyes closed, but pursed her lips forward, silently inviting him to kiss her. He chuckled, but a second later their mouths clashed in a simple peck on the lips.

The music playing from the speakers suddenly changed from the sweet melody of a love song to something quite different.

"Cause I eat up for a while, let me through. The shake, the screaming aloud, I'ma fool. In my face you shake, leaking everywhere."

Elide's eyes went wide, "Lorcan!" she let go a surprised chuckle, "What is this?" she turned to him fully and could finally see the satisfied smirk on his face.

"It's a playlist I made yesterday," he then lowered his voice an octave, looking at her lips, "For when we can take the time to think about music instead of jumping right into it," he murmured.

Elide swallowed, nodding slowly, continuing to listen to the song.

Definitely very different from what he normally provided her with.

"I like it," she continued, then draped her arms underneath his, resting her head against his chest as he pulled her close to him and lay on his back, making her lie completely on top of him, "our sex playlist." she smiled, playing with the ends of his hair.

Lorcan hummed again and Elide felt it throughout her whole body when he said, "I called it 'elide'."

She had to force herself to calm the hot spirits that that new information had triggered in her body, but she was glad to know that he wouldn't be able to use that playlist with other people, considering it bore her name.

"I like it even more now," she confessed under her breath.

His arms tightened around her back and then his hands began to rub her lower back, where he knew she was feeling the most pain. Elide fell silent, enjoying his warm hands on her skin, and only had time to thank him before sleep beckoned her again.

The playlists

01.02

1. The Fixer – Brent Morgan

2. Why iii Love The Moon – PHONY PPL

3. Couch Potato – Jakubi

4. Anyway – Noah Kahan

5. comethru – Jeremy Zucker

6. Why Not Me – Forrest.

7. Loving – Surfaces

8. always, i’ll care – Jeremy Zucker

9. Like Strangers Do – AJ Mitchell

10. Yellow Lights – Harry Hudson

11. Glue Myself Shut – Noah Kahan

12. Colour Me – Juke Ross  

13. Lovesong (The Way) – Charlie Burg

14. Lucky Love – Michael Seyer

15. Freak In Me – Mild Orange

elide

1. Skin – Rihanna

2. Do It For Me – Rosefield

3. Body Party – Ciara

4. When We – Tank

5. Rockstar – Rihanna

6. F***in Wit Me – Tank

7. On Top – Trey Songz

8. Acquainted – The Weeknd

9. Freaky – Gemaine

10. Make You Feel – Alina Baraz

11. First Fuck - 6LACK & Jhené Aiko

12. Young God - Halsey

13. How Many Times – DJ Khaled

14. Fuck You All The Time – Jeremih

18.02

1. I Don't Know Me Like You Do – Low Hum

2. I Don't Wanna Be Okay Without You – Charlie Burg

3. Why Can't I Have You – Gloria Laing

4. If I Go, I'm Goin – Gregory Alan Isakov

5. Let Me In – Skinny Living

6. Reason To Hate You – Rhys Lewis

7. Be Your Man – Rhys Lewis

8. Yours – Jake Scott

9. Loved Us More – Munn

tog tag list (if you wanna be removed or added just send an ask or dm me)

@maastrash​ @ireallyshouldsleeprn​ @sleeping-and-books​ @ladywitchling​ @thegoddessofyou​ @ghostlyrose2​ @claralady​ @anne-reads​ @sayosdreams​ @perseusannabeth​ @letstakethedawn​ @simping4bookboisngrls​ @post-it-notes33​ @booksstorm​ @nalgenewhore​ @queen-of-demons-and-hell​ @miserablemusings​ @lanyjoy-13 @vasudharaghavan​ @cupcakey00​ @bri-loves-sunflowers​ @queen-of-glass​ @thewayshedreamed​ @the-regal-warrior​ @fangirlprincess09​ @januarystears​ @rowaelinismyotp​

[gra-sonas]

I'm seeing all those post about malex interrupted dance and can I just say I'd love if it was alex who interrupts, perhaps michael is dancing with isobel or maria (just as friends) and alex waltzes in loking hot as hell in a suit and makes a move. I dunno, but after this season I kinda want to see alex stake his claim since he wasn't allowed to really show his feeling for Michael.

Mhmm, I’d like that.

Imagine this:

Alex has been single for a while. The breakup with Forrest was amicable, they’re still on good terms. Alex seems to be doing really well, too. Whenever Michael sees him, he has to remind himself that now is not their time and that he still has so much work to do before he can be good for Alex.

Alex, who looks like a goddamn snack whenever they meet. Isobel’s told Michael that Alex is going to the gym now, and it shows. He’s started wearing figure hugging henleys that cling to his muscular torso like they’re painted on.

And Alex’s ass in those black jeans? SHOULD COME WITH A WARNING! They’re at a garden party Isobel’s hosting, and all Michael wants is to touch Alex and check whether his ass is as firm as it looks. He wants to taste, wants to bite. Not now, though, now’s not their time.Michael forces himself to look away and slowly counts to hundred before he allows himself another glance at Alex.

He’s talking to a guy Michael’s seen at Planet 7 a couple of times, and recently at open mic night when Alex performed. A good looking dude (one of Noah’s former associates if he remembers correctly) with piercing blue eyes. And he’s tall. Does Alex like tall men? Michael wonders.

When Alex laughs about something Hightower says, Michael’s heart hurts. He’d always thought he’d be ready should Alex be single again one day, and now it looks like he’s missed yet another opportunity where he could’ve made a move.

He’s been working on himself. With Kyle‘s help, he’s signed up for online counseling (talking to a therapist via Zoom makes him feel like he can be more open, without worrying too hard about revealing the one big secret he can’t talk about. It works for him, and he thinks he’s made progress).

He’s far from being done or “healed”, but he feels less angry these days, less bitter, less inclined to get drunk. He works steady hours at the junkyard, spends time with Max and Isobel, he joins Liz at her lab sometimes, and he’s been helping Kyle to fix his father’s old motorbike on weekends.

He’s also spent time with Alex since the breakup with Forrest. He’d been reluctant at first, worried he'd accidentally overstep boundaries, but Alex had been quick to assure him that he wants Michael in his life.

So they’ve been hanging out. Meeting for coffee at the Crashdown during Michael’s lunch break a couple of times, last week he’d accompanied Alex when he drove up to the reservation to visit Greg, they even went hiking once.

They’ve avoided touching some of the heavier topics, but it’s okay, slowly becoming friends with Alex has been amazing, and Michael‘s fallen in love with him all over again.

He allows himself another glance at Alex, and when he sees that the tall guy’s put his hand on Alex’s shoulder, his face falls and he turns around. He walks up to the house in long strides and hides in Isobel’s guest bathroom for ten minutes before he feels like he can face the outside world and seeing Alex with another man again.

He splashes his face with cold water and walks back outside. There’s music playing from invisible speakers, and people have started dancing. It’s a real effort for Michael to stop himself from searching for Alex (or rather his tall new boyfriend), and he sighs in relief when he spots Isobel.

“I would like to dance with my favorite sister, I hope Gregory hasn’t blocked every slot on your dance card yet.”

Isobel laughs.

“No matter how full my dance card is, MIchael, I’ll always take the time to dance with you. Lead the way, brother dearest.”

He takes her hand and leads her over to the designated dance area. Michael twirls Isobel around and starts dancing with her. She’s wearing flat sandals tonight (”high heels and a garden party don’t mix well”), which means she’s only slightly taller than him. It’s fun dancing with her.

Out of the corner of his eyes, MIchael spots a familiar face over by the DJ’s table. Alex is leaning over to say something to the DJ who nods and starts clicking around on his laptop. When he’s found what he’s looking for, he nods and gives Alex a thumbs up.

Once the song is over, a new song starts playing. Michael’s not familiar with it. So far no one’s singing and he wonders if it’s an instrumental piece, but he keeps dancing with Isobel.

When the singer starts singing, Michael freezes mid dance. That’s Alex’s voice! That’s Alex singing, a song about being happy and in love and-- Michael feels tears well up in his eyes. He does his best to lead Isobel amid the chaos in his head, when he feels a strong hand drop on his shoulder.

He doesn’t need to turn around to know who it is.

“Isobel, I’m so sorry, but may I?”

Michael is confused when Isobel let’s go of his hands, kisses him on the cheek and whispers “I love you, Michael.” Then he feels Alex step into her place, pulling him close and leading him to the sound of his song.

There’s too much chaos in Michael’s head, but instead of fighting for clarity, he just gives in and listens to the music. It’s a beautiful song about love and being happy, about building a home and being a family, and MIchael can’t believe he’s dancing with Alex, the man of his dreams.

When the song ends, people start clapping and they try to approach Alex, but Alex has other plans. He takes Michael’s hand and leads him over to a darker, quiet corner of the garden. They sit down on a wooden bench, the clear New Mexico night sky above them.

“I really like your new song, Alex,” Michael says, not sure what else to say or do.

“Thanks, Michael, I’m glad you like it. I wrote it for someone very special.”

“Hightower is a very lucky man, I hope you’ll be happy together.” How he’s been able to force this sentence out without bursting into tears is beyond Michael.

Alex looks at him, confusion written all over his face.

“Who is Hightower, and what makes you think I’d be happy with them?”

Michael makes a gesture to implicate a tall person. “You know, tall, blond, blue eyes? I‘ve seen you together a couple of times. I hope he treats you well.”

Alex looks at him like he’s gone mad.

“You mean Sven? Lawyer Sven, who is married to the DJ and has helped me to arrange for my song being played tonight, that Sven?”

Michael is confused.

“You’re dating a married man, and his husband is okay with that?”

Alex bursts out laughing.

“Oh my god, Michael, what are you even talking about? I’m not dating Sven - or anyone else for that matter. And I wrote this song for you. Us! To ask you whether you feel ready to meet somewhere in the middle and take it from there?”

Michael swallows around the lump in his throat and all he can do is nod. When he feels Alex’s hands cupping his face he closes his eyes and lets Alex lead the way. Alex pulls his face closer until their foreheads touch. Then he hears Alex whisper: “I know we need to talk but I really miss kissing you, can I kiss you?”

“Yes,” is all manages to croak out, then he feels Alex’s mouth on his and suddenly the chaos in his head quiets, all the stars in the universe align, and Michael is finally home.

[cryinginthebackseat]

ɪ ʙᴇᴛ ʏᴏᴜ ʟᴏᴏᴋ ɢᴏᴏᴅ ᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴀɴᴄᴇꜰʟᴏᴏʀ

Fandom: It Lives In The Woods 

Pairing: MC x Noah, MC x Connor

Words: 3.134

Summary: She rolled her eyes. "You heard me the first time, Marshall. Pretty please? Come on, consider this as our way to celebrate Redfield's defeat!"

Jesus, since when did he celebrate something in general? And now to dance? Amongst the crowd and with her no less? Noah's head said hard no, he already had a myriad of thoughts in his mind right now, he couldn't afford getting distracted and when there were feelings in the way, he feared if he couldn't trust himself to keep his emotion in check.

Yet his heart said otherwise. This was Zoey, Noah could never deny her. He would never deny her anything, especially when this could be their last moment on good terms together.

Warnings: nothing much, just swearing and some sexual tension

Author’s note: this headcanon is purely the brainchild of the amazing @noahmrshall where she requested me to write it down for her. after 84 years and a pandemic later, finally, frickking finally I manage to finish it LMAO I’M SO SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG, GIRL. 

Anyway, make sure you tune in to feel real by deptford goth while reading, cause this is the song these are dancing to. And for those who haven’t read my first Noah x MC story, you can find it here on my main blog. Finally you know the drill, if you’re digging it or simply detest it, let me know, yeah? thanks!

Mamihlapinatapei (n.)   the wordless, yet meaningful look shared by two people who both desire to initiate something but are both reluctant to start

Prom was a montage of lipstick stains on paper cups, rap music with devastating bass drops, multicolored balloons at everyone’s feet, and the strobe lights that flickered above, turning the entirety of the gym into a one flashy, neon show.

And then there was Noah, the reluctant cinematographer of this pandemonium of pubescents making rounds on the dancefloor, buzzing in excitement while he resided in the corner, sulking, contemplating, a punch in his hand-- spiked, courtesy of King Kang himself in which he’d passed the cup at Noah earlier.

Noah didn't have any idea just how many types of liquor he'd mixed into the beverage, nor did he have the capacity to ask. He simply drank in the corner, restless, alone, hand fidgeting with his jacket and beanie. He thought with the alcohol in his system, it would be enough to make him feel better, lighter. Made him forget, god forgive him, for the atrocities he was about to commit to the ones he called friends.

Friends who'd abandoned him in his time of needs, friends who barely recognised him, friends who made him laugh at one of their antics, friends who gave him an apron for his 18th birthda--

Wait. Noah shook his head, conflicted, internally berating himself. No, no, no, there should be no room for pity for them. Jane was his number one priority here, not… Not them. 

And especially not Zoey.

His internal conflict somehow was aggravated when he saw a speck of galaxy's dust of hair on the dancefloor, twirling, cavorting, in the arms of another.  Zoey. Her face painfully close to his, lips hovering over Connor's cupid's bow, not quite kissing him, but enough for Noah to look the other way. Suddenly, the bottom of the half-emptied cup seemed a lot more interesting.

He had no right to feel what he felt. He knew that. Especially considering how he was about to turn her whole life upside down. But feelings are feelings, it could creep up to anyone at any time, any place. It was beyond anyone's control. 

And seeing her with Connor like this, laughing and dancing and kissing like fools in love they were, made his insides twist. Jealousy contributed a lot for the matter, obviously, but what hurt the most was because he knew that in all of his jadedness, hopelessness, miserable at the age of eighteen he could never give all of those to her. Zoey deserved someone who’d sit and sing to her about the stars, whom she could turn to when the chips were down, she deserved the world. 

And the world was something he was about to take from her.

Jesus, could things just be fucking simple for once? 

Zoey and Connor only parted once the song was finished. He kissed her cheek, a privilege that he was lucky enough to obtain and made a beeline out of the gym for a call. Leaving her alone, silver-haired amidst the sea of browns and blondes.

She craned her head to the side, her gaze finding Noah's across the room and smiled that smile of hers that lit up her entire face.  

When Zoey made her way towards his position, Noah immediately straightened his posture, feigning nonchalance as if he hadn't been spending the last minutes yearning for her lips, her touch, her attention and his betrayal to her simultaneously.

“Enjoying the party, Kelmeckis?” Zoey sidled up to him, snatched the cup from his hand and sipped. Which floored Noah at how casually she handled her alcohol. 

“No.” Noah eyed her confusedly then. “And Kelmeckis?”

“You know, Charlie Kelmeckis?” Noah gave her a look as if “who the fuck???” to which she simply groaned. “From the Perks of Being A Wallflower?” 

“Jesus, Uttley, only you would throw a pop culture reference at someone as a greeting.”

“And only  you  would be the only one who don’t get it,” she countered, and then she laughed, matching his own. 

He regarded her for what if felt like the first time tonight and thought to himself how lucky Connor was to have her.

"You, uh..." You look beautiful, it hurts my feelings. "You clean up nice, by the way."

Zoey looked at him oddly. "Damn, Marshall, did this come from?"

He shrugged. "I'd say the punch, but I guess 'cause I've never seen you in a dress since we were eight, so, yeah…" Tell her the truth, said the alcohol. Stop this fucking nonsense now, said the better parts of his head. "Yeah…" 

He thought he saw her cheeks blushed, but wasn't sure given to the lighting. "Thanks, Noah."

His eyes found hers, hers found his. For a long moment, it was as if they were going to initiate something. Anything.

She was the first to look away and blinked, as if she had just looked at the sun for too long and now she was seeing double vision. Noah also tore his gaze from her, finding himself, unsurprisingly, unfortunately, disappointed. 

“I thought you'd left. Or worse, on your sixteenth cigarette of the hour or something," she broke the silence first, eyes still not meeting his.

Noah squinted at her, mouth crooked. "So smoking is worse than leaving, huh?"

"Hell yeah. I don't want you to get lung cancer by 40-"

"Live fast, die young, Z," he interrupted, a sarcastic, lazy drawl to his voice that made Zoey shoot him a withering look.

"Not on my watch, Marshall. And I absolutely won't let those cancer sticks turn your mouth into," Zoey gesticulated, shrugging altogether. "An oral ashtray or something."

Noah chuckled, again-- God, it was so easy to laugh when she was around-- mid-eye-roll, his hand rifling through his blazer pocket for a pack of mint. Took one out and raised it to his mouth. 

"That's what these mints are for."

With a small shake of her head, Zoey muttered, "Bastard." Though not without a great deal of kindness. 

Ah, shit, he was going to miss this, bantering with her, laughing along with her-- just being around her in general. The thought rendered a profound pang in his heart, and he hadn’t got the chance to say he l--

No, his head said, internally berating himself. The moment had passed now. Zoey had Connor, someone who loved her unconditionally. His prime focus should be on what other scenarios should he reside so that his friends would follow him to the ruins? Or what should he do once Andy realized his phone was missing? So many things he should be ruminating, yet  Zoey  was where his head begged him to refer to.

Noah didn’t realize the smile on his face dropped into a frown until it was too late, until Zoey’s own also disappeared.

"Hey?" her voice so soft it could have been a caress for all he knew, taking a step closer. "You okay?" She asked, concern etched in that ocean eyes of hers. 

“What? Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.” Was his answer, but he tore his gaze away from her, the red balloon near his foot seemed like the only haven that could ward her off from delving into his soul.

Zoey cocked her head to the side, as if unconvinced. “You sure? Noah, you know you can tell me anything.”

I know. But not this.

“I know. I’m… I guess I'm still kinda tired from what happened. That’s all,” he lied, and it felt like he was slowly slicing his own heart. 

“Hey.” Zoey stepped closer, craning her neck to see him due to their heights. Her hands on his arms, comforting. “It's over now, Noah. We defeated him and kicked his ghostly ass back where he came from. We did that.  You  did that- against all odds. I know it's bound to leave some scars, but I want you to remember that from now on, you don’t have to shoulder all of the world by yourself anymore. Do you hear me?” she asked again, more insistent this time. "I'm  not  going anywhere. The others aren't going anywhere either. We're all here for you, for better or worse."

Noah sighed, and made the mistake of looking into her eyes. All the while holding onto whatever strength he had to not to crumble completely before her and cry as he scrambled for a response.

I can’t do it, I can’t do it, I can’t do it, I can’t do it, I can’t do it, I can’t do it.

“I...” he stuttered, his voice tight.

God, I can’t hurt her. Not her.

“Zoey, there's something I-"

But the DJ suddenly began to play a different tune, interrupting him whereas her whole face lit up.

"Oh my god, I love this song!"

Noah frowned, whatever he wanted to say to her, forgotten. "Never heard of it."

"That's because you never care to broaden your taste, doofus! You're missing out a lot." Zoey laughed. She offered her hands to him. "Dance with me?" She asked, her eyes glowed hopeful.

Noah looked at her as if she'd grown a second head. "What?"

She rolled her eyes. "You heard me the first time, Marshall. Pretty please? Come on, consider this as our way to celebrate Redfield's defeat!" 

Jesus, since when did he celebrate something in general? And now to dance? Amongst the crowd and with her no less? Noah's head said hard no, he already had a myriad of thoughts in his mind right now, he couldn't afford getting distracted and when there were feelings in the way, he feared if he couldn't trust himself to keep his emotion in check. 

Yet his heart said otherwise. This was Zoey, Noah could never deny her. He would never deny her anything, especially when this could be their last moment on good terms together.

He accepted her hand. She grinned, like a molten California's sunset and tugged on his hand, soft against his callousness, dragging him towards the dancefloor.

Surreptitiously, Noah stole a glance at his phone when she was not looking.  9:47 pm. 13 minutes to 10. 13 minutes before Jane came barging in. 13 minutes before the final showdown. 

13 minutes left to bask in her presence.

The dance floor was jammed packed with some of his classmates, mind lost in the music. And Noah was nervous. 

As if she could tell, Zoey stepped toward him. On the dance floor, her gown shimmered like a glittering, silver moon and held his hands, giving them a comforting squeeze.

I'm here.

He squeezed back, I know. And felt his nervousness simmered.

Noah, tongue-tied, feet still rooted the ground, simply swallowed as he watched her before him, magnetising. He gulped, his cheeks flared when Zoey began to sway her hips lightly to the music. Her movements were innocent, but there was something in her eyes that commanded his attention. That girl had a flair in everything she did, alright, dancing being no exception.

"You sure you don't want to wait for Connor for this?" He asked over the music, making sure, eyes darting back and forth just in case Connor came back. 

"Nah. He probably won't come back for the next 10 minutes and I'm not going to miss this song just to wait for him," she exclaimed back, flashed her widest set of a smirk. "Come on, bust out some moves, man!"

"I'd embarrassed you," he pointed out. "I'll look worse than Shepard from Mass Effect, I'm telling you."

"I wouldn't laugh." But she was smiling when she said that. "I promise! And do you think anyone would notice even if you move like a feral ghoul? And in this crowd?"

That made Noah laugh, reconsidering.

"Don't think about them," she said in his ear as she could still sense his hesitation. "But most of all, don't think when you dance, Noah. Just let the music flow through you."

"I don't think I know how."

"Let me show you," she told him, sing-song. 

Feel real Now Forever meant nothing when we had nothing

As the music picked up its beat, so did Zoey's moves. Guiding them to the rhythm of the music, prompting him to mirror her, to let loose. He followed his instincts and began to actually dance, albeit still stiffly, but making sure to move in time with her. His pulse was racing, being so close to her for the first time. Sweat began to form on his forehead from heat, both from the crowd and their proximity.

The way she moved her hips, the way the music pulsing through his veins blurred everything; what was wrong and right, what was his and what's not as he gradually began to give in to the music, to the feeling. In hindsight, he'd like to think it had been the alcohol that drove him but he knew it wasn't true. He just needed an excuse for all of this.

As if moving in autopilot, Noah twirled her around. Earning her a laugh as she did so, the edges of her silver hair fluttering like a halo. She then pressed her back against his chest. His arms immediately snaked their way around her waist before he could stop himself. Pulling her closer until there was no distance between them. She leaned back into him, her head on his shoulder. 

Noah met her eyes. She met his back. 

Everything felt electric. Everything felt so wrong, yet the alarms were actually blaring like crazy sounded dim in his head, so he kept going.

The next thing he knew, Zoey spun around again to face him. Two hands reached up to wring her arms around his neck. Noah placed his hands on her waist, feeling the curve of her body for the very first time and he couldn't exactly make out what to feel right now.

A lover come back, I wanna dance like her, Like nobody's watching

The upswing of her warm breath against his cheek, her gaze kept on flickering between his eyes and lips, licking her lower lip. Noah's breath nearly stopped. Nearly toppled over at how intense they were; all-consuming, once again he felt her ocean eyes pulling him in, threatening to drown him. The muscle in his jaw clenched. 

The moment stretched. Zoey inched closer until their foreheads nearly touched, the tip of his nose brushed against hers. Noah searched her eyes, his calloused thumb dragging down Zoey's cheek, torn between closing the distance between them, to finally taste her lips after all these years- improprieties being the last damned thing on his mind- or to push her away and wonder if she felt the same. 

All too soon, the song ended. And all too soon, the spell broke.

As if someone had dumped a bucket of ice-cold water on his face, Noah shook himself back to reality. Realizing what they had done and almost done and took a wide step back from her like he had stabbed her or something, looking into her flushed face. Her eyes widened by a fraction, her mouth slightly ajar.

They only stared at each other, speechless, even as the DJ played a different tune. An unspeakable terror passed between them and a single question that circled around their heads like a vulture:

What in the sweet fuck just happened?

"Hey babe, sorry for making you wait." The two craned their heads to the side to see Connor approaching them, placing his phone back in his breast pocket and kissed her cheek. 

"The manager called, saying there's going to be new items coming in next week and he wants me to make the draft for the inventory list."

Once he realized she wasn't responding to his advance, he regarded her then Noah, wondering what on earth the two were doing that left the tension in the room.

"Is… everything okay?" Connor asked, creases appearing in his brows.

"Yeah." Zoey managed to say, shaking off of her trance and feigned a smile. But Connor didn’t seem convinced. "Yeah. We were just playing around-- I mean, we were playing-"

"Staring contest. On the dance floor" Noah nearly winced at how stupid it sounded. "It was her idea."

"Yeah, I saw a bunch of people do it on my IG feed and thought, why not? Though now that we did it, it does seem stupid, isn't it?"

"Yeah, probably, uh, shouldn't do that again." And bunched his pants between his fingers and wondered if Zoey caught the double meaning.  

"Took the words right off my mouth," she concurred with a chuckle, but it sounded forced. She even avoided his gaze when Noah tried to look at her, focusing her attention on the floor instead.

He wondered if Connor could pick up on that? Could sense there was more than between the eyes, but he chuckled instead, shaking his head kindly at his girlfriend's antics and kissed her cheek. Again.

Noah looked the other way, feeling his cheeks pink either from what had transpired or jealousy or embarrassment for god knows what or the combination of the three until he remembered the time. He checked his phone again. 5 minutes until 10. 

It was time.

He rubbed at the back of his neck and cleared his throat, noncommittal. "Yeah, I'm going to get out and smoke. Catch you guys later."

Noah pivoted around, shoved his hands into his pockets. He didn't smile, didn't even spare her a final glance. He felt her eyes on her, expectant, but how could one look at her again after what they'd almost done? How could he look at her again without thinking of her lips, her touch and knowing that not only he wouldn't be able to feel them, but she would never want to see him ever again? It was too much.

 "Noah?"

Noah turned at the sound of her voice. His heart broke a little seeing her, just within reach but a million light years away at the same time.

"Yeah?" And nearly winced at how hoarse he sounded. 

She was silent for a moment, conflict rose in her face. "See you later."

All too soon, Zoey and Connor made their way deeper into the belly of the dance floor. He stood there, his limbs felt heavy, as if there was a chain holding him down. 

Suddenly, he felt a nudge on his ribs. It was Ava. 

"So when are you going to tell her about it, loverboy?" She asked, an eyebrow migrated to her hairline. He should have known that even amid the crowd, someone must have noticed him and Zoey on the dance floor. 

Noah took a deep breath, his heart felt jagged. "Someday." 

Someday. But even he knew that was just another lie he told.

[loveforpreserumsteve]

End of the Line (Pre-Serum Alpha!Steve and Pregnant!Bucky Modern Bus Trip A/B/O AU)

One:

It was now or never.

Racing to the closet, Bucky pulled down a duffle bag. Not quite thinking as he started shoving random clothes in the black bag. Only staying half-aware, so he wouldn't pack any of Brock's clothes by mistake. He didn't want his orange-juice-after-brushing-teeth scent anywhere near him. Even if his omega mind was begging him to pack the sleep shirt that belonged to the alpha because when Brock was happy it was like sipping on mojitos at the club when the DJ was playing their song.

Shaking his head, Bucky zipped the duffle up and slung it over his shoulder. Ignoring how it sat uncomfortably on his bruised shoulder as he exited their bedroom. Nope, not theirs anymore. Just Brock's. It would never be Bucky's ever again. The only way he would come back was in a body bag.

Tossing the bag next to the door, he entered into the kitchen. Heading directly to the pantry and grabbing the container of formula powder. Knowing that he'd need it for Noah. Poor thing was still paying for being a preemie even two years later. Guilt always clenched Bucky's heart when he thought back to that day. He should've been more protective. He should've fought harder. He should've --

Bucky shook his head, he couldn't get distracted now.

Grabbing the two other containers on the shelf, he set them on the counter. Desperately wishing he remembered which one had the hidden cash. To take care of him and two pups with another on the way, it wasn't much, but it would be enough. It had to be.

Packing them in the diaper bag, Bucky triple checked that it had everything that they'd need. Food for the two toddlers for two days: check. Pull-Ups in case Noah had an accident: check. Two days' worth of clothes: check. Medicine for Maisie's cough: check. Although the apple prune juice was the kind that Noah didn't like, Maisie still did, and it would have to do.

Zipping the bag, Bucky quickly carried it over to the door. Grabbing his boots, Bucky sat on the edge of the leather sofa to slip them on. Was it ideal to leave now in the middle of winter? No, definitely not. But Bucky knew that if he didn't leave now, he never would.

As he stood back up, a popping came from the inside of his protruding abdomen. Not gas bubbles or anxious butterflies, but almost like a flicking along his insides. A simple kick, reminding Bucky of the unborn pup. As if I could forget, Bucky rolled his eyes and rubbed his hand over the large bump to soothe the baby.

Taking in a deep breath, Bucky made his way to the pups' room. Flipping on the light, Bucky's chest clenched when he found his two year old and four year old sleeping peacefully in their beds. Trying to keep the fear and anxiety from his scent, Bucky went to wake Maisie first. Being the older, she'd be easier, and she could dress herself.

"Wake up, sweetie," Bucky softly instructed, rubbing a soothing hand on her back. For a moment, she just kept sleeping. Bucky pushed her dark curls away from her face and pressed a kiss to her temple as he repeated, "Wake up, sweetie. Please, please, please."

Thankfully, she started to ruse. Pushing herself up on her forearms and rubbing her face along her pillow. Bucky kept rubbing her back. Sure, it eased her into consciousness. But it also helped keep Bucky distracted.

"Daddy," Maisie whined, tilting her head back and closing her eyes.

"I'm sorry, baby," Bucky apologized, leaning in close to nose at her brown curls. Enjoying the intimate moment of scenting her to find nothing but contentedness from her, "But ya gotta get up. We're goin' to Auntie Beck's, remember?"

Sighing, the four year old nodded. Once she started pushing herself up, Bucky stood from her bed and crossed the room to Noah. Rubbing his back as well, Bucky woke the little boy, "Come on, honey. Wake up."

Whimpering, Noah tried to roll over and hide his face. Normally, Bucky would've let him ease himself awake. Only, he didn't have time for that. Sure, Bucky was sure that Brock would be out for, at least, a few more hours since it was Boys' Night. But if Brock started taking his friends' teasing too seriously again, he'd definitely come back early. If all went well though, Brock would stay and drink, and he'd be too drunk to realize that they were gone until it was too late for him to chase after them.

Bucky hoped...

Removing the PAW Patrol comforter from Noah's small frame, Bucky helped him sit up. Taking a few steps over to the dresser, he pulled out a pair of socks for the pup. Just like Bucky, he'd go to bed with socks on, but kick them off in his sleep. Deciding to grab some thicker sweats as well, Bucky went back over to Noah.

Not wasting any time, Bucky simply exchanged the blue PAW Patrol one-piece for a pair of navy-blue sweatpants and a green sweatshirt with a dump truck on the front. Briefly wondering if he should have asked the toddler if he had to go potty before ultimately deciding he could wait until they reached the bus station. He was wearing a Pull-Up after all.

If he had an accident, he'd have an accident. Noah was still learning. It was to be expected. It wasn't his fault. Bucky understood that. Just because Brock thought differently about it -- Just because Brock had almost beat him black and blue --

Shaking his head, Bucky lifted Noah onto his hip, and turned back to see how Maisie was doing. She must have been watching Bucky because she stripped out of her pretty pink PAW Patrol nightgown and was in the midst of pulling on the matching sweatshirt to her purple floral sweatpants. His smart, smart, sweet pup.

After helping Maisie pull her hair out from beneath the collar of her shirt, Bucky herded her into the living room. Of course, it was more work than it probably should've been. Especially when she started to whine and throw a tantrum.

"Daddy," Maisie cried and grasped onto Bucky's leg, tugging at his pants.

"Baby, we have to go," Bucky tiredly reasoned with his oldest.

Lower lip quivering, Maisie begged, "Windy."

Sighing, Bucky conceded, "Okay. I'll go get it, you put your shoes on."

Sniffling, Maisie nodded and crossed the room to the shoe rack. While Maisie grabbed her shoes, Bucky set Noah down. Turning as quickly as he could with his situational poor balance, Bucky entered the bedroom again and grabbed the soft, wind-up bear plush. Wishing that he could've gotten it fixed before leaving. Knowing that, although Brock hated it, the lullaby calmed their pup.

Exiting the room to find Maisie slipping on her favorite pair of multicolored gel sandals, Bucky sighed. Sure, she had managed to put them on the correct feet. But she couldn't wear those. Not only would they give her blisters. But as soon as they started heading north, there would be snow. And he definitely didn't want to add frostbite to the things she had to suffer through.

"Sweetheart, you need your boots," Bucky corrected as he grabbed their coats from the hooks. Grasping his middle with his prosthetic while he bent to grab their boots as well.

With labored breathing, Bucky made sure they were prepared as they could be. Securing the backpack diaper bag onto his back and slinging the duffle strap along his middle, he picked Noah up to balance on his hip.

As he undid the locks on the door, Maisie reminded, "Don't forget your phone, daddy."

"No, baby," Bucky shook his head when he found her trying to hand it to him. He smoothed down her brown curls and told her, "We don't need it."

Her small face furrowed into one of confusion that was so similar to his sister's that it made Bucky long for her all the more. Maisie asked, "Won't alpha be mad?"

Thickly swallowing, Bucky ushered his oldest pup closer. Grabbing her hand, he pulled her out of the house with him, and lied, "'Course not, darling."

[btsqualityy]

BTS Toddler Series #15: Map of The Soul: Persona

Kim Seokjin

You got out of the car, shutting the door behind you and making sure to lock the doors before you made your way up to the front door of your house. Once you were standing in front of the door and grabbed your house key to unlock the door, you paused because you heard music coming from the other side of the door. 

“Why is he playing music when Kade is supposed to be sleeping?” You muttered as you unlocked the door before opening it and stepping inside. You set your keys, purse, and bags down on the table that was next to the door before walking towards the living room. Once you turned the corner and looked inside, you couldn’t help but to laugh at what you saw.

Jin and Kaiden were standing on top of the couch, the both of them jumping up and down as Dinoysus blasted throughout the room from Jin’s Bluetooth speaker that sat on the coffee table.

“Mommy!” Kaiden shouted as he noticed you standing in the entryway of the living room. He slid down off the couch and bounded over to you, hugging your legs tightly. “Missed you.”

“I missed you too Kade,” you smiled, setting your head on top of his head and moving his hair out of his eyes. “I see you’ve been having fun with daddy, huh?” You asked as you looked up at Jin with an arched brow.

“Lots of fun Mommy,” Kaiden nodded and Jin chuckled awkwardly as he got down off of the couch and turned the music down.

“I know that I was supposed to get him down for a nap but he asked to listen to the album and the time slipped away from me,” Jin explained.

“It’s fine,” you sighed. “Somebody still has to have a nap though,” you added as you looked down at Kaiden, who started to whine.

“No nap mommy,” he pleaded.

“Hey, no arguing,” you said firmly. “Now come on, up the stairs.” Kaiden reluctantly let go of your leg and Jin watched as the both of you trudged up to Kaiden’s room.

Min Yoongi

You typed in the code to Yoongi’s studio and waited to hear the beeping to pull the door handle, stepping inside and slipping off your shoes.

“Hey you,” Yoongi smiled as you walked over to him.

“Hey,” you replied as you leaned down and left a soft kiss on his lips. You then looked over to the small couch and saw Kinsley coloring in one of her coloring books. “Hi Kins,” you said and she looked up at you, a wide grin appearing on her face at seeing you.

“Hi mommy,” she chirped and you walked over to the couch and sat down, Kinsley promptly crawling into your lap afterwards to give you a hug.

“How was work Y/N-ah?” Yoongi asked as he typed a few things on the computer.

“Eh, work,” you chuckled. “How about you? How much were you able to get done with Kins here?”

“You know she’s no bother,” Yoongi snorted as he turned around in his chair to face you. “And I got a lot done, actually finished a song.”

“For the new album?” You wondered and Yoongi nodded in confirmation. “Can I hear it?” 

“Sure,” he nodded before turning back to his computer. He pressed a few buttons before a beat started to fill the room. “It’s called Make It Right,” he revealed and you nodded as you listened closely to the song. Once it ended, you looked up to see Yoongi already looking at you as he chewed his lip.

“What do you think?” He questioned and you smiled.

“I think it’s amazing,” you confirmed and Yoongi let out a sigh of relief. “What do you think Kins?” You asked her.

“Daddy and uncles good,” she squealed, making you and Yoongi laugh.

Kim Namjoon

You and Namjoon were in the kitchen, the both of you working on getting dinner ready while Mason sat at the kitchen counter looking at one of his picture books. 

“Joon, how many times have I told you that that’s not the way to cut a tomato?” You giggled as you took the knife out of his hands and bumped his hip with yours to get him to move over. “You’re gonna cut your fingers off one of these days, you know?” You said as you cut the tomato correctly.

“A man tries to help his wife with dinner and this is how you repay me?” He pouts falsely, making you laugh. “How about I play the DJ then?” He suggested, pulling out his phone and going to his playlist.

“Good idea,” you nodded. “Play to your strengths baby.” Namjoon smacked your ass playfully, making you gasp and glare at him. You then turned back to cutting the tomato in front of you when you heard the familiar intro music to Persona.

“Daddy’s song!” Mason shrieked and you giggled at his reaction.

“Yeah, this is Daddy’s song Mase,” Namjoon nodded as he set his phone down, moving to the fridge to grab more ingredients. You silently bobbed your head to the beat as the Namjoon on the song rapped the first verse and when the chorus came, you started to sing along but you were shocked when Mason did the same.

“The hell am I?” Mason rapped along and you froze, looking at Mason with a stern look.

“Mason, that’s a bad word and you can’t say that,” you explained to him.

“But Daddy said I could,” Mason whispered and you turned to look at Namjoon, who was smiling awkwardly.

“He’s only 2 and it’s just freedom of expression,” Namjoon shrugged.

“Exactly, he’s only 2 and when he yells that out at daycare which we both know is a very strong possibility, are you gonna pause your schedule to go get him?” You wondered and Namjoon sighed heavily.

“Ok Mase, Daddy was wrong. You can’t say that word until you’re big,” Namjoon acquiesced. 

“Okay,” Mason pouted.

Jung Hoseok

“Daddy, daddy, daddy!” Lennox yelled from the backseat of the car as Hobi drove down the highway. You then turned around in your seat and raised your eyebrow at him.

“No need to yell Len, daddy is right here,” you said and Lennox nodded.

“What is it buddy?” Hobi wondered.

“Listen to slow song please?” Lennox asked and Hobi’s brow furrowed in confusion.

“Which one?” 

“With daddy, Uncle Jin, and Uncle Kookie,” Berkeley interjected and Lennox nodded.

“Oh, that slow song,” Hobi chuckled. He reached down and grabbed his phone before handing it to you. “Can you turn it on for them?” You nodded and unlocked his phone, going to his music playlists and quickly finding Jamais Vu before pressing play.

“Of all of the songs on the album, I never thought that this would be their favorite,” Hobi mentioned.

“It’s probably because they know that you made it,” you pointed out. “You know that they love any and everything that you do.”

“These are facts,” Hobi smirked and you reached over to hit his shoulder before sitting back in your seat and listening to the song. Once it was over, you picked up Hobi’s phone to try and find another song. “Any requests kiddos?” You asked and when you didn’t receive a response, you turned around to see both Lennox and Berkeley knocked out in their car seats.

“If I knew that’s all it would take to get them to sleep, I would’ve written that a long time ago,” Hobi scoffed, making you giggle.

Park Jimin

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” You asked again as you, Jimin, and Noah walked into the members’ rehearsal room. Since the album had been released, the members had rehearsals to get ready for tour.

“Of course, why wouldn’t it be?” Jimin wondered as he set Noah down on the ground next to him while you set Jimin’s bag up against the wall.

“You all don’t get much done when one of the kids are here,” you pointed out and Jimin scoffed.

“Jagi, we are professionals. Sure, we love when the kids come to visit rehearsals but that doesn’t stop us from getting things done,” Jimin explained and you nodded in response as the door opened, and you looked over to see the rest of the members walking inside.

“Hey, you didn’t tell us that you were bringing Noey today,” Taehyung smiled as he picked Noah up.

“It was a spur of the moment thing Tae,” you explained and Tae nodded.

“Wanna dance with your daddy and uncles?” Hobi asked Noah and Noah nodded excitedly. You sat down and watched as Jin pressed play on the stereo system in the room, the beginning of Boy With Luv filling the room. Taehyung set Noah back down on the ground and moved him so that he was standing next to him.

You watched in silent amusement as the members attempted to run through the choreography but they kept messing up because they were too busy watching and laughing at Noah, who was trying his hardest to do the choreography like his daddy and uncles. Once the song ended and the members were laying on the floor laughing hysterically, Jimin led Noah back over to where you were sitting.

“What was that about you all being professionals Jimin-ssi?” You giggled and Jimin glared at you.

“Hush,” he said as he mushed your face with his hand, making you swat at him.

Kim Taehyung

“Tilt your head back for me Spence,” you mumbled as she let you guide her head to where you needed it to be. You had just finished giving Spencer her bath and now you were doing her hair.

“Hey, I’m home!” You heard Taehyung shout as the front door closed behind him.

“Here daddy!” Spencer shouted back and you heard Tae’s footsteps walk up the stairs until he appeared in your bedroom.

“There’s my favorite girls,” he smiled as he walked over to the bed. He pressed a kiss to Spencer’s forehead before pressing one to your lips. 

“How was your day?” You asked him as he got up and walked into the bathroom to change clothes, leaving the door slightly cracked open.

“Long,” he huffed and you smiled to yourself as you continued to comb through Spencer’s hair. After about a minute, he walked out of the bathroom fully dressed in his pajamas and then climbed back into the bed. This time, he settled on his stomach in front of Spencer, setting his hands on her little legs.

“Daddy?” Spencer called and he looked up at her, giving her his full attention.

“Yeah Munchkin?”

“Sing Kosmos?” she asked, asking for him to sing Mikrokosmos and Taehyung smiled before nodding at her and starting to sing. Spencer was so caught up in Tae singing to her, you managed to finish the rest of her hair in the time that it took him to sing the song. 

“Hey Spence,” you whispered, noticing how droopy her head was getting. “Why don’t you let daddy put you to bed?”

“Kay,” she mumbled and you gave her a quick kiss on the top of her head before Tae picked her up and carried her out of the room.

Jeon Jungkook

“Here, which one do you want to wear Angel?” Jungkook asked Ava as he held up two hangers, one with a yellow dress on it and the other with a purple dress on it.

“That,” Ava said as she pointed to the yellow dress. Jungkook sighed and hung purple dress back up in Ava’s closet. 

“Of course you’d pick the dress that can get dirty the easiest,” Jungkook muttered as he sunk down onto his knees in front of Ava, who was standing up. “Step into it,” he instructed her as he held the dress open for her. Ava set her hands on Jungkook’s shoulders and she slowly stepped inside of the dress. Jungkook then pulled it up onto her body and buttoned it up, making sure that it was on her correctly.

“Alright, hair time,” he announced with a clap of his hands and Ava whined loudly.

“No hair,” she pouted and Jungkook sighed as he stood up to grab her comb and brush.

“Hey, I’ll sing to you while I do it. Is that ok?” He asked her and she immediately nodded. He sat down on the floor again and she crawled onto his lap, looking up at him.

“House song,” she said and Jungkook laughed at her.

“You mean Home Angel?” He said and she nodded. He started to sing while simultaneously combing through her hair.

“With you, Ima feel richer,” he sung effortlessly as he quickly brushed through her hair before splitting it in half and making two ponytails in her hair. 

“Your love, your love, your love, I want that. Your touch, your touch, your touch, I need that. La lala lalala lalala, I love it,” Jungkook said as he finsihed her hair. “All done Angel.” Ava stood up and turned around, giving Jungkook a kiss to his cheek.

“Thanks daddy,” she beamed before running out of her room. 

“God, where is the time going?” Jungkook muttered to himself.

[mattygraygubler]

our campus: chapter 5 (tom holland fic)

summary: frat!tom and reader go to the same college and y/n is tasked with being his tutor, they don’t really get along at first (because i love reader and tom hating each other trope)

warnings: drinking, cursing, mentions of sex, making out

word count: 3.3k

a/n: the end to this was tough 

for a list of characters click here

to be added to the tag list send me an ask !

masterlist

✰✰✰✰✰

“Y/N, you may wanna slow down...” Isabelle said as you downed your third shot. 

“C’mon it’s delt… I need something to help face my fear.” 

“Y/N we really don’t have to go if you don’t want to.” Emily said. You shook your head. 

“Nope. Maybe if I’m lucky, I’ll finally get frat bingo.” Isabelle laughed and you all grabbed your various phones and keys and headed downstairs to grab the uber. 

Black outs, and theme parties in general, people tended to go a little nuts for. Everyone brought their best. Like dchi’s toga party a few weeks ago? The image of Kyle wearing a bed sheet is burned into your mind forever. 

Isabelle, never one to wear a dress, was wearing a black lace bodysuit (you insisted it was lingerie but she ignored you) with a pair of black flare jeans over it. For Ally, every day was a blackout party, so she wore one of her many black dresses, this one a velvet flare. Emily couldn’t wear all black, it wasn’t in her nature, so she wore an adorable black babydoll dress with little blue flowers all over it. 

And you? You pulled out all the stops. Your dress was simple, a black mini dress from urban outfitters, but you spent years looking for the perfect LBD and this was it. It hugged your body in all the right places, you didn’t wear it too often, but when you did you felt like a 10. 

You all piled in the uber and were on your way to the house, which wasn’t a far walk from campus, but you were already running late. It was already past 11:30, the party started at 11. It was typical for your friend group to make a fashionably late entrance. 

When you got there it was almost 11:45. You made your way to the back of the house where two brothers stood at the back door, one with a clipboard in his hands, the other rolling a joint. 

“Evening, ladies,” one of them said. Emily smiled, introduced herself and you guys, and they were soon letting you in. 

You walked inside and noticed the party was already in high gear. It wasn’t packed, thanks to the list, but there were a lot of people hanging around, drinking, some playing beer pong, some dancing, others making out on the couch. 

Immediately Harrison noticed Emily and came up to give her a kiss on the cheek. He greeted you all very friendly, kissing the backs of your hands. 

This kid was not like Tom at all. 

Speaking of… You didn’t want to admit it but you noticed him almost immediately. There were a lot of guys looking at your group, probably because you weren’t regulars to delt parties, but one boy in particular couldn’t keep his eyes off you. 

You felt his stare on your body, and you finally looked to make eye contact with him. He was at the beer pong table, but he stopped paying attention to the game. 

You couldn’t help it, but you bit your lip. He looked… well, hot. Incredibly hot, even though he was just wearing ripped black jeans and a black tee shirt. 

“Harrison!” You said, turning your attention away from Tom. “I need a shot of tequila and a rum and orange soda.” Harrison laughed. 

“A girl that knows what she wants, I like it. Follow me ladies.” The four of you followed him to the kitchen where a makeshift bar was set up. You groaned internally when you realized who one of the boys was behind it. 

“Y/N!” Dan said with a smile. “You’re the last person I expected to see here.” 

“Well, everyone changes, Danny. Could I have-” “Lemme guess. A shot of tequila and a vodka orange soda?”

“Rum and orange soda, but very close.” Danny laughed as he poured you the drinks. Isabelle and Ally both had beers in their hands and were behind you, talking to each other while Emily and Harrison appeared to be in their own little world. 

“I’m Noah,” the kid next to Danny said. He was a typical frat boy, but you were surprised. So far every delt boy you’ve seen was… very attractive. 

“Y/N,” you heard a voice behind you. Max put his hand on the small of your back. 

“Hi!” You greeted happily. 

“I’m glad you came. Wanna dance?” he asked. You nodded, downed the shot of tequila and headed for the dance floor, not before you saw Dan hand Max a five dollar bill. 

Max held your hand as you led him towards the room where people were dancing. It was much louder in here. Immediately you made your way close to the DJ, which was really a delt boy with a baseball cap and soundcloud. Max put his hands on your waist and you started to dance back and forth. 

You sipped your drink, realizing you were five drinks in, and were starting to feel great. The room was spinning, in a good way, the music was so loud you could feel it in your chest. 

“If I was straight, I wouldn’t be able to keep my hands off you,” Max said into your ear and you laughed. “Besides, one of my brothers already called dibs.”

The smile left your face immediately. Did Tom call dibs on you?! Danny?! You looked at Max’s face and he could tell you were confused. 

“Noah. You met him at the bar earlier.” You grinned. Nothing to worry about.

After what felt like an hour of dancing, you and Max were both sweating and decided to go back to the rest of the party. On your way out of the dance floor, Max holding your hand again, you spied Tom on the end of the circle, a girl sucking on his neck. He looked like he was enjoying it, until he saw you. You looked away as soon as you made eye contact and let Max drag you back to the rest of the party. 

Tom could let anyone he wanted suck on his neck. Why should that bother you? 

You quickly let that thought leave your mind when you saw Noah and another boy waiting at the pong table. 

“Pong?” Max asked. You grinned. 

“Hope you can keep up, Parum.” You said. Noah was playing with a boy named Cal, who looked like a nerd with glasses and a band teeshirt, but was 100% Isabelle’s type. Boys that were totally below her league made her go crazy. 

You and Max were an amazing pong team. He was a lefty and you were a righty so you had the sides of the table you preferred, and were totally kicking ass. Once Noah and Cal started to lose, they totally just collapsed. 

You sank the final cup and Max quickly wrapped his hands around your waist, picking you up and spinning you around. You laughed but yelled for him to put you down before you vomited. 

“Alright rematch.” Noah said immediately. This kid was almost as competitive as you. 

“Seriously? You’re already ready to get your ass kicked again?” You asked. 

“Feisty, I like it.” Noah said and took a step closer to you. You stepped closer to him too. 

“Shot gun contest.” He said. 

“You’re on.” You said. He nodded, a cocky grin on his face. It’s been a while since you shotgunned, but what’s the worst thing that could happen? 

A crowd had gathered, more of their brothers, who obviously knew Noah had dibs on you, Ally and Isabelle, who had befriended a few boys, and Emily, who was leaning on Harrison, giggling and already drunk out of her mind. 

Cal handed you and Noah each a beer. 

“Care to make this interesting, Y/N?” Noah asked. 

“How much were you thinking?” You replied. 

“Not how much. I win, you have to kiss me.” All the frat brothers said ‘ooooo’, but you just laughed. 

“And if I win?” You asked. 

“I have to kiss you.” He said and you laughed. 

“No way.” 

“Fine. $20 bucks if I lose, if I win, you have to kiss me.” You groaned, delt boys had formed a circle around you and were edging you on. 

“Deal.” You said and shook his hand. He pulled your hand, bringing your body towards him and kissed your cheek. 

“Just a taste of what’s to come.” He said with a wink. 

You got passed a pair of keys and punctured a whole in the can. 

“Em, would you do the honors?” You asked. Emily stepped into the circle, pulling the neckscarf off her neck and waving it like at a racetrack. 

“THREE… TWO… ONE… GO!” You quickly brought the bottle up to your lips, popping the cap and tilting your head back as you guzzled the beer. 

In just a few seconds, Noah crushed his empty can and dropped it to the floor, beating you by barely ONE SECOND. 

Everyone was cheering, and Noah looked at you. 

“Sorry, babe,” he said with a grin. You smiled, walked up to him, and wrapped your arms around his neck. Immediately his strong arms were around your waist, pulling your body onto his, and dripping you on your back. His tongue slipped into your mouth and you were making out as he dipped you, your arms still around his neck. The kiss tasted like beer, but his hands were strong.

After a few seconds, you finally became aware of the shouting and whooping from around you. You laughed, hiding your face in Noah’s neck as he stopped dipping you, but didn’t take his arms away from you. 

“You wanna head upstairs?” He whispered in your ear. You turned to your friends, who were right on the edge of the circle. 

“One sec.” You replied, took two steps to your friends and had a hushed conversation. 

“So you’re about to win, N/N,” Isabelle said with a giggle. 

“What are you talking about?” 

“Frat bingo!” She said with a smile. You rolled your eyes. 

“Will you guys be pissed if I stay over?” 

“No way!” Emily said. 

“Are you staying Em?” You asked. She shook her head, you should’ve expected that much. 

“Y/N, please be safe, and call if you need anything.” Ally said. You smiled and turned back to Noah who was waiting in the center of the circle. 

“So?” He asked, still smirking. 

“So you said something about upstairs?” He grinned and picked you up bridal style. You screamed with a smile and a laugh as he made comments about winning, and not to wait up, on his way to the stairs. 

You got to his bedroom, immediately you pushed him down and climbed on his lap, making out. It wasn’t long until you ripped off his shirt, and he was pulling your dress over your head. 

He was hot, and a good kisser. Plus, you’d do anything to get Tom and his stupid ripped jeans and tight black tee out of your mind. 

You didn’t know how long you were up there, but soon you were unbuttoning his jeans and pulling them down. He was grabbing your boobs, leaving you hickeys everywhere he could. 

It was a few minutes before you realized what was happening. You looked at Noah’s face, the smile he was wearing all night had disappeared. 

“Uhm… I think I may have drank too much…” he said quietly, referring to the fact that he couldn’t get hard, despite you being practically naked on top of him. 

“Hey it happens,” you said. 

“You know, I could uhm,” he looked down and you realized what he was implying. However, you hadn’t shaved and hated having boys go down on you when you weren’t prepared. It was a weird thing. 

“It’s ok, I’ll go,” you said and started to get up. He grabbed your arm, pulling you back down and kissing you. 

“Stay,” he said and kissed you again. “Please.” 

“Fine,” you said with a grin. “But if you try to tell anyone we had sex, I’ll tell them exactly what happened tonight. I can also make sure no other girl at this school ever goes down on you again.” He laughed, throwing his head back. You realized that you actually really enjoyed his laugh. 

“Y/N, you have nothing to worry about. I’m not like-” He faltered and knew exactly what he was going to say: Tom. “I’m not like other guys.” He finished and kissed you again. 

You stayed practically naked, your bodies intertwined, kissing and making out until eventually dozing off. 

* * *

Your body woke you up at 9, which you were grateful for. Staying past 9am in a frat house is never a good idea. 

You slipped on your dress, trying to quietly pull on your shoes without waking Noah. 

“Hey,” he said groggily. “Where do you think you’re sneaking off to?” “Shhhh,” you said, giving him a soft kiss on the lips. “Last night was fun, but I have homework calling my name.” 

“Here,” he said and got up, grabbing one of his tee shirts for you to wear. You pulled it over your head and were grateful it was so large and gave you more coverage. A walk of shame was embarrassing enough, but you hated being seen in skimpy nightwear during the day time. 

“Thanks,” You said and found yourself smiling again. 

“I don’t normally say this, but would you maybe wanna do this again sometime?” 

“My numbers already in your phone, baby,” you said and kissed his cheek. He fell back on his bed. 

“Hey Y/N?” 

“Yeah?” You said, one foot out the door. 

“I think you may be my dream girl.” You just laughed. 

“Get some sleep,” you said and started to make your way quietly down the steps so you wouldn’t wake any of Noah’s brothers. 

You were almost home free when you reached the living room and saw the last person you wanted to see: Tom. He was sitting up on the couch, his head in his hands. He looked up when you walked into the room and you made eye contact. 

“Hi,” he said, his voice raspy from just waking up. God, he was so hot. 

“Hi,” you replied. 

“So you and Noah got along well then.” He managed to choke out. “Nice shirt.”

“Yeah... Anything happen with the redhead?” You said. You bit your lip, regretting showing him that you noticed him at all last night. He gestured around the empty room. 

“Does it look like anything happened?” 

“Sorry. I better go, I’ll see you tomorrow?” His head was in his hands again and you didn’t hear what he muttered. 

You had finally got the door open and were about to be free when you heard him again. 

“Y/N?” He asked, his voice breaking a bit. You turned to look at him. 

“Yeah?” He broke your eye contact. 

“Nevermind. See you tomorrow.” He muttered and you bolted out the door. 

Walks of shame were never good, and ubers of shame were not much better. If another uber driver chuckled and said “had a nice night, I see” to you, you would lose it. 

Thankfully you made it home and jumped right in the shower, but texted the group first. 

♡girly girls♡

You

just got back, gotta shower, hearst cafeteria in 30 mins

Your friends all liked the message and you jumped into the hot water. 

* * *

Saturdays were for no makeup, sweatshirts, glasses, and mountains of homework. Your friends had already made themselves more than comfortable in your booth in the cafeteria, surrounded by pancakes, coffees, notebooks, and laptops. Just like every Saturday. 

You tried to bite into the pancakes they had gotten for you, but Isabelle pulled the plate away. 

“You can have food after you spill the tea.” You groaned. You not-so-secretly hated that expression. You proceeded to tell them what happened with Noah, including his unfortunate… flaccid accident. 

“And then he gave me his shirt and he called me his dream girl and asked if he could see me again.” You finished. 

“Y/N!” Emily said giddily. “That is absolutely fantastic! Unfortunately no frat bingo though.” You laughed. 

“Can I have my pancakes now?” You asked. 

“Nope. There’s more.” Isabelle said. 

“What? No there’s not.” “Yes, Y/N, there is.” You silently cursed yourself. Isabelle could smell a lie from a mile away. It was her gift. 

“Fine. There’s more.” You said and told them about the awkward interaction with Tom in the morning. 

“Holy fuck.” Ally said after a beat of silence. “He’s into you.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Al,” you said as you stole your plate back from Isabelle and greedily dug in. 

“Nope, he is absolutely one hundo percent into you.” Isabelle said. 

“There’s no way.” 

“Oooo!” Emily said. “I’ll text Harrison!” 

“Emily Gold don’t you dare.” You said. 

“He’s already texted me, like, ten times today, I need to respond at some point.” 

“Fine but I get to craft the message.” You said. 

“No way.”

“Fine, let Isabelle do it.” You said. Once again Isabelle was the level headed one your group desperately needed. 

When she was done, she handed you Emily’s phone. 

You (emily) 

last night was fun, id love to see you again too

btw is everything ok with your friend tom? Y/N said he looked really sick this morning 

“Fine.” You replied and hit send. It was only a few minutes before the bing came in, alerting you all Harrison had texted back. 

Harrison<3

dinner tomorrow?

and he got dumped over winter break, hasnt been the same since

well except for this week, he really seemed to be doing good this week, but something mustve happened last night to set him off

he should get back to our room soon, its sweet of you to ask about him

“Wow, he’s whipped.” You said after reading the message. Emily simply giggled. 

“Y/N, you realize what this means right?” Ally asked. You sighed, knowing a ridiculous theory was about to spew from her mouth. 

“No, Al, what does this mean?” You said sarcastically.

“He was in a good mood after he met you, and when he saw you with another guy he was in a bad mood again! He’s obviously super into you.” You groaned. 

“Al that’s insane. I barely know the guy, I’m sure his drama is completely unrelated.” Your friends all gave you skeptical looks. 

“Whatever, I like Noah and I’m gonna see where this goes. Can I eat in peace now?” 

* * *

Saturday passed and it wasn’t long until you all found yourselves at the delta chi party. You weren’t drinking, as you still had a ton of homework to do and were still secretly trying to be dchi sweetheart, which meant being responsible. 

“What’s wrong babe?” Kyle asked approaching you. You were sitting on the kitchen counter talking to the boys at the bar and sipping on a soda. 

“Nothing!” You said and plastered a smile on your face. 

“Uh uh, nope, somethings wrong.” 

“Ky, I’m fine. Just stressed about school and stuff.” Your phone pinged beside you and before you could stop him, Kyle grabbed it.

“Whose Noah?” Kyle asked. You grabbed your phone back, reading the message. 

Noah

miss u babe

this party is boring why dont u come over

You and Noah had been texting on and off all day, nothing super serious, just little flirty messages. 

“He’s no one.” You replied. 

“Doesn’t seem like it,” Kyle said and raised his eye brows. You just rolled your eyes. 

“Leave it, Ky.”

“Y/N!” You heard a voice call. Sam, president of delta chi, stumbled into the room. 

“Hi, Sam,” you greeted with a smile. 

“I’m so glad you’re here,” he said. 

“Me too.” 

“You know we’re voting tomorrow.” He said with a wink. 

“Is that so?” You replied. 

“So expect a phone call tomorrow night.” He said before leaving the room with 2 fresh beers. 

[malexfan10]

Malex thoughts

I was watching some old episodes of Dawson's Creek and it made me want to get some thoughts out. I watched a lot of TV shows growing up. For me, the couples I liked were either ones I casually rooted for or on the rare occasion, a couple took me by such surprise that I became extremely emotionally invested. Malex is the latter.

I've been a fan of Captain Swan (OUAT), Stydia (Teen Wolf), Kurt & Blaine (Glee), Buffy & Angel and lots more. The rare pairings I've been completely lost on, I can name on one hand. Pacey & Joey (my first OTP), Chandler & Monica and Malex. I'd say Destiel on Supernatural too but with them, everything is subtext. I don't think the writers will have the guts to go there, not even with the show ending.

With PJ, I love how they started as antagonists, became really great friends, and then fell in love. For me, PJ vs DJ was incomparable. DJ brought out the worst in each other (my opinion) while PJ showed each other what love was supposed to be. The only thing I hated about DC was the constant back & forth between the two pairings. It lasted until the final moment when you realized PJ was endgame (one of my fears for Malex). I hated that but I was a kid so it didn't bother me as much as it would now.

I loved Chandler & Monica because they started out as friends who fell in love, got married and had all the moments in between before adopting a set of twins. I loved their story because it showed their entire journey. True, the show was a comedy but their story didn't end in season 5 when they started dating. Their story just began.

It's hard understanding writers who feel that only the journey matters. Of course it does. The journey is important. It's what makes you root for a couple but the destination and what happens after is important too. It makes you continue rooting for them, seeing all that angst and pain amounting to something substantial in the end.

So as much as I loved PJ, the fact that they kept us guessing until the last 5 minutes before we realized who she chose was too much. The long, drawn out, multi-season, will they/won't they storytelling style is one I'll never be a fan of.

Which leads me to Malex.

They were two broken boys, both brought up under horrible circumstances, who found the missing piece of themselves in each other. When Alex gave Michael a warm and safe place to stay, it was probably the first act of true kindness Michael had ever experienced and it was made by a boy whose pain and suffering mirrored his own. How incredibly heartbreaking but beautiful is that? That initial bond, that "cosmic" connection stood the test of time. Separated for 10 years and it felt like no time had passed at all.

That first moment in the pilot episode outside his Airstream, you could feel the tension. I remember reading interpretations of that scene. People thought Malex were cold and angry with one another "probably over a girl". Are you kidding me? That tension could only be romantic. But that first kiss at the reunion was when I hopped on the Malex Forever train. One stop only. Endgame.

They set them up so amazingly in the first three episodes. The angst was there but you could also feel the deep love between them. They weren't shown as two guys who had a fling back in high school and then crossed paths again 10 years later, said what the hell and hooked up again. No, they were shown as soulmates. Their level of connection even scared and confused them but they both knew it existed. Their love was pure and true and rare.

With all their history and with so many odds already stacked against them, the writers deciding to throw in a triangle just because they could and doing it in such a rushed and messy way really made me scratch my head.

Carina said she loved the triangle on DC. I honestly think she was the only one. That show was incredibly divided, DJ vs PJ. But as much as I hated the constant back and forth, I'll give the DC writers some credit. Joey's feelings for both were fully touched on. I saw her romantic feelings for Pacey more profound and her feelings for Dawson as true friendship (just my opinion), but both sides were shown in depth.

The problem with Roswell? Where did those feelings come from between M&M? They shared a moment when Maria cried and I took that as the start of a wonderful friendship. I was obviously wrong. They hooked up in the desert. OK I hated it but they were two single people and Maria didn't know about Alex so I accepted. All of a sudden, the feelings were real and Maria was conflicted because of how strong her feelings were. Michael chose to be with Maria because he needed something fresh and new and according to the wonderful Vlamis, someone he also had strong feelings for (still hate that last interview LOL).

I understand where Michael was coming from a little better, as much as I hate it and hate how he went about it by leaving Alex just waiting. He'd been through so much trauma and Max and Isobel kept telling him to stop looking to the past (which, really Max? If someone told you that about Liz, would you listen?? But he died so he gets a pass). But as far as Maria's feelings are concerned, I feel like I missed something.

Between episodes 9 and 10, did the M&M feelings bloom overnight from flirty banter to crush to "OMG this is love"? Was their moment in the desert that mind-blowing that the weirdness of episode 11 happened? I don't get it.

The one thing going against M&M is that Malex is overwhelmingly loved and has been embraced by fans and critics alike.

One critic said it best when they reviewed the finale (Vulture).

"I was intrigued by the possibility of Michael/Maria at first, but the love triangle has been so rushed — with so little time spent on Maria’s developing feelings for Michael — that it’s ended up just making her look terrible. We know from Maria’s conversation with Liz that she hasn’t even spoken to Alex about the situation because she feels too guilty, and so having her accept Michael with open arms is such an odd note. Sure, she doesn’t know Alex is waiting for Michael right at the same moment, but she does know that he’s been in love with Michael for a decade."

And therein lies the problem. A lifelong friendship ruined over a guy (unless Carina makes Alex give his blessing next season which would really make me scream) to push forward a pairing that had little development and makes Maria look bad. One side of the triangle is Michael's soulmate and the other side is the friend with sudden feelings. Not the best character development which is sad because we know how awesome Maria can be and as mad as I am with her, her character that I enjoyed until episode 10 and the actress deserve better. But instead of being original, the writers chose the path always taken. They chose to use her as the odd end of a triangle where, unless they want everyone to hate the show, she will likely be the one forced out so Malex can eventually reunite and for what? Drama?

Season 1 started out really strong and it still had a lot of strong moments in the latter episodes (end scene of episode 9 between Malex, Liz & Jenna being kickass in episode 11, all of episode 12 - my fave of the season, Kyle's confrontation with Jesse etc).

But honestly, I feel like the inclusion of this triangle (amongst other reveals like Noah as the 4th alien) somewhat brought the story down. The writing for M&M felt OOC and was messily done.

Only in recent years have LGBT pairings started becoming more mainstream, given better development and importance in the overall story. With Malex, they have the potential of making Michael and Alex one of the greatest love stories on TV. As much as I love the show, I'm not saying Roswell is on the same level as Breaking Bad or The Sopranos etc. But from all the pairings on the show, Malex is the most profound and has the potential to go down as one of the best on TV. To overcome everything they've been through and still choose each other and their love would be the ultimate happy ending because unlike most male/female pairings that go through mostly regular angst, being two males in a small town, Malex have a whole other level of obstacles to face. That doesn't even include their personal history, the fact that Michael is an alien or that Alex's father is the cause of so much pain between them. Or the fact that Alex is a disabled war veteran. I mean, there is so much amazing points to their story. They are the OTP of OTPs.

But so far, it feels like the triangle is the only major roadblock the writers want to concentrate on and that's the biggest mistake of all.

Season 2 hasn't aired yet. We don't know how little (🤞) or how long (😢) M&M will last. We'll just have to wait and see how it goes and hope that Twitter Carina is not the same as Season 2 showrunner Carina.

But for me, Malex will always be each other's endgame. That's what I saw in the first 3 episodes. That's what I saw in the flashbacks. That's what I saw in Caulfield. Try and convince me differently, show. You'll fail.

❤

[teacupcedes]

She Said “Yes!”

INVOLVED: Samuel Evans and Mercedes Jones TIME FRAME: Friday, February 14, 2020 LOCATION: Special Venue; Atlanta, Georgia SUMMARY: On Valentine’s Day, Samuel throws a party inviting all of their friends and family; he surprises Mercedes with a proposal. 

Samuel sat next to Mercedes on the couch, he was sure she was curious to know why he’d thrown a Valentine’s Day party in such a lavish looking setting and all of their immediate friends and family was there. Considering he didn’t tell her anything, he simply made her put on the dress and shoes he’d bought her to wear today and escorted her out the door. They were matching in their red and pink outfits for the day and everyone else fell in line with red, pink, white, or black. He was happy, people had done what he wanted them to and so far, everyone was enjoying themselves, including her family and his family.

Sitting on the couch beside her boyfriend, Mercedes leaned into him tiredly. Her head rested on his shoulder and she held his hand in her own, her thumb rubbing over the back of his hand. She had absolutely no idea what was going on anymore. Her boyfriend had come in with a dress and heels and told her to get dressed, so she asked no questions. It was Valentine’s Day and she was sure he probably had some type of surprise for her, so she wasn’t going to ask questions and ruin it, but she was highly intrigued despite her tiredness.

Samuel pecked Mercedes through all of her hair, and he reached his arm around hugging her to him. His hand ran up and down her arm before he said, “you okay babe?” sweetly, he wanted everyone to eat and be merry before he gave her his gift. “If you are ready to go, I can ask everyone to wrap things up and end the party” he told her.

“I’m okay,” Mercedes whispered softly. “I am just tired,” she admitted, moving their hands to her stomach gently. “I’m alright though,” she said to him sweetly, turning her head slightly and pressing a kiss to jawline though his beard. “What’s the big secret?” she asked him with a smile.

Samuel gently rubbed her stomach; their son was calm for a change and he could appreciate that. Nodding his head, he smirked as she kissed him, a smile growing at her question. “Secret?” he asked her playfully, he was toying with her now.

“Yes,” Mercedes giggled gently as Samuel rubbed her stomach. “The secret,” she said sweetly batting her eyelashes at him. “What are you trying to do?” she questioned him lovingly, nuzzling him lovingly.

“Have a Valentine’s party” Samuel chuckled at her “I just wanted to have a good time with everybody, is that wrong?” he asked her as he leaned into her as well. “Life is short you know…”

Mercedes eyes Samuel as he spoke, and she poked her lips out in a pout. “No, there’s nothing wrong with that,” she told him sweetly as she looked around at all their friends and family, “honestly it’s just not like you,” she admitted with a small smile. “You don’t like flashy stuff like this but thank you so much for doing this for me baby,” she said kissing his lips. “I know you’d rather be cuddled up at home.”

“You guys make me out to be the bad boy” Samuel said jokingly, he used a mocking voice, but it wasn’t hers. “I am just a man” he told her as he continued to lean into her “I don’t” he admitted “I’d do anything for you though” he told her sweetly before he moved to get up. “I know you thought that the gifts I gave you at the house was all that I had for you, but it isn’t” he breathed as he moved towards the DJ leaving her in her seat. He grabbed the microphone for the man and began to speak in it “hey guys” he said nervously. “I’m bad at this stuff” he told him as she looked down at the ground. “I try very hard to learn how to speak on a level that you all are on” he said beating himself up a little in the process. “Anyway” he said quietly “I wanted to do something very special for Mercedes today and I just want to thank Mr. Jones and Mrs. Jones for letting me” he said looking up for just a moment as he shuffled in the spot, he was standing in his nerves a wreck. “Um” he said pausing before he moved to Noah grabbing what he needed from the boy and tucking it away. He moved for Mercedes and helped her to stand on her feet, resting the red lip shape purse he had gotten her aside. “Mercedes” he started looking at her.

Mercedes giggled softly. “You are a bad boy,” she teased him sweetly before he moved to get up and she leaned up with him slightly, watching as he walked over to the DJ. What is he doing? She asked herself as she looked at him confused. Listening to him as he spoke into the microphone, Mercedes slid to the edge of her seat a bit, nervous and excited to hear what he had to say. She placed her hands on her belly, looking around at her mother, father, Santana, Noah, Steven, Dallas and everyone else with a smile on her face. She couldn’t believe he put this all together for her. Slowly she looked back at her boyfriend, having missed Noah as he handed Samuel something. As Samuel helped her stand up, she stood there with him, gazing up at him with loving eyes. “Yes baby?” she asked him softly a deep blush on her cheeks. What is he about to do? She asked herself, looking over at her mother quickly.

Samuel didn’t say anything for a very long time before he finally got the courage to speak again. He was choking up; the boy was scared for dear life and not to mention he was getting emotional as his eyes began to water slightly. “I am not perfect” he said shaking his head at himself “I have not been perfect, but I want to be that for you, for our son” he told her. “I have loved you for a very long time, since you stepped into our school as freshmen I was drawn to your energy” he said his eyes looking to the ground. “I didn’t deserve you then and I don’t know. I never will. A guy like me isn’t supposed to be with a girl like you” her said squeezing her hand gently in hers. “Though I am very happy about our son, I know I never wanted to do anything to stop you from being great” he said as a tear fell. “I regret this happening to young, but I know he’s a blessing” he said looking to his dad for a second before he looked away. “I know you will be a great mom; you already are a great girlfriend” he told her softly “and I know you will be a great wife” he said. He felt like he was ruining this, what was he talking about? “I’m sorry, I’m not making sense” he said as he let her hand go to reach in his pocket grabbing the ring box and he opened. “I am trying to say” he breathed “well ask you Mercedes” he said moving to get down on one knee like he’s supposed to “will you be my wife” he said just above a whisper in the microphone. “Please” he begged her before he looked up another tear rolling down.

Standing there, Mercedes looked at Samuel with wide eyes as he spoke and she nodded along, trying to figure out where he was going with this. “I love you too,” Mercedes said softly back to him softly, her eyes shifting between Samuel and their friends and family as he spoke. Her hand resting on her stomach, Mercedes tilted her head to the side, honestly trying to keep up with Samuel as he rambled a bit. However, as he dropped to one knee, she gasped softly. “Sam!” she said loudly, out of shock. Her eyes were wide as saucers. “Are you for real?” she asked him, her hands shaking as she began to cry. “Sam!” she said once more, unbelieving, looking around at their friends and family as they looked at her expectantly. “You’re serious?” she asked him, her eyes meeting his once more as tears rolled down her cheeks. “Oh my god,” she squealed out. “Yes!”

As Mercedes stood there, going through the motions he looked back to his dad again confused. Why didn’t she believe him, he was on one knee crying in front of everyone for her, of course he meant it, he wanted her to be his wife. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, and he wasn’t joking about that. He’d been thinking about it for a while now and he wanted to do this. He’d saved up for the ring and everything, and he threw this entire event together to propose and celebrate it. “Yeah I am” he told her finally and as she continued to go through the motion she sighed as she finally said yes. “Good” Samuel told her as he took the sat the mic down, he took the ring out of the box and slid it onto her finger before he stood up on his feet and hugged her tightly.

Mercedes couldn’t believe this was happening. She couldn’t believe he was proposing to her. Tears of joy and love rolled down her face and she sniffled hard as Samuel slid the ring into her finger. She closed her eyes, her arms wrapping around him and she held him tightly as he hugged her. “I love you so much,” she gasped out as she held him for dear life, ruining her make-up as she cried.

Samuel smiled happily as their friends and family clapped for them and cheered, at first, he thought they were too young, but he asked her parents and by now everyone knew they’d do what they wanted to do. “I love you too baby, both of you” he said to her easily as he leaned back and kissed her lips sweetly.

Mercedes kissed his lips lovingly, her tears mingling with his. “Oh god,” she said with a giggle as she pulled away from him, reaching for something to dab her face with. “I can’t believe this,” she squealed out, looking at her mother, then at Santana.

As she pulled away from him to wipe her face, he wiped his as well hiding his tears he was a man. Men didn’t cry he told himself as he stood upright towering most of them in the room. Samuel smiled at his dad and gave him, and his brother thumbs up before he looked back to Mercedes.

“That ring big as fuck how much it cost” Noah asked Samuel as he walked up behind him.

Samuel looked at his friend and narrowed his eyes “shut up” he said elbowing him.

At Noah’s words, Mercedes looked at the rock on her finger and she smiled. It was indeed huge. She knew Samuel had to have saved so much for it. “It’s beautiful,” she said to her now fiancée as she pulled him close once her, hugging him, her head on his chest. “I can’t believe you kept this from me!” she said to Santana.

Santana giggled, flipping her hair to reveal her shaved side, due to her head injury and surgery, but the hair was slowly but surely growing back. “I had to!” she said happily. “I couldn’t ruin something this huge for you!” she squealed.

Samuel hugged Mercedes close to him and he chuckled at Santana and Mercedes before he said. “Thanks for helping” to them both happily “could not have done this without you too” he told him.

Smiling from ear to ear, Mercedes looked at her friends more tears wailing in her eyes. “Thank you, guys,” she said before she caught her mother’s eyes once more and she pulled away from Samuel gently, moving for her parents. She opened her arms, falling into her mother lovingly.

“Congratulations sweetheart,” Erica breathed as she hugged her daughter tightly.

Alexander walked up behind Erica and wrapped his arms around his wife and daughter with his long arms. “I love you Mercedes,” he began gently, “and I from the bottom of my heart apologize for how I treated you,” he said as he pulled away from the hug, gazing at Mercedes. “You’re my only baby girl and I reacted so poorly out of shock and disbelief. But sweetheart, I love you so much and I am so proud of you. I know you’re going to be an amazing mother and now… wife…” he said kissing her forehead. “Congratulations baby girl.”

Tahj walked over to Samuel and he looked the tall boy up and down before he smiled and said, “you know, I still don’t know how I feel about all of this,” as he gazed up at Samuel, “but congratulations man. You make my sister so happy, so just keep doing what you’re doing,” he said holding out his hand, prepared to pull Samuel into a bro-hug.

Samuel looked to Mercedes’ brother, these days they didn’t really mingle well together but the boy got an invite anyhow. In his words he raised a brow, what was happening was happening and no one could stop it. The baby would be here fairly soon, everyone had to just accept it and move forward in a positive light. “Yeah” he said nodding his head at the guy giving him a sideways hug, Samuel wasn’t a hugger by any means.

Tahj hugged Samuel, patting him on the back before he pulled away, shoving his hands into his pockets as he looked at Noah. “Haven’t seen you in a while man,” he said slapping hands with him.

Mercedes gazed at her father as he spoke, fresh tears flooding her eyes. “I love you too daddy,” she said sniffling hard. “And I’m sorry for putting you through all of this, but everything happens for a reason, and I couldn’t be happier,” she said, “there is nothing in this world I want more than my son and Samuel…” she said looking back at her man with a bright smile.

Erica let out a soft sigh as Mercedes and Alexander spoke and she nodded along, hugging Mercedes to her side as she pressed a kiss to her daughters forehead. “You don’t have to explain to us,” she breathed. “We love you Mercedes and we support you in everything you do and we’re so happy for you.”

Alexander nodded along to his daughter and his wife’s words and he pulled Mercedes into his arms once more, hugging her tightly.

[hollyoaksloversx]

The Party, The Priest and The Pants...

Rounding up a week in Hollyoaks (12-16th August 2019)

It was decision time for Ste this week as he was finally given a way out of the far right group. At the start of the week, following his little TV appearance, Sinead told Ste she didn’t want him seeing Hannah anymore, leaving him devastated. However, his sadness soon turned to anger when he discovered that Sinead and Hannah were next door, celebrating Eid with the Maaliks. Things then went from bad to worse for Ste when Leah and Lucas, upon hearing the celebrations, asked to go and join in. Unsurprisingly, Ste said no, but the kids took no notice and headed round any way. Whilst Misbah was reluctant to have them there, knowing it would add fuel to Ste’s already out of control fire, everyone else was keen. It didn’t take long for Ste to discover where the children were and he dragged them away. An argument erupted between Stuart, Jonny, Ste and Sami, leading to Leah telling her Dad how much she hated him.

Later that day, Sami was attacked with pepper spray in the village and although he and Sinead suspected that Stuart and co were responsible, the police were unable to find any evidence to charge them. Ste was shocked when he heard about the attack on Sami and so Jonny, keen to keep Ste’s mind off it, set him up with Jed again. Although less than keen, Ste went along, but was given more than he bargained for when Jed told him about the evidence he’d been compiling against the group. Whilst this was going on, Stuart’s wife, Alice, approached Sinead, and asked her to reconsider her plans to stop Ste seeing Hannah. Although Sinead refused to listen, Ste was touched by what Alice had tried to do for him, and decided to tell the group what Jed was planning. As Stuart, Ste and Jonny confronted Jed, Stuart confiscated his evidence and ordered Ste to beat him up...

In a surprising twist, it would be Sami who would convince Sinead to allow Ste access to Hannah, pointing out that, if Ste took her to court, he would more than likely be granted access, and then the situation would be out of their hands. As Sinead went to share the good news with Ste, she was shocked to see bruises on his knuckles. When pressed for information, Ste proved to be evasive and so Sinead and Yasmine broke into the house in a bid to discover what was going on. The pair discovered Jed’s USB stick, and were horrified to find floor plans of the local community centre. Believing that the group were planning something sinister, they took the files straight to the police. However, they were told that, as the USB was stolen, there was nothing they could do. As the week ended, Stuart revealed that he’d filmed Ste’s attack on Jed, and planned to use it as collateral should he ever try to leave...

Meanwhile, Mercedes’ affair with Liam was almost rumbled when Nana discovered a pair of leopard print pants in The Dog flat. Although Mercedes was able to talk her way out of trouble this time, she wasn’t out of the woods just yet, as Breda overheard her and Liam talking about their affair. A furious Breda planned to do away with Mercedes and confronted her over her cheating. However, she was brought crashing back down to earth when Mercedes lied that she’d actually been talking about Goldie’s affair with Joel. With Breda rendered speechless over her daughter having it off with a man of the cloth, Mercedes was once again spared death, although it wasn’t long before she was back in the shit when Bobby spotted her kissing Liam...

Elsewhere, Joel and Goldie’s relationship was on and off more times than Mercedes’ knickers this week. The pair enjoyed spending time together, but Joel freaked out when things got heated and told Goldie that he couldn’t betray the church. In order to make Joel jealous, Goldie went on a date with a hippie named ‘Hashtag’ and then threw herself at him whilst making sure Joel was watching. Her plan appeared to have worked and Joel told Goldie that he wanted them to be together, just as long as they kept things on the down low. But with Breda having found out about their relationship, that was going to be easier said than done.

In other news this week, Nancy and a reluctant Marnie staged an intervention in a bid to save Juliet and Brooke’s friendship. Whilst the pair made up, Brooke still refused to tell Ollie about her pregnancy. Finally, Breda and Jack planned a surprise wedding, but Breda called the whole thing off upon discovering the truth about Goldie and Joel, leaving Jack devastated...

5 Things We Learned This Week:

1. Sylver has no regard for safety. Who sets up a basketball net for kids in a car park? Think about potential damage to cars if nothing else!

2. Some people are as annoying as their name. He may have only appeared in one episode, but Hashtag has surely taken the award for most annoying character in Hollyoaks history. And I remember Noah...

3. Children aren’t part of the family. Poor Charlie and Oscar, yet again excluded from family celebrations! 

4. “I’m never getting married, cause there’s nothing but beef.” Wise words spoken by young Bobby, there. Clearly, the kid’s been scared for life by how many failed McQueen weddings he’s attended. Even more astonishing when you remember that he’s only lived with the family for little over a year...

5. Sylver is scared of roller coasters. This week’s impromptu trip to the Pleasure Beach must have been great fun for him then.

This Week’s Cast:

Aunty Kameela, Bobby, Breda, Brooke, Cindy, Cleo, Curtis, Darren, DJ, Goldie, Grace, Hannah, Imran, Jack, Joel, Jonny, Juliet, Kyle, Leah, Liam, Lucas, Mandy, Marnie, Mercedes, Misbah, Nana McQueen, Nancy, Oliver, Sally, Sami, Stuart, Sylver and Yasmine. 

Blasts From The Past:

Farrah Maalik, Myra McQueen, Prince McQueen, Laurie Shelby.

[caroline18mars]

Into the night - Chapter 127

She was introduced to so many people, she could hardly remember who was who, how could anyone know so many people? And know them all by name and what they did? He certainly could and he did it all so naturally, knowing a little story about every guest so effortlessly. “I hope you have someone who writes your christmas cards every year” she smiled as they walked to the bar together, his hand loosely drapped around the small of her waist where it had been all night. “You're going to be ok” she whispered as she sat down, “what? What did you say?” Jared kissed her temple looking out over his garden that was beautifully lit now and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. “Nothing..I guess I'm just surprised over the number of friends you have, and I can't help but wonder why you never told me, you were so lost when you and I met..I bet some of those bikini babes right there were more than happy to help you out back then, and even now they can't keep their eyes off you” she smirked, trying to pretend those girls didn't bother her, but they did, those girls were the vultures of the near future, when she was gone they were gonna be the ones that were gonna fill the empty spot in his bed. 

Jared saw right through the joking smile, she was thinking about the worst case scenario again “they weren't there when I needed them, everybody in LA thinks they have friends, but the minute you need them, they're not there and you find yourself talking to a voicemail all the time because sadness or grief are  terribly unsexy..so as far as those girls are concerned, they used to be convenient a long time ago..but then I got older and lost my heart for the very first time in my life” he realized he was getting lost in his memories about Charlotte again so he quickly snapped out of it because the last thing he wanted to do was talk about Charlotte, on his engagement night. “I don't think any of us ever gets over our first real love” Jordan sipped her drink “I know I never will”, Jared frowned “you never told me about him..” who was she talking about? She had told him that she only had one night stands but never a real relationship. “Oh yes I did, you even know him” she shook her head and rolled her eyes, was he for real? “my first real love is you, you idiot! You're the first guy I've been in a relationship with! And I know for a fact that I'll never get over you”. Jared's breath got stuck in his throat, there was no more tough cookie who rarely shared her emotions, this came from somewhere deep down “and I know for a fact that I'll never get over you either, not that I'll have to in the next 50 years or so, because you and I are gonna grow really old together” he breathed against her lips before he seized them in a passionate kiss that had them both out of breath and longing for more. “Mamaaaa..” Jordan felt Noah tug the skirt of her dress all of a sudden and reluctantly she let her lips disconnect from Jared's “what is it, pumpkin?” she pulled his little sticky hand away from her dress and slid off her chair to crouch down to his level. “Grandma asked if you can help me look for the candles on your birthday cake, she said they're in the kitchen” her nephew was getting a bit grumpy it seemed “I really want to have some cake, so can you please help me look for them?”, Jordan pushed his hair out of his eyes and smiled “you're a little cake-monster, you know that? Come on, I'll help you look for them” she got up a little too quick and it got her so dizzy she had to hold Jared's arm for a second before she grabbed Noah's hand and walked back inside with him in search for the candles.

Shannon came walking over to his brother “ok bro, this is it, you ready?” he flashed him a smile and handed him the little velvet box, to his surprise Jared's hands weren't trembling, he looked completely confident about his decision “absolutely!” he nodded, this was the moment he had been waiting for for so long and it was finally here,“Oh, she's back..good luck” Shannon hurried back into the crowd and signaled for the DJ to turn off the music. “Yes you can help me blow the candles, I promised you could didn't I?” Jordan only noticed the music was turned off when she stepped out on the terrace again to find all the guests staring at Jared who turned and held out his hand to her. “Honey, come here a second, there's just something I want to say to our guests before we really get this party started and finally have that cake before Noah spontaneously combusts in anticipation” he grinned. Jordan grabbed his hand and nervously smiled at him, she so didn't want a birthday speech while everyone was looking at her, “First of all, I want to thank you all for being here tonight” Jared seemed so at ease addressing all these people, but then what did she expect, he was used to the spotlights. “And I just want to take the opportunity to thank a very special person in my life, you've all had the honour of meeting my beautiful English rose tonight” he brought her hand to his mouth and kissed it “we met under some pretty sinister circumstances as you all know” his breath got stuck in his throat for a minute. “At a time when I thought I could never love again, Jordan came walking into my life, she listened to me for hours on end, she talked to me, she made me see sense again..” his voice got all raspy “over the last year she's been..my best friend, my lover, my muze, my confidant, she made all my wrongs right again”. Jordan stood there blushing furiously, what on earth was this about? “she stood by me in every step to recovery I had to take, even when she had some..troubles of her own to deal with” he continued while she nervously squeezed his hand, this was just a birthday party, nobody really needed to know all the details of their relationship or her health troubles, now did they?. “And because of that, we didn't exactly get to celebrate her birthday” he smiled and let go of her hand for a second to dig in his pocket “so I got her a little gift”, a gasp murmured through the crowd as he got down on one knee, took her hand and looked up at her. “Jordan McLeod, will you do me the honour of being my wife? Will you marry me?” he breathed, tears laced around his voice, Jordan felt like her mind blew a fuse, not able to register what he was asking or doing “what..but..I” was all she managed to say as her hand clasped over her mouth, this was not happening, this wasn't real, it couldn't be. Everyone around them seemed to hold their breath waiting for her answer, even Jared was swallowing hard by now as he pushed the black diamond ring over her finger “a rare black diamond for the most rare and most beautiful white diamond in my life..marry me?!” he looked up at her again, watery blue met watery hazel as their eyes locked. The world around her fell away and the tears rolled down her cheeks as she nodded at him, “is that a..yes?” Jared couldn't hold the tears back anymore either when she finally managed to get over her shock and said “Yes! Yes I will marry you..YES!”. Her answer was met by a loud round of applause while Jared got up and kissed her like nobody was watching “I love you, I love you so so much” he breathed in between kisses, “I love you too, I'm still in shock, I..” she giggled and cried at the same time, “Mamaaaa, what's going on?” she could feel Noah cling to her leg again, poor thing had no idea what was going on, it was as much a surprise for him as it was for her. Jared reluctantly let go of Jordan and picked up an insecure Noah “Now that your mama and I are getting married, I think there's something I need to ask you too, buddy” he smiled at the boy who stared back at him with big questioning eyes “ok, so..you know how you call your aunt Jordan mama now? And you call my mother Grandma and Shannon uncle, right?” he could see Shannon put his arm around their mother who was overthrown by emotions already “well, I'm kinda starting to feel a bit left out, so I wanted to ask you if I can be your papa from now on? I know you already have a daddy and I know I can never replace him but I would like to look after you for the rest of my life if that is ok with you? So I would like to ask you if I can adopt you once your mama and I are married so she can be your mama and I can be your papa, would you like that?”. Noah's head shot up and for a second he seemed to be wavering but then he leaned forward and locked his little arms around Jared's neck “Yes! You can be my papa now” as soon as he said it they were met once again by the crowd going mad as he kissed the boy's cheek and whispered “I love you Noah McLeod and I promise to take care of you and your mama and keep both of you safe for the rest of my life”.

”Dance with me” Jared whispered in her ear as the music started again and couples started to form on the improvised dancefloor under the stars, she willingly let him take her hand and guide her to the floor. “So my beautiful 'soon-to-be wife' I take it you like the ring” he smiled as he watched her put her hand against his chest, unable to take her eyes off the gorgeous black rock on her finger, knowing she had been caught in the act, she blushed “I just..I still don't know what to say..I love the ring..it's so special and so..” she looked for the right words to say, if only her brain wanted to function, “so exceptional and special as you?” he twirled her around and then pulled her close to his body again, swaying to the music. “How..when..why..?” she still couldn't seem to form a coherent sentence making Jared smile as they danced cheek to cheek “I've ordered the ring weeks ago, I was just waiting for the right moment to ask you! I was thinking about your birthday but with the courtcase and all..it just wouldn't have had the same effect if I had given it to you then..and I wanted to ask you surrounded by our friends and family” he whispered. “Oh really? Why? Because you were scared I would say no if you'd asked me in private” she smiled, “A little!” he grinned “you made my heart stop there for a few seconds when you didn't immediately give me an answer, I actually thought you were going to send me packing”. Jordan let her forehead rest against his chest “I keep thinking this isn't real, I keep expecting to wake up from this wonderful dream but I don't want to, I don't ever want to wake up”, he put his arm a little tighter around her waist “It's real, it's very real” he knew what she was referring to but he didn't want to think about it and more importantly he didn't want her to think about it. “We're gonna have to set a date and decide where we're gonna have the wedding..I was thinking about London” he knew the mention of her hometown would have her react instantly and it did “are you serious? London? But it's gonna be so expensive, flying everyone in and..”. Jared stopped her immediately, “so? I don't care what it costs, as long as you're happy, that's all that matters” he put her mind at ease, he meant it, no price was too high to see her walking down that isle in the city she loved so much  on the most beautiful day of their lives. “We'll see, we don't have to decide straight away do we?” she lifted her head to steal a kiss from his lips “Thank you!” she breathed, making him frown a little “for what?” he whispered at the beauty wrapped safely in his arms, the more he looked at her, the more he knew that he had made the right decision. “For wanting to adopt Noah..” she kissed the spot of bare chest between the folds of his shirt, “he belongs with us, we fought too hard for him and it was the most logical thing to do, so don't thank me, he's as much my child now as he is yours, he's our first before we have a couple of our own” Jordan knew that he was dreaming out loud but she refused to burst his bubble, so she just nodded and let him twirl her around again. “Mrs. Leto..I like the sound of that” he grinned in her hair, “whooaaa wait a minute, I'm quite happy with my own name, thank you very much” she suddenly got a bit jittery, her mother hadn't taken her father's name and she really wasn't planning on taking Jared's name, “what? But..” Jared reacted a bit nervous. “It's not that I don't like your name, I just think it's a little old-fashioned to expect a woman to take the name of her husband, Kirsten took James' last name when they got married..ok wait..what I'm really trying to say is that I don't want to take your name and live out of your pocket like she did..I want to keep on working if I get the chance to get better..I might stretch to Jordan McLeod-Leto though, how does that sound?” she bargained with him, “I like it, but I think I like Jordan Leto-McLeod just a little bit better”.

Soon as the song ended, Noah came running up to them, rubbing his eyes “I want my Yoda-doll” he said all cranky, he was clearly getting a bit tired, reluctantly Jordan let go of Jared “Ok, let's go get him then, did you leave Yoda in your room?” and grabbed her nephew's hand taking him back inside the house. “Jared getting engaged..what a joke” one of the bikini babes rolled her eyes as they sat at the bottom of the stairs drinking, “Yeah, how ridiculous was that? I mean, it's not like he's gonna marry her, that chick's gonna be dead long before she'll say 'I do', he used to be such a fun guy and now he's only interested in dead or dying chicks, oh well, he'll be on the market again soon enough”. Jordan stopped in her tracks, those two bimbos here were set on bursting her rosy bubble and it was working, she squeezed Noah's hand a little tighter in hers and took a deep breath “I'm so sorry girls, to interrupt your interesting conversation, but this dead woman walking needs to get her nephew upstairs”. The two girls stared at her in a surprised shock and slowly moved so she could get through, straightening her back she started the walk up the stairs while the two girls downstairs burst out in a hilarious giggle making her cringe. “Why were those girls laughing with you?” Noah asked as they walked in the room and he fell on the bed all exhausted, “nothing, they were just being silly” she lied, but the truth was hurting her so much and she so needed to sit down, the dancing, the emotions, the stairs, she was starting to feel it. Noah crawled under her arm and leaned against the side of her body “If you and Jared are getting married, does that mean you don't need a new heart?” he yawned as he hugged his doll, “no..I do..I do still need a new heart..anyway, how about Jared adopting you, huh? That was amazing, wasn't it?” she quickly changed the subject to something positive. “Yes, I have a papa  and a mama again, that is so cool” he nodded, “I actually wanted to ask you something really important too” she tickled the back of his neck “see, it's tradition that the bride is given away by her father but since I don't have a daddy anymore, I wanted to ask if you would give me away?”. Noah's head shot up “really? Yes! Yes I'll do that, yaayy” he said all excited that he was being asked something so important.

[je-suis-clarisse]

SIX YEARS AGO: TRYST NIGHTCLUB. LAS VEGAS. Newly divorced, she couldn't resist. She wanted an evening of just pure fun. It was a night where old-school rock, hip-hop and r&b would be played. Cover was waived and people of all backgrounds would be there. She had dressed in a strapless purple dress and sky-high heels. As usual, she kept the make up to a minimum and her hair cascaded down her back. Simple enough. And no one knew who she was. Heading down the elevator, Clarisse du Volde meandered quietly into the club, pleased with the turnout. Overhead Metallica played, but the DJ was mixing it into The Notorious B.I.G's 'Hypnotize'. She made her way into the crowd, swaying along with the music before dropping low and bringing herself up slow. She wasn't oblivious to the fact that her ass looked amazing in this dress. That would be why she hadn't been allowed to wear it. Well, f*** him. This was her night. And she'd do whatever she wanted. Her hips swaying back and forth, moving in time with the music, she jumped slightly feeling two hands come to rest on her. For a moment, she feared it was him. The touch wasn't indifferent though, rather it was that of someone who just wanted to have a little fun. But remembering her promise to herself to have fun, Clarisse reached back resting her hand on the stranger's neck, fingers gently brushing through his hair. His left hand moved up her abdomen, resting on her stomach. Tilting her face to get a better view of her dance partner, she laughed softly as his goatee tickled her forehead. The pulse of the music and the strobe lights added to the ambiance and she moaned softly as his fingers kneaded into her, drawing her closer. Her pert backside pressed firmly against him and she could feel his hips grinding into her. Her lips curved upwards in a smirk feeling him press firmly against her; he had a hard-on. To say she wasn't feeling some type of way would have been a lie. "Mm..." she sounded as he turned her around. Bringing her arms around his neck, she strained to hear him as he spoke, feeling a shiver go down her spine as he leaned in and whispered in her ear, "'s your name?'" "Clarisse. You?" "Noah. Nice t'meet you, Clari." "You too, Noah." She replied with a smile, giggling as he rested his hands on her ass, giving it a squeeze as he pulled her in. For the next hour, they didn't part, teasing one another and seemingly hinting what should come next. She was pleasantly surprised when they snuck in things about themselves. She felt embarrassed to say she was newly divorced, but the smirk on his features amused her. She lowered her gaze for a few moments as he leaned in more and she ground herself against his leg. She was tempted to ask him up to the office or the VIP area when he seemed to read her mind. "You want t' get away from here?" Noah asked and she paused. Did she? His face was only an inch or two away from hers. And there was something about him that drew her in. He was a biker, no question, but there was something in his eyes that hooked her. She liked this Noah. "Sure," she murmured and laughed as he drew her away from the crowd and down a hallway, her hand in his. Looking around before pressing her against the wall; his muscled form flush against her soft curves, his hand pinning her wrists above her head. "Goddamn, girl," he smirked at her as he looked over her figure. "The f*** kinda man would leave all this? 'Specially for another chick?'" She laughed, shaking her head. "My ex, obviously, Noah..." Her French accent twisting around his name in a caress. His breath was warm on her face and she could smell tequila...and nicotine. They blended to make a scent she could only call 'Noah'. She tilted her face up and just as she was about to press her lips to his; she could hear someone calling his name. what. the. f***! "Yo, we gotta split! Noah!" A grunt and curses under his breath. "Sh*t. Clari, I gotta go." "I understand, of course..." she began and blinked as he reached into his pocket, taking out a gum wrapper and a pen, scrawling out something."Call me in a few days. Sh*t's gotta cool down. Don't give it out." "I'm gonna write it on the bathroom wall," she teased and he gave her a wink before he left. Looking at the paper, she smirked, memorizing the number. They'd seen one another on and off, here and there until she'd gone back to New Orleans. But that hadn't stopped them from keeping in touch--something she was glad for. -------- PRESENT DAY. She hated California. And yet, here she was. Cruising down the highway on her own bike. Granted it was old, but it was hers and she liked it. She'd learned how to ride on it back during the second world war but of course, that was her own story. To anyone else, she just liked old sh*t. She was tired of being at home. Sigyn was out here, seeing friends. She had looked at her phone and saw a text from Noah. So, it had inspired her. He'd given her the name of a bar near the border. It was ironic. "But that humanitarian crisis!" She had texted back, referencing the foolish man who called himself president. She had cruised through the towns noting how some places looked so rich, others looked like shacks. She wondered about it; was this a cartel holding? 'la casa de diablo.' The House of the Devil. Leave it to Noah to pick a bar with a name like this. As she parked, she took notice of the crowd. Some sort of MC, of course, and a few gang bangers, it appeared. Fair enough. At least she'd dressed in leather and worn motorcycle boots. She would have a Corona; it'd been awhile. Taking off her helmet, her blonde hair coming down over her shoulders and down her back. Setting it down, she pulled it up into a bun. As she went to enter the bar--dive, really--a heavily accented voice greeted her. It took all of her good sense not to cringe. Not because he was speaking to her; but because the line was so lame. Did he really think that she'd fall for it? "Hey mamita, where you been all my life?" He asked, extending his arms as his friends sniggered and elbowed one another. Looking to the bartender, she offered a smile. "cerveza, por favor," she spoke politely, inclining her head and dropping a twenty in his tip jar. The wide grin on his face revealed she'd made a new friend. A gentle tap on his hip told her what she needed to know. He was carrying. Setting a Corona in front of her, the bartender nodded and went to the other patrons. "Pretty little thing like you, you need a real man." The man went on motioning to himself. His hands came to rest on her barstool turning her around. She was of a mind to smash the bottle over his head, but instead, she tilted it and sipped the beer slowly before setting the bottle down on the bar. "Tight lil ass like that, I could tear that sh*t up. You wouldn't sit right, but you'd adjust, right, baby?" She couldn't get a read on him. Was he just a regular guy? Gangbanger? MC member? He was dressed like a cholo. She had nothing against Mexican people; but she loathed men who didn't take 'no' for an answer. Furthermore, she loathed being called baby. Why the hell Noah couldn't have told her where he was, she didn't know. But if he didn't get here soon...she couldn't promise he wouldn't find a dead body. Cracking her neck, she played along for a little longer, mainly ignoring the guy. Her lip curled up, however as the tattooed son-of-a-bitch grabbed her breast and squeezed. Her hand gripped his wrist and her eyes met his dark ones. "I'm sure you learned that's no way to treat a lady," she sneered as she slid off the barstool. The bartender's hand moved to his hip but she shook her head. "Gents, you're going to learn a lesson today. A real man would know when a woman isn't interested," she countered calmly as the bar went suddenly quiet. "He'd know that no means NO. Or that my silence was not permission. That was me ignoring you." His dark pools met her own and he smirked stepping closer, thinking he'd get what he wanted, ignoring her words. Giving him a smirk in return, she grabbed his crotch and looked up into his eyes. She gave a gentle squeeze, listening to him moan. "That's it, ba--" He began and she squeezed tighter, the previous moan turning into her begging to let him go. "You don't feel like a real man. Little small for my taste," she mused, giving another squeeze and laughing as he screeched. "Who's a real man now?" she spat out at him before taking a seat again. "Anyone else?" she asked. "I just want to drink my beer and meet my friend. If any of you vatos have an issue, step up now. Or end up with your now, most likely, impotent friend. ¿y cuando una mujer te ignora? toma una maldita pista, ¿sí?" She snarled before sitting down again and ordering another beer.   She was about halfway through when a sense of familiarity filled her. A grin crossed her lips as a tall figure stood behind her, casting a shadow over her. Turning around, she gave him a playful smile before standing up and giving the figure a hug. "Goddamn. It's my favorite Outlaw." He looked just as she remembered, though, his eyes seemed a little sadder. A line or two more but still the Noah she had known. She lingered a moment before pressing a kiss to his cheek. "Of all the dive bars in the world, you had to send me to the one where someone grabbed my tit and wouldn't take no for an answer in five minutes." She teased, motioning to the guy in the corner, still whining about the puta who'd maimed him. "So, catch me up with you, Noah West. It's been far too long."

[votingdog]

i wanted to do a thing

1. Would you have sex with the last person you text messaged? i would, yeah 2. You talked to an ex today, correct? i have, like three of them lmao? 3. Have you taken someones virginity? i have not 4. Is trust a big issue for you? definitely  5. Did you hang out with the person you like recently? i did!! it was really nice aaa 6. What are you excited for? hanging out with my friends? always? im lonely 7. What happened tonight? nothing really? ive been on tumblr mostly 8. Do you think it’s disgusting when girls get really wasted? nah bitch me too just pls be careful 9. Is confidence cute? so cute!! but so is being shy?? everything is cute everyone is cute love me 10. What is the last beverage you had? tea 11. How many people of the opposite sex do you fully trust? three, id say 12. Do you own a pair of skinny jeans? all my jeans are skinny jeans 13. What are you gonna do Saturday night? saturdays are for the boys 14. What are you going to spend money on next? probably a charger tbh 15. Are you going out with the last person you kissed? am not. relationships are scary and i need to figure shit out before i can be in another one 16. Do you think you’ll change in the next 3 months? it wouldnt surprise me  17. Who do you feel most comfortable talking to about anything? noah and xavier 18. The last time you felt broken? eeeeeeeeeeeee  19. Have you had sex today? nope 20. Are you starting to realize anything? im cute and worthy of love okay 21. Are you in a good mood? yeah i mean? yeah. weirdly. 22. Would you ever want to swim with sharks? maybe 23. Are your eyes the same color as your dad’s? what dad lmao 24. What do you want right this second? cuddles 25. What would you say if the person you love/like kissed another girl/boy? “were they cute? tell me about itt” im very poly y’all 26. Is your current hair color your natural hair color? yee 27. Would you be able to date someone who doesn’t make you laugh? probably not, then again it isnt hard to make me laugh 28. What was the last thing that made you laugh? honestly probably noah being a goof 29. Do you really, truly miss someone right now? y e s 30. Does everyone deserve a second chance? not everyone, but most people do 31. Honestly, do you hate the last boy you were talking to? absolutely not!! i love him sm  32. Does the person you have feelings for right now, know you do? i express it like,,,,,all the time so i really hope so? 33. Are you one of those people who never drinks soda? i only drink the clear ones? like sprite and ginger ale are my shit. everything is is,,,not 34. Listening to? jezebel by iron & wine 35. Do you ever write in pencil anymore? not usually. i mostly use pen bc i clearly never make mistakes 36. Do you know where the last person you kissed is? i mean, im 99% sure he’s at his house but idk he could be in a graveyard for all i know 37. Do you believe in love at first sight? nah. curiosity and crushing(ish) at first sight, yes, but love takes a bit 38. Who did you last call? xavier. i usually do to sleep 39. Who was the last person you danced with? my ex. we didnt get to go to prom together and he was sad he didnt get to dance with me, so we danced in my bedroom  40. Why did you kiss the last person you kissed? because he’s a huge cutie!!! 41. When was the last time you ate a cupcake? i dont remember?? pls give me a cupcake?? 42. Did you hug/kiss one of your parents today? noo. i dont see my mom much rip 43. Ever embarrass yourself in front of a crush? always??? i embarrass myself in front of everyone?? 44. Do you tan in the nude? i dont tan? not purposely at least. i just go outside sometimes and i guess i tan easily bc my tan line is r e a l 45. If you could, would you take back your last kiss? of course nott i wanna kiss him like all the time 46. Did you talk to someone until you fell asleep last night? maybe? i dont remember. i usually do tho 47. Who was the last person to call you? xavier 48. Do you sing in the shower? if no one’s around 49. Do you dance in the car? ive done the macarena in the car 50. Ever used a bow and arrow? yee 51. Last time you got a portrait taken by a photographer? school pictures? other than that when i was like real little bc my family was that suburban white family who got them every year (at walmart) 52. Do you think musicals are cheesy? duh but i love them so much 53. Is Christmas stressful? y e s 54. Ever eat a pierogi? pardon? 55. Favorite type of fruit pie? i? uh? apple? 56. Occupations you wanted to be when you were a kid? oh jeez that’s a heavy question. sky diver, wizard, vet, and a teacher 57. Do you believe in ghosts? yes theyre real and one sucked my dick behind an arby’s 58. Ever have a Deja-vu feeling? a lot actually 59. Take a vitamin daily? my unhealthy ass? i laugh 60. Wear slippers? no, usually jsut socks 61. Wear a bath robe? no, im usually just in a towel after the shower for like 20 minutes while i dissociate 62. What do you wear to bed? t-shirt and underwear unless im alone and then just underwear 63. First concert? black veil brides, falling in reverse, and set it off 64. Wal-Mart, Target or Kmart? targett 65. Nike or Adidas? shrugs. i wear off brand vans every day 66. Cheetos Or Fritos? cheetos! 67. Peanuts or Sunflower seeds? peanuts 68. Favorite Taylor Swift song? mary’s song, dear john, and december. i unironically love her old stuff 69. Ever take dance lessons? i did ballet and tap c: 70. Is there a profession you picture your future spouse doing? shrugs. whatever they wanna do i support 71. Can you curl your tongue? yee 72. Ever won a spelling bee? i got fifth place one year and third another 73. Have you ever cried because you were so happy? last night 74. What is your favorite book? the trylle series 75. Do you study better with or without music? with 76. Regularly burn incense? ive never done it on my own accord actually 77. Ever been in love? oh have i 78. Who would you like to see in concert? um? iron & wine? idk im listening to him now and i lov 79. What was the last concert you saw? ,,,,,,,,,,refer to number 63 80. Hot tea or cold tea? cold! 81. Tea or coffee? teaa 82. Favorite type of cookie? peanut butter ^^ 83. Can you swim well? i mean, i guess? i dont much idk 84. Can you hold your breath without holding your nose? yee 85. Are you patient? mostly, unless im like breaking down and/or splitting. then i freak 86. DJ or band, at a wedding? shrugs 87. Ever won a contest? i dont believe? i got second in one once for a collage i made of photographs when i was in kindergarten  88. Ever have plastic surgery? nah 89. Which are better black or green olives? green!! 90. Opinions on sex before marriage? i personally dont care. it’s important to some people and not to others. just respect each other yo 91. Best room for a fireplace? anywhere im around. i lov 92. Do you want to get married? aaaaaaa gotta find someone who would actually marry me first bitch wtf 

[treskyreblogs]

Jonathan, Noah and Danielle all go out to a karaoke bar for their anti-Mother’s day celebration. 

Part 1 of 2

Noah was pretty sure the rational and mature thing to do would be to sober up for the night, so instead they went to a karaoke bar.

It was Jonathan’s idea, which was ironic because out of the three of them, he was the least likely to get up and sing, knowing full well the carnage of shattering glass that would ensue if he graced the bar with his tone-deaf rendition of Like a Virgin. But somehow, with very little prodding he’d managed to get both Noah and Danielle behind this idea, and they found themselves teetering down the street toward the gaudy flashing lights of The Karaokave at 11pm on a Sunday night.

When they finally entered the bar, it was much emptier than normal… not to say that Noah knew what it normally was like. Anyway. Instead of being packed and ready to burst, a small crowd of people gathered by bar and the platform, swaying along to some pop song Noah had never heard before.

If Noah ever had a doubt in Danielle’s charm, it immediately dissipated in situations like this. Finding himself very out of his element, Noah decided he would need a couple more drinks to get him anywhere near that group of wasted college kids. So he trailed over to the bar with Jonathan as Danielle headed for a small group of girls standing to the side.

Minutes later Noah and Jonathan found their way over to Danielle with drinks in hand, a rum and coke for Noah and a cosmopolitan for Jonathan. It seemed Danielle had already become acquainted with a girl she introduced as Jessica, who was more than a little drunk and very enthused about whatever song was playing.

“I’d pay good money to see you up there!” Danielle shouted over the music.

Noah smirked.

“What? You don’t think I’d do it otherwise?”

“I know you wouldn’t!” Danielle slammed her fist on the table enthusiastically. “So name your price!”

Noah pondered this for a moment.

“Alright,” he grinned smugly. “I’ll get up there if you kiss a guy,”

“What?!”

Despite the noise of the bar, Danielle knew she’d heard him correctly. Jonathan had already started giggling at the look of horror on her face.

“Are you fuckin’ serious?!” she asked him.

“How bad do you want me up there?”

Danielle was still and somber for a moment as she calculated the men in the crowd, considering this hefty price. Suddenly her expression lightened. Without a second of hesitation, she planted her hands on Noah’s cheeks and slammed her lips against his. Jonathan felt his jaw drop.

As soon as they pulled apart Jonathan caught a glimpse of the pure horror on Noah’s face.

“WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!” he squeaked.

“You told me to kiss a guy! So I kissed a guy!”

Noah’s face went pink as he frantically scrubbed at his lips, faking gagging noises while Danielle doubled over cackling. Thrusting an elbow into her stomach, Noah pulled her into a headlock, and Jonathan was worried they would start a fight right here in this bar.

“Guys, guys!” Jonathan tried to ease the tension. “Let’s just calm down-”

“That doesn’t count!” Noah protested. “I demand a new deal!”

“Why?! You wanted me to kiss a boy, so I did!”

“I didn’t know I had to specify that I didn’t want to be the one you slobbered all over!”

“It was a good kiss and you know it!”

“Guys, t-this is getting weird-” Jonathan stammered.

“Shut up, Jo!” they yelled in unison.

Immediately after it came out of their mouths they apologized, having forgotten that Jonathan was one of their few friends that might actually take that to heart. But Jonathan laughed it off and assured them it was fine, his ears turning slightly pink.

After letting go of each other and quieting down, Noah spoke up again.

“I want a new deal,”

Danielle looked over at him, knowing he would never go up there unless she did something to appease him.

“Fine,” she asserted. “But I’m not kissing anybody-”

“No shit!”

“Instead, you can pick a song for me to sing,”

Noah frowned, this new deal sounding much less enticing than the previous one. Although, with how the last wager ended, Jonathan thought this sounded like a reasonable solution.

“It needs to be something ten times more humiliating then!” he yelled enthusiastically.

“Your pick,” Danielle huffed.

Noah’s brow furrowed and he crossed his arms, clearly trying to think of a song that would be more embarrassing than kissing a drunk frat boy on the mouth. As the seconds passed his frown deepened, at a loss for finding a song that would match his thirst for revenge.

Not sure if now was the time to interject, Jonathan made a timid suggestion.

“What about Raining Men?”

Noah’s eyes widened.

“JONATHAN!” Noah punched him in the shoulder. “You’re a fuckin’ genius!”

“Ow!”

Jonathan couldn’t remember seeing Noah look as happy as he did now, watching giddily as Danielle begrudgingly stepped on stage as Raining Men began playing. When she actually started singing Jonathan was sure Noah was going to spill his drink he was laughing so hard. By the time the song was halfway over Danielle had shed her inhibitions and was dancing along, winking at Noah in the crowd.

“I can’t believe that loser is my best friend,” Noah said affectionately.  

“How’s she gonna explain this to Jessica?” Jonathan laughed.

“She’ll figure something out,”

“I think Jessica’s straight anyway,”

“What the hell do you know?” Noah raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t even know you were gay,”

“That’s fair,” Jonathan giggled.

“Besides, it wouldn’t be the first time she got a straight girl to go for her,”

“She should put that on her resume,”

“She should,” Noah agreed.

It only took fifteen more minutes of procrastination before Noah finally relented and fulfilled his end of the deal. Danielle seemed disappointed she didn’t get to pick a song for him, but was satisfied enough just to see him get up there.

Jonathan watched Noah step onto the platform, going straight for the mic. He took it off of its stand and left his hand in its place as the song started playing. Butterflies fluttered in Jonathan’s stomach at the mere thought of being up there with so many other people’s eyes on him, but Noah looked surprisingly at ease.

In the instant that the music began playing, the people in the crowd voiced their approval at the song choice, bouncing and swaying to the beat of the intro. A dark smile grew on Noah’s face before his cue came and he started singing.

Jonathan wasn’t sure if it was only a result of his own intoxication, but he found his fondness of Noah increase exponentially in that moment. He couldn’t help but wish Silas were there to see it too.

Noah had a nice voice, though Jonathan supposed that most people did in comparison to himself. But there was something about the way he held himself, something that made it clear that nobody else’s opinion mattered. Jonathan wished he could be that fearless.

Sometimes he forgot how lively and carefree Noah could be when he wasn’t chasing miscreants, or fighting another bout of depression. So Jonathan let himself enjoy this stream of consciousness, keeping one eye on Noah as the lyrics to Back to Black flashed on the screens around the bar. With a smirk, he noted that Noah wasn’t even looking at them.

No one had any protests when Danielle stepped onto the platform with him after the song was over. With a wink and a salute to the DJ in the back, Danielle wrapped an arm around Noah as the next song began playing. When Creep echoed through the speakers Noah laughed and rolled his eyes, elbowing Danielle away from him as she started singing.

But Noah was singing with her soon afterward, as was the whole bar upon Danielle’s request. When the chorus came, Danielle helped drunk Jessica onto the platform and she grabbed the mic from them, singing badly alongside them as the bar yelled enthusiastically. There was a sense of unity in the many voices filling the room, and soon even Jonathan was yelling along with them.

The next half hour passed slowly, with Danielle and Noah now off the stage and blending into the crowd, Danielle no doubt trailing behind Jessica as she introduced her to all her friends.  Noah seemed to have disappeared momentarily, leaving Jonathan stranded in the crowd as an unfamiliar song played. An eerie feeling settled in Jonathan’s stomach as stranger’s faces looked past him, laughing and singing without a care in the world.

Alcohol and the sticky scent of sweat and perfume filled the air as people sang the night away. The room looked almost pink in the glowing lights lining the bar and stage, and Jonathan swore the bar had seemed a lot bigger half an hour ago. Now there were at least a few dozen more people crowding toward the stage, drinks in hand.

The air in the bar seemed a lot thicker now, and Jonathan found his breathing becoming tight and labored. Coughing a bit, he rubbed his chest absently as he felt it start to constrict, further accelerating his breathing. He wasn’t sure how the human experience allowed it, but in that room filled with people Jonathan felt overwhelmingly alone.

Distracted by the pounding in his chest, Jonathan was mildly aware that he should probably extract himself from the crowd and go sit down. Just as he turned to go sit by the bar, Noah popped up from behind him.

“This song is shit,” he complained over the loud music.

Jonathan nodded absently.

“Hey, are you alright?” Noah tapped his arm. “You’re breathing funny,”

“Oh…” Jonathan swallowed. “I’m fine, just a little anxious,”

Noah looked at him a moment and then nodded.

“That works, I was hoping we could get the hell outta here anyway,” Noah looked over his shoulder. “I’m gonna go get Danielle and then we’ll leave, okay?”

“Okay,”

“You can wait for us outside if you need to,”

“Okay,”

Jonathan watched Noah disappear into the faceless crowd, weaving through people as they danced and sang along to the next song. The air in the bar felt dry in his throat and Jonathan knew he was ready to go home, feeling a bit silly to have this kind of reaction when this was his idea in the first place. But Noah seemed more than willing to leave with him, which eased his mind a little.

Making his way out of the bar, he knew he’d made the right decision when the wind hit his face. The cool breeze lightened the weight on his chest just a bit, and he started counting his breaths in his head, making sure they were slow and steady.

Jonathan wasn’t sure if the fuzziness in his head was caused more by his intoxication or lingering anxiety, but either way he didn’t think walking home sounded like a good idea for the three of them. He sat down on the curb in front of him near the empty street. It was hard to believe there were as many people in the bar as there were, considering how quiet it was right outside.

It was only a few more minutes before the door swung open and Noah emerged, Danielle stumbling blankly behind him.

“There you are,” Noah walked up to him. “How’re you holdin’ up?”

“I’m fine,” Jonathan assured him. “The fresh air helped,”

“Good,”

Jonathan nodded stiffly and then cleared his throat.

“We may need to take a cab,”

“That’s what I was thinking,”

“Are you headed home?” Jonathan asked him.

“I’m gonna get Danielle to her place. I’ll probably stay there tonight,”

“Okay,”

“Are you okay going home alone?”

Finding himself flattered that he’d managed to get Noah, of all people, concerned about him, Jonathan chuckled.

“Of course,”

He paused, knowing he should probably leave it at that, but he hadn’t properly embarrassed himself enough tonight.

“I’m sorry for ending the night early,” he said with remorse. “Thanks for being so nice about it,”

Jonathan wasn’t sure what he’d expected Noah to say in response, but he found himself flinching as Noah sighed heavily.

“Don’t be stupid,” Noah crossed his arms. “Don’t thank me, and definitely don’t apologize. You get too wrapped up inside your head. I had a good time. It was nice to do something other than sit around and mope on Mother’s Day,”

“How’s that different from any other day?” Jonathan teased him.

“Fuck you,” Noah said with a grin.

Two minutes later Noah had called a taxi for him and Danielle, and Jonathan insisted he would just fly home.

“I could probably fly you both home too,” he joked. “One on each arm,”

“Considering you have the upper body strength of a walnut, I don’t think that would end very well,” Noah scoffed, and Danielle cackled obnoxiously.

“Your loss,”

Jonathan waited with them for ten more minutes before their ride showed up, and Danielle went to go throw up behind the building before climbing into the back seat. Noah paused before getting in.

“See you on Monday,”

“See you then!” was Jonathan’s cheery response.