#I like Cloud as a basketball player and a person and she's nice on the eyes. But I would NEVERRR date her omg

[female-buckets]

They deserve each other

[findafight]

I’m a sucker for Steve learning about the party’s interests, do you have any thoughts about the kinds of things he’d do for each party member? (E.g. he has the ability to recognize tony hawk, despite his inconspicuousness, because of max’s skateboarding)

Actually now I'm obsessed with the idea that Steve is one of the few people who are not personal friends with him who is able to identify Tony Hawk without a skateboard. Like. Steve is an athlete and respects athleticism, and gives credit where it is due. (He does NOT allow making fun of Olympic athletes, even the weird sports, just because some people don't appreciate how hard you work for it.) So he's like "wow that Tony guy sure is talented. He is so high in the air. Good for him." And never forgets his face. At some point someone shares one of those "didn't recognize actual skate legend Tony Hawk " stories except it ends with "and then the guy in pastels standing beside Eddie Munson slapped his (Eddie's) chest and went "hey!! That's Tony Hawk!! Let's see if we can get an autograph for Max!" And I realized I had been making awkward small talk about cocktail weenies with sports legend Tony Hawk while working up the courage to ask Eddie Munson for an autograph."

He also tries to learn how to Ollie but he's actually really nervous and wears all the protective gear possible and is only able to go forward. (This is from my personal experience being post concussive and not a good skater. It's scary! My brain meat is delicate!) But Max tells him it's okay and talks about the skatepark in California and some of her old friends from there, and he tries to teach her how to make fried rice.(one of the only actual meals that isn't breakfast food he can cook really well completely from scratch) She gets him to do her hair with El because Steve is the only other person who understands that for El hair is a means of control, and that taking care of it is something important to that feeling.

He and El do jigsaw puzzles together and listen to folk music I think. El would appreciate having the option to talk or not, and likes listening to Steve talk too. Also I like jock El so he gets her overly invested in the Cubs like tells her all the lore and she's obsessed with the goat and she joins a softball team. When she first yells at an umpire for a bad call Steve almost cries of pride. Like. Finally. He's not the only one who Gets It.

Lucas and him bond over basketball yes. But Lucas doesn't yell at refs, and Steve gets why but thinks it's very fun when people yell at officials. Also I think they watch clouds together after practicing. Just nice peaceful, laying on warm blacktop and staring at the sky. Maybe El joins them and Lucas and El can bond this way too. Steve and his little jock siblings. (Why does no one consider max a jock for skateboarding? I guess it wasn't really seen as a sport for a long time...hm..)

Steve also bought a flat of new coke before they stopped selling it and keeps it for Lucas on movie nights or whatever and everybody always yells and groans because where is getting that!! It was discontinued!! Also they watch anime together. Erica and Robin join.

I can see him getting into some video games with Dustin and Mike and Lucas. Only the two or more player ones though he doesn't like playing alone. Like. Okay this whole post has anachronisms but please imagine him playing Lego Star Wars (complete saga) with Dustin. The chaos. The yelling.

He's absolutely a pinball guy. They go to the arcade and everyone does their thing but then end up cheering Steve on as he goes for idk star trek pinball glory. Without even tilting it! Idk what to tell you but Steve def loves pinball.

Also before his dad cut him off or after he gets some kind of inheritance he does a very financially secure impulse buy: he purchases an arcade game. Full size. I am partial to Asteroids because that's what my dad impulse bought in the 80's and had it in our basement growing up but let's keep this going he has a themed pinball machine. Icon.

He 100% reaches Dustin to drive. Mrs. Henderson asked him because Steve just looked sad when she mentioned teaching him and she was like well...we could BOTH teach him :) (because she has mentally adopted him. She told him to call her Ma and he does and Robin is like Steve. That's your mum now. And Steve's like no... Everybody calls her that. And she saysnSteve. Only Dustin. Her actual literal son. Calls her that. Guess what that makes YOU.)

Steve and whole party Lego Building Buddies? Mayhaps?

I wish tamagotchis were out in the 80's because Steve would be so diligent a Tama babysitter Erica would sell his services to her friends if they needed it lmao. He'd get all squinty and concentrated you know he'd highscore jump rope but not get the shapes game (me too buddy). Alas. Not to be.

Instead he listens to her talk about her elementary and middle school drama while looking for four leaf clovers. He also has watched MLP with her and may have teared up a little. Also, of course, she is his one true Game Master. Sorry Eddie

Mike is harder...maybe they bond over making snarky comments about people in movies, and then talk about how actually is car racing a sport? And it'd be sort of awkward because Mike has Nancy as an older sibling (even if they don't get along) and he's holding on to animosity that's pointless now. Plus Dustin and Lucas both seem to see Steve as a big brother and friend figure, but like. It's a bit weird for Mike. But still, Mike knows if he bikes to Steve's at two am he'll be hauled in and forced to sit down and asked if he wants a hug and hot chocolate.

Same with will, except Will has Jonathan (El does to but it's different) so at first they're sorta🧍🧍 staring at each other. Steve has to be like sooooo wanna. Tell me about Wizards? Or something? Cool...rocks? And Will would realize that this guy's just, y'know. A guy. Probably similar to Mike except he's not begrudging about it.

I guess a lot of Steve and the party is him listening to them and letting them actually be silly and kids, making snarky comments about the highschool dramas happening, and encouraging them to try different things (he did!) And figure out what they like outside of what they think the rest of the party likes.

[bubblyhoney]

soundtrack

warnings: sailor language, suggestive themes/mentions of sex, drinking, nicotine use, being tipsy/intoxicated. no graphic or explicit nsfw content besides basically tonguing and giving hickeys and an ass grab.

tags: karl jacobs x fem!reader

words: 1898

A/N: i wrote this thinking that both people in this fic are of drinking age; i’m not, but i thought it would be a cool idea. i can assume many adult gatherings feature alcohol, so yeah. drinking isn’t integral to the plot of this fic. also it is pre-(or post)pandemic bc it’s just a general rule of thumb to not have parties right now.

-

“Don’t, kill, me,” Karl warbles, setting down his bottle with a sigh. Freaks plays loud and tinny on the TV, album cover bathing those occupying the couch in a grayish light. Those occupants being just you and Karl. The room is lit with purple string lights and that one thrifted lamp with frogs on the shade he’d sworn was the best purchase he’s ever made. You’re sprawled out on the other half of the sofa, ankles crossed and a can of vodka seltzer swaying in your hand. The song changes to 20 Min by Lil Uzi and your foot bounces to the beat.

“What time is it?” You sigh, placing the nearly-empty can onto the coffee table next to your apple berry-flavored pen. He flicks his wrist towards his face.

“2:46,” he delivers, and takes a swig of the Angry Orchard in his hand. His sixth, specifically. The rest of the group had left roughly ten minutes ago, leaving the two loneliest people to drink alone. You, thoroughly tipsy, decided it was better to spend the night on his spare than pay $50 for an Uber. He agreed, of course. Why wouldn’t he?

Lifting onto your elbows, you just stare at him. He lifts an ankle to cross over the other and your eyes drop. What is his fascination with Spongebob socks?

“We should play 20 questions.”

“What?” His head swivels like a bobblehead and a giggle barely escapes your lips.

“20 questions!” You say excitedly, heaving onto your knees to look at him earnestly. “You go first.”

“Um, okay.” The song fades into Paper Planes and he bobs his head to the beat. “What’s your favorite breed of dog?”

“Shiba inu. Are you a virgin?”

The fucking tone of your voice makes him dissolve into giggles, hand pressed to his chest. You just shrug, reaching for the pen in the table. “Fair question, I think,” you say defensively. His chest heaves, but he sits up.

“No—no, I’m not a virgin.” His cheeks are red, but he’s smiling like it was an easy answer. Your mind floods with images of his long hair in your face, long fingers—a sweaty chest. You shake your head. “Okay, my turn,” he continues, giving you a weird look. “would you rather kiss Chucky Cheese or Ronald McDonald?”

“Karl!” You whine. “That is not how 20 Questions works!” You grumpily pull from your pen, blowing the smoke out of the side of your mouth. Eughk. Apple berry sucks.

“Fine, fine,” he sighs, rolling his eyes. The tell-tale guitar chords of The Adults Are Talking floods the room and his face brightens with a new question. “Have you ever been to a concert?”

“Yes, actually. The Jonas Brothers in 2009.” He wrinkles his nose, finishing his cider and dropping it onto the coffee table with a sharp noise. Your eyebrows furrow. “Don’t you dare badmouth my boys.”

“Wasn’t gonna!” He reaches for your pen and you give it to him with a slight pout on your lips that he glances at.

“Good. Where is the weirdest place you’ve had sex?” A grin climbs your lips.

“Jesus Christ, Y/N.” His eyes widen and smoke curls out of his nostrils as he hands your pen back. You just shrug and pick up your discarded seltzer. “Gimme a sec to think.”

“So many places?” You tease, finishing the last drop of your drink and crushing it beneath your palm. He shrugs, mirroring you, and cracks open another cider. He seems to think, brows furrowing, as he pulls a swig from the dark bottle.

“Boat.”

“Boat,” you repeat.

“Yup.” He looks at you, gaze flickering to your lips imperceptibly fast. If you were sober you’d probably notice, but you’re not and you don’t.

“You’ve fucked on a boat?” No way. Karl Jacobs. On a boat. Having sex. What an image—

“Yeah, senior year was great for me.” More Than A Woman fills the space of the silence as you consider this. You blink, processing.

“Whose boat?” You're genuinely curious. Was it a yacht, pontoon, fishing boat? Row boat? The sudden scene of him getting his foot stuck in a fishing net while pantless clouds your vision.

“My girlfriend’s.” And that’s that on that because he’s moving on before you can open your mouth and continue the discussion of the logistics of this. “Stop investigating, perv. Now it’s my turn. Hmm— wait! Where is the weirdest place you have had sex?” A sneaky grin is on his lips and now you just want to kiss him, damn it.

“I-Uh. I think it was under the bleachers. I also had a great senior year,” you offer, scooting forward on your knees so that you’re only a foot from Karl. He looks impressed, actually.

“Who was it?”

Your eyebrow raises in question.

“Personal question or one of the 16 left, Karl?”

His cheeks heat and he looks once to the TV.

“Personal,” he mutters into the mouth of his bottle.

“It was Brian Hernandez,” you sigh, gazing off into the distance with a fond look in your eyes. You feel the end of the game of 20 questions as you see him chew on his bottom lip from your peripheral. “Dude was insatiable. Managed girls’ basketball and looked damn good doing it.”

“I managed girls’ soccer,” he says simply, uncrossing his legs. “My girlfriend was goalie.”

“How long did you guys date?” You fold your legs up underneath you, tucking a lock of hair behind your ear. You feel the most sober now out of all tonight.

“Dunno.” He sips at his cider. “Couple weeks maybe?”

You smirk. “Karl Jacobs puts out in the first couple weeks?” That’s hot, you don’t say. He gives you a look. “18 year old Karl was a player,” you tease, leaning forward to poke at his chest.

Smacking your hand away, he sighs and lifts a hand to tousle his hair.

“Guess he was.” Clear eyes meet yours and you take a hit from the pen that lays discarded in your palm. He watches the smoke float from your mouth. The TV screen swipes to Deceptacon and the mood quickly shifts. “So.” He turns toward you with lifted eyebrows. “You were a total nerd in highschool, huh.”

Your jaw drops. “I was not!”

“Come on; yes, you were.” He makes a face and drains half the bottle of cider. “You probably were in SpellBowl and every teacher’s pet.”

“Nice try, bitch. You were a dumb jock. I’ve seen the pictures. The yearbook pictures.” You look pointedly at his hair.

“My hair was not that bad.”

“Yes it was.”

“No, it wasn’t,” he grumbles and pushes his hand through his long curls. “Just a little… short.” It’s your turn to make a face.

“A buzz cut nearly to your scalp is more than short.” He huffs at you and finishes the cider just as the song switches. “Anyways.” You don’t really have anything to say, actually. Too busy thinking about teenage Karl smacking tennis rackets around and fielding lost soccer balls for his girlfriend. She’s long gone, right?

“Are you wearing lingerie?” Karl asks suddenly and you look up. He stares pointedly at your chest and you move a hand to pat at your stomach.

“Oh,” you start, and flick the last three buttons open, fabric falling to reveal a baby blue lace corset. “Yeah.” He can’t seem to stop imagining what’s underneath it. Fuck. “Do you like it?” The tone in your voice is taunting and he has to look away.

He clears his throat and places the second glass bottle onto the coffee table.

“Yes.”

You rise onto your knees and pull your arms out of the button-up, letting it fall back on the couch.

“Do you want to touch it?” You're looking up at him from underneath your eyelashes, he realizes, and you know exactly what you’re doing. You’re not asking if he wants to touch the corset; you’re asking if he wants to touch you.

“Can I?” He glances at you warily. You just nod, and it’s then that you’re shuffling forward. The material is soft on his fingertips when he brushes a hand across your torso. “Silk,” he mumbles, and stares, transfixed, at the loopy flower pattern crawling across your waist in shades of milky blue. You just hum and watch. He realizes suddenly when he traces a finger up on the ridge of the neckline that you’re not wearing anything underneath it. It makes him stop in his tracks, neck flushing. “Are-are you—,”

“Wearing a bra? No, I’m not.” You lay a hand on his shoulder, hoisting one leg over his thighs and settling down comfortable on his lap. He bristles then relaxes as you slide a hand up into his scalp. “Do you want me to show you?”

He glares at you, barely annoyed, and shifts so that his large hands rest in the curve of your waist. Poison starts in the speakers as his eyebrow raises.

“Do you normally wear corsets when we all hang out?” A lock of your hair moves past your cheek as he brushes it out of the way. His mouth tilts into a smirk. You seem to think about it, lips pursed, and grip both his shoulders in your hands.

“Only when I’ve got someone to impress.” A hand on your lower back presses insistently and you fall further into his lap.

“Who are you here to impress, Y/N?” He’s barely an inch from your mouth now, and can’t seem to keep his eyes on one part of your face. Cool breath fans onto your cheeks and they warm. God, he’s even cuter up close.

“You,” barely passes your lips before he’s taking the side of your neck into his hand and stretching to connect your lips with his own.

Cherry, you think. Cherry chapstick, that cheeky bastard. Taking your wrist in his hand, he loops it up and around his neck. You’re making a noise into his mouth, you realize, right as he’s sliding a hand down to the side of your thigh and gripping it between his long fingers. You shiver as he pulls away too soon, pressing a small kiss to the corner of your mouth before sinking his teeth into your neck. The gasp that leaves your mouth is surprisingly loud and your cheeks flush further. He just hums, pleased, and stretches an arm to the opposite side of your waist to hug you closer. Warm lips move on the skin of your neck and his tongue darts out few and far between the kisses.

“Fuck,” he breathes when your hips jerk forward once.

“Sorry,” you whisper up at the ceiling, eyes falling shut. “reflex.”

He grins against your neck and moves to grip an ass cheek in his palm.

“Your reflex to me licking a hickey is to grind into my crotch?” he teases. You just have to nod, lips parted, as he soothes another bruise with his tongue.

“Karl.” He seems to either not hear you or ignore you for he’s removing himself from your neck and connecting your mouths once more. “Karl,” you stutter between kisses, and he squeezes at your ass.

“Yes?” His lips are bitten and puffy when he pulls away, a smug look on his beautiful face.

“Take off my corset.”

He looks between your face and the lingerie, eyebrows raised in surprise.

“Don’t mind if I do.”

-

A/N: ask or send me some stuff!! requests, rants, anything. :D comment what you think !

[positivityfortoday]

☀ PositivityForToday’s 10K Celebration ☀

There are SO many things worth living for and reasons to smile and be happy! With the help of my lovely followers/friends, I have compiled a list of 1,000 things that make people happy, for my 10,000 amazing followers! Hopefully, this list is able to help you, make you feel better, or give you a reason to smile today! 

☀ 1,000 Happy Things ☀

Seeing cows while driving

Moss on really old fallen trees 

Seeing a lil baby you don't know in public, and they smile at you!!!

Parents doing their kids hair or just people doing someone they care about’s hair

Really ragged old and well-loved stuffed animals 

When the dandelions start blooming

Spring blossom

Daffodils

Bluebells

Sharks

When you're sitting outside your house or something and people passing by wave and say hi

That feeling in the summer when you have your window open and you're listening to your favorite music

When someone does a hobby just because they enjoy it even if they aren't the best at it

Comfort shows and books

People speaking their native languages

When my brother gets something to eat and always gets me something he knows I like

When I finish a crossword 

When I see something that reminds me of someone I care about

Paintings

My best friend (I love her so much shhhh don't tell her)

My dog! I love him 

My little sisters! Adorable, creative, and very witty. I love them

Music! I get the happy shaky feelings and just,,, y e a h/listening to songs

Singing! Especially for band practice!

Sunlight beams in the morning

The moon

Eagles

That feeling when you’re with friends and you’re all laughing so loudly, and you just feel complete

Talking to my favorite people/talking to my best friend

Sunrises and sunsets

Seeing the stars

Cats

Butterflies/Moths

Snails

Warm sunshine

Purple gel pens

Hugs

My children

Sunny days

Beautiful views

Spending time with my family and friends

Playing badminton

Cycling

Playing with little kids

Playing with dogs

Whales

Animals doing daft things 

Talks and walks with my son 

Morning breakfast and coffee 

A good spicy lunch

Laying in my bed at night and just checking on current affairs and news

My boyfriend

My friends 

Art

Owls

Minecraft

Voice acting

Petting my dog

Smelling Flowers 

Feeling a cold thing when I’m warm or a warm thing when I’m cold 

Giving and getting kisses

Random texts from friends

Coffee flavored chocolate 

Singing

Moths with big white wings

Underdone scrambled eggs

A rainy night

Bubbles

That first warm day of spring

Going on hikes

Being outdoors

Candy

Chocolate 

The smell of playdoh 

Taking photos

Getting new clothing 

Candles

Birdwatching

Going on picnics

Writing poetry

Reading books

The holidays

Making people smile/laugh

Coffee

A nice warm blanket

Eating ice cream

Snow globes

Lightning bugs

Flowers after the snow melts

The smell of rain

Sitting on the steps early in the morning

Being the first to wake up

The feeling I get after running

The comfort of a favorite shirt

My girlfriend 

Family

Random acts of kindness

Babies

When I play with my dog by pretending to run at her and she goes crazy with excitement 

My cat 

Rain

Baking

Piano (playing or listening)

Small flowers

Flowy skirts/dresses

Wholesome romances

Hearing a song for the first time and loving it immediately 

Playing my flute

Horses

Listening to vinyls on a record player

When someone remembers a little detail about you

Painting my nails

Doing yoga

Doing exercise

Beating a personal record

Rainbows

Making crafts

Taking a shower after a long day

Going to the zoo

Going on vacation

Being at the beach or near water

Watching Netflix

Going to the movie theatre

Watching a live play at a theatre

Learning something new

Teaching someone how to do something 

Toasting marshmallows and eating S’mores 

Cupcakes

Seeing a shooting star

Taking a nap

When someone compliments me

Decorating my room

Picnics

My favorite band

My favorite celebrities

My favorite actors

Setting a new goal

Collecting rocks

Putting on fresh clean sheets

Seeing Christmas lights

Listening to birds chirping

Giraffes

Camping

Sitting by a bonfire

Eating mashed potatoes

Bullet journaling

Driving in the car with the windows down

Dancing

Looking at pretty pictures

Concerts

Funny jokes/puns/memes

Fireworks

Sparklers

Pretty clouds

My favorite shoes

Getting new art supplies

Making photo edits

Making gifts for my friends and family

Getting gifts from people 

Balloons

Succulents 

Playing an instrument

Drinking a nice cup of tea

Iced tea on a summer day

Eating fresh fruit

Getting my hair braided 

Eating at a restaurant 

Being on a boat

Swimming

Making new friends

Finding an animal in nature 

Pumpkins and pumpkin patches

Carving pumpkins 

Autumn and all the beautiful colors

Acting for theatre

Making video edits

Wearing a costume for Halloween

Dressing fancy

Finding four leaf clovers

Pressing flowers

Scrap booking

Handwritten letters

Stickers

Hummingbirds

Elephants

Eating breakfast 

Gardens

Inspirational quotes

Wearing my favorite necklace 

Baby animals 

Little streams and ponds

Foxes

Sun shining through trees

When it’s foggy out and you can see dew drops on plants and spider webs

Being on a swing

Finally accomplishing a goal you’ve been working on 

When a new season of your favorite show comes out

Doing my makeup

Cleaning and organizing 

Daydreaming 

Taking a bath

Christmas 

Watching funny videos

Wearing sweaters and hoodies

Fuzzy socks

Helping people 

Little figurines and objects

Popcorn 

Brownies

Looking out the window 

Wolves

Opening a window for fresh air

The smell of coffee 

Watching YouTube videos 

Getting a haircut 

Seeing a deer in the woods 

Watching birds fly

Finding shapes and objects in the clouds 

The smell of fresh laundry

When someone tells me something reminded them of me

Stepping on crunchy leaves

Animal crossing

My switch

Softball/baseball

Basketball

Soccer

Seeing cool cars/old cars

Rollerblading

Drawing with chalk on a sidewalk

Going to bed early

Stargazing

Making progress

Checking things off my to-do list

Taking Polaroid pictures

Going for walks

Jogging

Going to the library

Starting a new book

Finishing a good book

Playing board games

Koalas

Slippers

Big trees

Sunlight coming through the windows

Waking up on Christmas morning

Getting book, song, movie, etc. recommendations from my friends

Making music playlists

Finally receiving packages I ordered in the mail 

Baking desserts

When my favorite song comes on

When people make playlists for each other

Finding new characters to ship

Having free time

Sticky notes

Sunbathing

Traveling

Peace and quietness

Alone time

Meeting my step/exercise goal for the day

The people who love me

Soup

Coloring books

Getting into bed after a long day

Pillows

Fandoms

How unique and different everyone is

Getting a lot of work done

Looking forward to my future dream job

Playing video games

Being on Tumblr

Taking time for myself

Practicing self-care

Face masks

Finding money you forgot about

Holding hands

The smell of apple pie

Starting a new tv show

Getting letters in the mail

When the seasons change

Summer

Mugs and teacups

Smoothies

Breakfast food

Disney

Going into the woods/forest

Trying new creative outlets

The smell of sunscreen

Eating the food you’ve been craving

Knowing and feeling that people care

Telling a good story

Laughing so hard can’t stop and your stomach hurts

Late summer nights

Late night drives

Sparkles

Glitter

Listening to people I love talk about their favorite things and what they’re passionate about

Listening to podcasts

Turning up the volume of my music

Putting my headphones in

Blasting my favorite songs through my speaker

People accepting and supporting others for who they truly are

Wearing something cozy

Soft light

Love

Warm weather

A well-rested night

Waking up in the morning and feeling refreshed

Knowing that every day is a fresh start

Well written characters

A book I can get lost in

Sloths

My parents

My siblings

My grandparents

The feeling of sand beneath your feet

Heated blankets

Bagels

Toast

Getting something for free

Samples

Constellations 

Mason jars

Practicing a new skill

Finding a new hobby

Lazy weekends

Mac n cheese

French fries

Having deep conversations with my best friend

New jeans

Going to IKEA

Skirts 

Dresses

Doodling

When other people are happy (especially people I know and love)

Marching band

Sleeping in

Having the day off

Getting new books

Playing guitar

Playing ukulele 

Random compliments

A change of scenery

Cuddling

Waking before the sun is up

Reading old letters

Zebras

Exploring

Building Lego sets

Using photoshop to make edits

Journaling

Walking along the seafront and breathing in time with the waves

A good rom-com or nostalgic show

Writing lists

Pinterest boards

Looking back at my accomplishments

Talking on the phone with a friend or family member

Wrapping presents

A blue sky

Loving someone 

Waterfalls

Washi tape

Penguins

Donuts

The color yellow

Sleepovers

Cooking dinner

Kind gestures

Trust

Inside jokes

Songs that make you feel nostalgic

Seeing other people’s art

Comfy clothes

Wearing pajamas

Calligraphy

When someone calls you by your nickname

Going to Target

The first sunburn of the summer

Ramen noodles

Chinese food

Thrift shopping

Flower fields

Flowers growing in random places, like through a crack in the sidewalk

Writing

Sparkly snowflakes

When it snows on Christmas

Mixing paint colors together

Perfectly shaven legs

Puddles

The color red

Thunderstorms 

The smell of flowers

The ocean 

Adult sized onesies

Driving a golf cart

Fairytales

Cartoons

The color blue

Pasta

AO3

Crickets chirping

Seeing everyone’s houses decorated for the holidays, especially Christmas

Other people sharing what makes them happy

Monkeys

Being understood

When someone texts to make sure I got home safely

Iced coffee

Becoming better at communicating with others

Seeing a friend for the first time in a while

Good morning and good night texts

Drinking a cold glass of water

Deep conversations in the middle of the night

Collecting sea shells

Building blanket forts

Tan lines

Being under lots of blankets

Making better health and money choices

Getting chills from a song even after hearing it countless times 

Liking how I look

Hot chocolate

Finding new music

Buying cute things

Wearing an outfit I really like

When someone tells you how glad they are to be your friend

Gardening

Watching raindrops race down a window 

Trying new food

Finding exactly what I was looking for 

Planning my future

Finding a song that perfectly fits my mood or describes how I’m feeling

Writing little notes to people

When someone tells me I did something good

Eating ice cream on a hot day

Making friends with animals

Going to football games

Seeing people genuinely interested in something

Snow days

The last day of school

Winter break

Spring break

Thanksgiving

New Year’s Eve

Turtles

Sitting outside on a cool summer day

Watching rain

Watching the ocean waves come in

Netflix binges

A new movie release I really want to watch

Driving with a window down for the first time in the spring 

Taking a cruise

Giving helpful advice

Getting helpful advice

Doing a favor for someone who needs it

Someone referencing one of my fandoms or something I love out of no where

Learning and knowing stuff

Doing something physically challenging or scary

Listening to my bedroom fan while I fall asleep

Coming up with a new creative idea 

Finding something I wanted at the store on sale for a good deal

Finishing all my assignments on time or even early

Hugging my dog

Taking my dog for a walk

Teaching my dog a new trick

When strangers stop to say hi to my dog

Listening to audiobooks

The weekend

Finding a new flavor of chapstick

Drinking Kool-Aid, it makes me feel so nostalgic

Watching nature shows on a weekend morning

Watching cartoon shows on a Sunday morning

A good TV show, most likely something I've watched before because that way I know it ends well

A good, delicious comfort meal on a Friday night by myself 

A café in the city centre at noon when it's not filled with the morning rush or afternoon coffee breakers

The stars from my childhood bedroom because they're the brightest here

Listening to my favorite playlist really loud on a long road trip and singing to myself loudly in my car

Having an entire day to myself without interruptions from anyone

Opening the curtains first thing in the morning 

A new jacket

Going to the cinema on a first release day because it's always super exciting and full of people anxious to see a movie they've been waiting for forever

Listening to live music

Riding roller coasters

Going to amusement parks

Lizards

Seahorses

Starfish

Eating fair food

Feeling an instrument vibrate when you’re playing it

Hearing my dog snore

When my dog dreams in his sleep 

Wearing a new piece of clothing for the first time

Feeling the sun on you

Eyes in the sunlight

Seeing city lights

Singing in the shower at the top of my lungs

Looking at someone and them knowing exactly what they’re going to say

Laughing till you cry

Being under a blanket

Going to craft stores

Watching boats

The idea of traveling the world

When my dogs let me lay my head on them

Listening to an old song and having it bring back memories

Candy corn

Crazy socks

Quotes

Fall and the leaves changing color and the crisp feeling in the air

Making snowmen

Making gingerbread houses for Christmas

Making videos with family

Burning a candle

Booping a dog’s nose

Getting letters/notes from people; writing them

Snow globes

Dr. Pepper

Doc martens

Fortune cookies

Potatoes

Easter

Finishing something

Skipping rocks

Warm rain

When someone opens up to you

Finding the right words to say exactly what you wanted

Animal footprints

Eating outside

Fairy lights

The smell of a hotel

Windows

Meeting a new dog

Dolphins

Getting magazines in the mail

Being in the woods as the sun starts to rise and the animals wake up

Warm days

Adirondack chairs

A warm breeze

Clothes and blankets hanging outside to dry

Feeding birds

Aquariums

The color green

Tie dying things

Going to art museums

Going to science museums

New albums from my favorite artists 

Seeing moss in nature

Finding cute little mushrooms 

When a dog wags its tail a bunch and is excited to see me

Playing fetch with my dog

Obsessing over something and having someone to talk about it with

Going on a walk with my best friend and talking about life

Looking at old pictures and reminiscing on good memories

Reading a book that's so good your brain wants to read faster than it can

Laughing with friends about the weirdest things

Being appreciated for doing small things you wouldn't even have thought about yourself because it's something you *just do*

Being creative

Watching animals

A story I can't put down

Stretching

The moment when you listen to a new song/album by your favourite artist

When you're at a concert and anticipating the moment before the band comes out

When at a concert and they play your favourite song live

The moment when someone compliments your outfit 

When you see someone wearing merch of something you like 

Seeing the sunrise/sunset 

Watching the sun rise out of the water or sink down into it as it’s setting

This ecstatic feeling in general when you're just living in the moment with people who love something as much as you do

Hugging my cat and smelling his fur

Listening to my music by myself and singing to it 

Making edits I’m really proud of 

Losing hours in a good book or fanfiction

Writing sentences that I actually like 

My siblings and my parents when they're being chill and funny

Watching my favorite tv shows and movies and yelling about them into the void 

Finding a new good song 

Fresh out of the shower + fresh clean sheets feeling when you go to bed

When I come downstairs in the morning and my dog greets me right at the bottom step with her lil’ tail wagging

Knowing that if I ever needed someone to chat with, someone would be there to lend an ear

Tigers

Lions

When you shuffle your music and the exact song you want to hear plays

When all my family is around the outdoor fire on a summer’s evening

When my nieces and nephews give me squishy kid hugs

Being home alone and being able to cook or bake in the kitchen without disruption

Driving around with a friend in the evenings and just belting our favorite songs

Seaside walks

Disney World

Seeing live theatre

The sun shining on leaves and stone buildings

Dancing when I'm alone

Color-coordinating my outfit

Floating on my back in the sea

The smell of summer nights

The smell of winter mornings

Colorful things/environments

Bunnies

Walking along lakes/rivers/the sea

Spending time in nature

Taking care of my plants

Giving affection to my loved ones

Listening to other people's stories

Reading about people I've never met before or places I've never visited before (especially if they are now just a part of history)

Embroidering

Pandas

Swimming in a river or the sea

Stargazing (my favorite moments usually happen an hour before sunrise)

White-caged-bird

Feeling the breeze when I spin and my heartbeat when I dance for an hour at a time

All the wonderful smells of flowers and colours that nature has to offer

Sharing good laughter with someone

Feeling like I belong

Travelling and discovering new customs of different cultures

Hiking or foraging

That feeling when I'm approaching the end of a really good book and I let myself be engulfed by the fact that it's a unique experience, that I'll never experience as the first time again

Observing my local fauna

Petting and taking care of an animal (double the joy if it is friendly with strangers)

Drinking a good cup of honey tea

Finding a perfume that suits me

Eating something sweet

Enjoying a meal with others

Cat paws tapping on the floor

Dipping a biscuit into tea

Trying to catch leaves falling from the tree

Having sunlight hit your face when you’re napping

Objects that cast a rainbow when the sun shines through them

Seeing patterned shadows

Ambient mood lighting

Sleeping

Wearing jewelry 

Cheese

Playing chess

Fresh air

Going somewhere new

My Mom’s cooking

Being inspired

When someone holding your hand rubs their thumb lovingly in circles

Picking strawberries

Otters

Painting the walls of my room

Wind chimes

Seeing that your favorite people are active online

Finally understanding something you were struggling with

The excitement you get when someone reblogs your writing or art

Getting a new notebook or journal

Appreciation

Validation

When someone tells you they love you and mean it

The smell of freshly baked bread

When my dog falls asleep on me

Making new online friends

Found family

Finishing cleaning my room

When someone lays their head on your shoulder

Doing something right on the first try

Finally sitting down after standing for a long time

Getting goosebumps from hearing or seeing something you love

Seeing a gorgeous view

Loving someone and them loving you back

Freshly baked gooey cookies

When a song comes on and everyone starts singing

When I’m out for a run and it’s hot and it starts raining. Nothing makes me feel more like a human than getting caught in the rain on a run

Swimming in the ocean

When people are talking about something they really love and get carried away trying to explain it all to you

Puppies

Being in the middle of nowhere and actually getting to see the whole sky of stars that you never get to see in a city

Finding people that love the same things you do

 When something silly reminds you of someone you love; like every time I see an orange and green gummy worm I think of my sister

When you’re hugging someone and they squeeze you a little bit before they let go

Weather where you can leave all the windows open in your house

Trampolines

Driving with no destination in mind

Falling asleep to the sound of rain

Hearing other people laugh

Laughing only because you hear someone else laugh and it's just so contagious

The first snowfall of the year

Disney movies

Listening to someone tell stories and they have like 15 side stories in between the main one

Romantic movies

Bubble baths

Smiling between kisses

Wearing sweatpants

A clean house

Pizza

My computer

Cheesy pickup lines

When people tell me they miss me

Cool spring mornings after a storm

My job

Butterflies

New shoes

Oversized shoes

Caramel apples

Volunteering

Meditating

Running my blog

Finding sea glass at the beach

Getting my nails done 

Planning vacation

Hot cider

Telling people I love them

Writing in my gratitude journal

Eating homegrown vegetables, fruit, and herbs

Remembering a good dream I had

Happy endings

Colored pens

Decorating for the holidays

Finishing a really good tv show

Leopards

Summer rain

Thunderstorms where I can just open my window to the full extent and just watch and listen

Calls with my best friend

Seeing a meme and sending it to my friends

Getting an email from AO3

That moment when you get an idea for creating something

Walking barefoot on the grass

Sending thank you notes

Writing events I’m looking forward to on my calendar

Dippin' Dots

Spicy food

Seeing a full moon

Eating cookie dough

Eating seasonal food

Bubble wrap

Going to the car wash and getting rainbow soap

Dark chocolate

Soft blankets

Weighted blankets

Soft drinks with crushed ice

When I get an unexpected phone call from someone I love

Wearing flip flops

Longer daylight hours

Having a BBQ

Frosting cookies

Making cupcakes in the microwave

Watching the Hallmark channel during the holidays

Taking selfies or photos with people I love

Putting on lotion

The smell of a baby’s head

The Office

Online shopping

The smell of freshly cut grass

Surprising my family or friends

Looking at the clock when it’s 11:11

Being productive

Quilts

Doing good on an exam

Someone doing a favor for me (especially when I didn’t ask)

Eating pancakes with syrup

Origami

Sprinkles

Confetti

Waving at people

Giving high fives

Complicated Handshakes between you and your best friend

Naps/feeling well-rested

Eating one of my favorite foods

Hearing good news from/about a friend or family member

Looking at nature (these days it's seeing squirrels in my neighbour's garden and looking at my plants and trees)

When make someone happy or feel like I made a difference (including a satisfied client)

Success (good grades, a gifset that does well)

Hugs from my mom

Learning new things

Chatting with my friends because they’re all amazing people

Group watches of my favorite tv show or movie

That feeling when the house has just been cleaned/when I’m freshly showered

Making jokes/laughing with people

Reading fluffy fanfics

Driving on the road to a destination far away, I love the trip as much as (if not more than) arriving at the actual place

Reading affirmations

Green tea

Getting breakfast or lunch from a nice restaurant 

Learning about topics that won’t benefit me; like Chinese history, geography, ancient flora and fauna, etc. just things that I find cool 

The jokes my girlfriend makes, especially when they’re the same ones she always makes

Stories from the past! Stories from history from people who actually lived through it

Stories in general, just hearing the life experiences of people in completely different positions from me. I love hearing people’s stories

Drawing intricate things, like old buildings, landscapes, and plants

Cooking a nice meal

Grocery shopping and farmers markets especially 

My cat! All of her weird little habits too, like how she stands in front of my feet so I’ll push her where she wants to go 

Botanical gardens

State parks

Museums

Art galleries

Listening to stories my grandparents tell

When people tell me about their life goals and dreams

Being surrounded by the people I love 

Living the best life I can

Partying hard the night away

Daydreaming

Sunflowers always make me smile

Warm tea

Big fluffy clouds in a blue sky

Friendly babies

Hearing a past favorite song

Singing karaoke 

Biking riding

Helping others

Chocolate milk

Sweets and fruits

Having fun doing things I love

Dragons

Video games

My favorite things

Writing

Affection

Exercising

Being on Tumblr

Pinterest

Looking at flowers and plants

Playing with my cats

Chatting with my friends (at the moment it’s through zoom, of course)

Finding new ways to decorate my room

Window shopping

Spending time with my boyfriend

Wearing my favorite outfit/accessory

Eating something delicious

The cool side of my pillow 

Tears of joy

Woodpeckers

Reading poems

Hugging trees

Tree houses

Airstreams/campers

Playing frisbee

Making sculptures

Puppy ears

The first day of spring

The first day of summer

Sending silly photos to my friends

Building sand castles

Winning prizes at the fair or arcade

Marbles

Cacti

Scrolling through my phone

Writing fanfiction

Seeing someone you haven't seen for a really long time

Putting together collages

Printing out photos I love

DIY projects

Sewing 

Crocheting 

Listening to steel drums

Haunted houses

Going through a corn maze

Picking fresh fruit or vegetables

Bubble tea

Starbucks

Dunkin donuts

Disneyland

Disney Princesses

Climbing trees

Finishing errands

Rewatching my favorite episodes

Scrunchies

Milkshakes

Ice cream blizzards

Listening to acoustic versions of songs

Hot tubs

Rubber ducks

Coconut flavored food

Dipping fries in ice cream

Discovering a new type of animal

Seeing hot air balloons

Frogs/toads

Splashing in puddles 

Having plants inside my house

Teddy bears

Iridescent/holographic things

Bird houses

Breakfast in bed

Crystals/gemstones

Ziplining 

Dew drops

Glow sticks

Flower crowns (especially handmade ones)

Spring rain 

Watching other people make art

Lighthouses

Finding heart shaped things in nature

Thinking of getting my own apartment

Coming up with a new recipe for food

Cookbook recipes passed down through families

Bookshelves

Making pretty yogurt bowls

Seaside houses

Flying on planes and being in/above the clouds

Flower bouquets

Looking at and learning about the planets

Fruit snacks

Palm trees

Weeping willow trees

Cherry blossoms

Eating cake

Decorating cakes with eccentric icing designs and colors

Whipped cream

Having snowball fights

Hearing Christmas music

Tattoos

Wearing rings

Green grass

A tidy organized desk with cute desk supplies

My craft room

Hammocks

Little cottages

Cotton candy (and cotton candy flavored things)

Looking at all the paint pallet colors in paint stores

Stamps

Taking silly photos in photobooths

Going to the mall

Making jam, especially strawberry jam

Reading outside

Finding a bird nest and watching eggs hatch

Looking at photos of my family and friends 

Finding old flora and art books

Eating fresh corn on the cob with butter on a summer day

Lily Pads

Icicles

Inner peace

Sitting under a tree

Not having to turn on the light in your room when the sun is shining through

When restaurants have patios you can dine at

Fishing on a pier

Seeing old couples in public

Making gifs

Trees swaying in the wind

Anime

Dying Easter eggs

Laying in the trunk of a car and watching the clouds or stars

Night lights

Flower shops 

Outer space

Kitchens

PB&J sandwiches

Toasted Cheese

LoFi music

Listening to/watching ambience videos

Turtle necks

Peaches

Looking at old maps

Figurines of the earth/globe

Honey and bees

Cheesecake

Seeing footprints in sand and watching them be washed away by waves

Anything related to the moon, stars, and sun

Reading my horoscope (even if I know it’s not real)

Archways decorated with hanging flowers

Yogurt

Pudding

Knowing that I’m not alone

Ancient roman sculptures

Macarons

When someone tells me they care about me

Weddings

Watercolour

Birthday parties 

My brother

My sister

When my dog leaves his bed to lay in the sunlight

Doing mini photoshoots with my friends

Hand making bracelets/necklaces (friendship bracelets)

When someone calls me darling or honey

Love letters

Game night

Skateboarding

Stress balls and squishy toys

Starting something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time

Playing cards

Doing puzzles

Word searches

Kittens

Ordering takeout

Stepping out into the fresh air

Creating vision boards

Getting a massage

Writing positive affirmations

Lunch dates

Standup comedy

Listening to classical music

Nature/animal documentaries

Having someone there to listen to me

Listening to someone when they need it

Accepting myself for who I am

Looking back and seeing how far I’ve come and all the progress I've made

Doing something my future self will be thankful for

Speaking up for myself

Being near loved ones

Finding time for my hobbies

Giving myself time to rest

Saturday mornings

Marrying the one I love

Discovering new things

Going to new cities

My idols

Pastries

Feeling the wind on my face on a car ride

The sensation of music in my ears and like nothing else matters

People who have my best interest in mind

Simplicity

Fulfilling my dreams

Discovering a new ice cream flavor

Knitting

Making myself a priority

Knowing that I am important, and I matter

Thank you all so much for following me and supporting my blog! It means a TON! I never expected for this blog to become popular, especially because I originally started it to help myself get through some mental health issues. I am so happy to be able to share my journey of healing with you all! It means the world to me to help or make a positive impact on even just one person’s life! Each and every single one of you is amazing!! You matter and you are SO important! Thanks again for your everything! Have a great day!!! Sending sunshine your way!! 

[prodtrouver]

Catch These Hands • Choi Beomgyu

Never ever have she felt so comfortable in another school with her old friends. Everyone was friendly and out-going, it was easy to approach everyone. That's how you could make friends despite your short time at school. However, you never expected such a quiet boy to be alone by himself, always watching you and your friends play away.

Pairing: volleyball player! Beomgyu x volleyball player!fem reader

Other characters: Volleyball player! Heeseung, NCT DREAM, a brief appearance of an old friend! Jungwon.

Genre/warning: introvert-extrovert pair, slight angst, fluff, feeling of left out, sport-romance, slow-burn 

no. of words: 3.4k words

You watched the 4 boys challenge each other in a game is basketball. Laughter and mad screams fill the court. Smiles clear on their faces as one of them tried to snatch the ball from the other. Today was a good day, the warm sun covered by a few clouds, the breeze was perfect, and well- breezy.

“y/n, come join us!” Huening Kai yelled, but you shook your head. “I don’t want to play with giants,” you chuckled. They all pouted but went back to playing.

Soobin ran away from Yeonjun, the ball being dribbled by the taller. The next second, he did a lay-up and the boys groan. “Round isn’t over!” You called out, and Taehyun snatched the ball from Soobin.

Once again, you laughed but noticed a figure on the side of your eyes. You look at the bench across from you and see a boy. It’s him again...

His eyes glued on the 4 boys who looked too focused in the game. Suddenly, his eyes met yours and moments flashes in your head...

You bolted down the stairs of your home, and you heard your brother scolding you for your actions.

“I’m not even hurt, Jeno!” You stated, thrilled to finally transfer schools. Jeno pouts at you before he carefully places the plate in front of you. Truth to be told, you are excited, however, nervous. Many of your other friends claimed that the school you’re transferring to is so friendly and jolly.

You don’t know for real, but you are curious how your first day will go. You dropped your spoon when you heard the doorbell ring throughout your house. Jeno quickly gets the door and was greeted by the joyful and giggly voices of his friends.

“where’s our precious y/n?” You bounced off your chair when you heard Jaemin call for your name. His voice like honey and almost motherly will always soothe you. You just love the boy, maybe even more than Jeno.

You jumped into his arms and he laughed before he spun you around. He kissed your head and greeted you a good morning.

“Aw, look at you in another school uniform! I’m going to miss you so much,” Jaemin pretends to cry.

“Yeah! Who am I going to argue with now?” Chenle sulks, but you laugh as a reply.

“Do you want to come in or not?” Jeno said, and they all came in. Soon, a plentiful of food filled your dining table and everyone was getting excited.

You get ready your bag for you will leave any minute. You reached your hand out to grab a piece of candy coin, only for it to touch another person’s hand.

“Sorry,” the boy spoke. You grabbed a few chocolate coins and avoided the eyes of Donghyuck, your ex.

“Y/n, be careful, okay? I hope you have a positive first day!” Jisung shouted as they watched you put on your shoes.

“Yeah!” You shouted before you opened the door. One of your feet already outside the house.

“Don’t forget our volleyball practice after school, though!” And you locked the door. 

You take a deep sigh before finally walking to your new school.As soon as you stepped into the building, eyes were on you. They didn’t go unnoticed by you either; it puzzled you instead. You think that you won’t suit in.

You pull out the laminated paper from your bag. Color coded boxes to symbolize your subjects for that time. Classroom numbers on top of those boxes.

Speedily, you searched for your classroom. After all, it would be terrible for you if you’re late on the first day.

Unfortunately, you crashed into someone.

“I’m sorry!” You spoke and grabbed your schedule from the side. Your eyes met the eyes of the person you crashed into.

They were lovely, almost mesmerizing to look at, but his voice cut your trance off.

“It’s okay,” he said, and helped you stand up. Instantly, he walked away. Your eyes followed him, but you went back to looking for your first classroom.

When you found the room, you were greeted by a shout. “GOOD MORNING, LEE Y/N!”

You jumped and some of them laughed at you. The boy who yelled quickly made his way towards you. He took your hands in his and laughed widely.

“I’m Huening Kai, nice to meet you!” He said and pulled you to a higher level of seating.

“These are my friends! Yeonjun, Soobin, and Taehyun!” The 3 boys waved at you and you grinned sweetly. Huening pulled you to sit beside him and patted your head.

“I heard you’re from SMA and there are a lot of athletic students there. Could you be one of them?” Taehyun asked you, curiosity shown in his eyes, and obviously, it was shown in the others as well.

“Oh, maybe, you’re a tennis player! Oh, oh- a badminton player? An archer!? You might play baseball, maybe basketball-,”

“Hyuka, you’re getting too excited again! Let her speak,” Soobin said and gently patted your shoulder.

“I’m actually... I play volleyball-,”

“WHAT!? REALLY!? WE PLAY VOLLEYABLL TOO!” Yeonjun exclaimed and immediately, Taehyun covered his mouth.

“I apologize, he’s overreactive. Anyway, that’s really cool! I heard the Academy has amazing volleyball players, especially the ones who are in the Varsity team.” Taehyun said, and you laughed.

“Were you in the female’s Varsity team, though? If you are, that’s so sick then! SMA held the girls’ volleyball championship title for 3 years straight!” Hyuka said, slightly patting your shoulders.

“Well, I kinda am- I used to be their second coach, but I stopped because of an injury that happened to me before.” You frowned,

“Is it fatal?” Soobin softly asked, concerned, and a bit disappointed. Your soft smile returned and shook your head. They all sighed in relief, which somewhat confused you.

“Why did you stop playing then?” Taehyun asked, you looked at your hands. “ I just stopped playing, I guess,”

“Don’t you want to play again?”

And that's how you're now standing on the sidelines of the volleyball court. The 4 boys in their orange and black uniforms.

"Who's who?" You asked as you sat down on the benches. They all look at each other before looking at you, "and there's only 4 of you?"

"Not so many males want to play volleyball, so it became a problem, really." Soobin scratched his head while looking at Yeonjun.

"Wait- are you guys... Did you just form your team this year?" You asked them and they all nodded. Your mouth agape because of the shock.

"Okay then... Let me watch you guys play?" You asked, and they all nodded once more. They went to their positions, and you immediately noticed something.

Yeonjun was standing on the right-side hitter's position, Soobin was standing in the middle of the front zone, they were standing on the right side. On the left, Taehyun was standing in the back zone's middle area, and Hyuka in front of Yeonjun from the other side.

"They already have positions..." You muttered unconsciously and watched them play.

You watched them attentively; the way they spike because they don't have other players, the way they pass the ball, it was amazing.

You're just slightly disappointed they don't have other members to increase their okay. You notice something moving from the side of your eyes. You turned your head and saw the boy from that morning.

It's him again, you thought. He moves to sit on the benches a far, a spot where the boys won't notice he's there. Your eyes were glued on him and you never miss the look of loneliness on his face.

"y/n! Come play with us!" Soobin grabbed your hand, snatching your attention from the lonely boy. You nod and take your jacket off. Soon, you enter the court.

It's been weeks since you transferred to BHA.

Everyone was friendly to you. You met other great people and Lee Heeseung, the new player in Team Together, aka BHA's Volleyball Varsity Team.

The boy is there again, his eyes follow the playing figures of the 5 boys. You stood up from your seat and walked towards him.

"Hello," you spoke to him, he flinched. He just looked at you and it made you chuckle. You sit beside him, your hand on your skirt, and the other beside his.

"You've been watching the boys for a while now. Do you have a problem with them?" You asked and his eyes widened. He immediately shook his head and frowned. His eyes moved to stare at the rubbery ground.

"I... They all look so happy and friendly- I'm jealous, I want to be friends," he whispered. You felt your heart melt at the sight. You were about to place a hand on his arm until you heard Taehyun and Yeonjun shout.

"Where are we going to find a setter!? We're not complete and you already want us to join the upcoming Academies Volleyball Championship!?" Taehyun shouted at Yeonjun, who looked annoyed.

"Don't you want this, Taehyun!? That's the reason we made this team!" Yeonjun shouted back, Heeseung stood between them.

"Hey, hey, stop it!" Heeseung gently grabbed Taehyun's shoulder and pushed him away from Yeonjun.

"Yeonjun, Taehyung has a point! We can't immediately join the Championships when we don't even have a setter. We don't have enough time either," Soobin spoke.

You look at the boy beside you and examine his sitting figure. He grabs his arm and made him stand up. His eyes grew wide at your unexpected actions.

"Good figure- Yeonjun, how about this kid?" You shout and pointed at him. His eyes grew wider as he got the urge to run away and never show himself ever again.

The boys walk towards him and examine him. Huening moved to stand behind him, same as Heeseung.

"Hey, kid- do you know how to play?" Yeonjun asked, but he shook his head. The boys look at him, shocked, before glancing at you who looked unfazed.

"You don't even know how to play! Y/n, why him!? We don't have enough time if Choi Yeonjun here wants to join the Championships." Taehyun glares at Yeonjun, who glared back.

"Volleyball is a sport open for everyone. The championship is 3 months away. This boy... What's your name?" You look at him,

"You don't even know how name!" Taehyun shouted, which made Huening rush to his side and nuzzle him away from everyone.

"Choi Beomgyu..."

"Okay, Beomgyu! From this day on, you are now part of Team Together!" You said after you felt something tingle in you when you first saw the boy.

"What!? So sudden-,"

"If you agree to join the championship, I will permanently be your coach. I will train you and tell you everything you have to know... Especially SMA's varsity team, Team Dream. What do you say?" You kept the smile on your face, even if the others have hesitant ones.

They sigh and Yeonjun reached his hand out. You gladly shook it and looked at Beomgyu, who looked distraught. You pat his shoulder,

"Leave Choi Beomgyu to me,"

"No, Beomgyu!" You walk to his side with the ball in your palms.

"You turn your hand when the ball reaches your left ear, don't immediately touch the ball!" You said as you pass the ball to Taehyun.

"Also, jump higher! If you jump that high, the ball won't even go to the other side!" You said before going back to the sidelines. Beomgyu sighs and wipes the sweat off his face.

"Beomgyu, I want you to do it while staying aware of your surroundings!" You clap your hands and motions Taehyun to do a serve.

The ball makes its way towards the other side of the court. Huening passed it to Beomgyu, who jumped high but unable to make the ball go to the other side.

He falls to the ground, his buttock his the floor first, and he groans in pain. The members sigh, feeling hopeless at their new member.

Yeonjun helps Beomgyu stand up, but the disappointed look on his face didn't go unnoticed by Beomgyu. Yeonjun then faces you who looked defeated, but you aren't hopeless at all.

"That's all for practice today- everyone can go home now. Don't forget to change and eat well. Beomgyu, you're going with me," you say and exit the gym.

Beomgyu stood there, his eyes glued to the floor. He felt like crying; he was close to letting others step on his heart. The other boys left the gymnasium, but Beomgyu stayed.

He knew he will never fit in with them. They're such out-going and athletic people, but him? He wasn't out-going nor athletic at all. He's just the boy with no friends at all.

He didn't know what he was thinking when he accepted this.

"Beomgyu, get changed. We're going somewhere," you came back and helped him stand up.

You softly patted his shoulder before sitting on the benches. He stared at you,

"What? I'll wait for you here, so get changed," you smile and Beomgyu nodded. He went to the changing room to clean himself.

Your eyes followed the boy.

His aura screamed introvert and loneliness. You wanted to change that, make him surrounded by people he wants to be friends with. However, it looked like the team didn't want Beomgyu.

You don't know, but there's something about the boy. It makes you feel confident and protective, yet pitiful.

Minutes later, Beomgyu came back. You stood up from your seat. "Let's go watch some boys practice."

Beomgyu wowed when he saw Donghyuck do a dump to the other team.

"So this is Team Dream..." He muttered, and you nodded.

"They're joining the championship again this year, and if we win until the finals, we might go against them." You said, and Beomgyu stepped back. You turned around to look at him.

The panicked and afraid expression on his face was the expression you were expecting. You held his hand and moved him closer.

"Beomgyu, the reason I'm a little harsh on you is because a setter is expected to lead the team. I know that it's too much pressure, but that's why, I'm here to help you. Don't be afraid, I'm here, Beomgyu," You assured him but he shook his head.

"N-no! I'm not good for the job, y/n! I'm not a good setter and I'm never one. I can't even lead the boys, heck, they don't even talk to me! I'm just an introverted boy who wanted to be friends with people who are out of my reach."

"Beomgyu, listen here- you are an amazing setter. You may not have realized it, but it's your low confidence that's crushing you." You say, but he walks away.

You bite your lips as you watch Beomgyu walk away, however; you heard the chant of your brother's team.

Suddenly, you're reminded by the reason you stopped playing volleyball.

"I was like you too, Beomgyu!" You shouted,

"I was scared that people wouldn't trust me because I'm such a lonely person! I wanted to become friends who are out of my reach, but I couldn't. I know how you feel, I know how hard it is to become a setter because I was one too!" He looked at you with a slightly surprised expression.

"But I think it's better than getting the trust of your teammates first than getting your trust broken by them." You look tearful and Beomgyu stood frozen in his place.

"I stopped volleyball because my teammate injured me... I’m fearful experiencing that, so I stopped, but I will never forget the fun I found in volleyball." You walked towards him and clasped his hand.

"I know how you feel, Gyu. I also know you're an intelligent boy. The boys told me they're only waiting for you to blossom and once you're ready-,"

"We will win the championship," Beomgyu turned around at the voices he heard. He bit his lips to endure the tears falling. Huening ran up to Beomgyu and tightly hugged him.

"We believe in you, Beomgyu. I'm sorry we treated you like that," Huening said and broke the hug.

"Sorry, dude-," Yeonjun smacked his shoulder. Soobin ruffled Beomgyu's hair and apologized as well, Heeseung did the same. Taehyun stood in front of Beomgyu, his arms crossed but a smile on his face.

"We have 3 months before the championship, can you practice with us? As a team this time?" Taehyun asked and Beomgyu looked at you.

The wide and sweetest smile danced on your lips. You tugged on his jacket. "What's your answer, Gyu?"

"Yes, I will practice with you!" He shouted, and the boys cheered.

"ONE DREAM! Tomorrow X Together, fighting!" Yeonjun laughed before they all walked away. Food being discussed among them for the night. You were about to follow them until you heard your name called by someone.

"y/n! I didn't know you're here!" You turn around to see Dream running towards you. A laugh escaped your lips, and you saw the 5 boys turn around to look at you.

"How's BHA? Is everything okay there? Are they treating you, right?" Jaemin asked, and you laughed. You nodded your head,

"Hey, y/n~ Haechannie wants to take you out again!" Mark wrapped an arm around Haechan's shoulder. The younger pushed Mark away and apologized to you.

"A setter with a setter! A perfect combination!" Renjun spoke, and the boys laughed. You glance at the 5 boys before taking a step back from Dream.

"I'm busy right now- after all, I have a future champion to train!" You intentionally shouted for Team Together to hear.

"Goodbye, see ya!" You said before running towards the 5 boys. Wide and relieved that you're staying with them.

That night changed everything.

Here you are, standing by the audience, hand in hand as you watched Team Together vs Team Dream. Butterflies flying in your stomach when Jaemin did a spike on Team Together.

The past 3 months were honestly the best for you. Team Together won so many matches against other teams despite being a rookie team.

You realized the feelings you first felt when you first met Beomgyu. The times you spent training together, the times you laughed, the times you played, the times when you both almost got hurt... It was all coming to you.

You like Beomgyu- you love him, however, with the championship being close, you didn't want to distract him.

Now that both teams are tied, it scared you. You didn't want them to lose, but you also want them to win. Team Dream was being cheered on by your old school, the same goes for Team Together.

"You think, they'll win this?" Jungwon moves to your side. You didn't spare a glance at the boy and kept your eyes on the match. Your hand gripped on the railing: just one more point and it's victory.

However, Team Together already looks troubled. You don't know how much more they could handle with the pressure of being one point away.

Beomgyu looked like he was about to faint. He was shaking; it was so visible even from a far. Heeseung placed a hand on Beomgyu's back to keep him from falling before they went back to their positions.

Beomgyu shut his eyes before taking a deep breath. Mark was the one who did the serve this time, his jump server caught Team Together off, but they caught the ball perfectly.

Beomgyu looked extremely tired. He was exhausted by Team Dream's plays.

Suddenly, you act without thinking.

Jungwon friend placed a hand on your shoulder while you attentively watch the volleyball match everyone has been waiting for. You slightly lift yourself from the railings.

"What- yah! Y/N! You'll fall!" Jungwon held onto you closely.

You shouted without thinking.

"CHOI BEOMGYU! I LOVE YOU, SO YOU BETTER WIN THIS!"

Everyone was shocked, and it took them back, but Beomgyu took it as an advantage to do a spike on Team Dream. Then the time ran out.

They won. Team Together won. Everyone jumped from their seats, chanting the name of Beomgyu and Team Together.

"TOMORROW X TOGETHER!" Your school chanted, you run down from the benches, and towards the team. Immediately, you jumped into their arms.

"You did it! You won the championship! YOU'RE A CHAMPION!" You jumped and hugged everyone.

"IT'S ALL BECAUSE OF YOU!" Taehyun spun you around, which made you laugh. Students gather around the 6 of you, their chants of their names made you smile like a mad person.

You looked at Beomgyu, who was crawled into a ball. You smiled and walked towards him. You tapped on his shoulder, which made him look at you. He smiled widely and hugged you immediately.

"I love you too, my princess." He whispered before he kissed your forehead. Heeseung took your hand and placed you on his shoulder.

"OUR COACH!" Yeonjun and Hyuka shouted, which resulted to you hiding your face. You turn around to see Team Dream's puzzled faces.

"Heeseung, please put me down," you said, and he did. You run towards Dream with TXT behind you.

"So you're their legendary secret coach," Haechan said, his head tilted as he examined the 6 boys behind you.

"Yes, and that was an amazing play. You tired my boyfriend," you pulled Beomgyu close to you. His eyes widened and his cheeks were red.

"Well, congratulations- also, take care of my sister," Jeno patted his shoulder. Their eyes widen,

"SISTER!?"

[coeurdastronaute]

Essays in Existentialism: Ages

Hey there, in case you're taking prompts right now I would love to see you write something about Clarke & Lexa at different stages in life/ages, from like little kids (first meeting) to adults. Thank you for your time and love your writing!

5

The classroom was colorful and happy, brimming with numbers and letters and pictures of animals on the walls. An entire side had windows that looked out toward the yard and playground for recess and there were tiny desks arranged in little squares, while the back corner had a very nice looking story time circle. 

Nervously, a tiny girl with messy brown hair stood behind her father’s legs and peered out at her new classroom. She could hear the kids screaming and having fun outside, and she wanted to sneak toward the window and see what they were doing, but she had to put her things in a cubby first, and her teacher had to tell her how to get there and where to sit. 

It was all very new, and Lexa wasn’t sure how to handle it all, so she held onto the leg of her father’s uniform. She missed her old house, and her old park, and her old friends and her old city. She didn’t like the moving part, or that her new house had a scary  basement. 

“We are very excited to have Lexa here, and we appreciate you keeping us up to date on your deployment schedule,” the smiling teacher nodded before squatting down lower to Lexa’s level. “I know kindergarten can be kind of scary at first, but soon you’ll look back and say ‘wow, I didn’t have to be scared. I love it here’.” 

Lexa dug into her father’s leg a little more, shying back slightly. He patted her hair before kneeling down as well. 

“Hey, kid, come on. You’re not usually this shy,” he furrowed and held her tiny hands in his large ones. “What’s wrong?” 

At first, Lexa looked around and shifted back and forth in her new sneakers. They lit up. But he waited patiently for a response. 

“I don’t know nobody,” she mumbled. 

“You’re going to meat the class soon,” he promised. “And you’ll make all kinds of great friends.” 

“And now you know me,” Mrs. Gates offered. “Your dad told me you like superheroes.” 

Lexa nodded after looking at her father for confirmation. 

“I put you in a seat next to someone who also likes superheroes. Do you want to see your desk?” 

When she didn’t move, her father decided it was time to do a bit more. 

“I want to see your desk. That’s really cool. You can practice your letters and numbers and reading at your desk, isn’t that right, Mrs. Gates?” 

“We’re going to learn so many things. We even get to do science experiments.” 

“One time, we made a tornado in a bottle,” Lexa offered quickly. “I got to pick the color and I picked blue because I like blue.” 

Slowly, Lexa came out of her shell as she walked toward her desk, her father holding her hand and showing her the name tag on it. She sat there and smiled slightly before looking at her cubby and moving to put her bag there herself. 

The noise outside calmed and moved to the hall a few moments later. 

“I’m going to go back to work now, Lex. But you’re going to stay here and Mom will pick you up after school, okay?” 

“Do you have to?” 

“I do, kid,” he smiled. “What are we?”

“Tough.” 

“And.”

“Brave.”

“And.”

“Kind.”

“That’s right,” he nodded and kissed her forehead. “I’m so proud of you, and I will want to hear all about your day at dinner okay? So have a good time.” 

Lexa nodded and sat at her desk quietly going back into her shell when her father waved at the door and disappeared. 

At nearly the same moment, the class filtered back in, noticing a new person and not knowing what to do with the news. 

“Good afternoon, scientists,” the teacher greeted them. “We have a new friend who is joining us today. Her name is Lexa. Can everyone say hello to Lexa?” 

The chorus rang out, some more energetic than others. 

“Lexa is coming to us from Virginia. Does anyone know anything about Virginia?” 

There was a rumble of no’s. 

“Would you like to tell us something, Lexa?” 

“Um,” she swallowed. “I used to live close to the beach and I got to see a hurricane once.” 

The series of ooh’s and ahh’s made her feel a little braver than the fake level of confidence her father had instilled her with. She pushed at the haphazard hair that fell into her eyes. 

“Wow, that must have been scary.” 

“It was. There was purple lightning.” 

Again the crowd was fascinated. 

“Now I want each of you to take turns meeting Lexa over the next few days and telling her your names and being helpful. Wouldn’t we all want some nice friends if we moved somewhere new?” 

The group nodded along, still eyeing her, but less brutally than before. 

“Okay, loves. To your seats and let’s show Lexa how we behave after recess, okay?” 

With more than enough confidence to spare, a tiny blonde girl marched toward Lexa and sat down beside her. 

“Hi. My name is Clarke Griffin. I am going to show you around. It’s my job.” 

“Oh.” 

“We can be friends if you want.” 

Lexa just nodded and stared at her blue eyes. 

“I like your hair. It reminds me of Tarzan’s or Wonder Woman.” 

Still confused about the little person who sat beside her and said things with such clarity and confidence, Lexa pushed her hair away from her face again and nodded. 

“I like your… eyes. They are like the sky, and the sky is my favorite thing ever.” 

“Ever?” Clarke asked incredulously. 

“Mhm. Did you know there are like a million stars? And clouds are cool.” 

“Yeah, they are,” she nodded and dug into her desk for a notebook. “Have you seen Frozen yet?” Lexa shook her head sadly. “I just got it. You should come watch it. We can build a fort.” 

“I am really good at that.” 

“Me too! Ours will be awesome!” 

From the front of the classroom the teacher smiled to herself, allowing the group extra time to settle as the two new friends talked a little bit. She saw Lexa cover her mouth from laughing and Clarke made some kind of face and shared a pencil. 

By the end of the day, Lexa was certain Clarke was the best person on the planet. She was very nice and she liked good movies and they had the same favorite food of pizza and ice cream and candy. She couldn’t keep quiet when her mom picked her up, and she nervously paced near the front door, looking out the window for her father to come home so she could tell him everything, sparing no detail. 

“Daddy!” Lexa pounces on him from the steps as soon as he makes it into the still packed house in need of organization. 

“Hey kid, I missed you so much,” he hugged her tightly. “How was school?” 

“I made a friend! And it was very fun. We saw pictures of bugs!” 

“Wow, what a day. Do you want to go back tomorrow?” 

“Mhm.” 

“Good. Now tell me everything.” 

10

“You’re still my best friend.” 

The statement came out angry and informative. It was declarative and exact, a fact that could not be argued. It was a law of nature. It was absolute. 

Lexa nodded, agreeing eagerly and quickly. 

“We can talk on the phone and write letters,” Clarke decided. “We can watch movies together, too sometimes. I can ask my mom to use her iPad.”

Again, Lexa nodded. 

“This is stupid and I hate the military and I hate that you have to leave.” 

Nod. 

Clarke had a temper. She liked to yell when she was frustrated, and she’d stomp her foot and clench her fists at her sides, arms straight and her face would get red with a distinct type of rage that Lexa learned to avoid and how to calm her down when needed. Sometimes it was impossible. Clarke said it felt like she was trapped in one of those balls of snow that roll down a hill and get bitter and bigger, and the anger was just rolling around her and she couldn’t escape it. And Lexa could get that, even if she didn’t show it. 

“You’re my best friend,” Clarke finally sighed. “And I don’t want to lose you.” 

Lexa shook her head and hugged her friend quickly, tightly, eagerly. 

“You’re my best friend, too. I don’t care where my dad gets stationed. I wont’ be anyone else’s best friend ever.” 

The pair stood there, clinging to each other, uninterested in separating, even by a few inches. There were not many things more powerful than a friendship of two people who worked well together, already seamlessly filling in each other’s personality points and understanding the other’s moods. There was an innate ease between them that always existed, and even now, when clearly stuck in the midst of intense turmoil, they just hugged each other and tried to be better for the other. 

“When do you have to leave to move?” 

“Next month, right after school ends,” Lexa sighed. 

“So we still have time to do all kinds of hings,” Clarke decided. “Maybe my mom will let you come visit for the summer or for breaks. Or I can come visit you.”

“Yeah,” her friend agreed eagerly. “My grandma and grandpa still live near here, so we will have to come close to see them.” 

“And then we can go away to college together, and live together, like my cousin Chris.” 

“We can?” 

“Oh yeah. In the dorms. We get our own beds and sometimes they can be bunk beds.” 

“Wow,” Lexa mouthed, her eyes wide. 

Even so young, she just enjoyed listening to Clarke talk and tell stories. She bit every single time, and she didn’t care if it was true or not. The only thing that matter was the Clarke knew a lot and Clarke liked to share. 

“You won’t forget about me?” Clarke asked after a moment of looking at her shoes. She looked up at her friend, her bet friend, and she waited nervously. 

“No way,” Lexa swore. “I could never.” 

Clarke held out her little finger and waited for Lexa to shake, completing the promise. 

“And I won’t forget about you, never ever,” Clarke swore. 

The solemn vow complete, neither knew what came next, only that they were already aware of how little time a month was, and now had to fill up every second. 

15

The gymnasium was packed to the brim with people as the tournament drew to a close during the finals match. Cheers and the echo of shouts and coaching practically vibrated the entire arena. Though she wasn’t much of a fan of sports, Clarke Griffin was, in fact, a fan of one basketball player who travelled across the country to play in the girl’s high school national championships. 

Even though Lexa moved nearly five years prior, their solemn vow, that between elementary school chums who were young enough to believe in such things, held strong with them talking every day, and gradually moving up to emails and FaceTime and text. Periodically, over that half decade, they’d even been grated time to see each other, whether it was family trips or one going to stay with the other’s family for a school break. Whenever they were asked where they wanted to go, the answer was always to each other. 

When Lexa texted after they won state, she was over the moon, and Clarke immediately made sure to get tickets so she could see her best friend play, even though she still didn’t particularly understand the rules, no matter how often Lexa explained them. 

“I can’t believe you guys have stayed in touch so long,” Abby smiled as Clarke sat down from cheering and yelling Lexa’s name after she scored. “It seems like just yesterday you were coming home from kindergarten to tell me about your new best friend, Lexa.” 

“It just kind of works,” Clarke shrugged, unable to pinpoint why it did. There wasn’t an easy answer or any real logic to it. Perhaps it was mostly dumb luck. 

“Hard to believe that little girl is playing in a national championship,” Jake agreed. “I’ve been following her stats online. She’s ranked and is set to go to a Division I school.” 

“Lexa’s going to the University of Oregon, just like me.” 

“You’ve changed your mind a hundred times and you’re halfway through your sophomore year.”

“That’s where she wants to go, and it’s where I want to go.” 

“We’ll add it to the list, but don’t think about it too much just yet,” Jake shared a look with his wife. “A lot can happen in a year.” 

Clarke didn’t want to argue. Instead, she clapped and cheered as Lexa was subbed out in the third. She wasn’t particularly invested in the rest of the game without Lexa out there, but Clarke did her best to watch the entire thing and stay involved with what was happening. In the end, Lexa’s team won, and she cheered the loudest of all. She was wearing Lexa’s old jersey. She was a true fan. 

“You did so well, honey,” Jake promised as he hugged Lexa after they cleaned and gotten ready in the lock room. 

It was a long ceremony, to lift the trophy and answer questions, and listen to coaches. Clarke just grew more and more anxious. She hadn’t been able to see much of Lexa because of the game for the past two days, and she only had 2 more to see her. They always knew they had to make the most of it. 

“Congrats!” Clarke cheered as she launched herself at her best friend, hugging her tightly as they met in the lobby of the convention center. “That was amazing. You’re the best basketball player in the nation.” 

“I don’t know about that,” Lexa chuckled and hugged her back, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. “Thanks for sticking through it though. I’m sure it wasn’t very fun to watch.” 

“Yeah, well. Best friends, biggest fan and such.” 

They hang on each other, never far apart as the family made their way to a celebratory dinner, facetiming with Lexa’s family to share the good news since they couldn’t make the trip. It was exceedingly normal for Lexa to be taken in my the Griffins; it happened nearly every year in some way, same for Clarke with the Woods. Jake spent dinner going over all of the plays and applauding Lexa’s efforts, amazed that she could do such things. He only took credit for her layup, as they’d spent a good portion of her last visit the previous summer working on it in the driveway after diner. Lexa let him have it. It wasn’t lost on her that he put up a basketball hoop for her and her alone, even though she spent collectively less than three months over the past five years at their house. 

Ice cream was a given. The rest of the team would be back at the hotel, probably drinking their water bottles of vodka. Lexa was the youngest on the team, the only underclassman on varsity, and she was oddly grateful to miss it. Nothing could beat ice cream with Clarke and her parents. Only there, sitting outside in the chilly autumn evening, did she swap cones with Clarke as they had since they were five. Only there, did she let Clarke wear her jacket because she was cold. 

The Griffins had a guest room. They had two, in fact. But after the festivities and still a little giddy from the evening, the two friends climbed to Clarke’s room and tried to settle in for a movie.

Freshly showered, Lexa fiddled with the menu, trying to find something to watch while Clarke took her turn showering and washing the excitement off. She played with her phone, texting back friends home and the team lazily, stretched out in Clarke’s bed. 

It shouldn’t have been as big of a deal when Clarke walked out in her towel, asking about what movie they were going to watch. But it somehow was a big deal and Lexa found herself sitting up slightly against the headboard. She looked at Clarke’s bare shoulders as she slipped underwear on. She stared, wide-eyed and dry-mouthed as the towel dropped, and Clarke slipped on shorts and then an old shirt before toweling her hair. 

“You used all the hot water, and I will not be allowing you to shower first, no matter how many championships you win,” Clarke decided, as she joined her in the bed. 

“That’s fair.” 

Suddenly, Lexa was aware of how close they laid together in bed, and how they shared the blankets, and how they watched part of the movie before falling into their normal quiet talking in the middle of the night. She wasn’t sure how or why or what except she was very comfortable and uncomfortable with how comfortable she was. 

“My dad thinks it’s ridiculous I plan on going to the same school as you.” 

“I haven’t gotten in anywhere,” Lexa reminded her. “Or any actual offers.”

“You will,” Clarke promised. “I’m just keeping my options open. It’d be nice to be near you.”

Lexa smiled to herself in the dark and felt Clarke scoot closer so they were facing each other, their knees touching. 

“We haven’t gotten much time alone this visit,” Lexa sighed. 

“Kind of rude of you to interrupt it with basketball.” 

“But at least I got to visit.” 

“True. I needed this,” Clarke yawned. “It’s been a rough semester.” 

“Because you’re dating a real dumb guy.” 

“But he’s so cute.” 

Lexa couldn’t help groaning and wiggling around in bed. She made a show of rolling over before she felt Clarke pull her back with a chuckle. 

“He’s a moron and you can do a billion times better than Finn.” 

“I know, he’s just… nice. He’s steady and doesn’t take much effort.” 

“Shouldn’t it take some effort?” Lexa ventured, not at all sure about any philosophies about love or relationships. 

“Probably a combination of effortlessness and effort,” Clarke nodded. “How’s your crush? Did she text you after you won?” 

“It’s going good,” she shrugged in the dark. “I don’t know if she knows it’s a crush or not.”

“You have to be daring and bold. You’re already charming and funny and adorable. She has to have a crush on you. Just ask her out when you get back. Or text her right now.” 

“Let me think about it a little more.” 

“Fine,” Clarke finally relents and yawns again. “Do you think being in love with someone is talking in the middle of the night, but like forever?” 

There’s a quiet in the bedroom in the middle of the night as Lexa mulls over the words. Since they were five, Clarke was the sure one, the loud one, the persistent and confident and sure one. 

“I hope love is comfortable. I hope it’s talking all night. I hope it also makes you nervous and excited to see the other person. I hope it’s being someone’s one person that they count on no matter what. I hope being in love is all of those things. It has to be, right?”

“You make it sound like we’re in love. I think you just described our entire friendship.” 

Lexa blushed and cleared her throat.

“But we’re best friends. We can’t be in love.” 

The quiet settled there again until Clarke readjusted and sighed. 

“Exactly.” 

“It’d be nice though,” Lexa sighed as well. “To be in love with my favorite person on the planet.” 

“It would.” 

“Unfortunately, my best friend is painfully straight. Oh darn.” She tried to make her voice sound lighter, like this wasn’t a very confusing hole she’d somehow dug herself into. 

“God, I have to dump Finn.” 

They both chuckled at that, breaking the fog of the layered conversation they found themselves stuck in. And with that it was easy to fall back into talking about everything else until neither could keep their eyes open. 

20

The sorority house on Sorority Row was spilling out onto the yard and into the street with people celebrating the start of spring semester. For a moment, Lexa stood on the sidewalk and looked up at the brightly lit building and took a deep breath. She’d spent most of her free time not practicing or with the team here, in Clarke’s room, or doing something with Clarke. 

It was almost an accident that they ended up at the same school, with Lexa accepting the offer late in the year, well after Clarke had been accepted and decided. And it was the best decision of her life because she got to spend so much time with her best friend, and her best friend was at every home game. And for two years, Lexa watched her best friend date her way through a handful of steadies that all bugged her to no-end. And she knew why. She knew exactly why and yet she could never say. That would ruin everything. 

So Lexa stood there for a moment and prepared herself to survive another night of being in love with her best friend and watching her flirt with someone else. 

Lexa had a fairly good reputation all over campus due to her breakout season on the court and a Division Championship under her belt. She was active in a few clubs, volunteer organizations, and mostly, she was Clarke’s friend. 

“Lexa!” Clarke cheered, hugging her tightly as soon as she found her. “I was wondering when I’d get to see you.” 

“I came as soon as I could, darling. I know you miss me too much if I leave you waiting.” 

“I’m a demanding broad, and you know me well, skipper.” 

“You two are disgusting,” Raven observed. 

Lexa just looked down at Clarke who still clung to her, arms wrapped around her middle and grinning back. They were a rather disgusting pair, especially when they did their loving rendition of a polite couple. 

“You are looking rather cute tonight,” Lexa observed. 

“I’ve been known to look cute from time to time. Shouldn’t be too surprising.” 

Lexa just rolled her eyes and waited for Clarke to tug her hand toward the bar. They were practically a packaged deal, and not many believed they’d been friends since they were children because that just didn’t happen anymore, especially across time and space to such stretched degrees. 

But the night went on as it usually did, with music and dancing, though neither were extremely heavy drinkers that often, they retained a mild buzz that lasted into the wee hours of the morning. Rarely where they far away from the other. Often, Lexa would find herself looking across the room and finding her friend. 

But the party waned, and Lexa let herself be invited to stay instead of trying to traverse her way home across campus. There were enough of her old shirts and workout shorts as part of Clarke’s wardrobe that she always had clothes around anyway. 

Lazily, Lexa lounged on the bed as Clarke finished getting ready for bed. She scrolled on her phone for a little bit and yawned, exhausted by the day and drinks. 

When Clarke walked out of the bathroom, Lexa stared more intently at her phone because her friend was in a bath towel, and that was too much to handle anymore. She didn’t look. For a solid ten seconds. But then the towel disappeared, and she saw the curly hairs at the base of Clarke’s neck, her hair pulled up in a sloppy bun as she slid on a shirt. Lexa watched all of it happen and she couldn’t pretend otherwise. 

“That was a good night, darling. We should have the gang over more often,” Clarke decided with a smile as she turned back toward the bed. 

“That was a small showing. I expected better.”

“I’ll russell up a better gang, I swear.” 

With a chuckle, Clarke flipped off the light and got into bed, careful to crawl over Lexa and find her spot against the wall. Lexa felt all of that and she remained stoic, staring at the ceiling and thinking about the queen and such. 

“I can’t believe we’ve been having sleep overs since we were five,” Clarke whispered. 

“You kind of made me be your friend. Mrs. Gates sat me beside you and that was it.” 

“Do you think she knows what she started?” 

“We should let her know.” 

An arm moved around Lexa’s middle. It grabbed her arm and pulled it around her body so that Clarke was the little spoon. Over the past few months, Clarke had been more affectionate, physically. She’d taken the time to touch Lexa and hug her, though Lexa chalked it up to her own wavering brain looking for something that wasn’t there, and resoling herself to being the best friend anyone could ask for. Best friends were the big spoon sometimes. 

Stuck smelling Clarke’s hair, Lexa closed her eyes and let her arms squeeze her friend, eclipsed by her taller frame. She held her breath for as long as she could. 

“I sleep best when you’re in bed. I’m getting spoiled,” Clarke yawned, wiggling slightly as she found a comfortable spot. 

“I’ll have to train your future husband in how to do it.” 

“I don’t think I want anyone else.” 

“You have your pick of the litter. We’ll find you a squire to court you.” 

“Nah,” she sighed, smiling. “I only want you.” 

“I, um,” Lexa gulped and felt Clarke’s thumb on her wrist, rubbing soothingly as she was known to do. “I only want you, too.” 

“Good.” 

25

It’d been a long day. The world’s longest day. The worst, longest, most exhausting day, and all Lexa wanted to do was sleep. Sleep would wash away the entire week that beat her up, and sleep would save her from dinner with her parents. Sleep was a welcomed reward she was hoping to cash in on so she could escape the stress of breathing. 

Cranky and sore, Lexa tossed her keys on the table by the door and chucked her bag on the chair in the living room, kicking off her shoes as she made her way down the hall toward the kitchen. The house was quiet and empty for a Friday night, and she appreciate that for the time being. 

From the fridge, she dug out a bottle of beer and tossed the cap on the counter before shrugging off her jacket between eager swigs. With heavy feet, she padded upstairs and collapsed into the bed with a grunt, hoping a nap would help her escape the headache that’d been brewing since before lunch. Still with her work clothes on, Lexa fell asleep quickly and without any resistance. 

It wasn’t until she felt the bed dip that Lexa smiled into the bed, a familiar weight settled atop her, squishing her slightly with affection. 

“Long day?” Clarke whispered, kissing her fiancé’s shoulder though her shirt. 

“Long week,” Lexa complained and stretched, enjoying the feeling. 

“Want to order pizza and take a bath?” 

“Very much.” 

“I’ll open the wine.” 

Though she tried to move, Lexa flipped, holding Clarke to her, finally kissing her softly, and then eagerly, and then happily. 

“How was your day, darling?” 

“Not nearly as bad as yours.” 

“Good.” 

Clarke sat up slightly and pushed her messy hair away from her face as it fell in front of her eyes as she tried to kiss her best friend and make her smile. 

“I think being in love might be wine and pizza and a bath,” she grinned, running her thumb along Lexa’s cheek and jaw and then neck before kissing her again. 

“Let’s find out.”

[seiin-translations]

2.43 S1 Chapter 2.1 - Dracula and Princess Briar Rose

1. BENCHWARMER

Can we get an f in the chat for Ibara, who is looking like she’s not going to show up in the anime

Also the “Princess Briar Rose” part of the title is a pun on Ibara’s name, which means “briars” and the Japanese name for Briar Rose is Ibara-hime

Previous || Index || Next

Two meters and twenty-four centimeters and,

Two meters and forty-three centimeters.

What are those numbers, you ask? Those were the heights of the nets at the high school volleyball nationals. The first one was for girls, and the second one was for boys.

The difference between them was nineteen centimeters. In other words, boys played at a place nineteen centimeters higher than girls—that’s what it seemed like, but I don’t think it was so simple. There was a difference of twenty centimeters between boys and girls just from comparing the average heights of vertical jumps for a typical high schooler. If you add the difference in average height and arm length to that, then it should be a difference of forty or, if one was unlucky, fifty centimeters.

Boys competed even higher in the air above the net, which was nineteen centimeters taller than the girls’. When I watched intensity of the boys’ midair fight, it made me think how cramped and constricted we in girls’ volleyball were, just running around close to the floor. Of course, in Japan, girls’ volleyball was traditionally more popular, and there were many people who found the fun of volleyball in the combination plays and successive rallies that were distinctive to girls, so I would like to add this was purely my personal opinion. …But still, let me tell you, those rallies only lasted because of the “react-able” power and speed of the girls’ spikes. We weren’t able to react to boys’ spikes.

I was enchanted by the way the boys played. I was genuinely longing to play like them.

“Sorry, sorry, you’re from girls’ volleyball, right? We’re supposed to have a meeting today. Err…”

A remarkably tall boy spotted me and rushed over. Although, the width of each step was so big that it looked like he was calmly walking over here. He was like a giraffe…I thought, immediately overlapping the image of that tall and thin herbivore peacefully strutting in the African savannahs over him.

“I’m Suemori from 2-A. Hello.”

After curtly giving my name, my eyes returned to the court. The boy who had been standing out since earlier was just about to spike. He jumped so high that his hips were above the 2.43-meter net and slammed in a glorious spike along with a yell of “Rah!”

“Oops,” The aforementioned lanky giraffe-like boy stretched out his long arm and stopped the ball that came flying with a big bounce. While rolling it back with his foot, he called out in an exasperated-sounding voice, “You’ll hit a girl, you idiot. Be careful!” The way he spoke, like it lingered on the tongue, and his low-pitched voice really did remind me of a giraffe (although I’ve of course never heard a giraffe speak or even make a sound). I, who was 173 centimeters tall, was among the tallest in my class, including the boys, so I wasn’t treated like a girl often, but it seemed that I fit into the standard for a girl in the eyes of Giraffe Boy. On one hand, I felt embarrassed, but on the other hand, it made me feel uncomfortable.

“Soooorry.”

The boy who hit the ball just now went to the back of the spiking practice line again while throwing back an apology that didn’t sound particularly sorry.

“Um…so, let me introduce myself again, Suemori-san. I’m Aoki from 3-C.”

“I know who you are. You’re the vice president.”

Ah, nice to meet you, Giraffe Aoki-senpai said, the corners of his mouth turning up into a smile like he was eating leaves.

“Is that first-year Kuroba Yuni?”

“Eh? Oh, you know him?”

“I don’t really know him, but he’s my kouhai from middle school, so I recognize his face at least.”

Watching that first-year who was bouncing in place impatiently for his turn even though it wasn’t a long line, I was shocked, wondering if that was really the case as I confirmed it for myself. The reason for the questioning form was because he was very different from the impression I had of him in middle school. Speaking of Kuroba Yuni, wasn’t he the flunky of Kuroba Yorimichi—who was one of the “Big Four Guidance Regulars” handed down through the history of Monshiro Middle School—and a uselessly big liberal arts-type of boy?

“Boys can get pretty good all of a sudden.”

A line I heard someone said suddenly came to mind. Who said it…oh, it was Ayano. My chest ached a little as I recalled.

I heard that last year, the boys’ volleyball team at my old middle school achieved the good result of fourth place at the summer prefectural tournament. When I was there, the year before last, the boys’ team was far from a weak team…it couldn’t be called “existing”, but apparently there was a transfer student who somehow brought a miracle to the club.

“Is that kid the only one from Monshiro Middle joining this year?”

“Monshiro Middle? …Hah, I think it’s Kuroba and Nagato over there?”

I’ve seen that first-year called Nagato before, so he wasn’t that transfer student.

“I heard that there’s a great setter among our kouhai, but he didn’t come here, huh…” I murmured, but just I finished my sentence, Giraffe Aoki-senpai suddenly started coughing violently.

“…Are you alright?”

“Yeah, um, it’s just a cloud of sand.”

“Boys’ volleyball is pretty soft, I see.”

“You sure are harsh, Suemori-san.”

With another light cough, Aoki-senpai shrugged, looking embarrassed.

“It’s just how I am.”

I answered curtly on the surface, but on the inside, I was fed up with myself, thinking, Ah, I did it again. I knew full well that comments like these could hurt people.

Fortunately, Aoki-senpai didn’t seem particularly offended.

“Well, I can’t deny that, so it’s fine. Now, let’s have a discussion. Oh, I’m the vice captain. The captain is that Oda guy over there…Oi, Shin. We’re talking about the ballgame tournament!”

Nanafu Seiin Prefectural High School, located in Nanafu City, Fukui Prefecture. It took twenty-five minutes by train to go from the town of Monshiro, where my and Kuroba’s houses were located, to Nanafu Station. Including the travel time from my house to Monshiro Station, as well as the travel time from Nanafu Station to school, it took about an hour to get to school, but it was a school where there were a few people here and there from Monshiro Middle.

The ballgame tournament “Seiin Ballgame Festival,” which would take place in late June, could be called the main event of the first semester at our school. There would be six events: mixed boys’ and girls’ softball, mixed boys’ and girls’ futsal, girls’ basketball, boys’ volleyball, and girls’ volleyball. Under the supervision of the executive committee, each sports team would assist in the operation of the event. Incidentally, for many clubs, this overlapped with the time of the year when the prefectural qualifiers for summer national tournaments, so they shouldn’t have time to devote to school events by all rights, but our school didn’t have any teams that could go to nationals, so there was no problem. Rather, it was a time for a breather after being eliminated from the qualifiers.

Therefore, in the volleyball division, the boys’ and girls’ volleyball teams had to send staff members from each of their teams to run the event, but since the boys’ team was actually traditionally few in members, it was an annual custom for the girls’ team, which in contrast traditionally had a large number of members, to send out helpers.

And so unfortunately this year, the one sent in to the boys’ team in that coordinator role was me, girls’ volleyball second-year, Suemori Ibara. I said unfortunately because…being designated as a coordinator was synonymous being branded as a leftover as a player. In the girls’ team, it was a empty job where those who were judged useless were sent away.

“…So, if we follow how we did it last year, a teacher will be the chief referee, but from the club members, we need one person to be the assistant referee, one to be the scorer, two ball retrievers, and four linesmen. If it’s okay to leave out moppers, then then we need eight people for a single match. The girls will provide the two ball retrievers and two linesmen. We can’t spare anymore than that because we have to manage the girls’ side too. From the boys, please send out four people for the assistant referee, scorer, and two linesmen for each match. I think it will be difficult to divide up roles so that it won’t overlap with the people who will be in the match. Do you have any questions so far? You’re both third-years, so I think you probably knew all this, but…”

I, who had dropped my eyes to the memo I took over from my senpai in the girls’ club as I explained to that point, raised my head and saw the unreliable and worried looks on the two third-year boys, which strengthened my concern. I don’t know how to put this, but was there nothing that could be done about this vague herbivorous feeling that was common to all creatures called boys’ volleyball team members?

The aforementioned third-year who was so long and thin that he reminded one of a giraffe was the vice captain, Aoki Misao-senpai. In contrast, the captain, Oda Shinichiro-senpai was—it was rude to say this—a “pint-sized” boy. He was probably about ten centimeters shorter than me. Even if you discount the fact that I was tall for a girl, I was still way below the average height for boys. Is he a libero…? However, according to the rules, the team captain couldn’t be the libero in games, so there must have been some sort of inconvenience if the team captain was the libero.

If Aoki-senpai was a giraffe, then Oda-senpai was…what was he, a dog…yes, a dog. A Shiba inu. Crap, now I could only see him as a Shiba inu. I even saw a hallucination of him wagging his tail. Why was I talking so seriously while face to face with a giraffe and a dog? I was dying to tell someone about it…I wish I could talk to Ayano…

“Also, I’m working until the day before, not the day of, but team practice starts next week and I have to help with that as well. I’ll be inside on the day of the event for boys’ volleyball, but there will be days where I’m outside practicing…”

Since you could only take two courts in the gym, and there were four courts when you counted the outside court, boys’ and girls’ volleyball and the basketball teams competed for them. The fact that being inside was treated as “winning” and outside was “losing” was the same as marking out space for normal club activities. The ground on the outside court was dry, and if you tried to do a sliding receive, you would end up choking on a cloud of dust and your jersey and ball would turn chalk white, and depending on the weather, it’d be boiling or freezing, so we were being prejudiced against at any rate. And the tragedy of being wet and muddy after the rain didn’t need to be said.

As a result of a lottery, the venue for this year was determined to be outside for girls’ volleyball and boys’ basketball who drew “blanks”, and inside for boys’ volleyball and girls’ basketball who drew “success.”

“…You had good luck this year.”

When I muttered that in between conversations, Oda-senpai and Aoki-senpai both stiffened slightly and exchanged glances. “What is it?” I knitted my brows at this exchange that was like accomplices making eye contact with each other.

Oda-senpai sighed with a glum look on his face, and then gave a sidelong glare to Aoki-senpai.

“About that…actually, because of this guy’s cheating…”

“Hey, it’ll be awkward if you tell that to someone from girl’s volleyball. You were the one who said you wanted to be inside this year no matter what.”

“I never said a word about cheating. If the girls’ team doesn’t accept it, they might have to redo the lottery, which I don’t mind.”

While feeling a headache from the hallucination of a Shiba inu hounding a groaning giraffe and the giraffe laughing like an idiot and bending his long neck back, something occurred to me. Aoki-senpai was the vice president of the student council. The ballgame tournament was organized by the student council, and it was customary for the vice president to serve as the executive committee chairman. It would be possible for him to set up a cheating scheme for the lottery.

“I don’t see how it’s a problem. I won’t tell on you.”

I tried my best to sound indifferent.

“…It’s for Kanno’s sake, isn’t it?”

The two senpais blinked and exchanged glances once again. And then, Oda-senpai looked awkward, as expected, and Aoki-senpai didn’t look the least bit ashamed, but they both smiled bashfully.

“Yes.”

They said in unison and nodded.

Previous || Index || Next

[plushieinsurgents]

7 and 9 for the ask

oooh thanks for the ask!

7. A cherry tree! One with a nice strong bough to climb on, like in her convent school days. Doesn't quite flower into a satisfyingly pink cloud in spring, but the creamy-white blossoms still look quite becoming for a young lady snagging her stockings on the way up. In summer, she'd pick the cherries and (of course) hang them over her ears and Valjean practically melts inside. 🥺 Bonus if it's the one Marius smooshed his face into.

9. W h e l p try as I may to gauge some of Eponine's interests in the brick, I've found surprisingly few results. Hence, let imagination run amok.

In a modern au, I could imagine IT enthusiast Eponine programming Mabeuf an app for easy access with larger text and read-alouds, and also a sweet little botany archive she helps him file. Otherwise, the image of her screaming as Gavroche, Azelma and the twins practically herd Trojan horses into their family laptop downloading pirated games is far, far too vivid to ignore.

Another personal favorite is Eponine the Avid Geography Student, having seen a bunch of geologists spelunk into a cave in a volcano or something in National Geographic and going Woah, Cool. Basketball player who can't really play but made her way up to mediocrity through sheer willpower. Lead clarinet player in orchestra.

Canon!Ponine would have a lot more problems receiving an education, so I see two ways how this could go. Firstly, in the terribly dark AU in which the Thenardiers somehow receive a great fortune, a governess appears and (to Eponine's great disgust) begins to do what a governess does. She'd probably prefer piano lessons, if only for the chance to slam her fists on the keyboard in outrage.

Otherwise, Mme Thenardier, being literate, would probably teach her earlier on as a kid, and Eponine would develop a liking to literature and perhaps grow up a novelist.

[yeaahishowedupatyourparty]

Red & the meaning of it’s songs for Lottie. I just feel like doing this is going to help me build her narrative more, there might be some open spots in here but I doubt it. Also, as I said in the chat, it just helps everyone differentiate her from Holly because they both use Taylor’s albums for their character development! Hope that makes sense :) 

1. State Of Grace - Moving to New York and a dedication to all of the friend’s she’s made there. It’s the first time she’s been settled properly in one place and I think it’s about the intense excitement and love she feels for her academy already. She’s met Yasmine, Salem, and so many others and it’s track number 1, because she sees it as the opening to a really exciting new chapter.  2. Red - Elijah! This was her first boyfriend and they drifted as they grew up and moved on to different things. She has no ideas he’s into guys and that doesn’t really matter, anyway. She’s accepted that they’re over but the relationship is always romanticised in her head and moving on fully will probably never be an option.  3. Treacherous - Her first crush at Liberty was Avery and it hit hard. She was intensely pissed off when she didn’t get the reciprocation she wanted but after ‘Better than Revenge’ on Speak Now, she knows better than to put people on blast TOO hard. So, she went down the lovesick route and created this beautiful song. She knows that nothing’s going to come of it, but she can’t fully leave him alone. It’s a little less intense now that all of the academies are together though, because she doesn’t see him as much. 4. I Knew You Were Trouble - This plot is still work in progress, but it’ll be dedicated to Ethan. The two of them have got closer through attending Liberty and he’s attracted to her on a physical level; but nothing more. He’s mainly hooking up with her to prove a point to Addy and it’s working. They’re never official but even still, when she realises/the truth comes out, I think she’ll put her “Stop putting people on blast” attitude out of the window and release this because she won’t be happy.  5. All Too Well - I think All Too Well is really easy to interpret as heartbreak, but Lottie’s meant to be more calculated than that. So, even though it’s very much a heartfelt song and really emotional...she’s crafted it to be that way. It’ll be about Ethan and the purpose of it will be to get the general public and fans on side. She knows it tugs at heart-strings and while I Knew You Were Trouble is a bop, All Too Well is designed to give her the vulnerability that everybody loves to see. In reality, she’s not as hurt about it as she’s pretending.  6. 22 - Every single album has a song about or inspired by Annabel because she’s hands down the most important person in Lottie’s world. I feel Lottie would have grown up hearing Annabel’s stories about St Judes, her adventures and the friends she made. Lottie wrote this song when she got accepted into Liberty, knowing that she’d be having the same thing, and in a weird way feels more connected to her Mum than ever. The line “Everything will be alright if you keep me next to you” kind of points to how much she still relies on Annabel and knows her Mum will guide her through anything that gets hard in the next few years. She basically feels as if she’s her Mum when she was 22.  7. I Almost Do - Elijah. This would be an older song and I think it’d be written when she first started feeling the distance between them. This is probably the least complicated meaning on the album, oop.  8. We Are Never Getting Back Together - NOBODY LOL She just knew it’d get people talking and was catchy and it’ll be one she always acts as if it’s a huge secret who it’s about. 9. Stay Stay Stay - Again, it needs a little bit more development but Flynn is the second guy she’s had a major crush on. He’s really good to her and they have a lovely friendship, but she’s also keeping him at arms length because she knows her career plan is going to end up screwing over a lot of people and their reputations and she doesn’t want him to be one of them. It’s also about how he seems to genuinely like her and not care as much about how successful she is/what she can or cant offer him.  10. The Last Time - All Too Well, part 2. Just to REALLY drive home the fact that Ethan’s hurt her feelings, it’s all his fault and people should feel bad for her. Forget the fact she also knew he was one of the star basketball players and dating him would help boost the attention for ‘Red.’ That’s irrelevant...Obviously.  11. Holy Ground - She wrote this during her visit to St Judes and again, with her parents in mind. For them, Violet Springs is where it all started and I think she would’ve done something really sentimental like visited Annabel’s old dorm room or asked her Mum to take her to the place where they first met. This one tells their story more than any of theirs.  12. Sad Beautiful Tragic - Another one about Elijah. I feel like this is probably the shadiest song she’s written about him and here’s why...’Sad beautiful tragic love affair’ almost implies that something happened or somebody was wrong - and, of course, Lottie’s RARELY going to put herself in the shoes of the villain in any of her stories, so it very subtly nudges people to feel like Elijah did something. He didn’t, though, but one of Lottie’s weaknesses is making things up in her head until she believes them to be fact. There was definitely a stage where she thought he’d found somebody else, so this was the result.  13. The Lucky One - For Violet! Lottie’s been in the music industry for a little longer than most, just because Drew and Annabel let her be home-schooled for a few years while she worked on her debut. I think she sees a lot of herself in Violet and it’s somebody she genuinely cares about. It’s written almost like a fable about fame and trying to warn her that she needs to keep her feet on the ground or she’ll get hurt.  14. Everything Has Changed - I REALLY DON’T LIKE THIS SONG, I FIND IT HARD TO CARE ABOUT. She does have a vague connection with Fae’s new character, Jace, though, so I’ll fill this in when we’ve got a better idea of what it’s all about.  15. Starlight - Her second song about being in New York and starting life at Liberty. Lottie’s version of ‘Red’ is about living life at maximum intensity, which is what she feels like at the moment. She feels like this is the most alive and new she’ll ever be and her passion for everything is burning, so Starlight is another song that expresses that.  16. Begin Again - Flynn and Elijah, ahh. Again, she deep down knows Flynn’s a good guy and the real deal; the only other person she’s had that intuition about is Elijah. She’s kind of comparing them in the sense that they’ve given her that hopeful, heads-in-the-clouds feeling...unlike Ethan who is the other side of the album. I think it’s from the perspective of Lottie looking at Flynn and seeing a lot of Elijah - hence something quite nice is beginning...again. 

17. The Moment I Knew - This will again be for Jace. The vague idea of their connection is that they dated after she dated Elijah, while she was home schooling. She fell hard and looked to him for support and was convinced he’d be the same as Elijah was to her but he is and has always been more focused on his career. So, when she decided to go back to VS, he stayed out in LA trying to make his dreams come true. They tried long distance but he never called as much as she did and it felt very one way. He never did anything explicitly wrong...unless you hear Lottie’s slightly overdramatic version of the story via this song. (For people struggling to keep up, it goes: Elijah, Jace, Liberty, Crush on Avery, vague fling with Ethan, Longterm crush on Flynn LOL) 18. Come Back, Be Here - Leaving LA (when she was being home schooled/working on her debut) and Jace, too. This was the beginning of their short lived long distance relationship when she thought they genuinely had a chance. I feel like she’s embarrassed to admit she fell for him now but she did lmao.  19. Girl At Home - If you didn’t get the clue in her post, Peter C LOL. It’s plotted that when they got to NYC, he flirted with her a few times even though Lottie knew he was with Bianca. Hence why she wrote this song. She could’ve just told him to fuck off and left it be, but why do that when you could have it on an album and cause rumours to spread like wildfire?

[ramblingthoughtsofayoungadult]

What a Night-Chuck Bass Imagine

Requested: Yes

Warnings: mentions of sexual harassment and usual party shenanigans

Gif is from slytherinnpride

 Estelle’s “American Boy” blasted throughout the entire Plaza penthouse. The penthouse was filled with the Upper East Side elite’s teenage children, all wearing the nicest night out clothes money could buy. The endless flow of Dom Perignon, multiple seduction attempts, and short trips to the back bathroom would have one convinced that it was a typical Friday night high school party. In a way, it was a typical high school party.

  But it was Wednesday.

  Y/N Y/L/N had been snapping about that fact since Y/B/F/N burst into her bedroom an hour prior, commanding that Y/N join her at Dina Maxfield’s party. While Y/N was not the biggest party animal, she did like to attend a few here and there; she could not get into Princeton with subpar grades after all? But, her enthusiasm for attending parties was drastically diminshed after Lucas broke up with her via text. So, Y/N was more than happy hiding away from high school and all other high society parties in the safety of her room, watching Buffy: The Vampire Slayer.

   “Y/N, it has been a month since it happened!” Y/B/F/N had declared as she teetered further into Y/N’s room in her towering Louboutin stilettos. “The appropriate mourning period is over and it’s time for you to have fun!”  

  Y/N’s nose immediately wrinkled in distaste and she had burrowed herself further into her bed, as though her blankets were steel and not cashmere. “Go away,” she’d groaned. 

  Y/B/F/N had continued to ignore Y/N as she stormed into her closet and began rifling around the expansive area. “You have all these amazing pieces and you refuse to take any opportunity to wear them.” After selecting the most amazing dress to go with some Chanel pumps, she returned to Y/N.

  The poor girl had simply laid in her bed, y/e/c eyes looking dead as she watched the plasma TV mounted on her wall. For Y/N, it could have always been worse, she could not have the energy to try to go to school. At least she was moving. 

  Y/B/F/N had sighed and sat next to her. “I know this breakup hurt you a lot, but, you cannot let him hobble you like this. He definitely hasn’t been holed up in his house watching TV every night.” She shook her head. “I know you don’t wanna hear this, Y/N, but, things will only get worse while you’re here.” 

  “But...I need to know how this episode ends,” Y/N had muttered. 

  “You have TiVo!” 

  Y/N was not quite sure when she broke, somewhere between being forced into that Gaultier dress she thought she’d never wear and arguing against having her hair flat-ironed, but she did know, deep inside, that Y/B/F/N was right. She was sick of missing out on all the coolest parties and the most insane antics. Lucas was never that fun to go out with anyway, he always got too jealous if a boy even glanced at Y/N. Y/B/F/N had to be a better party partner. 

  Y/B/F/N snatched up some glasses of Dom and handed one to Y/N. “To getting out of the house!” 

  “To getting out of the house,” Y/N echoed. 

  The glasses clinked and Y/N savored the taste of the expensive champagne. The song switched to Lady Gaga’s “Paparazzi” and Y/B/F/N coaxed Y/N into dancing to it. 

   “One second.” Y/N downed the rest of the champagne, grabbed another glass, and let Y/B/F/N drag her out onto the dancefloor.

   Y/B/F/N shimmied her hips to the music and playfully twirled Y/N around, causing the other girl to laugh. As she kept drinking, Y/N found it even more enjoyable to laugh and laughed so hard, her stomach cramped. 

   “It’s been so long since I laughed like that,” Y/N breathed absent-mindedly.

  “Hey, I’ll have whatever you’re having,” Serena teased as she hugged her from behind.

   “Hi!” Y/N squealed as she clumsily threw her arms around Serena. 

   Serena chuckled as she helped Y/N balance. “How much has she had to drink?” She mouthed to Y/B/F/N.

   Y/B/F/N held up two fingers in response and Serena’s eyes widened. “It’s been awhile.” 

  Y/N and the blonde were not the best of friends, but they were close enough since second grade. Whenever Blair didn’t go to a party, Y/N would be the one to hold Serena’s hair back as she threw up in the bathroom. Y/N was so proud that Serena was doing better since she came back. 

  Serena wore a white sequined mini dress with silver pencil-thin Jimmy Choo pumps. Her hair fell down to her back in free curls. 

  “Hey, I’m glad that you came out tonight; I’ve missed you,” Serena said as she pulled Y/N to stand at arms-length.

  “Same. I would have been out sooner but Y/B/F/N dragged me,” Y/N giggled.

  “She’ll thank me later,” Y/B/F/N breathed.

  Y/N was not sure how much time past but she knew she had around four drinks when she heard Rihanna’s “Please Don’t Stop the Music”. Y/N threw her head back. 

  “I love this song!” Her closed eyes and high pitched voice punctuated her emotions.

  Kati and Isabelle, who had been sitting in the same area of couches as her, giggled at Y/N. 

  “Do you wanna dance?” Y/N swung herself forward, gripping the couch beneath her for leverage. “I’m gonna dance.” 

  Y/N bounced back out onto the dancefloor, giggling as she threw her hands in the air and twirled. She tossed her head back and forth, rolled her neck, and kick, ball changed at some point. She didn’t care, she didn’t care and it was wonderful. There was no Lucas to drag her off the dancefloor, no students who may be documenting this for later; it was just her and Rihanna.

   And something hard pressing against th small of her back.

  Y/N lazily opened her eyes and furrowed her brow. At first, she thought it may be Y/B/F/N joking around, but then, she spotted Y/B/F/N across the room, doing jello shots with some basketball players. 

  “You’re so hot,” a guttural voice husked in her ear.

  Y/N’s stomach tightened and she felt her body tense up. “Thanks?” 

  A pair of thick hands began roaming over her body, squeezing harshly in the places with more fat. Y/N yelped and grabbed at the wrists. 

  “Okay, that’s enough.” She tried to keep her voice ligthhearted as she took some steps away from the person. She did not get far in the crowd when she was yanked back by her wrist. 

  Y/N gagged on the fog of CK One and looked up into some angry green eyes. Then, she noted the navy Brooks Brothers polo and chinos. Trevor Addison, captain of the swim team. 

  “C’mon, Y/N, relax, it’s a party,” he chided. 

  “I am relaxed. I just...I just need to find Y-Y-Y/B/F/N,” she stuttered out.

  Trevor tsked at her and pulled her against his sweaty chest. “You don’t sound too good; let me take you to the bedroom so you can lie down, it’s the least I could do.” 

  Trevor started pulling her in the direction of the bedroom and Y/N did her best to fight it. Unfortunately, her inhibited motor skills were making her fumble and flail instead of fight.

   “Let go of me!” she cried, but no one could hear her over the music. 

  Trevor laughed callously. “Please, don’t act like you didn’t want this, dressed like the slut you are!”    Y/N pushed against him, tears welling in her eyes. “Stop it, Trevor!” 

  “No!” Trevor snapped. “Peter, Jack, Will, and Lucas all bragged about how good you are in bed. Now, it’s my turn!” 

  Y/N’s stomach dropped as the tears started to roll down her cheeks. With everything going on with Serena, Blair, Nate, Chuck, Dan, and Jenny, Y/N’s stunts went under the radar. She felt the dark cloud of shame hang over her and wondered if that was why no one really approached her after her breakup with Lucas despite her not really being social or open. 

  “Trevor, can’t you hear? Y/N isn’t into it or you,” Chuck drawled. 

  Y/N perked up and could not keep herself from gaping at Chuck. He stood behind Trevor, his shoulders relaxed and dark eyes staring right at Trevor. An outsider would think Chuck looked bored, but it was the total opposite. In fact, he was enraged and it looked like it was taking everything in his power for him not to punch Trevor.

  Trevor laughed in Chuck’s face. “Oh? And what are you gonna do? You can’t buy me off, Chuck, my father owns the biggest media conglomerate on the east coast!” 

  “That assumption is almost laughable, but I can assure you,” Chuck took a step closer, “if you do not leave Y/N alone, you will be thrown out of here once every member of the soccer team has a turn kicking your ass.” 

  Trevor narrowed his eyes at Chuck. “They wouldn’t!” 

  “Sure, they would.” Chuck continued glaring at Trevor for a moment. It felt like a decade to Y/N and she would have moved if she didn’t think it would escalate the situation.

  Trevor huffed and pushed Y/N towards Chuck. “Whatever, you can have the whore.” 

  Chuck grabbed Y/N by the forearms. “Oh, I wouldn’t have said that if I were you.” 

  Chuck waved someone over and seconds later, Trevor was surrounded by Nate and the rest of the soccer team. 

  “Let’s take this outside, shall we?” Nate asked rhetorically.

  A couple of his teammates pushed Trevor in the direction of the door and everyone stared after them in shock. As soon as they disappeared, the party resumed. 

  Chuck scanned over Y/N’s face. “Are you alright?” 

  Y/N nodded. “Yeah...I’m fine.” 

  “You’re crying.” 

  “What?” 

  “It’s fine.” Chuck gently led Y/N to another bathroom, sat her on the counter, and handed her some tissue. “It’s not your style to come to parties alone.” 

  Y/N snifled as she blew her nose. “I’m here with Y/B/F/N.” She sniffed and shook her head. “She wanted me to come out tonight and this happens.” 

  “Don’t let that neanderthal keep you from having a good time. Tonight’s the first time I’ve seen you not looking like a zombie,” Chuck argued. 

  “Chuck Bass has been watching me? That’s a shocker,” Y/N dead-panned. “I thought you were busy with the nightclub and Blair.” 

  Chuck glanced away and his jaw clenched at the mention of the brunette. “While I appreciate your concern, Vitrola is doing just fine. As for Blair, that isn’t a matter of concern.” 

  “Oh, sorry, I haven’t been keeping up with, well, anything going on.” 

  Chuck nodded. “Lucas had you in a vacuum, didn’t he?” 

  Y/N shrugged. “But it was nice, he was nice for a while. I’d like to say I don’t know where anything went wrong, but I do know. He didn’t like that I wasn’t always available, but, I have a life!” 

  Y/N was unaware of the force of her words until they came out and she immediately shrank back when she realized what she had said. 

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to say all that.” 

 Chuck shook his head. “It’s fine. I’ve been through worse.” He straightened up. “We should find Y/B/F/N.” 

  “Do you think I’m a slut?” 

  Chuck raised an eyebrow at Y/N. “What?” 

  “You heard what I said,” Y/N groaned. “Trevor kept calling me that, like I was something to pass around.” 

  “No, I don’t think you’re a slut. You’re a girl who takes what she wants and not many guys can appreciate that.” 

  Y/N sighed and rolled her eyes. “Great.” 

 Chuck stepped closer to her. “But I can.” 

 She looked back up at Chuck and felt like he was staring into her soul. Y/N and Chuck never had any kind of falling out or negative interaction. In fact, Y/N spent a lot of her time staying as far away from him as possible. She supposed he had some sort of change of heart the first time he and Blair got together. When they broke up, there was no way Y/N was going to go near him lest she wanted to face the wrath of Blair. But, Y/N and Chuck spoke occasionally after his breakup and it was always entertaining. Plus, there was that one night at Vitrola...

  Y/N still blushed at the memory. 

  She’d had one too many margaritas and happily joined the burlesque dancers onstage. There were not many people in the audience, but the most notable member was Chuck. He looked deliciously mischievous in the velvet booth as he watched her belt out “Big Spender”. Y/N loosely followed the choreography of the other dancers. At one point, she’d straddled Chuck’s lap and crooned, 

  “Spend a little with...me,” into his ear. 

   The Monday after, Y/N was forever grateful that Chuck had not mentioned anything about that night to anyone. Plus, she’d met Lucas at an opera after party that Monday night. Lucas probably would have never approached her if he’d heard about that night, but, Y/N probably would not have felt as numb for the past month if he hadn’t. 

  “Chuck,” she breathed. 

  He kissed her cheek. As much as he wanted to go straight for her pouty lips, he was not that kind of guy anymore. He could wait and he would wait. “Let’s go find Y/B/F/N and get you some water, okay?” 

  Y/N nodded absentmindedly and allowed Chuck to help her get off the counter. She felt robotic as he led her over to Y/B/F/N, who was cackling with some juniors. 

  “I hate to interrupt,” Chuck said over Kanye West’s “Heartless”.

  Y/B/F/N stopped giggling, turned, and her eyes widened as soon as she saw Y/N. “Y/N!” She hopped up and hugged her. “What happened?” she asked Chuck accusingly.

  “Relax, Y/B/F/N/L/N, I helped her when she was getting harrassed by Trevor,” Chuck said.

  “That douchebag!” Y/B/F/N hissed. “You okay?” she asked, turning back to Y/N.

  “Yeah.” Y/N looked at Chuck. “Thank you so much, for everything.”

  “Anytime.” 

 “Let’s get you some water.” Y/B/F/N waited until Y/N had some water in her to call a car to take them back to her house. As they skirted by the shiny skyscrapers and 24 hour restaurants, she asked, “What was that look Chuck was giving you?” 

  “What look?” Y/N muttered. 

 “That look like you were the only important thing in that room,” Y/B/F/N quipped. “ I mean, I guess he’s better now since he saved you, but, it’s kind of weird. What are you gonna do?” 

  Y/N had no idea. 

  “I’m too drunk for this...conversation” Y/N stated. 

[srhlsx]

CHAPTER 6

master | ch. 5 | ch. 7

(Y/n),

Break up with Oikawa. Everyone knows he deserves better than you and you’re just dating him for the clout. You can’t seem to keep your legs closed and it wouldn’t be surprising if you were letting the whole volleyball team hit it as well. Oikawa is a gentleman and deserves to be with a lady who will be respectful and show him the love he deserves, not a cold-hearted wench who can’t express any emotions-

You crumbled the piece of paper that you found in your locker. This one was a little more formal, written on nice stationary paper with neat handwriting. The person obviously took their time with their words but it would be time that was wasted.

You had become really good at blindly tossing these notes over your shoulder and into the trash. You heard a distinct swish as the crumbled paper landed with the other garbage and was out of your sight forever. Letting out a sigh, you grabbed your bag and hurried outside to the athletic trainers office, Oikawa had asked you to come with him when his knee had been acting up again.

“You should get it checked out.”

Oikawa sat on an exam table waiting to be seen by the school athletic trainer. The student trainers had tried to look, but at your insistence they left to find their superior. Oikawa had tried to argue that it wasn’t necessary, but all it took was you giving the second year students a stern look and they realized who exactly they would rather listen to.

“What do you think I’m doing now?” Oikawa grumbled, flexing the foot that was propped up while the other one dangled off the ledge of the table. He groaned a little bit when you grabbed his foot, pressed lightly on his knee to keep his leg straight, and then lifted his entire leg up. You could see him trying to contain the wince on his face.

“See?” You said, gently setting his leg back down on the table. “That’s not normal, Tooru. You need to see a doctor.”

“Yes, ma’am~” He sneered into your face closely, making you roll your eyes and push him away. Being around him so much, you were picking up Iwaizumi’s habit of rolling your eyes almost every time Oikawa spoke. “I just want to get cleared for today, I hate missing practice matches.”

“Well, you’re not going to play in any matches, practice or otherwise, if you keep this up.” You grumbled, looking around the medical room as the door opened and an older woman walked in, followed close by the two second years you had reprimanded earlier.

She hummed in agreement, going over to Oikawa and giving his knee a good look. “She’s right,” She said after poking around and getting Oikawa to flex his leg in different ways. “It’s nothing major right now, but keep an eye on it. Let’s ice it for twenty minutes, then we’ll get you back to practice?”

Oikawa groaned loudly, covering his face with his hands and falling back on the medical table dramatically. The woman and her students left to get what was needed and you joined Oikawa on the table, hopping up to sit by where his head lay.

“If you don’t take care of yourself, this whole scheme of yours won’t matter anyways and you’ll have wasted my time.” You teased, brushing his hair away from his face so he’d look up at you. He moved his hands and laced them together to rest on his stomach, squinting from the glare of the fluorescent lights. “And I hate when people waste my time.”

He smiled up at you, a rare Oikawa smile that he actually meant although it didn’t totally reach his eyes. “Thanks, (Y/n).” He said, looking back down at his knee. “You’re a good friend.”

You nodded, leaning back on your hands a little while you both waited. “You owe me, prettyboy.”

When Oikawa opened the doors to the gymnasium a few steps ahead of you, you immediately heard a small chorus of shrill cries when he walked through. Fuck, that really is annoying. 

You saw that there were two teams on the court, Seijoh players were wearing bright green jerseys while the other team had red ones. Oikawa walked up to the coaches who stood there with smug looks on their faces while the opposing team seemed to shift like a storm cloud had formed over them. You followed behind with Oikawa’s bags, having carried them for him into the gym, and stopped next to him as he explained to his coach that he was good to play. 

You heard a few girls continue to shriek from the balcony of the gym, part of a small audience that had formed to watch the practice match going on. Oikawa waved awkwardly up at them and you could instantly see the discomfort in his face, you turned around as well and also waved at the girls. Immediately, their faces dropped and their giddy cries of glee were silenced. 

Oikawa took off his warm up jacket and made a show of draping it over your shoulders. You were not really interested in drawing attention to yourself at this time and you weren’t interested in any petty displays of dominance, but you couldn’t help the little smirk that formed on your face at the sudden silence from the girls above. Maybe you really were scary.

You were still stewing over your concerns for Oikawa’s knee, he had walked over on it very gently and you had half a mind to tell someone on the team about it. As he turned to walk over to the area he could warm up in, you tugged lightly at the back of his shirt to get his attention. “Hey, go a little easy on it? It’s just practice.”

Oikawa looked at you over his shoulder and reached up to ruffle your hair affectionately. He smiled, one of his fake smiles this time, and spoke. “Oh (y/n), you of all people know it’s never just practice.”

- - - - -

The ball blasted past Oikawa after the red haired boy hit it. It was a shock to everyone and the lack of immediate reaction was no surprise. In fact, no one was really sure what had even happened for a few moments.

The scorekeeper flipped the last point over and the whistle blew to signal the end of the practice match. Karasuno had beaten Seijoh in a surprising upset, two sets to one.

Knowing that there was going to be some kind of follow-up, you turned abruptly on your feet and moved to head out of the gym and wait for Oikawa and Iwaizumi to join you to walk home. You figured giving them a little bit of time to clean and talk over the match wasn’t something you needed to be a part of. Finding a spot on a bench outside under a tree a few meters from the gym entrance.

You were scrolling through your phone when you heard the voices approach. They were distinctly female and very much not trying to keep their volume down. 

“-just standing there the whole time.”

“Well at least she got to wear his jacket, that’s more than you can say.”

“I still can’t believe it, I mean she just broke up with that basketball player that graduated.”

“I know, totally stealing Oikawa from everyone else. Like, chill out on the boyfriends, yeah?”

“That other guy wasn’t even that cute, they dated for so- oop!”

You looked up from your phone when you heard the surprised noise one of them had made and saw the girls standing just a few feet from you and looking wholly embarrassed. You gave them a look, lazily glancing at them from head to toe - unimpressed - before looking back down at your phone again. 

“Oh my god, you fucking dumbass.” One of them whispered as they scurried past you, doing their best to avoid looking at you, their faces clearly flushed.

You let out a sigh, already forgetting about the words spoken about you as you scrolled through your social media feed. You double tapped a few images friends and family members had posted, sending a few funny memes to Ichika, then clicking over to look at your own profile. You’d had to do a serious overhaul when things with Oikawa became known, the main one having to be that you turned off comments since the absolute spamming of them on your posted images had nearly shut down your account.

You had no idea that posting one picture of Oikawa, at his insistence since it would look believable for the two of you to be posting about one another, would cause such an uproar. It was a picture of him standing a few feet before the camera in your backyard on the day he came up with the plan, your massive dog was jumping up on him and had knocked the sunglasses off his head and you managed to catch a candid photo of it.

When you posted it, tagging him by username, you had no idea that within hours your profile would explode. Your follower count nearly tripled from the already high number you had, mostly girls requesting to follow you, and the sudden outpouring of comments filled with heart emojis and infinite X’s and O’s made your head spin. When you reset the password after getting kicked out of the account, you immediately made the changes to avoid it happening again.

“Kids these days and their phones,” You looked up at the sound of Oikawa’s scolding. He was walking with Iwaizumi towards you and you stood up to meet them so you could make the journey home.

“You boys look hungry,” You said, handing Oikawa his jacket from earlier. “How about I treat you to some meat buns?”

Oikawa cheered and skipped ahead happily, chanting some kind of made-up song about you which made you laugh. You looked over at Iwaizumi who was shaking his head at his friend’s antics although not scowling for once. You nudged him with your elbow, smiling up at him as he continued to chuckle. 

“C’mon, Iwa.” You looped your arm with his and attempted to drag him to catch up. “Oh, have you done the calc homework yet?”

“Sorta,” He shrugged, hands in his pockets but not making a move to pull away from your grasp as you squeezed his arm to get his attention. “Looked at it but haven’t started.”

“Okay, same. Wanna work on it together? Two brains are better than one, right?” You asked, seeing him nod in agreement. You looked forward again to see Oikawa continue to skip ahead of you. “Let’s make sure he doesn’t get hit by a car.”

“Would that really be so terrible?”

[flowapuddle]

Just a bit of info on you and Aaliyah and the family

Okay just little info page for anybody who is reading this and wondering what the fu** is happening 🧍🏾‍♀️

-

BASIC INFO:

:Full Name: (Y/n) (M/n) Immah

:Meaning of name: Immah meaning a Girl Who always Loves To Make People Smile. She is a person who tries to help people out & she hates seeing people suffer for nothing. She always Smile Even when she get in trouble . she is loyal , sometimes she can be immature , nice , amazing & all those good stuff. She has a high Future ahead of her . - Urban Dictionary

:Nickname(s): sweetie/honey

:Gender: female

:Age: 16

:Date of Birth: August 25

:Place of Birth: In (C/n)

:Native language: English (sorry if it isn't)

:Languages spoken: Japanese & English

:Ethnicity: Whatever ethnicity you are

:Occupation: Athlete

:Education: Highschool 1st year

MEDICAL INFO:

:Allergies: dust

APPEARANCE:

:Height: 167.64 (5ft, 6)

:Hair color: black-brownish with a white streak

:Hairstyle: usually down or half up and half down

:Eye color: (e/c)

:Piercings: ears

:Tattoos: none

:Scars: only on her arm but it's a tiny cat scratch

Beauty Mark: (Y/n) has a beauty Mark under her left eye like her mom

:Clothing/Style:

(If you don't wear anything like this then f**k 🧍🏾‍♀️ I am sorry for the sake of this book you wear this )

:Jewelry/Accesoaries:

Chocker/Necklace/Earrings

(Remember guys the same of the book 🧍🏾‍♀️)

:Scent: vanilla/cherry

:Others: uhhhh yes .

PERSONALITY:

:Overall: happy and joyful

:Likes: playing volleyball/collecting jewelry/ and whatever you like doing also/sleeping

:Dislikes: grunge things but will tolerate, not being organized, teachers who give out too much homework 🧍🏾‍♀️

:Fears: I already mentioned spiders ?

:Secrets: that's in 3rd grade she accidentally fell off the playground because she was trying to impress her crush 🤧

:Hobbies: playing sports, collecting things, simping, modeling

:Dreams: of being the #1 ranked volleyball player when going professional

:Flaws: overthinks

:Fun facts/Habits: (Y/n) is very expressive so you can tell what she thinking by the look on her face

:Others:

Quote(s):

Aaliyah: Just ramble (y/n) like you always do.

(Y/n): I don't ramble on. I know I am a great speaker and all but I don't ramble. People who ramble just keep talking and talking on and on without stopping. I can stop talking because I don't ramble. For insist you remember that one time I talked your ear off about literally what would happen if a kite caught electricity. Now that was rambling

Aaliyah: *faceplams* Ugh, thats 50 seconds of my life I will never get back

Favorite season(s): Summer

Favorite food(s): (f/f)

Favorite color(s): (f/c)

Favorite holiday: April 1st (in attempt to get Aaliyah, but fails)

Favorite animal(s): (f/animal)

—

BASIC INFO: THIS IS YOUR OLDER SISTER

:Full Name: Aaliyah Harper Immah

:Meaning of name: She's beautiful. She doesn't realize how beautiful she is. She may have a lot of enemies- Urban Dictionary

:Nickname(s): gumdrop/love

:Gender: Women

:Age: 17

:Date of Birth: April 16

:Place of Birth: Hospital back in (C/n)

:Native language: English

:Languages spoken: Japanese & English

:Ethnicity: Black/Mexican

:Occupation: Athlete

:Education: highschool 3rd year

MEDICAL INFO:

:Allergies: dust, pollen

APPEARANCE:

:Height: 182.88 cm (6'0 ft) tall ass mf 😐

:Hair color: black that fades into brown that fades into dirty blonde color (her original hair color was brown but she bleached her hair)

:Hairstyle: Long curly hair that reaches the back of mid back, but it's usually half up with space buns

:Eye color: bright blue

:Piercings: bellybutton, tongue & ears

:Tattoos: none

:Scars: on her leg from a fight she got in with (y/n)

:Clothing/Style:

:Jewelry/Accesoaries:

Belly/Tongue Piercing

: Earrings

Chocker/Rings that are worn on thumb and middle and first/Necklace

:Scent: Roses & Sugar Plums

PERSONALITY:

:Overall:(fuck 🧍🏾‍♀️) dense lowkey like Ushijima but have a sense of humor more on not very emotional (on rare occasions yes very emotional) nor expressive

:Likes: music, writing, modeling, playing basketball, cooking/baking, clothes & jewelry

:Dislikes: cockroaches & loud people 👀

:Fears: not succeeding

:Secrets: won't admit that y/n is generally a funny person & won't tell anybody she likes taking photos of the clouds and ladybugs 🤫

:Hobbies: taking photos, traveling, sweets

:Dreams: of being #1 best girls/women basketball player

:Flaws: dense, emotionless, says what's on mind

:Fun facts/Habits: Tends to scrunch or wiggle her noise like a rabbit lowkey when something interests her

Quote: "She never spoke, never made a sound, but the look in her eyes told me exactly what was about to happen"

Favorite season(s): winter & mid-fall

Favorite food(s): ramen, pho or anything sweet

Favorite color(s): royal blue, bright purple and electric yellow

Favorite holiday(s): Christmas, she likes giving gifts to (y/n) knowing she will enjoy them makes her generally happy

Favorite animal(s): polar bear, cats & owls

-Credit to CookiiesPWN on DeviantArt for template

Extra:

Your dad: Elijah Jager Imaah

Age: 40

Race: African-American

Profession: (was a professional basketball player retired after having his first daughter is now a trainer)

Height: 6'6

Languages Spoken: English/ Japanese/ A bit of Spanish since his wife sometimes talks to him in Spanish

Your mom: Homura Yua Imaah

Age: 40

Race: Japanese/Mexican( more mexican than japanese)

Profession:(Was a professional women volleyball, retired to give birth to her first daughter and shortly after started a sports company with her best friend in Japan)

Height: 5'9

Language Spoken: English/Japanese/Spanish

Aaliyah

-Artist Credit to @/AlohaSushicore on Twitter found her artwork on Picrew me and did my OC's in her style and I absolutely love it

Part 2 is here!!

Back to Storyboard!

[thetypedwriter]

Only Mostly Devastated Book Review

Only Mostly Devastated Book Review by Sophie Gonzales

You know those feel good movies that are short and sweet and fun while you’re watching it, but mostly forgettable? You all know what I’m talking about. It’s the experience of something that is fine, enjoyable even, but largely unnoticed on the grand scheme of things?

Only Mostly Devastated is like that. 

Now, before the fangirls attack, let me just say that what I commented above is not an inherent criticism. Not every novel that I read, or people want to read, has to be a masterful prose full of epistemological queries and agonizing philosophies on life.

 Sometimes you want something sweet and fluffy, like cotton candy, to fill in the times when your brain needs a break. A good book does not necessarily equate to a challenging book, although English teachers in school will have you believe otherwise. 

Sometimes books can just be fun. 

Only Mostly Devastated tells the queer book version of Grease, down to allusions making its way even on the front cover. The plot is basic in its storytelling. The main character, Oliver, is staying in North Carolina for the summer with his parents as they help out his aunt while she receives treatment for cancer. During the summer, Oliver has a not-so-summer-fling with a boy named Will that both think will end when Oliver moves back to California at the end of the season. 

But lo and behold! Oliver’s parents decide to stay in North Carolina for a year to help out, forcing Oliver to spend his last year of high school far away from home and unbeknownst to him, attend the same high school as his beloved Will from the summer. 

However, predictably, Will from summer and Will the basketball player that Oliver meets in high school, seem to be two different people, with Oliver trying to reconcile why the boy he loves is pretending like he doesn’t exist. 

This book...isn’t original. In any way, shape, or form. From the plot, the characters, the dialogue, and even the writing, nothing about this stands out too much to me. 

Again, this does not make it a bad read, sometimes you want light and easy and predictable, but it does make it a forgettable one. 

The plot is fine. It’s sturdy, it works for what Gonzales is trying to achieve, which is mainly the love story between Will and Oliver. She does try to throw some other things in there, like putting a side character who is struggling with being bisexual, another side character with PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome), some light stuff on body image, other airy commentary on fetishizing people’s sexualization, and of course, the death and loss of a loved one and the grieving process that goes with it. 

Now, you might be saying, wow, thetypedwriter, what are you thinking? That is so much stuff that she put into her book! Incredible! How can you call it shallow and predictable?

Well, for one, the book is short. While again, nice for those readers who want something light to carry on their way to tan by the pool, great, but for those readers who want something more, this can be frustrating. 

For an in-depth reading experience for any of those themes above, hitting the tip of the iceberg would be putting it lightly. The book skims the surface of those topics, but they aren’t delved into in any semblance of sophistication or depth that would actually make this a more memorable read. 

Reason two, Sophie Gonzales does come across quite preachy sometimes. 

Now, this can be tricky so let me explain. Putting forth your agenda or your beliefs and values in a book is not an erroneous thing to do. Actually, it’s an amazing thing to do and people have been using books as a form of expression for these types of things for centuries. Some may argue that the intrinsic value of a book is to express such opinions. 

However, this is not Sophie Gonzales’ biography, nor is it an opinion article about how she feels about the fetishization of girls kissing girls for male entertainment. When you are going to put your opinions and beliefs into your book, it needs to make sense in the scheme of the characters. 

For example, if J.K. Rowling randomly had Ron go on a speech about women’s rights and toxic masculinity, it would be out-of-character and baffling since Ron would not be the character to say such a thing. 

However, if Hermione were to give such a speech, the ideas and beliefs would be passed along, message received, but without breaking character or pulling me out of the universe to think what the hell because a sermon came out of left field that held no continuity in the scheme of the novel as a whole. 

This happened to me quite a lot in Only Mostly Devastated. It was like Sohpie Gonzales got to a certain point, told her characters to step aside, and then got on her soapbox to preach about love and acceptance. 

Once again, I’m not against any of the messages she’s portraying at all. 

What I think lacked finesse, however, was the way in which she got those messages across, which was often out-of-character and forced the plot to go certain places just so she could get the chance to talk about those issues. 

With that out of the way, other slight criticisms I have mainly are to be found with the characters and the writing itself. 

The characters were all likable enough. I’m not about to go write fanfiction about any of them though. They were largely generic, although entertaining enough for what this book is offering. They were also all pretty forgettable and formed pretty forgettable relationships as well. 

Do I really remember any of Will’s friends? Nope. What about Oliver’s girl squad? Kind of? I did appreciate the attempt at including more characters of color, including Will.

I do think that Lara was the most interesting character. I honestly would have preferred to have had a whole novel about her rather than told from Oliver’s point-of-view, simply as Oliver is basic as all hell (white boy that plays guitar and is slightly awkward. I’ve only seen this character about 10 million thousand times before).

 And if Gonzales had written this novel about Lara instead, all of her themes would have worked infinitely better. You still get the struggle with sexuality, you still get the side POC characters with PCOS and body image issues, and you could still have the plot of loss and death if you wanted to. 

The friendship with the girls would make so much more sense, the fetishization topic could have been delved into way more thoroughly, and Lara was kind of a bitch, and I appreciated that about her. You would even still get a musical person in the form of Juliette even without Oliver on the scene. 

But, nope. We get Oliver. Which is...fine. Mediocre, but fine, I guess. 

Lastly, Gonzales is a perfectly average writer. The story flowed, it was funny, it had its moments of nuance and sarcasm, but there were moments where she would make comparisons, always with similes or metaphors, that left me literally confounded because of how bizarre and out-of-place I found them. 

Some examples:

1. “Up close, she smelled like sugary flowers.” 

-I’m sorry, but what do sugary flowers smell like? Why are the flowers sugary? Who would even sugar their flowers in the first place?

2. “Deep inside my chest, my heart was beating as though it was trying to tear free from bondage.”

-Just...an extremely odd choice of words. Why bondage, Sophie Gonzales, why?

3. “I’d rather floss with barbed wire, than watch a live sports match…”

-Ummm eww and scary?

I could go on and on with the frankly awful choices for comparison that are made in this book with incessant use, but I think you get the point. The similes and metaphors were downright baffling. Not really sure what Gonzales was going for with them, but...no. Just no. 

Lastly, Oliver’s nickname Ollie-oop made me want to curl up and die. It didn’t make them seem like better friends. In fact, the whole rose gold-girl-group and Oliver was such a dumpster fire of a friendship that lacked any and all actual solid foundations for a relationship that it annoyed me, especially in the end when Oliver decides to stay in North Carolina to be with people he’s not even close to. 

Additionally, the inclusion of Oliver’s two friends from back home was just...pointless, utterly pointless. I don’t even know why she bothered to write them into the story honestly. They added nothing. 

Again, her themes are good in nature and provocative in theory, but the book was just too short and shallow to justify writing in any of it when really all she cared about was Will and Oliver sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G. It was almost like fanfiction, but published. Actually, nope, I think fanfiction is better. 

Wow, I guess I had more feelings about this book than I thought, mostly negative too. 

Once more, I want to heavily emphasize that I DIDN’T HATE IT. It was a super, light, super cute, very simple book that I’m sure a ton of people will appreciate right now with everything heavy going on in the world.

 If you need a book in cloud form, this is your novel. But....if you wanted something more like me, if you found it just a little too simplistic in nature, just a little too forgettable, then that’s okay too. 

Recommendation: If you’re too burdened down by carrying your sunscreen and your cooler out to the pool, this is the perfect light summer reading to tuck under one arm and melt your worries away for a little while. If you want an actually good, actually complex and refined LGBTQ+ coming of age novel then I’d definitely go for the likes of Red, White, and Royal Blue or Autoboyagraphy instead. 

Score: 5/10 

[papipopsicle]

BULLETPROOF HEART

Pairing: Billy Hargrove X Reader

Genre: angst and some fluff here and there

Summary: In which Billy's only saving grace in Hawkins is his witty neighbour with cotton candy hair. Y/N was sweet, with a soft touch and caring eyes- too bad she's got a boyfriend, and he's a real dick. AU where Billy has a different backstory than in S3.

Request: Could u do a Billy Hargrove x fem!reader where she is in an abusive relationship but he doesn't know bc she's always covering her bruises and cuts with makeup and clothes, until she arrives at his house all f*cked up? You choose the ending, thanks boo! @ghost-broccoli

Song: Sweet Creature by Harry Styles

Warnings: nothing so far

Words: 1.6K

a/n: fluffy beginnings means angst is to come...

feedback is always appreciated

Billy Hargrove had no idea what love meant. His mother had died in a driving accident eleven months ago. Maybe before that the four letter word held some kind of meaning- he'd never admit it, even back then, but she was his entire world.

But his father found no trouble in moving on, less than a month after the traumatic loss and Neil had a new girlfriend. It took three weeks for him to cheat on Susan Mayfield, and a further week for her to convince him to move their entire life to a dingy little town the other side of America. They were as bad as each other, they deserved to strangle one another with their venomous deceit and end up with nothing but hatred in their hearts.

Billy Hargrove didn't know what love truly meant anymore, but if it was an all consuming feeling of irrevocable passion and a want for someone to be truly happy, then he had found it seven months ago on his first day in Hawkins. Yet he did nothing about it, because she seemed happy in her own little world, but Billy would soon find out it wasn't only his father's appearance that could be deceiving.

"So you're the family moving into Mister Clarke's house?" Y/N called out with a small smile hanging from her lips, skipping down the steps of her porch and crossing the road to greet a boy with ringlet hair and olive skin. He seemed to be unloading a cardboard box from the boot of his navy Camaro, keys carefully balanced between his teeth.

"What?" The boy grunted in a muffled voice as he turned around, bored with the conversation already. Not even an hour into arriving in Indiana and he couldn't take another second of this shithole. His eyes were met with a cloud fogging up his vision, or rather, curls upon curls of long cotton candy pink hair bouncing towards him. Y/N grinned while he shimmied the box to take the metal object out of his mouth, "Yeah, I guess I am."

She wore a short white dress with little blue and pink flowers dotted all over it, knee-high grey socks and black combat boots- it seemed utterly bizarre, but without even knowing her, Billy thought it suited her vibrant personality. Cute.

Y/N slung a small pink bag over her shoulder and stuck her hand out, bright smile making the corners of her eyes crinkle ever so slightly. It was refreshing, rather than having puckered lips in his face and tits pushed so far up you couldn't even see a girl's collar bones, that she smiled with ease and had the most beautifully kind eyes his had met in the past four months.

"I'm Y/N  Y/L/N, I live just across the road with my mum and little sister. So, are you going to be coming to Hawkins High? I'm a senior- you know, you might be the first new face I've literally ever seen. Well, apart from a newborn, of course." The girl retracted her hand after a few moments, realising both of his were preoccupied and she instead opted to brush some hair away from her face, which fell right back not even a second later.

"Looks like it." Billy smirked a little, letting a genuine smile fall to his features after a moment. He watched her feet bounce up and down a little and her bubblegum hair moved on que, "Billy."

"Well, Billy," Y/N tried to mimic his golden coast tinged accent, eyes racing over the neglected house behind him before returning to his well built figure, "I'm only a few seconds away if you ever need anything, apart from tonight."

"And where're you disappearing off to tonight then, bubblegum?" The Californian boy couldn't help but mirror her happy tone, finding her positivity overwhelming and infectious in the best kind of way. If it were anyone else, Billy would've started to get annoyed at their preppy attitude, but he simply wanted to protect her from anything bad the world could send Y/N's way. Boy, did that thought haunt him to look back on.

"I'm going on a date." She squealed, failing to hide her pure unadulterated excitement, "A first date, actually. He should be here any minute."

Y/N checked her watch and saw that Declan Harper was twelve minutes late to pick her up. Her lips pursed and she chewed at her bottom lip in thought, disappointment hidden behind her shiny eyes, and her mind raced to find any possible excuse. The girl hated being kept waiting- she always put in a conscious effort to be on time when meeting up with someone and when they didn't do the same it felt like she wasn't their priority. But she was certain Declan wasn't like that.

His eyes rolled playfully, catching sight of Y/N's pink glossed lips for two rather long seconds, "Have a great night, bubbles."

Billy sent the curly haired girl a wink, and turned to bring the box into the house he was meant to call a home from now on. Y/N wandered back over the road after telling him to have a great night settling in, sitting on the steps to her porch and glancing down at her watch again to see that more time had ticked by.

"Hey," The girl's head popped up again as Billy reappeared, crossing the road halfway with the first serious look she'd seen him wear, "come find me if he doesn't treat you like a princess, I'm only a few seconds away."

He mirrored her speech, sending a warm fuzzy feeling straight to her head. She ignored that the same feeling hadn't appeared when the basketball player asked her on a dinner date four days ago, and then again when she noticed his car approaching her house.

The night went by, Declan showed up with a small bouquet of yellow and orange flowers in one hand and an apology in the other. Y/N had a great night, pushing aside the twenty minutes of waiting when he made her giggle and blush at his compliments. She kissed him on the cheek goodbye, but just as she was about to open her front door he twisted her around and locked their lips with a passionate grip on her waist.

She let out a yelp, stumbling backwards in surprise only to find his hands steadying her against his toned body, deepening the kiss before finally setting her free. Y/N chuckled awkwardly, stuttering out a goodbye through burning cheeks and bruised lips.

The girl watched through her windows waving Declan off, moving to her mother's room to let her know she had a good time and was home safe before ten. Y/N began to feel flustered and hot, unable to breathe as she removed her make up. She swapped her girly dress for grey tracksuit bottoms and a bright pink sweatshirt reading 'Barbie' in white text.

My first kiss, Y/N though to herself. It wasn't what she was told as a child and imagined for the past ten years. There weren't any sparks or fireworks and there definitely wasn't a giddy spinning surge of happiness in her head. But that was probably just fairytales and fiction, it was nice enough and Declan seemed sweet.

Y/N tied her hair into a ponytail taming her lions mane, chugged down a glass of ice cold water and went to sit on the porch steps where she had been waiting at hours earlier. Her dad always used to yell it wasn't safe to sit there late at night, but nothing ever happened in Hawkins, other than Mister Clarke forgetting to check his post until midnight.

"So," a deep yet soothing voice called from what seemed like the indigo night sky.

"God?" Y/N whispered in disbelief, looking around to see a shadowy figure appear across the chewed up road.

"Girls have been known to call me that." Billy chuckled, his person dimly lit by the nearby street lamp. His new neighbour looked all too sweet sat on the bottom step of her porch, chin sat against her fleece covered knees, eyes almost glittering in the amber light.

"Shush, you cheeseball." She patted the empty step beside her "Come sit for a bit?"

For over an hour, Y/N Y/L/N and Billy Hargrove chatted about all kinds of nonsense. She told him about the date and her kiss, unable to hide her reservations from Billy that she hid so well from herself. But he didn't say anything, he let her pretend to be happy because, at least her smile was still beaming with hope.

Looking back on it, now with her fragile frame pressed up against his on the exact same steps. He never realised how tiny she was until now, small whimpers and hiccups jolting their body's with his hand pressed against the bloodied forehead he had kissed goodbye too many times.

If only he knew sooner it wasn't hope in her eyes, but the want for something so pure and honest that she never knew what love truly felt like. Declan warped her mind into believing this was love, that love hurt more than healed, and Billy blamed himself for all the torture this flawless soul had to go through.

part two?

Taglist:

@ilkaeliseb @florenceivy @annas-unicorun @astro-sweetheart @4everchrista @delicatelyherdreams @mautand @me-a-hopeless-romantic @buckysjuicyplums @fengarifood @lucyrocks86

Wanna be tagged?? Just send in an ask x

[welllpthisishappening]

More Famous Than a Yankee Can

He knows it’s not a dream. He’s had this dream before. Finding her again and talking to her again and wearing pinstripes. They usually aren’t all the same dream. So this has to be real. But the last place Killian Jones ever expected to see Emma Swan was while he was wearing those pinstripes. With her standing on the bleachers in Yankee Stadium. 

Rating: Like...T’ish.  Word Count: I don’t know, a lot. Probably like 8K. I got sports emotions. AN: HAPPY OPENING DAY! THE YANKEES ARE GOING TO WIN THE WORLD SERIES. This has been sitting in my docs for several eons, but baseball season starts today and I’ve got baseball tickets on Sunday and, well...here are some words. This is a direct sequel to Start Spreading the News so it may help to read that, but if you’re like Laura, that is too many words, here’s what you need to know: Emma and Killian grew up together, haven’t seen each other in years, Emma’s at a Yankee game when she realizes Killian plays RF and the Bleacher Creatures play Cupid to get them back together. 

Also on Ao3 if that’s how you roll. 

Also, also, if you are in the baseball mood, here’s some shameless self promo because I wrote a baseball book (two, in fact) with more kissing and more sports emotions and you can buy it and read it. 

She is impossibly warm.

It’s the first thing he thinks about, as soon as her fingers wrap around the front of his t-shirt and he’s certain he can feel every single inch of her, standing there on the stoop in front of her apartment building and it’s kind of like holding onto his own, personal sun.

The whole thing is a fairly ridiculous notion, mostly because Killian shouldn’t be thinking about suns or any other celestial being when Emma Swan is kissing him, but it’s been that kind of day and he’s going to have to deal with the consequences of that whole seventh-inning stretch thing eventually. He’s fairly certain Regina is going to yell at him.

There’s a joke about getting burned in there. He’s circled right back around to the sun.

And, really, Killian knows that the heat is probably a product of sunshine and walking several dozen blocks, which probably wasn’t a good idea after playing a goddamn baseball game and ignoring a goddamn baseball game, but his legs didn’t seem to care and he certainly didn’t seem to care and he can’t stop kissing Emma.

Or the other way around.

It absolutely did not matter.

The very first time, the only time, they’d done this, he’d been an eighteen-year-old brat and she’d been sixteen and possibly the center of the entire universe. It had always felt that way, something about tides and drawn together and no one knew more about Killian Jones than Emma Swan did. Even Liam. It was easy to talk to her, sitting on back steps with the possibility of possibility in front of them and nothing seemed very likely, but that was equal parts exciting and terrifying for two teenage kids who could only count on their own dreams.

Neither one of them was ever really very good at sleeping.

It was because the house didn’t have consistent air conditioning.

So they sat and they talked and admitted things that were easier to say under a few stars, and they told him he had to leave three days after he turned eighteen. Killian told Emma, approximately, two hours and twenty-two minutes after.

Once he worked up the courage.

And his voice had shook, and his heart hammered against his ribs and he knew he stared at his shoes instead of her, because he wasn't sure he’d be able to cope with watching her expression change as soon as she processed the words. Or he didn’t want her to see his expression change as soon as he processed he might not ever see her again.

So he looked at his feet and stumbled over the words and she’d kissed him first then too.

Figured.

It was probably something about control and the sun never had to ask permission to shine.  

God, that sounded weird even in his own head. He assumes it’s because his fingers have found their way under the edge of her shirt and his mind is already drifting towards team-branded merchandise and how consistently he’d be able to hit if Emma was wearing his number.

What a possessive weirdo.

She didn’t freak out about the number thing though, and Killian wouldn’t have blamed her if she had, honestly. He’d kind of freaked out about the number thing because it was weird and sentimental and he hadn’t been hung up on a girl he knew when he was eighteen, but that might have been a lie and...something about Icarus.

Too close to the sun or whatever.

He needs to breathe.

Killian does not breathe. He can’t be bothered. He’s going to keep kissing Emma until she punches him in the face or something equally violent and absurd, because it’s been that kind of day and Regina’s going to hit him with several different bats.

Someone whistles.

One of them laughs when they, finally, pull away, foreheads resting on each other and smiles on their faces and touching her skin is like being burned and branded and some other verb that probably starts with the letter ‘b’ and is exponentially better than both of those ones.

“So the number thing wasn’t a total deal breaker then?” Killian asks softly, and Emma swats at his shoulder. He moves on instinct, years of training and practice and her eyes widen slightly when he catches her around the wrist.

It’s distracting in a way getting hit by a pitch is distracting. Like a ninety-six mile per hour fastball has just slammed into his thigh and left a bruise that won’t disappear for weeks, at least, and he’ll probably walk with a slight limp for a few games.

Killian needs to stop thinking of such violent metaphors. He briefly considers ducking his head to kiss her again, or profess several things that are completely out of the realm of possibility, but Emma is talking again and his whole mind keeps short-circuiting when that happens.

“A little stalkery, but in a nice kind of way,” Emma says.

“That’s the line I was trying to walk, for sure.” “So, uh…” “So what do you think you’re doing after the next home game?” Killian asks, and it immediately feels as if his heart bursts. Emma grins.

“When is that?” “Tomorrow.” She laughs, and it’s perfect and wonderful and he’d give up his signing bonus and player option to hear it every day for the rest of his life because he might have missed it every day for the last twelve years and he wants her to come to every single game for, like, the rest of forever.

Emma presses back up on her toes, an arm slung around his neck and the whole world could burst into flames and Killian isn’t certain he would notice. She kisses him again.

“Was that the answer?” he ask. “Because it didn’t seem like--”

“--Oh my God, you are needy. Yes, that was the answer. What did you have in mind, exactly?” He grins, hope and happiness and a ten-game hit streak he’s certain will be sparked solely on the way her eyes get brighter when she looks at him. “Everything.”

They don’t get off the stoop for a few more moments, which is, honestly, really kind of nice in a normal way that doesn’t include tragic backstories or professional baseball careers. It just is – the way it always was and, maybe, always could be and Killian is certain there are several thousand missed calls on the phone he turned off in the car.

“You, uh….do you have to get back to the Stadium?” Emma asks, and Killian kind of hates how cautious she sounds.

She stares at her shoes.

“Do you want me to?” “Ah, that’s a stupid, loaded question.” “Better get back to media training.” “Did you have to do that?”

He nods, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth and it is impossible not to be hopelessly charmed by her. He may tell her that eventually. “On more than one occasion,” Killian admits. “Every team has different rules and expectations and--” “--And I’m going to go ahead and assume there’s nothing straighter than Pinstripes, right?” “I’m not sure your joke made a ton of sense, Swan, but, something like that.” She winces, gritting her teeth like she’s nervous she’s the root of this problem that is the exact opposite of that. “Can you get benched in baseball?” “Yes.” “Really?” “Why would you think that I can’t? It’s a sport.” “No, no, I know, but, like...it’s not like basketball or something.” Killian arches an eyebrow, mostly so Emma will click her tongue and roll her eyes and he’s only slightly worried if he does, actually go upstairs, he’ll never actually leave. That’s even more stalker-esque than the number thing. He hopes Elsa isn’t there.

He and Emma have never actually made out on a couch.

It might be a nice change of pace.

“Aw, c’mon,” Emma sighs, palms back on his chest and his fingers keep drifting back to the hem of her shirt. “You know what I mean.” “I promise, love, I absolutely have no idea what you mean.” “I’m mostly just….I don’t know, apologizing? For causing a scene and you’re probably going to end up on SportsCenter and like in The Times right?”

“The New York Times? ”

“That’s a newspaper.” “I’m aware it’s a newspaper, Swan, but I doubt The New York Times is going to care about me or anything I did in right field unless it was catch a ball.” “You did that today,” Emma points out, and Killian is dimly aware of several camera shutter snaps a few feet away. He probably shouldn’t have worn team-branded apparel out.

That will probably be points five through eight on Regina’s inevitable list of all the things he’s done wrong in the last twelve hours.

“I did,” Killian agrees. “Kind of goes with the positional territory and you don’t have anything to apologize for, Swan.” She shakes her head before he’s finished talking, which is only slightly troubling, threatening to move some clouds in front of his metaphorical sun or however it would work. “I mean that’s just objectively untrue. There was yelling and you kept looking over your shoulder and that popcorn guy was so hardcore.” “Did he not tell you his name?” “No, that’s weird right?”

“Eh, I mean he was a little preoccupied distracting that one security guard.” “You saw that?” “Swan, you’ve got to stop acting like I don’t have eyes,” Killian laughs. “Or wasn’t almost painfully aware of you standing in that section.” “You were supposed to be catching foul balls!” “We’re repeating ourselves now. I did that. I promise, The Times does not care about it, I probably won’t get benched, could get benched, will likely get fined and yelled at by my agent, but you’re not punching me for the number thing and I’d really like to come upstairs.” She blinks. That’s not the immediate reaction he was going for, but it’s still not punching, so Killian assumes he’s working with some kind of hitter’s count.

“Thoughts,” Killian presses, and Emma’s eyes widen. They are distractingly green. Something about the Oakland A’s and uniform colors.

“About The New York Times?” “The amount I want to talk about The New York Times or any New York City publication is negligible, Swan. I’d be happy never to mention the newspaper industry again.” “Dying anyway.” “Daily News fired half its staff.” “Really?” Killian nods, the muscles in his face starting to ache from overuse. He’s fairly positive his calves are going to be sore for the rest of the season. It is all worth it. “Did you not know that?” he asks. “That was major news.” “I’ve been kind of busy. Unpacking and filling out paperwork. You know the NYPD makes you fill out a shit ton of paperwork before they’ll give you a badge.” “Yeah, I’d imagine.” Emma hums, but there’s nothing nervous about it. It sounds a bit like flirting. Killian hopes it continues to be a lot like flirting. For the rest of the season.

And longer.

“If I ask you to come upstairs again is that going to be weird?” “Nah,” he promises. “Unnecessary, but I did recently go to media training and I’m more than willing to answer questions on some sort of perpetual loop.” She smiles.

His heart bursts into flames.

“An incredibly impressive athlete,” Emma mutters. Her fingers are back on the front of his shirt, tugging lightly on fabric as she keeps smiling at him and definitely flirting with him. “C’mon, I unpacked my coffee mugs like as soon as I got here.”

There isn’t an elevator in her building, which isn’t doing much to help the state of Killian’s calves, but at some point Emma’s fingers lace through his and nothing really matters after that.

And he’s not entirely sure what he expected from a two-bedroom apartment in Chelsea, but walking into the room is like walking into a memory and it’s soft and warm and there’s a woman sitting on the couch.

That may make it difficult to make out there.

“Oh my God,” the woman breathes, eyes going wide and mouth hanging open and Emma’s hand tightens a fraction of an inch. Killian glances at her, a flash of a smile and something that might be a wink, but he’s admittedly a bit out of flirting practice and possibly losing what little control he had on the day.

The couch creaks when, presumably, Elsa jumps off it, crossing the space in a few, quick steps and Emma hisses in a breath. “You’re Killian Jones,” Elsa says, and it sounds like an accusation. He nods, the words getting caught in his throat and the vice-like grip Emma has on his hand. “You’re Killian Jones and you’re here. In my apartment. Well, our apartment. That’s...that’s a thing that is happening. I thought Mary Margaret was kidding.” “Wait, what?” Emma asks sharply. “You talked to Mary Margaret?” “Hours ago. I was honestly getting ready to send out some kind of search party. Did you guys walk back from the Bronx?” “Like 86th Street.” “Yuh huh.” “Got food.” “Right.” “Talked.” “Naturally.” Killian does his best to take a deep breath, but he feels like he’s being judged and evaluated for his trade stock again and Emma hasn’t ever let go of his hand. He tries to focus on that. It feels important.

Elsa’s eyes flicker towards him, a wry smile on her face. “You guys have made the news already,” she says, easy as anything and Emma curses loudly.

“Already, huh?” Killian asks. HIs voice doesn’t actually shake, which is as nice as it is surprising, but he knew it was going to happen as soon as his feet moved towards the warning track in the seventh inning and he’d absolutely spent the rest of the game glancing over his shoulder to make sure Emma was really there.

“I think there was some talk during the game, actually. Michael Kay was scandalized. Paul O’Neill thought it was kind of nice, I guess, at least that’s what David said and--” “--You talked to David about this too?” Emma interrupts, voice rising on every syllable and, that time, it’s Killian’s turn to squeeze his hand lightly.

“Was he the one that was going to kill me?” he asks.

Emma groans, but Elsa laughs softly, nodding as if she fully expected the conversation to deviate to murder plans and Paul O’Neill’s romantic tendencies. “You should absolutely be worried about that,” Elsa says. “Because he’s a huge Yankees fan and he was super excited when you got traded her.” Emma’s eyes look dangerously close to falling out of her face.

“What?” Elsa asks.

“No one thought to mention that?” Emma yells. She still hasn’t let go of Killian’s hand. He’s probably not counting the seconds or anything.

“No one knew that you knew Killian Jones.”

“I didn’t realize that was a prerequisite for knowing things! And it’s not really...I mean--” “--It’s been awhile,” Killian finishes. “What do you think we should name the popcorn guy? He didn’t introduce himself apparently.” Elsa laughs and Emma’s whole body sags with the force of her exhale, head landing on Killian’s shoulder in a familiar kind of way that makes his whole soul ache. That may also have something to do with all those blocks they walked and Regina is going to rip him apart.

Literally.

He has no idea how he’s going to swing a baseball bat tomorrow.

“So you just want to name him yourself?” Elsa asks, laughter clinging to the words. Killian nods.

“Feels rude to just keep referring to him as popcorn guy.” “Right, right, naturally. Did you know it was Emma as soon as he turned around?” He nods. “Immediately.” “Oh that’s stupid,” Emma sighs, both Killian and Elsa gaping at her and he refuses to be blamed for whatever his pulse does at the dejected tone of her voice. “No, no, not like that,” she continues. “Just...I mean I grew up, right?” Killian nods again. “I’m fairly certain that’s how the world works, love.” “Right, right, but you knew it was me.” “You knew it was me,” he says. “And you don’t even get to blame the uniform. No last names on pinstripes.” “A tradition like no other.” “That’s the Master’s.”

She laughs, soft and easy and her smile has already worked its way into several different corners of his being, tiny pinpricks of light that are far too sentimental for one day, but Killian knew it was her as soon as he turned around and he figure that has to count for something.

Everything.

“Why do you know that?”

“Why are you quoting taglines for sports you’re not aware of?” “I think you just like arguing with me?” “Not like that,” Killian argues, almost forgetting about Elsa entirely and there are goosebumps on Emma’s arms when he brushes his fingers over her shoulders. “It’s just--” “--Yeah, it kind of felt that way, didn’t it?”

“Exactly.” They haven’t actually said anything, not really, but they’re only a few feet into a three-story walkup in Chelsea and there’s still a roommate standing there and some overpaid SportsCenter anchor detailing the craziest thing you’ll see in baseball this season, and everything feels heavy and light and it would be easier if they were making out on the couch.

Killian doesn’t know why he’s so obsessed with the goddamn couch.

“I think the popcorn guy’s name is Bryan,” Elsa announces.

“What?”

“Bryan.” Emma jerks back when she repeats the name, eyebrows pulled low and she’s close enough to Killian that he’s a little worried he’s going to step on her feet. He keeps trying to occupy the same space as her. “Bryan,” Emma echoes, and Elsa shrugs. “Bryan the popcorn guy?”

“You got a better name? Also, shouldn’t he get kicked out for throwing popcorn at the field?” “We weren’t actually right on field level. I don’t think he’s got that good an arm.” “Aw, poor Bryan.” “We’re going to start calling him that and it’s not going to wind up being his name and that’s just going to be weird.” “You think you’re going to run into Bryan the popcorn guy again?” Elsa asks pointedly. Killian wonders if she’s a lawyer. It feels like they’ve just admitted to something.

He really hopes so.

There’s a blush to Emma’s cheeks, teeth digging into her lower lip and Elsa smiles triumphantly. “Maybe Bryan could buy you some peanuts next game or something. He’s getting his fifteen minutes because of you guys. Or CrackerJacks. Do they make CrackerJacks anymore?”

“That’s how the song goes isn’t it?” Emma asks. “Yes, but you were pretty busy during the seventh-inning stretch.” The blush gets….blushier.

That’s not a word.

He absolutely does not care.

“Aw, that wasn’t even clever,” Emma mutters. Elsa shrugs again.

“And they definitely still make CrackerJacks,” Killian adds. “They sell them at the Stadium, although I’m more partial to sunflower seeds during the game.” “No bubble gum, huh?” Elsa asks.

Killian opens his mouth to say something about even the thought of bubble gum is the worst thing in the world, but Emma answers before he can. “He got drunk on bubble gum flavored vodka once,” she explains, Elsa’s expression unreadable.

She’s definitely a lawyer.

“Did I ever actually introduce myself?” Killian shakes his head. “Not officially, no.” “Ah, that’s rude isn’t it? I’m so sorry.” Elsa thrusts her hand out in the space between them, a strong grip that’s not quite intimidating, but she was sitting on the couch and very likely waiting for Emma to come home and Killian can’t stop the groan that falls out of him when he hears his name coming from the general area of the TV.

“I think you guys are the lead story,” Elsa continues.

“God, of course we are,” Emma mumbles. And, reasonably, Killian knows he shouldn’t be thrilled by all of this, but yesterday he was sure Emma Swan was a distant memory and possible what if, but now her hand is wrapped up in his and it’s a little sweaty and a little warm and he really can’t stop thinking of sun-type puns.

So, honestly, he couldn’t care less about what’s supposed to happen when he’s far too preoccupied with what he wants and he pulls his phone out of his back pocket, turning it back on and pointedly ignoring the notifications on his screen.

He turns, flipping his wrist and presenting Emma with the phone. She lifts her eyebrows. “Am I supposed to know what that means?” “Tomorrow?” Killian asks, and it’s a shit way to ask her out on a second date, but he might be asking a hell of a lot more and he suddenly realizes he’d used the word everything before.

And she hadn’t objected to it.

“Is it supposed to be doing that?” “What?”

Emma nods towards the phone, lit up like it’s goddamn Times Square and they’d successfully avoided that on their trek downtown. “I think you’re under attack. And being called and texted at the same time.” “God, she needs to relax,” Killian mumbles, but he knows that’s like hoping tourists don’t stop and take photos in the middle of Times Square. He all but slams his thumb into the ignore button and Emma can’t quite keep her laugh quiet, which does something entirely unfair to several of Killian’s body parts, but he was woefully bad at science in high school and he never went to college and he’s spent way too much time thinking about the sun.

“Agent?”

“You’re a genius, Swan.” “That sounds a little like you’re making fun.” “I’m trying very hard to ask you out again.”

The blush turns into something else entirely, her lips pressed together and it almost feels as if his ribs are expanding and contracting at the same time. It’s not entirely unpleasant. It’s kind of warm in the way that home is supposed to be warm.

Elsa mumbles something about telling David to stop the search, but it’s white noise and Emma’s fingers brush over the back of his palm when she pulls the phone out of his hand.

“Yeah?” she asks softly, and Killian’s going to do permanent damage to his neck from nodding. It’ll be worth it.

He’s a sentimental, emotional sap and only kind of disappointed he didn’t actually hit that home run into section 203.

He figures he’s got the rest of the season to do it.

“Yeah,” Killian says. “So, uh….I don’t know what you’re schedule is like, but if there’s a chance you want to be in the Bronx again tomorrow. I can probably--” He doesn’t finish. Again. She’s kissing him and he’s kissing her and the floorboards make noise when Elsa moves towards her room, and it might not be the best first impression in the history of the world, but Emma makes a noise that Killian is suddenly determined to hear every day for the rest of his life, so that kind of takes precedence.

“Does that mean this was a date?” Emma asks.

“I’m a little disappointed that wasn’t more obvious.”

“Guess you’ll have to work on it the second time through the lineup.”

“That’s the greatest joke you’ve ever made.” “Now you’re just trying to woo me.” “Is it working?” She looks up, meeting his gaze and it’s all even and green and easy and his phone is still ringing in her hand. “Absolutely,” Emma promises. “And I’m off again tomorrow so if you want to prove your baseball importance and get me tickets or something then--” She doesn’t finish.

They need to stop this.

They absolutely do not need to stop this.

They spend a few more moments kissing in the middle of her apartment, and Killian hardly notices when his phone clatters to the floor. Emma exhales against him, fingers carding through the hair at the nape of his neck.

“Deal,” Killian says, bigger than four letters or one phone number exchange and it takes a few prolonged minutes to actually get his legs to agree to leaving that apartment.

He does, eventually, answer Regina’s calls, letting her shout and scream and mutter what an idiot no less than forty-two consecutive times, and she huffs when he asks about getting tickets for tomorrow’s game, but there’s a shout in the background and Robin was always kind of romantic anyway.

“Let him do it,” Robin calls. “Think about the pub.” “That’s not why we’re doing this,” Killian argues. It’s a losing battle.

Regina makes a noise like she’s thinking or considering profit margins and how this could all translate into an endorsement deal and the couch in Killian’s apartment is incredibly uncomfortable. He ignores that realization.

“Can you do it Regina?” he asks impatiently.

“Are you kidding me?” “Well you’re just grunting into the phone and I’ve got some police officer out for my head and his wife is questionably intimidating--” “--Wait, you’re intimidated by the police officer or his wife?” Robin asks, and it sounds like Regina has put the call on speaker phone.

Killian rolls his eyes. “That’s an antiquated question, Locksley.” “That’s a genuine question because this is a confusing situation. Were you pining over this girl forever is that honestly what’s going on?” “She’s not a girl.” There’s an almost too loud silence on the other end of the phone and Killian practically growls when he slumps down. And then Regina laughs.

Loudly.

So, maybe, he’s just descended entirely into madness. He hopes not. It would be really disappointing if this whole day was just a byproduct of his subconsciousness desperate desire to find Emma Swan again.

“Do you love her?” Regina asks pointedly, and now Robin is laughing and Killian might be dying. It would probably be more comfortable than this conversation. “Is that really what’s going on?” “Ah, c’mon, Gina, that’s romantic,” Robin sighs.

“Jones. I asked you a question.” “He always sucked at media training.” “That is patently untrue,” Killian counters, and he’s walked himself right into this corner. He’s going to blame popcorn guy.

He should probably buy popcorn guy goddamn season tickets.

“So then answer the question,” Regina says.

“No comment.” “That’s a yes,” Robin crows, and Killian can’t actually slide any further down the couch without twisting his spine into a wholly unnatural position.

“That’s not a yes.” “Sounded like a yes!” “Mills, can you control your husband,” Killian seethes, but there’s not actually much venom in the words and that’s only marginally frustrating.

“Look who’s antiquated now,” Regina mutters. “And are we only referring to each other by last name now?” “You started it.” “You are a child.” “No, he’s not,” Robin argued. It sounded like he was jumping up and down. “He’s in love and he wants to barter for this lady’s affections with seats in the box. Is that a better word, Jones?” “What is with the last name thing?” Regina asks sharply, and Killian’s eyes hurt when he squeezes them closed.

He’s going to bite his lip in half.

“Can you do it, Regina or do I have to call someone from...I don’t know, guest services?”

“That’s not the department you’d call at all guest services is for, like, groups and making sure there are first aid kits available.”

“If I make a joke about the state of your heart and your current need for first aid regarding your romantic life are you going to hit me the next time you see me?” Robin asks. It’s difficult to understand the question when he laughs it out though.

“Yes,” Killian answers simply. “I need you both to stop being so goddamn weird about this.” More silence.

Deafening silence.

The kind of silence that also threatens to hurt his spine.

“We can be not weird about this,” Regina says eventually, and that’s only kind of weird because it is absolutely the first time she’s ever said the word weird in real life. Killian’s mouth twitches. “But I’m thinking the love of your life probably won’t actually want to sit in the team box. She didn’t seem the type.” “You got that from the spot on SportsCenter?” “And a detailed breakdown of her and her friends from Ariel. I’d be worried about the police officer’s wife though. Sounded determined.” “She should be.” “He’s totally in love with her,” Robin mumbles, and Killian can’t bring himself to object. It’d probably be a lie anyway.

That’s not nearly as weird as it should be.

And Regina is as good as her word, she gets tickets, plural, in section 203 and Killian turns during roll call to find himself face to face with the goddamn sun. There’s light shining off her hair, tucked under a hat that makes her ears look almost ridiculous, but in the best kind of way and he never knows how he knows, because there’s no number on the front of her shirt, but she doesn’t have to turn around.

He knows.

He’s probably been in love with her since he was eighteen.

He figures that has something to do with it.

And whatever happens to every single nerve ending in his body when he realizes Emma is wearing his number in right field and smiling at him and he’s not great at winking, but Killian certainly makes an effort. He can’t quite hear her laugh over the din of the crowd and the next name on roll call, but he knows exactly what it sounds like and the force of her smile when she meets his gaze is only a little staggering.

Killian jumps when he hears the crack of a bat on ball and he only has a few seconds to react, but that’s all he needs. He’s kind of fueled on the metaphorical fire of Emma’s eyes anyway and his legs ache when he runs.

He runs as fast as he ever has.

The ball lands in his glove and he hasn’t actually practiced his fundamentals in years, but the cheers sound louder than normal and his ears are ringing a bit and Killian’s shoulder hurts when he slams into the wall.

His head snaps around immediately, looking for something he’s, at least, seventy-two percent certain he’s going to find, and Emma’s still smiling.

She’s also jumping. On the bleacher.

And yelling.

“What?” Killian shouts, throwing the ball back to the second-baseman and Regina is going to kill him, bring him back to life and then kill him again. He still can’t hear her.

“Again, Jones?” Scarlet laughs. He jogs towards the wall, glove tucked under his arm and an expression that’s somewhere between amused and incredulous.

That’s fair.

“Oh is that her?” Scarlet continues, nodding towards Emma and she’s standing with a guy who is probably the police detective. The police detective looks a little stunned. He doesn’t appear to be handling this as well as Mary Margaret was.

Maybe Killian will mention that at some point. It might earn him some extra points with Mary Margaret.

Killian makes a noise he hopes is an agreement in the back of his throat. “I can’t understand what she’s saying.” “Ah, that’s because you made some crazy catch in the outfield. Fans will fan, y’know. And, hey, maybe now that’ll lead SportsCenter and they won’t talk about this. Whatever this is.” “I doubt that,” Eric, the center fielder married to Ariel who is probably only too aware of what this is, objects. “Is she yelling a name?”

“It looks like she’s trying to direct planes at LaGuardia.” “JFK is a far superior airport. There’s all that construction at LaGuardia.” “Jesus Christ,” Killian mumbles, working a laugh out of both of them, but Scarlet is kind of right and Emma is pointing at the popcorn guy. He waves. “Oh, damn, it is a name. Swan, you’ve got to enunciate!” She scowls, the eye roll barely visible. Scarlet rests his forearm on Killian’s shoulder, using him as leverage to take in the crowd that’s still screaming and they’re all going to get suspended. Rob Manfred’s going to walk to Yankee Stadium and give them forty-game bans personally.

“Anyone tell you it’s super adorable that you’ve got a nickname for her?” Scarlet asks.

“That’s her name,” Killian reasons.

“Mmhm, didn’t Ariel say it was a nickname?” Eric nods. “Was adamant about it. And how lovestruck Jones was while he was trying to stalk this lady, but I mean we were there for that too.” “You tell her you didn’t need that part of the update?” “You met my wife?” “Fair,” Scarlet chuckles.

“Both of you shut up,” Killian snaps. “I can’t hear her. Swan, we’ve got to stop doing this. I’ve got to go hit!” She rolls her whole head that time, shoulders sagging with the force of her huff and it’s difficult not to be attracted to that. “His name’s not Bryan,” Emma yells, and popcorn guy is still waving.

The police detective has not blinked in days. At least. David. The police detective’s name is David. Emma told Killian that in front of Columbus Circle the day before.

“It’s not Bryan the popcorn guy,” Emma continues. “It’s Miles the popcorn guy!”

“Miles,” Killian repeats, her smile getting wider at the stunned tone of his voice.

“Miles the popcorn guy.” “Hey, Jones,” Miles says. He’s going to dislocate his shoulder from waving so much. “Nice catch! We’re, uh...ignore those message boards. The real fans are psyched you’re finally in pinstripes. Long time coming, huh?” “Something like that.” Will is never going to stop laughing and there are footsteps moving towards them, an umpire or Rob Manfred coming to get them out of the outfield and actually playing the game they’re paid millions of dollars to play.

It’s probably not Manfred though. There’d be way more booing from the fans in section 203.

“Have we walked into the Twilight Zone?” Eric asks.

“That’s a fair question, actually,” Killian admits.

“Does Miles only eat popcorn? That can’t be healthy.” “I haven’t done a detailed study of his dietary habits, strange as that may seem.” “At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised. Shit, we’re all get going to get fined for your romance.”

“It’s nice though,” Will argues. “Makes our storied franchise more relatable to the public. Right? I bet Jones’ agent has figured out a way to spin it. She kind of terrifies me.” “I’m going to tell her that,” Killian warns.

Will ignores him, waving a hand through the air and Emma’s eyebrows jump when the words fly out of his mouth. “Hey, hey! Jones’ girlfriend! You got a name? It’s going to be weird if you come into the clubhouse and I don’t know what your name is.” David blanches. That’s fair too. The whole thing is a seemingly never-ending farce.

“Emma,” she answers, and her voice doesn’t shake. If anything, it gets louder. The umpire or league rep or whoever stops moving behind them. Killian isn’t sure he’s still breathing.

It’s still not all that uncomfortable.

“Ok,” Will says, as if that’s that. “Cool. Emma and Miles the popcorn guy and who do you think is going to play you when they make the movie of this?” “Excuse me?” “Oh my God, Scarlet, what did we just talk about?” Killian groans. “Shut up.” He grins, eyebrows jumping up his forehead and excitement practically palpable around him. “I'm thinking….like one of the Chris’s, y’know? What about the guy with you, Emma? You good with Chris Evans, police detective guy?” “How did you know that?” David asks.

“Word gets around a clubhouse quick. You going to duel Jones for Emma’s honor or, like, what are your thoughts on this?” “If he’s not an idiot and keeps making catches like that in right field.” “Shit,” Eric mumbles, but there’s a hint of humor to that too. “Lofty expectations.”

David shrugs. “The first one was more important.” Killian salutes. It’s ridiculous. He’s going to have to sign another extension to pay for all the fines he’s racking up.

“You going to guarantee a home run on back to back days or is that too much to ask?” Emma asks.

Killian tilts the brim of his hat up. “Are you asking?”

“Was that not obvious?” “Maybe we should work on that some more. Being more specific.” “At least a double. Against the shift.”

“You’ve got a deal, love.”

He would never say he did it on purpose. Not in front of all those fans and a police detective who couldn't seem to decide whether or not he wanted to glare at Killian or keep cheering for him and certainly not with two incredibly opinionated teammates standing next to him, but he might have done it on the hope that it would be alright and Emma hadn’t objected to girlfriend. So he didn’t do it on purpose, but he might have done it selfishly and needily and that second one isn’t a word.

Emma smiles.

“Alright, alright, c’mon Casanova,” Eric chuckles, yanking on the back of Killian’s jersey and the number that matches Emma’s.

He hits a single, and it’s absurd to be disappointed by that, particularly when it does beat the shift, but Killian had used the word everything and he meant it and means it and all incarnations of all tenses.

They make the backpage of The Post the next day.

Robin cackles when he shoves the entire paper into the phone screen, calling because they’re in Tampa now and Emma had come into the clubhouse after they beat the Orioles again.

Will shook her hand.

And it just kind of goes from there.

It’s chaotic and stressful and there is so much baseball during the regular season and then even more during the postseason because they win the Wild Card in the Bronx with Emma wearing her number in section 203 of the bleachers.

Regina had tried to get her to move into the team suite – ”It’s the playoffs, Ms. Swan, you shouldn’t have to be out there with all the normal fans.” “I’m sorry, what?” “Regina, are you suggesting there are levels of fans?” – but that had worked as well as Killian expected it to and he wasn't sure there was a bigger New York Yankees fan in the entire world than Emma.

Will and Robin had both laughed when she’d called after that Boston game, shouting about intent and should have charged him and nothing Killian had said got her to stop. Even after David promised she’d lost her mind during the broadcast.

Emma leads roll call when the Yankees come back home after the Boston series. It’s on SportsCenter again.

“We should be getting royalties from this,” Killian complains, but she kisses him silent and they really are very good at making out on a variety of couches.

And they keep winning.

There are more games and more series and then it’s the Series and the words are out of his mouth before he can really process what he’s saying.

“Do...do you,” Killian starts, tucked against Emma in a room with frames on the wall. She helped pick them out. And fill them.

“Do I what?” “I really want you to be there, Swan.” Her teeth find her lower lip, shoulders shifting when she takes a deep breath through her nose and Killian counts the seconds. Ten. Ten full seconds until she answers.

Or asks. “Yeah?”

He nods, the pillow rumpling underneath his cheek, and wills his heart not to beat out of his chest. It’s a close call. “More than anything.” “Should probably make Regina get tickets.” “Please don’t talk about Regina before I’m going to try and make out with you, love.” “Only try?” Killian grins and Emma laughs and they don’t get a ton of sleep before he has to get on a plane, but she gets on a different plane and when the ball lands in his glove in a right field that’s not his, he’s certain his whole body erupts into flames.

Of joy. Or happiness. Or perfection.

Because they won.

And Emma is there.

It just takes some time to find her.

There are cheers and Gatorade dumps and Killian’s uniform is plastered to him by the time he works his way towards home plate and a line of family and friends with credentials hanging around their neck and some FOX intern is already trying to get him back towards the mound.

He is, apparently, going to win some kind of award.

Oh shit, he might be the MVP of the World Series. Huh.

Killian doesn’t see her at first, but he hears her, shouts of his name and what might be his number and no one’s referred to by number only since his days in single-A, but it’s kind of endearing when Emma does it and he nearly knocks over the barricade.

She helps when she jumps towards him.

“Nice catch,” Emma whispers, but that’s as much as she says before he’s kissing her and she’s kissing him and it’s good and great and goddamn fantastic.

His lips slant over hers and her fingers find their way back into his hair, drifting to the drenched collar of his jersey, and Killian swears he can actually feel Emma’s laughter in the very middle of him when he tugs her closer. One of her shoes falls off.

“I love you,” Killian says, not the first time he’s told her or promised her, but this feels different and even more important and he has to blink when Emma leans back and beams at him.

Like the goddamn sun.

“I love you too.”

The barricade falls over with an impossibly loud crash and someone who is almost certainly Scarlet laughs, a phone in his hand and more laughter from New York and Regina shouts stop making out for two seconds, you’re ruining the TV schedule and she’s kind of got a point.

“I’ll be right back,” Killian mutters.

Emma nods. “I’m counting on it.”

There are more pictures and no one bothers to put the barricade back up and the kiss winds up on the cover of Sports Illustrated a headline about “New York State of Mind” that doesn’t entirely make sense, but they all buy a dozen copies and it looks good in a frame on the apartment Killian and Emma get together.

And there’s more to it all – a life and unexpected challenges and games that criss-cross the country, but Emma only ever sits in section 203 and Killian comes back home after every road swing and there are more questions and more answers and he changes his number eventually.

They’ve got a new birthday to celebrate and both Emma and Killian are positive he’s going to have one hell of an arm in right field.

[strawori]

Between Skateboards and Guitars - Chapter 5 | Elu

Summary: “ There was something about this guy skating, alone and so well, that had Eliott frozen on his spot and unable to take his eyes away from him.”

Or, the one where Eliott is a guitarist and when he goes to the park to play he meets Lucas a skater that mesmerizes him from the first moment.

Words: 3.5k

can also be read on my ao3 @ invisible_slytherin

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4

The day wasn't as warm as the prior ones had been. However, it wasn't what could be considered as bad weather, far from it. There were some clouds in the sky, covering the sun and the wind was a bit stronger when compared to previous days, but it was still nice enough to be outside. Eliott was actually happy that it wasn't as hot. They would be playing basketball and obviously running, it would be great not to have the sun shining so brightly and hot on them.

Eliott had been looking for a pair of sweatpants for far longer than he ought to and, consequently, he ended up being late to meet up with Sofiane and Idriss. It didn't matter much, though, since Idriss had also been late and they had only arrived 5 minutes before Eliott. Now, though, all of them were late.

They were walking to the park at a fast pace, trying to get there as soon as possible. Sofiane was dribbling the ball while they ran to the park and Idriss was on his phone talking to Imane. Eliott was a little behind them, having had to stop on his way to tie his shoelaces.

"We're coming, Imane," Idriss was saying. "We're almost at the park."

Eliott couldn't hear Imane's response but, judging by Idriss' expression, Imane was probably annoyed with them for making the others wait. She had told Idriss that everyone was waiting for the three of them to arrive so they could start the game and Idriss had just waved her off, saying that they would be there soon. Eliott couldn't really blame her for being annoyed at them.

Imane hadn't been telling the whole truth, though. When they finally arrived at the park, Eliott could see that they weren't actually the last ones to arrive. Imane's team was missing one element which could only mean someone was even later than they were.

Sofiane and Idriss quickened their pace even more, approaching everyone without waiting for Eliott. He wanted to be annoyed at them, but he knew that, unlike him, they were excited to play, so he just let it go.

Idriss greeted everyone with a charming smile since he knew everyone who would be there. Sofiane was a little more reserved, but after being introduced to who he didn't know yet, he settled next to Imane to talk to her and seemed more at ease.

Eliott felt a little awkward having arrived a few seconds later. Everyone seemed to be having a conversation with someone and Idriss and Sofiane were too busy to apparently remember he was there. Idriss was talking to two of Imane's friends while Sofiane was making conversation with the girl.

Remembering what his friend had told him the day before, Eliott looked at Sofiane and Imane and at the way they were interacting. They seemed at ease with each other, laughing and smiling. They had soft smiles on their faces and it almost seemed like they were in their own little world.

Eliott could definitely see how much Sofiane liked her just by the way he looked at her, smiled at her and talked to her. He had never seen Sofiane like that with anyone before and he couldn't be happier for him. Especially because by what Eliott was seeing, Imane most likely felt the same way Sofiane did.

"Eliott, hey!" It was actually Imane who noticed him first.

"Hey," Eliott waved at her before looking around at everyone who would be playing with them.

Eliott already knew Léo and Adrien. He had hung out with them more than once before and they could almost be classified as his friends. The two of them would play in the same team as him, Idriss and Sofiane and Eliott could only hope that they were better players than him or the team would lose without a doubt.

Imane's team members were introduced to him as Alexia, Emma and Yann. They seemed nice enough and, even though they had just met him, they made him feel as if they had known each other for a long while already. Eliott appreciated that and, soon, he was having a conversation about music with Alexia while Idriss interrupted Imane's conversation with Sofiane to talk to her.

"I thought you said you were just waiting for us to start playing," he complained, throwing an arm around his sister's shoulders.

"Only way for you to hurry up," she smiled sarcastically at him. "We're actually waiting for Lucas. He should be here any minute now."

"Or he lost the bus," Yann shrugged implying that it had happened before.

"I didn't lose the bus," a slightly offended voice behind them startled Eliott.

"Lucas!" Emma exclaimed.

Eliott turned around, ready to meet the person who would be joining the game. If this Lucas was as nice as Imane's other friends, then Eliott didn't doubt that he would get along with him just fine. However, to his surprise, it wasn't someone he needed to meet, but someone he already knew.

Lucas looked as surprised to see Eliott there as Eliott was to see him. The world really was a small place at times. Lucas didn't look any different than he did the last time they talked, his hair was still messy, his eyes were still big and blue and the expression on his face still made him look kind. He was wearing grey sweatpants and a dark shirt, a blue jacket over it. And he was smiling, albeit a little timidly, at Eliott.

"Hey, Eliott," he greeted. Eliott felt a pleasant feeling inside of him at Lucas remembering his name. "Didn't know you would be here."

Eliott chuckled.

"I could say the same," he said before adding, "I'm friends with Idriss."

If Lucas was here in Imane's team it was because he knew her, without a doubt, so, to make the connection, Eliott could only explain that he was close to her brother.

Lucas nodded.

"I'm Imane's lab partner."

Eliott raised an eyebrow.

"So, you're a science kid too."

"Problem?" Lucas raised an eyebrow, but he seemed more amused than anything.

"No. I just prefer my literature."

"Yeah, I wouldn't be caught dead in there."

Eliott laughed and Lucas soon followed his lead. Lucas' laughter was fresh as the breeze and warm like the sun that was peaking through the clouds.

"I see you two know each other," Imane interrupted them by appearing where they were.

"Yeah," Eliott smiled at Lucas. "We met the other day."

Imane nodded.

"Are you guys ready to start the game?"

"As ready as ever," Eliott chuckled.

He waved at them and ran to were the rest of his team was. Idriss and Léo seemed to be discussing who would be in which position and Eliott just stood back and listened to them, not giving any insight in his opinion about the subject since he knew next to nothing about strategic basketball playing.

"How much you wanna bet we're going to lose?" Sofiane asked, sitting on the floor next to where Eliott was standing.

"Idriss is convinced we're going to win… A little too convinced. I can't bet anything because we are probably going to lose," Eliott agreed.

"Hey, you two, come on we're about to start!" Idriss called and Sofiane shrugged at Eliott before getting up and walking up to Idriss, Eliott right behind him.

Eliott looked at the other side of the field and noticed that Imane's team seemed to already be in place for the game and were now just waiting for them to be ready too.

Idriss grabbed Eliott's arms and positioned him where he thought Eliott would play the best. He had a determined gleam in his eyes and Eliott knew it came from the desire to win against his sister and her friends.

"Since you don't know how to play," Eliott didn't bother correcting him since it was the truth. "I'm going to have you doing one-on-one and marking just one player. Don't worry about anything else unless someone passes you the ball."

"Who am I marking then?"

"Lucas," Idriss pointed at the person who was in front of Eliott on the other side of the field. "He's shorter than you, that should work at your advantage to intercept the ball if someone passes to him."

Eliott nodded. He was glad there was some kind of advantage so that he wouldn't look completely ridiculous when he played. He still thought he wouldn't do that great of a job, but he didn't mind that much anyway.

Idriss seemed to be happy with Eliott's understanding of what he needed to do since he patted Eliott's back and moved on. He went to where Sofiane and Adrien were standing to tell them what he and Léo had decided would be a good strategy for the game.

On the other side of the field, Imane seemed to be getting impatient and annoyed with how long they were taking. She kept shooting Idriss some glares that he answered with grins that only made her roll her eyes at him. Eliott had always admired their relationship and their interactions.

Sometimes, especially when he saw their relationship, Eliott found himself imagining what it would be like to have a brother or a sister. Just a sibling he would have grown up with and would have had there with him every step of the way. Someone to annoy and love and support in the way only siblings can.

Eliott looked around the field, bored of waiting and curious to observe how everyone else was acting. Ready to get a little more scoop into what the others were like.

Alexia and Emma were talking about something together since their positions were very close to each other. Eliott saw them laughing and giggling sometimes, sparing some glances at everyone around the field, no doubt commenting everything everyone did. He thought that maybe it would annoy him if they were someone else. Yet, and even though he didn't really know them, the way they were talking seemed so genuine and not malicious at all. So much so that Eliott found himself not really caring or worrying about what they may or may not be saying about him.

Yann wasn't in the field anymore. While he had been observing the girls, Eliott had seen him leave his place and walk to where he had put his jacket to pick up his phone. He still hadn't come back and Eliott was sure that he would only do so whenever Idriss decided that the team was ready to play.

Eliott couldn't really blame Yann, Idriss was taking the game way too seriously and was taking too long to organize the team. Instead of leaving like Yann had done, though, since he had no desire of doing that, Eliott simply sat on the floor. He was ready to wait in a more comfortable position until it was time for the game to start.

When he looked up, Lucas was staring at him. Eliott smiled in his direction and Lucas chuckled.

It surprised Eliott that they already seemed so at ease with each other. Even though they had only interacted once before today, they kept sharing looks and smiles without needing words to communicate.

In a way, it was a little weird. Eliott had never felt such a quick connection to someone before, he wasn't used to this kind of ease with someone he didn't know that well. Nevertheless, it felt great and the thought that maybe they could become friends if they started talking more excited Eliott.

He wouldn't be surprised if they could become good friends eventually. And he wanted it. He wanted to be Lucas' friend and get to know him better. He really did want that, for a reason he couldn't even name.

Finally, after what seemed like way too long but had probably only been five minutes. Idriss came back to his place and called Yann, who dropped his phone inside his jacket's pocket again and took his position in the field. Eliott got up and stretched a little while Idriss and Imane argued over who should start with the ball. They ended up playing rock, paper, scissors and Idriss won, which made a smug grin stretch across his face just to annoy his sister.

The game started and Eliott felt as lost as he knew he would. He didn't know how to play basketball beyond knowing that they had to pass the ball to each other and put it inside the opposite team's basket.

Well, to be fair, he knew a bit more. For example, the ball couldn't go outside the field and the points they got for a basket depended on where the ball was thrown from. He also knew that he couldn't pass the ball to anyone in his side of the camp if it had already crossed the mid-camp line. Still, it wasn't enough to warrant some talent in basketball that could help his team win.

So, instead of worrying about what his teammates were doing and trying to get himself out of the other team's way so that he could receive the ball, Eliott decided to do what Idriss had said and just focus on Lucas and making sure he couldn't get the ball.

Intercepting the first one when Alexia passed it to Lucas and managing to pass it to Léo quickly had made him feel accomplished. If everything failed, he had that little second to pretend he could do some things when it came to basketball.

Lucas grumbled something behind him and Eliott laughed, feeling happier than he thought playing basketball could ever make him.

"It's not fair," Lucas said, but he seemed more amused than mad. "You're like a tree, how am I supposed to get the ball before you snatch it away?"

Eliott didn't dare say that he wouldn't be surprised if Lucas could actually do that. He was pretty sure that intercepting the ball this time had most likely luck, but Lucas didn't need to know that.

"Not my fault you're so short."

They turned their attention to the game then. Eliott's team was attacking and he kept making sure that Lucas didn't stray to somewhere where he couldn't prevent him from getting the ball.

The first team to score was Eliott's. Idriss passed the ball to Léo and then it was Sofiane who managed to put it in the basket. Idriss let out some kind of victory cry and stuck his tongue out when he passed by his sister, pleased that his team was winning. The proud grin didn't leave his face until Alexia scored for her team, not even two minutes later. Then, Idriss' expression was replaced by a more determined one.

There was a moment in the game, a small period of about five minutes when no one was able to score. Someone always managed to take the ball from the other team or the person who had it failed when shooting for the basket.

But they were having fun.

Eliott couldn't remember the last time he had had this much fun, it had been a long time ago and his cheeks and sides were starting to hurt from laughing so much.

His mood couldn't even be dampened by Idriss and Adrien being mad at him for 'letting' Lucas get the ball at some points.

Although Eliott was taller and that did come as an advantage most of the time, Lucas being shorter made it easier for him to sneak from Eliott's left to his right and catch the ball before Eliott could stop him.

Every time Lucas manages to do that, he always makes sure to look at Eliott over his shoulder with a smug, proud expression on his face. He acts as if sneaking past Eliott and getting the ball was the biggest accomplishment of his life. Eliott found it entirely too amusing and endearing to even care about the annoyed looks Idriss threw his way for not being able to do his one job properly.

"Step up your game, Eliott," Lucas taunts him while he throws the ball at Emma. "Being tall won't always help you."

Eliott simply laughs and pushes his shoulder playfully. Lucas is distracted grinning at him like a child who just won at go fish, and he uses that distraction to step in front of him and grab the ball Yann had attempted to pass to him.

"Eliott!"

"There's no need to get all spiky," Eliott chuckles.

"There would be no need if you would just let me play," Lucas grumbled.

The game was very even during however long it lasts.

There wasn't a team that was obviously better than the other. The biggest score difference happened when Eliott's team managed a 5 points lead. It didn't last long, though, and, not even 2 minutes later, Imane scored, quickly gaining advantage again.

The teams were well balanced. Eliott was clearly the worst player, he knew that, but Idriss and Léo more than made up for his lack of talent. Sofiane and Adrien could also hold their ground, scoring a few points and preventing some balls from getting inside their basket.

On the other team, Imane and Alexia were the best players. But the other three were also very good. The only reason why that didn't prove itself to be a big disadvantage for Eliott's team, since he didn't really know what he was doing, was the fact that he kept on preventing Lucas from getting the ball. That made the other team play with one less player at times.

It became apparent that no matter how long they played they would just keep going in circles. One team would take the lead for a minute only to go back to losing again the next. Although they were having fun, they were also starting to get tired and they all agreed that it was about time they put an end to the game.

So, after a little arguing about how much time they should have before the end, Sofiane set a timer for 5 minutes on his phone.

Both teams seemed to regain their breaths after that, all of them looking even more determined and ready to win the game.

At one point, Eliott feared someone would end up on the floor if they all kept looking at each other with such competitive gazes. Most of all, he feared for himself.

Lucas kept glaring at him, all frustration and annoyance, and Eliott wouldn't be surprised if he ended up getting kicked. He didn't mind though, and just kept marking Lucas and preventing him from getting the ball. A grin appeared on his face when, eventually, the team became so focused on winning that they give up on trying to pass the ball to Lucas. Considering his lack of skill for basketball, Eliott felt pretty accomplished.

He did feel a little guilty, but then the game ended, Lucas' team won and the boy offered him an amused smile, teased him about winning despite being shorter, and Eliott's guilt dissipated in the air.

***

Ten minutes had passed since the end of the game and all of them were now laying on the grass under the shade of a big tree. They were all tired and the sun was shining brighter than before making the weather entirely too warm. Eliott resented the long sleeved shirt he was wearing.

"We should do this again," Sofiane suggested. "It was fun."

"We should," Idriss agreed, sitting up quickly to look at the other team. "I demand a rematch."

Imane shrugged.

"If everyone's up for it, I don't see why not," she grinned at her brother. "It's always fun to kick your ass, brother dearest."

Everyone seemed to agree with the idea of playing again soon, except for Lucas who groaned.

"I am not playing again if Eliott keeps blocking me again."

"It's not like he can do anything else," Adrien snorted.

Eliott shrugged.

"He's not wrong. I'm not really a basketball player."

"Preventing someone from playing should be against our rules," Lucas said.

"We don't have rules."

"We should."

"Aw, don't be like that," Eliott laughed, stretching his arm to mess up Lucas' hair. "Still so prickly," he added, a small image appearing in his head like an instinct.

"Stop that," Lucas swatted his hand away but he was chuckling so Eliott knew he wasn't really mad.

"It's a promise then," Yann said, throwing one arm over Lucas's shoulder and the other over Sofiane's. "You'll get your rematch soon."

Looking around at the people around him, old friends and new friends alike, Eliott couldn't help but be excited for when the day of the rematch came. Because, even if he didn't like to play basketball, the prospect of spending another time with them made Eliott smile and wish it came as soon as possible.

Chapter 6 |  Chapter 7 |  Chapter 8 |  Chapter 9 | Chapter 10