#I swear there’s some teachers who haven’t covered in awhile

[lesbianstarlightglimmer]

They’ve tried to have me cover almost every day since last Friday except for the day I was absent and yesterday like. Come on.

[alexnikki18]

Friends to Lovers

Fred Weasley x FemReader

Summary: Y/N admits to Fred that she wants to sleep with someone and he steps up to the plate.

Warning: Smut! 18+ only

“I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.” Y/N said aloud, standing in an empty closet and touching her wand to a piece of parchment she had borrowed from her two best mates, Fred and George Weasley just a couple hours ago. Disappointed with the way her morning was going she searched for Fred’s name on the Mauraders map, hoping he was done with his detention with Professor McGonogall. Almost all of the rest of her friends were surely in Hogsmead by now and wouldn’t be back for awhile and the girl really needed to vent to someone. She finally spotted Fred’s name. He was alone in his dormitory. The girl took off to meet him.

“Ugh!” Y/N groaned as she bursted into Fred’s dormitory and flopping dramatically onto her back on his bed in front of him and covering her eyes with her arms.

He was sitting on his bed, cross legged with a textbook, parchment, and quill in his hand. Startled by his friend’s sudden entrance he sat his stuff on his bed side table and said, “Well hello to you too.”

Y/N rolled on her side to face him and propped her head up on her hand and asked, “are you studying?”

“McGonogall thinks I’m no longer phased by detentions and gave me a paper to write.” He rolled his eyes leaning back on his headboard.

This made Y/N laugh. “She’s probably right.”

“Yeah, but this won’t do it either.” He shrugged. “What have you been up to this morning anyways? Why aren’t you in Hogsmead with everyone else?”

“Oh that reminds me, here’s your map back. Thanks for letting me borrow it.”

Fred took the map back and furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, “what have you been up to?”

Y/N’s cheeks turned pink, signally to Fred that she was embarrassed and making him even more confused. The girl laid on her back and covered her eyes with her arms again. “Don’t judge me, but I was trying to get laid and wanted to make sure I picked a spot none of the teachers were near. I haven’t had sex in like 6 months and I think I may die if I have to wait another day!”

It wasn’t the first time the two had talked about their sex lives with each other, they were best friends after all. But all the times the two did talk to each other about it, they were both in relationships and would give each other pointers. Both of the pair had been single now for at least six months.

“Another day? So what, didn’t work out?”

“No. I think I may be broken.” She sat up now ready to vent to Fred now that the subject was out in the open.

He laughed, “what do you mean? What happened?”

“We we’re making out in the closet, pretty heavily, but I just wasn’t into it. When he tried taking my shirt off I just couldn’t do it. I made up an excuse and told him I thought I heard someone coming and we had to stop. It’s so annoying! I’ve been thinking about sex nonstop, but then when I’m actually about to do it I couldn’t.”

“Well you obviously just weren’t into him. Who was it anyways.”

“McGlaggen.”

“Merlin, Y/N, no wonder you couldn’t go through with it! He’s a total git.”

“I know! But he showed interest in me, and I thought he was attractive enough it wouldn’t be a big deal.”

“You can’t sleep with some random bloke, Y/N. Besides you’re smart, funny, beautiful, and totally sexy. There’s loads of other guys that would be interested in you.”

“Oh yeah? What makes you so sure? You know of anyone? Cause if so you can send them my way.” She answered jokingly.

“Did you not just hear me? Just because we are best friends doesn’t mean I’m immune to your charms.”

“So what, have you ever fantasized about sleeping with me?”

“Of course I have!” This made Y/N blush again and Fred backpedalled, afraid he’d said too much, “Sorry if thats creepy, but you’re the one who brought it up, and I’m with you all the time and you are sexy and-“

“What happens in your fantasies about me?”

“I could show you.. if you’re comfortable with that?”

Y/N nodded.

“You have to tell me you want this as much as I do, Y/N.”

“Fuck me, Freddie.”

That was all he needed to hear. He grabbed her and pulled her onto his lap, lips meeting hers. He lightly grazed his tongue over her bottom lip, to which she opened slightly to let his tongue inside her mouth.

He moved his kisses to her neck, and nibbled at her sensitive skin there causing a moan to escape from her lips.

“Are you into this, love? Want me to take your clothes off?” He asked in between open mouthed kissed on her neck.

“Mmm yes, Freddie, I want it all.”

He took his time taking her shirt and bra off and taking in the sight of her beautiful body. “Better then I could have imagined, baby.” He moved his lips to suck on her nipple and used his hand to play with her other.

“Yes that feels so good.” She said grinding herself into him.

Fred flipped them over so that she was laying underneath him and started to remove his clothes. “Take your pants off.”

She hurriedly obeyed and once she was completely naked laid out in-front of him he brought his mouth down to her center in between her legs, kissing and sucking. Y/N tangled her hands into his red hair, “oh, Fred, yes!”

After a few minutes Y/N said, “I’m close, Freddie, want to feel you inside of me.”

He pulled away from in between her legs and kissed her passionately. This time Y/N pushed him onto his back and straddled him, sitting herself slowly down onto his length and let herself adjust to him inside of her before grinding.

“You feel so good, baby. Love to watch your boobs bouncing.” He said taking one into his mouth again earning another moan from Y/N.

“I’m gonna come, Freddie.”

“Me too. Come for me, love.” And she did, closely followed by Fred as they continued to nurse each other through their orgasms.

Afterwards they laid naked in each others arms coming down from their high.

“That was amazing.” Fred said kissing the top of Y/N’s head.

“For the record, I’ve been fantasizing about you too. Maybe that’s why I didn’t want to do it with anyone else.”

“Does that mean we get to do this again?”

“Absolutely.”

[httpswwwtbhkcom]

School’s Troublemaker

[Oneshot/Imagine]

Pairing: Akane Aoi x Reader

[@httpswwwtbhkcom’s masterlist]

Summary: You were one of the school’s troublemaker. Many students had seen you do your shenanigans but they have no physical evidence, making it impossible for you to get suspended or expelled. Your friend, Akane knows about your plans but decides on keeping it a secret. Stopping you first before you have broke the rules.

Warning: Swearing, near death experience, bruises, mentions of fighting(Not with Akane), mentions of suspension, a part there is in the manga (Chapter 24) but i changed it a tinsy bit, a chandelier falling but you survive, near death experience,

Genre: Fluff, slight angst, Troublemaker y/n, 

Keys:

Y/n- your name, L/n- last name, 

Reader: Neutral

Made by:  九執軍 in Twitter! Click here to see the fanart!

☽✧ ✦ ✧☾

“Y/n, can you please stay out of trouble for once?” Akane asked, gently wrapping your bruised arm. “You’re lucky Minamoto haven’t seen the trouble you caused today...” He murmured. 

Previously, you were in a fight with one student who messed with you. Akane passed by and saw the fight. He had stopped both of you before it could go worse. You were lucky that the President wasn’t the one who had found you or you might get expulsion. 

He sighed as there was no reaction came from you. You stared at the boy making him slightly uncomfortable. You looked away. “You didn’t have to intervene... He was talking shit about me, I couldn’t just ignore what he said about me.” 

“You could’ve told him to stop.” You shooked your head at his statement. “He won’t stop. He needed to be punished for what he said. Now he wasted my time.” You grumbled. 

After he was done taking care of your bruises, he took your hand and dragged you to the classroom. Before you could protest anything, He had cut you off. “We’re going to be late.” You looked at him in a 'Do-I-look-like-I-care?’ way.

You sat on your desk, looking through the window as Akane went to Aoi to compliment her like always.

As the class started, you didn’t bother to listen to the teacher as you only thought on planning what to do next in the school. But it got interrupted when the teacher noticed you not listening to the discussion.

“Miss L/n, can you please come to the front to answer the question?” You stood up with no protest. You have been advance studying yourself after school at home or at the library so you could at least have some knowledge inside your brain.

You took a chalk and wrote the answer with ease. You placed the chalk back to where you had found it then went back to your desk. “Good job, L/n. Now let’s learn-” 

☽✧ ✦ ✧☾

It was now break, so you stood up and left first. You went to the back of the school and took out your spray paint. Before you could even spray the dusty wall, a hand snatched your spray paint. 

“Hey that’s mine!” You shouted to the person. You turned around to see Teru behind you. “What are you using this for? Don’t you know this is against the rules? Come, we’ll go the principal’s office.” He smiled. You inaudibly sighed in defeat. This was the first time you have been caught.

You followed Teru to the principal’s office. Your shoulders slumped. You both passed Akane, Aoi and Yashiro. Aoi immediately noticed it and ask. “Hey, What’s wrong with Y/n-san? Are they in trouble?” She asked the other two. Akane immediately jogged towards Teru. Asking what had happened. 

“I found them at the back of the school starting to do graffiti on the wall.” He answered, giving him a sickenly sweet smile. When the three of you were infront of the room, Teru opened the door for you. You gave him a silent thanks and went inside. Teru also went inside and closed the door before Akane could join. Akane cursed to himself. He waited until both of you are outside the office. 

He couldn’t tell what were the principal, Teru and you were talking about. But when Teru and you left the room, Akane immediately asked Teru a question. You walked away to your next classroom since you didn’t want to be listening to the conversation.

“Is Y/n going to be suspended?” Akane asked. Teru nodded. “2 day suspension, as a warning. And an expulsion when they try to do it again.” Teru answered. Akane nodded and walked away. But before he was far enough from Teru, Teru asked a question.

“Is Y/n important to you?” He halted, ‘Is Y/n important to me.. Of course.’.

“Yes, they are.” He answered casually. “Then is it fine for me to steal them from you? They sure are quite beautiful/handsome.” He smiled, trying to irk the boy with glasses. 

“No.” Akane couldn’t help but feel jealously from the words the blonde boy had said. Teru smiled as he knew Akane had grown feelings from another person instead of Aoi. He nodded to Akane and left him. 

He stood there for awhile. He even didn’t notice that the bell had already rung and that people were already in their proper classrooms. He then snapped out of his thoughts when he finally noticed the lack of people in the halls. He ran to his classroom which was far from where he currently is. (Spoilers: He was scolded for being late.)

☽✧ ✦ ✧☾

You were out of school for two days because of suspension. You used that time to study and go out every free moment you have.

Akane on the other hand felt a little lonely without you. He had visited you after school late because of work. He even once slept at your couch since he was too tired to go to his house.

☽✧ ✦ ✧☾

After two days. You were now in school. You looked around to see no one except for the staff members around the school grounds.

You went to your locker then changed your shoes. You went to the classroom to sleep. You had nothing else to do today. No schemes since you were scolded by your parents.

Akane, Aoi, and Yashiro greeted and welcomed you back. You greeted them back, too idle on doing anything about their warm welcome.

During break, you went inside the auditorium since you had nothing to do. You went onto the stage as you hummed a music you liked. You looked at where the audience sits. You continued to hum the music while standing in the middle of the stage, where over you is a chandelier. 

Your voice was echoed on the room. Then you heard something. A crack. You looked up where you could see the heavy chandelier starting to wobble. You tried to run away but your feet was stuck to the ground. Your eyes couldn’t tear away from the almost falling chandelier. 

It became slow as the chandelier fell. It was time. Right? You closed your eyes, a tear left your eye. Then you somehow became unconscious. 

With Akane few seconds prior:

He was just walking to check the school grounds when he had heard humming coming from the auditorium. It was familiar. Then it adruptly stopped. Curious, he went inside to check. 

Once he opened the door, he saw the falling chandelier and you. In a flash, he stopped time, his appearance changing too. He ran to you. hugging your still body.

He remembered the chandelier stuck in mid-air and he had 2 minutes left so he carried you bridal style to the infirmary. He gently placed you down and covered you with a blanket. Akane took a wet cloth and placed it on your forehead. He patiently waited for you to wake up, not bothering on changing his clothes.

☽✧ ✦ ✧☾

Few minutes had passed and he heard noises coming from outside the room both of you were in. He didn’t move, not caring for what was happening outside. 

You groaned as you shifted, catching Akane’s attention immediately. “What... Where am i?.....” You sat while you hand touched the wet cloth. You looked at your side and saw Akane in a hotter different style.

“Akane?” You looked at him dumbfounded. Both of you blushed when both of you made eye contact. “So, i should explain right?” He sighed once you nodded. He told you everything- The different looking Akane, supernatural- you name it.

“And yeah, i stopped time to save you- But you scared me!” You were taken aback by his sudden outburst. “You could’ve died! Without me, you could’ve died!” You calmed him down by hugging him. He stiffened as he slowly wrapped his arms around you. 

You both stayed like that for a few minutes, until you both heard another noise.

You and Akane went outside the room to be greeted by old people who were your classmates and friends. You shrieked. “WHAT THE HECK IS THIS?!” Akane looked around then you saw Kou running towards both of you. He almost looked like his brother Teru. 

“Y/n senpai- Whose that?” Kou asked. “A- No. 1. Now better question, What’s happening here?!” 

[ Then you got involved into saving the school and turning everyone back to normal. You learned that there was a ghost named Hanako or Honorable No. 7, Who was a pervert. ]

[idareyouuuuuu]

The First Time Fiasco

Pairing: Hwang Hyunjin x Female Reader Warning: smut (?), swearing, cheating

As a first year college student, the semester was such a roller coaster for you. From your classmates being super wild and diverse, to terror professors being sleazy and flirty, you wanted to just get it over with it and fast forward to the drinking and partying with your friends part.

“Hey y/n, when was your first time?” Seungmin suddenly popped out from the back.

“Oi, I don’t think you can ask me that here,” you were annoyed. You knew everyone heard him. Why is sex a big deal anyway, I’m sure porn stars are just exaggerating their acting. 

“Don’t tell me, virgin is written all over your face,” he chuckled and patted your head. The others instantly gathered around you.

“Are you serious? You haven’t gotten laid yet? Well shit, that explains your immunity to me y/n,” Minho was shaking his head as he sat beside you.

“I can help you with that,” your algebra teacher winked at you and you wanted to gag. “Just kidding y/n,” he laughed so hard but your face was blank.

“What’s funny about it sir?” You asked. This was a tip you read that said when some pervert was sexually harassing you and playing it as a joke you should not laugh. Instead you can ask why they found it funny.

Your professor cleared his throat and acted like he didn’t say anything inappropriate. The day went by in a blur.

As you were walking to your apartment, your roommate called you and asked to buy food for dinner. 

So there you were, waiting in line to order teriyaki. A hot guy was standing on the other counter waiting to claim his order and you couldn’t help but ogle. He was so hot and freakishly handsome. He was wearing a tank top and shorts, but you couldn’t help but stare at his full, red lips. He turned to you and smiled. You swore the world was making up to you for your shitty day. 

After receiving his order, the hot guy winked at you and went on his way. You didn’t even get his name such a waste of time. You were grumpy all the way home. 

Lying down on your bed, you went through your social media accounts. You had a friend request from THE hottie! 

You couldn’t help jumping up and down. You immediately think that he was super into you to even stalk you this good.

He started hitting you up and you replied as soon as he sent it.

H: Hi, I’m Hyunjin. I saw you awhile ago.

Y/n: Yeah, how did you even find me??

H: I thought you knew that I’m living under you apartment. 😅

Y/n: You’re on the ground floor???

H: Yeah! Haha you never saw me? You literally keep on walking past me every time I was reading.

Y/n: I didn’t notice, sorry 🙈

H: It’s ok, anyways I kind of wanted to get to know you. I want to be your friend.

You haven’t even talked in person yet and here you are already being friendzoned by this guy.

Y/n: Sure.

The both of you were exchanging messages all night long. You got to know each other pretty well. You found out he has a long term girlfriend.

There were all sorts of red flags that you couldn’t help but notice. He was flirty, you were getting fuck boy vibes from him but you didn’t seem to mind. You were just so drawn to him and you couldn’t help yourself.

H: Are you still awake? I made ramyun do you want some?

You wore your hoodie and made your way downstairs toward his door.

Once you knocked, he immediately opened it and hugged you. He smelled nice, you wanted to bury your nose some more. He led you to his room.

“My roommate slept over with some of our friends.” Hyunjin motioned for you to sit on his bed as he passed you some ramyun.

“Why didn’t you go with them then?”

“I was busy chatting with you,” you couldn’t help but blush. He smiled at you and placed his arms around you.

“I want you y/n,” he whispers into your ear as he makes his way to your lips. He kisses you passionately. Making sure you feel what he wants to say through the kiss.

All the red flags were laid out for you on a silver platter. Your mind wandered about his girlfriend but you didn’t seem to care about anything anymore. The kisses are turning you into jelly.

He was desperate for you. Every stolen glances from the stairway, every guy telling him about some chick living upstairs who was beautiful as hell and legit fuckable. He wanted you all to himself even if he did have a girlfriend.

Hyunjin licked your lower lip to make you open up for him. Groping your breasts, “you didn’t wear a bra for me I see.”

“No! I was already about to sleep that’s why,” you protested. You held on to his shirt, signalling that you wanted him to take it of and he obliged. But he removed your hoodie first revealing your bare body.

All the fantasies he’s been hearing about you can’t live up to the reality in front of him.

You tried to cover yoursef up with your hands but he wouldn’t let you. He gently laid you onto his bed. He was on top, licking and sucking your breasts.

You were starting to make a lot of noise so he reminded you that the rooms aren’t soundproof. But instead of suppressing yourself, you moaned into his ears instead.

All Hyunjin could think about was he needs you. He wanted to mess you up real good.

“This is a one time thing. Ok Hyunjin?” You look up at him and he kisses you on the forehead.

“Are you sure?” His hands are caressing your thighs.

“I’m actually a...” You couldn’t even finish the sentence once he started slipping a finger inside of you. You slightly winced in pain, “it kind of hurts Hyunjin.”

“Wait, are you a?” Shit was all that kept coming of his mouth after.

“I just want to get this over with.”

He sat up on the bed. And buried his face in his hands, “we can’t.”

You hugged him from the back and your hands gently made their way to the front of his sweatpants. You kissed his nape, “please give it to me. It’s not a big deal.”

He growled and pushed you back to the bed. He started kissing you all over, “we’re doing this properly. I was about to skip on foreplay.”

He started kissing the skin around your left nipple as his fingers pinched and toyed with the other. He licked it, making sure to avoid your erect nipple. All you could do was wait in anticipation at his every move.

He sucks on your nipple, making sure to not make the other feel left out. Going back and forth, you were biting your thumb to stop you from making any kind of noise.

Hyunjin moves towards your wet folds. He removed your shorts along with your underwear and couldn’t help but stare. He looks at you and he saw your curious eyes with red tinted cheeks.

He starts licking your cunt with long stripes. Making sure to stimulate your clit too, he starts easing a finger into your entrance. The sensations were driving you crazy.

“Y/n, I don’t think I can hold back anymore,” he gets rid of his sweatpants and starts pumping his cock.

“Shit, will that fit? I think I want to back out,” you were scared. You knew it would hurt, but his dick was going to massacre you.

“I’ll be gentle, don’t worry.” He pecks your lips as he traces slow circles onto your clit. His member starts poking around your entrance and you couldn’t help but take a deep breath.

He pushes himself in more and you squeeze your eyes shut.

He starts moving and you are not sure with what to feel. You wrap your hands around his back. He looks at you and kisses your cheek.

You could tell he was controlling his pace and that he was having a hard time.

“You’re so tight,” he grips the sheets beside your head and closes his eyes as well.

“It doesn’t hurt anymore, you can move more if you want to.”

He starts pulling out and slamming back in.

“I’m sorry, I can’t control myself anymore. You just feel so good,” he pants. You give him a reassuring smile and concentrate on his thrusts.

You were starting to feel good as you lightly tap his butt cheek to signal that you want him to do you more.

All you could hear inside the room are the slapping of skin. You were so wet for him and he knew he was nearing his limit already.

As he pulls out, he spills his cum all over your stomach and grunts. He smiles apologetically and cleans you up with a warm towel he readied a while ago.

After, he lies down on the bed next to you and hugs you tight. You wait for him to drift off and you get up to wear your clothes.

The next time you see him, his girlfriend was trashing his apartment and throwing stuff outside their front door. You see him sitting by the stairs again as he holds out your panty. You laugh and get it from him, not even bothering to spare a second glance.

You planted your panty inside his girlfriend’s sneakers so you were sure he wouldn’t notice. They were just under his bed and you knew he deserved it. You knew you weren’t the first girl he’s cheated with and based on the parade of girls that were coming in and out of his apartment with his arms always draped on their shoulders, you weren’t the last one either.

[wordsforthesoul]

New York Hustle // Chapter Two

The boy is very tall, I can tell even though he’s sitting right now. His hair is black and he has light brown skin. When his eyes meet mine a chill is send through my whole body, his look is so intimidating and cold that I have to look away, but I can’t for the first three seconds. Neither can he apparently. When I gain my self control back, I look away and I sit down on the other bench. It irritates me, that someone else is here, for years I’ve known this place, but never have I seen anyone except Hannah or me here. 

I grab my sketchbook and a pencil from my bag and continue on the drawing I started this morning. It’s a drawing from one of the the nightmares I’ve been having lately. Drawing always helped me to find peace and to come clean with the dreams, but I swear if anyone else finds these pictures they would think I’m a psychopath.

After five minutes the boy seems to look for something. I sneak a glance over to him, he’s standing now and he feels over every pocket, but it looks like he can’t find whatever he’s looking for, a lighter probably. I focus back on my drawing. 

“Yo, sorry for bothering you.”, the boy says while walking closer to me. I close the book and look up to him. “Do have a lighter by any chance?”

“I do actually, hold on.”, I lean down to grab my bag and look for the lighter, I know I have in there somewhere. After only a few seconds I find it and hand it to the guy. When I look him in the eyes for a second time of the day now, I realize how beautiful they are. They have the most stunning blue colour I’ve ever seen, but a more dark blue colour, they look exactly like the Tyrrhenian sea. The place I used to visit so many times when I was younger

“Perfect, thank you.”, he says with a deep voice.

“Yeah no problem.”, I say and give him a smile.

He goes back to his bench and pulls a little bag from his pocket. Looks like weed from here, when he also takes out a grinder I definitely know it’s weed. When he suddenly turns his head and sees me starring, he smirks and waves the little plastic bag in the air.

“Wanna smoke with me?” 

I laugh out of embarrassment, because he caught me staring, but also because that’s just what I need right now. I grab my bag and get up to walk over to him. He scotches over to make room for me, when I sit down I immediately realize how good he smells. Oh my god what is wrong with me. I don’t care about the smell of someone nor their eye colour. Hannah is interested in all that but not me, I’m probably spending too much time with her.

“I’m Nero.”, says the boy and holds out is hand.

“I’m Bella.”, I say with a smile while shaking his hand. I’m a little confused by his name, but I won’t mention anything.

“I know that silence, you’re think about my name aren’t you.”, Nero says with a smirk.

“I am.”, I admit with a chuckle. “I mean you are named after an emperor, your parents must have a lot of faith in you.”, now Nero is the one that laughs while he rolls the joint. 

“You would think, right.”, he says wit a chuckle, still focused on the joint. “I saw you were drawing.”

“Oh yes, but the one I was working one is not good, I think I’m just gonna throw it away.”, I lie. It’s probably better if I don’t show him the picture. 

“If you don’t wanna show me this one you can show another one , but you don’t have to lie.”, Nero says when he looks at me with a smile. I stare at him, how did he know I was lying?

“Yeah sure.”, I say and take one of the drawings I’m most proud of. It’s a picture from John McClane from ‘Die Hard’.

“Oh shit.”, Nero says and takes the paper. “That’s sick. Die hard is one of my favourite movies.”

“Yeah mine too. You can keep it if you want.”, I say and shrug my shoulders.

“You sure, it looks so good.”, Nero says while analysing the picture to the fullest. 

“Yes I’m sure.”, I giggle. 

“You’ve been blessed with a talent. Can Your Mom or your Dad draw?”, he asks still focused on the drawing. I pause for a moment.

“My dad.” I say with a low voice.

“Well, you should thank him for giving you that talent.”, Nero says and finally puts away the paper. 

“I will.”, I say with a bright smile.

Nero lights the Joint with my lighter and takes the first three drags, he then hands me the J’. After a couple minutes of silents Nero leans back and stares at the trees surrounding us.  

“So what other movie do you like?”, Nero ask while blowing out the smoke out of his mouth. For some reason that looks so attractive to me. 

“I like a lot of movies.”, I laugh, thinking of the piles of DVD’s in my room. When I turn to Nero he looks right at me, but not into my eyes a little bit higher. I can tell he’s staring at my scar. I look away fast and try to cover it up with my hair. 

“Sorry, I didn't mean to stare.”, he says and sits up a little.

“Oh it’s fine, I’m used to it.” I say and give him back the Joint. 

“Doesn’t make it okay.”, I turn to look at him again. This time our faces are a lot closer. Okay Bella back off, remember you just met that guy and don’t know him at all. Again I can’t take my eyes off of his. 

“I think I should go, or else my brother will go crazy.You can keep the lighter”, I say and get up.

“Oh yeah of course, thanks for the drawing and the lighter.”

“No problem.”, Nero smirks and winks at me, I just smile and try to somehow stop myself from blushing. 

The further I go away from him the brighter my smile gets. I can’t believe this actually happened. Usually stuff like this only happens in the movies. With a shake of my head I come back down to earth and after only a few minutes I’m back home. 

“Murphy, I’m home.”, I call out, but instead of my oldest brother Murphy my second brother Forrest walks out of the Murphy’s room.

“Forrest?”, I ask in disbelieve and run to hug him. I haven’t seen him in months. Actually I haven’t seen most of my brothers for awhile now, I really miss them. Since I have seven brothers, I’m so used to the hectic and the fact that someone is always home. We grew up in a very small apartment in the Bronx, I had to share my room with at least two of my brothers. Back then it just annoyed me, but I kinda miss it now.

“Hey Engel.”, he says in german and lifts me a little of the ground.

“What are you doing in New York?”, I ask as we separate again.

“No reason actually, just missed you guys.”, he says with a shoulder shrug.

“Aww, that’s so cute.”, I say as we sit down on to the couch. “So, what do you wanna do? Movie or we could pick up Elijah and go out for dinner.”, I say.

“Yeah we can do that, but I have to talk to you first.”, Forrest says, I can tell something is off. 

“What is it?”

“About the problems, you’ve been having with your teacher and a few of your classmates.”, Forrest begins with a low voice. 

“Oh hell no, I ain’t talking about this now. You just came back from Germany, you really wanna ruin this right now?”, I ask with the most annoyed face I have to offer.

“Well Bella, that is actually the only reason I came to New York.”, he admits. 

He’s kidding right? The first time I’ve seen him for months and it’s because of something so stupid. Did he even want to see me or did he just come to make a whole family drama out of nothing? 

“You know what? I really thought you would want to see me, but no! Of course not, why would you want to visit your sister, who you haven’t seen in seven months?”, I get up angrily and storm of to my room. And before he can say another word, I slam the door and lock it behind me. 

I swear to god this Family is too much for me to handle. We never see each other, but when Bella fucks up again everyone is suddenly interested.

[xechos-stuff]

Soulmates, you know it’s an interesting thing to think about, especially since you don’t know who your soulmate is until you bump into them.

There’s a black stain on you, and wherever it is, it’s where your soulmate will first touch you and once they do touch you it turns into a light shade of a rainbow, so you know that if some random stranger touches your mark it will either stay the same or turn rainbow-

Back in kindergarten Error used to think that they weren’t that important, until when he got to second grade, that’s what everyone was talking about. He didn’t really talk about his soulmate, or his mark for that matter and he’d usually cover it up with some kind of clothing.

Since his bones were mostly black, his mark is actually white and it was located on his forehand. He usually covers that up with a glove of some sort.

Most of the friends he had would usually ask him about his soulmate or mark, and he wouldn’t exactly say anything about it- Error would just normally change the subject to something other than his soulmate mark.

In fourth grade.. things got a bit crazy. Well not that crazy but somewhere like that in the sense where people in his class started meeting each other.

And they were only fourth graders.

Some would date there- just not make it a big deal, others would just wait until they’re older to date but would give each other small affection every now and then.

Most of Error’s friends have already found their soulmate by fifth grade. He however didn’t.

After hearing so many things about soulmates and the marks he started to feel left out somehow, like not ever finding his soulmate at all. He knows he will, but he’s just scared that once he does find his soulmate and they touch the mark wherever they were supposed to touch, they won’t like him at all.

And besides that- he has a touching issue.. So his soulmate will most likely be someone he knows and trusts.

At least Cross didn’t find his soulmate in fifth grade- otherwise he’d be a loner in his friend group for six years.

“Have you guys found your soulmate yet?” Killer asked, eating his lunch.. well if skeletons can even eat at all-

“Killer I swear to god we’ve been over this soulmate thing-” Cross said, making some kind of joking angry face at Killer.

“Hey, it’s not our fault that you two haven’t found your soulmate yet-” Nightmare butted in-

“Exactly-” Killer grinned, “Besides- I’m sure you two will eventually!”

“My touching problem is a thing you know-” Error said, playing with some of his strings as he talked.

“Yes, we know Error geez-” Dust groaned, kicking his feet on the table.

“If you’ll excuse me I gotta meet someone somewhere-” Nightmare said, standing up.

“Bet that it’s Dream-” Horror whispered, which earned him a smack on the head from Nightmare-

“It’s not like you and Blue are going on a date-” With that Nightmare walked away.

Dust snorted, “Horror you got ow-”

Horror cuts him off, “Yes Dusty I know-”

Everyone at that table was basically snickering.. Or some kind of laughing sound. Error wasn’t really laughing though.

By the end of the school day Cross asked Error if he’d like to hang out with him, to you know- study for upcoming exams. Error said yes of course, since he did actually needed to study and studying with a friend was way more fun than studying alone.

They were walking alongside each other on the sidewalk towards Cross’ house.

“Sooo- any luck on finding anyone who might be your soulmate?” Cross asked,

“You know I don’t talk about it that much-” Error responded, shoving his hands into his pockets,

“Well it has to be someone you trust- like in your friend group!” Cross said, looking over at him, “Because of- your touching problem right?”

Error nodded slightly, adjusting his glasses, “Hah- yeah I guess so,” He said, “But I don’t think it’s any of you guys.. I mean yeah we’re pretty close but just nothing seems to really click.. No offense-”

Cross chuckled, “None taken-”

“What about you?” Error looked up at him, “Have you found anyone who might be your soulmate?” He asked.

At that question Cross blushed a light violet and scratched the back of his neck, “Well.. not entirely-”

“Who??” Error asked, he’s looking very curious about this for once.

“Well.. he uh- he’s a very sweet person..” Cross started, blushing more and more by every second.

“So you’re basically gay for them?” Error asked, “Huh-”

The other sweat a bit, “I mean this person can be rude from time to time, to people he doesn’t like- but he’s chill?”

The glitched skeleton nodded, “Huh- by the look on your face you seem to be like you’re in love with them- even if you don’t know if they’re even your soulmate..” “Heh yeah..” Cross looked down slightly, “Just- gotta hope that it’s him..” he muttered to himself before opening the door to his house, looking at Error and motioned for him to go inside first. 

Error rolled his eye lights but went inside anyways, Cross followed him from behind and shut the door, leading the way towards his bedroom.

The glitched skeleton followed of course and once they were in they proceeded to study until it was the evening. Somewhere around seven o’clock pm.

Error yawned and stretched, “God- who knew exams could take so much study time-” He sat up adjusting his glasses trying to see where Cross was.

Cross was buried in a bunch of papers groaning, “Error we’ve been doing this for the past two years- how have you not been catching on?”

Error rolled his eye lights again, “It was a joke idiot-” He stood up going over to Cross’ bed and moved all of the papers off of him, “God how did these even get here?”

Cross laughed nervously, “Uh- I was being an idiot and kind of lost my paper for my math so uh yeah-”

Error chuckled, “Did you ever find it then?”

The other nodded, “Sure did-” He held it up in front of Error’s face, “Good thing too- otherwise my teacher would absolutely kill me-”

Error laughed, “You really are an idiot-”

Cross sweat a bit, “Hahah- guess so-” He sat up in his bed, “Can I see your mark?” 

Error looked at him confused, “I--” He sighed, “Sure.. I guess I trust you enough-” Cross snorted, “You guess huh?” “Yeah yeah just get this over with-” The glitchy skelton took off of his left glove piece and showed it off to Cross, “I don’t think I’ll ever find my soulmate-”

Cross looked at it like it was a precious thing in the whole world, “.. Is it alright if I touch it? Just- Just for a second..”

The word ‘touch’ made Error feel all sick, but he trusted Cross he should by now- he’s been there for him ever since second grade so he should be able to let him touch it, “I- I guess but when I say stop please.. Let go-”

Cross nodded, “I will, I will-” He hovered his hand, the one with his mark, over Error’s mark and rested his hand on it.

Error took deep breaths slowly counting to 10 each second, shutting his eye sockets tight.

“Oh my god..” Error felt Cross’ hand move away from his and he opened his eye sockets.

A light shade of rainbow was replacing his white mark on his forehand, as well as Cross’ palm.

“You’re..” Error looked shocked, he looked up at Cross seeing the other in tears.

“Oh my god I- I can’t believe that this is..” Cross was smiling, my god was he such a sap-

“So.. you’re my soulmate..” Error said, a smile twitching on his face.

Cross was smiling like the idiot he is, admiring the rainbow shade on his palm, “I knew it!”

“So I’m the person you were talking about earlier?” Error asked, raising a nonexistent brow.

Cross nodded quickly, “Yeah- and I just.. I love you so much--”

“.. I love you too, Cross..” It took the glitchy boy awhile to said it, but hey

It’s a happy ending.

[bazypitchandsimonsnow]

Watford Cove

Chapter 1: i got that summertime sadness

Rating: T

Genre: Fluff/angst

Word count: 3097

Chapter: 1/13 [All chapters]

Summary: Baz Pitch only cares about smoking, skipping school, and riding his motorcycle. That is, until he meets a beautiful new kid who is bright everywhere Baz is dark. But a lot of things stand between them. Can they find a way together? Or will it keep them apart? Based on "Punk/Pastel AU" request.

Read on AO3

AN: IT'S DONE!!! IT'S FINALLY DONE!!! If you’ve followed me for awhile, you know this fic has taken a few months, what with it's length, my stupid job, and my stupid health problems. But I did it!!!! And I really hope it's worth the wait. Despite obstacles, I certainly enjoyed writing it, and I’m glad it was requested. I'm going to try to post a chapter twice or three times a week, but with all my stupid shit I can't guarantee a consistent schedule. I'll try though. Everything is already written. I just need to edit and tighten it all up. But I also sometimes work ten hour shifts which suck ass. Real life is terrible. Finally, ginormous thank you to @carryonmylovelies. I know I thank her a lot, but I really do mean it. I struggled a lot, both with actually writing and my self esteem as I tried to get this finish. She encouraged and helped me so much. There were many low points, but she helped me out of them every time. I never would've finished this fic without her there. Thank you sweetie. Now, finally, enjoy the punk/pastel au! :D

———————————————-

Baz

“Stop blowing smoke at me, Baz,” Dev grumbles.

“I’m not blowing at you,” I say plainly, “you’re just sitting downwind.”

“Then stop smoking.”

I take a deep drag and blow the fumes out slowly. Dev waves his hand as he glares at me. “Make me, cousin.”

Dev keeps glaring, but soon moves to my other side. I chuckle and offer him my Marlboro pack. He snatches it like a child grabbing a toy. Niall takes a stick as well.

This is our morning routine, now restarted with the new summer term. Sitting on the picnic bench under a tree, watching our school entrance, smoking like the cool teenage delinquents we think we are. Most people look at us for only a moment then scuttle away. The leather jackets and combat boots really up the intimidation factor. It’s the way I like it. Everyone fifteen feet away and properly scared of me. As they should be.

“Hey,” Niall says, “is that kid new? He doesn’t look familiar.” He points his cigarette towards the sea of kids at the entrance.

“Which one? Be specific, Niall,” I reply.

“The one with the pink sweater and practical fucking halo, that’s who.”

He points more insistently, and I look harder. Then I nearly drop my own cigarette.

At first, his back is to us, but then he turns, and I swear it’s in goddamn slow motion. Niall’s right. The light shines through his messy bronze curls, making them glow like a halo. His skin is another shade of gold and covered in freckles and moles. It looks like someone ripped the stars out of the sky and put them on his face. And his smile is so bright it’s like staring into the sun. The pastel pink sweater, faded cuffed jeans, and checkered Vans only help his angelically soft appearance. And his eyes, holy shit. They’re not even a typically interesting blue. Not cornflower or navy, not with a shot of hazel or violet. They’re just...blue. Yet, they’re perfect.

My pulse is beating in my ears. The world has narrowed down to just him. I’m so enthralled that I don’t notice him looking back. He’s blinking in confusion, probably wondering why this leather jacket wearing punk is staring at him. But surprisingly, he doesn’t turn away like most people. He just keeps looking, big blue eyes roaming over me repeatedly. He’s not afraid. Not like everyone else knows they should be.

I used to be known for my careful decision making. But that’s been out the window for awhile. So I meet New Kid’s gaze from across the field, and unabashedly wink.

His entire tawny face goes bright red. He turns back to whoever he was speaking to, and is soon getting dragged into the Watford School building. I quickly see that it’s Penelope Bunce hauling him in. She glares at me viciously. I scoff. Bunce has always hated me, even before I became like this. We were academic rivals until last year. Now she probably thinks I’m just a bad influence on whoever she’s been contracted to welcome to our institue. And she’s probably right. Though, I wonder if her new friend would agree...

“Hm,” I say quietly, “new kid is cute.”

“Dude,” Dev sighs, “he’s like, a fucking bubbly sunshine Instagram model. You have literally zero chance.”

“Still cute.”

“You have the most masochistic taste in men, mate,” Niall unneededly interjects before taking a drag.

I take a drag myself, smirking around the smoke. “Don’t I know it.”

———————————————-

“Mr. Pitch,” Miss Possibelf says with utter exasperation, “I’m glad you’ve finally decided to join us.”

“Apologies, Miss,” I reply smoothly as I stroll into the room, twenty minutes late. “Traffic is an absolute nightmare today.”

She sighs, shaking her head. “Just take your seat please.”

I do as she says, taking the one empty desk pair. Dev and Niall aren’t here so I prefer to sit alone. I kick my feet up on the table, putting my arms behind my head. Miss Possibelf doesn’t look angry at me though, just...disappointed. I try to ignore the way that makes my gut twist. Miss Possibelf has been here for ages. She knew my mother. And out of all the teachers at Watford, she views me with the most sadness. I fucking hate it.

Miss continues her lesson. I have to make a stubborn effort not to listen, but it’s effective. I keep my eyes closed and mentally go over my violin practice, the calming music swimming through my brain with ease. I can practically see the see notes behind my eyes. It’s one of the few things I haven’t dropped since entering this “rebellious phase” as my father calls it. Besides, I probably already know what Miss Possibelf is talking about. I was very far ahead last year.

“Ah, hello, can I help you?” Miss Possibelf says.

“Uh, is this Miss Possibelf’s year 12 English?” A nervous, rough accented voice asks.

“Yes, it is. And you are?”

“I-I’m Simon. I’m new, and my schedule says I’m in here.”

“Oh, I’ve been expecting you. Come up here and introduce yourself please.”

There are quick steps moving towards the front of the class. New kid? Hm, Watford isn’t a very big school. And I would’ve noticed anyone else new. I wonder...

I let my eyes half open, and they immediately focus on a baby pink sweater. I open them all the way. He’s standing at the front, books in hand, smiling nervously. He looks like an adorable, broad shouldered, puppy.

“Uh, hi,” he says shakily, “my name is Simon Salisbury. I-I’m from Lancashire and I’ve just moved. Um, I like pop music and scones and old swords. And...yeah, that’s pretty much it.”

Miss nods politely. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Salisbury. Please take a seat. I’ll give you some catch-up work after class to make sure you’re up to speed.”

Miss Possibelf gestures to the room. But the thing is, the desk next to me is the only free space. Simon obviously notices, considering the way his eyes go wide and his cheeks go red. Miss Possibelf gives me a look that says, “play nice, Basilton.” Please. I’m an arsehole, not a monster. And besides, Simon’s too pretty to mess with. Not in any permanently damaging way, that is.

I give Simon the biggest shit eating grin and wiggle my fingers. His face gets even more red. As if he can get any more adorable. He scurries towards me and takes the seat, but doesn’t look up. Poor nervous thing.

“Hello again,” I whisper, as Miss Possibelf has started lecturing again.

“H-Hi,” he replies in an equally hushed voice. “I’m Simon.”

“So you said before.”

“Oh oh, right. Uh, what’s your name?”

“Baz.”

“Huh, that’s a weird name.”

I let out a small scoff. “Gee, thanks.”

“Sorry!” He says hurriedly, picking at his sweater sleeve. “Sorry, I speak without thinking a lot.”

My mouth quickly forms into a half smile. I can’t help it. He’s too cute. “It’s alright. I think I can find it in my heart to forgive you.”

He flushes even more. “Okay, sounds good.”

“Basilton, stop distracting Mr. Salisbury,” Miss Possibelf sighs, back still turned.

“Will do, Miss,” I reply. I flick my eyes over to Simon and mouth “sorry” with a smirk. He shrugs, smiling shyly as he mouths back “it’s okay.”

Simon looks back at the board, opening his notebook to take down Miss Possibelf’s loopy cursive writing. I close my eyes again. But I can't think of notes, only the pastel pretty boy right next to me. So every time I open them, I slide them over to Simon. He’s usually looking at the board, but a couple of times, he’s looking back. He always immediately looks away when our gazes meet. Hm, he’s even cuter up close. That may mean trouble for me. And I’ve come to quite enjoy trouble.

———————————————-

Leaving school is always bittersweet. For one thing, it means leaving a painful place, where too many bad things have happened. Things I would very much like to forget. But then I have to go home, a place where I am even more of a constant disappointment.

The only good thing is riding there.

My bike is parked just off school property because Watford has some stupid policy against motorcycles. Like that will stop me. I saunter over to it with my helmet in hand and inspect it for any damage  (Someone spray painted it once and I’ve been paranoid ever since.) But it’s perfect, still stupidly large and frighteningly black as ever. I run my hand over the cool, smooth metal. It's almost electric to my skin. And to think, I used to make fun of people obsessed with their mode of transportation.

I’m putting on my helmet when my eyes catch on someone specific for the third time today. He’s standing near the school entrance staring at me, again. His blue eyes are bigger than saucer plates. The motorcycle is impressive to some, and I’m glad it’s impressive to him. I give Simon a little salute, then start the engine. It loudly roars to life. I take one last look at him as I speed away, smugly pleased at his awestruck expression.

Watford Cove, named for the small schoolhouse the town formed around and the shining ocean just to the west, is objectively beautiful. Lots of low roof fisherman’s houses, old forestry, and rolling green hills. It almost looks like a dream. And definitely looks like it belongs on a postcard. A cool breeze is almost always drifting off the water, so many of the richer folk built their houses on the hills, closer to the sun’s kinder, warming rays. My family's house falls into that category. And though I really do hate going home, the path there is as gorgeous as the rest of the town.

The straight streets turn into a winding road up our hill. I always challenge myself to see how low I can get to the ground each time. By now I can nearly kiss the concrete. I tilt so close the metal lets out a high pitched screech. My helmet hovers a few inches over the road. It’s the perfect mix of fear and excitement I like. At the top, the path becomes unpaved, dirty, and hidden by a canopy of tree trees. Wildflowers of every shade grow here too. Mother always loved the wildflowers. I try not to look, letting them just be colourful blurs as I race past.

Far too soon, I’m pulling up to the annoyingly big family mansion and parking my bike just behind the garage. Father prefers it to not be visible. He’s a true Brit; out of sight, out of mind. Sometimes I wish he used the same logic with me. It seems I’m always on his mind, unfortunately.

“Good afternoon, Basilton,” Vera says cheerily. She’s out watching my sisters as they play in our obscenely large yard. “How was school?”

I take off my helmet and run a hand over my sweaty hair. “Dreadful, as always.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that, love. I guess this is a bad time to let you know that your father wants to see you. Apologies.”

I sigh. Father wants to discuss something with me. Must be a day that ends in a y. “It’s fine, Vera. Thank you for telling me.”

She nods, and her smile says, good luck. I nod back, because I might need it, even if I don't want it.

I walk into my father’s office with all the confidence he likely wishes I didn’t have. I don’t even bother to knock. The two of us are long past those sort of polite formalities. He’s sitting in his comfy leather chair, dressed in his suit. Because he’s the kind of man who casually wears tailored jet black suits at home. He doesn’t look up at me, of course.

“Good day, Father,” I say, not even trying to hide the annoyance in my voice. “Vera said you wanted to see me.”

“Yes,” he replies smoothly. “Please sit down, Basilton.”

I throw myself into the armchair, making sure it rattles loudly against the floor. Father finally lifts his eyes to meet mine. Though it’s not much of a reaction for most people, it’s as good as yelling for him.

He leans back, fingers laced in front of him. Seriously, could he be any more of a Bond villain? “We have something important to discuss, Basilton.”

“Is this about my bike again? Because I told you, I’m not getting rid of it. It’s a total bloke magnet.” His lips press together, and I try not to smile. In the past year, I’ve found great enjoyment in getting under his stupid, prejudiced skin. Especially with my sexuality.

“No, that’s not it. I received something in the mail today.”

“Oh? And why should I care?”

“Because, it was your report card from last term.”

Shit. I resist the urge to grip the armrests. I don’t want him to see how anxious that makes me. I don’t want to be anxious. I don’t want to care at all about school or what he thinks.

“I see,” I drawl out. “Do you have an opinion or are you just informing me that it’s in your possession? If it’s the latter, you’re wasting my time.”

His lips tighten even more. I can tell he’s barely hanging onto his anger at me. I’m not sure if I should leave before the explosion or keep poking him to see how far I can get. He reaches into his desk and pulls out a small pack of stapled papers, dropping it on the desk. I recognise Watford’s letterhead, and my name of course. I try not to react to the series of Ds listed next to every class.

“You barely passed, Basil,” he says darkly. “A few points less and you would be repeating the term. Which is the same as the last few terms. I am...beyond disappointed.”

I wave a finger around with a deadpan expression. “I’ll alert the presses. ‘Extra, extra, Malcolm Grimm finds another reason to be disappointed in his fairy son.’”

He slams his hands on the table and stands up. I jolt, because that’s the most I’ve seen him react to...anything. His face is still neutral though. That hardly ever changes. But I can see a few hairline cracks in his facade. The corner of his lip twitching, his brow pulling together slightly.

“This is not a joke, Basilton. This is your future. Ever since last year, you’ve been letting everything you’ve worked for fall apart.”

“And whose fault is that?” I hiss.

“Your’s.” He points a long accusatory finger at me. “You made the choice to disregard your schooling to be some delinquent. I was only pushing you to help you do better. But you decided it was too much. And really Basil, what would your mother thi-”

It’s my turn to slam my hands on the table, which thankfully shuts him up. I meet his gaze unflinchingly. I hope he can see the fire in mine. “Don’t you use her,” I growl. “Don’t you dare use her memory for your own selfish means. She deserves better treatment than that. And I don’t give a shit about school now because of you. So do not use her to fix your fuck up.”

He glares, but I glare back just as hard. We’re both equally stubborn bastards. And he can’t intimidate me any more. I refuse to let him have any power over me. Slowly, but surely, we both sit back down, eyes still locked and refusing to concede. He weaves his fingers again. I can see the tension in his knuckles very clearly.

“My point, Basil,” he says with cold emphasis, “is that I can’t tolerate this behaviour anymore. The defiance, the truancy, everything. I’ve given you plenty of warnings, which have all been ignored. So I’m giving you a final choice: get at least a B average this term, or I’m sending you to a boarding school for wayward boys for year 13, in Switzerland.”

I inhale sharply. My whole body goes cold. I have to keep myself from shaking with fear and rage. I run through every possible scenario, every hell I’ll be subjected to. The thought of being alone in a foreign country, with people I won’t know, with adults who will try to ‘get me in line’, scares the absolute living shit out of me. My father keeps looking at me with his bored expression, and I want to sock him in the jaw. Just to make him react like the real human he supposedly is.

“You cannot be serious,” I growl.

“Dead serious,” he says. “I hate to do this, Basilton, but you leave me no choice. Just try harder at school and it won’t happen.”

I push back the chair with flourish, nearly knocking it over so I can glare down at him. “Fuck you.”

He doesn’t respond, just keeps looking at me with stupid indifference. I sneer and walk away, slamming the door behind me very loudly. I hope it rattles his bookshelves and maybe a few fillings.

I keep stomping outside to my bike, then rev the engine loud enough so Father hears. I drive too fast with no destination in mind. Just flying down backroads and letting the world blur into nothing. Pretend it fades away like I wish it would.

Soon, I find myself at the top of Mount Olympus. At least that’s what Mother called it. It’s barely even a hill on top of our hill, really. But it’s the best place to see the stars. I park my bike near the bottom and stomp to the top. I stare out into the sunset, like the tragic hero I like to think I am, when really I'm just a mopey, pathetic teenager. I feel calmer here though. There are many good memories here. Ones I’d rather think about than what my father said.

I sit down, knees brought up to my chin and arms around my legs like a pouting child. Tears threaten to spill but I don’t let them. I haven’t cried in years, and I absolutely refuse to start now. I’m stronger nowadays, or at least I think I am.

So, I’ve got three months before I’m sent away for probably a very long time. Guess I’ll see how much Hell I can raise until then.

———————————————-

AN: Hope you liked that first chapter. It mostly sets up the major parts of the story. Next time: Baz is at a new level of "fuck it", so what will he do now?

Chapter title is from “Summertime Sadness” by Lana Del Rey

[gaiyofanfiction]

Hey! So I wasn't sure if you were still okay with doing one more request, buuuuut if you are, could you do a a high school au for Monsta X? Minhyuk is the popular, good looking boy and the reader is the nerdy anime loner and she's in love with him but he picks on her? Maybe eventually it goes too far and he realizes how much he hurt her and then that he loves her too. Angsty af but fluff ending (eventually). Take your time! Love you! ~Your best friend :p

Oh my god! You’re so cute. I love you. I’m so nervous because I really want you to like this…AHHHHH. Here goes nothing! It’s going to be a three shot.

 ~ Gaishō

Reader x Minhyuk HighSchool!AU - “Sticks and Stones”

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3

Thealarm clock goes off on your phone. You have it set to play Rush,which is your favorite song from Monsta X. You hit the snooze on your phone andaggressively pull the covers over your head. ‘Can I just fast forwardpast high school? Ugh.’ The alarm clock goes off again and all you canthink was that was the fastest ten minutes of your life. 

“Well,time for the inevitable,” you lazily get out of bed and start to get dressed.You put on your Full Metal Alchemist shirt, ripped jeans, and black high top converse.Heading downstairs you grab a piece of toast and walk out the door.

Whileyou munched on your sad piece of toast you listened to your kpop playlist onthe way to school. ‘Maybe today won’t beso bad. At least I have class with him.’ Suddenly your ear buds was pulledout and your books were slapped out of your hands.

Youlook around and all the pretty girls were laughing at you. As you kneel to pickup your books you see a shiny shoe step on top of one of them. When you look upyou see Minhyuk standing tall before you.

“Hm,how pathetic. Just another nerd that’s into anime and listens to kpop,” he saysas he sifts through your manga books and scrolls on your iPod. The girls keptgiggling and pointing at you. Some of them were even snapping pictures of you. ‘Great. I’m sure I’ll be seeing thosepictures on the internet later.’

“C’mon,Minhyukieee! Walk us to class!” One of the girls whines for him. He winks atyou and walks off to escort a girl in each arm to class. You can’t help but growland be disgusted. ‘Who says his name likethat? Gross.’

Yougather your books and put the ear buds back in and head off to first class.Much of the time you don’t really pay attention to what’s going on duringclasses. Really, you’re off in another world daydreaming about Minhyuk. Crazy,right? You’re madly in love with your bully.

But,that wink he gave you. Your heart flutters and you start to smile. “Y/N! Iasked you what was the answer to #5. Why don’t you come up here and demonstratehow you got your answer.” Of course everyone starts to stare at you as you walkup to the chalkboard. 

Youwrite out the answer perfectly and look to your teacher. He scoffs and signalsfor you to go back to your seat. Someone else yells out ‘loser’ and the rest ofthe class laughs at you. At this point, it was routine for you. You were thelonely outcast of your school. Why? There really was no reason. You haven’tdone anything wrong or drastic to make you one. But, every school needs someoneto pick on and it was you.

Mostdays are pretty mundane. The only thing that really kept you in school was thefact your parents would kill you if you dropped out and Minhyuk was in the samelunch and gym period as you.

Lunch and gym were the only times you really were everattentive. Well, attentive to Minhyuk that is. He’s insanely gorgeous, hissmile could light up an entire room, and he is ever so kind. But, of allpeople, he isn’t very kind to you.

It was finally gym period. The last period of the day andyou get to see Minhyuk look absolutely adorable in the school’s gym uniform.The top was a whitish gray and the shorts were a nice shade of red that madehis legs look amazing. You mindlessly stare at him and all of a sudden a ballhits you in the side of the your head and you fall over. All you could hearwere the boys and girls booing at you. “Seriously, Y/N? We might as wellforfeit if you’re going to just space out all day!” One of the guys complainedand kicked at your fallen body.

The gym teacher blows his whistle, “Y/N, go sit out!” Youdidn’t really mind, it just meant you could sit at the sidelines and watch thebeauty that is Minhyuk. ‘Why do I have tolike him so much?’

 Finally, the bell rings ending the last period of the day.You head to the girl’s locker room and find that your locker was wide open. ‘Wait, but I… I know I locked it.’Frantically, you look around for your clothes.

“Looking for these?” A group of girls held your clothes.They were the same group of girls from that morning. Before you could reach outand grab it from them you hear a loud rip. They ripped your favorite shirt andpants and threw them at you. “Stare at our Minhyuk again and next time you’llbe really sorry.”

 Your head was low and tears streamed down your face like aflowing river. You look at the time and realize the buses were going to leavesoon so you had no other choice but to go home in your gym clothes. ���I swear those girls are attached to hiship! If only he could just see the kind of person I was…’

 The ride home was probably the quietest one you’ve had inawhile. Of course you had a couple ugly stares and mean things were said aboutyou in the distance, but you paid no mind. You got off on your stop and walkeda couple blocks to your house.

 “I’m home mom,” you walk in, kick off your shoes and startto head upstairs to your room. “Where’s your clothes, honey?” You stop midwayup the stairs. Shaking your head you keep going and just yell, “I don’t want totalk about it!”

 You close your door behind you and plop onto your bed. Openingyour laptop you first check the various social media accounts you had. Youalready saw the picture of you taken from the girl earlier that morning onFacebook, Tumblr, and on Twitter. ‘Hm, sopopular I’m basically a walking meme.’

 Just before you could slam your laptop shut you hear theFacebook message notification. You look to see that it was… Minhyuk!? ‘No way. This has got to be a joke.’ Youopen the message.

“Hey cutie. What’s up?”

[stillnotoverstillstarcrossed]

Promise Me

Another edition of the Hollywood Dreams series! I went back in time for this one! I felt like before I added anymore content to the story, I should write some more background for Rose and Ben's relationship. Hope y'all like teenage angst! (Also on AO3):

Benvolio’s footsteps echoed the halls of La Verona High School as he made his way to the gymnasium. The silence of the school was eerie to Benvolio, having been full of life mere hours ago when school was in session for the day. Now at 8 pm, not a single student or teacher could be found. Leave it to Rosaline to want to work this late on a Friday night. 

Benvolio knew that as Student Body President, Rosaline was under a lot of pressure to make prom the best night of everyone’s lives, but a fifth “final tweak” on the decorations was a bit excessive. And besides, if prom was actually the best night of anybody’s life, Benvolio figured the rest of said person’s life was bound to be very very sad.

Nevertheless, he would help Capulet do the finishing touches. Not only was he performing his job as a student council member, but he was also trying to not get yelled at again. He was not strong enough to take any more of Rosaline’s evil eye.

Benvolio was almost to the red and white double doors of the gym when he stopped short. He was astounded to hear a voice singing. Benvolio shook his head out of disbelief and leaned his face against the window slot of the door. Peaking through the gym doors, he spotted Rosaline perched on the make-shift stage, paintbrush in hand. She seemed to be touching up the sparkling banner that read “A Night in Paris”. Her hair was tied up in a bun, she had on an old t-shirt and jeans, and earbuds in. And she was singing.

Benvolio pulled his face back from the window in bewilderment. Either Rosaline Capulet was actually singing with the voice of an angel or Benvolio really had gotten a concussion from that fall he took in gym class earlier. But as her voice continued to drift through the door, his brain finally accepted reality. Rosaline was singing and she was stunning. Ben pressed his ear hard against the space, trying his best to make out the lyrics:

I don’t mind spending everyday Out on your corner in the pouring rain Look for the girl with the broken smile Ask her if she wants to stay awhile And she will be loved And she will be loved

Benvolio smiled widely as he recognized the song. He’d heard it at least a million times just this week as Mercutio had been rehearsing it for his promposal to Miguel. Mercutio had a decent voice. It wasn’t dreadful to hear the first few times. Eventually though, after listening to 1000 versions of the same song, Benvolio was sure he’d be just peachy if he never had to hear it ever again. But right now, listening to Rosaline’s silky smooth voice gliding over each note with perfection, he was sure he could stand being tortured a little more.

Capulet will kill me if she finds out I heard, he thought amusedly right as the door swung open and the lack of support made his face meet the floor.

“Montague!”

Rosaline appeared practically out of thin air and was now looking down at Benvolio with her arms crossed and that terrifying evil eye. Her face was scrunched up in anger, most likely an attempt to cover up any embarrassment Benvolio had cost her. Why was it that those two emotions were the only ones he could ever get out of her?

Dragging his hands up to rub his sore, floor-kissed nose, Benvolio sighed.

“Nice to see you too, Capulet,” he said cheekily.

“Mind telling me why you were standing at the door like a creep?” she questioned, her voice rising with every word.

“No, no, no, Capulet,” he began as he started to lift himself off the dirty gym floor.

“You misunderstand,” he said, arms raised in defense. “I heard you singing, and I was merely shocked. The Capulet actually can enjoy herself? Who knew?”

He was trying his best to act nonchalant as if hearing her voice hadn’t basically hypnotized him to the point where he didn’t notice Rosaline herself walking over to the door. She didn’t need to know that.

“You heard that?” Rosaline asked, even more outraged. Benvolio didn’t know it was possible for a person’s eyebrows to raise that high, but Rosaline always surprised him. She turned away from Benvolio and began to walk back towards the stage, groaning with her arms making angry gestures the whole way.

Benvolio sprinted to catch up to her as she reached for her paintbrush again.

“What’s wrong Capulet? Don’t want anyone to know you like to have fun and sing a little Maroon 5? Because there are worse things, trust me. Remember when everyone was convinced Romeo still wore diapers in the 8th grade?”

Rosaline looked up from her almost violent paint strokes and stared at Benvolio. She shook her head and sighed as if his joke was instead a request to copy her homework.

“Are you gonna help me or what, Montague?” Rosaline eyed him with an exasperated spread of her hands, so forceful it splattered paint on her jeans.

“I’m helping, I’m helping,” Benvolio replied as he hopped on the stage and grabbed a spare paintbrush.

Benvolio decided that if she wanted to ignore it, he’d let it go. Not worth making her more upset, which he seemed to be a natural at already. They worked quietly, the only sound being heard anymore being the soft splashing of lavender paint.

“Yes, I remember and no, Benvolio. That’s not it.” Rosaline said suddenly disrupting the silence.

Benvolio turned to meet her eyes.

“So, then what’s the problem?” Benvolio prompted. “Capulet, don’t let this go to your head, but you’re quite talented. I mean that.”

Rosaline’s face danced through several indecipherable emotions before landing on annoyingly pleased. “Thank you,” she said under her breath. Benvolio kept her gaze and patiently waited for her to continue her explanation.

“Singing for me,” she began. “is extremely personal. My mother used to sing to me and Livia all the time and she had the most beautiful voice you’d ever heard. Forget Celine, forget Mariah, forget Tina. I had my mom.”

Benvolio noticed Rosaline’s eyes had strayed to the star-shaped lights hanging from the ceiling. Her eyes themselves had almost gone starry, the brown mixing with gold, as Rosaline remembered her childhood. He could understand getting so lost in the past. Every time he thought of his parents, he got a little sentimental himself.

“After she died, singing was how I still reached out to her. I guess while I was working, I got a little lost in the task…”

“Not even Livia knows. I just like having this one thing I know I’m good at to myself. You ever get that feeling? Just wanting to keep this little part of yourself hidden away from everyone, before they can ruin it?”

She shrugged in a mock-casual manner, promptly ending her story. She turned her attention back to painting, obviously uncomfortable with sharing something so personal.

“Sometimes,” Benvolio said as he put his brush down and laid on his back, looking up at the lights once more.

“When I miss my parents, I grab the guitar they left me and I play. I haven’t really shared that with anyone, not even Merc or Romeo. I’m not as good at that as you are at singing, but I can imagine it’s similar.”

Benvolio turned his head slowly and dared a look at Rosaline. She was looking back at him with a soft smile on her face. Benvolio felt his heart beat a little faster.

“I guess we aren’t so different after all,” she said.

“Guess not,” Benvolio replied with a tender smile of his own.

He flipped on his knees and got back to work. They finished the banner, with Rosaline swearing this was the last touch up it needed. Benvolio just nodded, knowing that was extremely unlikely. They packed up the rest of the supplies and made their way to the exit, purple paint and sweaty-gym-smell all over their clothes. The crisp air in the parking lot was a welcome gift.

Benvolio wished Rosaline goodbye and turned toward his car. Before he could even open the door though, Rosaline called out to him.

“Benvolio, thank you for understanding,” she said from a few spaces down, standing next to her red Malibu. “But seriously. If you tell anyone I’ll kill you.”

Benvolio laughed as she dipped into her car with a sly smile and veered off. He knew very well that Capulet could be funny if she so chose. Benvolio only wished he could see that humorous side more often. But he had the wrong name, the wrong family. Too much history.

Benvolio got into his car and tried to clear his head. Merc and Romeo would be waiting for him, ready to go out to some party down the street. He didn’t want to show up and bring down the mood. As he pushed his sullen thoughts of lost parents and family feuds out of his mind, something else quickly replaced them.

“I don’t mind spending every day,” he sang under his breath as he made his way home.

[fanfictionandstuff]

Secrets- Riverdale X Reader Chapter 4- The Last Picture Show

Fandom: Riverdale   

Warnings: Ms. Grundy and the clusterfuck that comes with that...<<also swearing apparently. 

notes: yikes ive been inactive for forever jfc oops SORRY!

word count: 3,500 (ish)

You woke up on the soft and worn blue fabric of your living room couch the soft evening light filtering through the window. Your phone was blasting your moms ringtone and her smiling face lighting up the screen. You groggily picked up the phone and hit the green 'answer' button 

"hey mom" you mumble still not 100% awake, you were not prepared for her this soon after waking up.

"Hey sweetie, how are you?" she greeted you chirpily, you groaned internally she wanted something 'sweetie' was a dead giveaway.

"I'm fine mom." you replied, sighing internally you just wanted her to get to whatever she wanted.

"Good, thats good...so I heard they found Jason Blossoms body...Sweetheart, I know it might be tempting to tell someone about your...ties to that family. But remember, you'll be ruining both our lives." your moms voice was almost happy and carefree, but there was definite worry under it, finally her reason for calling became clear.

Its not that your mom was a bad parent, but she was flighty and a bit self centered if it didn't suit her it wasn't an option and it had always been like that. When you were 12 she had left you for a month with a babysitter and gone to Rome for work. She tried she really did but she wasn't cut out for kids, honestly if you hadn't come along by accident your mother probably wouldn't have had kids. She was like the professional fun aunt, she was less flighty when you were a kid but something had changed when you were old enough to (kind of) take care of yourself and that was that. It stung a bit when it had first started happening but now you were just tired when it came to your mother.

"no mom. I haven't told anyone. I know the consequences."

"Good! lets keep it that way pumpkin, the Blossoms aren’t people you want to get mixed up with." she sighed with relief. 'pumpkin' was new. 

"Are you coming home soon?" you asked, knowing better than to ask about her comment about the Blossoms you didn't ask about your father and she didn't tell, you had learned that one young.

She breezed past your question. "I have to go (y/n), talk later!" and she hung up before you could even say goodbye. You hit the end call button and threw it at the foot of the couch, and covered your face with one of the navy throw pillows in a form of protest against everything.

You glanced at the wall clock and realized it was almost 6pm, and you were starving so you changed into fresh clothes grabbed your backpack and slipped out the front door. Locking it behind you and walked the few blocks to pops, the neon signs greeting you as you approached.

You walked through the door to find some of your friends already sitting there. Jughead was gesturing angrily as you grabbed a chair from a nearby table and pulled it up. "The Drive-in closing, its just one more nail in the coffin that is Riverdale! No. forget Riverdale. in the coffin of the american dream." Jughead was ranting, he was still doing the angry gesture thing outrage in his every word. "As the godfather of indie cinema,  Quentin Tarintino, likes to say--"

Kevin cut him off. "please, god, no more Quentin Tarintino references." "What? Im pissed. And not just about losing my job The Twilight drive in should MEAN something to us, people should be trying to save it!" Jughead continued his mini rant.

Veronica was next to chime in, "In this age of Netflix and VOD, do people really want to go watch a movie in a car? who even goes there?" “People who want to buy crack" Kevin added. 

"And cinephiles and car enthusiasts--" Jughead started listing off people who go to the twilight and you were the one to cut him off this time.

"I go." you chimed in, you had been a bunch of times when the house got too empty or you felt too isolated. You would take the old beat up pick-up from the garage and go to The Twilight. Just to be around people for awhile, and not have to worry about oversharing. considering everyone in the freaking town only wanted to gossip about the blossoms and Jasons murder.

"See (y/n) gets it! The Twilight drive in is a riverdale treasure, right Bets?" Jughead gestured at you and then turned to a very distracted Betty. She blinked a few times before nodded and smiling politely. "Totally."

"Anyway, its closing because the town owns it but didn't invest in it. so when an anonymous buyer made mayor McCoy an offer she couldn't refuse--" Veronica cut Jughead off again. "Anonymous buyer? What do they have to hide, No one cares." "I do!" Jughead retorted.

"I kind of do too, well more about the drive in closing than the person who bought it. I wont--" have anywhere to go when I cant deal with the big empty house.  "--I spend alot of time there." you catch yourself mid-thought. Jughead gives you that weird stare again like the first time you met in the gym. the weird 'I’m trying to figure you out not just looking at you' stare, after you chime in, and veronica and Kevin gave you half-hearted looks of curiosity.

Jughead breezed past it though. "Also, you guys should all come to closing night, Im thinking 'American Graffiti'. or is that too obvious?"

Veronica perked up at the slight topic change. "I vote anything starring Audrey Hepburn. Or Cate Blanchett." "Or the talented Mr.Ripley." Kevin added. "Betty, your choices?" Betty blinked like she had just woken up. "Everything OK, B?" Veronica asked. "Yeah, yeah. Im just thinking. um....Maybe 'Rebel without a cause?'" Everyone looked at you next, and you shrugged helplessly. "Rebel without a cause sounds good to me."

Veronicas mom came over and set down a basket of fried something or other in front of Veronica. Veronica smiled. "Thanks mom."

Kevin opened his mouth to bring up a new topic but was cut off by cheryl slamming her hand on top of Veronicas mothers a few tables over and glaring at her. "Be sure to put all* of that cash in the register. You are a Lodge, after all--" Veronica got up and started towards Cheryls table. "--and Lodges are known to have sticky fingers."

"oh no" you whispered under your breath. this had the possibility to be bad. "Cheryl." Veronica stated warningly, but her mother put up a finger to stop her.

"Honey I got this. Cheryl, I went to school with your mother. She didnt know the difference between having money and having class either." Veronica practically beamed with pride, while you tried to suppress a laugh at the look on Cheryls face. Veronica slid back into the booth just as the chime on the door jingled. 

Kevins eyes widened slightly, "now thats* an odd combo of people."  

The four of you followed kevins gaze and saw Archie, ms. Grundy, and Archies father walk through the door. "Ill be right back." Betty said while sliding out of the booth.

"Betty, no. dont." Jughead grabbed for Bettys arm but she was already on her way over to the group. You stared in confusion at Jughead and Bettys strong reaction to Archie and Ms.Grundy walking in together. She seemed nice enough, you didnt take any of her classes and didn't know her well you only really knew what Doily had revealed at the blue and Gold office. And then it clicked Archie had been AT Sweetwater river July fourth, and from what Dilton had told you so had Ms. Grundy, but you had never considered they were there together, that was so...oh god.

From the look of horror or shock on your face, Jughead seemed to follow your thought process and shot you a 'I'll explain later' look.

Kevin leaned back into his face his gaze flicking between you, Jughead, and Bettys retreating figure. "Wait, whats happening?" You and Jughead ignored him as you watched Betty and Archie exchange a few words and then head outside. You slid into Bettys now vacant seat next to Jughead to get a better view out the window. This was all about to come crashing down around Archies head, and like watching a trainwreck you couldnt look away. Even as unease and disgust was causing your stomach to flip.

"Whats happening out there? Do we know? Is it about me?" Veronica shot off rapid fire questions at Jughead as Kevin peered out the window. Jughead slumped down in his seat, his face contorted into unease. "I have a strong inkling and no, Also I'd let it go." "Yes, but you're you, and I'm me. You do you, girl. Ill be back." Veronica said while getting up from the booth with a lighthearted smile. "Veronica. You really should just let it drop." You added in an attempt to stop her from going.

Veronica just smiled at you mischievously and walked out the door into the parking lot. Jughead sighed and rolled his eyes. Kevin leaned in and looked at Jughead, "What was it like before she got here? I honestly cannot remember."

You laughed lightly, a slight hint of darkness clouding your eyes. "You mean Riverdale wasn't always straight out of a soap opera? Somehow I find that hard to believe." your words were dripping with sarcasm and a hint of bitterness.

Kevin just smiled awkwardly and turned his attention back to the window. You closed your eyes and leaned back into the vinyl of the seat and let out a long sigh. You were torn between just fleeing this insane town ASAP or punching Ms. Grundy in the face...or maybe just having her arrested...and then punching Archie in the face for once again being an idiot. All options sounded pretty good. When you opened your eyes Kevin was gone and Jughead was staring at you. "I'm not going to rat Archie out, Jughead. If thats what you're worried about somehow I think that would just hurt everyone worse." you offered quietly while switching to the other side of the booth.

"I wasn't worried about that. you just looked queasy." he replied. You sighed and ruffled a hand through your hair. "Student-teacher relationships Jughead. its sick. I know Archie is your friend, But its so, so,* wrong. And its all just about to get worse as far as I can tell." Jughead nodded and dropped his gaze down to the table. you grabbed a pen from the table and flicked it back and forth between your fingers, watching absentmindedly while it spun. An uneasy silence filled the air around the booth. "do you mind? if...if I hang out here for awhile longer? I dont want to go home yet." you asked quiety, your gaze on a small dent in the table. Jughead smiled, "As long as youre buying." he joked.

you grinned, "Paying you in food to hang out. its a little hookerish, but you have a deal Jones."

You grabbed your sketchbook that you had thrown in your backpack, and Jughead pulled out his laptop from his bag under the table. You both spent the next few hours in a comfortable silence, only talking occasionally to order a refill on a milkshake or get another round of food. At around 1am you finally had to tap out, your eyes were starting to close by themselves and it was getting harder for you to stay awake. You packed up your belongings and slipped on your jacket, Jughead looked up from his laptop. "Hey Jughead, I'm gonna head home now. My goldfish probably misses me." you smiled sleepily at your own semi-joke.

"Your goldfish, and not your parents?" Jughead asked. which would be a fair question, not many people would let their kid stay out so late.

"My goldfish is the only one missing me at home." you said quietly, your gaze averting from his. Jughead shut his laptop, before slipping it back into his bag.

"I know the feeling" Jughead said softly, his eyes cold. You didnt pry, it was obviously a touchy subject. So you grabbed your backpack and paid the tab the two of you had racked up shaking off the heavy tension, and headed towards the door, but Jugheads voice stopped you. "See you at school tomorrow (y/n)?" You smiled at him, "Count on it."

The next morning as you walked past the blue and gold offices an arm shot out and pulled you into the room. You stumbled and twirled around to see a nervous Betty wringing her hands, and waiting for you to get your bearings. "Betty! what the hell?" you said annoyed.

Betty looked around nervously before closing the door, "Sorry (y/n) I just need your help with something. I have something to tell you about Ms. Grundy and its--"

"That she and Archie are...dating?" you cut Betty off, cringing at the last word. She gaped at you, "You know about that?" You nodded, "I figured it out at pops the other night...wait, about that, is there something else?"

Betty walked over to her computer and gestured for you to follow, "Yeah look at this-" Betty pulled up a Bunch of tabs, all different social media accounts of Geraldine Grundy. "-everything about her was made around the same time, a year ago. before that Geraldine Grundy doesn't exist."

"...shit. Does Archie know?" you asked as ran a hand through your hair, sighing loudly..

"No. Im meeting him at Pops after school, I'm going to tell him then." Betty replied.

"Betty why are you telling me this?" "I just wanted a impartial third party to confirm that I wasn't being totally crazy about this social media thing." Betty said.

"Look Betty its super sketchy, but be careful. This whole Archie and Grundy bullshit is going to come crashing down Don’t get caught in the mess."

Later that day, you were sitting at the kitchen table working on biology homework when a knock sounded at your front door. You stood up from the wooden chair with a sigh and padded across the tiled kitchen floor into the living room, and then to the front door. You opened the door to see Jughead standing on your porch.

"I need your help, noone will listen to the concerns of one disgruntled employee, and you're the only other person in this town who cares the starlight is closing." he had his arms crossed, but his face was pleading. an odd mix of vulnerable and guarded.

"Hello to you too, yes this is a new shirt thanks for noticing, I'm also sorry for missing you at school." you paused but Jughead didn't respond. You sighed."Of course I'll help Jughead." You grabbed his arm and pulled him with you into the kitchen. "Do you have a plan?"

Jughead glanced around your kitchen, taking in the wood paneled floors and the weird mint green cupboards the previous owners had installed. "I want to appeal to Mayor McCoy directly, show her there are people other than addicts and thugs that frequent the drive in." Jughead started, but you cut him off.

"I take it im the 'people' in this scenario? you know for all you know I could be an addict AND a thug...I mean, I'm not. but wouldn't Betty be better for this? I’m kind of an unknown in this town."  you said sarcastically as you hopped up on your kitchen counter.

Jughead stared at you from across the room. "Bettys distracted with the whole Archie and Grundy thing-" You grimaced. "-But, it doesn't matter, Betty doesn't go to the drive-in. you do. So we'll show her normal highschool kids show up, not just Riverdales 'criminal element'."

You pushed yourself off the countertop and grabbed your jacket from the back of a wooden chair where you had flung it earlier. "Alright. lets go." You and Jughead walked side by side to city hall, going over your strategy. so far the plan was use you as a prime example of the twilights redeeming qualities and if that failed, wing it.

When you got to city hall, the mayors secretary waved you in while she chatted on the phone. You trailed behind Jughead. The mayor was moving around her office flipping through papers. "Mayor McCoy you cant close the Twilight Drive-in."  Jughead piped up before the mayor could say anything "Its a staple of this town!"  You nodded along.

She moved to stand behind her desk, "I'm sorry, but the Twilight Drive in? Its a blight thats become a cesspool! And a hangout for criminals and transients." she took a seat in the red leather chair and continued to flip through her papers. "And normal highschool students! Im there almost every weekend." You shot back from next to the scale model of the town. annoyance biting at your words. The mayor smiled at you tightly, like a parent trying to get their child to behave in public. "Look kids, The deals done. Andrews construction is set to demolish the lot on monday."

You narrowed your eyes slightly at her. You were pissed beyond belief, but you had no idea what to say. 

Jughead bit his lip and glanced down, bouncing slightly. He grabbed a chair and pulled it up to the mayors desk. "Mayor McCoy, when I was a kid, my family and I would go to the drive-in all the time.- " She finally put down her papers and crossed her arms, leaning on her desk, giving Jughead her full attention. "-We couldn't afford tickets for everyone...so my sister, Jellybean, and I would hide in the trunk until we parked. we'd sneak out." He shook his head slightly at the last part. your heart broke for him as he looked the mayor in the eye again, his expression pleading."It's like my home."

The mayor glanced away and then looked at him again. "Thats a very sweet sentiment, Mr. Jones. But the future of Riverdale is at stake." her expression and voice were almost kind, but there was an edge of condescension in every word. Jughead shook his head and stood up from the chair, heading straight for the door.

"Jughead!" you called after him. but he didn't stop. You turned to face the mayor and gave her the best glare you could manage before running after Jughead. You headed out the double doors of the mayors office to see Jughead disappearing around the corner, The floorboards creaked softly as you jogged to catch up with him.

"Jughead, wait!" you called after him again, your voice echoing through the empty hallway. He finally paused and turned to face you. "I'm sorry." you said, there was nothing else you could say. you could tell he was hurting, and you had no idea how to help.

"Thanks for trying." was all Jughead said before he walked away again. And this time you didn't follow. 

That Friday night you trailed behind Kevins truck in yours, his truck only had two seats so you had to take yours. He and Veronica parked and you took the spot next to them, the three of you immediately climbed out of your vehicles and started setting up the blankets. the spots around you started quickly filling up as just about every person in Riverdale arrived in the gravel lot for the Twilights final showing. 

Kevin and Veronica settled in as you pulled out your sketchbook, an empty page staring back at you, but you had a plan for it. You grabbed your pencil and started recording what you saw in graphite and paper, The twilights curtain call. The people of riverdale moving around you, the soft glow of the screen, casting everything in shadows. You knew things were happening around you; Cheryl climbing in with Kevin and Veronica, Bettys mom showing up and dragging off Archies dad. But you were focused on this scene, not anyone elses.  

For almost two hours you sketched, shaded, and erased. until you had something that reflected what you were trying to capture. You carefully tore it from your sketchbook as the movie began to roll the credits in the background. You folded the page and scrawled a note on the back.

'a little piece of home. --(y/n)'

As people started to pack up their things and go home, you walked to the projector house and looked at the paper in your hands again, the words on the back staring back at you as you slipped the drawing under the door and knocked, before turning and walking away to join the line of people leaving the drive in for the last time.

But even as you climbed into your truck, you couldn't shake the feeling the twilight drive-in wouldn't be the only thing changing in Riverdale.

Tags list: @letsgetfuckingsuperwholocked @deanackles67 @thejourneyofabrokenheart @bbyhansol143 @half-and-halfxx @yummyphoenix39 @scrolling-my-life away @littlefrenchbird

[dearestjaemin]

day four: fav pro hero

i honestly had a hard time choosing because im currently reading the manga and my emotions for all might just went plus ultra.

however, this hero is an all time favorite. it started bcos of his seiyuu but i definitely love him for his character.

In celebration of teacher’s month in the Philippines, and an advanced celebration for the whole world, I chose this hero because I love him and his soft spot is absolutely loveable.

“Class dismissed.”

The class greets Aizawa farewell and he leaves the classroom as soon as they finish. Jirou shares a look with Yaoyorozu, and before Bakugou could waltz out of the classroom, their vice president pulls out a metal bar from her body and puts it right in front of the door, preventing simple escapes.

“Oi, move.”

“Bakugou, there’s something we have to say. It’s about Aizawa-sensei, and maybe All Might.”

“Tch.”

Bakugou sits on the nearest table, much to Aoyama’s dismay, and nods at Jirou to let her continue. There was a silent agreement in the class that that was the most compliant Bakugou they have ever seen. Midoriya was damn sure it’s because of the mention of ‘All Might’ but who is he to judge?

“So, uh, I only found out yesterday that it’s teacher’s day tomorrow and we’ve been kinda talking about it.”

“Ehhh? Why did you keep it from us?”

“I-It’s not like we were keeping it from you guys, I swear! Honestly speaking, we haven’t had a proper conversation about it!”

It was adorable how Yaoyorozu was waving her arms around as if to defend themselves.

“Well, that aside, the main important thing, or question, is are we going to celebrate it?”

“It doesn’t seem like U.A. celebrates it, huh.”

“We can celebrate it!”

Ashido immediately stands up and pumps her fists up and down. Hagakure joins in, her sleeves going up and down. The two were cheerful as ever.

“Ribbit, I think it’s a great idea. Aizawa-sensei needs more appreciation after all the trouble he puts through dealing with us.”

“Then it’s settled! We’ll do a mini celebration for him.”

Yaoyorozu and Jirou shares a high five, happy that there was no need for persuasion to make things happen.

“Well, Bakugou seems like he’s going to kill me if we keep him so y’all can continue with your lives. Let’s just talk about it in the group chat.”

That said, only Bakugou and Todoroki went home. The rest of the class stayed either for the preparations, or simply they just didn’t want to go home yet. As they converse about what they’ll do - “Do we need a cake? I can make some.” “Does Aizawa-sensei even like sweet things?” “Well if he doesn’t, we can eat it ourselves!” - someone unexpected enters the classroom.

“Hello, Class 1-A!”

Their principal, Nezu, greets the class, jumping on the table to get a higher view. Everybody stood up and bowed in greeting, and he immediately tells everyone to be at ease. What was the principal doing inside their classroom?

“Well, I recently found out awhile ago that teacher’s day is tomorrow and I’ve decided on my own, of course, to do a little celebration. Actually, it’s more of a recognition day than a celebration but we’ll work on that next year. I see that you are planning something?”

“Yes sir!”

“That’s splendid! Mind if we make the celebration throughout the school instead of having it confined to your classroom?”

Everyone seemed excited and shook their head, visibly looking forward to it.

“I’ve already actually talked to each class one by one, and I’m fortunate that your class is still around or else that would be a problem! To be honest, the other classes are also making plans so I thought it would be a great idea to have everyone involved. Well then! Class President, please follow me.”

Iida immediately stood up and followed Nezu outside. After a few more minutes of planning, the rest of the class went home.

“Aizawa-sensei! At least give us a smile!”

Aizawa continued frowning. It was the last part of the campus celebration, picture-taking. After this, he could escape from this attention and go back home. The photographer threatened him that this won’t end as long as he keeps frowning. Great. What a way to end his day.

“Come on, Shota! Smile.”

“Shut it, Hizashi.”

“Yes! Do smile, Aizawa!”

“Ugh, even you, All Might?”

Aizawa gives up and gives a smile, although it wasn’t the one everyone was hoping for, but they did expect it. It was the smile he wore when he’s highly amused, and everyone else is often in an unfortunate state. Well, it was something.

After the celebration, Aizawa went backstage and hoped that he could somehow go home in peace, but then Kaminari, Kirishima and Sero showed up in front of him, Todoroki jogging behind them.

“Aizawa-sensei! A moment of your time, please!”

“You’ve had plenty already.”

“Please! We beg you.”

Kirishima bowed down, head on the ground. Kaminaru and Sero just bowed deeply.

“...Please.”

Todoroki joins in and Aizawa just sighed.

“Fine, but only for a while.”

“Guys! Aizawa-sensei is on his way! Quick, to your positions!”

Everybody shuffled to their positions. Sato and Shoji held the sides of the banner which they previously used in the U.A’s teacher’s day celebration. Some of them got party poppers, and the others posed for the greeting. When Aizawa came in with the Todoroki who walked behind him, they popped the party poppers and cheered-

“Happy Teacher’s Day, Aizawa-sensei!”

Some confettis fell on him, but thankfully none of Sero’s tape landed on him. They sing a little song, which he didn’t really recognize and it sounded something they’re just randomly coming up with, and they burst into laughter at the failure. Aizawa smiled, but it was more like a twitch in the mouth and the eye.

“Tch, you guys didn’t need to.”

“We know, but we did it anyways because we think it’s fitting.”

Tsuyu spoke up, and everyone nodded in agreement. Well, he can’t be a wet blanket anymore.

“Er, well, I’m not good with this thing so… Iida, go call Hi- Present Mic and All Might. I’m sure you guys like them. Oh, and you can use your quirk to be quick.”

“Yes sir!”

Iida salutes and immediately dashes off to get them. Within a minute, Iida comes back with the two of them. They both let out an amused sound.

“Well, well! It seems your class adores you, Aizawa!”

“It appears so, doesn’t it, Present Mic?”

All Might and Present Mic laughed and Aizawa immediately regretted inviting them. With the two great presence in the room, the attention went to them, and unexpectedly, Aizawa just took a seat somewhere in the room, watching the crowd around the two heros. Well, that’s better.

The students enjoyed the food they prepared, and so did the three teachers. Aizawa’s tiny smile never left his face as he watched his class bond, even the improving Bakugou and the awkward Todoroki.

“Mhm, you sure do look loved.”

“Shut it.”

“Even if I spend more time with Young Midoriya than any other student and I’m very much aware of his admiration towards me, I can always sense the great admiration the students hold for you, either individually or as a class.”

Aizawa just snorted, but didn’t talk back.

“Hey, let’s take a picture!”

Aizawa didn’t refuse, but he was the last to stand up for it. He was in the middle, with All Might and Present Mic by his side. Aizawa wasn’t smiling, but he wasn’t frowning either. He just looked tiredly at the camera, and the class liked it that way.

The picture greatly defines their class, with Ashido, Hagakure, Jirou and Sero goofing around for the picture and Iida scolding them at the sides, hoping for a proper picture. Asui and Uraraka posed for a matchy feel, and Midoriya smiled brightly as All Might’s hand rested on his shoulder. Kirishima’s arms were around Bakugou and Kaminari, grinning at the camera with his fingers forming a peace sign. Aoyama was posing in a flashy way, as usual. Ojiro was at the side, smiling and doing a peace sign as well. Sato and Koda’s arms around each other, with Koda’s looking all awkward. Todoroki was sitting in front with the goofy ones, not looking at the camera but instead at the people beside him. Shoji was at the back, his arms spreading like wings. Fumikage let out his shadow to be in the picture. Yaoyorozu was beside Jirou, and also near Iida and she was covering her ears. Mineta was sitting in front, right in the middle, pumping his fists high in the air.

It was such a nice picture.

Omake:

Present Mic received the picture somehow and sent it to Aizawa. Aizawa secretly saved it in his phone, and had it printed and placed in a frame.

[jaeminlore]

An Artist's Soulmate // Huang Renjun

-

the prompt: renjun x reader artist/soulmate!au where he just has this one “OC” character that he constantly draws like 24/7 n then he bumps into the reader n realises like woah I’ve somehow been drawing you for years, but doesnt tell them cause its a bit creepy. I’ll leave the rest up to you bc i wanna be surprised!!

words: 1830

category: soulmate!au + fluff

author note: renjun is the softest and i love him so much and his love for art is so endearing. ft. a few awkward 00 liners.

- destinee

-

Renjun sat in the back of class, his notebook open. However, instead of taking notes, he was busy sketching his favorite OC.

Today he made his unnamed OC into a pirate, complete with a sword and a bandana keeping their curly hair back.

Jeno leaned to the side and watched his lab partner draw for a moment. “Why does your pirate have pink hair?”

Renjun shrugged and whispered back, “I felt like it.”

“It’s cute,” Jeno commented, staring at the drawing. “But isn’t that the same character you draw all the time?”

“So?” Renjun asked defensively. “Why can’t I draw my favorite character?”

“Don’t favorite characters have names and personalities?” Jeno asked, this time simply out of curiosity. “I find it strange that you haven’t made a personality or a name for this character.”

“It doesn’t need one,” Renjun said, quietly ending the conversation by going back to shadowing in his colored pirate ship.

-

The next day, Renjun sat at his desk with Jeno again, this time drawing a portrait.

He was so inthralled in the individual strands of ebony hair on his OC’s head that he barely heard the teacher announce that a new transfer student had arrived. He certainly hadn’t heard their name.

But when he looked up, just to see why a new voice had followed his teacher’s, his breath caught in his throat.

You smiled from the front of the classroom and bowed, “Hello, I’m Y/n Y/l/n.”

Everyone spoke back the default greeting, but it was Renjun who couldn’t open his mouth to speak. It was as if his mouth was filled with sawdust and his head was filled with lead. He dared to look at Jeno, but the younger boy perhaps didn’t notice what was right in front of him.

You looked just like Renjun’s OC drawings. Aside from the colored hair, and the fact that you obviously weren’t a pirate, or a conductor, or a circus trainer like some of the sketches Renjun had drawn. Renjun looked down at the historical-esque portrait he was drawing of his OC. Only it didn’t looked like his OC; it looked like you.

When you began to walk down the aisle to your desk, which was conveniently right across from his, Renjun hastily shoved his notebook in his bag, feeling his cheeks heat up.

He chewed on his eraser as the teacher talked, wondering if he should tell Jeno. Wouldn’t that be a weird thing to bring up?

Maybe he would wait until he got to the dorm, where he could ask Sicheng about it.

That seemed like the safest option, and the one where he was least likely to get ridiculed, so he set his mind on that option.

He just couldn’t help but look at you from time to time, however. Just how had he managed to draw you so perfectly detailed? You even had the same mole on your neck that his OC always had.

Renjun felt goosebumps on the back of his neck. It was a bit creepy. How could he bare to look at you knowing he had literally hundreds of drawing, doodles, and paintings of you in his room?

So he ignored you when you caught his eye and gave him a friendly smile. He turned away, seemingly disinterested.

You kept on watching him, a bit confused as to why he gave you the cold shoulder.

-

“Are you serious?” Sicheng asked. He placed a cup of tea in front of Renjun before sipping some tea from his own cup and sitting down.

Renjun nodded, hugging a throw pillow and staring at the tea sitting on the coffee table. “I feel like a creep.”

“How can you be a creep?” Sicheng asked. “She just transferred to your school.”

“From another school only an hour from here,” Renjun replied. “What if I saw her before and subconsciously turned her into my OC? What if I’m that guy.”

Sicheng laughed and shook his head, “Somehow, I don’t think your that guy, as you say. Maybe you two are soulmates.”

“Soulmates?” Renjun choked on his own spit at the sound of such a grown-up word. He was only a junior in high school for crying out loud. He took a sip of tea to stop the choking, and ended up with a slightly burnt tongue thanks to his inability to sip slowly. “W-Why would we be soulmates?”

Sicheng shrugged, “It’s inevitable to get the soulmate link sometime in your life. Maybe this is it.”

Renjun shook his head in disbelief, eyeing the tattoo on Sicheng’s neck. “Why wouldn’t I get a tattoo like you? Or a timer like Kun hyung?”

“Maybe it’s rare,” Sicheng answered. “Look, I wouldn’t worry about it too much. Why don’t you go wash up and head to bed.”

Renjun swallowed nervously and nodded, obeying the older boy’s words. “Okay. Thanks.”

“Anytime.”

-

Renjun had a hard time sleeping that night. After tossing and turning for the umpteenth time, he finally huffed and kicked his covers off of his warm body. He grabbed his phone off of his nightstand and quickly logged onto the internet, searching all the known forums for soulmate links.

There it was: link-type 93. He clicked on the link presented and scrolled down, reading as he went.

An artist’s link is one of the only known links that works on only one side of the pair. The chosen side will draw the unchosen side as their muse, the urge to see them so strong that their artistic abilities will push forth and allow their subconscious to see their soulmate, whether their physical eyes have or not. When the chosen side witnesses the unchosen side for the first time, they will know their soulmate.

Renjun let out a sigh. Of relief or frustration, he did not know. All he could figure out was that he was the chosen side, and you had no way of knowing the two of you were soulmates unless he told you himself.

Which he vowed to never do until the two of you were older.

-

Even near the end of the school year, Renjun had kept his promise to himself. He hadn’t told you.

He felt too young to have a soulmate, and too young to be thinking about soulmates. Plus, he would’ve really liked to get your opinion on the whole situation. Except he couldn’t without telling you the truth.

All of his friends knew by now, and they loved to tease Renjun by calling you OC around him.

You eventually caught wind of the nickname, and one day dared to ask your lab partner, Jaemin, what it meant.

Jaemin stared at you for a long time, his mind reeling a million miles a minute to come up with anything that could keep you off Renjun’s scent. “It means obnoxious collarbones.”

You looked down at your shirt that did, in fact, show a hint of your collarbones. You frowned thoughtfully, “Obnoxious? I thought they were always kind of nice.”

Jaemin stood up nervously, “Ha ha, yeah, I guess me and my friends don’t think so. Well, gotta blast!”

“Wait—” you ran after him, confused, only to bump into the only other person left in the room.

“Sorry!” You said, bending down to pick up their things. You grabbed a sketchbook that was conveniently open, and stole a glance at the drawings inside. With a gasp and a quick look at whom the sketchbook belonged to, you continued to look through the book.

You had never talked to Renjun, save to ask about notes or to borrow a pencil. That was why you were so utterly surprised to see that every single drawing in his notebook was of you.

“It’s not what you think!” Renjun said hastily after he saw what you were doing. He ripped the sketchbook from your grasp. “We’re soulmates!”

If you thought he was creepy before, now he was just delusional. Everyone knew that soulmate links worked both ways. You would have known if he was your soulmate. You would have known as soon as you saw the boy earlier that same school year.

As if he could read your mind, the handsome boy kept talking, “Look, I thought it was weird too. You look like every one of my drawings. Sicheng told me it may have something to do with the soulmate link, so I looked it up. It did.”

You weren’t sure if you should believe him or not. On one hand, he had never done anything creepy or strange before. In fact, he was very generous and helpful in every class you two shared.

On the other hand, you had never heard of a soulmate who couldn’t feel their soulmate link.

Renjun pulled out his phone and handed it to you after clicking a few things.

You saw a screenshot taken from online, describing the artist’s soulmate link. You gulped. “So is that why you have so many weird drawings of me?”

Renjun smiled apologetically. “I didn’t want you to know until we were older. That way I could get to know you for you and you could get to know me for me. But I guess the cat is out of the bag now.”

You sat back, unable to stand up, let alone comprehend what was going on. “Let me get this straight: you’ve been drawing pictures of me before you even knew me?”

“Yeah,” Renjun answered. He flipped to a page in his sketchbook and showed you a drawing, clearly dated sometime two years ago. “I’m not creepy, I swear.”

You breathed out a small sigh. “Okay. It’s not the ideal soulmate link every girl dreams of, but it’s not that bad.”

“You mean it?” Renjun asked, offering you a hesitant smile.

“I do,” you answered. “I supposed we should go on a date or something now, since we’re going to spend the rest of our lives together.”

Renjun smiled and threw his backpack onto his shoulder before offering you a hand. As he pulled you up, he spoke, “There’s this photo gallery downtown that just opened. Should we go after school?”

“Okay,” you agreed.

The two of you walked out of the classroom, shoulders occasionally brushing. Every once in awhile you would look at Renjun, only to see him already staring at you. Then the two of you would look away with soft blushes on your cheeks as you realized you had been caught.

“By the way,” you brought up, “Does OC really mean obnoxious collarbones?”

“What?” Renjun laughed. “No! OC means original character. You were my OC, and that’s why the boys called you that. They were teasing me.”

“Oh,” you smiled and looked at the ground. “So, are there any other drawings of me?”

“Tons,” Renjun answered. “I’ll show them to you one day, if you want.”

You smiled at your new-found soulmate, only to see him already grinning fondly at you. “I’d like that.”

~the end~

[chubsonthemoon]

Natsume Week, Day 5

written for @natsumeweek! also on ao3. 

also, special thanks to user Niji from the natsume discord chat for helping me out with some of the translations! you're the best! <3

title: the final name

prompt: Ten years later

summary: Ten years after he arrived on the Fujiwara’s doorstep, Natsume comes home.

pairing: Natsume/Tanuma

words: 3141

The road is still dark. Dew beads on blades of grass, pooling in little wet patches that brush the tops of his jeans. He rounds the familiar corner, pace quickening slightly, messenger bag clutched against his chest tight.

It has been far too long.

“Hurry up, Sensei,” he says to the spot of grass that’s rustling suspiciously. “We’re going to be late.”

“Don’t tell me what to do, idiot,” replies the shifting patch of grass, revealing a mass of white and orange fur, black eyes narrowed in annoyance. “We spent the entire night traveling, why should we have to hurry for them?”

“Because,” says Natsume Takashi, “Touko-san will worry. Besides--” He turns to face an unimpressed looking Nyanko-sensei, just as the first traces of light begin to appear in the sky.

“There’s something I want to do first.”

~

By the time the sun has touched the tops of the Fujiwara’s house, Natsume is at the front door. He knocks, tentatively. It has been years, after all.

The door slides open with a loud bang to reveal a very flustered looking Touko-san. Her eyes well up at the sight of the handsome young man at her doorstep, his expression as sheepish as ever. “Takashi!” She launches herself at him in an eager tackle-hug, and Natsume nearly falls over.

For an aging woman, she certainly has a lot of strength, he thinks, amused. He looks down at his foster mother with a smile. “I’m home,” he says softly.

“My goodness, let me take a look at you!” she cries, fussing with his jacket. “My, my, you’ve gotten even taller! And your hair, it’s--”

“You’re right, I need to cut it soon,” Natsume says shyly, running a hand through his bangs. “I’ve let it grow for too long.”

“No, no! I love it,” Touko-san insists, her eyes sparkling. “I guess there aren’t any hairdressers good enough for my Takashi-kun in the city, are there?”

“Well--”

“It’s all right, Takashi, it looks very handsome on you!” She notices Nyanko-sensei beside him, licking a paw disinterestedly. “Oh my! Nyankichi-kun, is that you? You haven’t changed one bit.”

She scoops him up and gives him an enormous hug, too. Natsume has to hide his delighted expression behind his hand at Nyanko-sensei’s face when the life is nearly squeezed out of him. Wait till Taki gets her hands on you, Sensei, he chuckles to himself.

“Well, now that you’re here, let’s eat some breakfast, shall we?” Touko says, letting go of a wheezing Nyanko-sensei. She steps back to allow Natsume entrance, and calls into the house, “Shigeru! Takashi-kun is here!”

They head down the familiar halls to the kitchen, where breakfast is already laid out for three, morning light streaming in through the windows cheerfully. It’s just as Natsume remembers, from the little orange calendar on the wall to the shiny teacups stacked neatly in the cabinets. “Takashi,” says Shigeru brightly when he enters. “It’s good to see you, son.”

Natsume nods, cheeks warming slightly at the word son. “You too, Shigeru-san.”

“Let’s eat, let’s eat!” Touko flutters about, passing chopsticks and bowls of rice to everyone. “We need to fatten you up,” she accuses Natsume, who looks at Nyanko-sensei with a bewildered expression. What did I do?

“You’ve gotten too skinny! I hope you’ve been eating three meals a day, young man.”

“She’s right, you know,” nods Shigeru in agreement. “You need to be like Nyangoro here, see? He’s as happy as ever.”

Natsume swears he hears an indignant choking sound coming from under the table, and elects to ignore it.

“So, Takashi,” continues Shigeru. “How have you been? It’s been quite awhile, hasn’t it?”

Natsume smiles. “Yes, it’s been too long. But I’ve been doing well,” he says, thinking of his apartment in the city. “A little too loud, sometimes, but I like it there. There’s a nice park near my workplace that reminds me of here.”

Touko’s expression lights up, her face delighted. “That sounds lovely, Takashi. Are you getting along with the others at work? What’s it like, being a teacher?”

“It’s really fun, actually. I love getting to meet all the kids, even though they are a handful sometimes. Oh,” Natsume adds, with a small chuckle, “Kitamoto joined us a couple months ago, so I get to see him everyday. He usually lets me know what’s going on with Tanu--with the rest of the gang.”

Shigeru and Touko exchange a knowing look, the former clearing his throat loudly. “Speaking of your old friends from high school, Takashi,” he says, a little too nonchalantly. “I saw Tanuma-san in town just the other day! He says that Kaname is in town, too. Why not swing by and drop off something to say hello?"

Natsume tries his best to hide his blush. From the way Shigeru and Touko are sporting matching grins now, he concludes that he isn’t doing a great job at it. “Really? I suppose I should go say hello. It has been years, anyway, and I haven’t been to their shrine in forever…Yeah, I’ll go!”

From underneath the table, Nyanko-sensei finishes licking breakfast off his paws. “Idiot.”

~

He walks through the trees as quietly as he can, feet stirring up the tops of the forest floor. He can smell the seasons changing from spring to autumn, the slight crispness in the air that browns the leaves, makes their edges crackle and curl.

Tucked away in his old messenger bag rests a thin book, the green cover faded from time, but the ink inside no less bright as the day it was written.

He walks up on the hill where it all began, sets a knee down at its peak. Beside him, a tall tree soars, its branches reaching for the morning twilight sky.

He smiles.

“Hello again, Grandmother.”

~

Natsume isn’t quite sure how to approach this.

“Are you just going to stand there like an imbecile, or are you going to do this?” says Nyanko-sensei with a yawn. “I could be bullying the Dog’s Circle into giving me some good sake right now, and you’re here being a wimp again. Just knock, already.”

“I’m not scared, Sensei. I’m just—what if it’s awkward?”

“Oh for crying out loud, you two are always awkward, so why does it matter? Here, I’ll do it, just move aside--”

“Sensei, wait--!”

The front door of Tanuma’s house slides open, revealing none other than Tanuma Kaname himself, his black hair as untidy as ever. Natsume immediately flings off a crabby Sensei from his shoulder and gives an awkward half-bow, the oranges he had brought as a gift swinging comically on his arm. “Hello!”

He peeks a glance through his bangs to look at the man above him. Even now, despite Natsume’s full adult height, Tanuma is still taller.

Some things never change, he thinks. A few seconds pass. He can feel his cheeks start to warm. This is awkward.

He wonders what kind of face Tanuma is making.

“Natsume!”

Suddenly, he’s being swept up and twirled around, and he sees the front door, the yard, the front door again, all blurring before his eyes. “It’s really you!” His head is buried in Tanuma’s shoulder, and he can faintly smell incense and something that distinctly reminds him of home.

Natsume blushes furiously at the thought. “W-well, yes. It’s me. It’s good to see you, Tanuma,” he laughs, a little shakily.

It’s at this moment that Tanuma seems to realize that he has just picked up Natsume and whirled him around, newly-wed style. It takes another moment for them both to realize that no one is moving, and that now they’re just embracing in Tanuma’s doorway.

“Um.”

“Yeah, I’ll just--”

They break apart, eyes shifting everywhere but each other, secret smiles hidden behind their lips. Finally, Natsume gathers the courage to look Tanuma in the eye, and finds that Tanuma is already looking at him, something unbearably fond in his face. He allows the secret to be known, and Tanuma smiles back.

“Welcome home,” he says, his voice warm. “Would you like to come in?”

Natsume is spared from answering by a Nyanko-sensei, who has picked himself off the dusty ground and sauntered in without invitation. “Yes, I would, thank you for asking. Also, I know humans have pitifully short lives, and therefore you are technically adults, but please. What are you two, in grade school?”

Tanuma simply laughs as he steps inside, gesturing for Natsume to follow. “Good to see you too, Ponta.”

~

He can feel the wind threading its way through his hair as he stands. He reaches behind him, into his bag, and runs his fingers over the smooth binding before taking out the Book of Friends.

“Are you sure about this, Natsume?” asks Sensei, as he eyes the little flower grave warily. “Names have power. Even if it is a human name, it is still her’s. You should at least give it to me to look after.”

Natsume doesn’t respond for a moment, instead opening the book, once full of parchment and ink, to the last page.

There, in quick, scrawling characters, is the name of his own grandmother.

“Yes, Sensei. Even if she isn’t here anymore, I still think that she should have at least this.”

Nyanko-sensei shifts his eyes from Reiko’s grave to Natsume’s face. They are no longer the eyes of a lucky cat, but of a beast.

“You are a fool. Sentiment will get you nowhere.”

A pause. He closes the book, then places it beside him carefully.

“Humans are like that, Sensei.”

~

“So, what have you been up to?” asks Tanuma as he pours their tea. “It’s been pretty quiet around here ever since you left. Taki says she hasn’t drawn any of her dad’s circles in awhile.”

Natsume studies the steam unfurling from the edge of his cup before gathering his courage to meet Tanuma’s eyes. “Oh, nothing special. Just teaching. How about you? I hear that your aunt’s hot springs business is doing really well thanks to a certain someone.”

Tanuma laughs, an easy sound that lifts something high in Natsume’s stomach and flings it unceremoniously towards his chest. “Just like you, Mr. ‘Nothing Special.’ We both know that all of those kids love you.”

Natsume wills the red in his ears to go away. “Well, I do have trouble with some students from time to time, but they do seem to like me. They’re good kids.”

“I would like you too, if you were my teacher,” replies Tanuma wistfully. A moment later, his ears are matching Natsume’s. “I mean-! I already like you, I was just saying that if you were my teacher I would also like you. It’s not—aaand I’ve just made it worse. Please ignore all of that--”

“It’s ok, Tanuma,” Natsume mumbles, his gaze very decidedly locked back at his tea. “Thank you,” he adds a moment later, because he doesn’t know what else to say. “It means a lot to hear you say that.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Really.”

“I’m glad.”

Natsume peeks up from his tea to see Tanuma running his hand through his hair in distress. It does not do Natsume’s heart any favors. “So…what about you?” he asks, a little hastily.

Tanuma seems to perk up. “Me! That’s right. Well, I’m still working for my aunt, helping her manage her inn and all. Since tourist season is over I’m in town for a few days to visit my dad, and…yeah. That’s about it.”

“I’m sure your aunt really appreciates all your hard work,” Natsume says genuinely. “It must be difficult, having to commute back and forth so often.”

“I hope I’m doing enough,” Tanuma admits. He twirls his long fingers over the rim of his own teacup idly. “I still get headaches from time to time, but they always go away after I have those little candies that Ito-san gives me.”

The old lady youkai, Natsume remembers. He smiles, glad that someone is looking after Tanuma in his stead.

“Also…”

Natsume looks at him questioningly.

“How are you doing…with the youkai?” Tanuma’s voice is hesitant, as if he is unsure if he is allowed to ask.

Natsume wishes he didn’t have to ask with such uncertainty, that he didn’t have to look as if he was intruding on something. Ten years of knowing each other, and yet Tanuma still hesitates.

But at the same time, he does not look at Natsume like he is weak. Like he needs to be protected.

Somewhere, in the back of Natsume’s mind, he realizes that this is why he loves Tanuma.

Nyanko-sensei’s ears twitch, as if sensing a change in the wind.

(A change that has been very gradual, and a long time coming, but a change nonetheless).

Natsume smiles softly at him.

He may be taller than when they had first met, his shoulders a little broader, his limbs perhaps not as thin, but he is still the anxious boy with the mop of messy black hair that Natsume approached all those years ago, the first person he had ever revealed his Sight to.

He thinks that it would be nice to let him know how much he has appreciated all these years.

“I’m doing well, actually.” At Tanuma’s skeptical look, he laughs lightly. “Honestly. I’m no longer in possession of the Book of Friends. It’s in its rightful place, now.”

“A pity, really,” Nyanko-sensei comments. “I had half a mind to eat him when he returned the last name.”

Tanuma blinks in surprise. He seems to want to ask when Natsume had done so, and for whom, but he does not press further. Instead he asks, “Does this mean that they’ll leave you alone, now?”

Natsume shrugs. “So far, all the youkai I’ve encountered have pretty much let me be. If things ever do get out of hand, Sensei is always there for me.” He goes to scratch Sensei’s ears fondly. “Right, Nyanko-Sensei?”

“Don’t get full of yourself. I’m just here now because Touko makes good food, and it’s interesting to see you make a fool of yourself in front of the little brats,” Sensei retorts, but he allows Natsume to pet his ears with a purr. As an afterthought, he adds, “However, the small humans give me food during break, too, so it’s not so bad.”

Natsume flicks Nyanko-sensei’s ears in exasperation. “Don’t make fun of my students, Sensei.” He turns to Tanuma, hoping that he can read the honesty in his eyes, in his words. “Everything is actually wonderful, Tanuma. Thank you for worrying about me.”

“Of course.” Tanuma breathes a sigh of relief. His shoulders slouch over, and he raises a hand to his face, muffling his voice. “I’m so glad. If anything were to happen to you…”

Another awkward silence falls.

Finally, Natsume nearly whispers, “You, too. I don’t know what I would do if you…got hurt, either.” He decides that, in this particular moment, the fishpond just outside is the most fascinating thing he’s ever seen.

He’s not looking at Tanuma, so it’s a surprise when he feels his hand covering his own, the touch feather-light. His eyes widen, pulse quickens, breath stops short. Slowly, slowly, he tilts his head to meet Tanuma’s gaze, gold meeting black.

His hand is warm.

He smiles shyly. Tanuma’s face is just as red as his, but at this point, he doesn’t care. They move together closer, ever so steadily, until Tanuma’s eyes reflect in his own.

“Oh for heaven’s sake,” says Nyanko-sensei loudly, from his perch on the pillow next to Natsume. “You two are hopeless. Just confess already.” They spring apart almost immediately.

“Ponta--!”

“Sensei--!”

“What?” he sniffs haughtily. “This is the most disastrous attempt at conversation I’ve ever seen.”

Natsume takes Tanuma’s hand fully in his own, and gives a gentle squeeze. Tanuma squeezes back, a smile of his own mirroring Natsume’s.

“I never was any good with talking,” Tanuma grins. “You, Natsume?”

Natsume marvels at how long Tanuma’s eyelashes are before replying. “Nope.”

The shadows of the fish dance along the ceiling.

Fascinating, indeed.

~

After a little digging with the spade, his brow is slightly tinged with sweat. The sun has not fully risen yet, and a cool morning breeze whistles at his ears, but it is still fairly warm out.

Spring turning to autumn, but not quite yet.

“Are you done yet?” Sensei asks, impatient. “I’m hungry.”

“Almost there,” he replies, placing the small shovel next to him.

He picks up the thin book for the second time, and opens it to the last page.

Then, as if preparing himself, he looks at it for one last time.

He lets his lips fall around the familiar words.

“‘O the one who protects me. Show me your name.’”

The wind quiets, the morning birds cease their song for a moment, the creatures of the forest still. It is as though the world is holding its breath.

“Natsume Reiko, I return your name.”

Breathe in.

“Please take it.”

He tears the parchment out. Folds it in half. Places it between his lips. Claps his hands together, as if he were praying. Closes his eyes.

Breathe out.

Somewhere, far away, a bell rings, high and clear. The warm breeze clatters against a set of wind chimes. It is not summer yet, but it will be soon.

A promise on lips curved into a mischievous smile. A challenge, a duel, a loss.

The wind makes its way to his side, riling up the forest and its creatures one last time with the promise of warmer days and sunshine, even though the earth has already promised colder nights and moonlight. (The trees, with their browning leaves, can attest to this).

“You are just like your grandmother,” the wind giggles to him, a hint of fondness in its voice. “Always stirring up trouble.”

When he opens his eyes, the wind has passed, and the world has restarted. The sun has risen fully, its light bathing the morning sky in gold and grey, purple and pink.

“I told you it wouldn’t work,” Nyanko-sensei scoffs. “Reiko was human, after all.”

Natsume smiles. He places the single sheet of paper back in its original binding, then lowers the Book of Friends into the little alcove he dug earlier.

It isn’t until after he has pressed the dirt back over the spot he has marked, and gently places a single flower over it, that he answers.

“Yes, she was, wasn’t she?”

He rises to his feet, head held high. From here, on top of the hill, he can see his home; every road, every river, every season he has lived here.

He wonders if Reiko ever stood on this hill and thought the same.

He hopes so.

“Let’s go home, Nyanko-sensei.”

Ten years later, he returns the final name, and says goodbye.

[ventingblacklist]

3x13  Alistair Pitt

“I bought this flat four years ago. So that some day I could bring you here...to the scene of your crime.”

Hans Eriksson sees Rafael Vacarro in a restaurant and the natural thing to do is fire immediately. But Rafael wins the gunfight. Hans’ family is all upset about it, ready to declare war. Pitt to the ... rescue? 

Flashback to Paris. It doesn’t say it’s a flashback though and the first time I saw it I was very confused. 

I love the way she says his name.

Josephine is preoccupied with something. She clearly has her pending nuptials on her mind. Maybe was hesitant about this date because of that development. ‘You want to cancel a huge business deal to come have a date with me? Okay, but just so you know, I’m getting married.’

Red notices her agitation. Grabs hold of her flying fingers.

Josephine is sitting there, in love with this man, listening to him talk about canceling enormous and probably lucrative trips to bring her tiny glass giraffes, and knowing she can’t be with him.

Red: What is it? Josephine: I’m getting married. Red: Do you love him? Josephine: I love you. 

Heartbreaking and perfect. 

I wonder about so much. Whether Red knew the situation at this point, the kind of man she’s marrying. My guess would be no if he’s asking if she loves him. But then why does he seem to understand that she’s going to marry this guy whether she loves him or not? Red definitely knows by the second flashback we see. 

These two have been a thing for awhile. I assume nothing terribly serious, but they know each other. They’ve spent enough time together for her to fall in love with him. And yet there’s a giddiness about him like this is a new relationship. Even months after this.

Liz is meeting with the lady at the adoption agency. The same lady who was helping her and Tom adopt at the start of the series. Liz is concerned that her baggage will be a problem with finding a family. She wants an open adoption so she can see the kid. The lady mentions that Tom has to sign off on it too. Liz is clearly a little upset that Tom isn’t there. 

“This is a decision that we have to make together...he would be here if he didn’t have to be away for work right now.”

I just found this interesting because it kind of mirrors the season one thing where Tom went to the adoption agency and Liz was off at work. 

“If we are gonna go through with this, you gotta do it with me.”

Tom’s “work” in this case is a meeting with Gina. 

So this is interesting. Because this is confirmation that Jacob and Gina were an item. Confirmation we haven’t had since the allegation by Red in 1x6: “She’s Tom’s lover.”

Gina immediately slams him into the wall. I like Gina.

Gina: Why are you doing this? Tom: ‘Hey, Jacob. How you doing? It was nice to hear from you, too.’ Gina: It wasn’t nice hearing from you, and I want to know why you’re doing it– the real reason.

Liz comes back from the adoption agency to find that Red has made himself at home. 

“I see your new home is a work in progress. What colors are you considering?”

I feel like 85% of their problems would be solved if Red would just knock.

"You know, I usually like people to enter my apartment after I’m in it.”

Red: Have you ever heard of the Promnestria? Liz: No, is he here, too?

Red begins to describe the work of the Promnestria. Liz has the adoption on her mind. 

Liz: My mother, was she still alive when I was placed with Sam?

Red: Yes. Liz: Why did she do it? 

Red sidesteps that question by talking about the Promnestria again. He says he let himself in because the situation is urgent. This is his chance to nab Pitt. 

Liz is not to be deterred. She asks him how her mother died. He doesn’t answer that either.

Liz briefs the task force on the situation. Two rival families, once partners, had a falling out over a hijacked shipment. 

Samar swoops in on Liz after the briefing and says she’s throwing her a baby shower. Liz tries to discourage it, but never gets so far as “I’m adopting the kid out, so never mind.” Although, if it’s an open adoption she’s going for, I don’t see why she couldn’t still have a shower. 

Samar: You are going to go to swag4mommy.com and hunt for some cute onesies. Liz: swag4mommy.com? Who are you? Samar: A Jewish mother. Part of my Mossad training.

I assume this was for cover purposes. Or she’s joking? I can’t quite tell. Liz doesn’t quite know what to make of it either. 

Samar keeps trying to be Liz’s friend and it never quite works out. 

Sony snapped up swag4mommy. It leads to their website. They should totally have that domain point to a page where they sell blacklist-themed onesies.

So this Pitt dude named one of his dogs “Marilyn.” 

Jacob is meeting Gina in New York City. He also met the Major in season two in New York City. The Major picked him up in New York City. I’m guessing St. Regis is in New York City.

“That’s why you want in on this? For her? Your phony wife?...The mark you dumped me for?...You expect me to hire you so you and the woman who sent me to prison can live happily ever after in the south of France?”

“Gee, let me call the girl I dumped to see if she can help with the girl I knocked up.”

lol  Gina doesn’t play. She’s pissed. As far as I know, the last Gina had to do with Tom was when she was being carted off to prison partly for a crime they both committed so he could keep playing house with his mark. Now he calls her up because he wants money to support the spawn of their unholy union. I mean, that’s like... no wonder she slammed him into the wall. 

Gina is in a position to hire him for ops. 

Gina says the Major has been looking for Tom since he left him for dead with the Germans.

This is your friendly reminder that the Germans were not after Tom when he showed up at Liz’s doorstep. And he left the Major for dead with them, apparently, so as far as he knew the Major wasn’t a threat either. So that whole thing about the Germans and his handler wanting him dead? Either Tom was canonically lying to Liz there, or the writers have such bad memory problems they didn’t recall that the Germans had let Tom go in exchange for information in the previous episode. 

Also, the Major is absolutely terrible at finding things. How could he not find Jacob? He’s been living in the exact same city hanging out with the exact same people going under the exact same alias. For pete’s sake, Liz would be the first place you’d look. And there you’d find him. So, as a tracker, the Major sucks.

I wonder though if it was Gina on the other end of the line with the Major when he said he wanted Jacob Phelps found. If so, she would have sabotaged the search. But I can’t see Gina being relegated to tracker status. idk

Also, I don’t think Gina works for the Major full time. In season one, she seems to have her own gig as a corporate terrorist. She does ops for him sometimes maybe. Maybe she started out as his operative and branched out. She did have a scar box of her own similar to Tom’s. But we don’t know what organization or entity that mark traces back to. Also, I’m not sure if it was hers for real or was part of the set up. If you’re interested in going down that rabbit hole, go here. 

There’s not much of a doubt in my mind that Tom was with Gina on and off during his relationship with Liz. Gina at the end of 1x6 looks like someone has kicked her in the stomach repeatedly and ripped her heart out. She refuses to even look at Liz until Liz gets right in her face. And then when it’s over, she looks at the wall like she just wants these people to leave so she can stare off into space and listen to sad music. 

It’s not something I really noticed when I first watched it because at that point we weren’t supposed to be sure if Tom was good or bad. But now, with everything we know? Yeah. Gina took the fall for him. And she’s sitting there moping about the fact that she’s about to go to jail for something he did (or they did together) while he goes home at the end of the night with his mark. 

Gina loved Jacob.

I ship it. He’s screwed up; she’s screwed up. They’re on the same level. 

I think the writers were trying to make the point that Tom is “family man” now. That when faced with Gina, his past, he turns her down and is only doing this op for Liz. But all they ended up doing was piquing my interest in Jacob/Gina. When he’s with her, it’s like he’s himself. There’s no “Teacher Tom” veneer. There’s the guy who gets off on the adrenaline. They’ll just never convince me of this Tom Keen thing. I’m sure they’ll keep trying, but Jacob feels real. Tom doesn’t. That doesn’t mean that I think Jacob is a complete monster. I just don’t buy him as the domesticated puppy dog he is with Liz.

These two seem to have been serious, and Jacob was serious about her. In another ep Gina says she “should have said yes, that night in Budapest.” The logical conclusion one comes to is that Jacob asked her to marry him. And she said no. Now wishes she hadn’t. I wish she hadn’t too. These two as a married couple? Look out, world.

I wonder when this was. He dumped her at some point “for his mark.” I don’t think this was until after Tom was with Liz. 

There’s so much nuance in Gina, the way she reacts to him. She’s still not over him. Not by a long shot. 

Wow. That was a very long detour. 

Meanwhile, back in the episode, Jacob walks out and Gina catches up to him. Offers him a spot on the diamond-stealing team. 

Samar and Ressler talk to a DEA guy, trying to get him to hand over his surveillance of these two drug-trafficking families. He wants to know where they got their info. They won’t say. He’s mad. He gets a call that the two family heads are going to meet, so he’ll work with the FBI on this for now. 

He’ll die later. But they make him a real dick, so you’re okay with it.

The team stakes out the meeting. 

Pitt’s pitch: 

“Your organizations both value family. It’s your greatest strength and the source of your greatest friction. So, remove the friction. Stop the bloodshed by joining the bloodlines....

“You, like all my clients, must swear to uphold and enforce not only this merger, but all mergers brokered with my assistance. Here is my client list. They are powerful and well-armed. Should either of you betray the other, they will destroy your families.”

So Pitt not only arranges the marriage, but he enlists all his clients into sort of an army of enforcers for any other mergers. So if these guys agree to this and then Pitt makes another deal tomorrow and one of the parties in that next deal reneges, then these two guys here will help to kill everyone involved in the next deal. 

Kind of like the Courier. If one person goes sour, he kills both. 

If you screw this guy over, you’re not only going up against the wrath of the rival family, but the resources of every other family that Pitt has ever had dealings with. 

Jacob and Gina continue discussing the diamond job. Gina’s crew is planning a hit on a jewelry joint, Reinder-De Groot. They’ve already stolen half a million from the showroom floor. But Gina wants into the back where the good stuff is.

Tom: Why would you antagonize a psychopath for $500,000? Gina: To get his attention. 

Second flashback. He’s on another date with Josephine in the same restaurant. More than six months have passed. 

They’re very touchy. Josephine is soaking him up. 

He notices the bruise on her wrist. 

“I can protect you. All you need to do is ask.”

“You know what I need? I need you to take me to Amorino. Buy me a stracciatella. And then maybe I’ll give you a bite.”

He swallows the lump in his throat. 

Josephine’s family is under the same kind of contract with “the Promnestria.” If she reneges on the deal, her whole family dies. 

Red wakes up from his memory. He’s meeting Liz at Rogelio’s to try and track Pitt down. Liz brings a photo she snapped of Pitt during his meeting with the heads of the families. 

“The FBI admitted to spending, what, a billion dollars in facial-recognition software? Which means they spent at least $3 billion. Honestly, if I paid taxes, I’d be outraged.”

He has Rogelio snap a picture of the picture and send it to his little army of recognizers. 

“Right now hotel maids, cooks, waiters, valets all over the city are receiving that photo and will be searching for our target. The people who do all the cooking, cleaning, washing, carrying, and parking- they have access to everything.”

Red asks if she recalls the Sea of Galilee painting he once brokered a sale for. Rogelio’s cousin was the gardener of the man who stole the painting. Nice little callback there.

“You mean do I remember you being in possession of a stolen masterpiece? Yeah, I recall that.”

Careful, Liz. Your past and future hubby’s about to be in possession of a whole lot of stolen merchandise. That he actually helped steal.

Red offers a bonus to the first person to find the Promnestria. 

Cut to Ressler and Samar observing Pitt. Ressler wonders how Red found him. 

Ressler is trying to make small talk. Samar’s like.... So, back to business.

Samar: Speaking of registries, Aram, do you want to go in on a baby gift for Liz?

Ressler laughs at that.

“She register for common sense? ‘Cause if she’s down for having Tom’s kid, she needs some.”

Eriksson meets with Pitt. They discuss the “obstacle.” 

“You’re asking me to hurt my son. But if I say no, this war will kill him. You have my permission.”

Pitt will order the hit on the son’s fiancé today. 

Aram says that the number the Promnestria used to book the room is a burner. The meeting ends.

Ressler: All right, you stick with Eriksson. I’ll, uh, stay with Liberace and the pooches.

Vacarro tries to convince his wife that this is a good idea. The daughter overhears and agrees to do it. 

“I’m not a child anymore. I know who we are. All the funerals, the sacrifices made for this family– I’ve always wondered what I would have to do to make a difference. Maybe now I know.”

Gina introduces Jacob to the other members of the team and reminds them of the high stakes.

“We get caught, we’re dead. Not arrested, dead.”

She gives him a Tom Keen type get-up as a disguise.

“I guess it’s who you really are....Such a pretty face.”

‘Gonna be a shame to shoot it off later.’

The Eriksson boy is upset. The Promnestria had his fiance shot right in front of him. He assumes that it’s the rival family who was gunning for him. He wants revenge. His father says that they have to make the bloodshed stop. Pitt comes around the corner. 

Pitt: Killing a harmless girl, a true innocent– it’s proof that this conflict must end.

Liz hears back from the adoption lady. There’s a couple that’s interested. Liz is... relieved but with flickers of sadness. For obvious reasons. 

Samar comes in, just getting off the phone with Levi. 

Liz: Levi? How is your impossibly gorgeous ex? Samar: He asked me to dinner, so I’m going. It’s nothing.

Samar asks about the registry again. Liz brushes it off. 

They have a meeting with Red on speakerphone. They too assume that the son was the target, but Red spills the beans that it was the fiance. And that this is about arranging a marriage. Red says there will be one last big meeting with everyone to finalize the arrangement. He’s going to get himself invited to it. 

Red shows up in Mads Eriksson’s kitchen. He’s “saved” some of his inventory from a DEA raid. 

Mads: You tipped my people? Why? Red: Wedding present.

Mads invites him to the meeting. 

Meanwhile, the rival head tells his wife that he actually plans to gun down Eriksson’s family at the meeting. 

I suppose if you kill them all before formally agreeing to the deal you don’t have to deal with Pitt’s other people? Maybe? 

Cooper is miffed. He had the DEA raid staged. In exchange, Red was supposed to give them intel on the meeting and he hasn’t yet. Liz says he’s not calling her back. 

Aram has tapped the burner. The Promnestria called one of his employees at a house in London. The owner of the house - Alistair Pitt. They recorded the phone call and get the information on the meeting that way. 

Cooper orders teams down to the hotel. And he tells Liz not to take Red’s calls.

Samar and a DEA agent have infiltrated the party. Ressler, Liz, and the man I call “Dick” are in the surveillance van. 

Ressler says they’re taking everyone at the party in for questioning as soon as Pitt shows. 

Red walks in. 

Dick: Whoa, look what the cat dragged in. Your fugitive-in-arms, comrade Rostova. 

Dick tells his inside man they’re going to breach to get Reddington. Ressler belays that order. Says they’ll sweep him up when they get Pitt.

Jacob and Gina are mid-op. When he bends down to yank her off the floor, there’s a flash of... pink underwear? 

I think it’s red. Just kinda looks pink. lol

“I’m a sucker for mob weddings.”

Red is suspicious of Mrs. Vacarro’s forgiving attitude.

“All things considered, Mom’s a little cheery.”

Pitt talks to the kids. “Dick” puts together that Red is an informant while continuing to be a dick. And Dembe sees the Vacarros suiting up for war in the kitchen. He hears that when Danny raises his glass, that’s the signal to strike. 

Dembe tells Red.

Red makes a toast of his own. Liz tells Ressler that he’s trying to draw Pitt out. 

“Love is a funny, fickle thing...Most weddings are fraught with it. This one, not so much.”

lol

“You would think, being singularly responsible for this evening’s prenuptials, he might take a bow. Where is he? Come now, don’t be modest. You do such astonishing, despicable work.”

He spills the beans on what’s actually happened (and his three-week addiction to a telenovela) and soon the families are back at each other’s throats. 

“Oh, here we go. Better than TV.”

Pitt finally comes out and tries to stop this thing from completely unravelling.

Ressler orders the breach. The Vacarros kill the Erikssons. The Feds kill the Vacarros. 

Red tells Dembe to grab the two kids and meet him at the car. 

Red picks up a stray gun and pokes Pitt in the side with it. Drags him into the kitchen while Dembe grabs the young "couple.” 

The undercover DEA waiter tells Red to freeze. Liz conks him on the head. 

“This was so you could get to him. That’s what this whole thing was about.”

“Dick” stops them again. Gets hit by a stray bullet. Liz isn’t going to lose any sleep crying over that one.

Red says that he and Pitt have a plane to catch.

Later at the post office, Liz finds Samar all bummed out. 

Samar: Um, did you ever get registered? Because Aram is asking- Liz: Samar, what’s wrong? Samar: I had dinner with Levi. He’s engaged.

“To a woman he met a week after we broke up. And it’s fine. We were never gonna be– It’s just, um...I don’t know what I’m doing.”

Samar’s pretty upset. Liz is sympathetic. Samar tries to change the subject.

"Forget it. Let’s just talk about the shower and how great it will be.”

Liz finally tells her there’s not going to be a shower. Now they’re both sad. 

I can count on one hand the number of times these two even attempt to talk to each other as people. That we see anyway. I’m glad we at least have a little something on which to base Samar’s reaction to Liz’s death.

I’m a little confused about the Samar/Levi thing. Exactly how it went down. Apparently they were together. Did they break up before this task force stuff came up? Or was that the reason they broke up?

Levi says “You left me.” I assumed that he meant that she broke up with him to leave and take this Reddington gig. But now I’m thinking they broke up even before that and he means “left me” in a general sense. ‘Left my presence. Left all chance of us getting back together behind.’ idk

Why does Samar say later that she's been waiting for him for a long time?

Samar in 3b reminds me of what Red said in 3x2 - “You have to make your choices; you have to try to be happy with them.”

Last flashback scene. Red waits in the restaurant for Josephine. She's late. He gets the call that her husband found out about them. Red rushes over, but is too late.

Red has flown Pitt to Paris. To the same apartment. He says he bought it four years ago. That would be somewhere in 2012, about a year before Red surrendered. 

I can’t be sure if the attack happened four years ago or a little bit longer...ago. A little time may have passed before he bought the place. 

“You arranged a marriage. The youngest Molière daughter to the only Stockwell son– a burgeoning psychopath with a long and troubling history of violence. To guarantee peace and profit for all, you arranged her marriage to this man....

“I held her in my arms and watched the life disappear from her eyes. You destroyed a creature more beautiful than you could ever comprehend.”

Liz goes to meet the adoptive couple and they don’t show. 

Liz: They’re rejecting my baby? Lady: No, not exactly. They still want the baby....I underestimated how difficult this was gonna be. But if you are intent on giving up your child, I think you have to accept that you’re not gonna be able to be in its life. 

Poor Liz.

“Josephine.”

“It’s done.”

[branded-me-heretic]

1. What is you middle name?

mia

2. How old are you?

17

3. What is your birthday?

april ninth

4. What is your zodiac sign?

aries

5. What is your favorite color?

yellow/baby pink

6. What's your lucky number?

nine 

7. Do you have any pets?

2 cats and a crayfish (!!! coming soon)

8. Where are you from?

boston

9. How tall are you?

5′4

10. What shoe size are you?

6.5

11. How many pairs of shoes do you own?

under 20

12. What was your last dream about?

don’t remember

13. What talents do you have?

music/theater/arts stuff and I can play the mandolin lol which is random

14. Are you psychic in any way?

I have AMAZING intuition. Like, if I get a feeling about something I’m always right. 

15. Favorite song?

Bittersweet Symphony by the Verve

16. Favorite movie?

Bang Bang You’re Dead or Little Miss Sunshine

17. Who would be your ideal partner?

my girlfriend lol

18. Do you want children?

yeah

19. Do you want a church wedding?

maybe

20. Are you religious?

yes

21. Have you ever been to the hospital?

yup

22. Have you ever got in trouble with the law?

not really?

23. Have you ever met any celebrities?

no big famous ones, but my dad met Jennifer Lawrence on a movie set haha

24. Baths or showers?

showers

25. What color socks are you wearing?

none

26. Have you ever been famous?

idk

27. Would you like to be a big celebrity?

maybe

28. What type of music do you like?

alt-rock or rock/folk. 

29. Have you ever been skinny dipping?

no actually!

30. How many pillows do you sleep with?

4

31. What position do you usually sleep in?

facing my wall(left)

32. How big is your house?

medium sized

33. What do you typically have for breakfast?

nothing lolol

34. Have you ever fired a gun?

yes

35. Have you ever tried archery?

nope

36. Favorite clean word?

facade

37. Favorite swear word?

cunt

38. What's the longest you've ever gone without sleep?

48 hours

39. Do you have any scars?

yes

40. Have you ever had a secret admirer?

idk 

41. Are you a good liar?

yes

42. Are you a good judge of character?

absolutely 

43. Can you do any other accents other than your own?

british and southern

44. Do you have a strong accent?

some people say I do but idk

45. What is your favorite accent?

southern :)

46. What is your personality type?

INFP according to the myers-briggs

47. What is your most expensive piece of clothing?

uhhhh either my coach purse or my prom dress

48. Can you curl your tongue?

yeah

49. Are you an innie or an outie?

innie

50. Left or right handed?

used to be ambidexterous but now I’m just a rightie :(

51. Are you scared of spiders?

not really unless they’re crawling on me

52. Favorite food?

pickles, popcorn, chocolate covered pretzels, fried ravioli

53. Favorite foreign food?

.......does a quesedilla count lol...

54. Are you a clean or messy person?

messy when I’m busy

55. Most used phrased?

shut the fuck up

56. Most used word?

legit

57. How long does it take for you to get ready?

about an hour

58. Do you have much of an ego?

eh idk

59. Do you suck or bite lollipops?

suck!!!

60. Do you talk to yourself?

yes

61. Do you sing to yourself?

yes haha

62. Are you a good singer?

I guess

63. Biggest Fear?

house fire

64. Are you a gossip?

yup haha I’m nosy

65. Best dramatic movie you've seen?

Silver Linings Playbook

66. Do you like long or short hair?

LONG

67. Can you name all 50 states of America?

maybe

68. Favorite school subject?

Forensic science or maybe bio or math this term

69. Extrovert or Introvert?

ambivert

70. Have you ever been scuba diving?

no

71. What makes you nervous?

not being prepared

72. Are you scared of the dark?

no

73. Do you correct people when they make mistakes?

sometimes

74. Are you ticklish?

yes

75. Have you ever started a rumor?

no

76. Have you ever been in a position of authority?

i don’t remember

77. Have you ever drank underage?

yup

78. Have you ever done drugs?

yes again

79. Who was your first real crush?

uh my friend’s older brother when I was eleven hahaha

80. How many piercings do you have?

used to have my ears but they closed up

81. Can you roll your Rs?"

yes

82. How fast can you type?

pretty fast

83. How fast can you run?

I used to have a seven minuet mile but now idk I haven’t been straight up running in awhile

84. What color is your hair?

brownish reddish

85. What color is your eyes?

brown

86. What are you allergic to?

used to have an intolerance to avocado

87. Do you keep a journal?

yeah

88. What do your parents do?

teachers/my dads an actor

89. Do you like your age?

yes

90. What makes you angry?

injustice

91. Do you like your own name?

yeah

92. Have you already thought of baby names, and if so what are they?

yes, Camila Irene and Mark Raphael

93. Do you want a boy a girl for a child?

both

94. What are you strengths?

I’m tolerant and caring

95. What are your weaknesses?

I’m overly emotional and controlling

96. How did you get your name?

my mom liked the nickname Jules from the movie St Elmo’s Fire

97. Were your ancestors royalty?

no but they were Spanish warriors

98. Do you have any scars?

yes

99. Color of your bedspread?

pink

100. Color of your room?

yellow