#I’m honestly more worried about my parents finding out cause our neighbor is high up at the company and if my mom asks why she’ll tell

[sapphosboy]

AHHHHHHHHHHHH

[chibinekochan]

My biggest treasure - Ft. Mammon

Mammon is a Goblin in this au.

This is part of the Monster tales au Series

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You have been on the hunt for this treasure for a while now.

Having all the information about its whereabouts, defenses, and most importantly feeling morally right.

Its owner is a scummy guy after all.

This gem will not only bring you some nice cash, and bringing it back to its rightful owner will surely feel good too.

With well-planned moves, you make your way towards the big mansion.

Now you have to climb the wall. You have studied the moves of the guards.

They won't be around for a while.

With quiet steps, you move in the darkness. Only a few moves are needed to scale the wall and carefully jump on a neighboring tree.

Swiftly scan the area.

It seems the dogs haven't noticed you yet.

You want to keep it that way and continue your way on top of the trees. Carefully navigating through the shadows, practically becoming one of them.

Slowly, the lights of the mansion come into view.

The carefully kept garden is now in front of you.

The shrubs will offer you a little cover and the dogs might sense your presence. You smirk. Time for the real challenge to begin.

You take a deep breath to strengthen your nerves.

With ease, you jump from the tree and run at high speed through the garden, occasionally jumping over hedges.

By the time you hear dogs barking, you have already climbed the balcony and wait for clear air.

The guards check the hedges, but of course find nothing.

.

You smirk when they shrug and go back to their posts.

You wait a bit longer and then carefully and quietly open the door.

Your body is moving low and fast, knowing exactly where your target is. Lucky for you, the scumbag has a huge ego and displays what you are looking for right in his living room.

You sneak in the shadows, listening to every sound. It's quiet. You can only hear your own heart and breathing.

Then you see it slightly shimmering, illuminated by the moon. The gem you are looking for.

You calm your nerves and steady your hands.

Then suddenly you hear a commotion, loud barking from the outside. Some lights in the mansion turning on and glass shattering.

Unsure what just happened, your instinct kicks in and all you can do is run.

Light starts to shine into the room, causing the gem to sparkle as if to mock you.

You run towards the nearest window, ready to jump out.

When suddenly something passes you at high speed. For a moment you pause until you notice it's a person.

This must be whoever interrupted you.

You have no time to stay, you hear the guards closing in.

With little choice, you run and jump after the stranger.

The guards behind you yell, and the dogs chase you.

There is no time for anything else but running. You run in a straight line towards the wall. Following close behind the other person.

Once you jump the wall, you have to make sure that nobody is following you. You can still keep an eye on the other person.

Only catching a quick glance at them. White hair and blue eyes. You take a mental note of it.

Your pursuers are still behind you, and you decide to go deeper into the forest to shake them off or at least to hide.

You can smack the guy another time.

By the next day, you are back in your home. The loss of income is a hard blow to your family,, but it can't be helped. It's better to be poor but free.

Your siblings were disappointed,, but you can make money more honestly until another opportunity arises.

Hopefully, the medicine for your smallest sibling will last long enough. Worryingly, you eye the half-empty bottle.

"It's okay, we will work hard and buy more." Ian, the 2nd oldest, Ian, has seen your worries.

You ruffle their hair. "Don't worry about it. I will trade some herbs with the pharmacist and in the bar tonight again." You smile to ease their worries.

"You work too much." The 2nd youngest, Eva, looks worried.

"We have to get food, so we can cook a good meal. I will catch fish for us." Ian is suddenly super motivated.

"Yeah, I will get some veggies from our garden. Rest so you can work hard for us later." Eva has taken care of the garden and grown some stuff.

Your heart is filled with pride, and you hug them both. "You guys are the best, just don't forget to play with your friends too." You feel bad about being so poor,, but it can't be helped. After losing both parents, you are left as the oldest to take care of them.

And you do everything for them, even if it means stealing.

You go and rest for a while until sunset.

Then you cook the fish and vegetables that your siblings got for tonight. They are very good kids. You are very proud of them. You make soup for your youngest sibling, Owen.

"Dinner is ready." You dish everyone up, making sure your siblings get more than you.

"Looks great." Eve beams at the food.

"I worked hard for this fish, so you better eat it all." Ian looks at both of you sternly.

"Thank you both for the food." You are truly grateful to them.

"Will you have to go again soon?" Ian knows well that I have to leave them alone sometimes due to my 'nightwork'.

It can take days to get the treasure and to get my money. Not even mentioning the time I have to spend hiding. Still, the pay is so high that I can't afford not doing it.

"I will have to see,, but currently I have nothing lined up." I know it's hard for them when I'm not here,, but there is no other way for me to afford the medicine.

Ian seems troubled.

"Don't frown, Ian, we can handle everything just fine." Eve pats his back.

"Well, of course, but I'm worried about you." Ian becomes confident, but then frowns at you.

"Haha, I can watch out for myself. I'm plenty strong." I giggle. Sometimes he acts like the dad. It's sad that they all have to grow up so fast.

"Yeah, like the time you beat that bear. That was so cool!" Eve's eyes sparkle.

Ian shakes his head. "That was scary."

"I gotta agree with you. I will go and check on Owen. He needs to eat." You worry about the amount of food he eats. It's definitely not enough.

The others keep bickering, and you walk into the room. You open the windows, fill the pitcher with water, and check on Owen. He looks at you with tired eyes,, but he is smiling weakly.

"Hey there, sleepy head. Time for food." You smile, trying to hide your worries.

"I'm not really hungry." He says with a weak voice.

"It's very tasty. So why not try a bit?" His state breaks your heart,, but you fight through it.

Owen nods and you help him sit.

You feed him slowly. He seems to like it. This is relieving.

At some point, he can't eat anymore. "You ate half a bowl today. Great work." You encourage him.

Then you change his bedding and shake his pillows before giving him his medicine.

He frowns.

"I know it's bitter, but it helps, right? I have an apple for dessert if you take it all." You bribe him with a sliced apple.

"Pudding would be better." Owen smiles sheepishly.

"Pudding makes everything better. I will see what I can do." Sadly, even pudding is a luxury for us. I wonder if I can get a portion for everyone?

"It's alright, I like apples." Owen knows more about your situation than he lets on.

Owen bravely takes his medicine and eats a few slices of the apple.

You bring the rest to your other siblings.

Then you do a few chores before heading to work.

It's going to be a long night, you can already tell.

The bar you work at is a bit rowdy, the patrons are ruff, but overall good people. It's usually fun to work at the place.

The gruff owner is a nice guy, who often gives you 'leftovers' or stuff his wife made that he apparently really doesn't like. You know that neither is true,, but you are also not one to just take handouts, and he is also a bit awkward,, so this is how you two handle things.

"Hey, I'm in." I say hi to the owner, who grunts at me.

I start to clean the floor and prepare everything for opening time.

"Hey, the wife made some strange stuff again. Please take it off my hands' kiddo?" The owner shoves a box towards you.

It's definitely food that smells great. "Are you sure? It sure smells nice."

"Get it off me, before I toss it out." The owner frowns.

I take the box. "Alright, thank the wife for me." I smile at him and put the box in the back.

"You're gonna make her believe her food is any good." He grumbles.

"Don't let her hear that,, or she might believe you." I grin at him, knowing that he loves her food.

He shrugs. "We've got game night tonight so if it gets rowdy, feel free to kick them."

With game night, he means gambling. It's not really legal, but it brings good business but of course also some strange people.

"Sure thing. I hope we get some big spenders tonight." Usually, the drunken winners give nice tips.

"You just keep dreaming big kiddo, as long as we make money I'm happy." He keeps cleaning glasses while talking.

You clean the last few tables and get the gaming stuff ready, it's just a box of dice, cards and such things.

Slowly the guests are pouring in. Most of which you know on a first-name. They order their usual. These guests aren't only here for gambling, they are here on most nights anyway.

Then when night breaks a different clientele is pouring in and filling the tables.

They all know the game. Trading money for snacks or coasters. Some use their means of hiding the money in play.

The owner keeps a close eye on everything from a distance. While you keep filling glasses.

Nothing strikes you as odd until you see a Goblin on one of the tables. This by itself isn't all that unusual, all kinds of folk come here after all. This goblin somehow strikes you as odd.

Then suddenly you realize, his hair color is white. That is certainly unusual, sadly you can't see his eyes since he wears yellow-tinted glasses.

This might be the guy that screwed you over. You feel anger rising at this realization. Even if he probably didn't mean to, he still cost you a nice paycheck.

For a while, you try to keep a close eye on him but the other customers keep you busy.

Especially when a guy wins big and throws around for everyone. Of course, this is a cause for celebration for everyone.

Now with the alcohol level raised you have to use your kicking abilities a few times. Nothing out of the ordinary.

You handle yourself well and the owner kicks a few rowdy guests out.

Finally, it calms down a bit in the early hours of the morning.

You sigh deeply, but it was pretty successful. You got a big tip from one guy.

The goblin is forgotten by now.

"I don't need you for the rest of the night." This is the owner's way of telling you to go home and rest.

"Thanks. Don't make too long." You glance around at the few leftover guests.

"No worries, I will kick em out soon." He grumbles.

You take the food and head out the backdoor.

The cool night air feels good on your skin, you take a deep breath and start walking.

Once, you pass by a tight ally, and you notice a group of guys harassing someone.

Under your watch! It seems to be three guys, all rather drunk. You can take them.

You walk towards the guys. "Hey, I think that's enough."

"Huh, what's that? Are you kiddn me?" One of the drunks looks towards me.

"Whatever that guy did, he had enough. You all don't want to go to jail for killing a guy, do you?" You huff at them, trying to look bigger than you are.

"Aw, come on, he has it comin. This guy is a cheat." The other man kicks the poor victim.

You shake your head. "Come on guys, just go home, he learned his lesson."

The guy on the floor groans. "I'll be good, I swear." He doesn't sound super convincing, to be honest.

The drunks shuffle around. Seemingly unhappy to leave.

"Guys go home. You got your money back, so your wife won't be mad,, but they might be if you are in jail for murder." You try to convince them.

The guys seem to freeze up. "Ah, well, it's late anyway. You better not show your face here again." With that, they shuffle off.

You sigh with relief when they walk away. You then go to check on the man on the floor.

Now you notice it's the Goblin you saw earlier. His glasses are shattered on the floor, revealing his blue eyes. So it might be that thief from the other night after all.

"Ugh… that hurt. Thanks for that." He staggers while trying to get up.

"You might want to go to a doctor for these injuries." You glare at him.

"What's with that look? Do I know you? D-don't tell me I owe you money?!" Suddenly he seems to be much better and gets up. Seemingly trying to get some distance between you.

"I don't even know you." You glare at him. "Though I'd say you owe me for saving your butt." You feel like he is pretty ungrateful.

"Well, thanks then… Umm, I got no cash, but here I got this necklace." He rummages through his pockets and pulls out a necklace from somewhere.

He dangles it in front of you.

You can only frown at it. "Gee, thanks."

"Hey, it ain't any day that I give stuff like that. So be grateful." He huffs at you.

"I'd be more grateful if it wasn't gaudy or fake." You take the clearly fake jewelry. Maybe Eve will like it.

"Fake? You can tell with just one glance?" He seems impressed.

You feel like he has just seen right through you. "It's a special talent." You shrug and play it cool.

"Well, in that case. I could use your special skills for a job. I need someone to tell me what the valuables are." He changes right into business mode.

"Are you offering illegal work to me?" You act all offended.

"Come on, the job in that dingy bar doesn't pay well. I'd split 90:10." He smiles at you.

"I gladly take that 90 percent, very generous." You know that's not his offer,, but he somehow irritates you.

"It'll be 10 for you,, obviously." He shakes his head.

"No, thanks. I don't trust you anyway." You glare at him.

"Fine, how about 30 percent?" He throws his hand up as if he is being generous.

"More like 70 for me if you can't even tell what's fake." You can't believe that you are still talking to this guy.

He sighs. "Alright, I get it, same risk same reward right? So 50:50. My last offer."

"You seem quite desperate. What kind of stuff are we talking about here, anyway?" Now you are getting curious.

"It's an old mansion. Real old money. Real old scum, too. I just want to grab some of their valuables. It's not like they're gonna miss it anyway." He is vague,, but you somehow feel like you know what place he is talking about.

"Does that happen to be the raven mansion?" The place where your heist was interrupted.

His eyes go wide. "How'd you know?"

"Let's just say that I got interrupted in my own business by some amateur." You glare at him.

"Wait… t-that was you? Oh man, you were ama… umm I mean you were okay." The tips of his ears glow dark.

"You should grovel for what you have done. Screwed me right out of a job." Finally, you can let your anger out.

"I had no idea you were there. I'm sorry." He seems at least half earnest. "So that only means you already know the place, and you can finish the other job there too. I'd take no cut of that either. See, I'm very generous."

"Says the guy that offered me ten percent." You huff at him.

"That was just testing the waters, I'd given you at least 30." He puffs his cheeks. "So it's all settled then?"

"No, I still don't trust you." You eye him carefully.

"What would it take for you to take the job?" He asks, also looking for a sign of weakness in me.

"Well, first of all your name." This is an important first step, at least.

"Ah, could've said you were interested. I mean, you were eyeing me in the bar the whole time. I'm down if you are." He calmly shrugs.

You take a step towards him. "You wish." You look him right in the eyes, glaring at him.

He awkwardly looks away. "J-just saying I'm a handsome goblin…"

"I have seen better. Besides, it means that you checked me out, doesn't it?" You grin at him.

His cheeks turn dark. "N-no, I just felt a burning gaze on me the entire time."

"That was disdain and nothing else." You cross your arms.

"Call it whatever you want." He huffs and turns his head awkwardly. "Anyway, how am I supposed to show that you can trust me?"

"How about telling me your name?" You eye him with suspicion.

"I'm the great Mammon. Better not forget it." He puffs his chest in a display of pride.

You don't acknowledge his presentation whatsoever. "What are you planning to do with that treasure?"

"I'm gonna sell it for cash to pay some debts. I might keep a thing or two for my collection too." Mammon seems pretty honest about it, at least.

"With that, you mean you pawn it and gamble." You only can guess,, but his behavior at the bar speaks volumes.

He seems to feel called out. "Hey, I'm good at gambling, just some people think I'm too good ya know?"

"Nobody is good at it, it's just luck and in your case cheating. You should know better than to gamble all your cash." You start to lecture him.

"I get it, I get it." He sighs. "You sound like my big bro." He sighs deeply. "So, this is all you want to know?"

You think for a moment. "I don't know,, but I guess it's enough for now. I'd wish I had some security at least.” You sigh. "I know it can't be helped."

"I get ya, you've got a life you can't just go or whatever." Mammon seems to agree with you. "Alright, I don't like doing this,, but I got something that might convince you." He then starts to rummage through his vest, he obviously has some hidden pockets in there.

He then produces a gold coin. "Here ya go. I want it back after the job is done. So better not lose it." Mammon seems a bit reluctant to let the coin go.

"This coin seems important to you." You carefully inspect it, it's real, but there seems to be some story here.

"Goldie is my personal good luck charm." He looks almost fondly at the coin.

You smile, somehow this is cute. When you realize your smile, you make your face freeze once more.

"Alright, I acknowledge you as my partner." You reach your hand out to him.

"So that's what it took,, huh?" He seems a bit confused but also relieved.

You shake hands and the deal is sealed.

Mammon suggests a meeting point in a few days' time. He needs to heal and prepare after all.

You also have to make sure your siblings are taken care of. So this works for you.

[oneofyatosfollowers]

Yatori Week 2021- Day 4

@yatoriweek2021

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/32090953/chapters/79500055

Fanfiction: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13905660/1/Yatori-Week-2021

Yukine was in the living room studying for midterms when his dad busted the door down and flounced into the room.

This was a common occurrence, as this man was not his biological dad, but rather a once concerned neighbor that adopted him and was therefore hardly a decade older than the teen. There could be many reasons why his dad, a man named Yato, was excited:

He saw something to do with Capybaras

He got an extra sketchy side job for pocket change

The weather was nice

He bought junk with said pocket change

Anything to do with his beloved girlfriend, Hiyori

Based on the way the young man skipped into the living room, high on cloud nine, Yukine could only assume it was the last option. With sigh, Yukine closed his textbook and readied himself to lose the rest of his study time. Yato tended to talk about his girlfriend for hours on end, like he’s never seen nor heard of them before her, and Yukine would not be able to focus. Now, Yukine liked his dad’s girlfriend. Loved her in fact. His dad was her art tutor- and class nude model- in college since she struggled with the subject as a medical major. Eventually she had become Yukine’s tutor in everything else except math, which was reserved for his dad. It was unclear if Yato hired her, or she did it out of the kindness of her heart, or the two just wanted to see more of each other, but Hiyori wormed her way into both their hearts.

“Yukine!”

“What?” Yukine drawled. His dad was a whirlwind of smiles and flailing arms as he tumbled towards Yukine. Used to this too, the blonde simply waited for Yato to sit directly in front of him without knocking him over. Yukine blinked as his dad struggled to find the words to communicate in a language they both understood. It tended to take some time, as falling in love with Hiyori Iki was a grand affair that wrestled your heart and tied your tongue. She tended to have that effect on people, as most kind-angels did. However, when all he did was wheeze and let out a strange coo mixed with a whine, Yukine couldn’t help but scoff and roll his eyes.

“I did it!” Yato beamed.

“Did what?”

“I finished that old lady’s kitchen and finally got enough money!” He burst. In a fit of laughter that strangers might have thought was madness, the young man rolled onto his back and kicked his feet. It took a moment for Yukine to realize his theory was somehow wrong before he crawled over top of his dad.

“What-ugh,” Yukine slapped away the hands that covered the man’s face, “what are you saving for? You never save money. I’m surprised we haven’t missed any bills yet.” Hands away his face, his dad’s bright blue eyes stared into Yukine’s hazel, full of unbridled joy . That was hardly a good sign; Yato was known for extravagant plans that he got far too excited over. Especially when they failed more often than not. Honestly, Hiyori was a saint for staying with such a spaz.

“That’s the thing!” The man gasped. He didn’t wait for his son’s answer, leaping to his feet to dash into the kitchen. Meanwhile, Yukine was rolling his eyes, of course it was about her. Yato ran back to his spot on the floor next to his son.

“Our two year anniversary is coming up in a few weeks and you know it’s around that time! The age, the lifestyle, the current situation,” he swooned, “her parents and Kofuku and Daikoku!”

“What. Are you talking about?” Yukine groaned as he kneaded his forehead. Just because his dad was capable of speech, didn’t mean he used it properly.

“I want to propose,” he said, “I want to propose to Hiyori.” The three magazines that he clenched in his hands were squeezed so tightly they crinkled. This time it was big blue eyes that watched Yukine struggle to find words. Yukine sucked in air, swallowed, stared, opened his mouth with nothing to come out, blinked a few times, then swallowed again. The logical part of this brain just shrugged, this was the obvious next step. They loved each other, were old enough, and that was usually the point of dating, what it led to. It wouldn’t change their day to day. The emotional side was shocked, blindsided, and completely convinced this would change everything.

Just the word ‘proposal’ was heavy in Yukine’s mind because ‘proposal’ led to ‘wedding’ which means ‘marriage’ which equals ‘family.’ Not that they weren’t already a family, they moved in to Hiyori’s place a little less than a year ago but that was a financial decision if anything. The more childish part of Yukine, the one that had originally protested the relationship and acted out during the first month of their dating, feared that this would take away even more of Yato’s attention. Because the fact was that marriage led to more children. But Yukine knew better than that by now. On the other hand, families, something Yukine had once before Yato, left a sour taste in his mouth. What’s more, this would without a doubt make Hiyori his ‘mother’ and this would mean Yukine wouldn’t just have a ‘parent’ but ‘parents,’ functioning ones that both loved him.

That last thought resonated in Yukine’s chest. Yato and Hiyori loved him very much, unconditionally, and he loved them. They were already a family and Yukine- Yukine wouldn’t mind calling Hiyori ‘mom’ if she ever wanted to adopt him. But most importantly, Yukine finally let his eyes drop from Yato’s and fall to the magazines. They were all for different jewelry stores, the outlines of their pages lined with little color tabs. Yukine could imagine they were covered in little notes and doodles from long before this moment. Most importantly, Yato deserved this. He was a single, smart, and kind young man that worked his way from the very bottom. Even Yukine was old enough to understand that for someone in that position- an impoverished college student- that Yato had taken on a lot, adopting him. It couldn’t have been easy to find someone. Someone as genuine as Hiyori who loved him just as much. Yato deserved this and he deserved to have Yukine support him. Which Yukine found that he truly, truly did.

“That’s great,” Yukine finally said. His voice cracked from the emotion and worry flashed across Yato’s face. But with one sniff and a genuine smile, Yukine showed that he was happy for them. The two dissolved into excited giggles and laughter, eyes blurry with emotion.

“I want you to help me pick it out. I want you with me when I buy it and help me plan the whole thing! I want you to be there with me, I need my kiddo for support,” Yato confessed. Blinking away the moist sheen, Yukine nodded once with a wobbly smile. His dad laughed with every ounce of giddiness and happiness that Yukine felt.

“Originally I was going to make one-”

“No,” Yukine said offhandedly as he wiped his eyes. Yato waved his hands and put down the magazines.

“I know! I know. This is super important and Hiyori deserves the actual ring. The best of the best! I can’t keep getting away with handmade gifts,” Yato said as he opened to a tab in each of the magazines. Yukine eyed the objects he circled and crossed out, writing everywhere.

“You make great hand-made gifts,” Yukine muttered as he fiddled with the cuff of his hand-made christmas sweater. His dad looked up to him, down at his hands, then back up with a smile.

“Well, I was thinking of making her golden knucklebusters, with diamonds of course, as an early wedding present.” Yato huffed.

“She’d like that a lot,” Yukine laughed, “just don’t let her parents see.”

“Oh god no! They already hardly like me.”

“They like you.”

“Yeah, cause I fix their house for free. Redo their kitchen,” Yato mumbled, “I hope they approve of this. I already asked them but the dad seemed more on board with it than her mom.”

“Hey,” Yukine nudged his dad, “that’s a good sign. At least you asked first.”

“Yeah. Yeah, you’re right! This is good! She just needs to say yes.”

“She’ll say yes,” Yukine huffed with another roll of his eyes. Despite himself, even Yukine felt the small spark of fear at the possibility of Hiyori saying otherwise. They flipped through the magazines for a couple minutes longer, Yukine balking at the prices and mental math of costs per month.

“Ah!” Yato suddenly shot up and grabbed both of Yukine’s hands, knocking the book out of his hands.

“H-hey!” Yukine sputtered, wincing at his dad’s sweaty hands.

“But you can’t tell anyone!” Yato insisted, “this is a surprise. It has to stay a secret. Okay? Don’t tell anyone. Okay?”

“Okay!” Yukine finally yanked his hands away.

“You promise?” Yato urged, leaning even closer. His son shoved his face away and picked up his magazine.

“Yes! Yes! I promise I won’t tell anyone.”

They really were made for each other, Yukine thought a couple days later, like soulmates. Once again he was at home, heading to his room after Yato dropped him off. They had a family dinner later and Yukine wanted to chill at home with Hiyori while Yato went to prepare for the proposal. The house was quiet when he walked in so Yukine slipped the quarts of ice cream in the freezer and made his way to his room. Hiyori must be in bed. She hadn’t been feeling well recently, getting nauseous everyday for the past week. All those thoughts went out the window when, on the way to his room, the bathroom door cracked open and Hiyori’s head popped out.

“Yukine!” She hissed, “Yukine!” If it weren’t for her eyes being so wide and pleading, Yukine might have felt a bit more embarrassed by the sight. He stopped short in the hall.

“What’s wrong?” He said immediately. First she looked nervously off to the side, then to him, then up, then behind her, then back at him, letting out a whine disguised as a hum.

“What?” Yukine asked, a bit more nervously now. Still finding it difficult to answer, Hiyori’s arm slipped out and waved him over. Fearing she might have a broken bone, Yukine took one look at the house phone then walked over to the bathroom door, heart in his throat.

“Are you ok-ay!” Yukine squawked as the front of his shirt was grabbed and he was yanked into the bathroom, the door slamming behind him. He quickly glanced behind him, at the barrier, then back at his friend. She looked nervous, which made Yukine nervous. He would even say she looked anxious, scared, but the air buzzed with an excited tension. In front of her, Hiyori played with her fingers as she struggled to meet his gaze.

“Hiyori, are you okay?” Yukine finally got out. She looked okay, well not ‘okay’ okay but physically safe. The sweat that beaded her brow and the way her knees almost knocked together said otherwise.

“Um,” Hiyori looked up then down, “yeah, yeah, I’m okay. I- I think so?” Terrified at the thought of anything bad happening, Yukine quickly approached her with his hands up.

“What happened? What’s wrong? Do you need me to call Yato? We should call-”

“No!” Hiyori blurted out, causing Yukine to flinch. At this point he was almost shaking, Hiyori was rarely against calling Yato, especially during emergencies. More than just being the man of the house, Yato knew everything! He was calm and cool under pressure and could take on any problem without delay, dropping everything to help. Yukine certainly didn’t want to deal with whatever this was without at least telling his dad. Seeing the panic bubble, Hiyori reached forward and gently held Yukine’s hands like she often did during these times.

“No, no, no, it’s okay! It’s nothing bad! Nothing’s wrong!” Hiyori comforted, “I just got worrie- excited! I’m nervous about something and I wanted to tell you in private. It’s okay, nobody’s in danger,” her words quickly calmed Yukine back down.

“O-oh, okay,” Yukine nodded, “so, so what’s up?” He stuck his hands in his pocket to hide their shaking while Hiyori went back to fiddling with her fingers.

“I have a, uh, surprise! For Yato. And I, uh, wanted to hear your thoughts first.” She stammered out. This was rather confusing, but Yukine was relieved to hear that was all it was. Maybe she had a big anniversary present planned that she wanted his opinion with.

“Oh okay, what is it?”

“Well it’s not an ‘it’ exactly. It’s more of a, uh, uh, thing? Not a thing! It’s not a thing! I’m a thing? I’m something? I-I-I have something to give to Yato. And you? The family. My family too, you know, once I tell them. I’m just not exactly sure,” Hiyori babbled just like her not-yet-fiance, looking all around. Yukine resisted the urge to roll his eyes- he stopped doing that to her ages ago- and he refused to rush her.

“It’s okay,” Yukine offered a smile, “I’m sure whatever the thing is, Yato will love it. You know how sappy he is, he’ll love it cause it comes from you and you mean it.”

“Haha, yeah,” she didn’t sound too convinced and Yukine worried about why.

“I mean it, he will.” Yukine tried again. This time, Hiyori seemed to get rather bleary eyed and she hugged herself.

“Maybe not this time, Yukine, I’m just not sure. I mean we talked about it but it’s too soon and- who knows- maybe he won’t?” She continued looking around the room, biting her lip. Yukine was still an awkward sort of a teen and not very good with crying young women so all he could think to do was squeeze her hands.

“Don’t say that, Hiyori, there’s nothing on this earth that he-”

“I’m pregnant.” Her confession rang throughout the empty bathroom, echoing against the tiles and Yukine’s ribs. The boy’s mouth clicked shut as all those images he’d imagined, with Yato fawning over another child that was actually his, flooded in. When Hiyori sniffed again, the pictures shattered, leaving a frightened young woman holding her stomach.

“Yukine, I’m pregnant,” she repeated. Swallowing Yukine let his hands lightly rub her arms up and down.

“That’s,” he breathed, “amazing.” The honest wonderment he felt bleed through his voice and Hiyori looked up at him, eyes shining with pure hope.

“Really?”

“Yes,” Yukine promised. They deserved to be happy and experience having a baby and raising them with all the love and care they gave Yukine. After all, they already saved his life. What more can he ask of them? Once again he found himself blinking away the moisture in his eyes, Hiyori trying to do the same.

“But, what about Yato? Do you think he’ll,” Hiyori bit her lip and Yukine struggled to find the words and push away any jealousy he felt. Of course he wanted to be Yato’s one and only, for the man to never have kids of his own cause he had Yukine. But that was as selfish as it was stupid. Yato had a lot of love and Yukine knew he was no different than a son to him. Yato would never abandon him for something he deemed better and Yukine would be there to support him. Both of them.

“He will absolutely love them,” Yukine assured her, letting out a dry sob, “he’ll make the best dad.”

“Well, hehe, I think he already does?” Hiyori wiped under her eyes and Yukine found himself laughing.

“That’s right!” Yukine said, joyfully, “he’s the best.”

“Yeah, he is. The best I could ask for,” she murmured happily. The room was considerably warmer, lighter as Hiyori set her palms gently over her abdomen with a soft smile.

“Now I just have to tell him,” Hiyori said, “and my parents.”

“I’m sure they’ll be happy too,” Yukine sighed as he leaned against the door, “you haven’t told them yet?”

“No, they’re old fashioned and I would rather tell Yato first. So you can’t tell anyone!” Hiyori suddenly stepped forward with pleading eyes.

“Huh?”

“It’s a surprise! I want to tell him on our anniversary but I really need you to be there as support, so you can’t say anything, okay?  Promise me you’ll keep it a secret!” She begged. Yukine gave his answer before he could think, not realizing until later what it would entail.

“I-I will! I’ll be there! And I promise I won’t say anything!”

The anniversary dinner reservation was booked at the restaurant Yato took Hiyori to on their very first date. It stood on the corner of an annual festival that followed the date and where Yato often took them every year since. In the car ride, various levels of anxious excitement is so palpable one of them could cut it with a knife. The excitement mostly came from the two adults in the front seat. Yukine, who sat behind Hiyori, was the majority of the anxiousness. Both hands were stuffed firmly in his jacket, balled up in his right hand was a little box protecting a diamond ring, his left was gently pinching the image of an ultrasound. He kept trying to rip his hands out of his pockets, worried about the cold sweat ruining such valuable commodities.

“So Yukine, are you excited about the festival?” Yato peaked at him through the rear-view mirror, smiling gleefully. It was unclear if his dad noticed Yukine’s flinch, but he quickly shoved his hands tight in his pockets and tried a smile.

“Y-yeah!” His voice cracked and Yato let out an awkward laugh. In the passenger seat, Hiyori turned around to look at him with an equally wobbly smile and a nod.

“We’re glad you can come with us to dinner this time,” she said, “right Yato?”

“Sure are! Soon you’ll be too old for us to force you to come on our dates!” Yato laughed. Even with the implication, the air in the car was considerably lighter. Yukine found himself laughing too, secretly knowing that there would never come a day he would need to be forced. While anniversary dinners were different, dinners with your parents hopefully lasted forever.

“Yato!” Hiyori chided through her giggles, giving him a good whack on the arm. The family continued to snicker as Yato pulled into a parking spot. He ran around the car to open the door for his beloved, taking her hand and helping her out. Yukine’s amusement sank like a rock when both the adults gave him a pointed look and a nod, he was reminded of what was to come. Giving his name, Yato could barely contain his excitement as the waitress brought them to a raised booth in the back.

“Yato,” Hiyori said with a light gasp. It was unclear if she noticed that this booth was the only one with fake roses strung up along the back but Hiyori wore a look of awe as she sat down on the other side of the candle.

“Two years,” he sang in reply.

“Yukine, you can take off your coat,” Hiyori suggested.

“N-nah that’s okay!” Yukine said. Both of them must have understood the implication because neither of them pressed it. They took a glance at the menu and eventually, the waiter came to take their orders, offering the most expensive bottle of champagne that Yato had already paid for.

“Oh, uh, no thank you, I’ll just have water, please,” Hiyori asked as she shut the menu and handed it to him. Yukine watched the waiter flash Yato a lost look who just nodded as he handed his own menu.

“I’ll have a colosi,” Yato said. The meal picked up quickly after that, the three of them ordering good dishes. Shortly after they started to dig in, the violinist Yato had called from college- a man with glasses named Kazuma- came over and began to play.

“Mmm!” Hiyori slurped down her pasta, “this is our song!”

“Hmm?” Yato cocked his head.

“Our song! You know, the one they played at the after party for the art exhibit? Our first dance,” Hiyori said. She ducked her head, looking suitably embarrassed until Yato hummed.

“I remember! Of course I do,” Yato smiled, “best night of my life.” Love in the air, they finished their meal, sharing a dessert Yato treated Yukine too. Once the dinner was complete, Yato distracted Hiyori long enough for Yukine to run and give Kazuma a tip and the next phase. Then Yukine jogged after them, the three of them walking out into the festival. Hiyori, rather obviously, tugged Yato off to the right. The woman on track to being a doctor was clever enough to know her romantic boyfriend would be taking them to the spot of their first kiss. Of course he did that every year, but Hiyori hoped being in such a nostalgic place would help the news to be received more positively.

Still, the two of them put a lot of effort into making sure Yukine felt included. Part of him thought this was just done out of gratitude for his help, but they’ve taken him here more than enough times for Yukine to understand they just wanted him to have fun too. Of course, this was still part of Yato’s extremely detailed plan. A handful of the game stands held certain prizes that Yato planted for the proposal. So far, Yato carried a hand-made scarf that mimicked something Hiyori used to wear while they were dating, a small wooden house that was used in sketch class, a box of sparklers, and binoculars. Currently, Hiyori was selecting another prize Yato and Yukine won for her by playing darts. Based on Yato’s instructions, the man offered Hiyori the prize box of fake jewelry, one of which was real and hand made. Knowing her, she would notice the pink-flowered charm and select it.

“I’ll have to go back for that bottle,” Yato sighed as he watched his love look over the options.

“I can go back and put it in the car,” offered Yukine.

“No, no, no, I need you here with me,” his dad looked at him, “I can’t do this without you.” He sounded confident but his eyes were so scared that Yukine couldn’t help but nod. Yukine had made a promise to himself some time ago that he would protect this eccentric, kind-hearted man that saved his life, from others who would try to take advantage of him or go out of their way to hurt him. Just like Yukine once did.

“I have tissues in case she says no and I put the ice cream in the freezer for you.”

“Haha! That’s my boy,” Yato let his fingers noogie Yukine’s hair and they laughed. The moment of truth was upon them. As Hiyori came back to them, showing off her new bracelet with the claim that it was something Yato would make for her. They walked to the edge of the street, the overview circling out over the park with a fence and benches. Yato handed the house and sparklers to Yukine, wrapping the light scarf around Hiyori’s neck. The fireworks would start in exactly seven minutes and Yukine still had both objects in his pockets.

“Yato,” Hiyori suddenly said, “I need to talk to you.” She looked at Yukine who stared back at her with wide eyes.

“What is it? We can talk here, you know,” Yato tried to get Hiyori to come towards the railing, but she remained firmly where she was.

“I just decided that I want,” she looked around, “some cotton candy!” Hiyori frantically pointed towards one of the mini carts.

“Wha-? Right now?” Yato’s shock and fear cracked his voice but he quickly tried to cover it with a laugh.

“How about after the fireworks? They’re going to start soon and you know how much I like-”

“Please Yato?” Hiyori put her hands together and cocked her head. From the middle of them, Yukine sucked air through his teeth and looked at Yato. Those were the big guns, Yato rarely said no to begging.

“Uh, um, okay, Hiyori. One-one sec!” Yato started towards the treats, “come on, Yukine!”

“No, no! That’s okay! Yukine can stay with me!” Hiyori insisted. She smiled when Yato just sputtered then ran off to retrieve the sweets.

“Okay, give it to me,” she frantically hushed.

“You’re going to do it now?” Yukine gave a quieted exclamation.

“I have to! I can’t let this continue without him knowing!” Hands shaking, Yukine handed the ultrasound to Hiyori who stuffed it under the top layer of her shirt against her spine. Once glance at the clock told Yukine there was four minutes until the fireworks would light up the sky and Kazuma would light the sparklers next to the matching mini wooden house just below them.

“Okay! Okay, here!” Yato ran back to them, “here you go, Hiyori!” He handed her a pink mass of sugar, shoving it in her face.

“Wha-! Yato!” Hiyori sputtered. As she struggled to get the sugary treat out of her face, Yato dove his hand in Yukine’s pocket and plucked out the ring.

“Heheh, sorry,” Yato said as he stuffed it into his pocket, “I tripped?” he offered as she moved the candy out of her face. As Yato smiled awkwardly at Hiyori’s narrowed eyes, the first firework of the night boomed in the sky. Slack-Jawed, the three of them looked up at the sky, then back at each other.

“Ah! It started!” Yukine gasped.

“Let’s go get a closer look Hiyori-”

“Yato, I have something for you!”

“I have something for you too, but, uh, it’s over here. So let’s go over here!” Yato was quicker, and louder, than Hiyori and managed to grab her wrist and pull her towards the railing. Deciding that his job was done- and that he didn’t want to really get caught in whatever was about to happen- Yukine chose to stay a couple feet back.

“Yato, I- '' Hiyori's words were caught with a gasp as she looked over the railing. On the stone patio that surrounded the park were a bunch of pigeons eating the seeds Yato had Kazuma put down just as they left the restaurant. Feeding pigeons was something Yato did a lot in college and one of the places Hiyori would find him sketching before they started dating.

“Look at them all!” She gasped at the massive heart made purely out of hungry pigeons. In the center of the feathered shape was a small note, leaning on the matching mini home, with fancy calligraphy made clear by the sparklers that were stuck on either side.

“Is that a note?” Hiyori squinted, “I wonder what it says.” She looked at Yato when he cleared his throat.

“Why don’t you use your binoculars?” He offered them. Hiyori didn’t seem to think much of it, taking them and leaning over the railing.

“It says ‘Will You Marry Me?’ Aw I wonder who that’s- for?” Hiyori’s sentence fell off her lips, drifting through the wind as she lowered the binoculars and turned her head. Yukine watched her eyes drop to Yato on his knee, who was gently holding up the box and the ring. When she gasped, eyes growing wide, he nudged the box up higher and cocked his head with a forced smile.

“Will you?” he asked. It took a moment but Hiyori finally moved, closing her mouth and blinking rapidly.

“Yes,” she breathed.

“Really?” Yato sprang up with a gigawatt smile, Hiyori laughing at him.

“Yes! Yes!” She professed, bouncing up and down with Yato. Quickly putting the binoculars around her neck, Hiyori quickly grabbed Yato’s face and they joined in a passionate kiss. From his spot, Yukine found himself bouncing on the balls of his feet and clapping with the few people surrounding them. Through their love-sick laughter, and Hiyori’s many kisses, Yato took her hand and raised her to the ring. Before the rock could slip onto her finger, Hiyori jolted, finger freezing.

“What is it?” Questioned Yato, terrified at the way she took her hand back.

“Before you give me the ring, I want to give you my thing,” Hiyori said. Her weak words were slightly drowned out by the fireworks display and chatter of the audience but Yato just nodded with tight lips. Eyes downcast, Hiyori’s fingers slipped under her shirt. Then, she handed the ultrasound to Yato who blinked at once before he gently took it. Yukine watched him stare at it, almost incomprehensibly, for a little longer than necessary. Yato blinked again, turned it around and blinked once more. Adam’s apple bobbing, Yukine watched Yato’s lips say something that was too quiet to hear. Hiyori nodded, a jolting movement, trying to force a smile around her wet eyes. This was it, Yukine thought, they were a little family; a mother and her future husband. Yato was a husband, a father, a man of the house. Yukine’s clapping hands stopped and gripped his shorts.

Yato suddenly got his breath of life back, his head jolted up and he looked to Hiyori with an open jaw. He couldn’t force it close until he tackled her into a hug, holding her head and waist so close, like she was the only thing keeping him standing. Whatever Yato said convinced Hiyori it was time to slip the engagement ring on her finger as they squeezed each other tight. Their laughter sounded again, overshadowed by the fireworks and sounding considerably more breathless than before. Lit up by the dancing colors, Yukine watched them alternate between laughing, talking, kissing, and pointing at the objects in their hands. Just as Yukine’s happiness was starting to be completely overshadowed with loneliness and isolation, he watched both of them point at their gifts then turn and face the blonde.

“Yukine!” They cheerfully called his name, arms open to welcome him into their hug. Heart leaping for joy into his throat, Yukine ran forward without a thought. By the time their arms wrapped around him, holding him tightly against their bodies, Yukine’s wet laughter was bubbling out of his chest.

“Yukine! You double player you!” Yato exulted.

“You did such a good job!” Hiyori complimented with tears, “thank you so much!” The family gave another tight hug before pulling away.

“We really couldn’t have done it without you,” Yato sighed. He kept his arms around their shoulders, holding the ultrasound up against the sky, the three watched the final colors of the fireworks illuminate the tiny bundle of life that would be greeting them soon. As the final boom pounded against their beating hearts, Yato finally gave it back to his fiance.

“I’m glad it all worked out,” Yukine said, mostly to himself.

“Are you sure?” Yato asked him.

“Huh?”

“We just want to make sure that you’re okay with all this,” Hiyori started, “we know this is a lot and we just want to hear your thoughts about all this.” She gestured to everything but when Yukine gave them a blank look, Yato put his hands on Yukine’s head.

“Our family is getting a little bigger, are you happy?” He asked softly. Warmth spread throughout Yukine, building in his heart and fanning the heat behind his eyes.

“Yeah,” Yukine breathed, “I’m happy.” He blinked and let out a hum of a laugh as Yato and Hiyori smiled at each other.

“That’s great because we have something for you too,” Yato grinned.

“For me?” Yukine blinked. What could it be? What more could they possibly give him?

“Yes, a surprise for you too! Mostly from me to you,” Hiyori offered. When she looked at Yato, smile matching his, the three separated and Yato lifted his top shirt to reveal a folded packet. He handed it to Hiyori who handed it to Yukine with a shy smile.

“If you want,” she tacked on. Yukine kept his eyes on her as he unfolded the paperwork, already knowing what it was before he looked it at. It was so familiar, nearly identical to the one Yato gave him so long ago, the one that now sat in a protective folder in Yukine’s bedroom.

“You want to? Adopt me?” Yukine asked. He squeezed the papers tightly against his chest. Unable to say anything more, Hiyori pressed her trembling lips together and gave a short nod, a couple tears falling from her eyes. He was back in her arms just as she opened them, sniffing against her collar bone.

“Is that okay? Will you have me, Yukine?” She tearfully asked as she brushed his bangs out of his eyes.

“Yes,” Yukine cried, “I’d love that. So much.” He had a mom now. Not that woman that gave birth to him, a real mother figure that loved and cared for him and his dad properly. He had parents.

“See?” Yato sniffed, “I told you he would gladly welcome you into the family!” He tried wiping the tears from his cheeks but it hardly made a difference.

“The family?” Yukine repeated, feeling the word on his tongue.

“Of course! Can’t be a family without you, kiddo!” Yato insisted. He pulled them back into a hug, each of the gifts to each other- sealing their love and connection- squishing under the force of their laughter. They came together in a rather unconventional way, and they were nothing Yukine imagined for himself, yet they were everything he could ask for.

His parents.

His family.

[upamongthestarss]

Perfect Timing//Bill Denbrough x fem reader

Please be kind! This is only my second time publishing on tumblr, so I’m not really sure what I’m doing, but here we are!

Warnings: smut, brief mention of fem oral receiving, swearing, mild angst, underage drinking

Spring break came way too slowly, especially for Y/n. Freshman year of college is said to be one of the best years of your life, but it’s definitely the worst. Her high school was entirely too easy for her, probably because her teachers were just idiots. Then college hit, and the workload was unbearable. Not to mention, she grew homesick for her parents and her best friends and even a tiny bit for Bill. 

Oh, how she hated Bill back home. 

Well, okay, she didn’t hate him, it was more of just a mutual tension that sometimes led to the Losers separating them at all costs. 

They went on a few dates freshman year, and even kissed once, but it all ended when popular Autumn asked Bill to “help her with English” at lunch one day. He completely forgot to tell Y/n, but didn’t think much of the whole affair anyway. When Y/n walked out of the lunch line, she smiled at her newly official boyfriend. He was hunched over a piece of paper, diligently writing with ginger hair falling into his eyes. When Autumn saw her coming over, she tapped Bill on the shoulder, and kissed him full on the mouth when he turned to her.

Y/n’s hands went slack, causing her tray to clatter to the ground. Tomato soup splattered all over her new white Keds. She obviously looked down to see the damage, and missed Bill pushing Autumn off of him. He went over to check on her and help her clean up, but she stormed off to the bathrooms. 

From then on out, there’s been so much tension between them. Even though Bill explained what happened countless times, she’s absolutely refused to listen. She’s had trust issues after her biological father cheated on her mother when she was little, and this, well, this basically made them inflate like the economy. She wasn’t on speaking terms with him until the end of the school year, and even then their friendship was rocky.

But there was also a sexual tension. Bill and Y/n still had blatantly obvious feelings for each other, whether they wanted to admit or not. In fact, they even went to senior prom together, but it ended in disaster. There was a dramatic exit from Y/n when he mentioned how he was on good terms with Autumn now, and she was really sorry for what happened. 

“Why the hell would you bring that up now?” Y/n rose from her seat.

“B-b-because she t-told me she w-wanted us to-”

“Can’t we just completely forget what happened back then? It was so long ago.”

Bill flushed. “Well, it r-r-really seems l-like you’ve n-n-never forgotten ab-about it these past th-three years.”

She threw her napkin on the table and left after saying, “You’re a dick.”

That night she vented to Eddie and ultimately admitted to having feelings for him, but he knew that all along anyway.

That night was the last time they talked until it was time for Bill to leave for NYU.

“Good luck,” she told him, bouncing on the balls of her feet nervously. 

“Th-thank you, Y/n, y-you too!” he was so excited that day that he even pulled her into a hug, much to her surprise (and delight). 

And now, here she is, on the plane to Palm Springs. It’s a long flight from Marywood, so Y/n uses her time to finish her homework. She’s majorly jetlagged by the time she lands at Palm Springs International. Luckily, the cab ride isn’t ridiculously long. When she gets to Richie’s beach house, he’s on the porch with his feet up and a daiquiri in hand.

“Y/N!!!!” he shouts, putting his drink to the side and running down the stairs.

“RICHIE!!!!” she yells back, dropping her bags to run and hug him. 

“Oh, it’s been so long!”

“I know!! And holy shit, your house is gorgeous!”

“I’m telling you, Y/n, I lucked out so much by scoring that audition. Can you believe it? Rich Records Tozier, the nation’s youngest beloved DJ.”

“Hardly,” she chuckles. “So how is the life of fame treating you?”

“Oh, brilliant. Come on in, I’ll give you a tour,” he scoops up her bag and leads her to the door. It’s an incredible house, with a beautiful kitchen and even a movie theater. 

“And here’s your room,” he gestures to the first door upstairs. 

“May I?” she asks, hand on the doorknob. 

“Be my guest.”

She swings it open to a redheaded girl on one of the two beds. She looks up from her magazine, smirking. “Hey, roomie!”

“Bev!” Y/n shrieks as her best friend runs to her and practically knocks her over. 

“When did you get here?!” 

“About an hour ago. Stan’s here too, but he’s taking a nap.”

“Well, we’ll have to fix that, won’t we?” Y/n grins mischievously. 

“Everyone else is supposed to get here tomorrow morning, except for Mike. He’s coming tonight.”

“Oh, thank God. No Bill for a half day more.”

“Oh, Y/n, don’t be so close-minded,” Bev giggles and they sit down on the same bed, bursting with so much to catch up on. Richie doesn’t know if he should sit down with them or just go back to his daiquiri, but the doorbell rings.

“Saved by the bell,” he says, getting the side eye in response. 

The girls talk for hours until they decide to say hello to Mike. Y/n stops at the bathroom first, and it takes her a while to find the kitchen after that. She has to follow the voices and Richie’s booming laugh.

“Sorry, I got lost,” she says, turning in the kitchen. “Hi, Mi-”

The third person talking to Richie and Beverly is not Mike.

It’s Bill. And she looks like a total bum in her old sundress and messy ponytail. She isn’t wearing a drop of makeup, either.

“Y/n.”

“Bill. Good to see you,” she holds out her hand professionally. He shakes it.

Is it good to see him? Looking at his cerulean eyes certainly sends butterflies through her stomach and through… other parts of her body.

“Y-you too.”

That immaculate stutter. She sits down at a barstool and crosses her legs together tightly. Richie and Beverly are quick to notice it, but restrain from commenting.

“I thought you were coming in tomorrow morning?” 

She doesn’t sound rude or accusatory, just curious.

“M-my flight got c-c-cancelled.”

“Okay, gotcha.” 

She drums her fingertips on the counter restlessly, not really knowing what else to say.

Luckily, Richie has a plan in case things get awkward between these two- and he’s already having to use it.

“Anyone want a drink?”

************************

“Nursing school is so insane. In anatomy, our teacher dissected a literal human body, and we had to examine it.”

“Eddie, please. We’re eating,” Y/n coughs. 

“It was disgusting, but it was also fascinating,” he defends himself.

“Whatever floats your boat,” Ben shrugs. 

“Y/n, tell us more about Marywood,” Eddie says, but she’s way too busy watching Bill talk to Richie’s cute next door neighbor while holding her little sister.

“You’re so good with her!” she simpers, tossing her shiny brown hair.

“Y/n? Earth to Y/n?”

“What?” 

“How’s Marywood?” 

“Oh, it’s… fine.”

“Just fine? Did you pick a major yet?”

She shakes her head.

“What about that guy? Are you still with him?”

“David? No, we were together for a while, but I guess the spark just kinda died. I mean, he initiated the breakup, but it was all mutual.”

Eddie squirts a dollop of sunscreen the size of a clementine in his hand. “That sucks. I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Don’t be,” Y/n shrugs, averting her gaze back to Bill. She’s very glad that she's wearing sunglasses, to hide her stares.

The cute girl was right, he is good with that little girl. Her heart would be melted, but Bill keeps flirting with the older sister. It’s disgusting.

And then, that girl has the audacity to drop the rattle she shook in the baby’s face. Y/n is close enough to hear the conversation, or at least read lips.

“Oh, l-l-l-let m-me get that.”

“Don’t worry, I got it,” she smiles, bending over so stealthily so that her breasts are all but out of that bikini.

“Ugh,” Y/n rolls her eyes.

“What’s up?” Ben asks.

“Nothing. I’m just going to go to the bathroom,” she stands up and walks almost catatonically to the door.

Instead of going to the bathroom, she finds a glass and slams it on the table. 

“D-damn, Y/n. That’s n-n-not a napkin, you kn-know.”

She jumps at Bill’s voice. He obviously followed her in, and she’s not too thrilled about it.

“Funny,” she replies, searching the cabinets. “Do you want anything?”

“I-I was ac-actually getting d-drinks.”

“Oh, for you and your new girlfriend? Hey, let me know when the wedding is. That is, if I even get on the guest list.”

“What’s your p-p-problem?”

“I don’t have a problem.”

Y/n finds a bottle of straight vodka and pours it right in the glass.

“Hey, its eh-eh-eleven AM,” Bill warns her, reaching for the glass. Unfortunately, their hands grab for it at the same time and it goes crashing to the ground. 

“Great, thanks,” she says.

“I didn’t w-want you to be w-w-wasted all d-day.”

“Listen, Bill,” she takes a deep breath. “I really appreciate your concern. I do. But it’s my life, and if I want to get wasted this early, then no one should stop me.” 

He doesn’t answer. They both grab rags and start to clean up around their feet.

“Th-this kind of r-r-reminds me of a certain sit-situation involving t-tomato soup,” Bill risks saying.

It was a terrible idea.

“Are you kidding me? I thought we moved on from that!”

“Yeah, so w-w-we can j-joke about it now!”

She’s silent for a minute, a blend of wrath and sadness.

“Just,” Y/n says, “Just go back out with your girlfriend.”

“I-I-I h-hardly know- o-okay, what the hell is y-y-your problem? We’re n-not together an-anymore!!! You sh-sh-shouldn’t c-care about my l-l-love life.”

“You don’t get it, do you?” she stands up, vodka dripping from the rag to her toes. “I don’t care that I shouldn’t care. I do care! I’ve always cared!” 

Bill is speechless, and she honestly doesn’t blame him. Y/n assumes he doesn’t feel the same about her. After all, they haven’t dated since freshman year. Sighing, she puts the rag in the sink and walks back outside.

She’s opening up her book and lying on her stomach to get a tan when Y/n hears an obnoxious “Excuse me?”

She looks up to the girl, who could literally be a bikini model.She looks at Y/n like she’s a piece of dirt, and Y/n just wants to smack her. She could never hurt anyone, though.

“Um, do you know when Bill will be back with the drinks?”

“Not a clue.”

******

Bill absolutely could not stop thinking of Y/n all day. He never really can, ever, but his thoughts have been out of control all damn day. They range from wild fantasies to regrets from way back when to just simply: She still likes me, she still likes me, she still likes me!!!!

He wants more than anything to talk to her and confess he’s been in love with her since high school, maybe even before that. But some small voice in Bill’s head tells him that even if she does have feelings, she won’t want to act on them. After all, he’s been nothing but an asshole to her.

Then again, so has she.

It’s really ironic that they’re so abrasive towards each other. Y/n is so kind and friendly to everyone she meets; that’s why Bill fell for her. And everyone tells him that he’s nothing but a sweetheart. And he’s always treated his every girlfriend like a princess. 

But it’s Y/n he wants as a girlfriend, and it always has been. 

Y/n comes running down the stairs, using the bansiters to prop herself up and skip the last couple steps. She’s been strangely lighthearted after she made that confession to Bill. It had been a weight on shoulders for the longest time, after all. And now that it’s out of the bag, she feels as if she can finally move on.

Holy shit, she’s so cute, Bill says to himself. She has this youthful energy, but the looks of a gorgeous young woman. Not to mention her outfit- a pastel yellow halter top, short jean shorts, and a sky blue scrunchie- looks magnificent.

“Okay, I’m ready to go!” she grins widely. “Sorry for the holdup!”

“You’re good,” Richie replies. “We were just figuring out transportation, considering I can only take five of us in my car.”

“I don’t mind taking the trunk,” Y/n shrugs. “Anyone else?” 

“I will,” Beverly volunteers. 

“Okay, great, and five of you can squish in the backseat. Mike claimed shotgun earlier.”

Everyone else groans while he flashes a smile and gives them finger guns.

“So charming,” Bev laughs and grabs Y/n’s hand. They run out to the car and squish in the trunk.

“Bev, I have to tell you something,” Y/n whispers.

“What?”

“I’m still not over Bill.”

“Thank you, Y/n,” she responds sarcastically.

“How did you know that? I only told Eddie!”

“It was just a little obvious,” she laughs. “And the good news is that we all think he feels the same way!”

“I don’t think he does, Bev,” Y/n shakes her head.

“What makes you say that?”

“Well, I told him today-”

“You what?”

“Shush!” she scolds as the boys get in the car. Luckily they’re all talking and can’t hear the girls if they whisper. “It just sort of... slipped out. But he didn’t even say anything. He just kind of… froze? It was so awkward.”

“You know he’s a little awkward around girls that he likes.”

“Is he, though?”

“Sure he is!”

“I don’t know, Bev. He stood there for a full thirty seconds without saying anything, and he just let me leave,” Y/n explains. “I think if he really liked me, he would have told me by now.”

Beverly gets quiet. “I’m so sorry, Y/n.”

“Hey, it’s okay! The timing was never right, and that- that happens. And it’s better I know now so I’m not hung up on him for the rest of my life.”

The rest of the drive is mostly just Beverly telling Y/n that there’s someone out there for her, and to keep her eyes open at the restaurant. 

It’s a bright restaurant, very tropical and very flamboyant. A lush plant, obviously made of silicon, is the centerpiece of every table. 

Good, it can hide me from Bill and spare my embarrassment, Y/n thinks as she sits opposite him. Unfortunately, Ben asks the hostess to take it away so he can see everyone. Y/n is mortified. Being directly across from her, he can watch and judge the girl the entire dinner.

She tries her hardest the whole meal not to pay Bill any mind, but it gets difficult when he starts getting tipsy. And drunk Bill can be wild. Singing and dancing on the tables wild. Luckily he isn’t at that point yet.

She doesn’t even know how he was able to buy drinks here; he’s only nineteen. The waitress must have a crush on him or something. Maybe she and Richie’s neighbor could start a Bill fanclub.

Y/n has a feeling the waitress would ask for her ID, though, so she sticks to soda. And three Shirley Temples is never good on anyone’s bladder.

“I’m going to the bathroom,” she announces. “Anyone else?”

Everyone shakes their heads. Everyone except…

“Me! M-m-me!” Bill waves his hand around like a hyper child.

“Great, I’m a babysitter now,” Y/n murmurs.

She starts walking to the bathroom, Bill hot on her heels. Surprisingly enough, when she finishes peeing, he’s actually waiting for her. 

“F-f-finally. G-g-girls take so long in the buh-buh-bathroom.”

She ignores him.

“Y/nnnnn,” he slurs. “I’ve been m-m-meaning to t-t-tell you, your a-a-ass looks fantastic in th-those shorts.”

“Because that’s not a rude thing to say at all,” she replies, feeling her face burn up.

“I’m n-n-not trying to be r-rudeeee,” Bill grabs her waist and pulls her in. Y/n can smell all the alcohol on his breath, and it’s disgusting. He kisses her full on the mouth.

She shoves him off, embarrassed by his behavior. “You’re drunk.”

“If b-b-being drunk makes me w-w-want to m-make out with you, I-I-I never want t-to be so-sober.”

That hits Y/n hard. Bill Denbrough wants her. But only when he’s drunk. 

He doesn’t love her in his right mind. This is all she has, and she can’t even fathom just taking advantage of him when he’s drunk. Using someone would hurt her in such an inexplicable way, and not to mention it would tear whatever small bond she had with Bill into shreds.

She plops back down in her seat, barely touching the rest of her food or speaking for the rest of the night.

When she gets to her shared room with Bev, Y/n takes a shower. She’s always loved showers because they’re a place where you can cry without risk of anyone hearing over the water running.

And that’s exactly what Y/n does. She lets the tears stream down her face, washed away by the showerhead’s water.

*******

Bill knows he got plastered last night, so it’s no surprise when he wakes up with a pounding headache. But he isn’t sure why Y/n is so quiet, especially around him. Usually she has a remark or at least a glare for him, but she seems almost meek today.

He pulls Beverly aside at one point, and asks if he did anything to her last night.

“I don’t know, Bill. You guys went to the bathroom at the same time, and when you came back, Y/n seemed really upset.”

“L-l-like angry, or s-sad?”

“Sad. But she didn’t tell me anything that happened. I’m sorry, Bill.”

“It’s o-o-okay. Th-Thanks, Bev.”

He spends the rest of the day trying to remember something- anything- from last night. Bathrooms. Bathrooms.

There are some vignettes. Y/n across from him, in that pretty top. Watching her ass as she walked to the bathrooms. 

Oh, shit. Bill made some sort of comments about those shorts. What happened after that? He kissed her, didn’t he? But why would that make her sad?

When evening rolls around, Bill still doesn’t remember anything new. He’s the only one in the living room, not even paying attention to the TV. His friends come bounding down the stairs, all wearing sneakers and athletic outfits.

“A-a-are you g-guys going somewhere?”

“Yeah, to the new rope climbing place,” Stan replies. 

“Where’s Y/n?”

“She has vertigo, and wanted to stay here. We thought you could stay here so she’s not alone all night.”

“You d-d-didn’t th-think about asking me f-first?”

“We drew names out of a hat,” Beverly steps in. “You just weren’t around when we did it.”

“Isn’t that a l-l-little ruh-rude to Y-Y/n? One of us is g-g-going to st-stay with her instead of h-having fun?”

“No, Bill, it was the opposite!” Richie tries to save the group, much to their chagrin. “We were voting on who didn’t get to stay home with Y/n. And you won! You get to!”

“Wh-what i-if I want to donate m-my win?”

“Doesn’t work like that. Wins are final.”

It’s all BS, and Bill knows it. There never was a hat draw, everyone knows that Bill and Y/n have a lot to work out, and they don’t want the two to go back from spring break with even more animosity for each other. 

Also, they know that the two have feelings that have been expressed so wrongly over the years. Maybe now it’s time to work them out.

“So we’re going to head out now; have fun with Y/n!” Eddie waves, and they run out excitedly.

 Bill sighs, not knowing what he’s going to do with Y/n all night. Maybe she’ll just be antisocial and hide in her room all night, but he personally hopes she won’t. He decides to hang out by the pool for a while, and changes into his swim trunks.

By the time he gets outside, though, Y/n is already there. She’s hugging her knees to her chest and watching the little waterfall intently.

“Hey,” Bill says, making her jump.

“Hey.”

“C-c-can I join you?”

She nods. 

“Why aren’t you with the others?”

“B-because I w-w-won their ‘contest,’”

“Contest?” she shakes her head, not understanding.

“To b-b-babysit you, ap-apparently.”

“Ah. Sounds legitimate.”

He doesn’t know how to respond to that, so he just lets the sounds of the waterfall and the faint grasshoppers fill the silence. He’s sure Y/n doesn’t mind, though. When everyone else complained about the summer grasshoppers as kids, she would always dote on how they’re melodious and comforting.

Bill can’t hold himself back any longer.

“Y/n, what d-d-did I do l-last night?”

She turns to him. “You really don’t remember?”

“I re-remember making a com-comment, which I-I’m sorry about b-by the way, th-that was an a-asshole move. And I-I remember kissing y-you. But then what?”

Taking a deep breath, Y/n continues. “Well, then I pushed you off and told you that you were drunk.”

She pauses.

“And th-then?”

“Then you said, ‘If I want to make out with you when I’m drunk, then I don’t ever want to be sober.’”

That’s it? Bill thinks. He’s not stupid enough to voice his thoughts, luckily.

“Oh, Y-Y-Y/n, I w-w-was drunk. I d-didn’t know what I w-w-was saying.”

“Listen, Bill. I know you remember what I told you yesterday in the kitchen. And what you told me at the restaurant really hurt, okay?”

“Why? I-I wanted to k-k-kiss you,” he asks, genuinely confused.

“You’re such an idiot sometimes!” Y/n laughs incredulously. “You wanted to kiss me when you were drunk, not in your right mind!”

“I al-always want to k-k-kiss you in my right mind!”

“What?!” 

“I-I think I love you, Y/n.”

She’s frozen. Could he actually mean that? Has he been drinking again? Hearing that from Bill Denbrough has been her dream since… forever.

“I think I love you too, Bill.”

He jumps up from his lounge chair, and leans over Y/n. He tucks a piece of hair behind her ear and kisses her tenderly, gently. Her lips are just as soft as he remembers them to be all those years ago, softer than any other girl he’s kissed.

“Wow,” she beams as they pull apart. “I guess I knew this, but you’re a much better kisser than my ex.”

He laughs. “W-why, thank you. You’re n-n-not so bad y-yourself.”

“Thanks,” she giggles. “I just… I can’t believe this is happening. I feel like doing something crazy now, something outrageous.”

“L-like what?”

“Hm…” she thinks for a minute. “Do you want to go skinny dipping?”

“Okay, sure,” Bill chuckles. 

Grinning, she begins to peel off her one piece. She slips the straps off, and the rest slowly slides off her body. Her breasts are exposed first, then her stomach, then everything. Her skin is smooth and glorious.

Bill pulls off his swim trunks and throws them behind him. Y/n wants to tease him about his erection, but she’s way too shocked at his size.

They bask in the beauty of each other for a moment before they dive into the water, crisp and cool on their bare bodies. Y/n splashes Bill right in his face.

He pushes wet strands of hair from his ocean eyes. “H-how dare you?” 

“What are you going to do about it?” she taunts.

“This,” Bill says, throwing Y/n over his shoulder and taking her outside the water. She’s both screaming and laughing her head off at this point. He carries her all the way to the deep end and tosses her in. 

When she surfaces, Y/n makes sure to flip him off. 

“So r-r-rude.”

He cannonballs in, and they swim around, and eventually go under the waterfall. They end up making out and gasping for air.

“D-d-do you want to tuh-take this inside?” Bill whispers.

She nods, and they get out. As Y/n shivers, Bill gets them fluffy towels from a bin by the chairs.

Grabbing his hand, she pulls him through the sliding glass doors. They run around the house in nothing but towels, giggling and kissing and dripping pool water everywhere. The two finally make it to Bill’s room and go directly to the bed (after locking the door).

“Spruh-spread your legs,” Bill breathes in her ear, sending goosebumps up and down her body. 

She obeys and lets him kiss her knees, her thighs, and eventually her core. He pleases Y/n in a way her old boyfriend never did.

When she finishes, Bill holds her for a minute so she can catch her breath. Then, when he turns around to put on a condom, she moves against the wall.

“Oh, s-s-so you w-want wall sex n-now?” Bill raises his eyebrows.

“Maybe,” she shrugs. “If you’re comfortable with it.”

Instead of using words, Bill throws Y/n up against the wall and kisses her roughly. Their tongues clash, and she loves every second of it. Then he goes in. He starts slow at first, but begins to pick up the pace with her approval.

“D-damn, you’re so t-t-tight,” he whispers while she keeps muttering his name.

“Probably because I wasn’t with someone as big as you before.”

Hearing that makes him turn redder than his hair. “Really?”

“Really,” she sighs. “Can you go a little slower?”

He listens to her, and almost screams in pleasure when she starts to suck on his neck.

They both finish in a couple minutes, and are pretty burned out- Y/n especially because she’s never made such rough love before.

She lies in his arms, back on the bed, and traces the love mark forming on his neck.

“I think I love you,” Y/n says for the second time tonight. 

“I-I th-think I love you t-too.”

They can’t help smiling for the umpteenth time in the past hour. Their stars had never aligned until now, and it couldn’t be a more perfect exchange of love. The wait was unbearable, but incredibly worth it. 

Y/n and Bill make each other feel whole, like there was a sort of void within each other, unfilled until now. 

“Hey,” Y/n’s voice is soft and gentle. “I’m so sorry about these past years. You know I have trust issues, but I took them too far and didn’t treat you right. And I’m so sorry.”

“I’m s-sorry, too. I’ve been an ass-asshole to y-y-you, a-and it’s m-m-my fault we broke uh-up in the f-first place.”

“Don’t say that,” Y/n frowns. “It was Evil Autumn’s fault.”

They chuckle. 

Resting her head on Bill’s chest, Y/n asks the dreaded question. 

“So what’s going to become of us? After spring break.”

Bill thinks for a minute, stroking her hair, and admits, “I don’t w-w-want us to c-c-cut each other off again.”

“Neither do I.”

“I think our sc-sc-schools are like t-t-two hours ap-apart; that’s n-not terrible.”

“It’s not,” Y/n agrees. “Maybe we could take turns driving every weekend, and find a halfway point or something.”

“A-an ex-exact halfway point,” Bill adds.

“An exact halfway point.”

They can make it work, they’ve got to. Both Bill and Y/n are extremely optimistic about the future ahead, now that every feeling has been sorted out between them. And even in the unfavorable event where things don’t work out, there will always be Palm Springs. 

Bill presses a kiss to her forehead. There’s not a chance that they won’t make it. The timing is finally, after all these years, perfect. 

[malissawithan-a]

Oh hi, long time no update. I blame the lateness of my kids’ bedtimes and the need to get Christmas shopping done. I’ve also avoided social media a bit lately, just feeling drained. Overall, life has been good and everyone is healthy at the moment so I’m grateful for that. Time for a big update since I haven’t really done much on here since October. 

-Halloween was really good. The weather was perfect and we brought our firepit to the front yard and had that going during the whole trick or treating time. We and a bunch of other neighbors all had tables with individual grab and go bags set up at the end of driveways and I’m totally for doing that again next year. It was great to just go table to table and not worry about ringing a doorbell, it also felt like way more neighbors were outside and friendly which was nice. Alice was a pirate and Lucy was a duck.

- We have 5 family birthdays during October-December and it’s just a lot. My MIL and BIL’s are 5 days apart and they’re both hard to find gifts for, they also fall the week of Thanksgiving so in past years it’s just been so much family time. This year was a little different obviously.

- At the end of October I went to see a dermatologist because I’ve been having some hair thinning issues for a few months now, since maybe May. Not bad, but more shedding than I should be seeing. She ran a bunch of my levels to try and figure out a root cause and one them came back abnormal so she referred me to a rheumatologist, who I saw a week ago. The good news is that I don’t have Lupus like the dermatologist made me fear that I did, the weird level is because of my existing hypothyroidism, but I don’t have a good answer for my hair loss. Trying a few topical treatments and going to find a new endocrinologist because my current one is crap and not taking this seriously. 

- Alex’s Grandpa tested positive for COVID a couple of weeks ago. They live in an old folk’s home and one of the housekeepers that cleaned their room must have had it, several other people there tested positive all at the same time.  He’s recovering well, was mostly just exhausted and had a bad headache for a couple of days. His Grandma also got it we think, but she tested negative at the time. They’ve only lived in this place since August of last year and it’s gone downhill pretty badly during COVID, lots of staff turnover and lots of issues with care. My in laws have decided to move them out and move them to a home in Tennessee where they’ll be closer to other family and where the weather is milder so they can be outside sooner than they would here. It was a hard decision but the right one, the timing is terrible though. 

- Alice is driving me up the wall, there’s been so much development in her understanding and ability to relay how she’s feeling (like asking me to apologize when I’ve hurt her feelings) but it’s coming across in a lot of tantrums right now. She also said “stupid mama” for the first time the other day so that was fun. The age of 3 hasn’t been terrible but it’s definitely been more challenging than other stages, she’s big enough to understand better and reason with but oh gosh does she want her way and protest when she doesn’t get it. It’s been a lot of fun though too, there’s a lot of sweet moments mixed in and most days are good ones (like always, the bad just stick out more in my mind). 

- Lucy is not such a baby anymore, she’s going to be 2 in February. She’s started doing 2-3 words sentences in the last couple of weeks and my favorite word from her right now is “elbow” because she pronounces it “belbow”. She’s very independent, she likes to try and do things by herself first and gets frustrated when it doesn’t always work out. The amount of times that she’s gotten upset over not getting a sock on by herself is up there. Her current favorite stuffed animal is Baby Yoda, she calls him “Baby!” and treats him very well. 

- My parents are talking about driving up for Christmas, supposedly in about a week’s time. They haven’t totally made up their minds yet but I’m really hoping that they do. This is their first holiday season after the loss of my brother and I would rather have them spend it with us than alone in their house. My dad does fall into the high risk category for COVID though so not traveling would be safer, it’s just a sucky decision to make overall. I know that the responsible choice would be to stay home but it’s really hard to tell them to do that in this circumstance.

- I turn 33 on the 19th and I’m okay with that, I have a feeling I’ll be fine up until I hit 35 and then I’m going to start being in denial over my age. I could be wrong about that though, I honestly have enjoyed being in my 30′s way more than my 20′s. 

I think that’s about it, at least for now. Lots of Christmas prep still going on because I was slow on ordering, I hate wrapping presents and would totally do bags if I could, but my kids love opening wrapped gifts so that’s not really an option for now. I hope all of you out there are doing okay, finding ways to enjoy this season!

[seriouslyhooked]

Feels Like This (Part 1)

Emma Swan is a once lost girl who is now making good. She has made a way in the world for her and her young son, Henry, and after years of hard work, Emma is in her last stretch of schooling for the career she’s always wanted. Unexpectedly, she finds herself in a tiny nation no one’s ever heard of for her last year of study. She knows nothing about the place except that it’s beautiful, has a world-renowned child life program, and is filled with possibility. Meanwhile, Prince Killian is hardly happy with the title he received at birth. As the second in line for the crown, Killian has long tried shaking his royal duties. He built a career in the royal navy, and has stayed out of the limelight, but his ship has been called to port indefinitely at the request of his brother, the King. Fate (in her many forms) brings Emma and Killian together and the resulting fic is a cute, fluffy, trope filled romp featuring heart felt moments, a healthy dose of insta-love and an assured happily ever after. Story rated M and will have 12 parts. Available on FF Here and AO3 Here.

A/N: Hey everyone! So months back I hinted that I was working on a few new AUs. I have been wanting to write this fic since the moment it popped into my head, but I held back, knowing I had two other great stories that deserved their happy ending and a proper send off. Now though both of my other fics are done, we are on to one of our first new fics. To all of you that have begged for another CS AU where someone is a prince or princess… this is for you, and for me. I can’t tell you how excited I am to be writing this. I have missed this kind of world since I finished When Love Reigns, and this time the script is flipped – it’s Killian who is royalty. This first chapter though, is building a bit of our back story. It’s from Emma’s POV and it puts us on the path to change. So without any more delay, I hope you guys enjoy the story and thanks so much for reading!

“Goooood Morning, New York! It’s that time again – WAKE UP CALL!”

The sound of sirens and clanging that blasted through the clock radio next to her bed echoed through the once silent room, slamming into Emma with a force that gave her no choice but to wake.

“Crap!” Emma screeched as she jolted from the bed, woken from an incredibly sound sleep. On instinct her body moved quickly, trying to jump from bed like she would when Henry was little and called to her in the night, but she wasn’t totally coordinated yet. Instead of landing on her feet, she tumbled, hitting the ground hard and letting out a groan. “Double crap!”

A knock sounded at the door and two seconds later her son’s voice filtered through. “Mom, did you fall out of bed again?”

“No comment,” Emma replied, checking herself for major injuries. Thankfully she would be fine, but this was not a good look.

It’s temporary, she said to herself as she stood up and stretched, willing her limbs to let go of the tension and the achiness that a fall like that would cause. The semester is nearly over. I’ve only got one summer class. One not three. One not three.

She chanted the mantra that had gotten her through this spring over and over in her mind as she went through her morning routine. It was a rushed, frantic situation, as it normally was on weekdays, but somehow, just like always, things came together in the end. She was showered and ready, dressed for her admin job in the financial district. Henry was also totally geared up for school, proving once again how self-sufficient he was.  Having a son with as much maturity as Henry was a blessing on mornings like this one where she was dead on her feet from studying all night and still had to be up bright and early for the office. He was eight going on thirty-eight. Honestly most days it felt like Henry had it more together than she did, but as she walked into the kitchen to press a kiss on the crown of his head and he smiled genuinely at her, Emma couldn’t seem to care. She might not be perfect at being a Mom, but her kid was happy and well, and that was all that truly mattered.

“Someone seems chipper this morning. Did you sneak those powdered donuts I hid or something?” Emma asked as she made herself and Henry some sliced fruit. Henry, meanwhile, measured out their cereal, liking to be a part of their prep process as much as he could. He handled things with the ginger care and attention of someone trying their best, focused on the task with so much purpose and precision.

“No, I didn’t, honestly Mom, I promise.”

Emma stifled a laugh at how adamant he was. She knew the truth: her son was too good for stealing, even just a few treats. It was amazing how much of a moral compass he had. Sometimes she wondered if it was too much for a boy his age. He should be getting into a little trouble, causing mischief, doing… something, anything that wasn’t picture perfect. But Henry wasn’t like that. He preferred stories to anything else, and the look on his face told Emma that a story was exactly what had him so animated this morning.

“Well if it’s not a sugar high then it must be a good book. What’s on tap for today?”

Listening to her little boy talk about his newfound tale made Emma so happy, because his own enthusiasm was infectious. Reading had always come easy to Henry, and he was on pace for the level of a sixth grader though he was only in 3rd. It was amazing to behold, but also a little overwhelming. Emma herself had never had that yearning to read, probably because the only books in the group homes she grew up in were ripped up and torn to shreds. By the time she was old enough to go to school and use the libraries they had, Emma was jaded. Thankfully she’d been quick to learn and always got by, but by high school she’d skipped town, never to look back.

A few years later she was barely surviving day to day and her heart decided it would be a good time to give the whole love thing a chance. She met a man who claimed he loved her, but, in the end he was nothing but a tough lesson made flesh. Neal taught Emma that it wasn’t enough to love someone. You had to love someone good, someone kind, and someone who loved you enough to care for you and fight for you too. Instead of meeting that marker, Neal stole a bunch of shit, tried to let her take the fall, and, to add insult to injury, skipped town and never looked back. Nothing ended up coming from the charges made against her – the judge threw the case out when he heard about her background, only asking that she commit to a hundred hours of volunteering, and in the meantime the only good thing Neal ever gave her was her son. But, despite her rocky beginnings, and thanks to a little luck and more than a couple of miracles, here they were. Nearly ten years had gone by since she’d seen Neal and Emma and Henry were good. They had each other, now and always, and though their family was small, and at times Emma wondered what it would be like to fall in love again, she didn’t want to rock the boat or jeopardize all the good she and Henry were lucky enough to have.

“Mom, did you hear me?” Henry asked and Emma’s mind shifted back into her room instead of where it had been, skipping down memory lane.

“Sorry, kid. Coffee hasn’t hit yet,” she said with a shrug. “What did you say?”

“I said I’m almost done with my final project for Ms. Harlow’s class.”

“Almost done? But you’ve still got another month of school.”

“I know, but it’s just reading and writing. My favorites.”

Emma listened in on his update about his project, and it didn’t surprise her to hear Henry was ahead of his class. This had been happening since he entered kindergarten. Every year the teachers set objectives and every year Henry met each one, most of them pretty early. It was a great thing in one respect, because it meant Emma didn’t have to worry about him. Henry was brilliant and gifted and would clearly go far in life, but it did make Emma wonder: was she doing enough for his son? More than once she’d been told that a private school might suit him better and might challenge him more. But she simply didn’t have the money. Hell, she’d worked overtime for years just to get them in this tiny apartment in this district which was one of the nicer ones in the city.

Henry continued to tell her all about school as they left the apartment and headed out, and their whole commute in was filled with his updates about the things he’d learned and still wanted to know. Emma noted that there were very few stories involving other kids and she knew that was probably because Henry didn’t have an enormous amount of friends. Oh the other kids liked him, of course, who wouldn’t love her son who only had nice things to say and a friendly smile to offer? But he wasn’t tied to any of them closely. Instead he preferred the company of books, and of Emma and their favorite friendly neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Hubbard.

“All right Henry, so you know the plan, right? Today’s Wednesday which means…”

“School, then library club, then Mrs. H will pick me up and watch me until you get out of class. I wonder what she’ll make for dinner. I hope it’s spaghetti.”

Emma agreed, knowing that her neighbor’s spaghetti was legendary. Mrs. Hubbard had years of practice, cooking for her own family over the course of many years, but her kids were all grown now and it was just her and her husband living in the city. Her husband, though well past retirement age, loved his job down at the docks, and still went in for a few hours every evening to manage the shift change from day shift to night. Mrs. H, meanwhile, was desperate for the chance to mother people again, and she did so often with Emma and Henry. At first Emma tried to protest, but it all fell on deaf ears. Not only did this wonderful woman help care for Henry, she was always helping with the cooking and the cleaning. She was also pretty much a built-in therapist for Emma, and every time she met a challenge in her parenting she couldn’t face, Emma called Mrs. H. That woman was the closest thing she and Henry had to family, and Emma knew Mrs. H felt just as strongly for them in return.

“Whatever it is we’re going to love it and we’re going to thank Mrs. H so much for her help, right?”

“Of course,” Henry said with a nod. They’d finally arrived at his school building and now was the time to say goodbye. Last year parent drop off was in the class room, but this year they moved the kids to drop off at the door. Most kids took that as a sign to stop hugging their parents when leaving for the day, but not Henry. Instead he gave her a big hug which warmed her through and made her feel so blessed and reassured. Henry was truly the sweetest, and when he finally let go and ran into the building Emma let out a sigh, thinking to herself how damn lucky she was to have Henry as her son.

Her day from there was just about as crazy as she expected. The time she had to get from Henry’s school to work was minimal, but she managed to slip into the office just under the radar. For eight straight hours she was moving, and she barely had time to devour the sandwich she’d packed for the day while running to and from errands that the office staff needed help with. She couldn’t take lunch though, not when she had to leave early to run ten blocks to class this afternoon. Again, her ability to get there was nearly undermined, this time by a broken subway car that caused more congestion than ever on the street as people tried to walk instead. But in just the nick of time, Emma made her way through the wrought iron gates of her university, and was in her assigned chair in the Mills Center Auditorium, listening attentively to the lecture her favorite professor had lined up today.

Since having Henry, Emma had needed to work and pay bills and figure things out. At first she tried to do that with just her GED, but soon it became clear that she needed to go back to school. Thank god there had been online classes, and she’d managed to find enough scholarships for ex-foster kids to get her an associates degree. When that was done she went to the state school in the city and started taking more classes and in four more years she had her bachelors. She was so proud of herself and so glad for the bump in pay that a simple degree had earned her, but somehow school had called her back again, this time for a masters degree in childhood development and social work. It was a very focused degree, without any ties to her current financial job, but it was the work her heart wanted to do. With her MS she would qualify for a number of jobs, all aimed at helping kids in the system, and again, thanks to some hard fought for scholarships, she was managing it all at virtually no cost but time.

The two-hour seminar she sat in today was engaging and interesting, honing in on a case study of one particular city – Sacramento. Their public programming was a beacon for the American model and through partnerships of government, schools, companies, and community activists there was a significantly lower rate of teenage runaways and kids who graduated from the system with ‘bad outcomes.’ Emma noted all the policy choice that were implemented to help these kids and she applauded the effort of these experts, but she knew there were still more things that could be done. She took just as many notes on the lecture as she did her own ideas, and by the end of class, her pages were full and her mind was equipped with a few more answers and a lot more questions.

When their time was up, the rest of her cohort dispersed. They were younger than Emma and most of them were friendly with each other. They always were nice to Emma too, saying hi and asking about Henry, but Emma didn’t linger long after class. She had to get home to her son, and to get back to working on all the things she had to face tomorrow.

“Emma, would you mind coming with me to my office? I have something to give you. It’ll just take a moment.”

“Sure, Professor Hopper,” Emma agreed, not thinking much of it. ‘Doc’ Hopper was a great lecturer and a helpful teacher and there’d been many times when he gave her a book or some other sources for her work. She assumed that was what was happening today, but when he asked her to take a seat as he moved around his desk Emma started to get worried.

“I’m sorry, professor. Is something wrong?”

“Not at all, Emma. In fact, quite the opposite. The department has selected the JR Foundation Fellowship recipient this year.”

“Oh?” she asked, wondering which of the people in her class was getting the chance to travel abroad and learn from some of the best minds in childhood development and psychology. She thought maybe Ayana or Jade might be good choices. They were both bright and determined. Matthew was a wild card. But she imagined he must be up for consideration given his often out of the box ideas.

“It’s you, Emma. You’re our chosen fellow.”

“Me?”

Emma whispered out the clarifying question, not understanding what Doc Hopper was getting at. The connection to the JR Foundation Fellowship was one of the biggest selling points of this program. Students from across the world came here just to be considered for it and to say she was not lobbying for the possibility would be an understatement. Most of the time she felt she was barely scraping by. Everyone else in her program was younger than her, none of them had children, and those who had a job worked part time or entirely for the school. Emma was always on the fringes of her cohort, but all the late nights studying and reading had paid off. She learned a lot and did well when it came to grades. Still, she never imagined this would happen, and for a fleeting moment she felt pure excitement.

You can’t go, her inner voice said suddenly. You’ve got Henry to think about. How would you afford it? You could never take him out of school. You can’t move him halfway across the world just to nickel and dime things. We’ve had enough ramen to last a lifetime.

The reasons why this would never work mounted internally as Emma cleared her throat and fidgeted in her chair. She was about to turn down the most prestigious offer anyone at her level could receive and the pain of that was sharp. To know she’d earned this but that it wasn’t meant to be hurt her, but she would not allow herself to linger in the sadness. Nothing had changed from this morning – she was still a very lucky woman, with a roof over her head, food on her table, and an incredible son who filled her life more than any stop in her career ever could.

“Professor Hopper, I’m truly flattered to be chosen. But -,”

“Wait, Emma, before you turn this down, please know that the faculty is aware of your unique circumstances and we’ve made some adjustments to the fellowship terms. It’s all spelled out here,” he said, handing her a folder with papers and admission offers.

Emma opened it up, and within the bolded headlines of the first page there were all sorts of add ons. A housing grant that would cover her and Henry for more than six months, additional ‘cost of living’ scholarships, and more. Tears formed in her eyes at she looked at the stipend she would receive if she accepted this appointment. It was more than she made at city hall, and she knew already that her good standing with the city would allow for her to take this opportunity if she chose to. She could request up to a year of leave where they’d hold her job if she gave enough notice, and she had just enough time to do so. Still there was one concern – what about Henry? What about his life? Would it be right to spring something like this on him? They had only a month before the fellowship was set to start. She couldn’t do that… could she?

“I realize that you’ll need time to consider, Emma, but as you can imagine time is rather limited. I can wait a few days, but we’ll need to know by the end of the week if you accept.” Professor Hopper looked at her with a transparent sense of honesty and empathy. It was always clear why this man studied child psychology and counseling. He was quiet and patient but adamant in wanting to help. But when he looked at her like this, Emma remembered her own childhood and how little there had been by ways of help and guidance. “For what it’s worth, Emma, I really hope you’ll take the appointment. In all my years at this school, I’ve never met a student so well suited to this job. Your experience is one thing, but it’s a gift unique to you. You have a way with these kids, Emma, and a fellowship like this can help you make the most of your degree come graduation. It opens all kinds of doors and you know what that can mean.”

“Helping so many more kids,” Emma admitted aloud, and that was ultimately what she wanted more than anything. Yes, providing for her son was the most important thing, but there were so many more children out there who didn’t have nearly enough. Without family or money or hope, the world was a sad and scary place and Emma wanted to fend off some of that fear for as many kids as she could. Doctor Hopper’s point was undeniable, and people who had previously taken this fellowship had gone on to do so much, like launch successful non-profits and run whole government departments for children in need. It was a chance to learn, to grow, and to meet people who knew how to make things happen, and Emma was enticed by that, so much more than she should be.

“Take some time, Emma. Mull I over, talk to your son, and if it’s right, it’s right. You know you’ll always have my full support either way.”

Emma thanked Professor Hopper and collected her things, heading out of his office and away from school. It was a short commute back home, but riding the subway at this time of day meant being a part of the last big rush of people. She was squished into the train car, but she didn’t think much of it. Instead she read over the more than generous offer of the package the school was giving her. Usually the fellowship was generous, with the chance to go to Montenaro (a tiny European country she’d never once heard of outside of this) and a small stipend to live on with placement in student housing. For Emma, however, other arrangements had been made, including a small house that was still at least triple the size of where her and Henry lived now. The stipend was also larger (to cover the cost of any needed ‘childcare expenses’) and Doctor Hopper had written a note – he had a good friend who had a connection to a private elementary school near the University of Montenarro. There was a spot for Henry available for the fall semester, which was still a few months out, and a space for him at the University’s summer camp. Emma actually cried at how kind this offer was and how much time it must have taken and how many favors must have been called in. People had moved mountains for her and in the process they’d pulled down so many of the blockades that might keep her from saying yes.

Her heart began to believe that this might actually be possible. The timing was actually kind of perfect – her term would start in six weeks, in the middle of June and her lease on the apartment was set to end at the end of that month. She was planning to renew, but it didn’t make sense to keep the place for six months while they were away. That was money she could save for a rainy day, and when all of this was over she’d be done with her degree early and would be looking for a job anyway. Maybe they weren’t strictly bound to New York. They could end up anywhere. The possibilities seemed endless.  Still, as she made her way back to her apartment Emma tried to get herself in check and school her features. The last thing she wanted was to get her hopes up. This would come down to what was best for Henry, and she’d never want to pressure her son into doing something for her that he didn’t really want. But at the same time it was such a great opportunity. The money, the living arrangement, and the work experience. It all seemed so perfect.

“Anybody home?” She asked, as she opened the door to her place and walked in, dropping her coat and taking off her shoes in the front walk as she headed to the kitchen.

“Hi Mom!” Henry said, barreling into her with another big hug and a huge smile on his face. “I missed you today.”

“I missed you too, kid,” she said, ruffling up his hair. “Hey Mrs. H. Something sure smells good.”

“It’s spaghetti Bolognese, and it’s very near ready. How was class, dear?”

“Great. Actually about that, I got some news today.”

“Big news?” Henry asked excitedly and Emma shook her head and smiled.

“Huge news. You know that fellowship I told you about? The one in Europe?”

“I remember. It’s in that tiny little country on the coast. What was it? Monta… Monta…”

“Montenarro,” she filled in and the light in Henry’s eyes burned bright with recognition.

“Oh right – you know their national fruit is called a montacari? It’s like if you mixed a strawberry, blackberry, and a raspberry. They only grow in mild mountain climates and before the berries grow the plants make flowers that are pink and red and white. Every August they have a festival there to celebrate the harvest.”

“How do you know that?” Emma asked, amazed at her son’s seemingly endless memory and then she filled in at the same time Henry did. “Let me guess: you read about it?“

“I read about it,” Henry echoed and they laughed.  “So who won the spot?”

“I did,” Emma announced and for a beat there was complete silence. She watched as her son took in the news and then he was moving, jumping up and down and hugging her all over again.

“You did it, Mom! You did it! You did it! I knew you could do it!”

“You thought I’d win?” Emma asked and Henry nodded fiercely.

“Absolutely! You’re the best, Mom, everyone knows that!”

Emma laughed as she looked over to Mrs. H who had a huge smile on her face. “Congratulations, honey. But I think I must have missed something. What exactly is this fellowship?”

Emma explained the circumstances surrounding the placement. It was a six-month appointment, for two terms – summer and fall - and in that time the recipient worked for the J.R. Foundation. J.R. was an international charity with an impeccable reputation focused on helping vulnerable youth populations around the globe. They worked on literacy outreach, education initiatives, disaster relief and more, but this fellowship appointee would work with the counseling division, focusing on children’s health, wellness, and mental resilience strategies.  That six months of work counted as her two semesters of full time interning which she needed to graduate, and for Emma, it would mean cutting down her time to graduation significantly. At the end of this six months, if she added in an online class or two, she’d be ready to graduate, finishing up eighteen months earlier than she previously expected.

Halfway through her explanation, Emma watched Henry leave and head to his room. She heard a lot of movement inside and she frowned, worried about what he was up to. “Henry? Everything all right?”

“Are you kidding? Everything’s awesome! We’re moving to Montanarro and I’ve got to get packing!”

“Henry, wait,” she said and her son popped his head out before she motioned for him to come closer. “We still have to talk about this. This is a really big change. It would mean you miss the last few weeks of school here, and that next fall you’re not with your friends here. We wouldn’t be back until just before Christmas. Are you sure you like that idea? I won’t be mad if you want to stay here. This is our home.”

“Home is where we are together, Mom. You know that,” Henry said, reciting a line she’d said over and over again to him, especially back when times were tougher and they really struggled to get by. His assuredness made her throat tighten. Again she was on the verge of tears but she fought them off. “Besides – every hero has a special journey, Mom, and their special journey usually starts with a new place. Think of the adventure we can have together. It’s gonna be awesome!”

“Henry it might not be that easy. Moving can be hard sometimes. Things will be different there. I know they speak English, but there’s other languages and customs too. It might not be the easiest adjustment.”

“I can do different!” Henry replied eagerly with a smile. “I’m great with different. Different is my middle name.”

“Henry, you don’t have a middle name,” Emma teased and he shrugged.

“Well now I do, and it’s Different. So can we go, Mom. Please? I promise I’ll be so so good.”

“You’re always good, kid.” Emma said softly, running her fingers through the hair that was shadowing his brow. “Are you sure, Henry? It’s a really big step.”

“Can’t you feel it, Mom? Don’t think with your head. Use your heart, like you taught me.” Emma was quiet for a moment as she took in her young son’s sage advice. “You feel it too, I know you do. This is right for us. It’s our path.”

“Why don’t I sleep on it, okay, kid? In the meantime you go wash up for dinner all right?”

Henry seemed to accept this non-answer, though he muttered under his breath about always having to wait for adventure. Emma smiled despite herself and then looked to Mrs. H who was watching her closely.

“So what do you think? I know we’d be leaving you and Mr. H in a bind. You weren’t expecting to have to look for new tenants and -,”

Mrs. H interrupted Emma by taking her hand in hers and silently commanding her attention. Emma looked up and listened carefully. “Honey, you don’t worry about that at all, you hear me? My Horace and I are golden. We don’t need to rent this place out, but we took one look at you and Henry and we knew you were going to be like family. And you know what family does, Emma? They support each other always. This fellowship sounds like everything you’ve wanted. You can make a difference and you and that darling boy of yours can see the world a little. In the meantime we’ll keep this place here for you. No one else is renting it and you don’t need to worry about paying anything at all. The payment has been getting to know you two these last few years. That’s better than anything money can buy.”

“Are you sure?” Emma asked, half wondering about her generosity but also asking if she should go at all. She was excited, to be sure, but she was also terrified. What if she failed? What if something happened? What if –

“I am, Emma. And deep down you are too. Henry was right, this is an adventure, one you should meet and embrace every step of the way.”

Emma appreciated the counsel and though Henry came barreling back in soon and the conversation shifted, Emma had all evening to think about the choice in front of her. She grappled with her options – to take the safe path and pass up on a once in a lifetime opportunity, or to take a little risk and have a taste of adventure and fulfillment with her son in a brand new place. By the end of the night, as she was drifting off to bed, Emma knew she had her answer: this was going to happen. She was going to take this step and take a chance, and somehow, despite her less than stellar origins, she trusted it would all work exactly the way that it should.

Little did she know how true that was, and just how much purpose and hope she would find in a tiny country halfway around the world.

Post-Note: So there we have it. Just in case anyone is curious about the title, I actually got a creative burst in conceiving of this AU plot line when I heard the song ‘Feels Like This’ by Maisie Peters. If you haven’t heard it before, you should definitely listen, as it’s a lovely one with all kinds of feels. Anyway, I know that this chapter was all from Emma’s POV, but as you might have guessed, next chapter we will see Killian and where he is at when we begin this story. I’m so excited for this AU and to build this dynamic and I am hoping to share the second chapter with you all next weekend. In the meantime, I would love to hear what you all think, what you might like to see in this fic, and what your general thoughts on this kind of AU are. As always I appreciate you all so much, I hope that you’ve enjoyed, and I wish you all well and happy! Thanks again!

[popculturebuffet]

Toons for Our Times: The Casagrandes: Four Course Catchup

A

I take some time to catch up with everyone’s faviorite mexican-american family with a four course meal of shenanigans. 

Mexican Makeover: The thorny issue of racial identity erasure is handled via a lot of costumes, spicy food and a second Sergio, which suprisingly isn’t my own personal hell. Then again giving rusty a brother wasn’t either so there’s a precident.  Uptown Funk: Carl goes full Zach Morris, minus the white privlage, and marries Adelaide to get a free train ride, then let’s his hallucinations talk him into nearly killing everyone. At least the Leprechaun in the sandbox isn’t telling him to burn things anymore.  Bo-Bo Business: Hector won’t respect Bobby’s genius new ideas so Bobby sets shop at the near by hong’s market and procedes to nearly get murdered by bunnies. Dear god Anya was right.  Blunder Party: Ronnie Anne and Sid host their first event as a couple, a sleepover campout on the roof with their running crew. Adilade and Carl crash it causing their sibling and cousin to send the two on a dangerous scavenger hunt. As you do.  Context for what’s going on the page image under the cut. 

So yeah I originally wasn’t going to add the Casagrandes to regular coverage.... but what can I say. I had way more to talk about with the recent crop of episodes than I thought, the show often airs with loud house so it increases my coverage output and most importantly.. i’ts just damn good. While still having some kinks to work out, like forgetting to use CJ, the show is just really charming and uses i’ts premise well. So yeah when the show, at least according to the wiki, so expect full coverage of both this years halloween special and the show in full when it comes back in november... and with bobby being hypnotized into thinking he’s a cat apparently.. so yeah i’d be watching anyway, so why not go all in.  .So with that out of the way we’ve got a lot of ground to cover so, Golpeteo de pitter, which is spanish for pitter patter... maybe. If google translate mangled that I apologize. 

Mexican Makeover: 

Like with our last bit of loud house coverage, we start with the least of the episodes first. That being said this one isn’t TERRIBLE, just a waste of a good concept and something intresting to explore. It’s also a real shame given this episode is written by Lalo Alcaraz, the writer of the comic strip La Cucaracha who works as a consultant on the show and previously wrote my favorite episode of the season, Croaked!, which we’ll be talking about soon. But he seems like a great guy, but everyone dosen’t bat a thousand.  This episode centers around Rosa, whose mother Mama Lupe, and her parrot sidekick Paco, coming to visit. Paco is a recolor of sergio which actually explains a LOT honestly, as I now feel Sergio is the Quaks to Paco’s Squaks. 

As in the crappy recolor who dosen’t have as many skills. As you can tell I don’t like Sergio much. He’s annoying, not very funny and only rarely has his moments and also spent one episode constnatly being obnoxious to Bobby, who as we’ve discussed and will soon discuss some more, is my boy. My precious baby boy. So bullying him is the equilvent of slapping me with a dueling glove. So yeah Paco is better than Sergio, being more laid back, less obnoxious.. and voiced by, of all people, legendary cartonist and the namesake of the parrot sergio, Sergio Aragones. I grew up with the guy in middle and high school as he frequently, and I belivie still does, work for parody magazine MAD Magazine, and while I haven’t read it also did 80′s indie comic Groo the Wanderer with Mark Evainer of Garfield and Friends Fame. The guy’s really damn funny and it was a real treat to find out he’s involved here, especailly since the namesakes for the loud pets have all sadly passed, so it’s nice at least one pet namesake between shows gets to guest star.  But my fanboying aside, Rosa is worried she hasn’t been making her family Mexican enough and thus goes a bit absolutley nuts. She steals the kids clothes and replaces them with various traditional mexican outfits, which is a bit psycotic, and gives us a shot of carl’s ass when he compalins about his underwear being replaced, which...

Yes thank you wayne. I’m sure even some of the 7 year old’s watching this don’t want to see a fellow 7 year old’s butt. Stop that. There’s a reason the parent show stopped the gag of having Lincoln in his underwear all the time and it wasn’t just because only chris savino thought it was funny. It’s especially creepy given after Savino’s sexual harassment, John K’s reveal of being a pedophile and whatever Dan Schinder did they refuse to talk about to the public but has ciruclated around, you TIHNK the’yd be more congizant of not showing borderline child porn. I mean it’s one thing to have a kid in underpants for a gag it’s another to have a close up of his butt. Just stop. Stop.  So the episode goes as you’d expect, Rosa keeps pushing things harder without explaining herself, including trying to force the kids to speak in spanish, feeding them extra spicy food and againt eh whole replacing their clothes thing.. which\ do look nice though and we do get that blessed image of bobby up top. The kids eventually confront Rosa who reveals she just dosent’ want to give her mom a heart attack, they go along with it with Sergio feeding ronnie anne spanish, which is nice continuity as her not knowing i’ts come up before, and everyone putting on a show.. which goes horribly wrong with super spicy food understandably not being built for a 80-100 year old woman, and while i’ts nice Bobby’s buddy par, we’ll cover their episode at some point too, shows up he also heavy metals so hard it knocks her over and destroys the painting, which yeah of course. Rosa comes clean and Lupe.. is entirely fine with it and feels that culture is more in values than in what you know about it, though she will teach them a few things because knowing where you came from is still important. Also Paco returns and.. why coudln’t both he and Lupe stay. For all my issues with the episode besides Carl’s butt shot, which we’ll get to in a second, I do really like Lupe and Paco is better than sergio in every way shape and form apart from the name. just color him read and have him smother sergio in his sleep and we’re up a better parot. 

Final Thoughts for Mexican Makeover:  This one was eh. I saved my thoughts on the main plot for here because it IS a topic worth talking about: loss of cultural idetntity,  especailly for first or second generation, as our main kids and their parents are, kids, how to ballance the cultures, what really matters.. it’s all good, deep really senstiive topics that i’m in no way qulaified to entirley judge because i’m very much white and am not going to whitesplain topics that I have no personal experince with.  But I can at least say they could’ve done MORE with this. For one thing Maria was absent, and it would’ve been REALLY intresting to get her take on it since Croaked! established she didn’t really give Ronnie Anne at the very least much of a lesson in their heritage. You can’t really BLAME HER: She works a demanding job, ended up having to raise them alone, and is tired a lot. As I said i’ts a VERY complex topic that’s created some VERY brilliant works around the subject, and while i’m not asking for “Moonlight... for Kids!” I am asking you to explore something like this. How aclimated the kids are to white culture is a topic worth exploring and could’ve been a special and while yes I know, it probably would’ve been “A Very Special Episode”..sometimes you need to tackle complex topics for kids. The Proud Family was also a screwball comedy, but it tackled the civil rights movement, xenophobia and other heavy subjects from time to time.. it also thought music piracy was the root of all evil but as I said no one bats a thousand. And it wouldn’t lack jokes as Alcaraz’s career is in satire: He knows how to write jokes about heavily charged topics and be clever about it on the freaking comics page, and given The Casagrandes like it’s sister show is basically a comic strip in animated form, he has the right format tow ork with it just ultimately becomes instead the cliche “person is coming time to hide everything we’ve been doing plot”, which has never been that good and is even worse on top of a more interesting idea. I don’t expect the show to be super deep all the time but I expect better than broaching a clearly difficult subject and not really giving it any weight. 

Uptown Funk: Now we’re past the one I was eh on because I knew how it’d turn out, and somehow got even less on board as it wasted a good concept and good ideas, and to the one out of the four I was most pumped for. And of all things it was a CARL episode.  I passingly mentioned last time I didn’t like Carl, and that opinon’s started to change. I’m still not a huge fan, his voice is grating and he STILL hasn’t given  up on Lori seasons later after Clyde long has and the other show long regonized this was a bad idea. Buuut i’ve come to realize he has his moments, with Monster Cash, which i’ll cover very soon for Halloween Havoc, and this very episdoe which is utterly fantastic. Though part of that is also the supporting cast, who were the reason I was pumped.  I talked abotu the Changs Breifly in my Operation Dad review but since Adalaide and Stanley are more promenent here and Becca will be, if not in person, in Croaked!, i’ll gladly dive into them. The Changs are the Casagrandes next door neighbors and EASILY one of the best parts of the show. A lovely interacial nuclear family, the four are all really likeable and distinct. I’ve talked about Sid before, so we’ll save more of that for in a bit. Stanley her dorky dad voiced by Kim Jeong who works as the subway conductor for Great Lakes City. He’s just a treat, in both sense of hte word, and really sweet interacting with his daughter and has a tendency to make small apperances due to Ronnie Anne and Sid riding the subway wherever they need to go. As i’ve said it’s nice to see Ken Jeong get to play a goofy, normal-ish dad and be funny without having to either play an over the top lunatic, weirdo or asshole. I love community but Chang could be a lot but this Chang is alright.. and probably dosen’t speak to his community college student brother that often for his family’s saftey. He does have Rabi Chang, his other brother over a lot though. Look if Teen Titans go can be jammed into the same multiverse as ok ko and steven universe, this show can take place in the same unvierse as community. 

Becca is stan’s wife and the head zookeeper at the zoo as well as the runner of their various shows, voiced by melissa joan hart and while not around as mcuh as her husband, is still a delight and it’s a delight to have clarissa back. Also together with her husband they make one hell of a couple to get sandiwthced between.. and no shame there, and yes i’m aware they have kids, i’d be happy to help raise them. I”m no asshole. 

Anyways speaking of those kids, we lastly have Adalaide, the star of this show and an adorable 6 year old and as Sid calls her “A sass bucket” which is accurate both for 6 year olds in general, and for this one, though like most kids her age she flips from being adorable to entirely blunt when warranted. She also has a Frog, named Froggy II. We’ll get into what happened to Froggy I and how she met Froggy II in October. 

So yeah two of my faviorite side characters, I consider sid main, PLUS one of my other faviorites Vito in a supporting roll. What’s not to love? As for the plot Carl brushes off Adalaide, because he’s a little jerk festival, but changes his tune when he overhears Stanley offering to have Adilaide join him on the train even see the control. Carl being a fanboy for trains among many other things which I shall list now: Things Carl’s a Fanboy For: 1. Money 2. Petty Schemes 3. Zack Morris 4. The Ladies 5. AC Slater 6. Luchadores 7. Trains. 

He naturally has his eyes light up like a christler buliding and given numbers 2 and 3 on the list quickly comes up with a scheme to get that train ride, since Stanely offered her a plus one. Granted he could’ve PROBABLY just asked Stanley for a ride and being the upstanding guy he is, and given Carl’s also a train nerd and stanley is their king, he would’ve said yes, but this is the same boy who thought his adult cousin’s same aged girlfriend would want to go out with him when said girlfriend lives in a house with at least 3 girls close to his age instead she could set him up with. The boy is more of a short term planner, like most schemers in fiction really, he sees the dollar signs like eddy from ed edd n eddy and has some good ideas, but not the more obvious solutions that aren’t as scheme based around him. I swear if this kid didn’t have a moral center this would be him in 50 years

I mean the only reason the boy hasn’t used sharks or explosives is because his parents and grandparents won’t’t let him.

Anyways Addie is skepteical for about 5 seconds and my one real complaint about the episode is it felt like she was genuinely skeptical, and playing him slightly with their games.. but it turns out nope she just genuinely bought it. But as smart as she is she’s also only 6, and her being adorably trusting works just as well.  So they play games. They have a tea party, with carl wearing a truly glorious peacock that I guarnatee sid has worn both for playing with her sister and just to feel fancy. They then play with Froggy.. which gets uncomfotable as Adaladie forces Carl to kiss him, and then basically goes full on “NOW KISS” when it fails to turn froggy into a prince and Froggy runs because he wisely dosen’t want to make out with Carl, and is omly passable and not disturbing instead because she’s 6 and dosen’t know better. They then play chase froggy, which Carl wins but gets flies thrown at him in hte process so does he really?  They get to their final game superheroes, with carly playing his faviorite el falcone.. but also being the hostage while Adalaide saves him because this is 2020, she don’t need to be no damsel in distress. And this to me is why the episode works.. Carl IS a huge jerk here, manipulating a younger child who just wants to be his friend to get a train ride he could’ve gotten just by asking her.. but he gets put through the ringer, and most of his “humilation” is stuff that isn’t that bad: Tea is alright, there’s no shame in wearing makeup or a veil, and being rescued by a woman is awesome. It’s just Carl’s own baby’s first toxic masuclinity that makes these situations minus kissing froggy uncomfortable, so it adds to it as Addy’s doing nothing wrong really and any pain on carl’s part is an accident on hers. She’s just an imaginatiee little lady and he’s jsut a jerk. But they pair well together his underserved ego with her adorablility and creativity and as we’ll see smarts. Part of the reason I was so excited is their one real scene togehter in monster cash, when Carl is throiwng everyon’es money back at them which is also the best bit of the episode and we’ll get to that when we cover it her response is a stern “Don’t you even dare” and he hands it back to her because you don’t mess with Addy. 

Addy then brings up pretend marriage and while Carl has his first , and probably not last, panic attack over comitment he does realilze this can be used and gets his train ride over it, with the two taking Froggy along as their baby. But being Carl, he’s not ready for marriage to a strong judge on the supreme court who makes him change the diapers and humilaties him in public, whcih i’d be more upset about if again he didn’t deserve it. We also have VITO! Local itallian, the Mercado’s best customer and Hector’s only friend. He also has his two winer dogs with him which.. yes. Just yes. And they have matching hats and sweaters because Vito is the best.  Hedecides to toss froggy and book it for the train car. Adalaide realizes she’s been played and is understandably pissed but sadly, needing to find her friend her husband threw, dosen’t storm into Stanley’s conductor car and throw him off the train.

Instead Carl geeks out with Stanley over the train, which means he probably is meant to marry into this family, and Stanley’s glart awards. When Stanley’s called away to deal with the frog fracas, Carl is left told not to touch anything. So the obvious happens.. Carl hallunciates a bunch of pre school level choo choos who tell him to press the button. I love .. everything about this. It’s just pure hilarity and insanity and I’m here for it and a really creative, and insane gag and a nice take on the shoulder devil trope. 

Naturally Carl, being Carl, presses the big button which turns on the ac and then blasts Stan’s train mix. Which sadly isn’t just this over and over and over and over again. 

With Carl possibly banned from trains for life he naturally turns to his wife for help, who is none to happy with his bullshit, and not willing to help him because why would she? But Carl.. genuinely apologizes. It’s why I mentioned he has a moral center. Unlike say Zack morris 80% of hte time or Eddy from Ed Edd N Eddy at his worst, Carl can FEEL human emotions like guilt, and while he does need Addy’s help to not get in massive trouble, you can tell he genuinely feels bad about hurting her and is only asking because she’s his only hope and for the sake of the various passengers who if she dosen’t step in will go off the rails on a crazy train, she agrees.  Turns out though Addy is pretty badass on top of being adorable, and uses Froggy II as a grappling hook, then turns out to have inherited her dad’s knowledge of trains, which was foreshadowed earlier as she said she’s gone with him a lot and was bored at his offer and won two time junior glart awards.. which given that likely includes teens and tweens, is Valeria Richards levels of acomplished. God damn kid. Kudos. Stanley gets understandably mad at carl But Addy covers for him and since she saved her dad’s awards, Carl can live.. and come back sometimes. Carl, first through his action figure then himself apologizes for being a jerk toa ddy and manipulating her.. a genuine one that shows he means it and finds she’s pretty cool. Gues this marriage CAN be saved. And so we end this episode as you’d expect. 

No.. for one thing i’td be leprechaun-train monstrosity. For another the happy couple team up as superheros and thwart froggy being hit by a train , who greatfully smooches carl who, having grown, takes it in stride. Happy end

Final Thoughts: I love this one. It was funny, intresting and had carl develop as a character while fleshing addy out and giving us some great stanley stuff. It made having a jerk as the protagnist here work and made me go from begrudgingly liking carl to actuallyl iking him. while he’s pretty terrible here he suffers for most of his actions and learns from it, and he and Adelade ahve a great dynamic that we thankfully do indeed see again this very marathon. But first. IT’S BOBBY TIME. 

Bo-Bo Buisness It’s my first episode starring Bobby on this blog and i’ts been TOO long and there will be more to come I promise. As i’ve made no secret of Bobby is my faviorite character here, and as you can tell that’s a tight race, and is just.. great here. The move to the city fleshed him out by giving him drive with his desire to run the mercado, franchise it, and go to buisness school to do all of it properly, while keeping his loveable sweetness, stupidity and relationship with Lori which has gone from deeply unhealthy to awwwwwwwww. 

So naturally I was on board for another Bobby Bonaza, and this one like most of his eps is pretty good: This time around it focuses on Bobby’s hard work ethic and youthful energy..and it leading him AWAY from the mercado.  Bobby tries setting up free wifi and a table like a cafe in the Mercado, but Hector flatly refuses and refuses anthing Bobby comes up with, citing his 30 years running the place sucessfully, while Bobby cites his less than a year of it and his book of ideas, though Hector refuses to budge. And what I like here is that while hector IS still the bad guy here, it’s not in a one dimensional “Jerk for the episode’ way this show’s sister episode tends to fall into. Or treating a character being a jerk like their the wronged party, or.. you get the idea. Point is hector has SOME points: He has run a small buisness in a huge city for 30 years, beating out gentrification, racisim, big buisness and other threats to run at thriving mercado, even with another market across the street. He also owns a sizeable apartment with room for two diffrent families, 5 adults, 6 kids, a dog and an asshole, and his wife is super for the building as a whole. He’s done MARVELOUSLY for himself and deserves to be proud and his stubborness likely comes from just how much he’s been able to acomplish while others fell around him.  However.. Bobby is still sympathetic. It’s very clear working here is his dream job: His plan for his life is to expland the place into a franchise and run it himself one day, he’s the clear sucessor and Hector wont’ be around forever.. probably for a LONNNG time still, and his ghost will probably haunt the place with Rosa’s scolding him, but since ghosts can’t own property probably, someone has to take over. Bobby is his clear sucessor and his ideas aren’t bad.. poorly exceuted in this case, but not bad. As we’ll see in a bit the table idea can work, bobby just didn’t think it through and Hector could’ve HELPED HIM with it and as we’ll see most of the ideas Bobby ends up doing elsehwere are just common sense for this day and age and the one that isn’t is the one that does him in. But Hector, likely seeing any change as a threat to his bottom line and his legacy, rejects him out of hand. H’es likely scared that his protege can do BETTER, or worried that one wrong move could cost him his life’s work. I also find this ironic since a few episodes ago, though I still need to see it, Bobby himself had the same problem letting go and letting someone else control the buisness with his sister and cousins running the place while he had his anniversary with Lori. Bobby DESERVES to be given his shot.. and so when he decides to quit the mercado in a huff and take his table and his ideas with him.. you agree with him. Sure he’s leaving the family legacy.. but if Hector wont let him make it his own or appricate how much fucking work he does or love he has for the place, then what legacy is there? That got heavy. We get a great joke next as bobby makes a metaphor about the dinosaurs.. then wonders what happened to them and like me on any given day stops to google it.. and since he uses a laptop unlike me and my desktop computer or phone, and his table, he inadveratly sets up a table outside.. which fixes the problems with his idea, if by accident and impresses Mr.Hong the owner of a nearbye market who could use a fresh faced go getter like bobby and hires him right on sight and agrees to start putting his ideas in. 

And the wifi table.. is a huge sucess and putting it outside gave the customers more room, so it fixes the one flaw in his plan, and serving out cafe and snacks I can’t prounounce or spell properly, bobby shows his idea WOULD have worked: instead of creating loiterers it simply gives customers like Vito, who pretty much lives at the Mercado anyway so why not, a place to sit, eat and check their email and stuff, and bobby’s a good enough salesman he can convince them to eat and given the mercado already has a customers only policy on toilets.. they could’ve just made the table purchase only, and once per hour, and their regulars would’ve lapepd it up. Hector refuses to accept this though and stews and drives sergio and carl away.. which yeah if you can out asshole Sergio, you may be the bad guy here.  The two feud over dinner to their family’s confusion, and to Rosa’s annoyance and dope slaps when she spills her hard worked on food over their petty sniping but bobby’ sstar continues to rise with a music video for hongs including that bit seen above, rapping and just.. whatever the fuck that video was it was the third best rap in nick history behind that “nnnnnnick” rap and this. 

So yeah with the comeerical, Hongs has tons of customers, and Hector stews more. However things can’t be good forever, as the last 4 years have proven they can be bad for an especially long time but good? Sadly no, as Bobby gets what he always wanted: The keys to the store.. maybe not the store he wanted but still and gets to run hongs solo.  Sadly though Bobby ends up fucking up, letting people bring their pets which wrecks the place, and ends up with bobby getting swarmed by an ever multiplying batch of bunnies. 

As Bobby is cuddled to death, his exact words, Hector finally relents and saves the boy from literally drowning, and the two get the rabbits out.. but well with social media and all that hong knows what happen and bobby’s fired. But back at the Mercado, Hector rehires bobby, and genuinely apologizes. I do feel it comes a bit quick.. but I guess after your grandson almost got bunnied to death, you rethink your life choices. Bobby admits he was in over his head while Hector genuinely admits Bobby has good ideas and he was being a stubborn jackass and decides he can use them after all. Starting with the commerical where the two perform a nice mexican song, the whole family adorably dresses up like various mercado items as seen at the veyr top and we also get this. 

Yes, yes to all of this. And we’re out.. for a moment then back in but you get it. 

Final Thoughts for Bo Bo Buisness: While not the best Bobby episode, that would be the one that introduces Par and again i’ll get to that one, this one is still pretty good. While I do feel Hector turns around a bit quick, otherwise it’s funny enough and has enough character stuff with bobbby, even if i’ts mostly just from knowing him in this series to work out. I”m not ANTI-nonsense episodes, I just don’t want them there when ther’es clearly a way heavier issue your steping around. This wasn’t the BEST the series has done comedy wise but it was fun enough. Alright one more...

Blunder Party: 

And we end on another pretty good one. And oddly for this show it’s the only Ronnie Anne focused one of the four. Usually she’s dead center but it seems the series is getting comfortable enough, much like it’s parent show, to ease out of focusing on just one character as the viewpoint and letting the others breathe. Still this was a good un and let’s talk about it. 

It’s Party Time and Ronnie and Sid are having a sleepover on the roof. Their first party of a couple.. i’m so proud of by baby gays.. or gabies as I call them. I mean.. yes i’m not subtle with my shipping but they act less like close friends and more like two tiny lebisan awww factories.  Anywho the whole crew’s here, which as with a lot of things this episode let’s talk about them: Casey, Nikki and Sameeer were introduced in a loud house I haven’t seen and naturally carried over to the show proper, showing up when Lincoln visted in an episode I will defintely cover at some point, and accepting Ronnie Anne wasn’t a born city kid. They have neat designs, are nicely diverse, and while lthey do need some fleshing out, given that like Lincoln’s own friend team squad they show up in a good chunk of ronnie anne episodes, we got time for that so we’re good. There’s also new addition Laird, the school’s own screech powers, and your standard awkward dork whose not that great. So yes even this group has a waste of a character, though he’s not AS bad as rusty or useless as Liam, just feeling a bit less essentail than Ronnie Anne’s running crew, who match her general vibne, and Sid whose her soulmate. 

But as the pizza arrives via Sergio, because he has to be useful at least once, our heroes soon find the party crashed by Great Lakes City’s newest power couple: Carl and Adelaide! Looking like their fucking team rocket. Seriously I had other options for this episode, including bobby sliding around on his back comically, so it says something just how great that iamge is and how fucking gloriously smug yet awesome they look. 

The two want to join and even outdo the big kids at stretcing and flinging pizza, but as many little siblings like myself know all too well, the big siblings don’t want you there. I can’t count the number of times I wanted to hang with my brothers friends, but he refused frome lementary all the way up to high school. It was maddening. SO I sympathize with them, but i’ve grown tor ealize grown up kids want to have their own time and fun so I sympathize with both parties: Carl and Addy just want pizza and games and to hang with the big kids and Ronnie Anne and Sid just want to host a party as a couple without watching their siblings. 

However Carl forces a compromise.. by using his special mood.. whining loudly and summoning Rosa.. whos eriously just.. teleports behind the kids. I thought only Lucy could do that in this unvierse. Respect. 

Rosa however is resonable. While she dosen’t want the kids to be excluded, and it’s understandable and nice of her: The kids just wan’t to feel included and Rosa is resonable enough to say they will have to leave eventually wehn it’s time for bed. A fair compromise. Also i’d wonder why Adelaide is here but I assume the Chang Parents had her come over there, which Rosa being the lovely person she is agreed to. I didn’t get into her above but I do like Rosa a lot as a character as she’s a resonable authority figure.. but liable to slip into her own foibles, and is kind and loving with her family if strong and strict when she needs to lower the boom. Mostly on Hector who i’m amazed survived last episode and getting his own grandson to leave in one piece. 

But yeah I mean I can only imagine what’s going on there...

Also  sex obviously, but since I obviously can’t and won’t show you that, have this video to jodeci’s freak n you instead and let your imagination fill the blanks if you want. 

I will use this song any time I can. Anyway, Sid being the peach she is tries to convince Ronnie anne all is not lost. Earlier she used a metaphor saying how they had all the perfect ingredents like a smore, and now adds pizzza.. which ot be fair a pizza smore, but using bagles or something sounds great, but pizza on a smore sounds like my own personal hell.. though Sid likes it so i’ll let it live.. for now. That’s also why Sergio is alive. FOr now. 

But even sid has a limit and the power couple soon break those: An attempted scary ghost story session goes bad as they break poor sameer by predicting eveyr story he has even the one the poor kid wings, and he and his prehinsile hair are sad. Cheer up kid at least you can probably go live on Krakoa at some point. Free health care, free housing, living on a giant  paradise. Good stuff.

The two then ruin an attempted dance party, which unlike the above which was just bad timing, this time their just obnoxious as addy wnats to ballet, and Carl wants to... put it to his butt whle playing fart noises. Okay for starters. 

Secondly if he wanted to do that he could’ve got a cd of Nickleback cheaper and no one would’ve noticed.. then again they might of thought the poor boy had Dihera.  Somehow this isn’t the last draw. Nikki, being a real one, holds a gross drink contest which carl spits out on the crowd.. which really WHAT DID YOU ALL EXPECT. This is how those things end. WIth spit up and fury. 

Anyways enough is enough, so our ambigiously gay duo hatch a plan and send the little kids on a scavanger hunt. So while the Ronnie’s Running Crew have fun, and spot bobby and his best buddy par and bobby flop on some mangos and slide around on mango juice all episode as a result, the dream team work on getting that list done. From getting one of Hector’s nosehairs to Mr. Nakamura’s faviorite sweatervest (which takes a while) , to Carlota’s diary they do it with flair. Of note is the two having to steal Sergio’s crackes.. and nearly getting murdeered by the parot who seriously looks like he’s about to skin a child.. thankfully when HE does a shining by crashing through the door, he just gets stuck so no child murder tonight. Horay! Well until Carlota finds out her diary missing then this happens. 

But things get dire when the kids think they see the smaller kids get stuck in par’s truck. Thankfully bobby knows where his best friend is at all times, because he’s consdierate and knows where he’s headed next, and the kids end up following him, while Sameer stays behind to distract with his hair puppets since Rosa wants to little ones to go to bed. 

Sid and Ronnie anne and co head to the dump , shenagins insue and they think they lost their sibling and cousin.. only to find them, the two having gotten a mango that looks like Vito and won.. and Sid and Ronnie apologizing and admitting their scam. In a nice bit though while Carl gets upset, Addy quickly points out they DID ruin their fun, and crash the party, and Carl begrudingly admits he’s wrong. Again, keep them married show. Carl needs Addy to keep him honest and Addy needs carl to hide the bodies of her enmies. They make a good pair, just like their big sis and cousin. 

Anyways, Ronnie Anne and Sid ask to have the kids for just a bit longer to repair them and again this is why I repsect Rosa. She finds out the kids disobeyed her or at least found a loophole but isn’t mad and gets both sides learned from it. Our kidlets get a giant ass smore for their heroic efforrts, Nikki returns Carlota’s diary in secret to avoid their deaths while Sergio is arrested for attempted murder of two minors. A good night all around. Bobby joins in to close out, which isn’t met with any resitance because who dosen’t love bobby, while Hector wakes up to the vito mango and wonders what happened to him.. okay apparently Vito’s been turned into a non-sapient piece of fruit before and I want details show.  Final Thoughts Finally: A pretty good one. Carly and Adleadie continue to prove to  a hell of a combo, whie the proven dream team of Sid and Ronnie Anne work well off their younger counterparts. It overall leads to a fun episode with lots of great gags.. and also bobby sliding around on his back comically like he’s a goddamn roomba and I am hear for it. Just overally really good stuff and a really fun plot. This really feels like stife of the party done right. Both sides screw up but make up instead of one just getting their way because protaganist. And overall this batch of episodes was really damn good and I look forward to watching the series reguarlly from now on. Until then, just one more day then this blog gets all spooky! SO stay tuned, stay safe and go team venture! Play us out nickleback! WAIT WHY DID i SAY THAT NO NO NO NO NOOOOOOO

[prorevenge]

Roommate didn’t know what respect was.

Uh, long. TLDR at bottom.

Brief backstory: I grew up in a small Tennessee college town, ended up leaving for four years for high school, came back for college.

During middle and elementary school, I had a close friend, who we’ll call Bri. Bri was a very bright young girl, good supportive family, had her future pretty set up. I ended up falling out of contact quickly when I left the town, yet when I came back the summer before college to look for a place (I was staying with extended family who lived too far from the college to commute), we had bumped into each other at a fast food chain.

Turns out, her parents had divorced, and she went through a total “I hate my parents” phase (her parents were probably some of the nicest people I knew tbh) that was evidently still ongoing, since she confided in me she was trying to move out.

What a coincidence.

We get back in contact, agree to house hunt together. She seemed the same, honestly, if not a little more... opinionated. We eventually settle for an apartment. Good neighborhood, close by for me. I managed to snag a job, while her parents were sending her money for her rent and whatnot. I had plenty in my savings from working my ass off the second I turned 16 and a few good scholarships, so money wasn’t a horrible worry for me.

We sign the lease, everything is grand.

Until the weekend.

School didn’t start for another two weeks, so it’s not like I really needed the beauty sleep. However, it’s still incredibly annoying to wake up finding your living room filled with random people, and the very heavy scent of weed in the air.

In case you don’t know, weed is illegal in TN.

I shrug it off, I’m not about to tell her how to live her life. She probably just throwing a housewarming party with some of her newer friends. I’m not exactly the most social person, so when I went out (because I couldn’t fall back asleep) I just sat on the couch looking blankly at the tv.

The thing is, I have very good ears.

Listening to the random conversation around me, I gathered many of these people were very into doing illegal actions. A lot of it centered around weed. There were three different kids with backpacks, which I would later learn were dealers. It was a weed fest.

I’m not personally against weed, I’ve tried it a few times and it just didn’t really float my boat. Live and let live is my motto.

The night went on as a normal party, a few beers, a shit load of blunts, the usual. I didn’t partake, and ended up going back to bed as soon as the noise died down enough.

The week went by normally, had a brief conversation with bri about the spontaneous party.

“Oh, just wanted to show my friends my new place!”

Yeah right; the next weekend, same deal. Tons of people, tons of music, tons of weed. Now, I’m a little annoyed, but no trouble had come our way so I wasn’t going to throw a hissy fit.

JK, the trouble came the morning after. I went out to grad some snacks, and got stopped by a guy.

“Hey, do you live in that apartment?” He pointed to my apartment.

“Yes,” I confirmed.

“Could you perhaps dial down the weed smell on the weekends? I mean, I get it, I smoke, too, but the smell keeps travelled throw the vents to my baby’s room,” he requested.

“Of course, I’ll talk to my roommate.

To make a long, annoying talk with her short, she didn’t give a crap. The next weekend, she was smoking again. I spent the entire night in front of the vent in the living room spraying it down with febreeze and some scentless spray a dealer gave me when he saw what I was doing.

It didn’t help. Sunday, he was at our front door, explaining to both myself and Bri that if we didn’t dial it back, his wife would be calling the cops.

She did, the next weekend.

There were usually 20-30 people in the area for her parties, they weren’t huge, but I’ve still never seen that many people duck behind furniture and dive into rooms as they did when the now all too familiar cop knock hit the door. Seriously. It took them half a second to scatter, and surprisingly quietly, too.

So. There was a cop at my door, for a party I wasn’t even involved in. What the hell.

They ended up being pretty chill, saying “We get it, just dial it down,” and leaving, but that was just the beginning.

They came two more times, each time with the same response, but on the third visit they ended up scanning our ID’s. I do NOT need this shit on my record. They easily had probable cause, the attendees always left at least one piece out in the open, like idiots.

I usually put up with a lot before I snap, and after countless pleading with Bri, she still refused to stop the partying.

I decided I’d have to make them leave. The next party, the cops would no doubt surface, I managed to drag Bri out of the house to the grocery store, claiming I’d buy her snacks.

Leaving her to choose, I left to the bathroom and made a rather nerve wracking call.

I knew if they showed up while we were gone, the attendees would have to open up the door since they were playing music so loudly, the police would know they were home. I kept Bri occupied as long as I could before she got a frantic call from one of her lovely friends.

The cops were there. With no one in their right mind, the cops ended up opening the door to eight stoned people.

Bri immediately forced us to leave and go back home, and minutes after arriving, three of her friends were pulled away in handcuffs. Apparently, they had warrants. (I was always listening to them while they partied, I’m surprised only three were taken)

Sending everyone home, I slept like a baby. Nobody came over after that, since our house was officially a ‘hotspot’ for cops, and it wasn’t long until my friend wanted to move out. I ended up meeting a nice guy who was still looking for a place in college, and he eventually signed onto the lease to replace Bri.

Looking back, this was honestly incredibly stupid, seeing as I could’ve been charged as well if they had searched the house, since I was on the lease. But seeing her ‘friends’, which I had slowly been growing a festering hate towards, get dragged away in handcuffs was incredibly satisfying. They did end up getting released a few days later after making some deal, so their lives weren’t totally ruined. Haven’t talked to bri since, though.

TL:DR my roommate couldn’t respect mine and our neighbors wishes to stop smoking weed in the house, after multiple visits from the police I get her friends arrested

(source) story by (/u/chablis3)

[scnnyfm-old]

chicago’s very own sunshine ‘sunny’ carmichael has been spotted on madison avenue driving a bmw 3 series , welcome ! your resemblance to dua lipa is unreal . according to tmz , you just had your twenty-third birthday bash . your chance of surviving new york is uncertain because you’re sensitive , but being altrustic might help you . i think being a cancer explains that . 3 things that would paint a better picture of you would be the scent of bubblegum, an abundance of house plants, and freshly baked cookies . ( cis female + she/her ) 

helloooooo ghouls, goblins, and everything in between. it’s ya girl aneesa or whatever fun nickname you wanna call me, and this is my child sunny! you can reach me via ims or catch me on discord at 𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐬𝐚 🦋☀#5408

* && 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐬

full name — sunshine carhmichael

nicknames — sunny (preferred name actually)

birthday — july 15

height  — 5′ 8″

age  — twenty-three (23)

pronouns — she/her/hers

occupation(s) — singer, record executive, fashion/cosmetics brand ceo, fashion designer, reality show star, & model

languages spoken — english (barely)

orientation — bisexual

* && 𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐲

‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎��‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎ 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑺𝑻𝑶𝑹𝒀 𝑺𝑶 𝑭𝑨𝑹...

sunshine hawthorne grew up in the foster care system, according to the letter her mother left her, she was just a teenager with strict religious parents who threw her out the minute they learned of her pregnancy, and sunshine’s father was nowhere to be seen, and giving sunshine up was easier than living on the streets trying to fend for herself and a child

SEXUAL & PSYCHICAL ABUSE TW growing up in the foster care system was a lot, she bounced from family to family, and the things that happened were unspeakable. sometimes the abuse was physical, emotional, or sexual and it just caused a lot of deep personal trauma for herself that was never resolved

this caused her to become reserved, stuck up for the underdog even if it was at her own expense, just intrinsically unselfish, has always been the mom friend to a fault

she was 10 when she got adopted into an extremely wealthy family, like i’m talking top ten wealthiest families in the states, and suddenly sunny hawthorne became sunny carmichael 

so let’s take a minute to talk about the carmichael’s 

they originate from old money, i’m talking so far back it’s unclear whether or not the money they have was obtained legally or not, this caused her parents to be a little reckless w their spending

her father: sebastian carmichael is the one who inherited the wealth from his father, who inherited it from his father, and the cycle continues, he was addicted to gambling add that to the fact that he was a serial cheater and you have an extremely poor father figure

ALCOHOL & DRUGS TW her mother: davina carmichael was a drug dependent alcoholic who spent all of husband’s money to makeup for the fact that he was cheating on her, started her own billion dollar company from scratch, plans on ‘giving it’ to sunny

the carmichaels were very problematic and all of their scandals were extremely public, in fact the only reason they adopted sunny in the first place was so that they could appear more well-rounded then they were

after that would come give siblings, and it fell upon sunny to take care of all of them, so from a young age she acted extremely mature, learned to fend for herself, and still managed to have a soul flourishing with tender spots

sunny was a gifted kid, not academically, she struggled A LOT, she had trouble paying attention, couldn’t read as well as the other kids. she got teased a lot for being ‘dumb’ and honestly hated it, it’s one of her biggest insecurities to this day. but what she lacked academically she made up for artistically, she was musically inclined, and it was clear that she loved to draw (apparent from all the doodles in the margins of her notebooks)

her family capitalized on this as if she were some sideshow attraction, come see our daughter! look how good she is at painting and doodling! pay us money! and although it made her feel like some trophy the could polish and show off, and this messed up sunshine even more because she knew deep down they didn’t love her

in high school she was the bubbly ditzy popular girl, chewed on enough bubblegum to finance a new mercedes, and just was that stereotypical girl ripped straight out of an early 00′s movie

was on the cheerleading team because again i tell you she was just living her best teen life! having an amazing time! vibing!

although her parents could give her anything they wanted and were decent enough to pay the bills for her and her siblings, she wanted to provide for herself, not have to depend on her parents for anything

she got into modeling! and although t took her a while to find her footing eventually she did, and it was a great time! but eventually parents got jealous and made her quit modeling altogether, because god forbid that she get more attention than they did

eventually (and to everyone’s surprise lmao) she went to college, and somehow got accepted into an ivy league....for art! not as surprising, but her family lied and said she went to business school bc of course they did

she went to harvard and majored in visual arts, she got her degree, and got her her happy ass out of there, mostly stayed focused on her studies, occasional party here and there

she was extremely worried about her siblings and she immediately went back home to them, surprisingly they were in one piece, not surprisingly they were being raised by nannies

she applied her visual arts degree and started designing clothes, then modeling said clothes, because although her parents had enough money to get her company off the ground, she wanted to do it by herself

and she did! finally bringing a decent name to the carmichael family!

was a guest judge on a bunch of modeling/runway shows, occasionally starred in her family’s reality tv show against her will, and was so dynamic she would be offered her own, and of course she jumped at the opportunity! 

her mother tried handing off the company to her, and she declined! instead she opened up her own company selling her designs and was very hands on in learned to make cosmetics, and her company has been doing extremely well so far, it’s set to surpass her family’s company in a couple of years

as if she didn’t have enough on her plate she wanted to pursue her singing career, ended up having a whirlwind romance w a singer that she collaborated with, they were pretty serious and talked about being engaged, but eventually things fizzled out

said romance inspired a lot of her music, and encouraged her to keep going with her music career, she even worked her way up to the title of executive of their label, she’s on top of the world

she’s come a long way from the shy girl from foster care who afraid of her own shadow, but she’s lost none of her softness!

still extremely charitable and even started multiple charities all ranging from helping fund the foster care system to providing more funding for no kill shelters (she’s a vegan!) all of her charities are nation wide and oh boy does she have a lot on her plate

has....literally no time for anything else....still tries to prove to herself that she’s definitely not stressed and has so much free time! sdflksj tries to party and have fun, but mostly craves staying inside and takes baths with scented candles and just watches the same romcom over and over again 

* && 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭

....okay so maybe it’s not completely believable that she got into an ivy league with her own merit, after all she’s not the sharpest tool in the shed and spoiler alert she didn’t

her parents bribed an admissions counselor to let their daughter in their visual arts program, they even donated enough money to renovate the art museum 

all of this happened without sunny’s knowledge and she continues to live in blissful ignorance about the whole thing

* && 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲

zodiac — cancer rising, cancer sun, & scorpio moon

alignment — lawful good

mbti — infp-t

enneagram — type 2 ( the helper )

temperament — phlegmatic

house — hufflepuff

positive traits — ( + ) altruistic , committed , conceptual , curious , courteous , determined , generous , humble , inventive , imaginative , loyal , loving , organized , passionate , playful , reliable , selfless , supportive , thoughtful , and trustworthy

negative traits — ( - ) anxious , cautious , compulsive , critical , disorganized , dogmatic ,, hyperactive , indifferent , insecure , impulsive , logical , oblivious , pedantic , protective , and resilient

* && 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬

please don’t feel limited by this list because i have a brain the size of a walnut and this is all i can think of these are almost all ripped off ryker’s intro bc i’m not creative

‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎ 𝑭𝑨𝑴𝑰𝑳𝑰𝑨𝑳....

family friends  maternal or paternal cousins

‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎ 𝑹𝑶𝑴𝑨𝑵𝑻𝑰𝑪...

past crush  current crush  flirtationship except she prolly doesn’t realize bc head empty  unrequited love ( on either side )  fwbs  will they? won’t they?  someone her friends are trying to set her up with  forbidden love of some kind idk maybe not  exes on good terms  exes on bad terms  first love high school or college romances  summer romance  childhood crush friends to lovers  pr relationship somebody who leads her on 

‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎ 𝑷𝑳𝑨𝑻𝑶𝑵𝑰𝑪...

BEST FRIEND / ROOMMATE PLOT BASED ON NEW GIRL OR FRIENDS PLS I WILL GIVE YOU MY EVERYTHING  best friends  confidants  ride or die sibling like friends  close friends  neighbors??  enemies to friends  reunited childhood friends drunk / party friends  someone she’s a good influence on  bad influence  unlikely friends  secret friends, aka friends who do not hang around in the public eye as their family or friends may not get along  #married....just they argue and love each other like a married couple

‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎ 𝑵𝑬𝑮𝑨𝑻𝑰𝑽𝑬...

enemies  former best friends  frenemies

[purplesurveys]

722

How many walls are in your bedroom? It’s your typical four-wall bedroom. What do you think about Fall Out Boy? I like their older stuff and my favorite album of theirs is Folie à Deux by a mile. Haven’t been able to keep up much with their new material, but I definitely don’t hate the stuff they’ve been putting out. Do you know where Guatemala is? I wouldn’t know where to find it on a map but I know it’s somewhere in the middle of North and South America? At least I’m pretty sure? Do you find musicians attractive? I mean being a musician isn’t necessarily a criterion for me to be attracted to someone, but sure I’ve come across good-looking musicians in the past. Do you like hard boiled eggs? They’re okay but I like soft-boiled more.

Do you know anyone named Hector? Nope. Would you move to another country for the one you love? We’ve had this conversation before and she has vehemently scolded me when I said that I honestly would, but idk that’s me. Then again, we’ve never been in that situation so I don’t really know how I’d actually act when it came to that. Do you own an instrument? We have a keyboard, but it’s for everyone’s use. I don’t own any of my own. What do you usually have for lunch? Ever since the quarantine started my family has only been having very late breakfast and dinner, so I’ve technically been skipping lunch for over a month now. But before this whole thing started my lunch would typically be whatever my mom can cook, which is pretty limited – fried chicken, sisig, and giniling with varied soups are her usuals, if I remember right. Ever had a pregnancy scare? I would have absolutely no reason to have one. What do you think about the Purple People Eater? I’ve never heard of this before. What the hell is that looool Are you pale or tan? Tan. What's the weather like right now? It’s windy, just a tad chilly, and comfortable enough during the night which I’m thankful for, but the days are excruciatingly hot. Sometimes it’ll be very humid and the air becomes too heavy and difficult to breathe in, and it usually means it will rain that night, but that’s seldom. I get headaches almost everyday now because of the rapid temperature changes, and it suuuucks because we’ve run out of Biogesic in the house. Do you like cats? No. We have such different personalities and I can tell all of the ones I’ve encountered don’t like me. But for the next few days I’ll probably have a brief soft spot for cats because my sister’s cat, Arlee, passed away last Sunday. We were never close and her tail always got bushy whenever she saw me, but it was the first time I had to deal with a pet cat dying and I was still pretty shattered by it. What's the best part about Wal*Mart? I dunno, I can’t relate. Do you think Akon is amazing or annoying? I think neither of him. I mostly don’t mind him. Do you like the buzz cigarettes give you? I’ve... never gotten a ~buzz from them before? Am I smoking wrong? Lmao. But uh idk it’s weirdly pleasurable overall, and now I’m ever so slightly disgusted with myself for even being able to say that now. Are you a practical joker? Nope, I hate pranks. Do you like pop? This is slang for soda right? No I don’t. I feel like my tongue is being cut off every time I try it out and that always ruins the whole experience for me. What are you looking forward to? Eating the box of sushi sitting beside me. Angela surprised me for my birthday and had the sushi delivered to my house :) Have you ever laughed so hard you couldn't breathe? I’m sure most of us have. What's your favorite band? This question has been everywhere recently. I like Paramore the most but just so I give a different answer for once, I also enjoy alt-J. Do you feel stupid when you spill things on yourself? My mom has conditioned me to think this way, so yes. I feel pretty stupid when I drop or spill anything. Are you excited for summer? In the current global situation? It’s hard to feel excited for anything, especially when experts have recommended closing everything down until at least August. Have you ever snuck out? No. My mom would’ve found out easily. It’s always easier to ask for permission cause she’s never said no anyway. When's the last time you were kissed? :( A month and two weeks. Would you ever eat popcorn & salsa? I’ve never tried them together; I think it’d be a weird combination plus salsa already isn’t my dip of choice anyway. Do you sleep with the television on? Nah but close. I’ll sometimes sleep with Netflx or YouTube playing on my phone, depending on what I feel like listening to before falling asleep. Would you ever want to be able to be invisible? I’ll fantasize about it sometimes, sure. What does your favorite shirt look like? Don’t have a current favorite shirt since I can’t go out anyway. What's your favorite scent? Gabie’s perfume or any freshly cooked food. Skype, Msn, Aim, or Yahoo? All of these are pretty much ancient now. What's your favorite time of the day? These days I’m really loving these hours in particular – midnight onwards. It’s nice to finally be alone considering I’m cooped up in a house with family literally all day, and it’s nice to use the alone time listening to lo-fi and answering a survey or two. Do you hate the phrase ''love ya'' when coming from a boyfriend/girlfriend? Yeah it wouldn’t sit well with me if it came from Gabie. But I say this regularly to my friends. What do you do when someone in the room has b.o.? Look away if I’m forced to be with them, or just move away altogether if I’m not talking to them directly. What movie would you like to see right now? Not really in a movie watching mood rn. I just watched Two for the Road a couple of nights ago and that’s enough for me, hahaha. How many times a day do you shower? Just once. What do you think of the name Chloe? It’s cute! It’s already common where I live so it’s not one of my top baby name choices, but I really love the name and I think this spelling in particular is cute. Do you like Hollister? When I was 14, sure. I was mostly invested in them because Louis Tomlinson of 1D’s girlfriend used to be a Hollister model HAHAHAHA. These days I largely don’t care for the brand. What's your favorite alcoholic drink? I always go for a Long Island Iced Tea whenever they have it on a menu. Do you like 80's music? Like, 0.0003% of it. Just not my decade for music. Do you have to wear glasses or have contacts? I wear glasses. I choose not to wear contacts. Do you play Halo or Gears of War? No for both. How do you feel about cleaning? I think it’s...necessary lol? I don’t really actively feel anything for it, other than it has to be done every now and then. What do you think of emo kids? I think we should leave ‘em be. Do you like the movie Grease? I don’t like musicals. Do you like singing? Only by myself or if I’m absolutely shitfaced drunk.

What's your favorite Jim Carrey movie? Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, WITHOUT A DOUBT. There's a knock at your door at 4 in the morning; what do you do? Welp, given that there’s been a recent disturbance in our village where a construction worker broke into a neighbor’s home, I’ll probably be more wary this time around and just ignore it. I’ll stay alert for a few minutes to see whether they start breaking in after being ignored or simply walk away so that I’m ready to wake up my parents and start screaming if they do the former. Do you like peaches? I hate all fruits. Ever lost a best friend? Not to death, but I’ve drifted apart from a best friend.

Ever heard of a town called Wadena? No. Only Wakanda, heh. Have you ever been to a funeral? I’ve never been to a funeral; I’ve only visited wakes. We were pretty sheltered when it came to death and I would dread the day I’d have to go to my first funeral because I don’t know if I’d be capable of processing the events. What's your favorite sport? Pro wrestling if it counts. If it doesn’t, tennis is my favorite to watch while table tennis is my favorite to play. What do you think about homeschooling? Egh the homeschooled kids where I live always turn out to be a bit weird or not very sociable, so I’m kinda biased against it. I don’t know if homeschooling in other countries can say the same, though. What do you think about French people? I don’t think anything of them. Thankful for their pain au chocolat though. Do you like your parents? Yes. They’ve worked harder than anyone I know to get to where they are now and to be able to provide as much as they have for their three kids. I respect them tremendously for that. I just wish we were more open and expressive and affectionate as a family in general; that would literally solve like 9732 of my problems. And I also wish that my mom wasn’t verbally abusive at times. What do you think about Minnesota? OMG nothing, stop. Do/did you like high school? It had its ups and downs. I’m mostly in the middle about it, like I can’t say I enjoyed it cause then that would betray the things I hated about it, and I can’t say I mostly hated it cause that would invalidate the good times. I did learn a lot though, that I can say for sure. Do you have any Asian friends? All of my friends are Asian. Is it cold where you live? Not even barely. Do you find accents attractive? No. I find most of them difficult to follow which is why I always need subtitles when I view anything foreign haha. Do you hate it when people make spelling mistakes? No, unless they act like a know-it-all but still fuck up their spelling. Would you ever let your boyfriend/girlfriend do your makeup? I would DEFINITELY let them do my makeup – she’d be the first person I would run to hahaha because I don’t know the first thing about applying makeup. Do you like to shop? Not like every week, but it is fun to fall down the rabbit hole and start grabbing clothes heh. How long are you on the computer during a 24 hour period? These days I’m not on it for long, which I’m really happy about! When the lockdown started I was really worried that I was gonna be too dependent on my laptop and never close it for the entire quarantine period, but the opposite has been happening. I really just open it in the evening when I take surveys, so that’s around 3-4 hours. Is money really that important? It is for me, and for everyone else in this third world Southeast Asian country. Have you ever broken a bone? Nope. Who is your favorite family member? My dog. What size bed do you have? Just a twin size, nothing special. Can’t wait to earn on my own and buy me a much bigger mattress. What age do you want to be married? Late 20s, if possible. I want to be ready for kids by the time I hit my 30s.   What's the last thing your wrote? A Facebook message for Gabie. What do you think of your town? It’s mostly uneventful here, but I think I prefer living in a calm city cause I suppose it would be exhausting living in a city that’s so hectic all the time. My situation also gives me a healthy balance of busy and quiet which I think has helped my wellbeing. When's the last time you played hide & go seek? Years and years and years ago. I think it was when we first moved into the house and it was still mostly empty.

[atdelilah]

as per request: HEY THERE DELILAH WHAT’S IT LIKE IN ASHMONT CITY anyways what’s poppin y’all, it’s ya girl jalynn, back at it again with ya new girl delilah whom i based off of a mixture of the gotham city siren gang (aka catwoman, harley quinn, and poison ivy)!! i’m very excited to throw her at yall

i guess the easiest way to dive in is to just explain her backstory so here goes:

she is the youngest of two girls, and her parents own/run the biggest catholic megachurch in the state so. she’s rich, she has an image to live up to

as expected, that plan flops

her older sister, abigail, very much fits the “good christian daughter” mold, but delilah is just way too curious, and asks “why?” in the middle of church service way too often to even get close to fitting that image

yes, our girl has had problems with authority and being told what to do from a very young age

naturally, her parents were hating this very, very much and this is how the seed of a very bad relationship with your parents is born

but on the bright side! delilah and her sister were close as could be, two peas in a pod when they were kids!! they were basically polar opposites in terms of personality (delilah being the kid who will ask “why?” every time you speak vs abigail just respecting authority because what else was she supposed to believe?)

that was basically how her early childhood went. her parents wanting her to be more like abigail, delilah being like “okay anyways”, and abigail being angel girl that her parents loved the most

so then comes middle school (a tough time for everyone), and stuff in delilah’s life is either hitting the fan, or taking root so it can hit the fan later

the first thing to hit the fan: her relationship with her parents. at this point, delilah figured out that no matter what she did to be her own, her parents would never stop wanting her to be a clone of abigail, so honestly? she just stopped caring about their opinion altogether

they already were set in their belief that she was disappointing, and annoying, and just too much, so why not just do what you want anyway? that’s delilah’s thought process

she just blatantly started ignoring their rules, really. she started questioning her faith in more targeted ways, she started finding ways to sneak out of the house, and went out of her way to break her parents’ “no dating” rule

also it’s important to note that delilah went to an all-girls’ k-12 catholic school and she HATED it. she snuck out because she just wanted to hang out and go to normal schools like all her rich, non-catholic neighbors. plus her mother worked at the school, and delilah took any opportunity to just do the exact opposite of whatever her mom asked of her

basically, delilah liked finding ways of reclaiming her autonomy and personal identity because her parents’ worked so hard to try to take it away from her! it’s at this point where we see her begin to do things simply because they make her feel powerful and independent! middle school, am i right

the biggest downside to this is that it starts causing problems between her and her sister. with delilah being in middle school, and abigail being in high school at the time, it’s already obvious that problems would arise just due to the differences in age. but the differences between the two only became more evident as they got older; abigail was constantly ready to go tell on delilah, and delilah was always taking jabs and saying abigail didn’t have a mind of her own. arguing was a regular occurrence. the sisters still 100% loved each other, for sure, but it’s a tough age phase they’re going through, plus there’s just no such things as siblings that don’t argue.

now we’re in high school, another horrible and weird time for teenagers across the nation, but especially for our girl delilah

her parents are so beyond sick of her at this point, really. the only reason they haven’t completely cut her out is because it wouldn’t look good if they did r.i.p

delilah stopped going to church altogether, she’d gotten busted on her escapades multiple times (not that she cared, really), and the “no dating” rule was just.....so beyond ignored

the seed had been planted when she was in middle school, but when she got into high school, delilah just completely embraced how pretty she is. boyfriends, girlfriends, flings, sexual partners; you name it, she was doing it. she didn’t really know she was gaining a lil’ heartbreaker reputation because honestly? outside of the whole power trip it gave her, she was really just having fun ahdgashdgsdj

( small disruption to say drug tw here )

big downside to high school: in the midst of her constant sneaking out and rule-breaking, she fell into some things and people that she shouldn’t have, and by her senior year (17/18 years old) she’d developed an addiction to a small variety of drugs

like any addiction, it did have big effects on a lot of aspects of her life. her grades (which she generally took pride in) were slipping massively, and all of her relationships (friends, romantic, familial aka with her sister) were falling to points that were nearly beyond repair

abigail, being the big sister she is, was extremely upset about the whole situation and basically convinced their parents to check delilah into rehab and they were on board with the plan, not because they cared about delilah’s wellbeing, but because the way she was spiraling was a liability to their image in their eyes

so now delilah is 18, she’s graduated from that k-12 all-girls school (no longer at the top of her class), and is promptly checked into rehab, we love this for her! but she absolutely hates the whole thing, so .

she didn’t hate the literal getting off of drugs, but what she hated the most was that she felt like she’d proven her parents right. to her, it was one thing to let them just assume the worst about her; it was a whole different feeling to actually give them something as big as this to root their assumptions in.

but that (plus the underlying desire to not worry her sister) was enough for her to take being rehabilitated very seriously. she did what she had to do and was out by the beginning of the next school year! probably one of the first times in her life she actually followed instructions from authority figures, honestly. but she told herself she was doing all of it because she wanted to, not because she had to.

also just something to add, it was in rehab where delilah got super into poetry and reading and classics!! it’s not like she had an abundance of things to do at her disposal, so she picked reading as a hobby to pass time but ended up being really into it. it was one of the first times where she felt like she had a purpose in life outside of living to fuck with her parents asjdhaskdjha

fast forward, we now have senior year college girl delilah!! she’s 3 (going on 4) years clean off everything she was addicted to!! we love this for her determined queen

she’s also worked really hard to rebuild her relationship with her sister and they’re back on very, very good terms. she’d do anything for her sister, period

but delilah is still delilah, she’s still a lil heartbreaker, she’s still hard-headed as ever, and she’s still got a variety of other things to learn about and grow through but i don’t wanna talk all about it here and make this longer than it already is asjdhakjsh onto the next part!

personality!

+ independent, dedicated, passionate, sensitive but lowkey she’d rather die than admit it or show it

- stubborn, prone to isolating herself mentally/emotionally, self-sabotaging, good liar but she considers this more of a skill to use here and there

100% will do anything for the people she loves......now that list isn’t necessarily long but. once you’re on that list, you’re On that list

the investigation.....

okay so basically delilah is 100% anti-daisey

she didn’t really know daisey too well growing up and didn’t really care to asdjkhasdkjh but they were both in rehab at the same time so they officially met then

but daisey enjoyed picking at delilah’s little insecurities and also talking shit about her sister, and like the picking on her was like "eh i don’t like you" but talking shit about abigail? l m a o

basically if delilah hadn’t been so determined to be on her p’s and q’s in that rehab center, she woulda beat daisey’s ass, and that’s point blank period

plus delilah just didn’t like daisey’s attitude or anything even aside from how daisey treated her specifically, like just the way she treated others turned delilah off of her

so yeah when daisey turned up missing delilah was just like that....is not my problem 😗

when daisey turned up dead delilah was like damn 😗 sucks to suck r.i.p though

i’m not saying delilah killed her or anything but i’m just saying. delilah’s got a short temper and probably had to be held back anytime daisey said anything funny about abigail (which was all the time bc like. it’s daisey)

and the whole killer on the loose sending messages thing creeps her out but like. she’s very much a go with the flow, look at the big picture kind of girl so she’s just. trying not to let it phase her too much

connections!

y’all already know i’m not picky about anything just throw an idea at me and we can make something shake

and i think that’s about it? like this, or hmu or anything if u wanna plot i’m really excited for all of ur characters to talk to the kid!! also can u guys guess which gotham city siren i pulled the most inspo from (admins not allowed to guess bc u guys already read my app)

[stayextrafrosty]

You’re Holy to Me

Request: Hi, could you do a Patrick X Reader were they both adore each other and are basically in love, but have never dated. She's really close to Andy, but that's only bc he's the only person she talks to about her feelings and Patrick thinks they're dating. Then they all have a party and she gets dared to kiss the most attractive guy, so she kisses Patrick and they end up going back to her apartment and confessing how they feel and probably end with some smut. Thank you :) I love your work

Note: FUCKING MONTHS! IT’S BEEN ALMOST DONE FOR MONTHS! ENJOY :)

Warning: Fluff and smut

Masterlist

Words: 7658

-

I banged on Andy’s door. It didn’t matter if it was one in the morning. I know he’s up. My brother was acting up again and I didn’t want to deal with that yelling party at home. We’ve been neighbors for a good part of our lives.

Andy was a package deal. He had three best friends that he seemed to be tied at the hip to. There was Joe. Ridiculously funny and smart. He was sarcastic and took no shit from anyone. There was Pete. He was less funny than Joe, but I only say that because he has no concept of when a joke was funny. Pete was also really cute. I might have had a small crush on him at some point. He just had a way with words. But…

The front door opened. Patrick stood there, t-shirt and blue jeans. He smiled at me, stepping away from the door. I didn’t even know where to start with him. He was smart, funny, a little bit shy, super cute. He was also a great singer, but he always denied it.

“Hey, (Y/N). What are you doing here so late? Even I was about to leave.” I entered the house and Andy was sitting on his living room couch, game controller in hand. I tried to control my voice. I always got nervous around him. He was almost perfect, and I didn’t know how to act. I always just played it off, but I wasn’t sure how convincing I was.

“Yea, sorry. Just here to see Andy. Escape the reality of life for a little bit.” I flopped over the edge of the couch, letting my head rest in Andy’s lap. He was like my brother. We’ve always done late night talks like this, but they usually take place on the roof or something.

His parents were rarely home due to work, but he claimed not to mind. He could take care of himself pretty well. He was vegan and while I didn’t have a problem with that I didn’t really let him cook for me. I’ve eaten his cooking before and it was good, but I’ll be honest, I prefer the real stuff. He pet my head as Patrick took his spot in the recliner.

“So, what’s up sweetie?” I poked his side at the pet name. I didn’t mind it, but he knows how I feel about Patrick. He wasn’t supposed to call me pet names around anyone else anyway. Much less him.

“Not a whole lot. Just my idiot of a brother,” I said.

“Oh no, what’d he do this time?”

“Got a fucking DUI. He’s brain dead I swear.” I ran a hand through my hair.

“Isn’t your brother, like, nineteen,” Patrick questioned? I nodded.

“Yea. But age doesn’t stop people from drinking Patrick. Just cause you’re a good boy doesn’t mean you all are,” I teased. I smiled at him and he rolled his eyes. Patrick was the youngest at exactly twenty-one. I was only older by a month or so.

“Well maybe the DUI and being unable to drive anymore will teach him a lesson.” Andy sounded hopeful, but I know my brother. He’ll find a way to keep going to parties and then trying to get home before my parents noticed.

“Do your parents ever punish him? Stop him from going out? Take away his phone,” Patrick offered. Maybe when he was younger…

“They tried. He would just sneak out. We’ve tried talking to him, but nothing seems to work. We’ve tried to get him to a psychologist or something, but he flat out refuses that. He thinks that the things he’s doing are normal.”

“I’m sorry, (Y/N). That must be tough.” My eyes met Patrick’s. He had siblings but they all got along pretty well. I sat up and stretched. Andy pulled me into a hug. A look crossed Patrick’s face but I couldn’t quite place it.

“If you need anything. I’m here for you.” I turned my head to smile at Andy. He kissed my temple. I rolled my eyes. I know he didn’t like me. Actually, he mentioned some girl he was talking to that goes to the same gym as him.

“Thanks. To both of you,” I said.

-

I was right about my brother. It didn’t really get better. There was just more yelling and sneaking out. He hasn’t been brought home by the cops in a few weeks but that was probably going to change soon.

I paced around Andy’s room. Combine the problems with my brother and the fact that Patrick seemed to now be avoiding me. I was stressed beyond hell. I don’t know what I did but Patrick just never stayed in the same place I was. He was always “just leaving.”

“Honestly. What did I do? Did I completely blow my chance or something?” I ran a hand through my hair.

“You should just talk to him,” Andy suggested.

“That’s a great idea. I would if he could even stand to be around me,” I said sarcastically.

“I think you’re overthinking this. I bet he likes you more than you think.” I glanced over at him.

“What do you know?” He put his hands up in surrender but didn’t say anything. I rolled my eyes and tried to jump on him. His reflexes were much faster than mine and he had me pinned. It was a running joke that one day I’d be able to win in wrestling him. That day has yet to come.

“When are you going to give up?” I don’t think he even had to try and fight me anymore. I was just that much weaker than him.

“Never. I’ll be on top one of these days,” I said, laughing. A throat cleared behind us. We both looked to see Patrick in the doorway, hands shoved in his pockets, a light blush on his face. I knew how this probably looked. What had he heard?

“Sorry, I was just here to um, never mind. I’ll just come back later, Andy.” He hurried out and shut the door behind him. Fuck. Andy released me. He nodded his head at the door suggesting I go after him. I jumped up and was halfway down the stairs before I heard the front door close.

Gone. Damn. I know exactly how he read that situation. I just wanted to explain to him that Andy and I weren’t a thing. Maybe that’s why he hasn’t been talking to me? But at the same time, maybe he didn’t even like me like that. I don’t know.

I walked back into Andy’s room. He raised an eyebrow and I just shook my head. This was doomed. I don’t even know why I bother trying. I was never good at relationships.

“Don’t fret too much.” I flopped next to him on the bed.

“But why? Now he really won’t talk to me.”

“Because I have an idea,” he said, a smirk making its way onto his face. I raised an eyebrow at him.

“Willing to share with the class,” I asked?

“A party. The other guys and I have always talked about having a party. We’ll just play spin the bottle or something like stupid teenagers.” I stared blankly at him. I couldn’t do that. He was suggesting a game where they would just have us kiss each other. “Oh, come on. It’s perfect. It’ll clear up any misunderstanding.”

“I mean… I guess it won’t hurt to try.”

-

The plan was made for the next Saturday. Which happened to be in four days. Andy invited Joe and Pete, along with others. But he made me invite Patrick. He said it would give me a chance to clear up the misunderstanding from the other day.

I waited outside the record store that Patrick worked at. It was fitting really. I had texted him earlier, but he never responded. So, I just asked Pete when he finished. Was this creepy? I had no idea.

I glanced at my phone for the time again. He should be out by now. Maybe Pete gave me the wrong time? I moved to look through the front door window. I almost ran into Patrick as he walked out. I jumped back before the door hit me.

“(Y/N)? What are you doing here? I didn’t hit you, did I?” He looked over me briefly. I shook my head.

“No, you didn’t. I was just waiting for you.” I smiled and wrapped my arms around myself. Fall was just starting to roll in, along with the cooler weather.

“Oh, you didn’t have to do that. Here, I’m not really cold.” He shrugged off his jean jacket and handed it to me. I took it tentatively. We began walking to his car. “So, why did you come find me here? Don’t you have plans with Andy or something?”

I flinched at his question. He had the entirely wrong idea.

“What do you think Andy and I are,” I asked slowly? His cheeks turned pink but that could just be from the wind.

“You two are dating right? I’m sorry if you didn’t want to make it public yet.” I sighed, causing him to look at me.

“We’re not together. We’re just good friends. I mean. We’ve lived next to each other for a really long time. What you saw the other day, was just us messing around. It’s a running joke between us that one day, maybe I’ll be able to take him on.” We stopped at Patrick’s car. He avoided looking at me.

“Oh.”

“He’s not really my type anyway,” I added nervously.

“I’m sorry for assuming things.” He leaned against his car and tugged his bottom lip between his teeth. I couldn’t help but stare at him. He was so attractive and he didn’t even know it. He always made jokes about how girls didn’t want him but that was just crazy. I know girls wanted him. I heard it all the time in high school.

“Don’t worry about it.” I kicked a pebble around. I just had to invite him to the party. I’m sure he’d go considering the other three would be there, too. “So, Andy is having a party on Saturday. It’d be awesome if you came.” He glanced at me briefly.

“I think I work Saturday but I’ll see if I can trade shifts with someone.”

“Well I hope you find someone. It wouldn’t be as fun without you there.” He fully looked at me, surprised. I was too, honestly. I’m not usually that forward. I smiled at him and went to take off his jacket. I wasn’t going to steal his clothes. He stopped me.

“Keep it. It looks better on you anyway.” I opened my mouth to argue but he stopped me. “I insist. Do you need a ride home?” Andy had dropped me off. My house wasn’t that far. I could walk.

“That’d be nice. If it’s not too out of your way.” He flashed a sweet smile at me and I swear I melted.

“Not at all.” He moved around to the other side of the car and opened the door for me. I don’t understand why he’s still single. I laughed as I thanked him. I swear, this whole party thing had better work.

-

Saturday came much faster than expected. I was helping Andy plan by buying the liquor. He might be a straight edge but most of us weren’t. I had to lecture him about the nature of parties. He claimed to have attended them in high school and college, but I wasn’t so sure. Mostly because he was with me a lot of the time.

“Just look at it as a time to get some good blackmail. I’m sure Pete will be wasted.” Andy rolled his eyes.

“I’ll do my best.”

I couldn’t drink beer. It never tasted good and I’ve tried many kinds. So, I was always the person who drank the hard liquor. Whiskey. Rum. Less so vodka but only if there was nothing else. Some of my girl friends liked to tell me that was why I couldn’t get a boyfriend. I could hold my liquor better than guys and it would emasculate them. I laughed in their faces.

I continually checked my watch even though only a few minutes went by every time. I just wanted to get this over with. I just wanted everyone to be here so we could get to the relaxing, slightly tipsy part of the evening. Andy tossed an arm over my shoulder.

“Chill. Everything will go fine,” he said.

“You’re not the one trying to confess their feelings to a long-time crush. As far as I remember, that girl from your gym seems to really like you.” He shrugged. Always so modest…

I paced the kitchen, trying to make sure everything was ready and in its place. I triple checked the two kegs. One filled with some sort of beer, the other filled with root beer. For those who didn’t want to drink. I adjusted the utensils in the food. I heard Andy chuckling behind me.

“It’s not funny!” I shot a glare at him and rung my hands together. Jerk.

“It’s a little funny. Just relax.”

“We don’t even know if he’s coming or not. What if he couldn’t find someone to take his shift?” Then this whole thing would have been for nothing. I’m not a party person. Patrick you better show up.

-

A couple hours later, the house was filled with music and chatter. It wasn’t a big party but of course a few people we didn’t plan on showed up. They were the people from the party scenes in high school and even college. I recognized a few of them.

One in particular. She was Patrick’s ex. Always hung around the parties and was the ‘it’ girl of high school. She broke Patrick’s heart when she became one of the ‘popular’ kids. They had been dating for a year. But she cheated on him with some hockey player she met at a party. Me and the guys had to clean up that mess.

I don’t blame her for Patrick’s anger issues during that time. He always had them. I just think she pushed him over the edge. He would get in fights. With the guys, with people he didn’t know. And he lost almost every time. I patched him up so much, I practically knew him like my own hand.

“(Y/N)! Get the door!” I shook myself out of my daydream and hopped up. Patrick still wasn’t here. I grabbed my drink and made my way to the door. Andy, Pete, and Joe were off doing some sort of competition thing. Boys…

I pulled the door open. I hardly registered Patrick’s face. I must have already been tipsy. I blinked a couple times.

“Patrick! You’re here!” A smile broke out on my face as I dragged him inside. I forgot how much looser I was after drinking. He seemed surprised as I pulled him to the drinks table.

“I feel like I should cut you off. How many have you had?” I rolled my eyes at him and finished off my coke and whiskey.

“That was my third drink. Only slightly buzzed. I just feel happy. But, I’ll stop if you really want me to.” I made a show of dropping my cup in the trash.

“What am I gunna do with you,” he said, shaking his head. I gave him an exaggerated wink.

“I could think of a couple things.” He eyebrows shot up and a blush creeped onto his face. I giggled and skipped off to find Andy. Patrick was probably right though. I shouldn’t drink anymore.

I hugged Andy from behind. Joe and Pete rolled their eyes at me. He turned in my arms and gently pushed me off him. He signaled behind him and I noticed a beautiful girl there. Must be the chick from his gym. Better clear this up right now.

“Oh, sorry! I’m (Y/N). I’m a good friend of Andy’s. I was just letting him know Patrick was here.” She chuckled at me, brushing it off as no big deal. Just as carefree as Andy.

“That loser actually made it? He was all nervous and said he wasn’t coming,” Pete said. That sobered me up. So, he found a replacement but then almost didn’t come anyway? Why?

“Uh oh. Someone go save him. Looks like the little girl he was worried about found him.” Joe pointed behind me and I saw her. Nadda hung all over him. She shamelessly flirted as he tried to walk away. Anger flared. What right did she have to be on him like that? Especially after all this time. I stomped over to them.

“Oh, come on Pat! Just for old times’ sake. I can do all sorts of things I couldn’t back then.” I cringed at the nick name. He hated being called that.

“Look, I don’t care. I’ve also told you a million times to not call me that, Nadda.”

“But it’s me! You let me call you that because you love me,” she said. She leaned in to kiss him. He went to push her off.

“Hey! What the hell do you think you’re doing,” I said. I grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back. She looked me up and down, then scoffed, as if I wasn’t even worth her time.

“Get lost. A girl like you wouldn’t know the first thing about this.” I know she was referring to my skinny jeans and t-shirt while she was in a mini skirt and tank top. Obviously, she could dress however she wanted but not when she shamed me for how I dressed.

She started ignoring me again and I snapped. I yanked her off Patrick, making her stumble. She tripped over her heals and fell on her butt. The people in the area started laughing and some started chanting “fight.”

“You have no right to come anywhere near him. He’s out of your league. Now get out of my party.”

“Fuck you, whore. If I’m not good enough for him what does that make you? No better than trash.” She stood and left, taking a few others with her.

“(Y/N)! That was actually badass!” Pete bounced up to me, slapping me on the back. I gave a small smile. Trash. She’s probably right about that. Maybe I wasn’t good enough for him.

“Hey.” I turned towards Patrick. There was a look on his face I couldn’t quite recognize. He took my hand. I looked down briefly then back up. He took a couple steps closer to me. Was he going to…? “Thanks for that. You’re a good friend.” My heart sank as he released me.

“Hold up, Trick! We haven’t gotten to the best part!” He raised an eyebrow at Joe. Don’t tell me they know what Andy’s planning.

“Spin the bottle. Relieve some tension.” Pete wiggled his eyebrows. This was going to go horribly. A group of us sat in the middle of Andy’s living room. Patrick got guilted into playing.

“Alright! So, this is going to be a combination of ‘spin the bottle’ and ‘truth or dare.’ Whoever the bottle lands on picks truth or dare. Easy enough, right? Ok, someone spin it!” Pete clapped like a child. This was a disaster waiting to happen.

We all looked at each other. Joe then shrugged and spun the bottle, sending it flying in a direction. After we busted our guts laughing, someone grabbed the bottle and readjusted it in the center. They spun it and the tension grew about ten times. I looked around the circle to watch everyone fidget.

My eyes met Patrick’s for a second, but my attention was quickly stolen by the still bottle. It pointed toward Andy. I released the tension from my body. At least someone else could go before me.

“Truth or Dare, Andy?” Pete had an evil glint in his eye. Andy looked thoughtful for a moment, weighing his options.

“I’ll be the lame one and say, ‘truth.’ I don’t trust Pete.” The circle chuckled as Pete rolled his eyes.

“When was the last time you broke your vegan lifestyle,” someone threw out. At least we seemed to be starting easy. Andy sighed and put on an exaggerated thinking face.

“Never. At least from what I can remember.” Pete threw out a ‘boo’ but didn’t question it. Andy shrugged and reached down to spin the bottle. I chuckled at Pete’s annoyed expression. It stopped next on a guy I didn’t know very well. He picked dare, and someone told him to give a lap dance to his girlfriend or something.

It was entertaining to watch. Her face was beet red before he even started. He was a terrible dancer and got booed off the “stage.’ It didn’t land on me for a while. Patrick ended up going before me.

“Choose wisely, Patrick.” His eyes flicked between his friends and the others. He was right to be distrusting. A couple of the straight guys had already been dared to kiss each other.

“Truth,” he said hesitantly. I saw his shoulders scrunch up, as if bracing for whatever hell they would put him through.

“So? Should we humiliate him or no?” The evil glint was back in Pete’s eye. I cracked a smirk, but I was nervous for him. There was some quiet deliberation between all the guys playing.

“Fuck, marry, kill between Andy, Joe and Pete.” The other three guys rolled their eyes at the question. There must have been a consensus somewhere in that discussion. I’m sure one of them would have asked something Patrick wouldn’t answer.

“Uh. I don’t know.” Patrick shrugged.

“Well figure it out! You have to answer!”

“Alright, alright. I guess, marry Andy, fuck Joe, kill Pete.” Pete’s mouth hung open for a second before he crossed his arms.

“Wow. Rude. Kill your best friend,” he said. The group laughed, and Patrick threw up his arms.

“I was pressured to pick so there you go.”

“Whatever, just spin the bottle.” Patrick rolled his eyes and reached toward the center. Some people went more than once. I was silently thankful it wasn’t stopping on me. I wasn’t sure if I could do it.

“(Y/N)? Pick.” I shook myself out of my daydream and looked down at the empty bottle. I just had to jinx it.

“Uh… Dare?” Butterflies blossomed in my gut. “Wait no…” Andy grinned at me.

“No going back on it.” Heat rose to my face.

“What are you thinking,” one of the other guys asked. I braced for the dare.

“I dare you to kiss the most attractive person here.” Pete sat smugly on the couch. To anyone else, it looked like he was confident it was him. I avoided looking at Patrick. I shook my head briefly.

“You gotta do it,” Joe said.

“Fine! But everyone has to close their eyes.” I didn’t even want to know how red my face was.

“That’s no fun. Have to make it as awkward as possible.” I glared at the girl who said it and crossed my arms. The bottle only landed on her once and they only made her do a shot she had never done before.

“Everyone just close their eyes for thirty seconds or so,” Andy said, shrugging. Bless him. I glanced over at Patrick but tried not to linger. I made sure everyone’s eyes were closed and moved in front of him.

I couldn’t tell if he knew I was standing there. There were probably other things I could do to figure out if he liked me. This is just fast forwarding the process. Patrick’s eyelids fluttered slightly. In my head, I knew it was just a natural fidget. I panicked.

I pressed my lips against Patrick’s. I felt him jump at the sudden contact. There was some cheering around us that pulled me back to reality. I rushed to separate myself from him. I hovered for a moment, watching his beautiful blue eyes open to look back at me.

I cleared my throat and stepped away from him. My cheeks burned. Every time I looked his way, there was this unreadable expression. The game continued a bit longer but neither Patrick nor I had to do anything else.

-

It was almost two before the last person left. Pete was passed out on the couch and Joe probably shouldn’t be driving. Andy said he’d let them stay the night. I helped Andy clean up around the house.

I leaned down to pick up some scattered cups and put them in a plastic bag. I turned and ran into Patrick. His hand landed on my arm to steady me, even though I didn’t really need it.

“Sorry. My bad,” he said quietly. I smiled and moved past him awkwardly. Should I talk to him? I didn’t really know. The only thing that had changed was that it was awkward. I walked up to Andy who was readjusting Pete on the couch.

“I don’t know what to do now. It’s just weird,” I whispered.

“I got this,” he whispered back. “Hey Trick! Walk (Y/N) home for me.” My eyes widened, and I went to protest.

“Yea, sure. You feelin’ ok, (Y/N)?” Patrick materialized beside me.

“Uh, yea. Um, I could probably get home on my own…” I stuttered a bit and mentally cursed myself. I probably looked like an idiot.

“I’ll take you anyway. Just let me know when.” I smiled and nodded.

“Go on home, (Y/N). You don’t have to help me clean up. I know it’s way past the normal time you go to sleep.” I rolled my eyes at him.

“Oh, shut up. I’ll feel bad if I don’t help.” Andy raised an eyebrow at me. I know what he’s trying to do. I was just too nervous to go through with it.

“Just go home. Best friend orders.” I sighed. I wasn’t getting out of this I guess. I looked over to Patrick and smiled.

“Don’t have a choice I guess. Walk me home?” He cracked a small, awkward smile before gesturing to the door.

“After you.”

-

My house was dark. My parents had said they were going out of town for a few days with my brother. I wasn’t sure how they got him to agree to that, but I guess anything to get out of school.

I stepped up to unlock my front door. Patrick stood quietly behind me. I wasn’t sure what to say. Should I thank him for walking me what felt like twenty feet away from the house we were just at?

“Hey,” I heard him mumble. I stopped fiddling with the lock and turned to face him. He took a breath before speaking again, “Did you mean it? That whole thing during spin the bottle?” I looked away from him, happy that he couldn’t see my blush.

“Do you want me to mean it,” I asked? He chuckled sarcastically.

“That doesn’t answer my question.” His figure moved toward me. My heart pounded. What should I do? “Please don’t just stand there in si—”

“Yes. I meant it.” I cut him off. We stood in silence for a moment. I resumed my task of opening the door. “Do you want to come in? Or something?” I pushed the door open and turned on the entry light. I looked over my shoulder at Patrick.

“Yea. For a bit.” The house was quiet except for the occasional humming of the heater. I tossed my keys on the counter and kicked off my shoes, flipping on lights as I went.

“Did you want a glass of water?” I moved over to the sink, glasses in hand.

“(Y/N).” I froze in my movements. The way he said my name scared me. I couldn’t tell if he was mad, pained, happy or any other emotion. I sighed and tried to relax my shoulders. I had to face him. I set the glasses down and met his eyes.

“Yes, Patrick?” He ran a hand through his hair.

“I don’t want to screw this up so. Let me say something.” I nodded and leaned against the counter.

“I was… surprised, to say the least, when you kissed me. I didn’t know how to react. To be honest, my first instinct was to push you away.” There was a pang in my chest. I looked away to stop myself from crying. “Hey! Wait! Let me finish ok?” I nodded slowly. “The only reason I thought that was because I didn’t want you to taint yourself. I’m in no way good enough for you. I thought it was some joke the guys got you to play on me.”

I met his eyes again. They pleaded for me to understand. To be serious about him. And I was. I laughed a bit.

“Trick. You are probably the purest being on this planet. I’m the one who’s not good enough for you. Your ex kind of pointed it out earlier.” Anger crossed his face and he came to stand in front of me, cradling my face in his hands.

“Don’t you ever let what she says get to you. You… god, just you. Sometimes I think I should be worshiping at your feet.” Tears pricked the corners of my eyes. I glanced down at his mouth briefly.

“Can I kiss you,” he whispered?

“Please.”

His nose brushed against mine and my eyes fluttered closed. He pressed his lips against mine gently. I wrapped my arms around his back, pulling him closer. He separated from me, but only for a moment. The second kiss was more confident than the last. I trailed my hands to the waistband of his jeans. He sighed into the kiss and I pulled his body against mine. He moved his hands from my face to brace himself against the counter, trapping me in his arms. I pulled away from him, giving us both time to breathe.

“If it wasn’t obvious. I really like you,” I mumbled. Patrick laughed and shook his head.

“I should have known from that little joke you made when you were tipsy.” I raised an eyebrow at him. What had I said? A little smirk took over his face. “I believe I said, ‘what am I gunna do with you?’ Then you said you had a couple ideas in mind. What were those ideas, (Y/N)?”

The memory rushed back in full force. I turned away from him and laughed awkwardly.

“Let’s just agree that was drunk flirting and drop it.” He reached up and turned my head to face him. The heated look in his eyes should have made me shrink away, like it did for other guys. Butterflies bloomed in my stomach again. I didn’t want to shrink away from him. I just wanted him close to me.

“I don’t think I really want to drop it.” He pressed his lips to mine briefly. Then he kissed his way over my cheek and down my neck. I giggled at the playfulness. They were featherlight and tickled.

“Knock it off, Trick. That tickles,” I said. I felt him grin before his fingers traveled to my sides. I yelped as he tickled me.

“Does it now?” He laughed along with me as I tried to get him back.

I broke away from him in an attempt to stop his assault. He chased me into the living room where he grabbed me and held me close. He kissed me again. I wrapped my arms around his neck. He broke away from me, leaving both of us breathless but still laughing.

His face grew serious again. His head rested against mine and his hands wandered over my back and sides. I bit my lip and glanced down at his mouth. I wanted him, and I was pretty sure he wanted me. I think I saw a blush dusted on is cheeks. His fingers traveled under my shirt, lifting it slowly. I jumped at the contact on my bare skin. He froze in his movements.

“Is this ok?” He sounded nervous. I mean, I was too. I nodded but he didn’t move.

“Yea, it’s ok,” I said, smiling. I moved forward to kiss him as his hands resumed their motion. I couldn’t tell if his fingers were shaking or if it was just me. I pulled away once he had lifted my shirt to my chest. I lifted my arms and helped him remove it.

My face burned as my shirt fell to the floor. Patrick’s eyes trailed down my body. I didn’t know what to do. Should I just stand here? Should I cover up? It was all different with him. He reached for me as his eyes found mine again. He caressed my face.

“I am so not worthy of you.” He kissed me again. I tried to stop myself from falling into his arms. But why should I stop myself anyway? I pressed myself against him. He stumbled back slightly but not enough to make us lose our balance.

His arms wrapped around me tightly, our kiss becoming more urgent. My hands followed his earlier movements. Slipping under his shirt and pressing my palms against his stomach and trailing them up to his chest. We stopped only so he could pull his shirt off.

He seemed shy once he was shirtless. He didn’t really look at me. I leaned forward and pressed kisses to his collarbone and upper chest. I thought I heard Patrick curse, but I couldn’t be sure. I pulled away and grabbed his hand, leading him upstairs. The stairway was dark. Maybe I should have turned on the light, but I was a bit too focused on other things.

I pushed the door to my room open and flicked on the small lamp. I released Patrick’s hand and let him follow me in. I wandered to the bed while he took in the surroundings. My room wasn’t exactly clean, but it was definitely my room. Patrick glanced around the room before his eyes settled on me. I stood at the edge of my bed. He walked toward me slowly and my breath caught in my throat.

I don’t remember laying down. I don’t remember my jeans coming off, or his for that matter. I only felt him against me. We laid there in our underwear, grabbing at each other, wanting to be closer. Then I sat on top of him, both of us breathless, my legs on either side of his hips. I could feel him beneath me. He smiled up at me shyly.

“What is it?” I went to get off him, but he grabbed my hips and held me in place.

“Don’t move. Let me just admire how beautiful you look.” There was no way for my face to become anymore red. I turned my head away from him and he chuckled. Patrick sat up and made me look at him. In order to stop the intense look, I kissed him.

I reached around to unclasp my bra. I tossed it to the side and took Patrick’s hands from my hips. I moved them slowly up my body until they were just below my breasts. He stopped kissing me and met my eyes again. I nodded slowly at his silent question.

“Please? Touch them,” I mumbled. A shy smile made its way onto his face as he moved his hands over my nipples and squeezed gently. His eyes wandered down to focus on what he was doing.

I sighed as he slowly caressed them. I wasn’t expecting him to kiss me there. I jumped slightly as his lips touched my skin. The pad of his thumb ran over my left nipple as his mouth trailed down. He took the right one into his mouth and sucked gently. I moaned his name, then he switched his attention to the left one.

My fingers trembled as they tangled in his hair. I pulled him back up to kiss him again. Our lips crashed together as we grabbed at each other. I held him tightly and ground my hips against his. He groaned in appreciation.

“God, (Y/N). I need you.” I bit my lip and nodded. The feeling was very much mutual. I found myself on my back again. Patrick looked down at me, a blush on his face. I giggled at his nervousness.

“Hey. It’s just me. I’m all yours.” I ran my hands over his cheeks and over his shoulders. I tried to maintain eye contact as I lifted my hips and began to pull off my underwear.

Because he sat between my legs, I couldn’t exactly get them off without his help. So, I winked at him and nodded downwards.

“Mind helping me a bit?” He nodded quickly and cleared his throat before his eyes ran over my body along with his hands. His fingers hooked into my panties and he maneuvered them off of my legs.

I laid there before him, completely naked. I tried to resist the urge to cover my face. This was Patrick after all. The nerdy but super cute guy I had fallen for. He gazed at me while his hands wandered. I arched into his touch. His fingers danced over the insides of my thighs. My breathing was heavy, I needed more.

“Please, Patrick? Touch me,” I whimpered. He chuckled softly as he leaned down to kiss me. He used one hand to support himself and the other…

I moaned into his mouth when his fingers brushed over my most sensitive area. He smiled into the kiss and let one of his fingers tease my opening. If he was nervous, he didn’t show it. Patrick inserted a finger into me slowly. I rocked my hips with the motion of his finger. He slipped a second one in and I gasped. He sped up his movements and I could feel my impending climax.

“Trick. I’m gunna…” I rocked my hips as he kissed me. “Faster,” I mumbled against his lips. He listened and soon my body was arching into him, waves of pleasure rolling through me. Patrick never broke from me. Any noises I made, were silenced by him.

Once I came off my high, he removed his fingers and laid down next to me. I cuddled into his side.

“I did that ok, right?” I finally heard the nervousness. I looked up at him and giggled, kissing his cheek.

“Yes. It was wonderful.” He stroked my face gently, a small smile playing on his lips.

“I always want to make you this happy. You’re so amazing.” I blushed and buried my face in his chest. “Hey, look at me.” I hesitantly did. “Amazing.” I tugged my lip between my teeth. I rolled away from him and stood on the side of the bed.

“Sit up. Come on.” I tried not to sound to giddy. He tried (and failed) to keep his eyes on mine. Once he was sitting on the edge of the bed, I knelt in front of him. He raised an eyebrow at me before realization crossed his face.

“(Y/N), you don’t have to…” He trailed off and I smiled up at him.

“But I want to. So, if you don’t mind…” I tugged on the waistband of his underwear. He slipped them off slowly.

I leaned forward and took him gently into my mouth. He cursed and grabbed my hair. He wasn’t rough but let his fingers trail through my hair. I moved my head up and down slowly, letting my tongue trace patterns over him.

“Fuck, you’re driving me crazy here,” he said breathily. I glanced up at him through my lashes. His fingers tightened in my hair. I refocused on the head and he groaned in approval. His hips rocked forward slightly. I teased him relentlessly. Refusing to move any lower. I thought I heard him growl and then he grabbed my head and forced me down. I coughed slightly from surprise and he immediately removed himself from my mouth.

“Sorry, you alright?” I giggled and nodded. He seemed slightly confused.

“I was teasing you. I expected it to happen sooner or later.” I stood and crawled into his lap. We could experiment with that another time. “In the future,” I mumbled against his neck, “feel free to use my mouth however you want. His hands gripped my hips as I rubbed myself against him.

A warning flashed in the back of my mind. I tried to ignore it. I kissed Patrick and pushed him onto his back. I bit his lip gently. He smirked at me and flipped us over. I laughed in surprise and then it was his turn to tease me. He pressed himself against my opening but nothing more.

The warning flashed in my head again. Louder this time. I pushed Patrick back gently.

“What is it?” He tilted his head in question.

“We should probably use a condom,” I said. It took him a couple seconds to register what I had said. He ran a hand through his hair and blushed a bit.

“I, um, didn’t exactly bring one. I didn’t really plan on, well, this.” I chuckled and sat up.

“Well, I know where some are. So, if you want to wait a second while I go get them,” I said sweetly. I trailed a finger up his neck and under his chin. I pecked his lips and squirmed out of the bed. I hurried to my brother’s bathroom. I generally avoided going in there, but it was necessary. I grabbed a condom and hurried back to my room.

Patrick sat on the edge of the bed, almost awkwardly. It was cute. He drummed his fingers against his leg. Nervous habit. I sat down next to him and leaned on his shoulder. He looked down at the condom in my hand.

“We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to… I just know that I’m not exactly, um, skilled at this…” I rolled my eyes and kissed him.

“We figure it out together. That’s how it works.” I ran my thumb over his lip. He smiled shyly at me and pulled me close again. He laid me down on my back again, sitting between my legs. I tore open the condom. I started to hand it to him but thought twice. He raised an eyebrow at me.

“Allow me. If you don’t mind,” I said, winking. I sat up and rolled the condom on. He shuttered as my fingers grazed over him. Once it was on, I looked up at him. He leaned down and kissed me, pushing me back down slowly. He pressed against me again. he rested his forehead against mine.

“You ready,” he asked. I giggled and kissed him.

“I need you, Patrick. I want you inside me.” He started to push himself into me. I tried to adjust my hips, so it would be easier for him. I moaned and grabbed on to his arms. He stopped for a second. His face had a look of concentration. I giggled. I blush took over his face again.

“I just don’t want to hurt you,” he mumbled. I reached up to touch his face.

“You won’t hurt me. Not when I want you this much.” He looked into my eyes before smiling.

He pushed into me and I couldn’t stop from rolling my hips with his. Of course, me rolling my hips caused him to jerk forward. I gasped at the sudden fullness. He braced himself against the bed, biting his lip to stop any noise.

He moved slowly at first, reveling in the feeling. I rocked my hips with his earning me a couple curses. He leaned down, surrounding me completely. He kissed me, and I could feel him shaking. I ran my hands over his chest and held his face.

“I’m so close… I just don’t want it to end,” he mumbled. Guys didn’t always have the best stamina, especially if it was their first time. I kissed him gently.

“Neither do I.” He trailed kisses up and down my neck. He bit down lightly where my neck connected to my shoulder. I sighed as he gave special attention to that spot. His hips picked up speed, making it hard to focus on anything.

“Fuck, Trick.” The rhythm wasn’t regular, so I could only assume it was getting harder for him to hold back. He lifted himself up from me and grabbed my hips for support.

He ground his hips into me, rougher than before. We moaned together. One of his hands found its way to my clit. He rubbed me there gently and my back arched toward him. If he kept this up…

“God, (Y/N), you’re so beautiful. I don’t think I can hold back.”

“Don’t hold back… You’re gunna make me…” I trailed off as his hips thrust forward and I groaned. He leaned down to kiss me again as his hips spasmed, thrusting into me roughly. I rolled my hips once more and felt my release racing through me. My moans were swallowed by him and my entire body was shaking. He ground into me a couple more times before his mouth fell open as he came.

We both breathed heavily, and Patrick half fell over next to me. I rolled toward him, not wanting us to stop touching just yet. We didn’t say anything for a bit. He traced a finger up and down my arm.

“Um,” I looked up at him. A blissful smile sat on his face. “If it wasn’t obvious, I love you.” I just looked at him for a moment before giggling and kissing him.

“I love you, too.”

[rockindragonz]

Just Like Him

Written for @itsstilllyou for the 2018 TaZ Queer Candlenights Gift Exchange!  <3 :D

Words: 3079

Summary: Angus is used to the stares at this point. He doesn't like them, but he's used to them. He's never seen anyone else like him until he sees Taako for the first time.  AKA a little boy imprints on our favorite meme wizard.

Ao3

Time and time again, Angus McDonald found himself in situations  like the one he is currently dealing with.  People around him who don't know him, can't see him, won't talk to him, or just ignore his existence altogether.  Honestly, it was no longer a bother to him, it was simply an inconvenience for a detective.  The train had proved to be a great means to an end and there were very few people aboard the train which made it easier to deal with the stares they sometimes shot him.  He will admit to himself that the stares are the worst part of his situation.  No matter how masculine he may dress, how short he may cut his curly hair, how low he keeps his golf hat, people could always only see 'female’ when they look at him.  It was frustrating knowing that they see him as one thing when he is absolutely another.

*

When he saw Taako get on the train in all of his long blonde, wizardly glory, it was shocking for the young boy.  This man was dressed in feminine clothing, had a very high pitched voice, and was almost certainly mistaken for a woman all the time, yet he had such an air of confidence about him that people were staring at him in a different way than they looked at Angus - in awe.  Something was fishy about the three travellers, but Angus found himself wanting to speak with the man if only to confirm his suspicions that he was just like him.  They approached him first, trying to act discreet about what was obviously supposed to be an undercover mission but they were failing horribly.

The mystery of the train prevented him from asking Taako outright, but he knew, if only in the way he carried himself.  There was the confidence, the suave nature, and the natural charm, but there was also the quiet self doubt, the mind that was thinking five steps ahead of his companions, and the hesitation every time he spoke.  Angus had known Taako for only a few hours, but he already knew with 100% certainty that Taako was just as trans as him.

*

Angus’ decision to join the Bureau of Balance was spurred by multiple instances.  Of course there was his investigation into the disappearances, but if he hadn't been told that the trio he had met on the Rockport Limited were part of the B.o.B. he probably wouldn't have seriously considered it.  In fact, he most likely would have refused due to not wanting it to be a conflict of interest that could harm his detective work.  But here he is.  Since joining the Bureau, he had felt safer and more at home than anywhere else in the world.  No one ever stared at him, no one gave his feminine pitch any second thoughts, no one even winced when we offhandedly mentioned that he had been having really bad cramps recently.  Lucretia had actually given him some medicinal plants she said she had used for cramps when she was his age.  It was treated scientifically instead of him feeling like a freak.  This place felt like home.

*

When the boys were on their mission to Lucas’ lab, he had never felt so anxious in all his life.  He didn't really know the trio all that well, and all they had done when knowing him was tease and bully him, but something in the way they teased and bullied was nice, almost familial in a way.  Taako was the biggest culprit of the family-type teasing.  His goofs never seemed to be intentionally harmful in a permanent way, they were always harmful in a goofy dad type of way, and he knew none of them would ever say anything that would actually hurt Angus.  But having those three go completely off the grid for so long had Angus panicking.  Lucretia was with him, but she was on edge and seemed horrifically close to breaking down, which only served to further Angus’ anxiety, because if the Director was nervous for the three men she barely knew, he knew something must truly be wrong.  When their voices finally came back, Angus could see the tension leave her body and he could feel his anxiety melt away.  He had known these men for such a short time, and yet they had caused him a great deal of stress.

*

Their story was one of epic proportions.  He couldn't understand most of it outright, but he saw flashes of what he needed most.  He saw Taako and his twin sister, Lup, laughing side by side.  His sister was like him too, but she, like Taako, was more confident in herself than Angus had ever see anyone be.  Angus saw them fighting back to back, kicking ass and taking names.  He saw Lup launch a volley of fire at boards high in the sky.  He saw Lup become a lich in front of her brother's eyes, and only saw the terror and worry in Taako's eyes for a split second.  He saw Taako and Lup and then he saw himself in the two of them.  He saw how similar they truly were, and he finally, finally saw that he was nothing to be ashamed of.  Despite what his parents thought, despite what his family thought, despite what the world may think of him, he was special and he wouldn't stand for anyone to look down on him again.

*

After the Day of Story and Song, Angus had to figure out where to go.  He had no home aside from the B.o.B. and Lucretia had disbanded it promptly following the defeat of the Hunger.  It had been the closest thing Angus had ever had to a real family and now it was gone, just like that.  But he still had them.  He knew they still love him, no matter how far apart they got.  When he told the main trio that he had no idea where to go, Magnus immediately offered for Angus to live with him for a while, until he found his family.

“Oh no sir, my family is dead, they have been for a long time,” Angus said.

“What about the grandpa you were headed to back on the Rockport Limited?” Taako said, cocking his head to the side.

“That was a clever ruse on my part so no one would question why a little boy was travelling alone!”

“So you're all alone then?” Kravitz said.

“Yeah, but I'm used to it!  I've been alone for a long time!”

“Well you're coming with us,” Taako said, arms crossed over his chest, “I can't be held responsible for teaching you magic and then having you go off and go nuts with it!  That would be irresponsible.  Kravitz, let's find a home for 3, got it big guy?”  At the proposition of living with Taako, Kravitz's dark skin grew red, but he grinned and nodded all the same.

“If you ever need a break from those two,” Magnus said, “call me.”  Angus just smiled a soft smile, one that didn't show just how shocked and happy he was that Taako of all people was taking him in.  He couldn't wait for his new life to start.

*

Taako and Kravitz spent a long time looking for a place.  During this time, the three of them stayed at various inns and hotels where many people refused to accept Taako's money because they all knew who he was.  On the surface, Taako took it with grace and thanked them, but he would always leave the proper amount of gold on one of the beds when he thought Angus and Kravitz weren't looking.  When they finally did settle down, Kravitz and Taako had found a home that was far too big for just the three of them, but was big enough to fit the whole IPRE crew.  When Kravitz and Taako had been talking with the realtor, she mentioned that the house had belonged to a wealthy couple that had been a part of the massive casualties of the Hunger.  Both Taako and Kravitz were sympathetic, but the realtor assured them that the couple 'had it coming’.  At that phrase, a moment of disbelief and confusion crossed Taako's face, but he remained poised and collected, he did love the mansion after all and the massive kitchen it had in it.  They sealed the deal and moved in as soon as they could.  Angus got a huge room all to himself with his own bathroom even.  Taako and Kravitz shared the master bedroom of course, and they had 5 vacant rooms for when the IPRE visited and bathrooms attached to each one.

For Angus, the home felt eerily familiar.  He found himself trying to walk quietly, peeking around corners before walking around them, and trying to make himself as small as possible.  Whenever Taako or Kravitz noticed, Angus would apologize and shake his head, unsure of the reason why he was so jumpy in the home.  Naturally, he had to investigate.  He went to the neighbors to ask about the previous owners, and the elderly woman had said they were a black couple with no children and a large family that lived elsewhere that would visit during the holidays.  She had also told him that they had once had a young girl around the manor that looked very much like him, but the girl had died a long time before the Hunger came.  Angus delved deeper into the history of the house and even contacted the local sheriff to get more information.  All the sheriff would tell him was that he had gotten many noise complaints over the years about the couple yelling so loud the neighbors could hear.  Still, Angus’ curiosity wasn't satisfied.  One morning, he was going over his notes before Kravitz was ready to teleport him to school when Taako came and dropped off his breakfast.

“Whatcha got there Ango?” he said.

“Just some notes on a mystery I've needed to solve.  I want to know who used to live here!”

At that, Taako's eyes grew slightly bigger for a split second before he blinked and looked away.  “You don't remember?”

“Huh?”

Taako sighed and set down the pan he's been serving breakfast from.  “Angus, shit, let me get Krav in here, I'm not good at this shit.”  As if by magic, Kravitz walked through the dining room door.

“Hey kid, ready for school yet?”

“Krav, we gotta talk,” Taako said with a grimace.  Immediately, Kravitz looked concerned, but he regained his composure and smoothed his shirt down.  Taako sat across from Angus while Kravitz pulled up a chair next to him.

“We thought you knew, but didn't want to talk about it.  Fuck, dude, I can't do feelings and shit like that.”

“What Taako means to say,” Kravitz said, shooting a light glare Taako's way, “is that we didn't want to pressure you into talking about something you don't want to talk about.”

“What?” Angus said.

“Look, Angus, this house belonged to a couple called the McDonalds.”  And, just like that, all of the memories he had blocked out for years came rushing back.

“I can't believe you don't remember that, you grew up here,” Kravitz said, reaching out towards him.  As if Kravitz was throwing a flame at him, Angus flinched backwards and sat up a little straighter.  Kravitz retracted his hand, but a look of concern was plastered on his face.  It was as if he had a permanent scowl now.

Taako opened his mouth, Angus knew he was saying something to him, but none of the words were actually entering his brain.  He was watching his memories come flooding back almost like nightmare.  His mom walking with him through a dress shop when he was maybe 3 years old, making him try on frilly dress after frilly dress.  He came out in one with a frown on his face and he pointed at the suits asking his mom why he couldn't wear pants because pants would be easier to play in.  He heard his mom telling him that ladies don't wear pants to formal events.  He asked why.  His mother smacked his mouth.  He saw his father tearing apart a drawing Angus had done of himself in pants instead of a dress when he was 5.  He had drawn it because he knew pants were more comfortable.  He wasn't allowed to wear pants from then on.  His father had made him turn around and Angus was spanked for his actions. Angus saw himself in a frilly white and pink dress with long, fluffy curled hair when he was 8.  He saw his mom applying light makeup to his face.  He saw himself get grabbed by a man at the party and dragged away by his  hair before he was luckily seen by a butler.  He saw himself, that same day, with a knife cutting his hair in the bathroom as short as he could manage so no one could grab it again.  He saw his mother and father screaming at him, calling him a lady, and telling him that ladies couldn't have short hair.  He saw himself bruised.

“Angus?” Kravitz said.  Angus blinked, realizing with a start that his face was wet and he was holding his breath.  He let it out in a blubbering sigh as Kravitz scooped him into a hug with no warning.  Taako was there soon too, hugging him and holding his hand so tightly that he almost couldn't breathe.  Taako was muttering things, thing Angus knew he said to Lup when she called in a panic because she had woken up in darkness from a nightmare about black curtains, things that were somehow grounding him in the current reality.  When he finally stopped sobbing, Kravitz's shirt was wet from his tears and there was a mark on Taako's hand where he had been squeezing it.

“Can you tell us what's happening now Angus?” Kravitz said, patient as ever.  Angus only nodded slowly, as if he was only just now truly absorbing all the shit he had been through.

“My parents, the McDonalds, were…” he paused “they were...horrible.  They-they hit me and called me a lady and hit me whenever I didn't act like one.  I ran away when I was 10 and started doing detective work because I had always been curious.  I cut my hair.  I'm a boy.  Not a girl.  I was never a girl, but they called me a girl.”  Taako's fist clenched and Angus could see the rage building in his eyes, but his face remained neutral.  Kravitz, however, was looking at him with sympathy and love.  Anger was there, it was definitely there, but Kravitz was much better at masking his emotions than Taako had ever been.

“They aren't here to hurt you anymore.  We will move too, so you don't have to live where they were.  You will never have to think of them again, okay?”

“I don't want to move.  I want to live here with you two and Magnus and Merle and Lup and Barry and everyone.  You guys loved me when I needed it, even though I didn't really get why at the time.”  Angus wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his jacket and sniffled a little.  He nodded, mostly to himself, and reached out to hug Taako and Kravitz as best he could with his small arms.  They responded instantaneously and wrapped their arms around him securely.

“They aren't my family anymore,” he whispered.

“Yeah, fuck those fuckers, we are your dads now, shit lil dude, you’re fuckin adopted,” Taako said.  His voice was final as he spoke with no uncertainty in his voice.  Kravitz only laughed and squeezed the two of them tighter.  Angus breathed for a moment, afraid, but happy, and for the first time in his whole life, he knew he truly had a family that loved and accepted him for who he was.

*

Life continued as normal after that day.  Taako insisted that Angus see someone and talk about 'the bullshit he went through’ as he had out it, and it seemed to help Angus a lot.  He was able to talk about everything to a total stranger.  Sometimes Taako and Kravitz would come and listen whenever Angus felt comfortable letting them in.  Truth be told, Angus was comfortable with them from the beginning, but Taako was insistent that the first few sessions be his and his alone.  He got happier and felt safer than he ever had before, and he continued learning magic at Lucas’ school.  Taako teased him endlessly about attending his rival's school instead of his own father's, but the teasing was always light hearted.  Lup and Barry built a small home attached to the mansion the three of them lived in, so they were there frequently.  No one outright told Angus why, but he assumed that it was because of the nightmares and the fact that being separated stressed them both out.  The rest of the IPRE and the BoB came for holidays and the anniversary of the Day of Story and Song to celebrate and to confirm that they were all still alive and okay.  Angus thrived in his home with his family and friends that he had grown to love more than anything in the world.  Angus was truly and completely happy.

*

What Angus didn't know, however, was that the day after he had told Taako and Kravitz his life story, the two of them plus Lup and Barry had gone to the Raven Queen and asked to see Mr. and Mrs. McDonald.  All knowing as she is, the Raven Queen summoned the souls from the lake without question and watched as Kravitz yelled louder than he ever had.  He told the McDonalds that Angus was never their son, that his son was going to be happy and that they would never get the chance to see him succeed and be happy.  They had tried to tell Kravitz that they only had a daughter, but Lup had cast a fireball that left their spirits extinguished forever.  She had gotten a slap on the wrist from the Raven Queen for that one, obliterating souls was very against the laws of nature, but nothing more.  They were, after all, horrible people to her grandson.

But hey.  What Angus didn't know, would never have to hurt him.

[jadevndermeer]

( dua lipa. 24. cisfemale. she/her. ) ❛ jade vandermeer, an aries from seattle, washington, moved into holloway three years ago. they are a musician that lives in apartment 5d here and their neighbors don’t particularly mind them. some say they can be volatile and impulsive but others say they’re bold and magnetic. anyways, one thing is for sure: you hear tongue tied by grouplove, it’s jadey-v blasting it.

INTRODUCTION : JADE VANDERMEER

hey! it’s ya girl jess & i’m here with my girl, jade. a little about me, in case you didn’t see my lil ooc intro in the discord – i’m 22 and in the bst timezone. i’m ur local bisexual aries disaster who is indie band trash & resides in rainy england. i played johnny before the revamp ( the nico mirallegro fc! ) and was also an admin for a lil bit. without further ado, here’s my babe!

my d*iscord is @ soft aries#7087 & i prefer to plot there over IMs!

jade’s pinterest board can be found here!

BACKGROUND

jade is the daughter of two business-people. the pair of them strict & straight as a line for her whole childhood. she was born in seattle, but since her father is dutch (hence her last name) and her mother is albanian, the family spent a lot of time travelling to their respective homelands, which was just about the most fun she had as a child. when at home in baltimore, she was kept under close supervision as her parents were the typical snobby, superficial semi-wealthy types and way too overprotective.

leaving the states for long periods at a time made it somewhat hard for jade to keep a friendship group, so she found fun in things that she could do alone like songwriting, singing and learning to play bass guitar. these were just hobbies at first until she entered her mid-teen years and began to take it more seriously, knowing she had the talent to do so. 

music forced her to come out of her shell massively. it gave her the confidence to. kids at school would want to hear her play all the time, and she was happy to show off her talents to others, which helped her to make friends

of course, around this time is when she developed a taste for fun. she wanted to hang out and go to parties and stuff like a normal teenager but again, her parents were still being way too strict & sheltering her

so she had to make do with sneaking out when she could, and when she couldn’t go have fun she continued to refine her passion as a musician, starting to post covers & original songs to youtube and bandcamp & even managing to get quite a substantial fanbase

however, her parents weren’t happy with this. they thought that music wasn’t a real job and that she needed to follow in the family footsteps and work towards being employed by their business. so, they made sure to only extend the offer of financial support through college if she promised to study business, marketing or something similar. and so, she had no choice but to agree to their ultimatum

she began studying at a university in new york, with a degree in business management. of course — she hated it. her studies didn’t align with her passion and so, to the dismay of her parents, she dropped out only a year and a half in. 

it was around this time that jade’s parents figured out that she was going to pursue the music thing no matter what and she wouldn’t be working for the family business. their ultimatum had technically failed, and jade was worried about potential problems between herself and her parents if she were to go back to seattle. and so, the search for a roommate in new york started. she moved into holloway as a matter of urgency

she could finally focus on being herself and taking up music as her full-time focus. there was an issue though, she needed a band. though, that issue was solved when she got together with some fellow holloway residents to form the indie rock band solar eclipse. with jade on bass, of course !!

jade worked as a barista and spent any free time she had working on music with solar eclipse. over the past few years, they’ve managed to take off quite a bit — they’ve signed to a record label, so jade quit her barista job and the band started to work on an album! everything seems to be falling into place.

PERSONALITY

fiery aries lady. aka charismatic and magnetic but do not cross her bad side sksksk

comes across kind of self-centred / vain but really she’s just super proud of herself and has a lot of self-confidence?

very all or nothing. doesn’t like to half-ass things. v determined and inspired at all times

can be a lil intense but is high-key lovely, v sweet and loyal, cares about her friends so much

she has a very strong personality and can be a bit of a liability. does a lot of things she regrets. doesn’t always think before she speaks

impulsive and unpredictable, she’s one of those extroverts that can become draining to be around after a while. she’s so talkative and excitable, a little too much. your muse may find her annoying or endearing depending on what they’re like

a bicon ( shocker.... not )

hopeless romantic, idealist / optimist, quixotic type.

aesthetics: yellow, converse high tops, vinyl pressings of all great indie records, denim mini skirts, mischievous grins, gold glitter

i’m gonna stop here bc i reallllly wanna jump into some plotting !

SUGGESTED CONNECTIONS

best friend(s) — it’s probably a given that this is taken up by her bandmates but i’m open for her to have more too! only requirement for this is that they vibe well with her personality!

past college friend(s) — friends she met at college before she dropped out. maybe they drifted after she left & now they’ve graduated and their friendship will rekindle in holloway?

bad influence — jade is a mischievous little binch. loves to party, go on wild spontaneous adventures, still has a rebellious streak thanks to growing up with strict parents. this person is a bit of a partner in crime for jade, always convincing her to join them in doing dumb shit

good influence — maybe another musician who mentors her as well, but this isn’t required? basically just anyone who can keep her grounded when her [ jenna marbles vc: ARIES ] energy causes her to wild out 

exes (on good or bad terms) — i love angst k thanks. if they’re on good terms, maybe they stayed friends & they’re still in love w jade but she doesn’t know ? if it’s bad terms maybe the relationship ended rly messily or they cheated on her and now they can’t stand each other, idc just gimme angst

a slow burn love interest — i’m not a fan of ship plots that happen right away like??? i like a cute plot that can build and develop for a while !! gimme a lil somethin somethin. our characters have to really work together for this tho so ig i’ll be picky when it comes to this plot

anything honestly!! hmu and if none of these appeal to you we can brainstorm!

[kz-i-co]

One Reason

Summay: You have met a troubled boy who is clearly no good for you but you couldn't help but fall for him.

Pairing: Kim Hanbin (B.I)/ Reader

Genre: angst/fluff

Words: 4.1k

A/N: Warning: This story is loosely inspired on 13 reasons why, I don't mean the subject of suicide but more based on one of the male characters. This story takes place in a very realistic immature high school, like the show so there is very mature topics that some readers may find offensive. Topics may include bullying, drug use, sexual content, fowl language, violence, etc.

Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

m.masterlist ╫ ikon masterlist

You felt the irritating sound ringing in your ear, making your ears more sensitive, but you continued dancing on the center of the dance floor with a cute boy you couldn't even remember his name.

It was the last party of the summer before school, which you honestly didn't know why you were at. You were new.

You moved here at the beginning of the summer. Being a new student when it was your last year was tough. You didn't see the point but your parents needed the change. You didn't want it. You wanted your old friends. You considered yourself fairly popular at your last school. Not by choice for the matter, it was just the people you got along with.

Anyway here you were at some foreign party with foreign people. Suhyun was one of your neighbors and you got close immensely, for the two months you've been here.

She's a senior as well but the bad thing was, this is her going away party. She was moving in a few days. Right before the school year starts. At first you felt releaved that you would know at least one person going into this ratchet school but of course, nothing could go your way.

She told you earlier, when you were sober, that she would introduce you to all her friends and help you feel more comfortable but you knew by Monday, they would all forget you anyway.

You felt like you were a decent person but you always had a slow start with people. You would avoid anyone and everyone, unless they showed in interest in you. Other wise, what's the point.

But there was the boy. The boy you were dancing with who showed interest but you had an uneasy feeling about him. One you couldn't read, but there was something about him that pulled you to him.

It all started when Suhyun introduced you to him. Only 2 hours ago.

"So this school is full of assholes but you will adapt." She said giving you your first drink of the night.

"Hey Miyeon, get a room!" Suhyun shouted across the room. "That is Miyeon and Ju-ne. I set them up last year and now look at them." She gloated

The doorbell rung, signaling more people to enter the already crowded party. As soon as the people passed through, something caught her attention outside.

"Hey assholes, are you coming in or what?"

You followed her outside to see the commotion. She was talking to a few guys goofing off.

"Is she speaking to us?" One boy said sarcastically.

"She's speaking to us not you." The other boy spoke causing Suhyun to roll her eyes.

"I'm talking to all of you, even you Hanbin."

"She must be drunk." The boy next to him spoke.

"I had 4 months to get over it." She shrugged. "Now get your ass's in here."

"Oh by the way, that is Bobby, Dk, Yunhyeong, and Hanbin.....my ex."

Oh now the random conversation suddenly made sense.

You looked back and noticed the boy smile at you sweetly.

And that's where it all began. Fast forward to you working up a sweat on the dance floor next to the boy. The boy that you learned was named Hanbin. The ex of your new friend and off limits. She didn't have to tell you but you were loyal when it came to girl code.

Here you were breaking it anyway, but in your defence you weren't in your right mind. The alcohol had taken over and you hoped things wouldn't take off.

-

"You will be fine." It was the day before school started and the official last day of Suhyun. Her parents were putting the last of their things in the moving truck. "I told Miyeon to help you find your classes."

You nodded. "And I have something to help you get by." She looked around for her parents and snuck something out of her pocket. She placed it in your hand and once you saw it you cheeks lit up immediately.

"A condom?" You questioned. "Why?"

"To not get pregnant stupid."

"I understand that thanks." You said sarcastically. "But I have self control."

"I don't know, it didn't seem that way a few nights ago." She smirked. You honestly didn't even remember. The last thing was you puking your brains out.

"What do you mean? What happened."

"You were in a three way make out session."

"No."

She nodded while biting her lip. "Don't worry I took you away before something else happened. You were all drunk so I wouldn't be surprised if any of you remember."

Who was it? Was it the boy?

"So you're giving me one condom?"

"Jeez girl."

"I didn't mean it like that." You laughed.

"Just be careful, these boys......can be a little wild."

You nodded and finally gave her a good bye hug.

-

You hesitate to step out of your father's car. "Can I just be homeschooled?"

"I know it's scary starting a new school, but at least it's the first day, you don't have to worry about catching up in any classes."

"That wouldn't matter anyway, j get good grades." You smiled.

"I know." He caressed your cheek. "Now go before you're late."

"Okay." You finally got out. You walked up to the office to get your schedule. You saw no sign of Miyeon. Typical.

As you were walking to the class you bumbed into someone dropping your books. Cliche but it actually happened. You looked seeing the boy. The boy from the party. The boy that smiled at you. And the boy that was dancing with you.

"(Y/L/N) (Y/N)" He said picking up your books.

"Kim Hanbin."

"You remember my name." He smiled.

"How could I forget, I had a lovely chat with your ex." You teased. You were really dying on the inside but you didn't want to show him fear. Suhyun told you he's a popular kid and he's trouble so the last thing you wanted was to be on his radar for bullying.

Hanbin rolled his eyes playfully. "I wondered what she had to say."

"She told me to stay away from you."

"Whys that?" He arched his eyebrows.

"She said you smell." A small smile started to form.

"I smell huh?" He smiled. "I hope that doesnt bother you."

What? You knew she was kidding but anyways, why should you care? You were new and he was popular. Why were you on his radar so quickly?

"Why would it bother me?" You said as your voice dimmed.

"I would like to ask you out, but if you turn me down because I stink, I might be heart broken." He held his heart in pain.

You blushed instantly.

Why was he making you feel mushy inside? You barely knew him. You honestly wanted to accept his offer but....girl code.

"Can I think about it?" You scrunched up your face in innocence. You didn't want to make him feel bad. You didn't want to say no but you couldn't say yes either.

"Oh no, my horrible odor has let me down once again." He said dramatically causing you to laugh. "I promise I will smell better tomorrow and I hope that changes your mind."

"Maybe." You smiled.

"There you are (Y/N)." You heard Miyeon call your name. Maybe she was helping you after all.

"I'll see you later." Hanbin walked off, smiling one last time.

"Why was he talking to you?" She asked.

"He wanted to help me find my classes." You lied.

She huffed. "That doesn't sound like him."

"Stay away from him, he's trouble." She continued.

"Okay." It was your first day and you already could sense the drama. You were never one to get dragged in, just watched from the side lines. You wanted to enjoy your last high school year, not be sucked into whatever mystery lies within these walls.

Was this boy worth it?

-

Later on when you got home, Suhyun called you in a facechat call. You already missed her.

"Soooo, how was your first day?" She asked.

You started to blush thinking about Hanbin. You knew it was wrong but you already felt your crush forming.

"I know that look who is he?"

"There is no he." You shrugged.

"Just spit it out."

You felt guilty. "Okay so I kind of got asked out by this boy...."

"On your first day? Which boy?" She was leaning forward more interested.

You bit your lip with a painful expression.

"Oh." Was all she said.

You didn't even have to tell her. "Hanbin wasn't it?"

"Don't even worry, I said no." You lied.

"Why did you do that?" She shrugged.

What? You were beyond confused and your expression gave it away. "Because he's your ex."

"So? We broke up."

"Um...girl code."

"If you want to go out with him, I'm giving you permission." She said like it was nothing.

You just stared off into space confused. "(Y/N) our feelings for each other are long gone......go have fun with him. I don't care."

"Really?"

"Sure." She laughed.

Then you both hung up the call. You had a big smile on your face just thinking of the boy. But that smile quickly faded just thinking about everything. Why did they even break up?

Stay away from him he's trouble. Stay away from him he's trouble.

That's all you ever heard since that party when you first laid eyes on him.

Was there something you weren't seeing?

-

You had your guard up during school the whole next day which was making you flinch at every little thing. You thought about it all night. Maybe you should stay away from him. The signs were clearly there but you just wanted to know all the mystery behind it. Was he that bad?

"(Y/N)." You jumped as you heard a sudden voice. "Hi." He gave you that award winning smile.

"Hi." You tugged your hair behind your ear.

"I smell clean, I promise." Why was he being so sweet to your face if he was so called trouble?

You couldn't help but blush and shake your head. "That was a joke you know."

"What?" He said in a sarcastic shock. "You mean I could of taken you out last night?"

Stop blushing!

"Look, if you don't want to go out I understand." He laughed. "But I want to get to know you anyways."

"Its not that." You simply said. "I wanted to talk to Suhyun first."

"Oh, I get it....researching."

"No." You pushed him. "Girls don't date their friends ex's, it's code." You shrugged.

"Okay." He leaned closer. "So does that mean...."

Your heart was beating a mile a minute. Should you say yes? One date, it couldn't hurt. You can see what he was all about and why people were so pessimistic about him.

"Okay." Your voice was barely audible.

"Was that a yes?" He held his heart again in relief. "She said yes."

"Stop being so loud." You giggled covering your face.

"I'll pick you up around 8." He smiled.

You started to walk away to your class with your face as red as ever.

"You won't regret this (Y/N) (Y/L/N). I promise." He called after you.

Okay people were staring. You even saw a few girls give you a disgusted look. The bad thing was, if he was so popular, there's a chance he could pull you into that crowd and it could turn out good or bad. You just hope you were cautions of what you were getting into.

-

You felt like you can picture his whole life in a simple second. Perfect athlete with a scholarship waiting at the end of his graduation. A perfect family proud of his every achievement. Always had the perfect grades and girlfriend to bring home. Money.

But you couldn't be ever so wrong.

After school Hanbin said goodbye to Bobby as he reached his apartment. "Do you want me to go in there with you?"

He looked out the window. "No, I'll be okay."

"Do you need money? I can help you get a car."

"My mom wouldn't even let me save enough money to get one. She'll find an excuse for something more important to spend it on."

"A car is important." Bobby sighed. "You can just live with me until school is over man."

"Thank you but I can't leave my mom with that asshole." Hanbin finally got out and walked up to his apartment.

He opened his door and saw Jaesun sitting on the couch with an empty beer in his hand. His mom was no where in site.

"Where's my mom?"

"She's out buying my stuff." He said.

Hanbin glared at him before walking past. "Hey B.I hand me a beer."

"You aren't allowed to call me that." He said with attitude.

"What do you want me to call You? Pabo? Just get the beer."

He didn't he walked past to his room and locked the door. He could hear him approach the door with a bang and jiggled the handle seeing it was locked. Jaesun laughed humorsly, then his tone went dark. "You better learn to respect me boy."

"Fuck you." Hanbin grunted to himself.

He didn't even come out once he heard him mom come home. "Hanbin please come out."

He was sensitive when it came to his mom. He opened the door and saw his mom and gave her a hug. "What is this I hear you ignoring Jaesun?"

He pulled away. "Sorry I chose not to be his slave." He said loudly getting Jaesun's attention.

"What the fuck did you say to me?" He got up. "You can't respect me you can get out of my home."

"This isn't your home, me and my mom lived here first, you evaded."

Jaesun walked over angrily.

"Okay stop." Ms. Kim stood in between them. "You need to chill out and you need to chill out."

"Why do you always take his side." Hanbin said disappointed with his face flustered.

His mother looked up at him. "I'm not taking sides." Then she stepped away and made her way to the kitchen.

Jaesun pushed Hanbin into the wall roughly. "You speak that way to me again, your mother isn't going to stop me from teaching you a lesson."

He kept his mouth shut, but gave him a dark glare. Jaesun just laughed it off and went back to his couch. Hanbin grabbed his shoes and his jacket and made his way to the door. "Where are you going I'm making dinner?" His mom stopped him.

"Out." He said harsh.

"You don have to feed that brat hun. More for us."

Hanbin just ignored the low life and continued on his way.

He was on his way to pick you up. He knew where you lived since you were Suhyun's neighbor. The town wasn't that big so walking wasn't a big deal. He looked at your house for a bit, seeing how nice and cozy it was. Something he always wanted.

He walked up to the door and knocked gently. A nice women opened up the door with a confused but genuine smile. "Hello."

"Hi is (Y/N)-"

"I'm coming." You ran down the stairs and out the door.

"(Y/N)?" Your mother stopped you.

"I'm sorry, mom this is Hanbin and Hanbin this is my mom....okay let's go." You grabbed his hand and tried to make a run for it.

"You are going on a date and you didn't tell me? I feel like I should go over some ground rules."

You rolled your eyes in annoyance. "Mom please no."

Hanbin smiled. This was the warm and closness to a family he only dreamed about.

"I want you back by 10, no drinking, no drugs, no sex."

"Oh my God, please stop, I know common sense."

"Okay." She gave a warning look to Hanbin but smiled at the end.

"Thank you Mrs. (Y/L/N)."

"Where's your car?" You asked.

"I don't have a car?" He said with a smile.

"You smell that nice but you don't have a car."

Hanbin rolled his eyes playfully.

You were surprised really. You were sure he had money. He was popular, charming, super attractive. You were sure he had his life made.

"I'm working on getting one." He said hopeful.

"No problem. I like walking."

He smiled at your surprise response. All he wanted was to impress you and he was sure not having a car would be a disappointment. But you were more different then he thought.

You both stopped at a cafe at the end of the block. "What would you like?"

"A hot chocolate and..."

"How about that giant chocolate cookie we can share." Hanbin suggested.

"Okay." You smiled.

"Hey B.I." A guy greeted as soon as you approached the counter. You recognized him from the party a few nights ago. Yunhyeong.

"Hey....can we get...." He ordered.

"You want to find us a spot?" Hanbin asked and you nodded looking around.

Hanbin looked through his wallet and Yunhyeong stopped him. "Its okay man."

"Thank you."

"She took it again?" He asked.

Hanbin nooded. "She needed to buy food."

"Doesn't Jaesun keep a jar of money in his closet?" He asked.

"Its money for his stash....He would literally kill me if I took it." Hanbin shook his head aggravated.

"Tell your mom to kick him out."

"I've tried, she said we wouldn't make it without him, he pays for the bills and shit."

"Then why is she taking your money?" Yunhyeong was aggravated with his friends living situation.

"She's afraid to ask him."

"Hey I found the perfect spot." You clinged onto his shoulder.

Hanbin just smiled sweetly.

"Here you go." Yunhyeong gave you the food. "Thank you....really."

"No problem, Hanbin remember what I said. Okay."

He nodded and went back with you.

"Your friend seems sweet." You said as you sat down.

"Oh no, did I lose you to him?" His playful attitude was back.

"Shut up." You giggled. "You didn't have to pay for me you know."

Hanbin looked down, but acted like nothing was wrong. "What kind of guy would let his date pay?"

"This isn't the 50's anymore, we can pay sometimes to." You leaned against your hand.

"Fine, you can pay for the next date." He smirked.

"Who says I'm going on another date with you." You teased.

"Ow." He held his heart in pain again.

"I'll let you know at the end." You blushed.

"How's it going so far?"

"Pretty good, but it's anyone's game." You bit your lip.

He was still holding his heart as he felt it beating faster. "You really are something else (Y/N)....You make my heart hurt."

"Stop, you're so corny."

"No really feel." He moved over to your side of the booth.

"Get out." You tried to push him.

"Feel." He grabbed your hand and he led it to his heart. He smiled seeing you blush. You felt his heart beating and you felt chills as he was so close to you. You looked up seeing his beautiful smile.

He leaned in slowly. You couldn't move as you felt his breath on yours. You knew he was going to kiss you any second and you felt like a nervous wreck. You have never had your first kiss yet and you knew you were going to be terrible. You slowly backed out and saw the confused look on his face.

"Its a little too early, don't you think?"

"You're right." He laughed. "This is what you do to me (Y/N) (Y/L/N)." He grabbed your hand and grabbed the bag with the cookie.

"Where are we going?"

"Somewhere more private." He said.

You felt more butterflies explode. "Um."

"Not in that way, I heard your mother."

He took you to the local park. "Let me push you." He said as you sat on the swing.

He pushed you gently a few times and after a few minutes he stopped you looking over you as you looked up. The tension was tight once again and you could tell he was really eager to kiss you.

"Lets go up there." You smiled as you got up quickly but something tugged on your shirt. The swing chain was caught and your shirt already started ripping.

"Oh no, you're trapped." He tried to get your shirt out. "Here I think I see-"

He tugged and quickly stopped as your shirt was tearing in half. He looked at you in shock. "I'm so sorry."

You felt a little upset but it was just a shirt. "Here." He took off his jacket and handed it over to you. You took off your shirt and threw it, leaving you in your bra.

"Look, I'm taking my clothes off for you in our first date." You teased.

It was his turn to blush.

You pulled on his jacket and continued to have your fun. You climbed to the top of the slide and watched him climb up after you. You tried to cross over to net bridge but he caught you quickly, sending you both to the floor. The net was shaky, especially with the both of you but you felt comfortable.

This time he was too quick to place his lips on yours. You stiffen up but you found yourself moving against him naturally. He took control which was all the better. Your lips were tingling. You never imagined your first kiss being like this. His hand followed up his jacket, placing them up and down your hip.

The kiss was getting more intense as the time passed. He pulled away but moved down to your neck. The butterflies in your stomach was unreal. You have never experienced anything like this before and you almost felt like you were going to fall apart. He stopped suddenly and leaned up to look at you.

"I'm sorry."

"For What?"

"Moving so quickly....I didn't even ask you how you felt."

"I'm fine Hanbin." You reassured.

He looked at his phone real quick. "Its 9:30 we better get moving." But before he put his phone away, he kissed your cheek taking a cute photo.

He helped you up and you were quick to go on your way. You shared your giant cookie on the whole way back to your house. He found out more about you and he was sweet as ever. He cared to know about your likes and dislikes that by the time you reach your house, you felt disappointed you didn't get to ask about him.

"Next time." He smiled. "Thank you for letting me take you out (Y/N)."

He leaned in closer. "Thank you for not smelling."

He laughed. "Is that going to be our thing now?"

You nodded. He leaned in more bringing his lips towards yours once again. It was hard to describe, but he really did take your breath away.

-

The next day you felt your whole way light up as you stepped in school wearing his jacket. You wanted to return it, so you made sure to have it on you.

He saw you and came up right behind you quickly. "Hey." He kissed your passionately.

"Here." You were about to take off the jacket but he stopped you. "You keep it." He smiled.

"Yo B.I." His friends were on the other end of the hall, making googly eyes at the both of you.

"I'll let you get to class, you might not want to meet these assholes." He laughed.

"Okay." You had to get to your locker anyway.

As you did you saw his friends grabbing his phone away and Hanbin tried to get it back. "Yo send this to me."

"No come on." He wanted but was being playful. You didn't know what was going on but ignored it anyway and went back to class.

As you say there waiting for class to begin you heard people getting text messages near by and start to stare at you. What was going on?

"(Y/N)?" Miyeon asked you and you grabbed her phone and saw that picture of you and Hanbin tangled in the net with your bra clearly showing out of his jacket.

This was your worst nightmare and it was all because of him.

-----------

A/N: If you watch 13 reasons why, you can tell where I got my inspiration from for this story so all the credit goes to them. But Hanbins character is inspired by Justin of course. I always thought he was such an interesting character and is really misunderstood from seeing his background and It’s really heart breaking :(

I want this story to be a long standing series so....lets see how you all like it :)

[noona-clock]

iKonic Fairy Tales: Snow White, Part 2

A modern fairy tale series in collaboration with @cramelot - stay tuned next week for the next story featuring a new member! ✨

Genre: College/Neighbor!AU

Pairing: Donghyuk x You

By Admin B

🍎Part 1, 2, 3, 4

So, you would be lying if you said you hadn’t thought about Donghyuk on the bus ride home that evening.

You wondered what he was like - was he as sweet as he seemed? What was he majoring in? Was he one of those spoiled rich kids? Most likely not because he hadn’t seemed offended or disgusted when you told him you rode the bus.

(Also, did he have a girlfriend? Or a boyfriend? Either way, you lowkey hoped the answer was no. Not that you were interested or anything. I mean, you’d just met the guy. You’d talked to him for, like, two minutes. But he was cute! A girl could dream, right?)

When you arrived at The Queen’s house the following day, you informed the kids of your encounter with their new neighbor, and they begged and pleaded to go over and play pinball. Penelope even lifted her head from the kitchen table where she was currently dozing off to say, “Yeah, please, can we go?”

“Did you ask your mom?” you asked with raised eyebrows.

All seven children let out a defeated sigh in unison, their shoulders sagging.

So, that was a ‘no.’

“Believe me, I would love to go over there,” you assured them, reaching out to ruffle Eddie’s hair. “But I don’t want to do anything your mom doesn’t know about.”

“She’s so mean,” Piper grumbled. The corners of her lips were pulled down into the cutest frown you’d ever seen, and you had to hold yourself back from letting out a giggle.

“She’s just worried about your safety!” you rebutted. “And she’s your mother, so be thankful for her.”

“I wish you - *achoo!* - were our mother.”

“Bless you, Billy. Well, I’m not your mother, but I am your nanny. And that’s almost as good,” you grinned, reaching out to pinch his cheek gently.

“Wait, why would you love to go over there?” Roy asked suspiciously. “Do you have a crush on him?”

You heard about five gasps, and everyone besides Piper and Penelope crowded around you, jumping up and down and teasing you.

“I don’t!” you laughed. “I don’t even know him.”

“But you think he’s cute, right?” Eddie beamed up at you, and your heart melted a little. You’d never met anyone with a smile as sweet as Eddie’s.

Well... except maybe Donghyuk.

“I mean, yes. He’s very good-looking.”

“So, go over and talk to him!” Otis urged.

“No! You guys need to get your homework done, not worry about my love life.” You began herding them all toward the kitchen table so they could get started on their work and, hopefully, leave you alone. For the time being.

As the evening progressed, you were not surprised one bit to find you had to continue to combat accusations of your crush on Donghyuk. You avoided the kids’ comments and questions and teasing, and they honestly really only shut their sweet mouths when their mother came home from work.

You let out a sigh when you closed the door behind you, as you usually did. But today, you were simply glad to be away from the kids’ pestering.

You hadn’t even made it halfway down the driveway when you saw him, though.

Donghyuk.

Obviously.

He was leaning against his mailbox, and he wasn’t even trying to hide the fact he was waiting for you.

“Hi,” you greeted when you got close enough.

“Hey, I really don’t want you to think I’m being creepy,” he began, causing a little giggle to bubble up in your throat. “I just didn’t want you to have to walk down the road by yourself. But if you don’t want me to, that’s totally fine. I just... I mean, there’s no one else in this neighborhood who’s my age.”

“Okay,” you chuckled. “Yes, you may walk me down to the bus stop. But, just so you know, I do have pepper spray in my bag, and I’m not afraid to use it.”

“Noted.” He looked somewhat scared but also somewhat in awe of you.

When he fell into step next to you, you took a breath, feeling the word vomit making its way up into your mouth.

You were nervous, of course. A cute guy was walking you to the bus stop. You hadn’t ever really had a boyfriend before or even someone who was interested in becoming your boyfriend.

And when you were nervous, you couldn’t really control your conversation.

You began to ask him all the little things - favorite movie and favorite food and stuff - because you knew if you asked him the big things, you’d feel the need to reciprocate and tell him your big things.

One surefire way to scare someone off? Tell them your tragic life story the day after you meet them.

So you kept things as light and casual as you could as far as the ‘getting to know you’ stuff.

And when Donghyuk joined you on your walk again the next evening, you continued on with your plan.

And the next evening, and the next evening, and the next...

After almost two weeks, you felt like you knew just about everything light and casual there was to know about Donghyuk. You could definitely say the two of you were friends now, and... you could definitely say you had a crush on him.

He was as sweet as he’d seemed when you first met him, plus he was smart, funny, and very thoughtful.

You honestly couldn’t stop yourself from smiling as you headed up the driveway tonight, seeing Donghyuk waiting for you as he always was.

This time, though, he was throwing something very gently up into the air over and over again, catching it easily in his hand. It looked like a baseball or something, but when you reached him, he held it out to you.

“Snack?” he asked. “Thought maybe you’d be hungry.”

What you’d thought was a baseball actually turned out to be a shiny, red apple, so you let out an awkward chuckle and shook your head.

“I’m allergic to apples, actually,” you told him.

“Oh, sorry!” he cried immediately, throwing the apple over his shoulder as quickly as he could.

“No, it’s fine,” you assured him with a soft laugh, watching to make sure the apple didn’t hit anything (thankfully, it landed in his front yard with a soft thud). “It’s not a common food to be allergic to, really.”

“Do you have a medical bracelet or anything?” Donghyuk asked, his brow furrowed as he gently grabbed your wrist to see. “An Epi-Pen?”

“No and yes. Don’t worry, I’ve been allergic my whole life. I know how to handle it.”

“Sorry,” he murmured with a very shy, embarrassed grin. “I’m a medical student, so it just kind of comes naturally.”

“A medical student?” you asked, your eyebrows shooting halfway up your forehead.

“Well, pre-med.”

“That’s really impressive.”

“Yeah...”

You could tell Donghyuk didn’t necessarily think so, so you nudged him lightly with your elbow. “What’s up?” you asked softly.

“Nothing,” he assured you with a shake of his head. “Just... it’s what my parents wanted. But it’s fine. They’re not making me pay rent, and they’re covering all my school expenses, so... Can’t really complain, y’know?”

You simply nodded, nudging him again, though this nudge was more of a comforting, supportive nudge.

While you were always an advocate of following your heart and your dreams, you couldn’t really blame him for majoring in what his parents wanted.

To be honest, you would do anything to have your parents here to tell you what to major in.

When you reached the bus stop a few minutes later, you realized you hadn’t said anything since the exchange about Donghyuk’s major.

But before you could even take a breath to break the silence, you suddenly felt his fingers brush against the back of your hand, and your head snapped up to look at him.

“Are... you okay?” he asked, his voice just barely above a whisper.

“Hmm?” His question pulled you out of your little trance, and you pulled your lips into a smile as you looked over at him. “Oh. Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Are you sure? You’re not usually this quiet.”

“Yeah, I just... I talk a lot when I’m nervous.”

“So... you’re not nervous around me anymore?”

“No, not really.”

“Does that mean you would let me drive you home?”

A slight smirk tugged at the corner of your lips, and you shrugged coyly. “Maybe...”

The smile which appeared on Donghyuk’s face was honestly bright enough to power three of these huge mansions for the next two months. And it was enough to make your heart skip about five beats.

“Should I go back and get my car? I’ll run home and come and pick you up in two minutes.”

While you were still a bit wary (only because Donghyuk finding out you lived in a tiny, old apartment complex could prove to be just a bit embarrassing), you still couldn’t stop yourself from nodding.

“Okay, I’ll be right back,” Donghyuk grinned. “I promise. Don’t move.”

“Where would I go?” you chuckled as he turned around and began jogging back down the street.

You watched him for a few moments, biting your lip to keep your smile from becoming too idiotic. And just as you were turning away, planning to head to the bus stop to sit down, you suddenly heard or felt or saw someone.

It all happened so quickly, you weren’t really sure how you knew what was going on.

All you knew was a person had grabbed you and was trying to wrangle your bag away from you.

You cried out, letting out a high-pitched scream before the person put his hand over your mouth to stifle your voice. He was still trying to take your bag so even when you tried to reach in for your pepper spray, you couldn’t manage to get to it. You were also trying desperately to kick or punch or elbow him away, but everything was such a blur, you couldn’t really make heads or tails of what you were actually doing.

As you flung your arms out as hard as you could in an attempt to push him away, you felt his weight suddenly disappear.

Oh, wow!

You’d done it!

...Oh, wait.

Never mind.

Donghyuk had, apparently, run back and had grabbed the thief by his shirt collar.

Your heart was already racing from the sudden attack, but it was racing even more as you watched Donghyuk attempting to fight the guy off. He threw a couple punches and was trying to tackle him to the ground when the thief managed to escape and run away.

Once he was out of sight, Donghyuk rushed over to you, breathing heavily from his efforts. “Are you all right?!” he asked, reaching out to put his hands on your arms.

“Y--yeah,” you answered with a slight nod.

I mean, besides the fact you were terrified, yeah, you were fine.

It must have been very obvious you were lying because Donghyuk didn’t hesitate in wrapping his arms around you and pulling you close to his chest.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry,” he murmured as he began to rub your back comfortingly.

Okay, now your heart was racing even faster than it had been.

Because.

Donghyuk’s chest.

Was, like.

Really nice.

You could feel his muscles underneath his shirt, and the way his arms were holding you... Goodness. You felt so safe and secure, and you literally never wanted him to stop hugging you.

Ever.

“Oh, geez, your heart is pounding,” he whispered, hugging you even tighter, probably in an attempt to make you calm down. “You’re shaking.”

Instead of replying, telling him why your heart was pounding, why you were shaking... you simply curled your arms up against his chest and buried your face in his neck. I mean, you were here! You might as well take advantage of it, right?! (P.S. You were not usually this forward, so you were going to blame this behavior on almost being mugged just a few minutes ago. You were in shock. Yep, that was it!)

“I’m definitely driving you home every day from now on, okay?” he told you. You felt him pressing his nose into your hair, and it sent shivers down your spine. “No arguments.”

You simply nodded, taking a deep breath and realizing just how good he smelled. Of course, he did. He was rich. Rich people always smelled amazing.

After what seemed like ten days of standing there, reveling in the feeling of being in Donghyuk’s amazing arms, you took a deep breath and began to pull away.

“Thank you,” you whispered, your forehead wrinkled as you locked your gaze on his.

“There’s nothing to thank me for,” he assured you as he rubbed his hands up and down your arms to keep you warm. “I did what I had to do.”

“I tried to get my pepper spray out, but he --”

“I’m just glad I was still close enough to get here in time,” he interrupted. He was looking at you as if to say ‘Try not to worry about it - you did what you could.’

“Me, too,” you breathed, tempted to just go back in for another hug. But you knew you couldn’t just keep standing out here. You had to go home eventually. “You’ll... you’ll take me home?”

“Of course,” he answered immediately. “Come on, let’s go.”

He put an arm around your shoulders and began guiding you back to his house, keeping you close to him as you walked and not letting you get even an inch farther from his side the whole way there.

And you were certainly okay with that.

Part 3

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