#I’m really sad they took her freckles away though

[cinnbar-bun]

Scrapbooking OP Charas 7- Uta, Boa Hancock, and Alvida!! Featuring a decorated photocard of Uta (I didn’t realize the photo carriers were a bit smaller so I had to cut up the edge of her card a bit 🥴 it’s okay though since I had a dupe of this card soooo-).

The Alvida was for me and the two other fans of her ✊I LOVE THESE LADIES!! I’ll do Perona and Nami tomorrow, I think. I feel bad I haven’t done them yet considering I love em so much 😭

[noisyalmonddreamer]

A Party For Will Solace

Will Solace x gn! reader Warnings: Non really, Will calls reader ‘pretty’ but I kinda think of pretty as gender neutral, Reader calls Will pretty boy, they kiss oh no NOT PROOF READ The ending is very bad cause I wasn’t sure how to end it (plus it was like midnight when I ended it cause I tried hard to get it out on his birthday. Oh well)

Will Solace is one of the most selfless people you’d ever met. There have been many times when you had walked into the infirmary to pay him a visit only for him to stumble into your arms, his exhaustion from overworking himself written all over his face. Even while you dragged him back to his cabin for some much needed cuddles he insisted that he was fine. Will Solace was also a simple man who took great pleasure in being in presence, he found himself being at his most calm when he was with you, he allowed himself to breathe when your hand found his.

~

Which is why he was extremely irritable today. For the last week it seemed you did everything you could to avoid him. 

Earlier this week he wanted to take a walk with you and maybe cuddle after. “Hey there, sweet one” you heard Will say as he walked into your cabin. Quickly you stashed away your papers under you bed and stood.

“Will! Hey!” You replied quickly, perhaps too quickly as Will made a questioning face before leaning in to kiss your forehead. “I was hoping we could go hang out? Take a walk around the strawberry fields? Pick some and bring a blanket?” He asked hopefully. Gods, why did you boyfriend have to be so adorable? You wanted too, so bad, Will never had freetime and now that he does you can’t spend it with him? Gods that's unfair.

“Oh Will that sounds amazing but…” you casted your eyes away, unable to see his disappointed expression “I’m really busy right now. I’m sorry.” You heard him let out an understanding hum then felt as he placed a loving kiss on your cheek. “It’s okay, love, I understand. Next time we’ll plan out beforehand, yeah?” 

You nodded while looking down and bid farewell to your boyfriend, wanting nothing more than to pull him into your bed and cuddle for the rest of the day. 

~

That’s more or less how the rest of the week went. Will would come up to you and ask you to hang out or go on a mini date and you would have to decline. It felt like knives going into your heart seeing him so sad. 

You just had to remind yourself it was all for a good reason. You decided last month you wanted to throw Will a surprise party. Out of everyone you knew you felt as though he deserved it the most so for the last month you had been making plans and coordinating with friends to make it happen.

The week before the party was the most hectic, you had finally gotten permission from Mr D to throw a party on the lakefront and you needed to find somewhere to store away presents and decorations. This place just so happened to be Percy Jackson's cabin, he had the most space to spare and was closest to the water front, it worked out perfectly.

Other than the fact you had to ignore your boyfriend for the last week. 

~

As you were stressing yourself out about planning Will's party, Will was in his cabin, groaning to Kayla about his dilemma with you.

“They’ve just been so distant…and I don’t know why! We haven’t spent anytime together in like two weeks!” He whined to his sister as he was faced up on his bed. His hands covered his freckled face and Kalya was glad he couldn’t see. If Will saw her face he’d see her roll her eyes at the boy. She obviously knew about the surprise party and it was hard to hear her brother moan about this problem.

“Well maybe they’re just busy and don’t wanna burden you, y’know?” Kayla said, her eyes downcast to her sheets as she fidgeted with them. Will turned his head to look at her. “I’m their boyfriend! I want to be burdened with their troubles!” 

Kalya stood from her bed and walked to Will, crouching down to be at his level. “They’re not mad at you. They’re just busy! I’m sure in a week you guys will go back to being all romantic and kissy when their plate has cleared up, okay?” 

Will let out an exasperated sigh but nodded. “Yeah…” he said, looking away from his sister, doubt and anxieties still plagued his mind however. He just wanted to be in your arms, having you comb through his hair as he fell asleep. He could picture now, it always comforted him, you made him feel safe. Yet he could only live in his imagination for a few minutes before he realized he had a shift in the infirmary. 

~

“Can’t you make it just for a day? I asked like a week ago.” Your voice filled your cabin as the Iris message floated above you. 

“I’ve been pretty busy, I’m sorry (N/n), I’m pretty far out but I’ll try. I promise okay?” The image of Cecil said, he was looking off to the side and you guessed looking at his calendar. 

You groaned but looked at him “Yeah just…just please try?” Cecil nodded then said goodbye, ending the call. 

With an annoyed breath you sat in your desk chair and checked your notes. You had called all of Will's friends and asked them to show up for the party, you also managed to find somewhere that made a star wars themed cake. Originally you planned on making one yourself but you realized you didn't exactly have the time to make it. 

With one more powerful groan you got up from your chair and headed towards your door, hoping to get some fresh air. Planning for so long started to hurt your head and strain your eyes. 

Opening the door you were met with the sight of Will Solace himself, sitting on your cabins stairs, his hair a little messier than usual. 

“Will?” You gasp, crouching down “What are you doing here?”

Will dopily smiled at you “hey there pretty.” He looked exhausted, you wanted nothing more then to tuck him into bed and let him sleep forever. 

“Will? What happened? Are you okay?” You asked, your voice full of concern as you looked him over. He nodded, resting his head in your hands “I’m just fine. Just tired from my shift. I wanted to hang out.”

You shook your head at him, standing up and allowing him to follow. “You are going to bed. You looked tired. C’mon sweety.” You wanted to scold him but honestly couldn’t find it in yourself too. Will shook his head stubbornly as he hung off you “no!” He moaned, reminding you a little of a child “I wanna stay with you…please, pretty?” 

It was hard to say no to him, especially when he was exhausted and adorable. Finally you nodded “How about we cuddle in your bed, yeah?” A bright smile finally covered Wills face and he followed you to his cabin. The two of you snuggled into his bed, Will hid his face in the crook of your neck and quickly fell asleep. 

You felt something in your heart settle seeing Wills relaxed face, tomorrow was his birthday and the plan was that you were gonna spend the morning and party of the afternoon with him as everyone else set up the party. You wanted to make sure things went well, maybe check on them, but the others insisted you be with Will.

You looked down at him and smiled. He was beautiful, sure this week was stressful but if it meant you got to see Wills face light up it would be worth it.

~

The next day you woke up in generally the same position you had fallen asleep in, Will's head tucked into her neck as you held him. The biggest difference was your legs tangled together. The sun shone bright through the Apollo cabin windows yet Will didn’t stir. Normally he was awake by now yet it seemed his exhaustion from yesterday truly had taken a toll on him. You decided against waking him, he deserved to rest, he deserved to sleep in. You carded your fingers through his hair, waiting for him to wake.

Only a few minutes passed before Will began to stir, moving around in your arms and stretching. He looked up at you with the same dopey grin as before “good morning, pretty” he greeted, his voice deep and rumbly from having just woken up. 

You smiled at him, placing a kiss onto his forehead “good morning, happy birthday pretty boy.”

Slowly the two of you got ready for the day, sneaking in kisses here and there as you did. While walking to breakfast Will nudged you “I’m glad we got to spend some time together today. Thank you.” 

“Of course I’d spend the day with you. It’s your birthday, silly boy” you giggled, tapping his hand in a playful way before taking your seat next to him at the Apollo table. No one cared if you sat with Will, It happened so often no one noticed anymore. 

The rest of the day was similar to the morning, soft touches, loving glances, and basically everything that would make Will’s siblings pretend to gag in front of him. You made sure to keep him away from the beachfront, first going to arts and crafts, then the stables and even visiting Rachel.

~

By noon you had gotten Will to agree to go to the waterfront for what he would think is a casual dip in the lake but what would actually be his party. He waited for you to change outside your cabin and grabbed your hand once you came out. “You ready?” He asked. You nodded at him and the two of you walked slowly to the lake. 

As you arrived everyone yelled out to him, everyone you invited did manage to make it and a flood of relief washed over you. “Happy Birthday Will” you whispered to him, pulling him towards everybody. The decorations looked better than you expected, the blue and gold decorations looked amazing and the cake you had gotten looked better than you could have imagined.

Will smiled at everyone “Oh my gods. Thank you guys, this is so amazing” Will said, his mouth agape as he looked at everyone with bliss. Kalya walked up to her brother and patted him on the shoulder “don’t thank us. Thank (Y/n) they’ve been planning this for like a month.” Kalya gestured to you as you awkwardly smiled at Will, you cheeks warming up as you see Wills expression morph into a loving one.

He walked over to you, holding your face in his hands “You did all of this for me?” He whispered, astonishment showing in his eyes. You only nodded at him “You deserve it. You work so hard, love. I wanted to do something nice for you.” 

Will sighed and pressed a sweet kiss to your lips “I don’t deserve you…” Will muttered against your lips. In that moment it felt like you were alone with him, but you quickly remembered you weren’t. You pulled away from him and shook your head. “Don’t say that” you scolded. You gasped as you remembered his cake. You grabbed his hand and dragged him to it.

Will stood in front of his Millennium Falcon cake with his mouth agape. “Is that…” he trailed off, looking at you. You nodded excitedly “yup! Had it custom made! Do you like it?”

Will stared at you in astonishment and slowly nodded “it’s the best cake ever…”

The party was an overall success, Will was more than happy and everyone was having fun swimming and catching up. Before you finally cut the cake you leaned over to Will.

“Oh and I forgot” you whispered to your golden boyfriend “I have a star wars marathon for the two of us later, managed to get a cabin for us alone to watch it!”

“I truly don’t deserve you.”

~~~(A/n)~~~

Hey…its been a while. I hope you all like this Will fic. It kinds sucks but oh well…I love Will more than anything. 

Anyway I’m trying to get back into writing but I don’t know…i feel bad about never writing which makes me not wanna write….

I’ll try to write more though! I swear!

Anyway, until next time!

-Lilli

[skyward-floored]

Whumptober Day 19: Psychological

I’ve been meaning to do something like this to Legend in particular for a while now, I finally had an excuse with today’s prompt (though all of them were a little weird...). I’ve also been getting Legend a lot I realized... oops.

Warnings: not too much. themes of loss/grief, heavy on the hurt/comfort

Read on ao3

————————————————————

It was the perfect kind of day for lazing around.

Warm and sunny, with a cool breeze that rustled against the palm trees and stopped the sunshine from being too hot. The ocean waves rolling in the background, and the occasional cry of a seagull lending to the sleepy atmosphere.

Legend sighed happily, and rested his head on Marin’s where they were flopped together in the grass.

“You’re being so clingy, Link,” she teased as he nestled in, and he held on a little tighter, making her squeak in surprise.

“I only just got you back, I’m going to enjoy every second,” he said determinedly, and she laughed, the sound musical and warm.

Goddesses he’d missed her.

He’d had a quiet hope during all of the time he’d been traveling through portals with the other heroes that maybe... somehow... he’d find Marin again. They were traveling through time, right? Anything was possible... maybe she was alive and well somewhere.

He hadn’t dared to hope too loud, but then the most recent portal they’d gone through had left them on a beach by the ocean. His only warning had been a shocked gasp before he’d turned around and found himself being hugged by the girl he thought he’d never see again.

Marin.

He sighed in happiness, and he knew Marin was smiling at him, her hair tickling his chin.

“I really missed you,” he admitted quietly, voice still thick from his earlier tears, and Marin hummed, nestling into his arms.

“Me too, Link.”

The shouts of the others as they messed around in the water drifted by on the wind, and Legend closed his eyes, content to stay exactly where he was. He hadn’t felt this relaxed in ages, not since they’d last been able to rest at the ranch, and he was going to enjoy every second of it.

Something flickered in his mind then, and the noise of the others momentarily grew.

Legend opened his eyes, something cold suddenly trickling through his chest, and he sat up, taking his head off of Marin’s.

“Link?” she asked, and Legend looked at her, studying her features. Brown eyes, red hair, freckles dusted across her nose... just like he remembered.

She sat up as well, and he put a hand on her cheek, feeling her skin under his palm, warm from the sunshine. Legend carefully rubbed a thumb under her eye as he looked at her, her eyebrows raised. She looked exactly like he remembered. Exactly the same, but why...

“Link, what’s wrong?” she asked again, and Legend looked at their surroundings, then back at her, trying to focus on her face again.

He couldn’t quite do it.

The cold feeling grew, settling deep into his chest, and the world faded around the edges, just a bit. Dread began to overtake him, and Legend took Marin’s hands in his, feeling at her skin with shaking fingers.

She felt real. She felt real and looked real and sounded real, and earlier when she’d suddenly kissed him she’d tasted real, but—

But—

“This is a dream,” he choked out, and Marin looked at him, her brown eyes brimming with sadness.

“It is,” she said quietly.

Legend held on to her still, almost desperately, but the world was fading the more he tried to cling to it, the ocean slipping away, Marin’s brown eyes fading the longer he looked at them.

“I’m sorry Link,” she said gently, then disappeared with everything else.

Legend woke up alone.

He opened his eyes, staring dully at the ceiling, and swallowed, closing them again with a shaking sigh. That dream. Again.

His fists clenched as he tried to get his emotions under control and not think about it. Anger and grief and a swirl of all sorts of other awful feelings raced through him without his permission, and he clutched at his blanket, shaking slightly.

He hated that dream. He hated it.

He’d had it multiple times since he’d come on this stupid quest, and every time was worse. Every time he desperately let himself believe that it was real, that they had gone through a portal and he had found Marin, but every single time he woke up.

Legend swallowed thickly, scrubbing his arm over his face, and only feeling more angry when the sleeve got damp. Great. He’d been crying in his sleep.

And the worst thing was, it had been tears of joy.

“Legend?”

He flinched, and wiped his face again before glancing beside him, seeing Wind and Hyrule both awake and looking at him, some of the others stirring.

“Are you okay?” Wind asked in concern, and Legend turned away, his shoulders hitching up.

“Fine,” he choked out, then threw his blanket off and left the room they’d all been sleeping in.

All of them except for Time of course, who was sleeping in his own bed with his red-haired wife who’d probably triggered his stupid dream because he only ever had it when they were here—

Legend forced himself not to stomp down the stairs or slam the door as he went outside, despite how sorely he was tempted. He’d let the others get some sleep at least.

He certainly wasn’t going to get any more.

Legend sat down with an angry huff on the steps of the porch of the farmhouse, his elbows on his knees. Resting his chin on his hands, he glared out at the mostly-darkened fields as his breath shook, lit only by a thin sliver of moon. A cricket was chirping somewhere, and Legend listened to it, struggling to calm down.

He wasn’t going to cry. It had just been a dream. It hadn’t been real, so there was no reason to cry about it.

An owl hooted, and he tensed up, hunching over and burying his head in his hands.

He wasn’t.

The door behind him creaked, and Legend snapped his head up, prepared to send one of the others back upstairs with a sharp word, but the words died in his throat as Malon stepped through the doorway, her red hair almost brown in the shadows.

Great. It was the last person he wanted to see right now.

“Sorry if I woke you,” Legend muttered as Malon crossed the porch over to him, wrapped in a shawl against the chill.

“Oh you didn’t,” she said, looking back at the house. “Wind and Hyrule were whispering right outside my door, and they woke me up.”

Legend huffed out a small laugh, and looked out at the darkened fields again. “Sounds about right.”

“...May I sit?” Malon asked, gesturing to the steps.

Legend shrugged, not looking at her. It wasn’t like he could stop her, they were her steps.

Malon hummed, and settled herself down next to him, Legend relaxing slightly at the distance she left between them. At least she was giving him space.

A bit of her hair caught the moonlight, and Legend swallowed, looking at his feet.

He wasn’t thinking about it. Nope.

“I’m sorry to pry hon, but... I’ve noticed you don’t seem to sleep well when you’re here,” Malon suddenly spoke up, her voice gentle. Legend stiffened. “Is there any way we can make things more comfortable for you? I know it’s stuffy being crammed in that room with seven other boys.”

“No, it’s plenty comfortable,” Legend muttered, not looking at her. “It’s not... it’s not that.”

Malon was silent for a minute, and Legend slightly curled in on himself, wishing he’d taken his blanket with him. It was kind of cold out here, and he hadn’t even put on socks or anything.

A part of him was relieved it wasn’t warm though. It made it easier to keep the memory of his balmy dream away.

“You know, I’ve sat on this porch in the middle of the night many a time,” Malon said softly, looking up at the moon. “When I was a little girl now and then, but mostly right after me and Link were married. He’d try not to wake me, but his adventures left a lot behind. He rarely slept through the night. Still doesn’t, sometimes.”

She breathed in, and let out a deep sigh, looking over at Legend with a sad look in her eyes.

“I hate to think you’ve been through even half as much as him,” she said softly, and Legend hated the sting that started up in his eyes. “And I know a few kind words aren’t going to fix any of that. Especially from me, I know you don’t prefer my company.”

“...What?” Legend startled, and looked at her.

“Well, I assumed you weren’t too fond of me since you always avoid me when you boys end up here,” she said in surprise, and Legend stared at her, then shook his head, just stopping himself from letting out a bitter laugh.

Of course. Of course he’d pushed her away and made her think he hated her.

He was awfully good at that, wasn’t he?

“No, no Malon, you’re not...” he tried to explain, but his voice caught in his throat, a sudden lump making it impossible to speak. He swallowed thickly, and Malon waited patiently for him to finish, remaining silent as he tried to gather himself, not pushing.

Legend swallowed again, and looked over at her.

“You look... like someone I lost,” Legend said thickly, and closed his eyes against the tears gathering in his eyes. “I-I wasn’t trying...”

His voice broke, and he harshly cleared his throat, nearly shaking with the effort not to cry. A hand cautiously settled over his own, and Legend looked down at it, his lip quivering.

He couldn’t cry, he wouldn’t cry, he refused—

“Oh hon, I’m so sorry,” Malon said in a gentle, grieved voice, and Legend couldn’t stop the sob that hiccuped out of him.

Malon immediately scooted closer, and Legend didn’t resist when she gathered him into her arms, shaking as he entirely broke down. It was like a dam had burst, and Legend sobbed into Malon’s arms, equally hating himself for crying and feeling utterly overwhelmed at the emotions that were rushing past his defenses.

He’d only let himself cry for Marin and Koholint once before. But now all the grief and guilt were pouring out, with him unable to stop them one bit, and he choked on another sob, tears pouring down his cheeks.

He hated crying.

Malon held him the whole time while he sobbed, gently rocking him, running a hand through his hair. Her arms were warm and tight, and Legend wondered distantly if his mother would have held him like this if she’d still been alive.

It could have been a couple minutes or an hour later, but Legend’s tears finally slowed, and he sighed, feeling entirely rung out.

Malon ran a hand over his head, and Legend felt heat rise in his cheeks, embarrassment hitting him almost as hard as the sudden surge of emotion had earlier. He’d just spent the last however long it had been crying onto a woman he’d only met a handful of times, and his tear-stained cheeks felt hot.

He quickly raised his head and wiped his eyes, and Malon gave him a gentle smile.

“Better?” she asked, and Legend gave her an awkward nod, sniffling a little. He did feel better, come to think of it.

“Sorry I—” he began to apologize, but Malon stopped him, squeezing his shoulder.

“No trouble at all, hon.”

Legend stared at her, then nodded, ducking his head down. He still felt wrung out and embarrassed, and the ache was still there if he thought too hard about the dream that had woken him, but... he also felt warm.

Like everything would be okay.

...He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt like that.

Legend exhaled, and when Malon tucked her shawl over him, he found himself leaning into it.

Neither of them said anything else, and they sat together on the porch for a long time, Malon occasionally running a hand over Legend’s hair, until the sky began to change from navy to pink, stars winking out.

And after that night, whenever Legend found himself at the ranch, he slept the entire night through.

[ectobabble]

Glitter Roots Fic Snippet

✨Glitter Roots✨<- // I started this in January and it didn't do well, I wrote way too much, so I'm spamming it. Sorry.

---

Rate: PG | Sunshine x Sunny | Tooth Rot Fluff + Comfort

Reader/MC has Dissociative Identity Disorder

Glitter Roots is a prequel to 'The Imposter' from Shiny's perspective. Expecting to work with Sun and Moon in the theater, Shiny is disappointed that they were locked away in Parts and Service. ---- Meeting Sunny:

“SUNNY!” They exclaimed like a child, running up to him and dropping everything that they were doing with the technician.

Sun startled at the noise but eagerly stood up to greet them. “Hello! WOW. Your outfit? It’s exciting!” He pressed his hands against the glass. “Are you from the daycare?” He tapped his fingers on the glass nervously.

“I’m going to be at the daycare. It’s my first day! And then I went and talked to my boss, Lydia about what I’d be working on and she said that I’d be working mostly with you because she said that I remind her of her daughter and she said that we’d be good working together. Maybe her daughter is good with kids, she didn’t want to talk about it. You know her? Or remember her, I mean. She said she worked at the daycare before it closed down. Now it’s opening again and…” 

Shiny had to stop to take a large breath. You’re talking too much. Too excited again. Stop. Stop it. That didn’t stop their mouth from running. “I have been waiting to meet you for so long. I used to watch you perform back when you did theater! You were amazing!” 

Sun put up a finger, to try and wedge his way into the one-sided conversation but failed. 

“You can call me Sunshine. Lydia said we could put nicknames on our pins for the kids and I thought that was awesome! My friends used to call me Sunshine at summer camp! I wanted to keep it since it’s less serious and I thought it’d be cute. Actually, maybe I should have asked you first? Is that okay? I hope that’s okay! I should stop talking. Sorry. Talking. I’m talking more… It’s good to meet you. I hope we can hang out sometime!”

“Ho-Ho Ho! Aren’t you quite the chaaaatterbox! You say you’re in summer caaaaamp?! That sounds like so much fun! How old are you, little superstar? You look so tiny!”

Sunshine immediately lost all the charisma they had built up, so much so that Sun flinched at the sudden change in expression and tone. “I’m old enough to have a job… I like what I like and age shouldn’t matter… I heard you’re not a fan of adults either. I hope it’s not a bad thing.”

“Wow, really?” He cocked his head, though there was a noticeable change in his demeanor. “I can’t tell with the face paint.” He didn’t say whether it was alright or if he liked it… now that Shiny was thinking about it, he didn’t say if their name was alright either. They weren’t making a good impression with anyone… 

Sunshine: …I gotta fix it. It can’t end like this, they’ll take over and I’ll lose everything again. I can’t go BACK. This has to work so they can’t get mad at me.

If Sun didn’t like it then they could tone it down! Lydia seemed to think it was too much. The little kids liked it… Sunshine started analyzing everyone’s reactions during the day. Maybe their other was right, they weren’t cut out for this. They quit their only job, their safety net, and took a risk on a stupid dream-. “I’m glad you can’t tell. That’s good.” 

“Did you do face painting today?” Sun tilted his head, tapping the glass. “I would have loved that! Who painted you? Did Lydia?”

Sunshine winced, their voice had gotten much weaker. “I uh… did it before coming over. I figured it was okay because… kids… daycare.”

“It looks so happy! Like flower freckles!” He chuckled. “It matches the clips in your hair. I bet the kids liked it. It reminds me of the theater costumes we used to have! Ah, memories…” It sounded like it was sad nostalgia.

“Lydia got a little upset about it since the kids wanted to face paint too… I had to promise to not do it on days when we’re not painting. That’s my bad. I don’t think before doing things… I wanted it to be extra special. I really really really want to make this job work.” They closed their fists and and shook them to punctuate their words. They needed to be liked. They needed this job. They needed friends and have people depend on them. 

They couldn’t go BACK.

“I do remember Lydia! She is one of the nicer staff. I didn’t mind working with her… She’s such a nice granny. Do you know when I’m scheduled to get out? I have been very good. They say I’m all better now! Healthy! Tip top shape.”

Sunshine frowned. “I - uh - don’t… Actually, I’m not supposed to really be here. I came down after work… and the technicians are ignoring me right now so I think it’s okay?” Behind them were the technicians tolling away at some service bots, unbothered by Sunshine hanging around. 

“Rulebreaker.” He gasped.

“Not really. See, I got a pass!” They showed Sun their security badge. “My workday ended and I just came here because Lydia said that you were here and I really wanted to see you. I’ve always wanted to work with kids and never got the opportunity to apply.”

“Juuuust because you have the means, does not mean that it is right.” Sunny crossed his arms and looked away dramatically, then he completely dropped the act and leaned down to be face to face with them and whisper, “I am glad you visited though. It’s been a while since I’ve talk talk TALKED with someone new. You look like a rainbow threw up on you!” He giggled. “You must like color a lot.” Sunny prompted them, trying to continue the conversation. He probably was just as attention starved as Sunshine was.

But he didn’t like it, did he?

“I do.” Sunshine was afraid they were going to slip from being out again. If there was one thing their other fed off of it was insecurity and doubt, and they could get a full meal out of something as small as this.

Other: Did you put this shit in our hair again? Oh man, where are we? Are you playing dress up? Are we out in public looking like a clown?! Against their will, Sunshine began to take the pins out of their hair. It was a losing the battle. As they lowered the head to pull the clips out, the light caught on the glitter roots.

Sun gasped. “You got glitter glue all up in your hair!”

Sunshine was shaking a little. People liked it though, right? They made people smile today and the kids seemed to like it… “Oh. I did that on purpose. It’s hair gel mixed with glitter. It’s a trend.. Or it was…” That was a scary thought too; it was a trend eight years ago and yet they remembered seeing it like yesterday. “I saw it online and I thought it’d be cool to try. It’ll wash out… and its biodegradable. Team Mother Earth! Haha…” Sunshine cleared their throat, pulling another clip out.

“No no no! I’m sorry, new friend! It looked good! I haven’t seen a person that colorful before. You look like a little fairy. Heh!”

“I realize now that I overdid it…” Sunshine was getting self-conscious, a foreign feeling.

“You look perfect for the daycare! Don’t listen to the sticks in the mud! I’m sure the kids loved it! Avant garde! Inspired! You look like arts and craaaaafts.” Sun sang as he spun his rays. “That’d be great at parties - we should play dress up with the kids sometime to do plays! I’d love that! We should definitely do that.”

“I want the party on the inside to match the party on the outside.” Sunshine was gaining their confidence back, if only a little. “I hope, uhm, we get along when you come back out.”

Sun clapped his hands. “We shall see! I’m so excited to see the kids again! We’re going to have so much FUN! We should add face painting sometimes! I miss fingerpainting. My ballpit! It’s still there?”

“It is!” Sunshine suddenly jumped, remembering something important. “Here! I wanted to give you something anyway. I got this for you because it’s my first day and I figured ‘Hey, this would be cool! Maybe he’d like it as a welcome present back to the daycare.’ I used to watch you do theater before and it really helped get me through some dark times. That’s pretty much the reason I wanted to start working here is because I wanted -.” They took a much needed deep breath. “Sorry. I meant to say: I got you this.”

Shiny lifted up a little party bag they had prepared and impatiently waited all day to give to him. 💖

[borntoocry]

just be yourself.

playlist: end, be yourself, skyline to, Siegfried, dear April by frank ocean. drew Barrymore and supermodel by SZA. liar, big man, little dignity by Paramore. demi Moore, ICU, you missed my heart by Phoebe bridgers.

synopsis: if you have watched the summer I turned pretty, this is a take on the Conrad and belly argument on the beach ('I THOUGHT YOU KNEW!'). Ellie ghosted yn after something personal happened and she never even said goodbye. yn is now at a party with Ellie there, hugged up with another girl. yn and Ellie's cousin, Finn, spoke for a while after her and Ellie stopped talking... but the love wasn't reciprocated.

warnings: yelling, drunkness.

this story is told using 'I' pronouns, even though this is a yn story.

I was drunk and sitting across the firepit from Ellie. She had a cold beer in her sweater-wrapped hand and was shivering, teeth clattering as she sipped the cheap drink. I thought it was funny–how she settled for cheap beer but never cheap weed. 

I sipped on my oddly flavored tequila-cranberry juice and watched her talk to her friend next to her. She was gorgeous: ginger with freckles dancing across her body behind the fire. People might’ve thought she blended in, with all the red, even the sweater on her body; but I thought she stood out. 

I might’ve been biased, though, because I had been staring at her all night. Before I even started drinking. She sat beside Ellie once I plopped my ass onto the cold steel chair and as I drank more and more, I could feel her body burn into my eyeballs. 

She looked good with Ellie. I could tell they were talking because The Girl had her arm hooked in Ellie’s and she wasn’t moving it. 

A body pushed itself next to me and I straightened myself out. I gripped my cup tighter and looked at them. I didn’t really need to look to know who it is, though, because the cologne overtaking my senses only belonged to Finn. 

“Hey beautiful,” he sayid. 

I nodded. I didn’t usually reply to these things with a blush and awkward stutter, I just answered. I felt bad for doing it, but my emotions did not match those that I had in the pool after Ellie’s graduation party. That night I kissed him because Ellie said she couldn’t date me any longer. And Finn… he hugged me as I cried and carried me into the pool as if to wash me of the pain. He felt safe, it felt as though he could care for me. And I could care for him back. But as time moved forward and Ellie’s smile grew wider, the sore patches beneath her eyes disappeared, and her shoulders no longer slouched like a sad face, I wished for her back. I thought that since she was better, the idea of taking me back would present itself. 

However… Ellie was perfectly fine now and in no visible need for my return. Which, ouch, that hurt. Seasons had passed and the summer glow remained on her skin. 

“You doing okay?” Finn asked as he took my cup and slowly took a sip. His face cringed and he smacked his lips in disgust. “You’re drunk.” 

I nodded. “Sorry. Just a rough night.” 

Finn nodded and watched my hooded eyes move from him to the girl across from the fire pit. I could feel his disappointment slapping my face but I said nothing–because… what was there to say? I knew Finn wasn’t oblivious to my feelings towards Ellie, but I was sure he hoped they’d go away at some point–it had been a while. 

“You’re wasting time,” Finn had finally said after a minute. 

My eyebrows jerked together. “What?” I asked. 

“You’re wasting time trying to get her to want you back,” he continued. “Not just your time, but mine too.” 

I didn’t know what else to do but nod. I just sat and moved my head up and down. My feelings at the time weren’t functioning the way they usually would. I felt bad, but I wouldn’t feel terrible until the next morning. I guess that’s why I would drink more than usual. 

“I’m sorry,” I whispered. I turned to face him and all halted emotions started up again. The realization that Finn had truly been affected by my inability to like him hit me like a bus. I opened my mouth, ready to delve into my apology, but Finn stood up. 

I stood up as well, following not only him and his path across the fire pit, but his–no, my–drink in his hand. I wobbled across the uneven grass and tried hauling him back as he grabbed Ellie’s shoulder. 

“Hey!” Ellie hissed, yanking her shoulder back. “What the fuck? Your nails–” 

“You’re an asshole, you know that?” 

I stayed back an inch and hugged myself as tightly as possible, restricting my air flow. If I died, things would be much better–like not hearing this conversation or seeing how it’d go down. Ellie and Finn were cousins, and if they ever argued, it’d become a tad violent. Not physically, but loudly enough to be considered slapping and punching words. 

Ellie scoffed and looked over at me. I looked off to the side. “Wh–Does this have to do with her?” 

“It depends,” Finn replied. “Did you cut her off when life for you got too hard without a proper explanation or did you keep her around and explain everything to her?” 

Ellie finally let go of the ginger wrapped around her arm like a koala and stood up to face Finn. “Get out of it. That conversation was between me and you, not me, you, and the rest of this party.” 

“Well you should have explained everything to her,” Finn exclaimed, turning to point at me. “YN deserved an explanation, and she still does. Yet you haven’t given her one. If you had done so months ago, she would be the one hugging you, not that ginger.” 

I shoved Finn and he looked down at me, his eyes watery as though he wanted to cry. I looked down again. “Stop being mean.” 

He scoffed. “YN,” he whispered. “She’s being mean.” 

I dug my nails into my skin and looked someplace else–the girl behind Ellie, also in a confused and emotional state. She had never been humiliated in front of a party, I was sure. “She doesn’t know anything,” I replied. 

“You don’t either.” 

“Yeah but it’s different.” 

Finn scoffed again and ran a hand over his wet eyes. Tears stuck to his eyes and he wiped them on this white sweater, staining it. “Ellie could have you right now. You wouldn’t be fucking with me to get over her if she would have just explained.” 

I couldn’t speak properly to save my life. A ball of nerves was lodged in my throat and a nest of wasps was tucked neatly inside of my stomach. If I spoke, or even opened my mouth to speak, it would crash and kill me. 

I swallowed and opened my mouth to speak. Bad decision. I couldn’t say a word, the only sounds coming out of my mouth were broken mewls. I was pathetically crying. 

I wiped my tears with the back of my hand and dropped the mascara covered hand against my thighs, digging into any bit of skin I could catch. I tried to move away and never hear of this conversation for the rest of my life, but as I tried to move, Ellie walked over as fast as she could and dragged me back over. She pulled me closer than I stood before, and I looked up at her with my wet cheeks and black-smeared eyes. 

“I just wanted you to explain,” I whispered. 

Ellie’s eyes dropped to the floor and I watched them linger on my arms. Crescents dotted them and she gulped. She didn’t hold onto me anymore, she let me move back. I thought it was due to the fear that she had done that–the nail digging–but then I realized it was the effect her presence had on me. I was anxious of her words, how they would be spat out, who she would direct them towards, if they would kill me, that I had begun the process of killing on my own. 

“Do you love her?” Finn asked, staring so deeply into Ellie’s eyes that she had to blink, the burning setting tears to her eyes. “Not the girl behind you, but the girl in front of you. Because I do,” he continued, “even though I know she doesn’t love me back.” 

“Finn,” I whimpered as I looked at Ellie. She looked back and gulped. 

“Yes,” Ellie muttered. 

I walked back and almost tripped over the firewood running away from Finn and Ellie. I drunkenly wriggled my way through the people inside and once I reached the porch, I darted towards the lake at the end of the road. I ran past cars–although I didn’t know how I was running so fast while alcohol freely swirled in my stomach and the cold air panged my face–and as I got to the cul de sac, I knelt over and heaved. I wasn’t sure at first if it was the kind of heaving that led to vomiting, but I quickly answered my own question as I began sobbing. 

I sobbed and the hot tears stung my frozen cheeks. I held my stomach and sobbed in the middle of the road, where someone’s BMW was parked to my right. Poor BMW, having to hear a broke college student cry broken tears. I covered my mouth to not wake anyone with fragile ears and stood up as quickly as I could. I walked to the bench beside the lake and looked at the water. The sound almost sent me to sleep until the crunching of cold grass interrupted my eyelids. 

I glanced behind me and froze. My neck crunched as I turned back around. “Hey,” I sighed. 

She nodded towards the seat and I shrugged. She slowly walked towards me with her hands in her pockets, but instead of taking the seat to my left, she kneeled in front of me. Her hands slipped out of her jeans and grasped onto mine. 

“You left,” she said. 

I nodded. “Yeah… But you did too…” 

She opened her mouth to speak but said nothing. She simply looked at me and gulped. 

“I wanted an explanation for your disappearance and I got nothing. You left me and I had nothing. I tried to figure it all out–I tried to figure you out, but I gave up. You can be a hard person to read.” 

“I thought you knew,” she whined. 

“No,” I cried. “I have been walking around trying to figure out what happened–If I was to blame, if I just couldn’t support you how you wanted me to. I knew something had happened but I didn’t know what! How would I know?” 

I was shaking now, not from the cold–though it should have been–but from the anger welling up inside of me over the past few months. 

My hands, icy and pale, reached out and grabbed onto Ellie’s face. “How would I know?” I cried to her, repeating myself over and over again. So she could hear me. Hear how badly I wanted to know what shredded her mind. “I loved you. But…” I gasped, my head dropping down and tired of holding itself up. “I loved you so much. I do… love you so much. But how would I have known, Ellie?”

A tear rolled down her face and her body fell forward onto my lap. My hands moved to her neck and hers rolled up onto my back. She sobbed onto me, and the feelings bubbling in my stomach shooted out of my mouth. I cried alongside her and no longer cared about the floating words in the sky–the one’s begging Ellie to eat them and speak them. I should have, but my focus was on the warm feeling washing away the cold in my veins. 

Ellie croaked, her cries washing out just as the cold did. I lifted her head up and cradled her face between my hands. She winced. “When Joel got sick,” she said, sniffling, “I didn’t want anyone to know. I would have done anything to hide that from any and everyone.” 

I sensed her following words. She wasn’t going to tell me from the beginning. And as I sat there and watched those words leave her lips, the anger was wrung out of my body. I felt as though crying alongside her, but my eyes were frozen and all I could do was wrap my arms around her and pull her up onto the bench. I held her against my body and didn’t let go until she gasped for fresh air. 

“I didn’t mean to push you away,” she whispered. “I wanted to speak to you. I wanted to allow you in and tell you about Joel and how close he was to dying. But every time I typed out a text to ask if I could come and talk to you, I shut down and threw my phone across the room. After five times, I stopped trying.” 

I sat still, not saying a word or thinking of any, at that. I was mute and thoughtless, just a body with its mind crawling out of a hole it dug. Ellie had given me the reason I had been searching for. However, I had thought that once she’d given it to me on a plate, all of her factors in the shape of sides, I would ask and ask until she was the mute one–still and brainless. 

Minutes had passed and I hadn’t spoken a word yet. I assumed Ellie gained suspicion as she wrapped an arm around me and dug her fingernails into my side. I picked my head and body up and looked at her, a faulty smile painting my face. “Sorry,” I said. “Just trying to process.” 

“I know this is unforgivable,” she said, her voice congested from the crying. She sniffled. “I should have told you. I should have let you in. If I had known you wanted to know about what had me pushing you away from me, I would have pushed past all of the overthinking.” 

I shook my head and anxiously swept my hair away from my sticky face. “If I wasn’t stuck thinking you hated me or something, I would have fought for just a word with you. I would have knocked your fucking door down. I love you, Ellie, I shouldn’t have been so clueless.” 

Ellie’s cold hand grabbed onto my chin and turned my face towards her. I wanted to shut my eyes, shut her out of my line of vision and just think about the fucking galaxy and my lack of importance in it; but her thumb glided across my wet eyelids and pleaded for their opening. 

“We can’t keep blaming ourselves for this if we want to move past it,” she chuckled, her hand still caressing my face. 

I nodded. With my wet lips and needy demeanor, I slowly moved into her and kissed her softly. I wanted to taste her, in a non-erotic sense. I wanted to taste her sadness and anger, her anxiousness and tears. The kisses turned into pecks and as they passed, our lips met different areas of our faces: cheeks, ear, neck, shoulder. We then hugged tightly and continued kissing one another’s shoulders. 

“I missed you,” she whispered to me, followed by, “I’m sorry.” 

And I said, “I’m sorry too. And I’m sorry… too.” 

And we laughed the pain away until we sounded like hyenas. 

[dotster001]

Congrats on the 1k followers! I loved your matchup you did for me not too terribly long ago and thought I’d really love to participate in this event too, I hope you don’t mind

This is in request of twisted wonderland fandom.

1. The one who I took the hand off first was Malleus. I favored him in the beginning because I freaking love dragons, and those horns! 😂 yeah, sadly I’m a dork. Anywho, he was tall, dark and mysterious. Who isn’t immediately drawn to that type of enigma? Then to learn that he was never invited to meetings and what nots, I felt bad for him. Poor thing 😭

2. I enjoyed Malleus only short lived though, Rook Hunt’s flirting is what freaking drew me in. Lord have mercy! No character makes you feel quite loved and appreciate like he freaking does! He’s heavy on the flirting and praise… kind of hard to not like that (especially when you are a social outcast and overall black sheep). So, Rook Hunt has been my Home Screen and obsession for literally longer than any other character in any Otome or game or anime that I’ve ever freaking obsessed over. lol! I get excited whenever he pops up in events and stories! I’m obsessed over him like he is with Leona and Neige! 😭😭😭 it’s so sad!

3. Rook Hunt-he seems to be the kindest and least judgmental character. His smile and laugh are freaking infectious! His flirting! His voice actor does him major justice, that voice makes me melt every time! As a person who is extremely socially awkward (outside of internet, apparently😂😂) it is nice to know that there is a character who can actually understand exactly what you are thinking or needing without you having to actually voice it (however it also makes you feel vulnerable too!)

4. I think Malleus and I would get along as friends and that would be it. I don’t feel like I need to miss him as I still quite like his character and I enjoy the conversations him and Yuu have. However, my heart quite literally belongs to another…though his love and devotion to Vil and Neige would totally make me jealous and possessive…so pathetic, I know 😭

5. I’m an Aries and an infp. I’m socially awkward and introverted, shy and quiet. I have ptsd, depression and anxiety from being bullied in school (from kindergarten to junior year), a narcissistic and neglectful mother and an abusive father (so I’m not very trusting of others it takes awhile before I let most people in my life and if I do let you in just know I trust and care for you and am fiercely loyal and devoted and extremely protective). I have long hair that I always dye red as it is the only color that takes and actually looks decent on me. I have freckles and hazel eyes and am 5’5 1/2. I love lord of the rings, Harry Potter, and am now freaking obsessed with Wednesday ( I’m literally a mix between Wednesday and her roommate Enid!)i love swords, storms, rain (cold dreary weather!!!❤️❤️❤️). I enjoy reading and love chamomile tea! I love music and singing (can’t dance but can sing). I love artists like Aurora and Naika, neoni, sia…do not like country or rap. I prefer night time, not a fan of sun or heat. I’m a solitude and quiet individual who prefers to observe and not interact.

6. I honestly would prefer to be with Rook. I’d like something romantic. I like yandere, but let’s face it, if it were yandere, I’d sadly be the yandere. I’m too freaking obsessive. Possessive, jealous and downright territorial! However, luckily I’m not the person to act on it. My moral compass is decent for one, I’m also too shy and timid! I have a tendency to also not believe that someone could really really like me (sadly that was beat into me). I’m more fantasy driven rather than action oriented. Good lord I hope I haven’t scared ya away!

Anyway, thank you so much for doing these stories for us, again I really loved your matchup and appreciate your story telling ❤️❤️❤️ so sorry this was so freaking long!😂

(no worries about the length lmao, I'm glad you enjoyed your matchup back in the day of a couple months ago 😂 btw, my dad got me a sign for my dorm that says "no entrance except on party business" thought you'd appreciate)

Im Which we See a Snapshot of how Rook Woos his Lover

Rook had first spotted you when he was hunting observing the Rois de Dragons. The two of you were sipping tea on the Ramshackle porch, and having a riveting conversation about gargoyles (Rook could perfectly read lips). The way your eyes were shining in the evening light, it was love at first sight. And Rook handled it as any normal person would.

"Bonjour, mon petit lapin! J'taime! May I join your conversation?" He said, jumping out of the bushes, and  sweeping his hat off his head as he bowed before you. 

Luckily for him, you didn't speak French, at least not fluently. While both of you were startled by the man from the bushes, you figured with Malleus you would be safe. So you allowed him to join you both.

Four months later, you'd fallen for him just as hard as he'd fallen for you. He'd slowly lured you in with the biweekly hair touch ups and his tongue of gold.

Now that you were together, the hair touch ups might be a little too much for your heart.

One thing you could say about Rook, was that he didn't cheap out on hair dye. Honestly, you probably didn't even need to touch it up so often, but it had become a pattern that when the roots started to show, you would hang out in Rook's room after class as he did your hair.

He would apply hair dye while whispering compliments directly into your ear.

"Your eyes are glittering today with the stars that have bound us together. Tres magnifique!"

He would also hum, as he applied the dye, then washed it out, usually giving you an extra scalp massage as he did so. (You still couldn't decide whether teaching him "The Edge of Night" was good or bad).

He would blow dry your hair, and as he maneuvered the dryer, and your hair, he would gently caress the skin he touched.

By this point, his compliments would be slowly devolving into completely French.

"Ma Cherie, you are truly le plus bel être à avoir jamais vécu."

Then he'd press a kiss behind your ear, and whisper something like,

"Were I a meilleur poète, je pourrais te dire à quel point tu as volé mon cœur."

Then he'd slip himself into your lap, and tap your nose playfully while whispering into your neck,

"tu éclaires le monde et dissipe toute l'obscurité et l'ombre dans mon coeur."

He would continue working his fingers through your hair, as he waited for you to get more and more flustered under his touch. He wanted to kiss you. Badly. But a good hunter makes his prey come to him. 

And you always did, as he whispered in French to you, and nuzzled deeper into your neck, pressing soft kisses wherever his mouth landed.

"Rook."

You would always softly whisper his name. He would pull away and look into your eyes with a truly innocent expression.

"Mon lapin?"

Then you would give him an epic pout, and mutter something like, "I know what you're doing. Just kiss me already, you sadist."

He would gasp in mock surprise, and run his thumb along your pouting lips.

"Je suis desole! I have been so focused on your hair that I have neglected you! Ah! I am truly a heartless lover."

You would scowl at him, and be about to remind him that he was teasing you the entire time, but he would always cut you off with a kiss. Which would turn into two kisses. Which would become a cuddle pile of kisses that would last until the door would open, and you'd hear a proper melodic voice call….

"Oh for seven's sake. There's no need to do this every other Tuesday."

Ah, Vil. Ruiner of all the good times.

[purebakuluv]

hello!! i hope this crosses the right people again</3 this is the third time i post this</33 but anyways, i made this header so hopefully this shows my dedication for this series:’) do not hesitate to leave any feedback, reblogs/comments are welcomed:)

warning // implied intimacy though not specified, swearing, our sweet green haired boy has been goin thru it, more characters!!

part 4 of part 1, 2, 3

for the first time in her life, the world seemed.. peaceful. no waking up in the middle of the night, hurriedly putting her hero costume, and abandoning her apartment. her hand trailed to the side next to her but found no one, quickly, she covered herself with the thick sheet and stood up from the bed. frantically looking around for any signs until she heard the bedroom door open.

“you’re doing that thing i hate, hocus-pocus. the one where you’re all bug eyed with that big sad pout.”

a breathy sigh escaped her lips and a smile soon taking its place. she looked at him, something about him being right here.. it wasn’t wrong. but deep down she knew it wasn’t right either.

“i thought you were go-ne, i-i tri-tried…” her voice began to brittle, the pain was still there within her. she still dreamt about it even with him right next to her, arms around each other. she knew this wasn’t going to last but she was going to try.

the girl felt arms wrap around her, the holder exhaled deeply. “loser,” the gruff voice started, the very one she grew accustomed and loved. “i’m right here.”

for how long? she thought. how long am i going to have this?

“cmon get up, i made us breakfast and it’s probably already cold because of your dumbass.” she scoffed while the other smirked, picking her up and placing her over his shoulder.

“wait! kats, i’m naked! let me get dressed!”

“no can do, breakfast is gettin’ cold.”

“you son of a - PUT ME DOWN!”

izuku midoriya is not a quitter. more so if it came to y/n, that word was nonexistent. so when he was standing right outside where y/n took all the residents and created her own world, something began to creep its way into his brain, something he was all too familiar with.

doubt.

could he really do it alone?

he couldn’t get that this was all his fault in the first place out of his head. maybe if he was a bit faster, maybe if he ignored the blond’s demands.. he still would’ve been here and none of this would have even happened. the trio would’ve been taking care of other world problems, hell, midoriya would’ve suffered more of bakugo’s bullying but all would’ve been worth it because of her. she made all tolerable.

before he took a step in, a hard hand placed on his shoulder to stop him. the green haired male swiftly jumped back and faced the other in a fighting stance.

“midoriya? chill man! i should’ve probably said something when i did that- sorry.” the voice let out a chuckle.

realization hit midoriya, confused and with large eyes he slowly stood normally. “kirishima? what are you doing here?!”

“i am here too.”

the freckled boy let out a shrill, his eyes landing on a certain half haired male. “todoroki?!”

“deku,” the crimson haired male began, shifting his vision to the other, he saw how defeated he was. the bag under his eyes was similar to his. “i heard about y/n.. i was angry at first when the news came out that she brought him back but when i heard ochaco and some of the others bad mouth her- i couldn’t just sit there- she’s one of us, man! she needs us and we’re doing nothing but talk down on her!” kirishima looked up towards the sky, this part of town was almost never lit. “i want to help her as much as she helped me when we were students in UA, the amount of times when i felt i was useless, she was right there to throw those thoughts away. i-i want to help her, midoriya…”

“since we’re sharing our feelings here, i might as well share this.”

the two males shift their attention to the peppermint boy, rubbing the back of his neck, he sighed.

“i loved y/n way before she and bakugo became exclusive, even way before U.A,” he knitted his eyebrows together, his own gaze finding interest with the grass below him. “believe it or not, i even confessed to her.”

inside of U.A. on campus gym

the sound of giggling rang in young todoroki’s ears, a sound that he could almost mistakenly confuse with those of an angel.

“god, i love going against you, sho! you never fail to give me a good fair fight.” “isn’t really fair when you manipulate my brain to see a bunch of endeavors.” y/n stifled a laugh while todoroki sulked. “even worse when they try to hug me.” with that the young girl exploded with laughter to which the boy smiled and stared at her in awe.

“it’s a shame bakugo got to you first.”

now silence filled the air.

“sho don’t-“

“i have to get this off my chest, y/n.” the two toned boy sighed, reaching for her hand to which she allowed. this was her best friend after all, she knew he wouldn’t overstep his boundaries unless she agreed.

“i hope he treats you as you deserve to be treated because trust me when i say, i won’t hesitate to make you mine when he lets his guard down.”

but of course, bakugo never did.

and of course word got back to the ash blond as that irrelevant nosey kid from class 1-b taunted the explosive boy that his hocus pocus girlfriend was now the main goal of that icy hot bastard. bakugo thought this could go in two ways, he could either beat that half and half bastard into a pulp or do something that could benefit both.

he was leaning towards the first option but once the image of y/n appeared in his head, he backtracked.

…

“todoroki, what’re you saying? kacchan?…”

“bakugo and i made a deal.”

“what kind of deal, man?”

heterochromatic eyes stared at both males in front of him, “if bakugo was ever to be out of the picture, i’d have to keep her safe from harming herself and others but also..”

“also?”

“i could finally pursue her.”

[declinlalune]

St(ranger) Danger || Andy & Zane

TIMING: Current PARTIES: @rn-zane @declinlalune SUMMARY: Andy gets stopped by another ranger. Zane intervenes. CONTENT WARNING: Parental & sibling death mentions, a creepy guy who is harassing Andy.

Andy knew that going to a hunter infested shop would one day have consequences. She noticed the man’s recognition almost immediately, and though she thought that maybe it’d been because they’d seen each other around town, she was proven wrong. As she was checking out, the man approached her, explaining that she looked just like a woman he knew sixteen years ago– same red hair, same freckles. She politely skirted around the conversation, explaining that she’d been new to Wicked’s Rest and that she couldn’t possibly be the person he remembered– or the daughter of her. 

Then he mentioned Tennessee. Andy felt her skin alight as she pushed her way through the shop and out onto the street. Why she continued to park away from Hollow Point Armory, she wasn’t sure. Maybe it was to keep her license plate off their radar. She could hear his footsteps, but she didn’t want to focus on them. She wanted to focus on getting the hell out of there. Really sad, what happened to them. Rumor had it the kids died, too, but you seem to be just fine. Andy felt sick. This was the first time somebody from their past had come back to haunt them, not including Kaden. Though, was he really haunting them if he were a ghost with them, too? 

“I’m not who you think I am, sorry.” Andy took her keys out of her bag and held them tightly, ready to throw herself in her jeep, need be. You sure about that? Where’s the other one? Andy winced. So they knew about Alex. Had there really been rumors circulating in the community? People had been suspicious that Alex lacked the ability of a ranger, even then– she’d heard the conversations, but there’d never been any proof. “Positive, dude.” She continued walking, and she could finally see her jeep in full view. Would it be smart to pull away with it? With her luck, this guy knew how to run plates and would figure out where they lived. So she veered in another direction before she felt him grab her arm, twisting her around. 

“What do you want? I said I’m not the person you’re thinking of.” Andy watched the man, her expression darkening as she noticed the sick, twisted smile that formed over his features. You’re lying to me, and you know we don’t lie to our own. Andy scoffed. “I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about dude, you’re creeping me out, leave me alone.” She tried her best to keep steady, to not just rip her arm out of his grip for the sake of not showing off her innate strength he knew she had. Another voice joined their collective, and Andy looked over to see a man she did not recognize heading their way. He seemed concerned, which hopefully meant he was not on this man’s side. 

—

It wasn’t too crowded out now, most people either home or heading there for dinner. It was nicer to walk the streets at this time, without the loud chatter and traffic, not to mention the fact that his nose seemed even more intent on picking up every faint whiff of blood it could after the… encounter at Dance Macabre. Zane was fine, and full, so work shouldn’t be a problem but it was still good that he decided to walk, burning off some of that nervous energy he’d rarely experienced heading into work before. 

The music in his ears didn’t prevent him from taking notice of the couple walking briskly across the street, the tension in their exchange drawing his attention. Maybe not a couple, Zane thought as he drew closer, noticing that the man seemed much older than the young woman trying to ignore him. His daughter? He didn’t hope so as he caught the glint in the man’s eyes, knowing that there existed parents who would regard their children with that look but praying the situation was something else. Picking up the pace slightly, headphones pulled out as he walked, Zane came close enough to start to pick up on the words being exchanged. 

She didn’t know the man, it sounded like, and that was enough incentive for Zane to veer straight towards the two of them. As soon as the arm was grabbed, he knew he’d made the right decision. “Hey!”

Closing the distance between them, eyes focused on the man who looked even angrier up close, Zane gave a curt nod towards the offending hand that still held the young woman tightly. With a huff, the man loosened his grip, still standing uncomfortably close to the woman. “Everything okay here?” It sounded very cliched and Zane was reminded of the last time he stepped into a precarious situation like this, the fact that he’d maybe broken someone’s arm. Didn’t matter, he would just stand by and use the few inches he had on this guy to hopefully scare him off. A glance over at the young woman showed the worry in her eyes and his own softened for a moment before turning back, narrowed, to the man. 

—

Andy didn’t normally feel grateful towards other people for intervening; it usually meant trouble, but in this case? Sure, she’d take the distraction. The man opposite her loosened his grip and she lightly yanked her arm away, still cautious to show any true strength. 

At the stranger’s question, Andy cut her gaze to him. He was much taller than herself, but if he had no actual strength to him, something told her that the hunter across from her– who she could only assume to be a ranger, would level him easily. She swallowed thickly before nodding, rubbing her arm to rid herself of the drowning feeling that’d begun to lay flatly overtop of her. As long as she didn’t mention Alex, and as long as she didn’t give in to the pressure of admitting that she was who he thought she was, things would be fine. And now she had somebody she could rely on. Hopefully. 

“This guy thinks I’m somebody and I’m not.” Andy realized it was a weak argument, that people probably said that all the time when they were exactly who the aggressor thought they were, but she didn’t have time to pull some story out of her ass. “I’m from Fresno, not what– where did you say? Kentucky?” As a means to play stupid, she desperately laid in on the fact that she hadn’t even remembered where he suggested she was from. 

The incredulous expression that rose over the ranger’s features reminded her of her father and she felt something stir in the pit of her stomach– guilt, maybe. Now, you know, and I know, that that’s bullshit. But if you don’t wanna connect to your people, then so be it. Was that really it? Andy waited for him to say something more, but instead he turned, and started off in the way they’d both come from. She let out a breath, but it caught in her throat as he turned back around, that same sly, smile pulling at the corners of his mouth. Gotta watch out for each other here, you know it ain’t safe, and I know your skin is just crawlin, with all those monsters roaming about. 

She fought to keep a neutral expression and waited until he finally turned back around to let out the breath that felt lodged in her throat. Andy had almost forgotten had company. When she finally looked over at him, she gave him a meek smile. “No idea what the hell that guy was talking about. Uh, thank you, for you know, not letting him grab me or whatever.” 

—

Zane watched the exchange warily, careful not to butt in more than he had to but the look in this man’s eyes was unnerving. Even though he’d let go, the vampire didn’t feel comfortable walking away yet. Preferably, he wanted the guy far, far away before he’d feel right about leaving the young woman. He knew it was intrusive, stepping in to help, but he’d seen enough in the ER to know how situations like this could go. Didn’t matter whether it was a young woman or not, that tension was unmistakable and if injuries could be avoided, his interrupting self was going to make an attempt. 

Finally, after what felt like ages, the man relented. Zane’s breath of relief had barely escaped his lips when the last shot was fired, thrown over the guy’s shoulder and sending a shiver down the vampire’s spine. Was she… one of them? Was the man? No, if they could somehow know whether or not somebody was undead, the way slayers seemed to, they would have reacted differently to a vampire joining their conversation. Wouldn’t they? 

The tension in Zane’s body had to be obvious, feet pushing into the ground, ready to make a run for it. Seeing the meek smile on the woman’s face as he thanked him was reassuring but maybe she was just a good actress? Waiting for him to let his guard down so she could strike? He spared a glance over at the retreating man, wondering if he too would simply walk into hiding and appear at the first chance. 

“I… yeah. Weird.” Zane’s voice was halting, eyes still looking for a sign that the woman was about to attack. There were people about so maybe not but after the few encounters he’d had, trust wasn’t exactly rich. “Almost like he was hinting at you being a monster hunter.”

–

It’d been silly to hear of a supernatural hub and not think that there might be hunters who would recognize her. Maybe she should dye her hair, or chop it off. Use makeup to cover her freckles; really go into hiding like she and Alex did when they first got back from Lyon. There’d maybe been people looking for them then, but they’d gotten good at evading. The last four years in Wicked’s Rest had provided a comfort that Andy hadn’t felt since the night she watched her parents get mauled, and maybe that had been where her naivety began– to believe that she, or Alex would ever be free from the past that was written into them before they had even been born. Alex had a shot away from it all, especially considering she never carried the gene in the first place, but her? She was stuck. 

She knew that if she ever expressed those feelings, Alex wouldn’t understand, because at the end of the day, Andy knew her sister still thought of herself as a monster, even though Andy did everything in her power to dissuade her from that way of thinking. 

Andy did her best to pull herself from the what if’s as they saturated her thoughts. Instead, she focused on the man as he spoke, taking note of the suspicious gleam in his eyes. So did he believe her to be one? Was he one, too? Had she walked herself into another trap? Forcing neutrality in both expression and in tone, she shook her head. “He got confused, mixed me up with some other ginger. Do you know how many of us there are?” The one he was thinking of is dead, anyway. “Besides, I don’t believe in monsters.” 

Whether that was loaded to enforce the idea that the supernatural didn’t exist– a hunter’s pastime in protecting innocent civilians, or the fact that she didn’t believe things were inherently monstrous, she didn’t bother to clarify. Andy felt the firm groove of her keys in her palm and the way the metal felt hot and sticky against her skin now. She let them go, dropping them into her bag. Why the stranger looked concerned at the idea that Andy could be a hunter bit at the back of her mind. He was no shifter, so maybe something else? It didn’t matter, and it wasn’t Andy’s problem, because he existed within these same confines as her, and he was not a monster, even if she had no clue who he actually was. 

—

She was sticking to her guns, still claiming that the angry and quite frankly, disturbing man that had approached her, had been barking up the wrong tree. It was a possibility, of course, but he’d been so pissed. Zane had never experienced a case of mistaken identity this bad but would he have been as genuinely shocked and put off by it as this stranger was? The vibe she gave off had been closer to fear than confusion. Even if she wasn’t the person the man suspected her to be, did she know who his anger was directed at? A family member or just a completely random redhead? They weren’t that rare but still, they didn’t exactly all bear a striking resemblance to one another. 

“Not believing in monsters is definitely a choice when you live here.” Quite hypocritical of him, since he’d rolled his eyes at the people claiming they’d been attacked by vampires, giant humanoid bears or horned creatures in the ER only a few short months ago. Zane wondered how many of Wicked’s Rest inhabitants got away with never seeing the truth or if all of them knew it and pretended not to for someone else’s benefit. Even so, the stranger seemed to relax a bit and Zane did the same in return. Whatever she was or wasn’t, she didn’t seem intent on hurting him at the moment, which only made her a stranger that had been startled by an uncomfortable encounter. 

“Are you alright? He seemed really pissed off,” Zane asked, genuine concern in his voice no matter the circumstances. At the question, he looked around once again to make sure the man was definitely gone, eyes stopping on a passerby exiting a store. A store that looked to be selling weapons. His gaze lingered for a moment too long on the sign, discomfort creeping up his spine, before he turned back to the stranger. “I’m heading this way if you want to walk away from here with some company.” Pointing down the road, he pondered why exactly he’d offered. Force of habit or morbid curiosity? Either way, it was out there. 

—

“What does that mean?” Andy asked, deciding to feign innocence. She could pull off the poor, misunderstanding girl. She’d done it plenty of times. It was how she and Alex had survived on the road for so long– use the doe eyes her mother had given her, and hope for the best. Andy repositioned the strap of her bag over her shoulder, smoothing down the fabric with her fingers. She wanted to go home now, but with the stranger radiating suspicion, she wasn’t sure how soon that would be. Did he intend to get the answer out, too? Was he on that man’s side? Good cop vs bad cop? 

After a moment, he asked if she was alright and her brows pulled together. Andy looked in the direction that the man had left in. She couldn’t hear asphalt beneath boots, or even his labored breathing that’d been present when he’d been in their faces. Maybe he really was gone, and maybe the person standing next to her now truly was just a concerned citizen. “I’m fine. First case of mistaken identity, especially with somebody who was so sure. Guy was super creepy, but I’m glad you stepped in. I think my mace might be almost out.” Maybe not the smartest thing to tell a stranger, despite the fact that it had been a lie. 

At his offer, she thought for a moment before nodding slowly. “Yeah, sure. I parked my jeep up that way.. didn’t want to get into it and have him know my car or something.” She started off slowly next to him, the only sound for a brief few seconds being that of their footfalls, before she piped up. “I appreciate you hanging back, by the way.” She hadn’t forgotten the way he looked at her by the assumption of her being a hunter, but she chose to dislodge it for now. 

—

The lack of knowledge (or elaborate ruse, Zane really couldn’t tell) continued and he decided to drop the subject, shaking his head with a muttered ‘nevermind’. At least the two of them seemed to have one thing in common, wanting to be absolutely certain that the strange man was gone. It did definitely seem that way, easing up some of the vampire’s tension. Not all, but some. A start, given that odds still pointed towards this person being exactly who she said she was. Not that she’d said much, just that she wasn’t the supposed monster hunter that guy had been searching for. Even if she was, who was Zane to judge her solely on that? Being a vampire clearly seemed to come with its own baggage and rumors, it had to be the same for the other side… right?

“Hey, good on you for carrying mace, at least. I don’t mind stopping to check on people but it’s becoming much more of a regular thing than I’d like to admit. Kinda thought there’d be less of this nonsense in a town of this size but guess that was wishful thinking.” Something about the stranger gave Zane the distinct impression that she hadn’t really needed his help but that was never a bet to take spur of the moment. She seemed thankful so he’d take it that his presence hadn’t been a complete mess. 

They started walking, the strange and quite heavy air of suspicion both ways still hanging between them. “It’s nothing, really. Just glad he backed off.” Silence fell again, the air growing heavier with every step - doubtless that Zane was the only one who felt it, but it grew until he couldn’t take it anymore. “I’ve met some, y’know. Hunters, I mean. Just in case you do know what he was talking about. If you don’t, then I probably sound crazy. Or maybe you do and don’t want to talk about it, which is also totally valid.” 

—-

As the stranger spoke, Andy grimaced. She didn’t like the sound of that. Random people being accosted on the street… what if something like that were to happen to Alex? What if she had been with Alex during the argument? What would she have done? How would she have gotten her sister away? Anxiety found its roots once more, despite the man no longer being within their vicinity. “That sounds.. shady. Shitty, too.” She would need to tell both Alex and Kaden to keep their eye out for anything strange. Kaden could hold his own, and Alex could too, maybe– but hopefully she wouldn’t have to worry about it. 

Andy didn’t falter, expression remaining neutral as the man explained that he had met hunters. “I already told you, and him, what was up.” Her jeep was in view now. She didn’t see a reason to explain herself to him. He was a stranger. One that, if she stepped one foot out of line, could cost her everything she had built. Then she and Alex would have to leave again. She didn’t want to give up what they created in the last four years, especially because Kaden had only just arrived. 

What if this guy was some bounty hunter? She didn’t think that her aunt cared enough to send somebody after either her or Alex, not when she had her own shit to worry about– after all, neither herself or her sister were that important, but the fear that they would find out what had happened with Alex lived in the darkest depths of Andy’s mind and she was terrified that something would happen. She just needed to relax. This man was clearly not somebody sent after her, and he seemed genuinely concerned. 

“I don’t believe in monsters, like I said. You can take that however you want.” Andy was tired and really, she just wanted to go home. “I exist, you exist– that’s it, that’s the bottom line. There are creeps and weirdos, and that guy was one of them. That’s what I think. Okay?” 

—

All odds were pointing towards this girl either carrying a real dislike for hunters or having literally no clue what Zane was going on about. Either way, the likelihood of her being a threat to him specifically was close to nothing. No matter the reason, she was shaky and uncomfortable and getting barraged with weirdness from the vampire probably wasn’t helping. “Got it, sorry. Just… nevermind, totally dropping it now.” Her focus seemed to be drawn towards a car just a short distance away and Zane slowed his walk. 

“In the spirit of not being a creep, I think I’ll let you manage the rest of the way on your own.” Just in case she worried about him looking at her plates or anything like that. The circumstances were strange, for sure, but Zane couldn’t let his newfound paranoia of vampire hunters turn him into someone who made other people uncomfortable. “Really hope that guy doesn’t bother you again.” Coming to a stop, he offered his hand. “I’m Zane, by the way. If you ever need help from a total stranger again, I spend most of my time at the ER. Obviously hope you won’t need it but…” 

—

The stranger apologized and Andy felt guilt burrow in the pit of her stomach. He had helped her. Why couldn’t she just accept it for the value it was? Why couldn’t she just relax! “No, sorry. I’m just…” She looked back over to where the man had gone, still nervous that he would turn back around and accost them both. “It’s been a long day already and that added so much more shit to it.” 

Andy stopped just short of her jeep and let out a laugh– though it was strained, it was light. “Yeah, me either.” She hitched her tote higher up on her shoulder as it began to slide down with the weight of its contents. Zane offered his hand and Andy didn’t allow her hesitation to show as she took it. She smiled at him. “Andy. And uh– hope that’s because you work there and not because you’re in a constant state of broken toes or something.” The joke fell flat and she cleared her throat. This was a normal person. A normal person named Zane who had his own questions– the kinds that Andy couldn’t answer, but he was normal. “Sorry to have bothered you with all of that… but um, appreciate your help all the same. Have a nice night, Zane.”

She jiggled her keys, creating a chime effect, before getting into her jeep. 

[breserker]

ao3 down and struggling to get back up? no problem!

this isn't the entirety of chapter 5 of Blink, Snow, Corduroy, but i'll post what i wrote before having to settle in for beddy-bye regardless. the end of this is where i initially toyed with ending chapter 4, anyway. so.

----

Fuck. She was knitting herself into the salty soaked fabric of his shirt. Fuck. Eileen struggled to pull away, lightheaded and fighting the sudden collapse of comfort from his embrace. Henry held her lightly enough that when she tried wrenching away his arms fell to her elbows, then slid off her skin completely as she backed up into the wall of the front hallway and jammed her hands into her eyes.

Fuck, stop crying. Use your words. Speak! Eileen bit her lip and swallowed, her voice going down her throat with it. Henry had seen her cry before, surely remembered how blotchy and red her skin got to the point where her freckles disappeared into the color completely. That wasn’t the problem. The problem was she wanted to have a real, adult, calm conversation with him. Sit down, talk about life, catch up, affirm for herself that it wasn’t just her going insane when suddenly her puzzle piece didn’t fit into the family picture. But here she was, overwhelmed and immature and sobbing like a scared woman again.

“I’m—,” she gulped down too much air, “I’m sorry,”

“It’s okay…,” Henry said, soft, like she remembered his voice being. Also stiff, unsure, a little off in that it wouldn’t have given her any comfort if she didn’t know him. But she heard it, the twinge of pain in his voice from where he placed himself in her shoes—struggling to speak but unable to, and whatever speech did come out was distorted and awkward. There were times where it sounded like he either struggled with a stutter or had in the past; something that had stolen away his confidence to speak before it had even developed. She shook her head, not to reject his consolation but to damn herself for needing it in the first place.

“I just—,” she tried, then failed to regain her voice. Henry watched her for a moment more, sobbing quietly into the sleeve pulled up her wrist.

“A-Are you. Uh. How’s, um. How’d you…What are you doing here?” he tried and failed on several questions, many of them sounding like he was going to ask are you okay when clearly, certainly, she was not. Eileen let out a gasping sob at his completed question and found enough voice to speak.

“I’ve just. Been on the road for over a month. I think I’m tired.”

Henry gently bent to catch her eye, and she peeked over her hands to see that that did not answer the real concern behind his failed questions.

“Uh,” she bought for time by reaching into her bag and pulling out the magazines rolled open to the pages of his photography. Henry’s eyes widened, especially when she pointed to the floral one, “I really, really need to talk to you.”

Henry reached out and carefully took the magazine from her hand, his eyes lingering on the flowers before going back to her, “Did...something happen?”

That broke through her sobbing with a red hot frustration and she threw her hands down with a violent scoff. What hasn’t been happening? Things hadn’t stopped happening! “I don’t know, where do I even start? I can’t—I can’t get my life together long enough for anything to feel normal again. And I know—I know it can’t be, but, fuck, can’t I just pretend?” She thought of all her failed relationships, especially of Shane and his turnabout betrayal. She thought of Ethan’s meddling, Eric’s far-too-adventurous spirit, her father’s jokes and stinging wisdom, her mother’s untenable sadness when she looked at her. Eileen’s scoff turned into a scowl that weakened and faded back into a morose pout, still trying to keep tears inside.

“I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing, in that I feel like...Like it’s all fucking pointless, anyway.”

Though Henry had been listening, his eyes had drifted back to the flower photograph in his hand. When she said pointless, however, he sharply returned to her face, the concern unwavering as he studied her. She met his gaze, fierce while maintaining a pained vulnerability.

“I don’t want to do anything stupid. But I couldn’t be in my house anymore. I couldn’t be around my family anymore. And that feels like...like…,”

Like she was betraying them as much as Shane betrayed her. Giving up. Leaving them behind. They weren’t good enough, and Eileen was telling them as much. But they weren’t working for her either, even if they did so for her sake.

Eileen sighed, her shoulders dropping as she rubbed her sore temples, “Maybe I should...start from the beginning, huh?” Or the end, rather.

Henry blinked, “Are you tired? Did you just...drive here?”

“I stopped at a motel first,” Eileen said, “I’m…,”

She looked up at him, this time to really take in how the years had settled on his face. His age hid well, or maybe she had just been used to seeing him with heavy bags under his eyes from the insomnia. His stubble laid thicker on his jaw, to the point where she could get away calling it a proper beard just from how thick it looked despite the shortness of it. Beneath the left corner of his lip there was a little patch of white hair, and if she squinted she could see the occasional gray strand swept up in the hair on his head. His eyes were the same, though. Hazel. Gentle, because they were quite bad at hiding what he was feeling to counterbalance that he was otherwise too good at hiding himself. Yet even that had been initially hard to understand back in the day, because like then his eyes still hid beneath dark brows and bangs that fell into his face. All things considered, he looked good. No worse for wear, even if the bags under his eyes seemed deeper—permanent, now.

Eileen opened her mouth to tell him as much when the center of his sharp straight nose flickered. Her eyes widened in recognition and panic as another shape flickered out of time with the first one. Slowly as she stared yet another shape connected to the first two started to flicker. Soon her vision would become a kaleidoscope of shapes tessellated into a spiral, all flickering out of time with one another.

“Shit,” she hissed in panic, “Shit, I have to go,”

Startled, Henry reached out and grasped her arm, “Go? What—what happened?”

She raised her arm, ready to fling him off if need be, but the clip in his voice was concern born from fear rather than anger and Eileen twisted her expression, “I-I have to, go, a, a migraine,”

“Migraine,” Henry said both as a question and with a solemn understanding. The grip on her arm became firm and soon she was guided into the living room as more and more flickering shapes took up the expanse of her vision, “Please, lay down.”

“I’m—,” she wanted to say she was fine, that she’d take care of it, to apologize, the million anxieties were spiking again and twisting that she had not only sobbed instead of greeted him but the adult conversation she wanted to have was interrupted with such stupid timing. As Henry gently pushed her onto the couch though she succumbed to the reality of the situation and frantically gripped him to spit out, “Meds, glove compartment, in my car. Silver sedan, out front. Keys in bag.”

“Got it.” Henry graciously gave her, pulling the throw blanket off the back of the couch to lay on half her body before the shape of him disappeared from her flickering vision. Eileen covered her face with her hands, groaned, and quietly wept as she pulled the blanket over her head. As the flickering reached the edges of her vision the pain erupted and she buried as far into the dark as she could make it.

[magniloquent-raven]

Dig that prompt list. Super worried for the new episodes tho so maybe some Harringrove with feeling your partners pulse??? 🖤🖤🖤

ough i hope ur alright after vol 2 lol 💕💕💕 here's a lil fluff, cuz we all deserve some rn

**

“Would you stop squirming, I’m supposed to be checking your resting heart rate.”

“I’m plenty restful,” Billy mutters, shifting in his seat again, eyes downcast and pouting like a petulant toddler. 

Steve huffs, adjusting his loose grip on Billy’s wrist. His pulse jumps under Steve’s fingers, and the muscles in his forearm twitch. “Right.”

It’s like this every time. Every goddamn day since Billy got out of the hospital. It should be getting under Steve’s skin by now, but it’s weirdly getting easier to deal with. Like Billy’s growing on him or something. 

It was rocky at first. He knew it would be when he volunteered to take Billy in, but Max wouldn’t stop fretting over what was going to happen to her brother and Steve couldn’t stand the sad eyes anymore. It took some convincing, for some goddamn reason Steve couldn’t stop the words from falling out of his face when she told him no, like he actually wanted to do this. But he argued for in favor for so long he almost convinced himself as much as he convinced her. 

And so here he is. Responsible for Billy Hargrove’s stubborn ass. Making sure he takes his meds and does his exercises, inspecting his shiny new scars for any signs of complications—whatever that means, half the shit the doctor told him went right over his head—and checking his stupid pulse because his stupid heart got fucked up by the stupid Mind Flayer, and now… And now Steve has to worry about him. Him and his damaged heart.

“It’s too high again,” Steve sighs.

“I’m tellin’ you, I feel fine. It’s fine.”

“Yeah my Uncle was fine too. Right up until he died of a heart attack when he was, like, fourty.”

“Jesus, Harrington.”

“I’m just saying.”

“Well, stop saying.” Billy pulls his arm away, tucking it close to his side, away from Steve. 

Steve flexes his fingers, trying to subtly shake the weird feeling of loss. His palm is cold. Empty. He’s suddenly too aware of his own pulse thrumming, a poor replacement for the heady warmth of Billy’s skin.

Christ, he needs to stop. He really needs to stop. Billy took a risk trusting Steve with his care—something that still shocks Steve if he thinks about it too long—and Steve can’t fuck that up by perving on him while he’s supposed to be helping.

He’s not sure how to stop though. Billy started muscling his way into Steve’s space the second he got to Hawkins, but it was never like this. Quiet. Back when he was being annoying Steve was focused on that. Distracted by Billy being an asshole. Not sitting on their beat-up old couch holding his hand and his heart and trying desperately to keep the numbers in his brain when all his brain wants to do is remind him that Billy’s knee is touching his and he could be counting the freckles on Billy’s nose instead of his heartbeats. 

Steve lets his head fall back against the cushions and stares at the ceiling. There’s a stain in the corner that looks like a whale.

“Fine. D’you wanna watch a movie or something?” 

~~

The next day is, to nobody’s surprise, no different. 

Steve checks and double-checks the pamphlets he was given, just to make sure he isn’t misremembering what a healthy heart is supposed to sound like. 

He wasn’t. Billy’s heartbeat is definitely racing. Again. Still? Maybe it’s been like this the whole time, thundering under the metal plate keeping Billy’s ribs in place, thumping so hard Steve doesn’t need to touch Billy to know how fast it is because he can see it. 

He touches him anyways.

“Are you drinking buckets of coffee while I’m not looking? Jesus Christ, Hargrove.” 

“Yes. Obviously. I’m surprised you haven’t caught me yet.”

Billy picks at a thread hanging loose from the bottom of his cutoff shorts. His other hand hangs limply in Steve’s grip. He stares at his own wrist with a furrowed brow. 

“Very funny, smartass. I think I might have to call the doc, this isn’t—”

“I don’t need another fucking check-up.”

“Your BPM says you do.”

“Oh excuse me, Nurse Harrington.” 

Steve blows out a breath. “C’mon, man. It could be something serious, don’t you wanna know?”

“I do know. I know that an appointment would be a waste of everyone’s goddamn time.”

“You—” Steve gestures helplessly with his free hand, fingers tuat and curled with frustration. “This isn’t normal, Billy!”

“It’s—”

“No, no, shut the fuck up, just—” Before he can actually think it through he pulls Billy’s hand towards him and holds it to his chest, wrangling him into position while Billy stares at him in blank shock. “This is what a normal heartbeat is supposed to feel like, alright?” 

Billy’s palm is flat against his sternum, a warm weight between his chest and his hands, ragged, bitten down thumbnail catching on the material of Steve’s shirt. Crystal blue eyes bore into him, wide and unblinking. 

He really should have thought this through.

No matter how much he tries to will his heart to stay steady, the longer Billy looks at him the more it trips over itself. The longer he stays, touching Steve’s chest, letting him hold his hand, the more anticipation threads itself around his lungs, taut and hopelessly tangled.

“...Is it?” Billy raises his eyebrows.

“Um.”

He should definitely probably be panicking right now. And he is, a little, except Billy’s sitting so close and he’s not moving away, and the look on his face is curiosity more than anything else. There’s something tickling Steve’s brain that he can’t quite pin down. It’s distracting enough to keep him from hitting solid ground, keep him looking up at least, ignoring the weird, awkward reality that he’s pushed a boundary that he told himself he wouldn’t.

Except Billy isn’t pulling away.

He’s…

Oh, wait.

Wait a second.

“Oh my god.”

Billy blinks at him. “What.”

“Do I make you nervous?”

“What?” 

There’s an unmistakable pink tinge spreading under Billy’s freckles, and Steve grins. “Holy shit, that’s why, isn’t it?”

“Fuck off, Harrington.” There’s no heat to it.

“All this time I was worried about your health and it turns out you just have a crush on me, oh my god.”

“I—”

“Dude, that’s adorable.”

Billy lets out an embarrassed huff, “Shut up.” His gaze drops to his hand, still trapped against Steve’s chest. When he glances back up there’s something tentative about the way he does it. He opens his mouth. A beat passes. He closes it again. 

“The answer is yes,” Steve says gently.

“You…”

“Yeah.”

“Huh.”

“So…do you think you and your heart can handle doing something about this, or—”

Billy’s nails dig in as he lunges forward, crashing his mouth into Steve’s. It’s messy and enthusiastic, as much an oh god finally as a yes I can, Harrington, shut the fuck up. By the time they come up for air Billy is straddling Steve’s thighs, gripping the front of his shirt like his life depends on it. 

And it turns out Billy’s heart is just fine. Especially when he has Steve taking care of it.

~~tag list ppls @growup-thatbeautiful @spreckle 💕💕

[sleepysnk]

i did this and.. yeah ❤ i hope you enjoy! reader is aged up btw!

Good Girl

Pairings: Carla Jaeger x Fem!Reader

Warnings: NSFW

A sigh escaped (Y/N)'s mouth as she exited her car, the day was gloomy and ugly. Puffy clouds blanketed the sky, covering the bright sun, and the pavement was now wet from the thunderstorm that had just blown by minutes before.

Shitty weather for her shitty feelings.

Her shitty feelings stemmed from her recent breakup with her boyfriend, Eren. The two had broken up days prior, due to some issues in their relationship. One thing led to another, and the two called it quits after some arguing; it was over within a blink of an eye.

She couldn't help but miss the brunette boy she once called her boyfriend, Eren was an amazing guy, but everything just suddenly changed within a year of them dating. Her heart felt heavy and her eyes were a bit swollen from all the crying she had done, she wasn't the happiest about it, but she knew she couldn't stay like this forever.

She stood outside his home, she decided to come by and pick up a few things she had left behind. Eren told her that he wasn't around, but to just come in and take whatever she needed.

It was simple, right?

She let out a shaky breath before turning the knob and entering his home, she inhaled the familiar scent of his home; something she missed dearly.

It was quiet in his home, usually when Eren was around, the house was full of energy and life. Without him here.. it felt.. odd, almost awkward.

She put her keys into her pocket and headed towards the staircase that led upstairs, she knew the way around his house like the back of her hand. It was almost like all of the memories of them together were playing in her mind at that exact moment.

She was about to head into his room when her eyes caught the light coming from the room down the hall.

It was his mother's room.

(Y/N) suddenly felt a feeling of panic when the realization that his mom was home. His mom. Did she know they had broken up? Eren and Carla were very close, especially after her divorce from his dad, but what if she thought differently of (Y/N) after this? Not all mothers like to hear the word 'break up'.

She was about to head into Eren's room, when the door opened down the hall.

"Eren! Are you- oh, hello (Y/N)! Are you looking for Eren?"

She didn't know what to say, her mouth went completely dry and all the words in her throat were caught. Carla seemed to be in a good mood, did she not know what happened?

"O-Oh! Hi Ms.Jaeger, um.. I'm not looking for Eren actually," she said, her voice sounding nervous.

Carla laughed a bit, "(Y/N), you don't need to call me Ms.Jaeger, Carla is fine. If you aren't here for Eren, what are you looking for? If you don't mind me asking."

So she didn't know.

She removed her hand from the doorknob. "Can I.. talk to you about something?" she asked, looking away from the woman.

Carla gave her a warm smile, she was used to seeing it all the time whenever she came over. "Of course! Come on in sweetie!" she waved her over towards her room.

(Y/N) shoved her hands into her pockets, she made her way down the hall and entered Carla's bedroom. She hadn't ever seen it before, there was always something about entering a parent's bedroom that put her at discomfort. She could never do it at a friend's house, it felt almost like it was forbidden.

"What's on your mind? You seem a little unlike yourself," Carla asked, breaking (Y/N) out of her thoughts.

She looked at the woman who was folding some laundry, a wave of sadness came over her seeing as it was Eren's clothes she was folding.

She swallowed thickly, "Well.. I don't know if you know yet, but.. Eren and I – well um.. – we broke up," she replied.

The room suddenly fell quiet, she took notice of how Carla stopped folding the clothes and her expression seemed to be of surprise and shock. She wasn't sure how she'd react, it was his mom for heaven's sake!

A sigh escaped her mouth. "I could see you two were growing apart.. Eren stopped speaking about you often, I knew something was coming, but I didn't expect it so soon. I'm sorry sweetheart," she said, coming towards (Y/N).

Carla held her arms open for a hug that she gladly took. A hug was much needed right now, considering not many people cared to listen to (Y/N) about what was bothering her.

She pulled away, a small sniffle came from her nose. "Thank you Carla," she replied, wiping a few tears that escaped her eyes.

Carla used the pad of her thumb to wipe her tears away. "Of course, you can always come to me about anything! It doesn't matter what terms you're on with Eren."

She felt comforted by her words, most parents would shun any ex out of the family, no matter what reason for a break up. It was sweet to her knowing that Carla would always be around, despite what happened between the two.

She watched Carla make her way to the side of her bed, she placed the green laundry basket on the ground, and climbed onto the bed.

"Come sit! You look like you haven't slept," she said, patting the pillow next to her.

She felt comfortable enough to come sit next to Carla, she had done it many times, the two had always been close. Considering that Eren was always a momma's boy, (Y/N) grew to become comfortable and open with Carla about a lot of things.

She removed her shoes before climbing onto the large bed, sometimes she'd forget that Carla was a single woman. She was always surprised at the things she'd have, like a large bed, or a big closet with only her clothing items.

Her head pressed against the wooden frame of the bed, it felt awkward for a few moments, she didn't know what to say exactly.

"I think Eren is going to be okay, if you're concerned about that."

Her eyes looked down at the sheets beneath her, it was true, (Y/N) was extremely worried about Eren. He had always had a hot temper and he took things very seriously, she wasn't sure what a break up would do to him. Though, it did need to happen. Considering all of the bad shit that happened in between.

"I hope he'll be fine.. he can always come to me whenever," she replied, crossing her legs.

Carla placed her hand onto her knee. "Don't worry about it sweetheart, despite Eren being who he is, I know he'll be okay. Just like you will," she said, tapping her knee a few times.

A smile formed onto (Y/N)'s features at her words, maybe Carla was right, maybe everything would be okay.

"Say (Y/N).. I know this may sound a bit personal but.. did you and Eren, ever..?"

Her face grew hot from the question, why was Carla asking? Sure, Eren and (Y/N) both had sex many times, but it was so odd for his own mom to bring it up. Most kids hide that shit from their parents before marriage, but, why now?

She rubbed the back of her neck. "Well, yes we did, if you want honesty. Though towards the end he stopped paying attention to me, so we didn't do it much anymore," she felt embarrassed, she wanted to disappear on the spot.

Carla didn't look at her after she replied, it gave (Y/N) some anxiety. What if Carla didn't like that Eren was sexually active?

"You kids and your hormones, I'm not going to judge though. I did plenty of wild things in my days," she laughed. She shifted her body around so she could face her, "Eren treated you with respect.. right?"

Her eyes filled with curiosity. "O-Of course! Eren always asked me before anything.." she muttered, shifting around on the bed.

Carla turned so her body was now facing (Y/N), the air began to feel thick between them and it was clear there was something going on here that wasn't exactly right.

Suddenly, she felt a hand on her thigh, and it wasn't her own. Her eyes trailed up to see Carla's hand sitting there, what was she doing?

"You've always been a pretty girl, (Y/N)." she cooed, circling her thigh with her finger.

She swallowed thickly, was this really happening? This was Eren's mom, why was she being like this?

"What are you doing..?" (Y/N) asked, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion.

Carla only giggled, "You said Eren never paid attention to you in the end, no? How about I do it instead..?"

Was Carla actually saying she'd have sex with her?

(Y/N) didn't know what to think at the moment, what if someone walked in? If Eren saw what was going on he'd for sure be upset, and this was his mom. This wasn't some random woman.

"Just know there's no force here, if you don't want to, then we can just forget this whole thing. I just want to help you out sweetie," Carla said, rubbing her thigh once more.

She played with the skin of her fingernails, this was a difficult decision to make. Carla was a bit older than her, but (Y/N) did trust her a ton, her mind was so conflicted on what to do.

Fuck it.

"Sure.. help me out, Carla." she replied, looking towards her.

Carla's expression changed from surprise to a cocky smirk within a few seconds, she could see the excitement swirling around her hazel eyes. It sent chills down (Y/N)'s spine, she hadn't ever seen that look come from Carla before; not at her anyway.

"Lay down pretty.." she whispered, sitting up and unbuttoning her white top.

(Y/N) did what she was told, she laid down flat on her back, her head now pressed into the pillow. She felt the thumping of her heart beat against her chest, this was really happening.. and it wasn't a dream.

Her attention went towards Carla, who was already topless and wearing a black lace bra. The swell of her breasts stuck out from the fabric, her skin smooth, with a few small freckles around her chest.

"Don't be so shy, beautiful, I won't do anything too harsh," she said, a giggle coming from her mouth.

She laughed a bit, the awkwardness seeming to fade. Carla leaned down to press a kiss onto her lips, she could faintly taste the chapstick that she had put on a few minutes before she arrived. Their lips danced together, it made (Y/N)'s arms go around the woman's neck to bring her closer to her body.

Carla's hand played with the waistband of her leggings, she slid it underneath the fabric, and felt around her panties.

"Wet now aren't we? You're a dirty girl (Y/N).." Carla cooed, circling her finger around the damp spot of her clit.

A sudden gasp came from her throat, pleasure danced along her body making her brain turn to mush.

"Carla.." she whimpered as she played with her clit.

A smirk formed onto her features. "Take these off pretty.. I wanna see that pussy of yours,"

She lifted her hips off the bed to take off her leggings, she also took the opportunity to remove her shirt, exposing the bra she was wearing. Carla couldn't help but to savor the view of her body, she couldn't believe she looked this good underneath her clothes.

"So perfect.." she said, pressing a few kisses into her thigh. "Can I take these off?" she snapped the band of her panties against her skin.

(Y/N) nodded before speaking, "Yes."

Carla smirked before removing her white underwear, her wet cunt now on full display for her view. Carla grew wet from the sight of her pussy, it was so pretty, and she couldn't wait to devour it.

"What a pretty pussy you have, (Y/N)," she smirked, placing her hands on her thighs.

Chills went down her spine as Carla rubbed her finger along her swollen bead, she felt her cunt aching, it was uncomfortable; she didn't want to be teased.

"C-Carla.. can y-you start, please?" she asked, her voice almost coming out as a plea.

The woman chuckled at the sight before her, she hadn't expected Eren's ex girlfriend to be so submissive and needy. Then again, the two hadn't been doing too much, and she was a single girl.

Carla stood to remove her skirt, it slid down her hips and onto the floor. She needed to be more comfortable, she wanted to show (Y/N) some real action.

"Okay sweet girl," she said, looking up at her through her lashes.

A small gasp came from (Y/N)'s mouth as Carla's tongue made contact with her needy clit, her hips moved upwards towards her face, and her thighs started to tremble a bit from the touch.

Carla's hand found its way to her breast, where she began to massage and play with her nipples. A quiet moan escaped her mouth which sent vibrations along (Y/N)'s clit, it made her twitch and whimper.

"Carla! Shit!" she cried, putting her hands into the woman's hair.

Carla looked up at her, swirling her tongue around the most sensitive areas of her pussy. She inserted her finger into her hot, warm, cunt; the pleasure going along her body in waves.

"I love your pussy baby, fuck, how could Eren let this go?" she said, curling her finger to reach her g-spot.

(Y/N) cried out in pleasure from the feeling, her pussy was dripping wet, and her mind was becoming clouded from the euphoria. Carla knew what she was doing, the way her fingers would twist and curl to reach that spot, or the way she kissed at the bead of her swollen clit; it was like something she'd never felt before.

"Oh yes! Right there!" she moaned, throwing her head back against the pillow.

Carla sucked on her clit one last time before pulling away, her chin covered in her slick arousal. "Come kiss me babygirl," she said, getting close to her face.

(Y/N) leaned in and pressed her lips against Carla's, she could taste herself on her tongue. Her walls fluttered around her finger, which made Carla smirk.

She moaned into the kiss as her movements began to speed up, her thumb brushed against her clit, she could feel the way (Y/N) was tightening around her which meant she was getting close. Carla wanted her to cum all over her fingers.

"Come on pretty girl.. cum all over me," Carla said, spreading her legs apart to see her cunt.

(Y/N)'s vision went white and her legs trembled as her orgasm took over her body, sparks of euphoria danced along her skin from the shock. Some sweat glistened onto her skin from the warm room.

Carla pulled her fingers out and brought them towards her tongue. "Suck."

She took her fingers to her mouth and licked the slick off of them, a small chuckle coming from Carla.

"Good girl, you're such a good girl (Y/N)."

-

The next day (Y/N) couldn't believe what happened the previous night, her mind kept clouding with thoughts of Carla going down on her.

She sat up in bed, it was still early morning. She reached for her phone on the nightstand, she noticed she had a text from someone.

More specifically, Eren.

Eren: so you like fucking my mom?

[weasleylangs]

dirty little secret / g.w

‘i go around a time or two, just to waste my time with you’ 

Summary: Being friends with benefits was a mutual decision, a way to relieve stress when needed after a stressful twelve months. It was decided it was just between them, not to be anybodies business but George and Y/N’s, but she doesn’t want to be his dirty little secret anymore. Pairing: George Weasley x Fem!Reader Warnings: 18+ MINORS DNI !! no graphic depictions of sex but there’s one really fucking steamy kiss and sex & fwb situations/hookup culture is discussed heavily, sweet aftercare for both reader and George, jealousy & possession (nothing toxic), alcohol / drinking, food.  Word Count: 5.6k AUTHORS NOTE / aaaaa the first instalment for my pop punk series!!! this one is based off dirty little secret by the all american rejects! im going to kiss @weelittleweasley for helping me write the steamy kiss btw!!!!!

POP PUNK COLLECTION 

(all 18+) taglist / @spacexcowgirl @weelittleweasley​ @lumos-barnes​ @butterflybuchanan​ @levylovegood​ @omghufflepuff​ @mitsukui​ 

----------

Y/N hears George when he reenters her room, a glass of water in one of his hands, a washcloth in the other. Her legs still feel slightly numb from the pleasure she had just been on the receiving end of, a blissed-out expression on her face as she makes grabby hands towards the man in her doorway. 

George smiles dopily down at her, helping her sit up before handing her the glass of water. “How are you feeling?” he asks, checking in as he starts to help clean Y/N up. He quickly stops when she winces, scared he hurt her. “Fuck, sorry,” he whispers, pulling his hand away but when she laughs and grabs his hand, he relaxes.

“It’s fine,” she smiles, the look of euphoria still gracing her facial features. “Just a little sensitive,” she says honestly. George nods slightly, a proud smile on his lips as he goes back to cleaning her skin, taking extra care in areas where Y/N would be sensitive. 

He’s always like this after sex, making sure she’s okay. It’s a part of the reason why Y/N agreed on being friends with benefits with him in the first place, he’s the most trustworthy person she knows. 

It all started when they were twenty-one; the war had finished, their loved ones were safe and they so desperately needed to unwind in a very specific way after the stress of the previous twelve months. It was a mistake at first, two best friends drunkenly joking about sleeping together and the next thing they knew, they were rolling in the sheets together. Y/N was positive she ruined her longest friendship, but when George began his own personal ritual of aftercare, she knew she couldn’t let him go easily. 

This is why when the preposition of friends with benefits was put on the table by George, she immediately took it; six months later they’re still sleeping together, and even though her feelings for George are evergrowing, she’s happy with their current situation. 

“You sure you’re okay?” George presses when he’s noticed Y/N’s eyes glazed over. He’s worried he went a little harder than usual tonight. The stress of getting the joke shop back up and running has been getting to him and he needed a release of pressure in more ways than one.  

“Yes, I’m sure,” she says, taking George’s hand in her own before pressing a soft kiss to his knuckles that causes a soft red hue to develop across his freckled cheeks. That’s something else she’s learnt about George since she began sleeping with him; he needs aftercare for himself just as much herself, and he mostly needs it in some form of physical affection. “Just thinking, nothing bad. I promise.” 

George nods asking if Y/N’s good to be picked up. She giggles when she realises he’s taking her to the bathroom so she can pee. He sits her down on the toilet before turning around and gasping as he sees his reflection in the mirror. “Fuck woman,” he exclaims, before twisting his body so he can see the scratches that start at his shoulders and trail down his back. “Were you trying to rip me apart?” 

He hears a giggle come from behind him, quickly followed by a toilet flushing. He feels her frame push past him so she can wash her hands and when she reaches to grab some cream to put on George’s back she lets out her own gasp.

“George Fabian Weasley, what the fuck?” Her neck has a hickey, and not just a small one. She’s beginning to question whether George is part vampire when she looks up at him and he’s smirking at her, a mischievous glint in his eye. “It’s Spring! I have lunch with Angie tomorrow! I can’t cover these!”

George almost feels bad, but his admiration for his work on her neck is slightly winning over his guilt. “I’m sorry, darling,” it’s genuine and they both know it when Y/N’s scowl falters slightly, threatening to smile.

“No, you’re not,” she says, grabbing the cream for his back and pushing him back into her bedroom. Before she begins to help George, she stands in front of her drawers, grabbing clothes to put on now she’s come out of her post-sex haze. She hears the redhead behind her chuckle when he recognises the sweater she puts on as his own as he puts his own boxers back on. “But I guess it’s payback. Your back’s going to hurt tomorrow and Fred’s going to wonder why.”

None of their friends are aware of... their arrangement. They agreed, knowing they would make it weird. After all, Fred’s engaged to his long term girlfriend from their Hogwarts years and their other friends have all started putting themselves out there, so it’s safe to say, they’re the last two to start to settle down. 

But they like their current relationship; it’s carefree, it’s simple, it’s not complicated like a proper relationship and if they’re honest, they get some mindblowing sex out of it. So it’s not anybody’s business but each other’s. 

After a while, Y/N’s finished putting the cream on George’s back. She spent the time mumbling apologies whenever George winces, she didn’t realise how hard she was going so she makes a mental note to not rip apart his back the next time they see each other. She presses a gentle kiss to the base of George’s neck, something she doesn’t think too much about but it feels like it’s blurring the lines between romantic and platonic right now and she feels herself panic a tiny bit.

“Do you work tomorrow?” She asks George, who hums in agreement. His eyes are droopy like he’s almost falling asleep and Y/N expected this. He’s putty in anybody’s hands the second you start trailing your hands gently up any part of his body, specifically his back. “Are you sleeping here tonight?” she giggles as she asks and George sighs. 

“I probably shouldn't but-” he cuts himself off with a yawn before rolling over onto his back. “Your bed is just so much more comfortable than mine.” 

Y/N rolls her eyes, pushing him slightly before jumping off the bed and leaving George to frown at her when she moves from her spot next to him. She grabs her wand from her bedside table, walking through her flat to make sure all her lights are turned off before enchanting ‘lumos’ so she can light her way back to her bedroom. 

“You’re letting me stay?” She nods at his words, crawling into bed with him. While she knows George is a sucker for physical affection, Y/N is also well aware he hates sleeping cuddled up to people so she gives him his space in the bed. Because of this, she doesn’t expect George to shift his body so even though they’re not cuddling, they’re still close, a simple form of comfort that neither of them can decipher as platonic or romantic.

“Yes, you can stay,” she says, rubbing her thumb along George’s hand as a way of saying goodnight, “but you wake me up before 9am tomorrow and you die.” 

-----

When Y/N wakes up the next morning to her alarm going off, the side of the bed is empty and cold. Her alarm clock reads 10:30am, so she knows George has been gone for a few hours at this point. She feels a small sense of sadness, remembering how fun the mornings are the times George sleeps over and stays until she wakes up. 

She sighs, deciding there’s no point in dwelling on George’s absence. When she walks into her kitchen, she checks her kettle; cursing George when she finds it empty because she knows he just had to have a cup of tea before leaving this morning and rolls her eyes as she fills it herself. Her kettle’s boiling as she potters around when she spots a piece of paper with George’s writing all over it. 

‘George’s excuses for the hickeys’ the note reads in his messy scrawl, and Y/N has to stifle a cackle before she continues to read. ‘1. ran into a door’ is scratched out immediately and she knows George probably thought it was a good idea at first before realising the hickeys are on her neck, so the running into the door isn't feasible. ‘2. bug’ is the next one and she has to stop herself from rolling her eyes and when she goes back to George’s oh so incredible list, her breath hitches. 

‘3. be honest and say you hooked up with someone’ makes Y/N’s heart sink. She hasn’t slept with anyone besides George in the past six months, hasn’t wanted to either for that matter, but it makes her realise something. 

She doesn’t know if George is the same. 

She’s well aware of their situation and the lack of commitment outside of promising to come over later, but her emotions hit her harder than she thought they would. While she wouldn’t complain if she and George became something more, she knows it’s not what either of them is looking for at the moment, so she doesn’t understand why she’s so hurt. Does George think I shag other people? she thinks before the kettle starts to hiss to indicate the water is boiled and she’s brought back to reality. 

After drinking her tea, Y/N begins to get ready, trying her best to cover the purple bruises littering her neck and trying to keep herself under control while she admires them in the mirror. Soon enough, she’s out the door and making her way to Diagon Alley where she spots Angie, talking with Fred.

“Y/N!” Fred exclaims as she gets closer and waves frantically as she walks towards them. “We’re just talking about how we think George has a bird!” Y/N chokes on air, her brows furrowing at Fred’s words. They’ve been so careful, a bit too careful when it comes to hiding their relationship from their friends so she doesn’t understand.

“Why do you think that?” Her tone is casual, trying to act natural as she tries to find out what signs could point to their... activities being exposed, and to his brother of all people.

Fred starts laughing again, holding his stomach as he tries to tell the story. “He didn’t come home last night- I only noticed because I was up at 3 and his bedroom door was open which was weird because he didn’t tell me he was going out!” Fred’s animated when he’s talking, taking a sip of his drink and using his free hand to emphasise his story. “And when he was reaching for something in a closet today he winced, like his back hurt!” 

Y/N stares at Fred blankly, memories of the night before flooding her memory when Fred mentions George wincing. She knows now is not the time to start thinking about how good George made her feel last night. “What does wincing have to do with anything?” 

She knows she made a mistake when Fred’s eyes widen, staring at her. “Well, my dear prude Y/N, my back only hurts when it’s scratched up from a good fu-” 

“Okay, we do not need to hear about your sex life,” Angie says, grabbing Y/N by the shoulders and steering her off. “We have a lunch date that you’re not invited to.” She’s smiling when she says it and when Fred bids the two girls goodbye, Angie calls out something about making fun of George for her. 

She’s quiet on the walk to the cafe she and Angelina have planned for lunch, lost in thoughts. She’s stuck on the idea of George sleeping with other people even though she knows she was the one with George last night, that she was the one scratching up his back. They walk in tandem, Angelina raving about Quidditch while Y/N nodded in acknowledgement at appropriate times. 

Eventually, they reach the cafe, quickly taking a seat and looking at the menu. It’s then when Angelina’s hand pulls the menu down from Y/N’s face and she’s giving the girl a questioning look.

“What’s wrong?” She asks.

Y/N stares at her, not understanding how she did anything to convey any feeling at all, let alone a feeling of something being wrong. She’s about to deny it when she looks Angelina in the eye, and she realises she can’t lie to her because she’d be questioned for the rest of lunch. “Do you think George has a friend with benefits?”

Angelina giggles at Y/N’s words, smiling slightly. “I know you’re sleeping with him.” She says it so casually that Y/N doesn’t even process what she said for a few beats. She half expected her friend to admit she was also sleeping with George, after all, she used to suspect they had a thing when they were teenagers but this is the last thing she expected. 

She’s so baffled she can’t even deny it, no words leaving her mouth for a second before she just stares at Angelina, “How?”

Angelina keeps smiling, quickly ordering their drinks when the waitress comes over and requests a little longer to decide on food before turning back to her friend sitting dumbfounded across the table. “Fred might be stupid and oblivious, but I’m not. I see the way he looks at you.” 

Y/N doesn’t think George looks at her in any particular way, at least he doesn’t when she isn’t under him and she notices Angelina’s eyes soften when Y/N doesn’t say anything. “You didn’t know before sleeping with him?”

“Didn’t know what before sleeping with him?”

“That he likes you?” Y/N thinks Angelina’s being stupid; it’s always been her liking George and George not noticing, not the other way around. George has always been sweet and gentle in bed, way nicer and way more giving than any other romantic partner in her past, but she’s always chalked it up to him just being George. That’s how she’s always known him, how she knew him when they met at 11, how she knew him on the Quidditch pitch when they were 15 and how she knows him now, at 22 and in his bed. 

“He doesn’t like me, you’re just making stuff up!” She’s adamant Angelina’s just messing with her but Angelina just sighs, obviously ready to move on from the topic. “He doesn’t,” she whispers to no one in particular and she feels Angelina grab her hand, rubbing a thumb across the top in a comforting kind of way.

“I guess it’s not my place to say,” she starts, “but I’ve never seen George treat someone else like the way he treats you. It’s like... It’s like you’re glass, that he’s scared of breaking you and you have to be in his sights at all times.” It’s soft and Y/N knows it’s genuine as much as she hates to admit it. 

The conversation changes, thankfully putting Y/N and George out of the hot seat but she’s hanging onto every word of Angelina’s, suddenly overthinking every interaction she’s had with the redhead in the past few months. Panic starts to set in and it only gets worse when Angelina bids her goodbye.

Her thoughts are loud; does she like George or does she like the way George makes her feel? What if George has liked her this entire time and she’s mistaken her feelings for romantic when they’re purely physical? 

As she wonders, she realises she’s being stupid. Y/N knows she likes George, she’s liked George for so long and she likes him so much it hurts. That’s when a new thought arrives, a more sinister thought, a meaner thought; What if Angelina is just completely wrong, that’s always a possibility. What if George doesn’t like her back at all. 

-----

She wanders Diagon Alley, making her way to the Apothecary after remembering she needs some more Valerian sprigs to make a new batch of the Potion for Dreamless Sleep. She’s muttering to herself as she wanders the store, thinking about how these days her best night's sleep are spent besides George but the thought is quickly pushed away when she spots her ingredient of choice and she can barely reach it. 

“Fuck,” she mutters, looking around for a stool or a shop assistant so she can finally get out of Diagon Alley. She’s about to give up and leave herself when she’s met with a tough body slamming into her own. Apologies spill from her mouth quickly, feeling terrible she almost knocked this poor guy over in the middle of the Apothecary but when she looks up, George is looking down at her.

“What do you need, darling?” The nickname makes her heart race and she only hopes George can’t hear it seconds away from beating from her chest. She doesn’t respond immediately, preoccupied with how nice he looks and it’s not until he waves in front of her face that she responds.

“Sorry,” she says, shaking her head in a way to push away her thoughts, “was looking for some Valerian sprigs.” She hopes George minds his own business, memories from her meeting with Angelina flooding her thoughts. She starts to over analyse the way George looks at her, whether it’s as if she’s glass, like Angelina claims but when she looks at George, he’s reaching up and grabbing the jar for her.

“Treacle fudge?” He questions, and it takes her a moment to process he’s asking why she needs the ingredient. 

“Dreamless Sleep,” she replies, embarrassed. She’s never needed a sleeping potion when George is around, his presence alone is enough to fight off any unwanted nightmares but that’s the last thing he needs to know. Thankfully, he doesn’t comment, just puts the jar back up on the shelf when she’s done and motions for her to follow him around the store. 

He stops in front of the rose thorns, silently debating how many to get when he feels Y/N’s eyes on him. “Love potion, for WonderWitch,” he says, grabbing some and putting them in a bag before making his way to the counter. He grabs the Valerian sprigs from Y/N’s hand, placing them alongside his rose thorns and ignoring her protests when he hands some Galleons to the shopkeeper. 

“I get a discount,” he says when they exit the shop, “plus, I didn’t mind.” Y/N stares at him, not able to read a single emotion on his face. She thanks him and takes the Valerian sprigs from him and places them in her bag. 

“Do you wanna come over tonight?” He asks, rubbing the back of his neck. “Fred won’t be home.” His cheeks are flushed red, almost like he’s shy asking to see her for the second night in a row. The word ‘yes’ is on the tip of her tongue, threatening to spill out without her permission. She badly wants to let the word slip as well, but her thoughts from earlier come to the forefront once again and at this moment, Y/N can’t seem to convince herself that George wants her in the same way she wants him.

“No, sorry,” she says bluntly, and she doesn’t miss the look of shock on his face. Y/N has never turned George down and while he respects her no, it confuses him nonetheless. “Just... Not feeling well. You know?”

Y/N knows George doesn’t believe her, she sees it in his eyes, but he hums in acknowledgement before lifting his wrist and checking his watch. “Look, I’ve gotta go, Fred’s going to kill me,” the words are forced like he wants to stay and make sure everything is okay between the pair and he’s being pulled away too soon. “I’ll see you sometime this week, yeah?”

“Yeah, maybe,” Y/N says, knowing he doesn’t mean sometime this week in his bed, but the thought happens before she can stop it and it’s right now she realises she needs to push George away before she gets more hurt. 

-----

It’s been a week since Y/N turned down George’s offer to come over that night, and she has a feeling he’s avoiding her. Usually, when Y/N denies him it only takes him a few days before he comes crawling back or vice versa; they’ve never been able to go long without falling into bed together, the co-dependency on each other for a hook up was one they never discussed, but was known, so the fact George didn’t end up in her bed during the week makes her painfully aware something is wrong and even though she knows it’s her own fault, it doesn’t make it hurt any less.  

The suspicion is only confirmed when she’s dragged to a bar in Muggle London on the following Saturday night. Angie, Katie and Alicia’s complaints that Y/N’s been too high strung this week getting to her and their peer pressure eventually worked. She doesn’t mind the bar- it’s not too busy but it’s still got enough people in it for a good time and Katie and Lee are getting everyone drinks when Y/N spots a head of bright, auburn hair across the room. 

She doesn’t even think twice before knowing it’s George, and it’s got nothing to do with the girl next to him, hanging off every word he’s saying not being Fred’s fiancée. The way she feels in her entire body when she spots him, the ache in her heart she feels is what confirms it’s George. He’s the only person to ever have this kind of power over her and at this moment, she wishes he didn’t. 

Because George is flirting with the girl next to him and she’s batting her eyelashes, clearly happy with the attention the cute redhead is giving her and Y/N wants nothing more than to be in her place and it hurts, even more, knowing she usually is in her place. George is a lot more comfortable talking sex once he has a few glasses of whiskey, so the flirting gets turned up to an eleven and all their friends laugh at his forwardness. 

Angelina sees Y/N staring longingly at the younger twin and without words she knows something is wrong. So she grabs the tequila from Katie and places it in front of Y/N. “Drink it.” She looks at Angelina, confused why her attention was stolen from George but smiles happily when the shot glass is in her hand. 

It burns as it slides down her throat, after all, tequila always does. She quickly takes the lemon from whoever’s holding it out to her, pulling a face as the sourness meets her taste buds. Angelina, Katie and Alicia and hollering when she looks back at them, her friends successfully stealing her attention from George as they drag her to the dancefloor. ABBA is playing over the loudspeaker, and the girls yell in excitement, they would never pass up the opportunity to dance to ABBA; memories of post-Quidditch parties and sneaking Firewhiskey into the Gryffindor Common Room coming to the forefront of their minds. 

They dance for who knows how long with Lee joining them as he dances between Alicia and Katie, playing up the ladies’ man role. It makes Y/N laugh, Lee clearly loving the attention from the girls but it’s at that moment she spots George and the girl from earlier, dancing; George’s hands are on her hips, respectful but holding her close and it fills Y/N with a feeling so horrible, she has to turn around to push the vile, green monster back down. 

Thankfully, or not so thankfully, she’s not entirely sure just yet, she turns to face a guy. He’s cute, got a puppy dog look about him and he smiles at Y/N in a way that indicates he’s asking to dance. She says yes, of course, and her hands wrap around his neck. She hates that she’s spending this time dancing with him comparing him to George; his hands aren’t as calloused, he smells like mint as opposed to the familiar scent of cinnamon and Earl Grey tea, her heart isn't racing like it would if she was with the redhead. 

George sees her across the dance floor because his eyes haven’t left her all night. He knows he’s leading this poor girl on, Bianca is her name; he’s not going to end up taking her home like he knows she’s hoping, but he needed a distraction. When he sees Y/N starting to dance with a guy, his jaw tenses and his eyes narrow; he knows he’s being stubborn. If he just talked to Y/N everything would be sorted but he doesn’t want to be the one to break, he wants Y/N to come to him, to want him. 

Their eyes meet across the dance floor, the guy’s head dipping into the crook of Y/N’s neck, his arm is wrapped around her waist as her back is pressed against his chest, grinding her bum onto his crotch. She tries to look away from George but she can’t, his eyes are enchanting and this is the most attention they’ve gotten from each other since that day in Diagon Alley. George whispers something into the girl’s ear, his grip on her hips getting tighter but his eyes never leave Y/N’s. 

It’s Y/N who breaks eye contact, her head falling back onto her dance partner’s shoulder and when George sees open mouth kisses pressed to Y/N’s neck, he snaps. He mutters an excuse to Bianca and walks as fast as he can to the girl he wants. He sees his friends snickering at each other as they dance but no one says anything.

She feels his presence before she feels him grab her wrist, so he doesn’t scare her. Her head immediately pops up, looking George in the eye. “Oi, nah. I had her first,” the guy behind Y/N says, his grip visually tightening on Y/N as if she’s a toy and George is coming to steal it, but he has to stifle a laugh; the guy’s confident, George’ll give him that.

“Nah, mate,” he starts, the music changing to a more sensual R&B song as he speaks. He sees Y/N blush at his simple words and he gently tugs at her wrist again, not in a demanding kind of way; he’s asking, pleading her to follow him and when she steps away from the guy she was dancing with, she mutters an apology before letting George drag her where he wants to go. 

----

They don’t even say two words to each other once they’re in the bathroom together. George pulls her inside quickly, before pushing her up against the door, attaching his lips immediately to her neck before he gently sucks and bites, subconsciously leaving a small hickey like it's the most natural thing in the world for him to do. She’s missed having him this close so when her fingers rake through his long hair, she gives it a gentle tug before pulling his mouth up to her own, wanting to kiss him with everything she has, needing him even closer. He obliges of course, always happy to give Y/N what she wants.

When George’s lips finally meet hers, he’s kissing her like it’s the last time they’ll ever kiss; it’s messy, desperate, like most of their kisses are, hands gripping wherever they can just to ensure the other isn’t leaving. George is intoxicating to Y/N like she can get drunk from the taste of his whiskey covered lips alone and her head spins when she feels his hands rake up her body, grasping her waist and pushing her harder against the door. A small moan leaving Y/N’s lips is all George needs to force his tongue into her mouth, massaging their tongues together and she tugs at the hair at the nape of his neck again, desperately needing him as close as humanly possible without defiling this public bathroom. The action makes George whimper, loving nothing more than having her fingers tugging at his auburn locks and it gives her a slight power trip. Just a slight one, as she tries to take control of the kiss. 

It doesn’t last long because before she knows it, she’s whimpering under his touch and surrendering everything she has to him as his hands caress her body, grabbing and pulling her to him wherever possible. His hands eventually land on her thighs, and when he grabs them and hoists her up, her legs immediately wrap around his waist. The action alongside the pressure on her crotch makes her moan and she feels George smirk at her noises, obviously feeling proud of being the only person to be able to do this to her. He pivots slightly once he’s holding her, placing Y/N on the counter next to the sink so they’re finally level to kiss comfortably. 

He keeps his spot between her legs, refusing to detach his lips from hers, his hands crawling from her thighs to tightly grasp her hips. If it was any other day, Y/N would’ve said something, telling him to be careful of bruises but right now, after watching him flirt with the girl out in the bar for hours on end, there’s nothing she wants, no needs, more than George marking her in every way he can. 

“Mine,” she moans without thinking, as his lips leave hers, slowly making their way across her jaw and onto her neck once again, licking, biting, sucking. George has always loved her neck and he knows how much she loves having her neck touched. “You’re mine,” she repeats when George doesn’t immediately push her away, and she doesn’t even have time to decide to panic before she hears a groan in her ear.

“Yours,” he whispers, his hot breath causing goosebumps to prickle along her skin. The words don’t even process in her brain before she feels George pull away from her. The lack of contact makes her whine, she never wants to be far away from George ever again but he smiles, presses the most gentle kiss on her lips before looking her directly in her eyes, “I’m yours.” 

Her heart stops, she never thought for a second she’d hear George mutter those words, let alone in a dingey, small bathroom of a bar in Central London, but here it is. “Don’t play with me, Georgie,” she whispers. From her spot on the counter, she can look him directly in the eyes; his cheeks are flushed red, his pupils are blown, lips swollen and red. His hair has gotten messy from her pulling at it but she can’t bring herself to feel bad that she ruined his perfectly styled hair because at this moment, she thinks this is the most beautiful she’s ever seen him, so vulnerable and the look of adoration in his eyes fills her chest with hope. 

“Would I ever play with you, darling?” He asks, his words are sincere and she knows it. It’s soft, reminiscent of all those times he’s looked after her after having sex, when he promises to look after her, always. 

“I’d hope not, I was having fun with…” She trails off, realising she never caught his name before she starts laughing. She feels George’s hands tighten against her thighs, hyperaware of his touch on her skin and she grabs one of his hands. “I didn’t actually know his name. I was pretending he was you.”

She says it so softly she wouldn’t be shocked if he missed it, but he didn’t. He hangs to every word she says, he always does and when he smiles, Y/N feels herself relax. “I was using Bianca to make you jealous,” he admits, laughing to himself. He knew the pair of them were being stupid, that they could have just talked but the fear of rejection clearly got the best of both of them. 

“I’ve liked you for so long, and maybe I shouldn't have put friends with benefits on the table knowing that, but I needed you.” He’s never spoken truer words, his left hand leaving her thigh and gently caressing her cheek. Her makeups smudged from both the sweat from dancing and the desperation from not even five minutes ago, her hairs messy and her lips are swollen just as much as his but he wants to take her home, right this second, and show her in so many ways how much he loves her.

“I like you, too.” 

His eyes prick up at her words and he didn’t realise he wasn’t holding eye contact until now. She takes her own left hand and mirrors George’s action on himself; hoping to convey everything she’s felt for him through nothing but looks. “I had to back away last week, I thought I had to get over you. Angie said some dumb shit and I started to overthink and I’m so-”

He cuts her off with a kiss and it’s so different to their usual ones. It’s soft and gentle like they could stay here for hours doing nothing but kissing and they’d be perfectly content. George pulls her body closer to his, desperate just to have her near when he pulls away, pressing his forward to hers. “Don’t say sorry, please.” 

She opens her mouth again to speak and that’s when he cuts her off again, with another kiss. This happens a few times before Y/N is a giggling mess and George is just kissing her for the sake of having their lips pressed together. “We know now, that’s all I care about.” 

This makes her smile and her heart soar; the boy she’s loved for so long, liking her back once felt like it could only be a dream, and she has to pinch herself multiple times before she finally believes it’s her reality.

They soon realise they’ve been standing in this dirty, bar bathroom for way too long and George helps her down, grabbing her by the hips to stabilise her when her legs slightly give out. He takes her hand in his, softly kissing her knuckles before he opens the bathroom door to sneak out. “My place or yours?” he asks, but he quickly stops, “I’m not expecting to fuck, but like I mean if it happens it happens but- Godric, we can just hang out I’m happy with that unless you want to fuck-”

Y/N’s giggling at his stumbling around on words and she shushes him slightly, his face going bright red when she's the one leaning to press a chaste kiss to his lips. His face is bright red when she speaks, “My place. I live alone.” she winks and runs off after saying this, George hot on her tails and even though there’s music and George’s favourite song is playing, Y/N’s laugh as he chases her out of the bar is his favourite noise. 

[lottiebagley]

Family Reunions- George Weasley

Three years imagining a life together Love your family more than we loved each other I said I’d keep in touch and I did But the more we keep in touch, the more I miss him

The second she enters her small flat she can feel her entire world shatter around her. Leaning her back against the door as she sinks to the ground, head dropping into her hands as she wipes furiously at her eyes, trying to push the tears back in.

Once a week she had attended dinner at the burrow, it was nice, good to see Molly and Arthur and whichever kids were around, of course George was never there, the date marked in his calendar in a red pen reminder to not go home that day. To sleep and eat at the flat.

The family had been heartbroken to hear that he had broken up with his girlfriend, after the war he had committed all his time to helping Fred. His twin needed every last bit of his attention, helping with his physical therapy and his dwindling mental state and so George's relationship had taken a back seat. She hadn't minded, in fact she had understood, she even committed herself to helping too.

But a year after George decided to call things off, Fred was better, he was walking and he was happier and he was working again. It was the perfect time for him to focus on his relationship, after all the girl had proven herself time and time again. But he couldn't bring himself to do it. Maybe it was that he felt like he needed a minute alone.

Maybe it was the feeling that she was so much better than him. Maybe it was his mother's constant talks of rings and weddings. He wasn't quite sure but all of a sudden he felt like he was suffocating.

He sat her down in his bedroom in the flat. Explained that she wasn't the one and it didn't feel right anymore. He had watched as she cried and had attempted to comfort her only for her to push him away, fleeing his flat leaving a baffled Fred on the living room sofa, television on in front of him, wondering why the girl who may as well be a sister just left the flat in floods of tears.

George still visions his mother's face when he closes his eyes, the look on her face when he told her he ended his relationship. He remembers her disappointment. He remembers his brothers shock. He remembers his dad's sad sigh. He remembers his sister's passionate rant about how he never deserved her anyway.

As the girl cries on her hallway floor she vows that she will stop. Stop seeing the Weasley's. Not because she doesn't love them with every fibre of her being but because she couldn't handle the heart break. Couldn't keep sitting at their dinner table without his hand on her knee. Couldn't keep sitting on the swing set without him laughing and pushing her. Couldn't keep helping Molly clean plates without him sat on the counter teasing her.

Tell your sister if she hears from her ex I can’t be the one that she calls And as much as I love talks with your dad I need him to leave me alone Cause I can’t find the words to express The way that I wish I was the one But friends don’t bring friends to family reunions

Her resolve to stop seeing the Weasley's was gone by the next morning.

She woke up to a missed call from Charlie and called back, chattering away about his upcoming trip home as she got ready.

She arrived at her job at the ministry and met up with Hermione for coffee, deciding that when she eventually cut her ties she would keep Hermione. The girl was like a younger sister, although so was Ginny, but she figured one last tie to the family, someone to hear their news from would do no harm.

Arthur knocked on her office door in his lunch break, bringing with him sandwiches made by Molly and asking her to eat with him and she didn't have the heart to say no, so instead they ate in her office and talked merrily about the infestation of singing sunglasses he was dealing with today.

As she left her office she received a phone call from Ginny, who ranted about how annoying Harry was being and how now she had graduated and was training she felt like she had no time to focus on her relationship.

It was after she assured the girl that her and Harry were meant to be as she walked through the Leaky Cauldron she knew what she had to do.

She got a flat above a bookshop on Diagon Alley simply to be near George and now everyday, walking past his store, felt like torture. She hadn't been in the store, she'd avoided it like the plague even when Fred asked her to come and hang out with him and George wasn't working. So as she walked into the atmospheric shop her heart felt like it was sinking in her chest.

"Hey sweetheart, you all okay?" Fred asks with a bright grin, he's leaning on his cane for support and eyeing the door.

She could cry looking at him. Not just because he looks identical to the man who fell out of love with her and she still pined desperately for. No. Today the tears she blinks back are practically grief, she knew that, realistically, she would see Fred around, but she wouldn't be able to call him a friend anymore.

"I uh- could I speak to George?" she questions, Fred smiles gently, noticing her pained tone.

"Yeah, of course, you can go on up," he assures. She nods shooting him a small smile, but pauses on the stairs.

"Hey Freddie,"

"Yeah,"

"I want you to know that I am really proud of you, of the shop and of how much better you are and I mean when I first met you who'd have thought you'd end up here. I just-well I love you and I am really proud," She blinks back tears as she speaks, almost wishing she would get a chance to say a goodbye to all the Weasley's.

Fred smiles gently, somewhere in him he can tell, tell that this is goodbye and he's about to loose a friend.

"I love you too sweetheart, just remember no matter what that I am always going to be here for you,"

They share eye contact for a moment, both knowing and not saying it. Fred understood, he can only imagine how hard it must be to still be a part of his family's lives after George. He knew the girl in front of him loved his twin brother more than anything, he knew that deep down George loved her just as much, and yet here Fred stands, a silent goodbye hanging in the air.

Phone calls Sweet notes All the little things I used to love Now they just remind me that I was never enough We said we’d keep in touch and I tried But the more we keep in touch, the less I move on in life

"Hey George," she speaks quietly, standing in the hallway of his flat as he stands staring at her shock.

It's been a month since he saw her and his heart leaps at the sight of her, at her standing there with a small smile and teary eyes and a pencil skirt and blazer and messy hair and she's just her. She is her and it's everything he's been missing. He wonders as he stares at her how he ever thought that she wasn't the one. That she wasn't perfect. That she wasn't made for him.

Her own eyes are wide, seeing him sparking something in her that she didn't even know existed. He's shirtless, a white towel wrapped around his hips and his hair damp from the shower he just clearly had. Her eyes scan his toned chest, his broad shoulders, the light sprinkles of freckles. His scent, his cinnamon body wash, is so strong that it practically invades her body and she could scream and cry and all she wants is to kiss him.

"Oh-shit-hi. Is everything alright?" He's worried to see her, had someone died? Was she okay? Merlin, he wanted her to be happy more than anything in the world.

"Hey," she speaks quietly, backing a way a little when he tries to move closer, not wanting to be close enough that she could reach out and touch him.

"You said that already," he teases gently, testing the waters.

"I'm sorry- I-" she cuts herself off, not sure how to say anything that she wants to

"Hey, it's okay. You're okay," he comforts her gently "Why don't you go sit down, I'll get dressed and come, just give me a minute," he offers, she nods her head slowly.

When he enters the living room it feels natural. Seeing her sat on his sofa waiting for him feels right. He thinks for a second about how it could all be different. How he could be in pyjamas and she could be in one of his shirts, how he would jump on her and laugh when she tells him he is squashing her, how he'd have held her as they watch a film and make-out and he'd cook for her and they'd drink wine and enjoy a blissful Friday evening, wrapped up in each other.  

"You're all dressed up. Going anywhere nice?" she questions, eyes scanning his white dress shirt and jeans.

"The Italian, the one in Camden town,"

"With the little dog and the red wine?" she questions, George lets out a laugh at the memory of the time he took her there, it was a month after the war, thinking back it was probably the last time he took her out. He got so busy with Fred and the shop and she'd not been a priority when he knew she should have been, she never seemed to mind though.

"That's the one,"

"So, it's a date," she smiles gently, heart splintering in her chest

"Uh, yeah. Yeah it is," he confirms, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly

"That's great, do I know her?"

"Angelina," He admits quietly. She nods, forcing a smile.

"That's great George, I'm really happy for you. I'm sorry to disturb you-"

"No!" he cuts her off a little too eagerly, a little too happy to see her. "No, you are fine being here. I want to help with whatever is happening," he assures her

"Right, well I won't keep you long," she nods awkwardly

"Hush, none of that nonsense, take all the time you need," he reassures her, sitting down next to her on the sofa but keeping a respectful distance apart.

"So-well- I know that this is-" she cuts herself off with a sigh "Sorry, this is just...awkward,"

"Hey, it's just me. You can say anything," He moves his hand to place it gently on her knee, his heart stops at the way she gently pulls her leg away.

"I need you to tell your family to stop talking to me,"

"What?" he snaps, suddenly quite offended. "My family have been nothing but kind to you and-"

"Christ! it's not like that!" she gasps, he sighs

"Then what?"

"I can't be a part of their lives anymore. I know it sounds so selfish and I wish it was different but- George- I love your family. I really do. I just- being around them hurts. It kills me. It makes me want to just drop dead because every time I talk to them I think of you. Being in your house I can feel you and- I- it hurts. It hurts too much," She admits it in a tired whisper, George feels his heart break at the thought of her heartbroken because of him.

"Okay. I'll talk to them," he speaks quietly, she nods and stands.

"Goodbye George,"

"I'll see you around?" he asks quietly, the thought of this being it makes his heart hurt. When his family were stealing seeing him all the time it wasn't as bad, he always knew what was happening in her life. This, this was final.

"Yeah. Yeah maybe,"

Tell your sister if she hears from her ex I can’t be the one that she calls And as much as I’ll miss talks with your dad I need him to leave me alone Cause I can’t find the words to express The way you don’t think I am the one And friends don’t bring friends to family reunions

For the next six months George hears nothing. Without his family seeing her he has no idea how she is, if she's okay, if she's happier now. He lays up at night thinking about her and wishing he could turn back time.

She hears scraps, staying in touch with Hermione, she knows about Ron in depth, hears bits and pieces about the rest of the family. Too awkward to ask if George is okay, if he's happier without her, if he's with Angelina now.

Bill receives a card when his little girl is born but she doesn't pick up the phone when he calls her. Fred gets a text message when he finishes his physical therapy but when he replies it's left on delivered. Ginny swears up and down that she saw her in the stands of her first professional quidditch game but can't prove it.

So, with dread filling her body and curses at her nephew flying in her mind she enters Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. She's hoping to go unseen by the twins, they had staff now and maybe they would never have to find out her annoyingly loveable nephew wanted a reusable swamp for his 12th birthday and absolutely nothing else would do.

"Hello, welcome to Weasley's Wizard- oh, hi," George's voice sounds anxious when he snaps his head up to see her standing like a deer in the headlights in the almost empty shop.

"Hey,"

"Is everything alright?" George wonders if the way his mind automatically jumps to something awful having happened because of the war or because he can't think of any other reason after everything he put her through that she would want to be anywhere near him.

"It's Max's birthday next week," she announces

"Yeah. 12, right?" George questions with a lopsided grin. He adored her nephew, the kid as giggly and energetic and just like him and Fred were as kids. He also loved the way she was around kids.

"Yeah," she confirms, surprised he remembers. "He, uh, started school,"

"Made Gryffindor I'm sure," George smiles, it's the first genuine smile he's let out in weeks

"Yeah. The first thing he said when he saw me at Christmas was that I just had to tell uncle George, didn't shut up about you once. I didn't have the heart to tell him we broke up so..." she trails off.

"He's a good kid,"

"He is. Professor McGonogall isn't quite so set on him,"

"Nah, she always loves the trouble makers," George smirks

"That's true," She smiles gently "Anyway, so he wants a portable swamp and nothing else instead for his birthday, so," she trails off once more, gesturing to herself.

"Well of course," George grins, pushing himself off the front desk that he had been resting on and striding across the shop floor to grab one. He grabs a basket, walking around the floor and plucking any product he thinks the kid might like, even a few unreleased things from the back room before returning to where she is standing at the front till with a small smile on her face.

"George-" she starts, he shushes her immediately.

"I'll gift wrap them for you," he announces, placing the full basket on the till

"You don't have to that," she protests but he laughs

"Actually, I kinda do. You are the worst at wrapping gifts," he teases making her smile.

"You got me there," she admits

"Yeah. So, how've you been," He begins scanning products through the till and wrapping them with ease

"Uh good. I got a promotion-"

"Wow! that's fantastic, and so well deserved,"

"How would you know?" She blushes as she speaks, not looking at the boy

"I do read the paper y'know? What is it now 100 war criminals you have single handedly found," he bolsters, she'd always wanted to be an auror but becoming so high up that she reported directly to the minister and had a big fancy office was only in her wildest dreams until now.

"What about you? How's things?" she questions

"They're good. Shop's going great and Fred's only getting better by the day. Little Victorie is so perfect and yeah life is, well, it's good," He can't bring himself to say that as much as everything is perfect he can't find it in him to be happy without her by his side.

"And Angelina?"

"We decided we were way better as friends. You dating?"

"I'm married to the job," she shrugs, not wanting to say she doubted she would ever fall in love again without him.

"I get that," he nods, placing the pile of wrapped up parcels into bags. He physically laughs when she grabs her purse and begins to gather money

"Sweetheart, you're not paying for any of this. I only rang it through the till because we have to stock management,"

"George, that is so kind but I can-"

"Yes you can, if it makes you feel better stick my name on a couple of the tags alright?"

"I will, I promise that I will," she nods, taking the bags from his hand "Thank you,"

"No bother. Give Max my best, yeah?" He smiles, she nods and he watches as she leaves the store, his heart that he hadn't even realised was practically beaming dulls back down when she goes.

Tell your mom to stop sending me recipes she finds on the internet And when your brother wins homecoming king

I won’t be there to witness it And when you find the words to express the way you don’t think I am the one And friends don’t bring friends to family reunions If we’re just friends don’t bring friends to family reunions

"You busy?" Hermione leans in the doorway of her office

"I can make a couple minutes, what's up? We had coffee three days ago," she reminds as the brunette steps into the office, closing the door behind her and settling in the seat across the desk.

"I know and I wanted to ask then but I couldn't bring myself to it because I feel so bad asking," Hermione explains, twisting the diamond ring on her finger anxiously.

"'Mione, you can ask me anything. You know that if it's physically possible I'll do it," she assures, putting the papers she had been reading down to give her friend undivided attention.

"You're one of my best friends," Hermione states

"And you're one of mine," The girl nods, eyebrows furrowed in concern

"And when somebody does something big in their life they want their best friends there,"

"Hermione what ever you need I'm there. 100%"

"Big things like getting married. I'm getting married, you know that, I mean to say Ron and I have picked a date and it's four months away and we are getting married at the burrow in a marquee by the lake. I know it's a lot to ask of you. I mean it's not just some ex, it's George, and I know how hard it's been for you without him and I hate myself for asking. And it's not just seeing him it's being there, I mean you fell in love with him there and it's not just him it's all of them and I understand if you say no, but, I want you there," Hermione rambles

"Of course," She speaks without thinking, never would she not attend her friends wedding "Hermione, I would love nothing more than to be there,"

"Really?" Hermione beams

"Merlin, 'Mione did you think for a second I wouldn't come, it's your wedding,"

Love them like they are my own But I don’t think I’ll ever move on If you don’t , If  you don't

It had been the most obvious thing in the world to say yes when Hermione asked, but now, standing in a stupid, but undeniably beautiful, pale blue bridesmaid dress she felt nervous. Hermione had insisted she had no obligation to see the Weasley's until the wedding day, she knew how her friends heart ached for not just George but the whole family, and wanted to make the whole thing as painless as possible.

But now, standing in the empty kitchen the morning of the wedding, the girl wondered how to breathe. She arrived by floo powder, already changed and ready like Hermione had instructed as she was getting ready with her muggle family.

She wasn't sure what she expected but it wasn't the empty, quiet room she was standing in.

She lets out a sigh, blinking back tears, the scent feeling like coming home.

"Sweetie, how are you?" She hadn't even realised Molly had entered the room from the back door until the familiar woman is pulling her into a hug.

"I'm okay, how are you?" she questions as Molly pulls away. If it were anyone else Molly would have rushed away, much too busy with preparations, but it wasn't. Molly loved the kids her children brought home in her life like her own, she missed the girl but understood that she needed space. One look at the tears in her eyes tells Molly that right now she needs to be here.

"I'm good. We are all good," Molly assures, gently guiding the girl to sit. "Now, tell me honestly, how are you?

"I'm just sorry," She admits, voice cracking and tears spilling onto her cheeks. "You must all hate me,"

"Sweetie, no one here hates you, not even for a second. We adore you," she assures, rubbing the girl's shoulder comfortingly

"All of you were always so welcoming and kind and then I just stop speaking to you all. I was so rude and I'm so sorry. Merlin, I didn't even tell you myself I made George do it,"

"None of that. You don't have to be sorry. We are the sorry ones. My son broke your heart and we were all wrapped up in loving you and wanting to be part of your life that we didn't stop to think how hard it would be for you. To be here and to talk to us. You needed to heal, no one is mad at you. We just miss you, and when or if you ever want to come back you will be welcomed with open arms," Molly assures her, grabbing a tissue to dab the girls cheeks dry.

"I missed you so much Molly," she sighs

"I missed you too dear, and I know George misses you,"

"I miss him. Every day I miss him,"

The moment is cut short when Charlie strides in through the front door "Thought I smelt trouble," He beams, wrapping his arms around the girl "Come help me with the daises, Hermione wants like a thousand and Perce is useless,"  He informs, an arm wrapped around her shoulder. She looks almost anxious and he rubs her shoulder gently "He's upstairs with Ron," he whispers gently

"You're welcome to go and speak to him if you'd rather," Molly informs, she wanted her son to be back with the girl more than anything.

"It's okay I'm happy to help,"

"Thank Merlin, I'd strangle Percy if you aren't there to stop me,"

Tell your sister if she hears from her ex I can’t be the one that she calls And as much as I’ll miss talks with your dad I need him to leave me alone Cause I can’t find words to express The way that I wish I was the one But friends don’t bring friends to family reunions

"I saw mum put you to work earlier," George's voice calls through the dark night air. She's sat in the tree house in the garden, the wedding a small distance away.

"I never mind," she shrugs as she watched him climb the ladder, he sits down next to her, legs dangling over the edge next to hers.

"Thought I'd find you here," He comments, he had built the tree house one summer when they couldn't get a minute alone. It was the first summer she spent there, between 4th and 5th year, she fell in love with him in that tree house.

"Just needed a minute," she sighs

"Yeah. It's beautiful but it's kind of a lot,"

"Weddings when you're depressingly single are often a lot," she shrugs, he chuckles at that.

"I have no clue how you are single," He comments, eyes trained on the starry sky above them

"Well, you dumped me so," she teases, a light laugh in her voice. He rolls his eyes, bumping his body to hers, for the first time since the breakup she doesn't move away from his touch. Not wanting to waste the opportunity but also not wanting to push her he settles for pressing his leg next to hers, her foot wraps around his leg holding him close to her without her even noticing, it's second nature, instinctive.

"I'm serious. You're so incredibly kind, and funny, and smart and good in bed," he adds the last one as a joke, laughing when she playfully swats his arm "and I mean, look at you right now, you're like a fucking goddess. You always are. How had no one swept you up?" He questions, and he means every word of it.

"Honestly?" she questions

"Always,"

"They've tried. I mean boys ask me out or try and get with me, but- I- well I never say yes, it's not fair to go on a date with someone when you're in love with someone else,"  She admits, she is staring straight ahead, not looking at him, so she misses the grin that brightens his face.

"That's why Angelina and I decided on friends," he admits, she hums in response not sure what to say. A comfortable silence falls over them, the sound of music from the party the only thing filling the air.

"You wanna dance?"he asks suddenly

"Sure," she agrees, he jumps down from the tree house, it's a little stupid but not unsafe and they've done it a thousand times before. She follows suit and his hands grab her waist to steady her when she stumbles a little in her heels.

He keeps his hands there, pulling her closer to him as hers wrap around his neck.

"Always thought you looked so good in blue," he admits as his thumb strokes her waist, the silky material soft under his grip. "Like a princess," he adds

"Always thought you looked so good in a suit," she grins, blushing a little as he twirls her around

"I miss you," he hums out, pulling her back closer this time, her head resting on his chest.

"I miss you," she returns.

"Y'know I never stopped loving you. Not even for a second. I regret it. More than anything," he's practically whispering and his heart stops when she stills in his arms.

"I can't do this," She whispers, tugging herself from his arms

"Darling-"

"No. George, I love you, more than anything. So I can't. It's your little brother's wedding and you are lonely and you are all mixed up and we haven't seen each other in so long and weddings, merlin weddings, they confuse everything and I can't. I can't do this one last night thing. I'm sorry,"

Before George can reply, can tell her that she's so far from right she's turned around and is speeding back towards the party.

Tell your mom to stop sending me recipes she finds on the internet And when your brother wins homecoming king I won’t be there to witness it And when you find the words to express That you don’t think I am the one And friends don’t bring friends to family reunions

She pulls her apartment door open a week after the wedding, surprised to see George Weasley a determined look in his eyes and soaking wet from the rain.

"George,"

"Hi. I need to talk to you," he doesn't seem nervous, he seems like there's a fire in his belly, a determination, a purpose, a need.

"Oh, sure. Come in," She moves aside, letting him in. "The living area is at the end of the hall. I'll go grab a towel," she directs.

He looks around the living area, it's open plan to the kitchen and it's cosy. Full of pictures and little trinkets, it is fundamentally her and his he feels more at home there despite having never been before than he does in his own flat.

She re-enters, throwing a fluffy baby pink towel at George before heading into the kitchen, grabbing an extra mug having been in the process of making tea when he arrived, and fixing them both a tea how they like it.

"So, you wanted to talk?" she prompts, sitting crosslegged on the couch, her fuzzy pjs and messy hair so domestic and beautiful he would marry her on the spot to get to see her like that every day.

"You said that you didn't want to do one last night, well, I don't either. It wasn't wedding goggles making me look at you different. I am in love with you. So, in love with you that being without you makes it hard to breathe and I want you back, not just for a night but for the rest of my life," He thinks he should be nervous but he's not. It's her. He could never be nervous with her.

"George, that makes no sense why would you-"

"Listen, I have never felt good enough for you. The whole time I've known you it was like you were so above me and I could never be on your level, no matter what happened you were always perfect. You were, and are, too good for me,"

"George, I have never been-" she starts but he cuts her off

"I had to help Fred. He is my twin brother, my best friend. He nearly died and I was terrified. He was nearly crushed to death and I realised I could loose him, I could loose anyone I loved. That included you, obviously, and that's how it started. I was scared to be with you because if I lost you I couldn't cope. I couldn't survive. So I started pushing you away. But you. Merlin, you're so good that it didn't matter. I pushed you away and I was wrong to do that but you didn't waver for a second. It was my responsibility to help Fred. To go to physical therapy with him. To hold him when he cried. To be there no matter. I would have done it no matter what. But you. You didn't have to do that. But you did. You didn't complain. You didn't walk away. You helped fix Fred even when I was being crappy to you," He rants

"George, I loved you and I still do. I would have done anything you asked me to, I still would. But I didn't help Fred because of you. I didn't do it for you. Not cause I was too good. I helped Fred because he's been my friend since I was 11. I helped Fred for Fred. Not for you," She explains, George sighs.

"I know. I just was in this state right? I was scared to loose you and you've always been too good for me and I just didn't know what to do. Then, Fred was getting better, and I felt empty. I wanted Fred happy and healthy of course but I'd become so used to spending all my time trying to fix things, trying to keep everyone afloat. It felt like everything stopped. Like no one needed me. I became obsessed with things I could. I couldn't fix you, I couldn't fix us, because nothing needed fixing. You were so perfect for me that I didn't need to fix it. That scared me. The more I thought about it the more I realised if I lost you, no one could fix me, I couldn't loose you but I wasn't good enough for you. It had to be me. My terms. My breakup. It was stupid, but that was I hadn't lost you I'd given you up and that was better," he explains, tears flooding her cheeks as she suddenly understands everything that's been happening for the past months.

"Georgie, you never needed to be scared. I'm not going anywhere, I promise,"

"I know. I'm sorry that I hurt you,"

"George, I love you,"

"I love you darling, more than anything," he smiles

"So another go?" she questions timidly

"If you'll have me," he nods, she grins. Hands shoving his shoulder's back to lay against the sofa, knees on either side of his waist. Her lips touch his for the first time in months and it's like they can breathe again.

They lay side by side in her bed that night, bare skin pressed to each other, holding each other as tightly as humanly possible.

"Can we stay here all day tomorrow? I just wanna lay with you," she speaks tiredly, her head on his chest

"Ron and Hermione get home from the honeymoon tomorrow," George informs, she moves her head to look at him "We have a dinner thing, looking at the wedding pictures too,"he continues

"That'll be nice. You aren't leaving my bed till the very last minute though," she decides

"You should come," he prompts, giving her a squeeze

"You really think your family won't mind?"

"Please, they love you. They'll just be glad to see we are back together,"

"We could be going as friends," She teases, he rolls his eyes

"Not to a family reunion we couldn't. Besides, I have every intention to hold your hand and kiss you the whole night so they'll probably catch on. Aside from Percy, bless him, he's socially inept,"

If we’re just friends don’t bring friends to family reunions If we’re just friends don’t bring friends to family reunions

**

Masterlist

[mywritingonlyfans]

i like the idea of thomas for the dad/christmas fic 🥺

heeey!!! thanks for comment on it again!!! once again, i'm sorry for not writing that one with the person 'we' mentioned first😅 hope u like it!

-> dad!thomas raggi x reader

prompt: in which, dad!thomas is bit late for xmas to see his little girl! bonus. he teaching his little girl how to play the guitar!

warnings: none, just the good stuff today!! oh, we actually talk more about the 'finals' holiday than xmas itself on here so i hope it doesnt be too awkward for people who don't celebrate it.

-------------------++++----------------

You closed the fairytale book, putting it in its place on the shelf, and then tidied the blanket to cover Alice better. One of her arms was on her new guitar, which Santa Claus had left for her at Thomas's mother’s house; and by Santa you meant Thomas. She was so happy at the moment that you couldn't wait to show him the video. 

 Despise this, the smile on her face hadn't lasted long, you didn't know if everyone could see that she looked sad or if it was something maternal that warned you about it. She was asleep, and even though you could tell she was heartbroken, her long eyelashes rested under the freckles of her chubby face; appearing to be all agitated - she had not cried, but you knew she had held back her tears while you put her to sleep. You didn't blame her, you missed him, too. 

 You hugged your torso, wanting to stay there with her, you didn't feel like going to sleep knowing that he wasn’t home for Christmas. When you looked at her again, with her sad little face, you suddenly felt bad for not thinking about letting her sleep with you; since she liked it when you let her stay in Thomas’s side of the bed when he wasn’t around.

“I love you, angel,” you whispered, brushing her hair away from her face and placing a kiss on the prominent freckles on her nose. She mumbled something you couldn't understand, and smiling silly at your girl, you took her purrs as your cue to make your way to the kicthen.

You hummed one of Thomas’s band songs to yourself after you checked that there was no messages or new call on it. He promised he would at least contact you, and as long as you are together he never was one to broke his promises; so what you could do was wait. 

 It was the first Christmas after you had Alice that he hadn't been able to come back home on time. And as much as you told him that you understood and that everything would be fine, which was true, you couldn't deny how much you missed him.

You kept the leftovers Alice had begged her grandmother to give her on the frigde, remembering how she had planned on eating it with Thomas when he got home. Glad pleased, you could imagine how happy he’d be that she thought about doing it for him. Just when your mind was ready to get lost in a scenario where Thomas would be home for the Holidays, the vibrations of your phone interrupted you.

“Hey, babe. Merry Christmas!” You said excitedly. It was him, he wouln’t forget of you. It was late at night and you had no idea what time it was for him, but still he called. 

“Merry Christmas, babe,” He said in a slurred, almost inaudible voice. He looked a bit sapped and busy.

“It's not a good time, right? I can call you later if you can’t speak right now or are feeling too tired,”

“Nah, it’s fine,” He assured, a bit breathless, getting clearer over the phone. “How was your day? How’s Alice? God, I missed you,”

“It was good,” you sighed, thinking about being cheeky and adding that it would have been better with him, yet you were afraid that it might make him feel worse. “Alice is fine too. She loved the guitar, you will love to see it. I filmed everything, she didn’t stop jumping with it in her arms, telling your parents how it was just like the one his dad have. She misses you so much, Thommy, and I think she’s learning how to deal with it.”

“She’s learning...” he repeated. “I wish she didn't need to learn to deal with me being away from her,”

“Don’t say that, I made a bad choice of words, you know she loves you and she loves even more the way you love her extra when you’re back. She understands, Thomas,”

“She’s 5 years old, Y/N,”

You let the silence fill the chasm between you. You felt how sad he was, he had been away for a long time because of the turns before, still he always managed to return for the special dates - just as he had promised when Alice was born - but this time, well, this time it wasn’t possible.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured and you visualized in your head his eyebrows furrowing as his hand ran agonizingly through his hair, just as he always do when he‘s feeling in low spirits. “You’re right. I should be focusing on the good things, soon I’ll be home, I’m gonna teach her to play the guitar, show her all my love and be the best dad in the world,”

You laughed at his abrupt change in mood mixed with a hint of himself. “I know you will, babe,”

“I’m gonna be the best boyfriend too,” he would give continuity to his words when a loud noise of something falling stopped him abruptly.

“What was it?” You asked. You made it clear that you were suspicious, and by his nervous laugh he knew that. After all, what would he say about the noise that seemed to have come from the room next to where you were? “Oh my god, Thomas, that can’t be you.”

He didn't even need to answer, the sound of your steps going on his way was enough for him to know that you knew he was there, making him curse himself for being so clumsy. And just like in a flash, you were in his arms. He dropped his bag on the floor, giving you al of his attention as he squeezed your shape to his body.

“You’re here,” you bured your face on his chest, letting the feeling of comfort fill your nostrils, and then soul. “You’re really here.” You added in a breathless sigh.

Relief taking over his body as you snuggled into his frame, he grinned, “I promised that I would try my best to be with you all the special dates, didn't I?” He asked, holding your face so he could look at you properly. “Are you crying?”

You nodded at his soft voice. “I’m sorry,”

He laughed, a nasal sound that you missed so much. “It’s ok, 5 months is a long time,” He said, tracing kisses across your face. “I promise I’m gonna love you extra now.”

——————-

It was already possible to see the sun rissing outside, yet you refused to close your eyes and lose any moment with Thomas.

You rested your head on the pillow, waiting for him and thinking of how lucky you were that he managed to catch a last minute flight to spend the New Year at home. He was scheduled to return only after the first day of the year, somehow things would have worked out better than expected and he managed to get back sooner.

“She looks like an angel sleeping so calmly.” He spoke, lying beside you under the covers.

“I thought you were going to wake her up, she'll go crazy when she sees you.”

“I know,” He smiled, proud of himself. He knew she was the definition of daddy’s little girl. “I will wait until she wakes up. I'm dying to fill her with kisses and hugs.”

Still with his charming teeth and cute dimples on display, he pulled you to his chest, trying to wrap you in the blanket next to him. “She loves you. She doesn't care about the time you spend away, as long as you come back to her.” You nuzzled into his neck, squeezing him tighter as you said that. It was likely that this would happen more often, letting Thomas blame himself for that wouldn’t do him any good.

He bobbed, kissing your forehead, enlacing you with the same intensity. “I know, babe,”

“How was turn?” You asked, looking at him, making sure that he was fine. He was thoughtful, but it wasn’t the end of the world.

He told you about his gigs around the globe and you were happy feeling his body soften on your arms. His voice almost lulled you to sleep, but you were sure you would never tire of hearing him talk about what he loves. You showed him the video of Alice receiving the guitar, seeing his eyes fill with water after she said that she‘d be just like her father made your chest almost explode with love. In the best possible way, of course.

“You can sleep if you want, babe.”

“No, I want to spend more time with you.”

“I’m here, I am not intending to go anywhere.” He patted your hair, rubbing his nose through your hairline, and the last thing you remembered was feeling his lips on your temple.

When you opened your eyes again, he was no longer there. You rubbed your eyes tight, trying to adjust to the light, wondering if there was any possibility that it might have been a dream, but then a sweet chuckle brought you back to reality.

Alice was standing in front of you, with the guitar resting awkwardly on her shoulders. Her eyes went from you to Thomas, as if asking him if everything was all right. You smirked lightly at her features that looked the same as Thomas's.

She started playing something, which looked incredibly bad, Thomas wrinkled his nose in an attempt not to laugh so as not to discourage her. He should have spent a lot of time helping her, and she looked like she was trying. Her lips was between her teeth as she concentrated to play her less than a minute of song was so cute that as much as you didn't understand a thing, you couldn’t help but feel proud of her.

“It’s Vent'anni,” Thomas mouthed, waving his hand in a way that would get your attention but not hers. “It’s Vent'anni.”

“Oh my god!” You opened your arms for her as she finished playing, watching you with her excited eyes. “It’s Vent'anni.”

She grinned from ear to ear, handing Thomas the guitar, and then jumping into your arms.

“Did you like this?” She asked happily, making ‘this’ sound like ‘dis’. “It’s not perfect but I’ll get better, right dad?”

“Yes, better than Damiano trying to play It!" Thomas confirmed, stroking her back as he approached you. “Good mornin’, love.” he kissed the top of your head.

“I love you,” you kissed his cheek, wishing he could feel how much you love him. “And I love you too, little one,” you mumbled, pinching Alice’s nose, which eyes was stuck on the two of you.

She laughed, her gaze still on you and Thomas. She looked like a completely different person from the night before.

“Dad said you look cute when you're tired.”

You knew that you looked tired, the day before wasn’t the best and you had barely slept. You bit the inside of your cheek, looking at Thomas who had a silly smile playing on his lips and felt your cheeks get hotter. The reason you still felt that way when he complimented you was a mystery, you liked it anyway.

“You are a gossip little thing,” Thomas joked, poking at her sides.

“No, I’m not.” She laughed, trying to run away from him flawlessly, letting him hug her as she recovered her breath.

“I love you too, both of you,” she pointed a finger at both of you. Thomas's smile was priceless, you could live in there forever. “but can we play more guitar now, please?”

You agreed and Thomas got up to sit upright, putting her between his legs. He looked at you, his face still radiant, you could easily imagine him talking about you with Alice - just like you did talk about him with her as well. He positioned her tiny hands on the guitar, guiding then with his own fingers. His gentle, patient voice teaching her things that both knew she would soon forget and he would have to repeat it all over again - and you knew Thomas would do it without a problem - was lovely to watch. Her head was resting on his chest and whenever she hit a note and heard Thomas praising her, she would turn to you and say "see mom, I did it.” And you swear that you couldn't be happier to have found the meaning of the word home in two of your favorite people in the world.

[redwinterroses]

Had an idea for a fic I’m never going to write. So Empires SMP has a bad ending for the rulers, and Gem and Pearl decide to move on without their memories and end up in Hermitcraft. They’re at peace but weighed down by something they don’t know. And then Gem sees Fwip. Maximum angst potential of either her remembering everything right then or remembering nothing and Fwip trying to convince her they know each other. “Do I know you?”’s are always heartbreaking

You did this to me. XD

Disclaimers: I don't know how to write fWhip yet, so he's prolly at least a little OCC. Also, we're gonna pretend that timelines are ours to do as we please with, and say that Empires has ended several months prior to MCC17. Just. Because. Wibbly-wobbly.

Anyway here, have some Whizbang sibs content. :D

____________________

Sometimes it was little things. Sometimes the little things didn’t feel so… little.

Like when Gem held the Tegg in her hands, the void-dark shell rough and cold under her fingers, and was unsettled by how… lifeless it felt. It would hatch if put in the right circumstances, she knew, the egg wasn’t dead. But something in her heart quickened with undefined panic at the idea that it might not hatch, and something else… mourned? That she couldn’t feel the life inside?

She shook her head and set the egg down with hands that only trembled a little.

She knew why these phantom feelings were chasing her heart, she just didn’t know what lay underneath that foggy surface of hidden memories.

And she didn’t want to.

They’d agreed.

So she hid the Tegg, and she laughed when it was found, and the idea that there ought to be anything more to a dragon’s egg slowly faded into the back of her mind, gathering dust on the shelves of other forgotten things.

Sometimes it was the big things. Things that shouldn’t have seemed so inconsequential.

Like when she fell while mining and died with her items scattered across the bottom of a ravine, and she woke with a gasp in her own bed.

And when it happened again, on a day when she missed seeing a creeper until too late. And again, falling from the top of her build. And death just… didn’t matter much. Or enough. Or at all. It felt like it should matter, somehow — she knew it didn’t, she knew respawn was waiting, she knew there were no real consequences in this world for death.

And yet on some level each respawn felt like a failure. Her bones ached with the sense that she’d missed something, some detail that would have saved them all—

But they didn’t need saving. The hermits were fine. It was fine. This wasn’t a defeat, or a loss, or a reason for an ally to potentially lose something as well, or for an enemy to claim victory over you. There were no enemies here. No allies, either, really. They were all friends.

It was fine.

And with each respawn, it hurt a little less, and felt a little bit more like freedom.

~*~

The MCC lobby was brilliantly-colored and smelled of junk food, hot concrete, and salty wind from the sea that swirled somewhere miles below them. fWhip took in a deep breath and his face split into a grin — a grin that had been a little… lacking, recently. He’d done a lot to distance himself from the darkness they’d fled, but…

Well. A day playing insane games with friends and strangers alike would be just the thing. A much-needed break.

He paced back and forth just inside the main gates, watching the other competitors bounce around and shout back and forth — insults, greetings, questions, challenges — it was a cacophony of noise and color, and its sandpaper-rough edges of chaos smoothed away another layer of the angry burrs in his mind.

He caught a glimpse of something bright green through the crowd, and stood on tiptoe to see — yes! Another one of his teammates, finally heading over to their agreed meeting point. He lost them in the crowd for a moment, but then saw the ginger hair (so much like his own) and a smiling face beneath small, dainty antlers.

Gem.

He didn’t expect the dagger of pain that went through him at the sight of her face, nor that the way her eyes lit up when she spotted him would sooth away some of that same pain.

“Gem!” he shouted. “Hey — over here!”

She waved, and dodged a gaggle of cyan- and red-clad players shoving each other goodnaturedly across the courtyard.

“Hey, fWhip!” she called as she neared him. She looked… happy, he thought. He didn’t see the shadows under her eyes that he’d expected, and she was freckled and tanned instead of the pale, cloaked figure he remembered.

“Hermitcraft’s been good to you,” he said, grabbing her in a one-armed shoulder hug.

To his surprise, she tensed a little — as if surprised — before returning the hug.

“Yeah, yeah,” she agreed. “The hermits are great.” Then, stepping back, she tilted her head at him. “So — long time, no see. What’ve you been up to?”

He shrugged, leaning back against the bright-red concrete wall. “Oh. You know. Lots of building, some exploring… been thinkin’ about checking out one of those new snapshots people are talking about.” He examined her. “You, ah… heard from any of the others lately?”

Something like a shadow chased across her face, but Gem gave him a slightly confused smile. “The others?”

“Scott, or Sausage, or Katherine…” There was no comprehension in her expression, and fWhip’s heart constricted. “I mean, you haven’t even messaged me in months.”

“I… I didn’t realize I should have…?” Gem crossed her arms over her chest, rubbing at her upper arm as if she’d gotten a chill. “I mean, we haven’t chatted much since XLife — I was glad to see a familiar face for my first MCC, but it’s not like we’re… ya know. Besties or anything — no offense, of course.”

If she’d tossed him off the edge of the lobby island into the void, it might have shocked him less.

“Gem, I—” he shook his head. “You were my… I was your brother? I know that’s not the same as ‘besties’ but… that kinda hurts, I won’t lie.”

Now she did go pale. And still.

“I…” she stopped, her voice dying away amidst the chaos. “fWhip, I don’t… know what you’re talking about.”

fWhip froze. “You what?” He stepped forward and gripped her by the shoulders. “Gem, are you okay? Did they — did the hermits do something to you?”

“What? No — don’t be ridiculous.” She tugged out of his grasp but didn’t move away. “The hermits are amazing and would never do anything to hurt me. Not like—” Gem’s eyes snapped up to lock on his, and she frowned, distressed. “fWhip… what’s going on?”

She’d forgotten. He didn’t know how — repressing the trauma? Magic? Knowing Gem, it was probably the latter… because of the former.

“We — Empires,” he said, fumbling for words. “You and I were allies. Siblings, even. And there was a demon, and the dragon egg—”

Gem grabbed his arm. “The egg!” she exclaimed. “I knew there was something—”

He could see the moment she remembered. And then the moment she chose not to.

“There’s something sad there,” she said, her voice nearly lost in the noise of the crowd. Her gaze flicked back and forth between his eyes, pleading. “Something… lost. And I don’t want to be lost, fWhip.”

He started to argue with her, and then paused.

What good did remembering do any of them? What good had it done him? What was the point of the sleepless nights, wondering what he could have done differently? The nightmares where he relived every mistake and had to watch their failures and defeat over and over again? The fact that he still shied away from shadows, and that the MCC world was the safest he’d felt in months?

“No,” he said slowly, even though it felt like he was letting a piece of himself slip away. He’d missed having a sister. But what were brothers for, if not for things like this? “No, you don’t need to be lost, Gem. If you ever want to come back, I’ll be here but… it’s okay if it’s not today. Or—” he swallowed, but pushed the words out anyway. “Or ever.”

A glint of something that could have been gratitude or could have been a tear glittered in her gaze for just a moment — and then there were other voices, and the boisterous greeting of Jimmy and Quig, and they stepped apart, each plastering a grin on their faces to welcome their teammates.

fWhip couldn’t help but glance at Gem as she greeted Jimmy, but there was no recognition of the Codfather on her face, and Jimmy, he knew, was content to let the past lie. It didn’t take away the sting of loss — or the slight bitterness that tanged in the back of his throat, that Gem could forget and move on, and he… he couldn’t. Not yet.

But she seemed happy. Wasn’t that enough?

It could be. For now. For today.

A voice over the PA system urged them to head into the starting area, and fWhip followed his team up the path, merging with the other players. He almost didn’t notice Gem slipping her hand into his, until she squeezed it gently.

He looked down at her, and she offered him a smile.

“We’ll talk later, maybe?” she said.

It was a start.

“Sure,” he said. “But first, we gotta win this thing. Grab you a win for your first MCC, right?”

Gem laughed. “Sure, wFhip,” she said. “Sure.”

[fruitcoops]

hiii i've just spent the last 36-48 hours reading your works and oh dear do i lOVE your writing and this universe :') . i dont know if you are taking requests but i think it would be kinda interesting (and low key hilarious) if you would write the lions reacting/reading thirst tweets? idk if this is a dumb idea or not but just like some of them reacting to them and going "well i'm actually gay/married so.. no!.. but thank you!"

Part two of the six-month celebration, everyone! Thank you thank you THANK YOU to everyone who submitted comments--I had over 60 come in, and while I couldn’t include them all, reading them was a true joy. The Lion Pride channel was something I started writing on a whim; I never expected it to grow like this <3 Much love to all of you!

TW for alcohol mentions and thirst tweets (nothing explicit)

“Why do I always fear for my life around you?” Sirius asked as Marlene settled into a cushy chair to the side of their table.

She smiled, catlike, and crossed her legs primly. “Because only Finn appreciates me.”

“That’s just the Aries connection, Cap,” Finn said with a smug grin.

“We’re both Leos, Harzy.”

“Eh, close enough.”

Remus raised an eyebrow at her. “You should probably start asking questions before this devolves further, Marley. He’s gonna keep digging himself a hole and we won’t get anything done.”

Marlene’s smile returned with a vengeance. “That’s where you’re wrong, Loops! We’re not doing any questions at all today.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Read it and weep.” She tossed a small posterboard at him like a frisbee; he caught it, barely, though both Talker and Sirius had to duck out of the way. Marlene faced the camera and winked. “Welcome back to Lion Pride, everyone! Today I’m here with Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, James Potter, Thomas Walker, and our wonderful cubs to react to your comments on our videos!”

“Bet you thought we’d never see ‘em, huh?” James asked.

“The comments fall into four categories: thirsty, funny, mean, and sweet. I will be reading two of those groups, and my lovely fiancée will be reading the others because she is the human embodiment of sunshine.”

“If you make Dorcas read the mean ones, I’ll be sad,” Leo laughed.

Marlene gave him a look of disbelief. “You think I’m passing up a chance to roast you guys? Puh-lease. We’re starting off strong with some thirsty, thirsty comments! Loops, you’re up first.”

“This is going to be fun,” Sirius said, leaning back in his chair.

She cleared her throat, then turned a smoldering look on their table. “I didn’t know I had a freckle kink, but then Remus Lupin appeared and now here we are.”

“Oh, shit,” Remus muttered, covering his face with his hands as the others howled with laughter.

“Lupin has been looking sexy as hell on the bench for years now. I'm so glad people are simping over him like he deserves,” Marlene read. “And there’s a little heart emoji, just for you.”

“This is every one of my nightmares come to life,” Remus said, though his voice was muffled by his forearms.

James lifted his glasses to swipe away the tears of mirth that had gathered in his eyes. “Are you kidding? This is everything I have ever wanted.”

“Y’know, it is so good to see people drooling over this hot piece of ass at last,” Finn sighed, reaching over to ruffle Remus’ hair as his face turned bright red.

“One more, and it’s a good one,” Marlene warned. She licked her lips, then had to take a moment to laugh before speaking. “I feel like Remus Lupin is the type of guy to bake you muffins—”

“Accurate,” Leo said.

“—but is also a kinky motherfucker.”

Remus’ mouth dropped open as the table erupted into cheering. Logan pumped both fists in the air and Sirius was laughing so hard no sound came out; Talker sank so low in his chair that only his head and shoulders were visible as he applauded.

“Why do people comment these things?” Remus asked, barely above a whisper. “Holy fuck, I’m engaged!”

“Speaking of…” Marlene raised her eyebrows and Sirius smile drooped.

“Oh, no.”

“Oh, yes. Buckle up, Cap!” She rolled her shoulders out. “Get someone who looks at you the way Sirius Black looks at a hockey puck.”

Remus snorted; James’ laugh was so short and sharp that it set everyone else off as well. “That sounds like I have a hockey puck fetish!” Sirius complained. “Which is so, so not true!”

Finn made an ‘ehh’ noise, and he leaned around Remus to smack the back of his head. “Hey!”

“Next one!” Marlene announced. “Sirius Black was my bi awakening.”

A beat of silence passed. “Is that it?” Sirius ventured, looking nervous.

“Yep.”

“Aw, man, that one’s lame,” Talker said, shaking his head. “Everyone thinks Cap is a little hot.”

Remus shot him a look. “A little?”

“Fair. Marley, I dare you to find one person who wouldn’t tap that.”

She rolled her eyes. “Me, though that dovetails nicely into the last one for our lovely captain. Ahem. I understand why Remus is with Sirius: he's hot as hell and rich, I'd hit that too.”

“Oh, fuck, you’re right,” Leo gasped. “Why didn’t I think of that?”

Finn and Logan turned to him in unison with a mix of disbelief and offense written all over their faces. “Dude.”

“First of all, Leo, you found yourself two hot rich boys,” Remus interrupted. “Second, that comment is forgetting that he’s funny, and smart, and nice, and—”

Seconds after the initial cover, Sirius took his hand off Remus’ mouth as if he’d been burned. “Did you just lick me?”

“Moving on! This is in all caps, so be prepared.” Marlene shuffled through her posterboards and turned to Leo with an ominous smile. He glanced toward the camera in mild fear. “What does a person have to do to get some hockey player ass?! Like why is Leo Knut so fine?!”

“Amen!” Logan called as Leo blushed.

“According to six of the seven people at this table, the answer to that first question is to be a hockey player,” Talker laughed. “The world may never know the answer to the second, sadly.”

“Lily could play hockey,” James said, resting his chin on his hand. Every single one of the others rolled their eyes. “She could! She’d be so good at it, too.”

“We know,” Finn groaned. “You only mention it every other day.”

“Speaking of the lovely Mrs. Potter,” Marlene began with a sly look as she held up a new card. “Do James and Lily Potter need a third? Asking for me specifically.”

James paused, dumbstruck, while the others drummed their hands on the table. “…no?”

A general sigh of disappointment went up. “I was really hoping he’d say yes,” Leo said.

“Ask Lily next time,” Remus recommended.

James turned to him and blinked slowly. “What are you insinuating, Loops?”

“Oh, nothing.”

“Don’t worry, James, you’ll like this one,” Marlene assured him. “James Potter is the ultimate dilf.”

“You’re damn right I am!” James whooped. “Vindication, bitches!”

“Marley, what have you done?” Talker whispered. “He’ll never shut up about that, now.”

“Oh, never,” James all but cackled. “I’m officially a dilf, you guys!”

“I hate you,” Sirius groaned.

“Tremzy, are you ready? We’ve got a couple very special ones for you,” Marlene said.

“Anything to get us out of this hell,” Logan begged.

“In that case: Logan Tremblay’s ass is better than Sidney Crosby’s. I said what I said.”

A pleased flush rose to his cheeks as Finn and Leo high-fived over his head. “Really? Thank you!”

“And they would be correct!” Finn announced. “Best ass in the league.”

“Come on,” Remus scoffed, though he was smiling.

Marlene cleared her throat to get their attention. “I don’t think I can legally read this on air without being censored or getting the video taken down, but…”

She turned the board around; all seven of them leaned forward to read it, then slowly looked at Logan, who turned vivid red. “Mon dieu. Is that—someone commented that on a video? Like, for people to see?”

“I feel like I need to bleach my eyes,” Sirius said just as Finn began shaking with silent laughter.

Leo’s face fell. “You wrote that, didn’t you?”

“I did,” Finn wheezed, scooting forward to fist-bump Marlene. “We wanted to see what you guys would say. Fuckin’ hell, your faces.”

“Alright, Talkie, are you ready?” Marlene asked around her laughter. “Seeing Thomas Walker with a baby makes me want to have his babies…please hit me up.”

He held up his index finger and took a second to laugh before responding. “If that’s Noelle, yes. If that’s anyone else, I’m flattered, but absolutely not.”

Logan made a face. “Ew.”

“We have two more,” Marlene warned. “For some very special people that aren’t here today, but I think you’ll like them anyway.”

Sirius narrowed his eyes. “I don’t trust the look on your face.”

“Daddy Dumo makes me swoon.”

A muddle of horrified noises echoed through the studio as all seven of them cringed. “Oh, my god, that’s my dad!” Logan yelped, covering his ears. Sirius looked vaguely ill and Remus’ shoulders crept toward his ears; James shuddered.

“The worst part is, we all know he can get it,” Finn said with a grimace. “God, I feel like I just heard someone talking about my parents having sex.”

“I’m sure he’ll love to hear that,” Marlene laughed. “Last one, from one of our truth or drinks.”

Remus went pale half a second too late. “N—”

“Hope Lupin is a milf.”

A broken noise escaped his mouth and he clamped his hand over it while Talker rubbed his back in sympathy. Sirius shook his head. “Somehow, that’s worse than Dumo’s.”

“Whoever sent that in, show some respect!” Leo said indignantly as Remus bonked his forehead against the table. “Hope Lupin is a lovely woman!”

“I think they noticed that particular fact,” Marlene pointed out, earning herself several scandalized shouts of her name and a whine from Remus. “That’s all we have for thirst comments! Are you ready for some funny ones?”

“Anything,” Remus pleaded. “I am begging you, anything else.”

Marlene shook her head as she stood, still smiling, and kissed Dorcas on the cheek when she entered the frame. “Go for it, love.”

“Dorcas!” they all cheered, lighting up immediately.

“Hey, guys, it’s been a while!” She curled up in Marlene’s vacant spot and took her own posterboards out from underneath the seat. “Alright, let’s rock and roll. Pascal Dumais is the team dad and nothing will change my mind, and Tremzy is the annoying youngest child.”

“That is so accurate,” Sirius laughed, leaning just out of range of Logan’s playful punch. “Whoever commented that has no idea how right they are.”

“We’ve got a whole sibling dynamic thing going on,” Talker agreed. “Tremzy’s the baby of the family, Cap is the quietly chaotic middle child, and Pots is the older brother that starts shit and inevitably gets blamed for however out-of-control it gets.”

Dorcas nodded. “You are one hundred percent correct. In a similar vein: Pots was the dad jokes friend before he was even a dad.”

“Painfully so,” Leo confirmed, shaking his head as they all groaned in agreement. James looked rather smug about the whole thing. “So many puns.”

“Oh, you’ll like this one,” Dorcas mused as she drew a new card. “If Tremzy looked directly into my eyes for even two seconds, all of my problems would be solved. I am sure of it.”

“Yes,” Finn and Leo said in unison.

“It’s something about the eyes, I think,” James added. “They just stand out so much that it’s a little startling straight-on.”

Logan looked to the camera and stared at it, unblinking; it zoomed in slightly on his face. “Everything will be fine,” he said with mock solemnity. “Your problems are solved.”

“Well, that was terrifying,” Sirius said drily. “Got any more for us, Ms. Meadowes?”

“Of course I do! We’ve got quite a few for Loops and Leo.” She took a sip of her water before getting comfortable again. “My favorite thing about these videos is that we can all see Loops get steadily buffer as the season goes on. Good for you, king!”

“Flex! Flex! Flex!” the six of them chanted; Remus rolled his eyes, but slid his sweater sleeve to his elbow and flexed his forearm, resulting in enough hoots and hollers that they could probably be heard a block away. Talker fake-swooned into Leo’s arms and Remus lightly whacked him on the shoulder.

“Remus Lupin looks like he has squishable cheeks,” Dorcas read aloud.

“He does!” James cooed, scooting over and reaching out.

Remus narrowed his eyes. “I swear to god I’ll bite you.”

Sirius cupped his face between his palms and kissed his nose, then pinched both his cheeks gently. “Ta-da!”

“How many of these do we have?” Remus asked, though his voice was a bit muffled by Sirius’ hands.

“Just one more for you, and it’s my personal favorite.” Dorcas assured him. “I love how the team probably had no impulse control until Loops joined.”

Sirius let go of his face and dissolved into laughter as Finn nearly fell on the floor. “Oh my—you think he has impulse control?” Talker slapped the edge of the table as he shook his head. “Absolutely not. Hell no, Loops is the first person to do stupid shit with us.”

“Yeah, I just don’t get caught,” Remus added around his own laughter. “Everyone thinks I’m such a hardass goody-two-shoes and it lets me get away with so much more than you delinquents.”

“Speaking of delinquents,” Dorcas continued. “This one is from our ‘Taste Testing Sexy Alcohol’ video: ah, yes, now I know how to do a body shot. 10/10, very educational video.”

“Do not take educational advice from us,” Finn blurted instantly. “I know this is a joke, but please exercise caution. That video was a ton of fun but a nightmare to recover from.”

Sirius winced at the memory. “I took two naps and then wished for death for a full day.”

“On a lighter note, who’s ready for some Knutty appreciation?” Dorcas smiled at her cards. “I've only had Leo Knut for a season and half, but if anything happened to him, I would kill everyone in this room and then myself.”

“Big mood,” four of them said simultaneously.

Leo turned to the camera with a concerned look on his face. “That’s a meme reference, but are y’all okay?”

“No,” Dorcas answered. “Especially not this next person: Sometimes I do something productive and then I remember @LeoKnut is a 19 year old professional athlete who radiates happiness and with two of the hottest boyfriends the good lord has made, and then my bowl of packaged ramen seems less impressive.”

“I’m proud of your ramen,” Leo said, even as the corners of his mouth twitched in a smile. “And I appreciate the note about my boyfriends, because they are definitely the hottest people the good lord has made.”

Talker stuck his lip out in a pout. “Rude.”

“Sorry, Talkie, I’m biased.”

“Last one before Marlene comes back, so you’d better enjoy it!” Dorcas announced. “Did the Lions effectively utilize girl power when they wrecked toxic masculinity, yes or yes?”

“Can we utilize girl power?” Remus wondered, resting his shin on his hand. “Isn’t that exclusively for, y’know, women?”

“We can utilize himbo power,” Finn suggested.

James gave him an offended look. “Not all of us are himbos!”

“Okay, but you definitely are.”

“I am not!” James held up his fingers to count. “There are only, like, three qualifications, right? I might be strong, hot, and respectful, but I’m not dumb so it doesn’t count!”

“Pots,” Remus said quietly, hiding his smile for half a second. “Buddy, that was four things.”

James paused, then sighed in resignation. “Ah, fuck, I’m a himbo.”

“You really are.”

“At least we don’t promote toxic masculinity.”

They raised their waterbottles in a ‘cheers’ motion as Marlene and Dorcas switched spots; Marlene stretched her arms over her head and grabbed the new boards. “I’m back, beloved himbos. Talker, Leo, you are beloved by the people and have no mean comments. Cap, we’re starting with you.”

“Are they actually mean mean?” he asked.

“Sirius Black seems like a little bitch. Not in a bad way, necessarily. He just. Seems like he'd be a little bitch."

Sirius raised his eyebrows. “Oh, okay. That answers one question.”

“He’s not a little bitch,” Leo said. “Pouty on occasion, but not a little bitch.”

Remus gave him a long look, then shook his head. “Yeah, I mean, you teared up a little when Hattie got a splinter in her paw but didn’t even yell when you almost sliced your finger off while making dinner.”

“Duality of man,” Finn said sagely.

Marlene cocked an eyebrow. “Finn O’Hara’s hair kind of reminds me of Garfield the Cat.”

“Alright, that’s just rude.”

“It does not!” Logan gasped at the same time Leo made a noise of agreement.

Finn turned to him in utter betrayal. “Nutter Butter, I thought you liked my hair!”

“I do!” Leo defended. “But they’re not entirely wrong. It’s very orange in the sun.”

“I’m never going to forget that,” Finn muttered, staring at the floor.

“Ugh, it bothers me so much that Lupin just objectifies Black all the time!” Marlene read in a high-pitched, nasal voice. “No respect in that relationship!”

Sirius raised his eyebrows. “Pardon?”

Marlene stared at it for a moment, then shrugged. “Yeah, I have no idea what videos they were watching. Do you feel objectified in your relationship, Cap? I know the opinion of total strangers really bothers you a lot.”

“I’m really glad you picked up on that,” he said with false gravity. “Yeah, it’s such a bummer when my hot fiancé says I look nice. Such a blow to my self-esteem.”

“That was supposed to be a roast against me,” Remus said, looking amused. “Talk about backfiring.”

“Are you ready, Pots? This one’s pretty brutal,” Marlene warned. James nodded and Finn linked their hands for moral support. “James Potter is a swiftie and you cannot tell me otherwise.”

He furrowed his eyebrows. “…yeah? That’s true? T Swift is a regular occurrence on the locker room playlist.”

“Also, James Potter looks like someone who would think black pepper was spicy.”

“Now that one is mean,” he complained as the others burst out laughing.  “It’s not my fault I have sensitive taste buds!”

“Oh, honey,” she said under her breath as she took a new card. “Get ready, Tremzy. This first one is short and sweet: Logan Tremblay looks like a lesbian.”

“That is not an insult,” Logan laughed. “Every lesbian I know is rad as fuck. I wish I looked that good in a leather jacket.”

“I just realized Logan doesn’t look short cause he’s next to bunch of hockey players, he’s short cause he’s 5’9.”

The smile slipped off his face in a millisecond as the others roared with laughter. “Quoi?”

“Oh, she got you good,” Sirius gasped, patting his shoulder clumsily. “Holy fuck, can I frame that?”

“That’s not what it says.” An edge of distress appeared in Logan’s voice. “Marley, that’s not what it says.”

James sat on the floor with the heels of his palms pressed against his eyes. “You’re fucking—whoever sent that in, you are my new favorite person. Jesus.”

“Do you need a second to recover before we move on?” Dorcas asked as she draped her arms over the back of Marlene’s chair. “The next one is our biggest section by far.”

“It’s the sweet ones, yeah?” Leo asked.

“Right.”

“It might be a good idea to do those before Lo spontaneously combusts.”

“Agreed!” She swapped with Marlene and hauled a short stack of posterboards out from their hiding place with a smile. “A hug from Dumo can probably solve any issue.”

“Facts,” Logan said. “I could really use one right about now, too.”

“Has anyone noticed how blue Leo Knut’s eyes are?”

“Yes,” the six of them chorused.

Finn gave him a dreamy look. “Every single day.”

“When I first read this one, I thought I wrote it,” Dorcas said with a snort. “Someone give Marlene a raise. No reason why, I just love her.”

“Can we do that?” Sirius asked, looking toward the camera crew. “Can we lobby to give you guys raises? Because you definitely deserve it after all the bullshit you deal with to make these videos watchable, and Marlene, you’ve drawn the short end of the stick ninety percent of the time.”

“How?” she called off-screen.

“You have to actually talk to us and try to get answers.”

“Fair.”

Dorcas finished scribbling something down on her notepad. “Just making a note of this conversation for future reference. Moving on! Sirius Black and James Potter are a prime example of hockey husbands, and I adore them.”

“The ironic part of that is that we’re both in committed relationships, but we’re basically married,” James mused.

Remus shook his head. “You guys are so married. Lily wanted to get you matching rings for your birthday, Pots.”

“That would be so cool!” they said in perfect unison. Remus turned to the camera and spread his hands in a case in point motion.

Dorcas stifled her laughter before moving on. “This one is cute. Give Remus Lupin all the hugs! I feel like I could tell him he’s an inspiration and he’d be so nice about it—” She paused to glance up at them. “—this next bit is in parentheses: all the LGBT Lions give me that vibe, but Cap and Knutty are super intimidating so I wouldn’t have the guts.”

Leo’s face fell and Sirius’ eyebrows pitched. “I’m not intimidating!” Leo protested. “I thought we already went over that! Loops gives fantastic hugs, but I want some, too.”

“He definitely deserves all the hugs in the world, but I promise I’m nice,” Sirius said, a bit softer than usual. “Is it because we’re tall?”

Dorcas half-shrugged. “Probably. It’s a little startling at first. Oh, I could’ve written this one, too: The Venn diagram of men I trust and the Gryffindor Lions is a full circle.”

Talker beamed at the camera. “Thank you!”

“So many hockey guys are such douchebags,” Logan said with a shake of his head. “I’m really glad we don’t do that shit.”

“Me, too.” Dorcas slid her old card under her chair. “Sirius Black’s hair looks so soft and I just want to touch it so bad.”

“It is so soft,” Remus agreed immediately. “You have no idea.”

“Everyone wants to touch Cap’s hair,” Finn said, sighing. “It’s so majestic.”

“I need a haircut.”

“No, you don’t,” Remus said as he tugged a stray curl. Sirius hummed.

“This one is from the interview some you did with Jules and Katie: these hockey boys being so soft with kids is my aesthetic! Like, it’s just so adorable to see these big, intimidating dudes be so, so sweet! Love them all!” She turned the card for them to see. “And then they added a heart at the end.”

“It’s impossible to be around those kids and not be happy,” James said. “They’re just too cute and wonderful.”

“Yeah, I love kids.” Finn nodded. “Especially the Dumais and Jules. They’re a hoot.”

“Jules would die if he heard you say that,” Remus laughed. “The hero worship is still going strong with most of you.”

“This one made me laugh when I first read it, but it’s really sweet,” Dorcas informed them. “Anyone else feel like we were deceived these past five years into thinking Cap was this hard-ass man, when in reality he's a cuddle bug who definitely captures and releases spiders instead of squishing them?”

“You weren’t deceived, I was just closeted,” Sirius said. “Also, I absolutely squish spiders.”

Remus gave him a look. “No, you do not. That’s my job. I’m the catch and release person if I can get away with it.”

James shook his head. “The third week of practices you saw a spider and threw me at it.”

“You did what?” Finn asked.

“There was a spider in my stall,” Sirius sighed, looking as if he would rather be anywhere else. “And Pots and I were talking so I didn’t see it until I almost sat on it, and my brain decided the only logical thing to do would be to grab him and shove him toward the spider.”

“That was after you shrieked,” Talker added. “Like, literally shrieked. I’ve never heard anyone make a noise like that.”

“Alright, alright,” Sirius grumbled. “We get it, I don’t like spiders.”

Remus shrugged. “But you are a cuddle bug. They got that part right.”

“We’re in the final two!” Dorcas announced. “This one has some pictures to go with it, so it’s on my phone. Fuck Romeo and Juliet, I want what these bitches have.”

“It’s us!” Leo cooed as the phone made its way down the line. In the upper corner of the screen, the photo appeared—it had been taken in New York, and Logan’s whole face was alight with happiness as Leo and Finn each pressed a kiss to his cheek. The camera caught him mid-laugh, so his eyes were closed and his chin was tucked slightly into Finn’s Strand hoodie.

“That’s my screensaver,” Finn said with a grin, pulling his phone out and turning it toward the camera without moving away from Leo. “One of my favorites.”

“I forgot you took that one,” Logan murmured. He hooked his chin over Leo’s shoulder and kissed his cheek; the four others at the table gave soft are you seeing this? looks to the camera and Dorcas smiled.

“Pots, I think yours is next. I hate to break it to you, Talkie, but they didn’t get any of you and Noelle.”

“We don’t take a ton of pictures together,” Talker said as James took the phone. “I mean, we take a bunch of selfies, but we don’t live close enough to each other to actually post that often. What picture is it, J?”

James was staring down at the picture with an unbearably sweet expression. “It’s our wedding. That’s my favorite one, actually.”

Like Logan, they had been captured while laughing—Lily was bent slightly at the waist as James clapped, his glasses just as askew as the flower crown on her head. It was impossible to tell who had told the joke originally, but they were both radiant in the sunset.

“That’s a really good one,” Sirius said with an unreadable look on his face.

“Well, well, well, fancypants, you two got a video.” James wiggled his eyebrows and Remus leaned in to see.

“What kind of video? One of our tikt—oh. Oh, this is so cute.” He shifted his chair over as the short edit began to play. “D, who made this?”

“A fan.”

“It’s really impressive,” Sirius said without taking his eyes off the screen. The edit was a series of photos, both on and off the ice; Sirius knocking their helmets together, then Remus looking back over his shoulder, then both of them in the water playing chicken in the sun. It was a slideshow of their life and their love.

“Can you send that to me?” Remus asked when it was over. “Cause that’s super cool.”

“Sure thing. Are you guys ready for the last one?” When they all nodded, she drummed her fingers on the posterboard and cleared her throat. “Arthur appreciation hours. He deserves it after managing to control the team.”

A cheer went up—all seven stood and applauded, half-laughing and half-whooping. “Miracle worker!” Sirius called.

“Best coach in the league!” Finn added.

“Most tolerant man to ever walk the earth!” Remus raised his water in a toast and they tapped the plastic edges together, nearly spilling all over the table.

Dorcas’ eyes crinkled in a smile as she turned to the camera. “That’s it for today, Lions! Tune in next time for more content of our boys, and thank you for such wonderful comments!”