#I’ve decided that we genuinely probably aren’t gonna play another game ever again

[weaselweaselweasel]

My current dm just said our campaign is set to end before the end of the year.

I hope this nigga is aware that with how often everyone is constantly canceling we’ll straight up never play a session again

This is why I’m looking for another group 😞

[yayeetsonny]

Always Tell The Truth Part 2 ~ USWNT x Reader

Okay so if you haven’t read the first part of this, which I will put here. Always tell the truth part 1 I suggest you do that, otherwise this one will make no sense. Also sorry... again for being gone so long. I hope you guys didn’t miss me too much. :)

-N

Previously...

“Those bruises, Y/N, where’d you get them?” 

“I. Don’t. Know.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Fine then, don’t believe me. First Alex, then Christen and now you. This is just great, my teammates think I’m a liar. Well I’m not and I’m telling you the truth.”

I brushed by her and stormed out of the room, now determined to avoid my teammates so they’d stop asking questions and questioning my honesty.

“I’m not a liar. I don’t know where I got the bruises, I don’t know why they won’t believe me.”

Present

After I stormed out of the room I share with Ali I ran... yes literally ran out of the hotel and out into the street. Well okay it was more like the sidewalk but whatever, I’m going for dramatic story telling here. I was angry, hurt and confused as to why my teammates couldn’t just believe me. I’ve never lied to them before, not ever. If something was going on I would have told them. And I genuinely have no clue where these bruises came from, I don’t remember hurting myself badly in practices or games and I don’t do any other crazy activities that would warrant the sudden appearance of severe looking injuries. I knew I just needed to clear my head so I started walking in a random direction hoping to get my thoughts together.

After a while I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket and knew it was probably one of my teammates looking for me so I ignored it. My phone stopped ringing only for a short time before it stared up again. This went on for several long minutes before it finally stopped. After each attempt from whoever was trying reach me there was a separate single vibrate indicating they left a message. I felt a little guilty for disappearing and probably worrying everyone but they shouldn’t have assumed or accused me of lying. Thinking they finally got the message that I didn’t want to speak to them I continued walking god knows where trying to think of what to say when I finally decided to go back. I was really deep in thought, trying to remember if and when I got the bruises. Obviously they don’t just appear like magic. They have to be caused by something, but... what? All the sudden I was hit with a vague memory

“Huh?... Wha- where am I?”

“You fell asleep on the couch dear. Don’t you remember? It was really adorable actually. My mom said super sweetly.

That’s weird, she’s never overly sweet with me, like ever.

“No, I don’t remember doing that.”

I looked around and the tv was on, which is also rare. It was playing a random comedy movie. Comedy? My parents don’t even like comedy movies.

“Oh well you did. Right after dinner, you dragged your feet over to the couch and was out like a light before we knew it.” She said casually.

My dad waltzed in like everything was totally normal. What the fuck is going on. Why don’t I even remember eating dinner? How long have I been here? Why does my body hurt so much?

I came back to the present feeling slightly uneasy. I remembered now a little bit of what happened when I got to my parents house and a little bit of what happened after I woke up from my nap. They managed to convince me everything was fine after that and I left assuming they were telling me the truth because I was too tired and too annoyed to argue. But the more I thought about it the more I wondered just how much of what they said is true. Why were there huge gaps in my time with them? And why do I get the feeling that the weird gut feeling I have isn’t a coincidence? I got lost in thought again but it was peaceful this time and quiet which I was relishing in.

Unfortunately the peace and quiet only lasted for a few minutes when I started to get what I assumed were dozens of texts. I finally got fed up and decided to silence my phone completely. When I unlocked it I saw a glimpse of some of the worried texts from the team. They all pretty much said the same thing;

“Y/N please come back. I’m sorry for saying I didn’t believe you. I’m just concerned about you. I want to talk and I’ll listen to whatever you have to say. Just please come back.”- Ali

“Hey kid, heard what happened. Wanna talk?”- T

“Y/n where are you? I heard what happened and that you left?? please come back, we’re worried.”- Christen

“Bruh what the hell? let’s talk?”- Ash

“where r u?”- Mal

“It’s not safe for you to be out by yourself. Ali told us about the other bruises. Whatever this is we’ll help you. We’re gonna start searching for you if you don’t get your ass back here soon. We love you.”- Alex

And it went on like that as every single member of the team texted me some variation of that and the voicemails they all left were much the same. I started to feel more guilty but let my anger keep me from replying to them. They can stew a little longer.

Meanwhile back at the Hotel...

CHRISTEN PRO//

“Okay, so tell us exactly what happened.”

“I saw the bruises when she was changing, which I happened to walk in on. I don’t think she was expecting me. I asked her what happened and she said that nothing had happened and I asked her about the bruises I saw on her arm, shoulder and spine and she continued to tell me she has no idea where they came from. I told her I didn’t believe her and then she got upset and she just... left.”

“Just like that? She didn’t say where she was going?”

“No, she was so angry she just stormed out and when I tried to follow after her she was already gone.”

“And she’s still not answering her phone. Damnit kid come on, where are you?”

“She’s not safe out there on her own, we have to go look for her.”

“And how are we supposed to find her when she doesn’t have her location on and is doing everything she can’t to ignore us?”

“I have no idea but we have to try.”

“We will, but we should give her a little more time. It’s possible she’s just around the corner cooling off. She’ll come back when she’s ready.”

“You’re right.”

“Guys I hate to steer us back into more serious topics but shouldn’t we be talking about the bruises she has that started all of this?”

“What do you guys think they’re from?” Megan asked.

“I want to believe her when she says she doesn’t know but I mean how can you just not know about bruises as severe as those?” Ash said.

“I mean... I’ve had some pretty bad ones I don’t remember getting from anywhere.” Mal said off-handily.

I saw some of the rest of the team nod silently, indicating that they too had, had the same thing happen to them. And I had to admit that I had my fair share of bumps and bruises that I couldn’t explain because they just seemed to appear but I was still concerned for our youngest teammate as it was getting pretty late and it was already dark outside.

“Oh god, you don’t think it’s her parents do you?” Tobin asked no one in particular.

We all paused for a moment to process what she was implying and I know we were silently hoping, praying that they wouldn’t do that to her. That they wouldn’t beat their own child.

“No, there’s no way. She’s told us that they love and support her and that even though they aren’t around much they still care about her.”

“Right, you’re right.”

“It has to be them though, I mean there’s no other explanation. She didn’t have them before or after practice right?” Alex asked.

“No, she didn’t.” Lindsey said solemnly.

“Do you really think parents can just flip a switch? Just like that? Be caring and supportive one minute and violent then next?”

“It’s possible.”

“No, just don’t even go there. I refuse to believe they would do that.”

“We would have seen the bruises if she had them before, since we all change in the same locker room together for practices and games remember?” I said

“Fuck. When I get my hands on them I swear to god...”

She didn’t get to finish her sentence because Y/n walked into the dining hall where we were all gathered.

“Get your hands on who?” She asked quietly

“Kid...”

“Y/n holy shit, thank god.”

“And she lives!... not the time? Got it.”

“Y/N... we need to talk.”

“Why? There’s nothing to talk about. I don’t know what Ali told you, but I don’t know where these fucking bruises came from okay? I don’t know. I’m sorry, I know that probably isn’t what you wanted to hear but it’s the truth. If you don’t believe me that’s fine but i’m not talking about it anymore.”

“Sweetie please just hear us out okay? We’re worried about you and getting defensive about them isn’t helping your case.” I said, trying to reach out for her but she backed away from me.

“Defensive? I’m just upset because you all still don’t seem to get it.”

“We want to get it, please just talk to us.”

“No.”

“Y/N, please just...”

“No! Okay, just no. I said we weren’t talking about it again and that’s final. What happened to “I’ll listen to whatever you have to say.” Huh, Ali? Good to know that was complete bullshit.”

“I’m sorry baby, please believe me, we just...”

“Oh believe you? For what? You clearly still don’t believe me so why should I give you that courtesy? You know what, this is all just fucking stupid anyways. I’m going to bed. Goodnight.”

And with that she disappeared up to the room she’s sharing with Ali. Leaving us all more confused and concerned than ever.

“Well... that went well.”

“Shut up Emily, so not the time.”

//End

Okay so yes that is yet another cliffhanger of sorts, I’m sorry but I thought that was a good place to end it. Just know that Y/N genuinely doesn’t remember a lot of what’s going on, just like she says. Her parents are definitely sus asf.

I’m actually writing part 3 rn so that should be up within the next day or so. I know I keep disappearing but my life is totally a mess rn lol. I’m back now tho and am excited to finally get to all the requests I have. Im so sorry for those waiting I haven’t forgotten. Promise.

-N

//

Not edited.

[danses-with-dogmeat]

a romanced hancock reacting to sole wanting him to be a father figure in synth shaun's life?

Thank you so much for the ask anon!

So, I couldn't decide if I wanted to do more of a drabble or headcanons, so I just did both! I thought this prompt was really sweet, I hope you enjoy!

You stood in your shared room at the top of the Old State House, before the man in the red coat, the man you loved, awaiting his answer to your proposal. Having just asked him the question that had been patiently waiting at the back of your mind since the day that Shaun had come back into your life.

"Oh sunshine..." Hancock's gravelly voice broke the silence that had followed your question, "I'm beyond flattered that'd you'd ask that. I mean, I love that kid to pieces, but... you really think a ghoulified, blood-soaked, mega-junkie like me is the best fit for the kid to look up to?" The ghoul gave a soft chuckle, but Sole could see his brow furrowed slightly with uncertainty. A rare sight, given his usual gusto.

"Hancock," you said, in an attempt to reassure him, "you're a hell of a lot more than that. And Shaun is crazy about you, the reason I brought this up now was because he asked me when he could start calling you 'dad'." Hancock's dark eyes widened at your words and it took him a moment to answer.

"He- he did? Man... It's not too often I find myself at a loss for words but, I mean, me, a dad? I never thought that would've been possible, given my eh... present condition," He brought his hands up to gesture at his whole body. Your eyes never left his, the only change in your expression being a small smile, encouraging him to respond to your earlier question. Hancock sighed, taking a few steps towards you.

"So I suppose the thing I'm trying to say here is, I'm not sure I'm qualified for the position you're offering me." Your shoulders slumped at his words, you couldn't help but think he'd have been more receptive to the idea of being Shaun's new father. He may not be perfect, but he's one hell of an upgrade from the synth child's last "father."

"Look sunshine," Hancock decided to break the silence again, noticing your disappointed expression, "you sure you want this? I don't really tend to think of myself as 'daddy material'." You cocked an eyebrow at him, despite the weight of the conversation, you found yourself unable to keep a suggestive smile from spreading across your lips at his choice of words.

"Hey now, aren't you supposed to be the responsible one in this outfit?" Hancock quipped, his crooked smile imitating your own as he took another step closer. Before he could reach for you, you brought your hands up and grabbed ahold of his shoulders, trying to regain control of the conversation.

"Look, John, I know you don't always see it this way," you looked him in the eye, willing your next words to sink in, "but you really are an outstanding role model. I mean, look at all you've done for the people of Goodneighbor, and the Commonwealth. You're out there actively trying to make this wasteland a better place, lending a hand to the little guy and doing all you can to take down the tyrants. You're a skilled leader who genuinely cares about the people you're responsible for, you're fiercely protective of the ones you love, and of the ideals that you support. You're a good man, John. And I couldn't think of anyone better for Shaun to call 'dad'."

"Shit sweetheart, you really know how to make a ghoul blush. Tell me, how did I ever get so lucky to have you in my life?" He whispered softly, shaking his head slightly as he looked deep into your eyes. You couldn't help but blush at his comment and at his unrelenting smoky gaze, you looked down to break the tension for a moment.

"We're talking about you here, John, remember? So..." you trailed off, hoping to finally get a straight answer from him.

"So?" He asked.

"So, what do you say? You gonna make me ask you again, or what?"

"Look," he reached a ruined hand out to lightly take your own, his thumb rubbing soothingly over your knuckles, "you and that kid are the most important thing I've got going on in my life, and if you really want me around, then I'm not goin' anywhere. And for the first time in my life, I fucking mean it." He grasped your hand tightly, before you gently removed it from his own, instead bringing your arms up to pull him into a tight embrace, which Hancock happily leaned into, nuzzling his head into the crook of your neck.

"Just one thing..." you said, finally pulling away, "we might have to work on that foul mouth of yours."

"Don't worry sweetheart, if we're doing this thing, we're gonna do it right. I'll teach the kid all he needs to know. The real creative foul language, how to cure a hangover, where to get the best chems. All that important shit." You rolled your eyes playfully, mirth shining behind your dilated pupils as you stared into the eyes of your son's new father.

"Now, about that foul mouth of mine..." his hand slunk around your waist and pulled you into him as a mischievous grin spread across his lips a moment before they met yours.

And now, a few headcanons, for your consideration:

- After agreeing to act as Shaun's father, Hancock would seriously clean up his act. He may occasionally still take chems and drink (cuz, let's face it, he's still Hancock, and quitting cold turkey is hardly an option) but much less than he used to, and never around Shaun. This is only partly because he doesn't want to bring Shaun into that part of his life, but also it has a lot to do with his decreasing dependency on self-medicating. Being genuinely happy with his family, he doesn't feel as though he needs to escape.

- He would continue to be mayor of Goodneighbor, but would leave many of the day-to-day decisions to a committee (composed of Daisy, Fahrenheit, Dr. Amari, and an elected security guard). While Hancock, Sole and Shaun would live at another (more kid-friendly) settlement of Sole's choice.

- Hancock would actually excel at teaching Shaun. Whether it would be a shooting lesson, showing Shaun how to cook, teaching him to fish, or telling him about pre-war history (usually with a good amount of focus on the American revolution given his own fascination with it), even if Hancock wasn't extraordinarily knowledgeable, he would do his absolute best at helping Shaun get some form of an education.

- Once Sole was able to convince Hancock that Shaun liked his voice, rough as it may be, he would love to do bedtime stories. Even though Shaun is probably just getting old enough to outgrow them, he has a particularly hard time getting to sleep, and he soon finds that the ghoul's low, calm voice is a surefire way to drift off when the sun goes down.

- Hancock would be one of those parents that always looks like they know what they're doing, he would be patient during Shaun's tantrums, would be very focused on communication, and would have a nice blend of being protective of Shaun, but not to the point that it would be stifling. That being said, he would remain awfully uncertain and need constant reassurance from Sole, seeking their advice on almost everything to do with Shaun. Inside, he would have trouble realizing he's as good of a father figure to Shaun as everyone says he is. However, outwardly, he would be as confident as ever. Even fooling Nick into believing that he was completely at ease in the role of being Shaun's dad.

- He'd be killer at all of the popular kid games, playing hide and seek with Shaun when they visited the Old State House, or playing tag back in sanctuary, or even imagination games where he had to be the deathclaw and Shaun got to be Grognak the barbarian (do deathclaws exist in the Grognak universe? It doesn't matter, they do to Shaun). Hancock normally wouldn't let anyone win, he believes in playing fair, but occasionally for Shaun, he'd hide in the obvious places, or trip when running away in tag, or let it slide that Shaun says Grognak is strong enough to punch a deathclaw's head clean off in one hit. (Man, if only he could do that.)

- If other kids were bullying Shaun, Hancock would be the type of parent to bring the bully aside and have a frighteningly quiet conversation. And by conversation, I mean an in-depth description of what Hancock will do to the kid if he's mean to Shaun again. (Think of that scene at the beginning of the first Jurassic Park movie where the main character is describing to a kid how a velociraptor guts its prey and eats it alive. That's Hancock. Both the man, and probably the velociraptor too if the bully doesn't heed his warning.) Hancock wouldn't necessarily kill the kid for being mean to Shaun, but it's because he wouldn't have to, after his 'discussion' with the kid, he'll never even look at Shaun the wrong way again. Thankfully, the 'discussion' is all Hancock's ever had to do when kiddos are involved.

[willowbird]

can we get an Aaron POV of him beating the abuslute shit out of Jack in the locker room. i’m talking about slamming this boys head into the locker beating, he need kevin, matt and nicky to get aaron to stop and even then he still struggling to get more in till andrew comes into his vision. show me that same aaron from that secne in thanksgiving!!!

I am so SO sorry it's taken me so long to answer this!! Work was getting hectic and I was working on something else BUT now I'm for sure gonna get through the rest of these asks ^.^

Aaron losing his shit on Jack, huh? Well, we can sure do that ^.^ 

I changed a few things from your prompt just because as I was sitting down to write it made the most sense to me that if Aaron was gonna go after Jack it probably wouldn’t be about Andrew or Neil. Neil and Andrew take care of themselves, more or less, and if they can’t then they’ve got each other. Not that Aaron wouldn’t beat the ever-living shit out of Jack for doing or saying something to Andrew, but he just probably wouldn’t have to -- if only because Andrew doesn’t care enough about Jack to be affected by him. 

Nicky on the other hand...? Well, I’m a bit soft for the twins being protective of Nicky.

Warning for violence, depression, mentions of suicidal thoughts, triggering language. Take care of  yourselves.

----

“Jesus fucking Christ. That was the most pathetic excuse of teamwork I’ve ever seen in my goddamn life, and this is my sixth year coaching this fucks-forsaken team.” Coach Wymack had just spent the last twenty minutes ripping all of them brand new assholes. They were all tired, they were all angry, and they were all ready for this day to be fucking over, but it wasn’t over until the Coach had had his say, so here they were -- sitting in the locker room, getting chewed out again. 

Not that they didn’t deserve it. Aaron knew they did.

It had been a brutal fucking loss. The Foxes trashed by some half-cocked team from Alabama. Even with Andrew actively trying to block the goal, there was only so much he could do when the other team’s offense kept breaking through their defensive line to swarm the goal. Matt was off the court with an injury, which meant the only backliners they had were Aaron, Nicky, and Keith -- the freshman backliner who still couldn’t figure out how to fucking pass to a moving target. 

Aaron cared less about the loss than he did about the cause for it, and not for the same reasons as half the rest of the team. 

Nicky had been all thumbs and no energy tonight, but that hadn’t been a surprise -- not to Aaron or any of the rest of the monsters. Nicky had been off for a few days, his usual chatty, chipper demeanor whittled down to strained smiles and shrugs in a way that the rest of the team had never seen before. Well, most of the rest of the team. Aaron had seen this before. Andrew had too. Neil and Kevin hadn’t witnessed it directly, but by now the other two “monsters” knew Nicky well enough to know this other side of him existed even if they hadn’t seen it. 

So yeah, he’d gone into this game knowing it was going to suck -- knowing that they might lose. Maybe that had been their mistake. He, Andrew, Kevin, and Neil had been distracted -- torn between concern for Nicky and the need to cover for him. The freshmen had been a nightmare about it and what the fuck even was teamwork. At halftime, the commentators had called it one of the worst performances by the Foxes in three years. 

Yeah.

But at least it was fucking over, right?

“Now get showered up and get the fuck outta my sight. I don’t want to see a single one of you fuckers until tomorrow -- yeah, that’s right, we’re having Saturday fucking practice thanks to that sorry excuse of a game you pissed all over tonight.” Coach glared at all of them in turn. “By tomorrow I expect Nolan and Fisk to get their heads out of each other’s ass and Hemmick?” The big man’s gaze landed on Aaron’s cousin and he felt himself go stiff. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Andrew stand up from where he was leaning against the lockers. 

“Learn how to be a little less fucking useless. I don’t know what the fuck has been up with you the past few days but get it figure the fuck out. You hear me?”

The first pulse of genuine rage ignited in Aaron’s veins. His hands curled into fists and his vision narrowed. Nicky’s quiet, tightly muttered, “Yes Coach,” was partially drowned out by the dull roar in his ears. 

Anything he might have said or done was stymied, however, by Andrew, who slammed his fist against the lockers, drawing everyone’s attention away from Nicky and onto him. 

“Coach, I think we need to chat.” By whatever magic Andrew had over everyone that made everyone automatically take him more seriously than anyone else, he had Coach’s attention, just like that. The man snorted then jerked his head toward the door.

“Fine, but make it quick. I need to try and block out what just happened.”

Coach and Andrew left the room. For a minute, there was a tense, weighty silence, then someone whined and someone else bitched and normalcy returned -- well, normal for a really shitty fucking day anyway. The women split off to their changing room to shower and get ready, and several of the guys did the same. 

Nicky remained seated, staring blankly down at his hands, shoulders slumped in utter defeat. That anger curled in Aaron again -- not at Nicky and not at the fucking game, but at Coach and the team for being so fucking stupid, and at himself for not knowing what the fuck to do about any of it. Nicky’s depression was an open secret among their group. It was something they all knew of but never talked about. This was probably the worst episode he’d had in years and Aaron just felt... fucking powerless. 

When they’d noticed it, they’d closed ranks around Nicky as a group and shut out the rest of the team in a way they hadn’t done since the cousins’ freshman year. None of them were soft enough to take care of Nicky in the way he probably needed, but Andrew drove Nicky to Reddin Thursday morning and Aaron and Neil joined forces in helping Kevin hold his fucking tongue during practices when Nicky struggled to keep up with the rest of them. 

It was not gentle support, but it was all they had to offer.

It just... wasn’t fucking enough. 

“Jesus, Hemmick, are you fucking crying?” Aaron jerked out of his thoughts at the sound of Jack Nolan’s sharp, mocking voice. It was edged with a cruelty that went beyond the typical assholishness of the Foxes. 

“What, forgot how to fucking talk too? Wow, you really are useless aren’t you?” Jack continued when Nicky only flinched at his ridicule and didn’t rebuke him like he usually would.

“Hey, Jack, leave him the fuck alone. You didn’t do so great out there yourself tonight so why don’t you worry about yourself,” Matt barked from where he’d been sitting through Coach’s dress-down. He was wearing his jersey but since he hadn’t played tonight there was no need for him to have to peel gear off or shower. 

“Whatever.” Jack rolled his eyes like a petulant fucking teenager, but the look he shot Nicky was all cold predator. “Why don’t you do us all a favor and just go kill yourself?”

Even over the exclamation of Matt’s reprimand, Aaron still heard Nicky’s breath hitch. He remembered, vividly, the night two years ago when he and Nicky had been drinking and he’d asked him ‘How the fuck did make it through? We were fucking assholes, we are assholes, and you still stayed.’ He remembered not expecting the answer he got. He remembered Nicky looking down into his drink and saying, ‘I almost didn’t. Probably the only reason I didn’t try to off myself again was knowing that if I did, you two would go to my parents and I... I couldn’t let that happen. Didn’t care about me, but I could care about you. Caring about you guys kept me alive.’

He remembered the sick feeling in his stomach and the way that knowledge cut through his buzz, striking him sober with one fucking word: again.

Aaron did not make the decision to grab Jack, or if he did it was overwhelmed by the roar of the monster under his skin as it surged suddenly up from whatever dark place it had been lurking since that violent, bloody night last November. All he knew was that one moment he was standing there, and the next he had his hands on something that needed to shut the fuck up. 

He only vaguely registered the shouts around him as he dug his fingers into Jack’s shirt and whirled him around. Then the only thing that existed was the feeling of flesh and bone and the slick of blood against his knuckles as he drove his fists into every soft part of the body in front of him as hard as he fucking could. Jacks hands scrabbled ineffectually at Aaron’s shoulders, then his face, trying to hit him or grab his hair or push him off, but for all that Aaron was a small man he was a fucking backliner for a reason and he threw every single ounce of his muscle into shoving Jack into the lockers. 

A second later he was on him again, taking a fistful of his hair so he could slam his head into the lockers until the fucker’s knees buckled and he went down. 

All he could hear was the rumble of rage in his veins. There was no thought, no goal, no understanding -- not of anything but the raw, unfiltered hate pouring out of him as he followed Jack to the ground. Distantly, he knew there was shouting or screaming -- that there were words being thrown at him and hands desperately trying to haul him back. He felt the fingers curling around his biceps and tugging on his shoulders. But his wrath was far too powerful and each time someone got a grip he was able to wrench free and use that momentum to land another hit. 

At one point a solid arm wound around his waist and hauled him up and away. A sound like a feral animal ripped from his throat as Aaron thrashed wildly, trying to throw himself back onto Jack. The man had stopped moving at this point but there was a wet, raspy sound coming from him that still spoke of life and maybe Aaron hadn’t consciously decided to keep going until it stopped, but the drive was there all the same. 

The rest of the room was hazy around the edges, people were blurs of sound and color. The only thing in focus was the wheezing form of Jack fucking Nolan on the floor, and Aaron fought viciously to get back to him, jerking at the arms holding him back, kicking and trying to lash out with all his strength. 

Until something blocked his view. And it took a minute for Aaron to recognize what it was. To recognize who it was. 

“A-Aaron. Aaron. Stop. Please. It’s o-okay. It’s okay. I’m okay. S-stop...” 

The rest of the world snapped back into focus at the sound of Nicky’s gasped, broken words. Aaron stopped fighting so suddenly that he and everyone trying to hold him back stumbled. There were three of them, he realized -- Matt, Kevin, and Dan. Neil and Andrew were flanking Nicky, the three of them blocking his view of Jack’s prone, gasping form but not actually trying to stop him from killing him. 

Nicky was crying, his eyes wide and his hands trembling as he held them out in front of Aaron, pleading him to stop. 

Aaron took a few more heavy breaths and realized he’d been panting. He looked from Nicky to Andrew’s cool, appraising stare, then to Neil’s similar expression before finally glancing beyond them to the mess that might have once been Jack Nolan. When he dragged his gaze back to Nicky, all he said was, “He shouldn’t have opened his fucking mouth.”

Nicky made a strangled sound, something between a sob and a laugh. Then he did something he almost never did and launched forward, wrapping his arms around Aaron in a tight hug. In a reflex that Aaron didn’t even know he had, his arms snapped around his cousin and he hugged him back just as fiercely. 

As Nicky sobbed onto his shoulder, Aaron looked over his hunched form and met his brother’s gaze. There weren’t words that could translate the look they shared just then, but if he had to label it, it might have been something like understanding. 

[kindahoping4forever]

In My Dreams... You Should See The Things We Do // Ashton Irwin

Hello friends, welcome back to the never-ending game of “Crystal turns a one sentence blurb prompt into a 2k smut extravaganza!” I knew what I wanted to do with this piece when I saw the prompt but it took a lot of work to get there (I actually scrapped not only my original idea but some of what I had started to write) so I owe a great deal of thanks to @cal-puddies​ for making some key suggestions and helping me shape this into what I wanted it to be. 

Prompt: “I think that’s the first time I’ve ever heard you moan. It’s like a fucking melody.”

Warnings: Well, big surprise, it’s boyfriend!Ash but with the added twist that it’s a new relationship trying to flourish despite being separated by quarantine. I can’t call it porn without plot because the porn is the plot. Which is a long winded way of telling you this is fluffy (but still pretty filthy) phone sex.  

Word Count: 2,673

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Let  us  know  what  you  think!

————-

Ashton’s lips travel the length of your neck and over the swell of your breasts. His breath is hot on your skin and his fingers teasingly run across your inner thighs as they slowly make their way to dip inside the waistband of your panties and ---

You huff in exasperation as the persistent buzzing of your phone on the nightstand interrupts your fantasy. You remove your hand from between your legs and reach to investigate who exactly you should be annoyed with; a variety of emotions wash over you when you see Ash’s name on your screen.

You purse your lips in discontent and hit answer. “Hey you,” you greet him.

“Hey yourself,” he greets you joyfully. “Where ya been? I called twice before; started to think you’d had enough and had broken out into the outside world.” He laughs at his joke.

The two of you had only gone on a few dates before quarantine began but you hit it off well enough that you ended up talking almost every night. Despite the distance, the chemistry between you was palpable and your chats added somewhat of a routine and sense of normalcy amongst the chaos. As the weeks passed, you’d really gotten to know each other and forged a strong intellectual and romantic bond. 

The problem was, your pre-lockdown relationship had only gotten as far as a few brief but intense makeouts and as you grew closer, the lingering memory of his roaming hands and passionate kisses only seemed to escalate your building desire. You found him starring in your dreams frequently, dreams that had recently been leaving you in such a state that you had to relieve yourself immediately upon waking. 

Which is exactly what happened today when you took a late afternoon nap and woke up throbbing for release, which you would have gotten had Ashton not called. You sigh and tell him half the truth, “I’m just getting up from a nap, you’re calling a lot earlier than you usually do.”

“Oh, that sounds nice! Sorry if I woke you, I was bored and didn’t want to wait to talk to you,” he admits.

You smile at his confession. “You’re fine! I was awake, just still in bed. How’s your day been?”  

Ash answers with what you’re sure are entertaining and probably very charming anecdotes about his afternoon but you can’t stop your mind from wandering as he talks. You’re thinking about the dream you had, how good he made you feel. You’re wondering if you should make yourself cum as soon as you hang up the phone or treat yourself a little, maybe draw a nice bath, use a toy.

You’re mentally running through the collection of sex toys you know are in your bedside table to determine if any particular one strikes your fancy tonight when you hear silence on the other end of the phone. Shit, you think to yourself.

“...This is the part where I should be responding to something you’ve said, isn’t it?” You sheepishly ask.

“It typically would be, yes,” he chuckles. “I can call back a little later if this is a bad time, you seem distracted,” he offers.

You frown, feeling guilty for not listening. “No, Ash, I’m sorry,” you apologize. “I want to talk to you, I really do. My head is just elsewhere right now.”

He waits a beat before replying. “I want you to know that you can talk to me about anything,” he says sincerely. “No judgement, no unsolicited advice. I just… I really really fucking like you and one of the things I appreciate about you is your willingness to listen when I need to talk through something and I hope you know that goes both ways.”

Your grin is evident in your voice as you say, “Ash… I really like you too. Genuinely, talking to you is always the best part of my day, I don’t know how I’d be getting through this without you.”

“So then, what’s on your mind? Tell me, anything at all, I want to know. Just be honest,” he prompts.

You furrow your brow and think… he did say anything. What could it hurt? You take a deep breath and hurriedly blurt out, “I had a sexy dream about you and was about to get off when you called.”

It's silent for a moment and you wonder if you’d misread things and crossed a line you shouldn’t have.

Ashton inhales like he’s about to say something and then he stops. There’s another beat that feels like a thousand lifetimes and then there’s an explosion of giggles coming from his end.

You laugh along with him but you’re not sure if it’s out of embarrassment or relief. “Well… you said to be honest,” you joke.

“I did, thank you for your candor,” he responds gleefully. "I sincerely apologize for the interruption." He pauses briefly then clears his throat. “Can I be honest with you?”

“Of course,” you listen, interested.

“I have to get myself off basically every night as soon as we hang up,” he admits.

You smirk to yourself and feel a flush spreading over your body. “I'd been wondering if you were getting as frustrated as I was,” you confess. “Hoping, even. I just... I can’t stop thinking about when I’ll get to be with you.”

“I don't know how much longer I can wait… I don't even have the words to make you understand how badly I’ve been wanting you,” Ash replies, voice much lower than it was previously.

You feel emboldened knowing he’s been as affected by your budding relationship as you have, so you find yourself sharing more. “You know, in the dream I had, you didn’t even use words... we were at mine, watching a movie I think? But I couldn’t focus, all I could think about was how much I wanted you. And I guess you could tell because before I could do anything, you looked me in the eye and moved my hand so I could feel how hard you were for me.”

You know you're rambling, trying to get it all out before you can overthink. “We just kind of explored each other for a while, lips and hands everywhere… god, Ash, it seemed so real, your kisses felt just like I remember… and you knew just how to touch me… I could feel the vibrations of your moans under my tongue as I kissed your neck while I stroked your cock.” 

You squeeze your legs together, hoping to relieve the dull ache that has returned thanks to the sensual memory. “The dream ended before we got much further but I woke up so fucking wet and when I went to touch myself I couldn’t decide if I wanted to think about sucking you off or having you bend me over.”

You can’t hear much over the thunderous sound of your own heartbeat pumping in your ears but you could’ve sworn you heard something resembling a groan coming from Ashton. Your mind begins racing with thoughts of what might be taking place on the other end of the phone; you feel yourself become impossibly more aroused.

“I’ve thought about those things too,” he tells you quietly. “I like thinking about finally getting to take you out again and taking you back to my place and I just can’t wait to have you so I bend you over the table in my entryway, as soon as we walk in the door.”

“Rip my panties off?” You ask, holding your breath.

“Pushed to the side… and god, I lose my fucking mind when I feel how wet you are for me, you want it just as bad as I do. You’re in a nice dress that you hike up for me. My pants aren’t even down, I just take my cock out and sink into you. Just need to be in you, feel you tight and warm and wrapped around me,” he rasps.

You close your eyes and you see it: him pressing you up against the front door as he unlocks it, roughly kissing you as he walks you backwards inside the house. In what seems like one swift motion, he spins you around, pushes you over the table and slips his cock into you with ease. 

“Bet I was teasing you a lot while you drove us home,” you offer breathlessly as you slip your hand inside your underwear, nearly gasping when you feel how aroused you are. “I think about that sometimes. You acting like you don’t notice my hand creeping up your thigh until I start palming you over your jeans. And your cock just feels so fucking hard and so big under my fingers that I have to take it out and get my hands on you, play with you until we get back.”

Ashton’s voice is clearly straining now and there's no doubt in your mind that he’s touching himself. “Maybe we luck out and the roads are empty and you can put your mouth on me," he suggests.

“Well, once I feel how badly you’re leaking for me, I at least have to clean you up,” you respond shakily, actively rubbing your clit now. “But truthfully? I have a feeling I’m gonna love tasting your cock so much, I won’t be able to help myself and I’m gonna end up taking as much of you as I can.”

He groans loudly this time and you can picture him so vividly: sprawled out on his couch, head tipped back, biting his lip to keep from making much noise. You imagine he started playing with himself inside his shorts but by now he’s got his cock out, shiny and desperate for attention; tattooed arms flexing with tension as he struggles to maintain control, fighting the urge to buck into his hand with every slow stroke.

“Don’t know if I can let you get away with all that teasing,” he sounds breathy but confident and you can practically hear the smirk on his face. “With you acting like that, don’t think I can let you cum when I fuck you over the table. When I’m done with you, I’ll have to carry you to the bedroom and pin your arms above your head. Strip you down, get you even more desperate than you already are; my mouth all over your tits, run my fingers through your folds. Gotta get you fucking begging for me before I’ll even think about touching your clit.”

Your eyes are screwed shut, focusing on his fantasy. You're so turned on by it, you forget to respond; it’s like your brain is overloaded trying to process the feeling of your hands running over your breasts, toying with your nipples and the words he’s saying, how badly you wish they were reality.

Ashton’s voice snaps you out of your daze and you realize he must have mistaken your silence for discomfort because he’s hurriedly altering his tone. “Of course sometimes a little teasing goes a long way and we've waited long enough at this point so I would also love to feel you cum as soon as you’re ready---” 

“Oh, teasing is good, teasing is very good,” you interject, quick to reassure him that the scenario he was detailing is something you would very much enjoy. You smirk. “…But if your methods are open to negotiation, I think I’d prefer to be bound.”

“Fuck,” he chokes out, with a bit of a laugh. “Alright then, we can do that. Free up both of my hands to work you over... better yet, to hold you down while I’ve got my face buried in your pussy.”

You let out a loud moan, followed by a gasp at the volume of your exclamation. You didn’t even realize you were making a noise until it reached your ears, you were so enraptured by the fantasy Ash was describing and the feeling of your hands touching yourself like only you knew how.

There isn't time to be self-conscious even if you wanted to be because your outburst is immediately met with approving murmurs from his end of the line. “I think that’s the first time I’ve ever heard you moan… it was like a fucking melody,” Ash comments with heavy breath. “I need to hear so much more of that… especially need it when I’ve got my fingers pressed into your hips, holding you down while I suck at your clit. Bring you right to the edge over and over until I’m ready for you to cum for me… bet you taste as good as you sound. I’d want you to be so fucking loud while I’ve got you spread, baby.” 

“Ashhhh…” you whine, imagining it’s his tongue circling your clit and teasing at your entrance instead of your own fingers. “You’ve never called me ‘baby’ before… I like it. Wanna hear you say it when I’m begging to cum on your cock.”

His words are rushed and accompanied by the unmistakable sound of skin vigorously slapping against skin. “Yeah? Well after you cum on my tongue, I’m definitely gonna need to fill you up again, baby. Gonna get me so fucking hard watching you cum for me, seeing you shake, hearing you say my name like that... Think you’d want to bounce on my cock, make yourself cum for me one more time?”

You’ve settled the phone into the crook of your neck so that you can have one hand hard at work on your clit and the other pumping away inside your pussy. “Yes, Ash, absolutely,” you sigh filthily. “Want to ride your thick cock, want you filling me better than anyone else has… Want to cum around you, squeeze you tight… fuck… I just wish you were here, Ash.”

He pants, “I know, baby, me too. Wish this was your hand instead of mine… your mouth… your pussy… fuck, baby, I just need to feel you... I’m so close, are you close?” 

“Yes... I’m almost there… wanna hear you cum for me,” you whimper.

Ashton grunts a few times and you feel yourself tensing when you hear his strangled cry of your name. You imagine him, cock pulsing in his hand, shooting rope after rope of hot cum onto his own chest. That visual alone is enough to start you unraveling but what gives you that final push over the edge is the knowledge that he was thinking about you when he came. You moan and mumble for him as you cum, clenching around your fingers, rubbing at your clit until you can’t take it anymore. 

The call is quiet for a few moments as you both come down, listening to the sounds of each other’s breathing. After a bit, you hear some rustling on his end which you assume is him cleaning himself up; it crosses your mind how desperately you want to be there to clean him with your tongue and a faint, tired moan escapes your lips as you wonder what he tastes like.

You thought your noise was inaudible but Ash catches it and chuckles, “I’ll say.” He exhales loudly and then in stark contrast, starts speaking very softly. “I’d give anything to be there with you right now. Hold you while your breathing settles, feel your heartbeat slow against my chest… I already know I’m never gonna get enough of you.”

You sigh dreamily, heart swelling, yearning at his words. “I want that too,” you agree quietly. “We’re gonna be so good together, I know it.”

You both bask in the contented silence for another moment before you can’t help but joke, “Well, I’m glad you called!”

“Me too,” Ashton giggles with delight. “Think I need a nap now too, goddamn.”

You hum happily, “Call me later, we can actually talk?”

“Nothing I’d rather do,” he beams.

“Great… And I guess now that we’ve got our first post-lockdown date figured out, we can start brainstorming about how the second one will go,” you tease.

—-

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[backtothestart02]

The Football Star and the New Girl - 1/? | westallen fanfiction

A/N: I suck at titles lately...oh well. Enjoy this first chap! The story itself is based loosely on a dream I had. :)

...

Synopsis:  HS!AU - They were like ships passing in the night. Would they ever meet on the same page?

...

Chapter 1 -

Francine West walked down the hall and peeked into the open doorway of her daughter’s bedroom. She found her sitting on her bed, her things packed in multiple suitcases at her feet, but she herself – Iris West, 14 ¾ years old – did not look very excited to be leaving her home without her family. She was looking at a photo album. Tears were staining her cheeks.

Francine rested her head against the door frame as she watched her, her heart aching to heal the wounds she knew would only grow more with time.

“It’s not too late to change your mind, you know.”

Iris’ head whipped toward the sound, and she hastily shut the photo album and tossed it onto her bed, wiping her cheeks quickly after.

“Mom!”

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t interrupting, was I?”

She walked into the room, and Iris scooted over a little so she could sit next to her on the bed.

“No, not at all. I’m glad you’re here.”

They shared a sweet look, then Iris leaned her head on her mother’s shoulder. Francine held out her hand, and Iris intertwined her fingers in her mother’s grip.

“I still want to go,” she assured her.

“Yeah?”

She nodded against her shoulder.

“I need stability, mom. I can’t be moving around going from school to school every six months. I’m proud of dad, of course, and I love being with you all. I’ll miss you a lot, but…I want friends and the same school and a life.”

“A boyfriend?” Francine nudged her gently.

Iris rolled her eyes and smiled.

“Maybe…eventually. I’m only 14, Mom.”

Francine nudged her again.

“14 ¾.”

Iris laughed.

“Yeah, yeah, okay. A boyfriend would be nice, once I get to know the guy for more than a couple months. But first, friends.”

“Friends are important too.”

Iris nestled into her mother’s embrace and sat in silence for a while.

“What about Wally? Is he going to be going to new schools every-”

“I’ve decided to attempt homeschooling.”

Iris lifted her head.

“You have?”

She nodded.

“He’s only 10, so the curriculum is simpler, and he’s pretty introverted, even around us, so Ruffly can suffice for his friend. At least for now.”

Francine pursed her lips. She did want real, live human friends for her son, as well as for her daughter. But for now their golden retriever seemed to be what got the most laughs out of young Wally West. She would hope that lasted at least through another school year.

“I’d take him with me if I could,” Iris said.

“You’d take both my children from me?” Francine asked, only half joking. “What am I supposed to do all day long without your brother to drive me crazy?”

Iris looked into her mother’s eyes and saw that they were watering.

“Oh, Mom, I didn’t mean-”

“It’s okay, honey.”

She sighed and pressed a kiss to her daughter’s temple.

“I know it hasn’t been easy for you, losing your friends so often because we have to move. It’s the life of a military family, I’m afraid. I signed up for it when I agreed to marry the man, but you, my baby, were just born into it.”

She pulled back to look into her eyes.

“I want you to know though that if at any time the school isn’t working out for you, we’ll come get you in a heartbeat.”

Iris winced. She knew it wasn’t that simple. They were moving overseas to a new post. Iris would be staying here in the U.S. Even if the school was a bit of a move for her too. It wasn’t anything she wasn’t used to.

Still, she obliged her.

“Yeah, okay, mom.”

She smiled, but Francine knew better.

Footsteps sounded down the hallway, and interrupting their little moment came Joe West with little Wally West on his back. Joe was dressed in all camouflage wear, and Wally was giggling from bouncing up and down on his “horsie”. Ruffly was close at Joe’s heels.

“What is this here?” Joe asked, witnessing the tear streaks on his two ladies’ faces.

“Dad!” Iris sprung up.

She ran to him, and he slowly released Wally off his back, who promptly complained when his shoeless feet hit the floor.

Joe hugged his daughter tight, lifting her off her feet briefly and kissing the side of her face.

“Oh, baby girl, are you sure you want to go?”

Iris laughed when she was back on her feet again. She wiped away fresh tears.

“Yeah, I’m sure. I’m just gonna miss you guys, but I need this. For me. Okay?”

He sighed and nodded, then looked across the room at his wife.

“She’s so grown-up.”

“I know.” Francine sniffled.

“Why is everyone crying in here?” Wally asked. “Aren’t we gonna see her for Christmas?”

Everyone laughed.

“Aren’t you gonna miss me at all, you little punk?” Iris asked, ruffling his curly hair.

“Eh, maybe a little.” He shrugged, uncaringly.

Iris rolled her eyes.

“Well, it’s time to get going then, yeah?” She looked at her parents who nodded.

“Yeah,” Joe said. “That seven-hour drive is no joke.”

“Seven hours! That’s a lifetime!” Wally whined.

Ruffly barked.

“Just wait till your plane ride,” Iris egged him on. “That might be even longer.”

Wally groaned. “I hate traveling!”

“Better make sure you have something to keep you occupied with then, Walls,” Joe said, and with that Wally zipped out of Iris’ room to make sure his many bags included plenty of toys to play with on his very long journey.

“I’ll go help him,” Francine said. “We’ll meet you at the door with his things.”

“Sounds good.”

Joe smiled, but it was pained. Once Francine had left, all the toughness had melted away again, as it often did with his baby girl.

“Boy, am I gonna miss you,” he said.

“I’m gonna miss you too, Dad.” Another tear streamed down her cheek, and he was quick to wipe it away. “You look so handsome in your uniform, Dad.”

He chuckled.

“Alright, enough sadness for now. We can do this again in seven hours.”

She laughed. “Okay.”

“You wanna help me get all a million and one suitcases out to the car?”

She took a step back and looked around her room.

“Yeah, sorry about that.”

“You can apologize by helping me.”

“Deal.”

She smiled, and slowly they made their way to the front door and then the driveway with all seven of her suitcases. It took a few trips, but then she knew she would need every bit of her belongings for the long school years that lay ahead.

Her family would visit as often as they could, of course, but it would be difficult with them living overseas. She probably wouldn’t see them again until her dad was forced to move again like they were doing now.

But she’d thought long and hard   this. She longed for friendships that lasted, for a life beyond what was available to a military family. She needed to connect and to be free for a while, even at the sacrifice of not seeing her family every day, especially her mom and baby brother. This new school – Huntington Farm and Boarding School – would be just the ticket.

Out in the middle of nowhere somewhere down south, the school was on a huge stretch of lush land that also served as a farm – no animals, just crops, which was a shame, Iris thought. She’d miss having even just her dog around too.

But the place was renowned for its academics and social scene there in the middle of the wilderness. A boarding school for those who needed it, traveling families mostly; and if the colorful flyer they’d sent in the mail was any indication, Iris would absolutely love it.

“Everybody ready?” Joe asked, when everyone had piled into the car sometime later.

“Ready!” the family cheered.

Joe chuckled and started the car.

“Huntington Farm and Boarding School, here we come. Watch out for your most dazzling student yet.”

He met Iris’ eyes in the rearview mirror, and they sparkled.

“You know it!” Iris said.

Joe grinned and backed out of the driveway.

They were all on their way to bigger adventures now.

…

One year later…

Iris sat on top of the fence on the edge of the football field, waiting for who she hoped she hadn’t misinterpreted wrong. After nearly a year of first claiming he didn’t like her and then months of mixed signals, Iris was convinced he actually did like her, as much as she liked him.

Sitting on the fence post waiting for the guy to come kiss her seemed like an odd tradition, but it was built into the social aspect of the school, and she figured it was the only guaranteed way she’d know if he was really crushing or not.

She’d dressed as cute as she could for a game, and soon she’d know if it would pay off or not.

Biting her bottom lip, she gasped quietly when she saw him coming around the corner heading right towards where she had herself perched.

Barry Allen was the star football player – star of every sport he could get himself into really – and they’d been making genuine eyes at each other for weeks. Now, as he approached her, it felt as if their whole future was hanging in the balance.

He stopped about 20 feet away. Bracing himself maybe for the decision he’d have to make? Presumably have gained the courage, he continued his walk, headed straight for her and stopped directly in front of her.

Iris waited, her heart hammering a mile a minute in her chest. He was tall enough to reach her – so tall, but she bent her head anyway, and sure enough their lips met in a soft, tender kiss.

She opened her eyes as he took a step back, but the smile on his face was undeniable. So was hers.

Just as he was about to say something truly romantic – she’d decided – one of his teammates burst behind them.

“Did you just kiss Iris West?”

Barry spun around, panic on his features.

“I-”

Another teammate appeared.

“Wait, what?”

“Barry just kissed Iris!”

“But I thought he hated her. He swore he did.”

Iris tensed on the top of the fence, waiting for Barry to smooth the whole thing over. It couldn’t be that big of a deal that he’d pretended to hate her all while flirting with her on the downlow for nearly a year…could it? It was annoying to her for sure, but his teammates couldn’t be that annoyed, could they?

Barry never smoothed it over.

His teammates left, looking disgusted, and Barry looked back at Iris for one more moment, not knowing what to do. Then he left, calling after them.

“Wait, guys, it’s not what it looks like!”

And Iris sat alone on top of the fence, the magical memory of her first kiss completely shattered.

How would they come back from this?

[insertsexualitypun]

Some things I want from Legacies S3

This is going to be all over the place and pretty long. This’ll start with the general storyline things, then get down into smaller character arcs and whatnot. I’ll try to keep it somewhat organized and grouped by character but I make no promises. Also if you wanna talk about any of these feel free to dm! I’m incredibly bored in quarantine and would love to chat

- An introduction of a greater storyline past Malivore and moving away from the monster of the week thing. I know Legacies is supposed to be something different from TVD and TO, and the monster of the week concept is an interesting way to explore the universe past what we already knew, but with the premise as it exists and has been carried out now, it’s hard to develop the characters and relationships. If the characters are fighting new things every week, that makes it hard to give characters like MG and Kaleb their own stories. With a villain to anchor the season as the Big Bad, we can get characters that haven’t been given much of their own storyline a way to get more screentime as they go try and find someone or something with answers.

- GIVE HOPE HER OWN STORYLINE PAST BEING THE HERO/MARTYR AND BEING IN LOVE WITH LANDON. Hope is supposed to be the main character but this doesn’t feel like her story. As awesome as it is seeing Hope be a badass and fight monsters, I want more development from her as a person.

- Kind of ties back into the last one, but let Hope have more Dark moments like the Death Spell incident. Moments that show that while she isn’t just another Klaus, she still shares some of his tendencies towards violence and lashing out. This could work really well if they decide to keep Landon out of the picture for a few episodes.

- Let Hope and Landon break up amicably (assuming Landon isn’t really dead which let’s be real he probably isn’t) so that, again, they can grow as people. Then, if you want, they can get back together. Or just stay broken up and be friends

-  A resolution to the Necromancer - he’s a fun character and while I think he’d be fun to have around for a bit, I don’t think he’s an anchoring villain for a season. Plus to me I kinda figured that they were gonna wrap up his storyline in the last 3 episodes that they didn’t get to film before the production shutdown so chances are we’re getting this anyway.

- Either bring back Ethan, Maya and Mac more prominently, or don’t bring them back at all. Don’t get me wrong, I like the town normies storyline when it comes up, but it doesn’t come up much. Apparently, they were supposed to be in the last 3 episodes more but who knows. With the show already feeling kinda crowded (because again, the format of the show now doesn’t really allow for a ton of characters since they aren’t significantly developing, especially when these characters are in a setting completely removed from the main action of the show’s narrative), either have the normies for more than just getting caught in a magical crossfire, or put them to the side and focus on who you have at the school.

- The TVDU has progressed past the need for Alaric. That’s all I’ll say.

- The show being a little more self aware at the ridiculousness of it all. Like yeah, it’s not completely without that, but the last thing we need is the show devolving into a Riverdale, where the first season was aware of the ridiculous nature of itself, and then it started to take itself way too seriously.

- MORE LGBTQ+ REP. The show has done fairly well thus far compared to other CW shows but there’s still so much than can be done. The show doesn’t need to have show-stopping coming out storylines or anything - it’s actually the opposite. We get the casual drop of Josie having dated Penelope in the first episode of the show which was great. So let’s have more simple stuff like that. More mentions at crushes and other past romances - for all characters - that just allow for other sexualities to be normalized and not some earth shattering thing. 

- This ties into the last one but I felt like it deserved its own bullet, but also what is V NEEDED is rep of trans, genderfluid and non-binary characters. Again, it doesn’t have to be a huge storyline, but it’d be nice to have some recurring characters who are not cis. The show is meant to be set in a near future, so I think it’d be nice to show a normalized view on differing gender expression and sexuality as sort of a hope that such a future will exist.

- Hope loving beignets, eating/wanting to eat them all the time, and getting powdered sugar all over her dark clothes from them. Chances are, if you’re from/have been to NOLA, you’ve tried beignets and loved them because they’re amazing. SO LET HOPE HAVE HER BEIGNETS DAMN IT.

- More Wolf Hope moments. Let her turn more and just run because it let’s her feel more connected to Hayley :’( also the Crescent birth mark if that was ever a thing for Hope... I can’t remember, I’ve seen different things about it, lmk (politely) if that was ever a thing that Hope had

- Hope painting and sketching. It’s one of the few connections she still has with Klaus, SO LET HER EXPRESS HERSELF DAMN IT. (Yes, any time I say SO in all caps I need to end the sentence with DAMN IT, it’s a Thing now)

- MIKAELSON FAMILY MENTIONS AND APPEARANCES. Granted this one is different because there are real life schedules and whatnot that need to align, but even just more mentions of Mikaelson family members and others like Vincent would be nice. Yeah we’ve had some in the past, but it would still be nice to get some more. Also at least a mention of Rebekah and Kol checking in on Hope (assuming the writers aren’t going to pull something dumb like ‘oh the memory spell doesn’t work long distance like that so they still don’t remember her’)

- Hope also talking more about Hayley, Elijah, and Klaus. Again, feeling connected to her mom every time she’s a wolf. Always and forever, like Elijah always said. Telling stories about her father that put him in a better light than just being “The Great Evil” of storybooks.

- Hope being open with her friends about her past and how TERRIBLE it was a lot of the time like, y’know, people trying to kill her before she was even BORN.

- I’ve said this before in a separate post (which I’ll link at some point so expect an edit to this post) but I’d love for something to happen and for Hope to leave the school and go to NOLA and stay with Freya, Keelin and Nik because she’s tired of having to be the savior and still not saving everyone. (Also in that post it says Alaric comes and gets her and brings her back to the Salvatore School but we’ve progressed past the need for him in the TVDU so instead it’ll be the twins)

- Hizzie moments because whether you like them as romantically or just as friends, they are a DUO and we deserve more iconic sarcasm as well as genuine moments of friendship and caring

- Lizzie being the absolute Queen of Comedy

- But more importantly, Lizzie being more open about her issues and taking steps to have better mental health.

- Lizzie and MG having more open conversations and letting a relationship develop naturally - yes there has been a lot of development since season 1 but I feel like they both have a bit of growth to go before they should enter a relationship, if that’s something that happens

- Lizzie being happily single for a bit and not going for a guy that’s going to try and turn her into a vamp and keep her in a prison world 

- MG and Kaleb getting proper storylines or at least more play than just being the Local Vampires who help depending on the situation. They deserve WAY more than that

- ALSO MG and Kaleb backstories. How did they die and how did they get vampire blood in their system to keep them from dying permanently?

- Josie dealing with what happened pre and post Dark Josie and facing that she has always had some darkness in her. Yeah the dark magic definitely didn’t help, but she was willing to perform a spell that she didn’t know on a human over a football game and ended up breaking his arm. Not to mention, she was setting Penelope on fire as early as the first episode. It seems like we’re getting this since Josie locked away her magic in the last episode, but still, I don’t want this to just be a one episode reflection and then move on like she didn’t cause a lot of harm.

- More Hosie crumbs

- More Jade. OK admittedly this is probably really due to the fact that Giorgia Whigham is a Big Crush for me, but also the show really did start integrating her in a bit more with the black and white episode, which makes me think they’re keeping her around at least for a little bit. And I think she and Josie dating at least for a little while would be good for both of them. Jade was a ripper for 10 years in the prison world, and Josie was just consumed by dark magic and is now coming back from that. I think they’re a good (probably short-term) pairing that will help each other grow, but eventually break up because they just aren’t it for each other. And I saw this elsewhere on here, but someone pointed out that Jade could do what Penelope tried to do, but in a healthier way. Yes, Penelope was trying to put Josie first and show her her power and importance, but there’s a way to do that without gaslighting her sister and being manipulative. Sorry, I did not mean for this one to be so long.

- More Specialty episodes. The black and white episode was really fun in my opinion, and the show doesn’t have to be like that all the time, but stuff like that keeps the show interesting, as long as it makes sense within the context of the episode and storyline.

- Josie wearing the necklace Hope gave her

- I haven’t mentioned Rafael much and that’s because, despite being a main character, he hasn’t really done much besides run away with Landon, and feel guilty about having a crush on Hope. He’s personally not a favorite character of mine, but I think if he got more of a storyline - likely revolving around the fact that he was dead and being used as a pawn, as well as the fact that he possibly (but probably didn’t) kill Landon - it’d help give more to like about him.

- Caroline having a better reason for being away from the school than just researching the Merge. Like, her daughters have been fighting monsters, Josie almost died at the end of season 1, they were trapped in a prison world, Josie succumbed to Dark Magic, THEY LITERALLY HAD A MERGE EVENT and she’s still gone??? That’s not the Caroline we know. If she’s going to be gone (because like I said before, it all depends on Candice’s availability and willingness to come back), at least come up with something different than researching something her daughters have already done by this point.

- Since Landon’s not dead, let him unlock his full Phoenix powers. It’d be cool.

- Let’s have one season where Landon doesn’t run away like we don’t all know that he’s gonna be back within like 2 episodes if that

- More Dorian. I actually really like his character, he’s kind of a breath of fresh air sometimes so I’d like more scenes with him when possible

- A conclusion to Malivore and intro of a new villain. I kinda covered this earlier, but at this point, unless Malivore is going to become a tangible entity to fight instead of some black goo, it’s not a very interesting story thread to keep around for the next however many seasons Legacies goes on for.

Whew.

Ok, that’s all I can think of, but feel free to reblog and add more if there’s other stuff you’d like to see!

[curiosi-tea-writes]

Letters from Home (One Survivor pt. 2)

Pairing: Din Djarin  Cobb Vanth

Setting: Survivor AU / Modern AU (My previous fic of this AU can be found here.)

Warning: This is 3036 words of almost pure angst! Also, some cursing.

Summary: Din and Cobb are excited to go to a reward challenge together with Fennec and Boba until it’s reveled that part of the reward are letters from home. Then, Din asks Fennec to help him with a lie to Cobb that would advance one of them in the game while taking the other out of it. 

@i-dnt-know-either helped me a lot with the last bit of this fic and @intricatecakes is very likely to put me in angst jail for this. I refuse to be sorry.

-------------------------------------------

“It wasn’t long after the merge. The final eight Survivors were split up into groups of four for a reward challenge, chosen by drawing colored rocks. Fennec, Boba, Din, and Cobb had ended up on the same team - Fennec and Boba rolling their eyes impossibly hard as the two younger men smiled brightly at each other.

“You’ve chosen your teams. Want to know what you’re playing for?” Jeff asked with a grin. When all the contestants nodded excitedly, he clapped his hands together. “By now, I know you would all like a nice break from the game. There are beautiful waterfalls just on the next island over. Winners of today’s challenge will take a boat over to see one of them.” There was ooh-ing and ah-ing amongst the Survivors. “And- because you’re all hungry, and I’m sure missing the states at this point- a BBQ. Hamburgers, hotdogs, chips, the whole deal.”

Din laughed as Cobb excitedly wrapped his arm around his shoulder and gently shook him. 

“And one final thing,” Jeff began again. He pulled a cloth off of the table revealing a stack of brown envelopes. “Letters from home.” 

Cobb stiffened quickly, his smile dropping. Din found it impossible to miss the look of near pity that Jeff threw to Cobb. He watched Cobb give a short nod in return as he pulled his arm off of Din’s shoulders. 

“You okay?” Din whispered, leaning close to him. “Letters from home, that sounds amazing! I’m sure everyone back home misses you a lot.”

Cobb cleared his throat and forced a smile, one that quickly turned genuine when he met Din’s eyes. “Yeah,” he choked out, “I’m sure you’re excited to hear from your son.”

“Kiddin’?” Din scoffed out, looking away. “I miss him like crazy. Meanwhile, I’m sure he’s having the time of his life with his aunt.”

“Nah,” Cobb shook his head. “He misses you. And I’m positive you got a letter in there from him tellin’ you as much. Which is why,” he nudged Din’s shoulder to make him look at him again, “we gotta win this one.”

Din had the brightest smile Cobb had ever seen him give as they lined up to begin the challenge. It filled Cobb with the sort of energy that he felt like he could run a marathon. Which was kind of what they had to do, run a marathon- in an oval- in the water- carrying 20 pounds of sand each.

"For reward:," Jeff called from his tower at the center of the oval, "a taste from home with a BBQ by a waterfall and letters from home. Survivors, ready!"

Din and Cobb shared a smile of good luck as they had during every pause before they started a challenge since the merge. It always gave Cobb a lot of hope.

"Go!"

----------------------

"Cobb, Din, Fennec, and Boba win reward!" Jeff called as Fennec managed to tag a member of the other team.

Cobb cheered loudly in Din's ear as he threw his arms around his neck with a bounce. Din stumbled backwards with a laugh, wrapping his arms tightly around Cobb's waist. He buried his face in Cobb's neck, taking a deep and calming breath.

The promise of good food, a letter from his son, two of the best friends he had ever made, and the man who had somehow managed to win his heart. What could be a better afternoon?

The other half of the tribe was dismissed back to camp. The four friends boarded the small boat, Jeff following in behind them, stack of everyone's letters in hand. It was a quiet trip and Cobb was thankful for it. It gave him a chance to breathe and enjoy the feeling in his chest when Din slowly slid their hands together, interlocking their fingers. Cobb gave a soft squeeze which earned him a smile in return.

They were at the island far too quickly for either of their likings and everyone was leaving the boat.

"Before you go," Jeff said, separating the first few letters from the stack. "Letters from home, you can either share these with each other or keep them to yourselves." Fennec gave a small laugh of joy which made everyone chuckle. She was normally so serious.

"You'll notice, however," he continued, "there's only three letters here." He passed the stack of letters over to Boba who took them questioningly. Jeff turned to Cobb, the same look of pity on his face that he had before the challenge. "Cowboy, I'm sorry to say we didn't get a letter for you. I'm not sure if it just wasn't sent in on time or what happened, but I'm sorry."

Cobb nodded, straightening his shoulders. He tried to focus on Din's hand on his shoulder and not on Fennec and Boba's apologies towards him.

Jeff nodded and clapped his hands together. "You four enjoy your reward. See you at the next challenge!"

And then Jeff was gone and the four friends were left to walk the trail to the waterfall. Because it wasn't wide enough to walk even two across, Cobb let the three of them take the lead, choosing to stay a couple paces behind Din. He tried not to pay mind to the way Din glanced at him over his shoulder. He tried not to care that he had the same look of pity that Jeff had given him and, for the first time ever, Cobb wished he hadn't been voted back into the game. If he hadn't, he wouldn't have made it to this challenge and wouldn't have to be attempting to ignore looks and words of pity.

The sight of the waterfall was a welcomed one indeed. The four Survivors stopped and gazed at it, eyes wide, truly thrilled for the first time in so long.

Once sat around a small picnic bench, food laid out in front of them, Boba jumped right into strategy. The game never really stops. Cobb was the "outsider" of the tribe. All but Boba from the old Marseydotes tribe hated him because he got voted back in, while most of the old Noyapara tribe wasn't thrilled that he pulled Din into a separate alliance. Boba, Fennec, and Din all firmly believed Cobb could win the whole game and had decided right at the merge that they were going to make it happen. It was almost all Boba would talk about at this point.

Once the latest game plan was decided, the four of them fell into silence. Cobb knew that he didn't have it in him to keep them from the part of the reward they truly wanted to take part in. Everyone watched quietly as he stood and gave a small smile. "I'm gonna go up the trail a bit more, look around." He gave a small awkward wave up towards the waterfall. "You guys do your thing," he sighed, now gesturing at the stack of letters on the table.

Without meeting any of their eyes, he quickly walked away from the table and started up the path. He was happy that they all got their letters. But it still hurt.

---------------------

Din found Cobb sitting on a rock at the top of the waterfall, fiddling with his scarf. He took the moment of being hidden from Cobb's sight to appreciate the way the sun hit his skin and the soft breeze pushed his hair to the wrong side.

He sighed softly and walked slowly to join him. He took a seat next to him and the rock and bumped his shoulder, which got him a chuckle.

"You didn't have to leave," Din commented quietly.

Cobb let out a shaky sigh. "I know. But you guys weren't going to open the letters unless I did."

"You know us too well." Din turned and looked up at Cobb who was only giving him a side glance. After a moment of silence, Din finally risked saying what was on his mind, "Jeff said it probably got lost in the mail or-"

"Nobody wrote to me," Cobb interrupted, taking his eyes off Din and putting them back on the scenery. He heard Din sigh beside him and could almost feel the questions that were surely running through his mind. Cobb took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "I didn't have anyone to write me anything."

Din watched as Cobb's fingers tightened around his scarf the way he did when he was nervous at tribal council. He slowly raised his hand and brushed his fingers lightly along Cobb's. He smiled when Cobb quickly let go of his scarf in favor of Din's hand.

Cobb knew he could let it go. Din wasn't going to push him for any more answers than he was willing to give. He could leave it at that and they could get on with the game and Din didn't need to know. But it was Din. He was the most understanding person Cobb had ever met. If he couldn't tell Din the full truth, who could he tell?

With another deep breath, Cobb continued, and Din listened carefully, his thumb running along the side of Cobb's hand softly. "My parents aren't around anymore. They died a few years ago. I was an only child so it’s not like I had any siblings to write to me. The only real friends I have are at work and I lied to be able to get time off to come here so I couldn't tell any of them where I was going."

"So nobody knows you're out here?"

"Nobody but the show crew and the 15 other players," Cobb mumbled with a nod. He finally opened his eyes and turned to look at Din, expecting to see the pity. But instead all he saw was love.

Din tilted his head a little. "Why the confused look?"

"You-" Cobb stopped and shifted how he was sitting, facing Din more straight on. "You get it," he stated simply, knowing Din would understand.

And he did. Din nodded with a soft smile. "My parents died when I was a kid. Grogu is the only family I've ever truly known."

Cobb gave Din's hand a small squeeze and smiled, admiring the way Din's eyes always lit up when he talked about his son. "Did he write to you?"

Din grinned and nodded. "Yeah, Peli helped a lot, he's just learning to write. He drew some pictures too which were cute." Din's smile drooped a little and he looked away back over the waterfall as he realized he could have just answered Cobb with a "yes" and it would've been preferable. He couldn't imagine Cobb really wanted to hear Din go on about his son's letter right then.

"Could I see it?" Cobb asked, nudging his shoulder with a smile.

Din snapped his gaze back to Cobb, surprised. When he saw the soft look Cobb was giving him, he breathed a sigh of relief knowing he hadn't said the wrong thing. He nodded and pulled the folded up papers from his back pocket. He unfolded them carefully and passed them over to Cobb who took them and scooted closer to Din.

Their legs were pressed together as Cobb opened the papers. Din wrapped his arms around Cobb's middle and rested his chin on his shoulder, allowing him to look again at the letter.

The letter was written in green crayon which made Cobb chuckle, remembering Din mentioning Grogu's obsession with green. It was shaky handwriting but surprisingly readable. On the second page were small doodles of Grogu and Din and a few of Din on the island.

Cobb smiled and he refolded the papers and handed them back to Din. "He seems like a really sweet kid," he spoke softly. He turned his head just enough to place a small kiss to Din's cheek. His smile widened when Din turned and nuzzled his nose into Cobb's neck.

"He's going to love you," Din replied, voice muffled against Cobb's scarf.

Cobb froze for a moment, wondering if he had heard him right. They had never talked about what would happen after the game was over.

-----------------

That night, Din and Cobb laid together in the shelter. They had spent every night since the merge cuddled close to each other and this night was no different. Cobb had his chest resting on Din's chest, listening to his heartbeat. He was sure that Din was asleep already, as most of the players were, but Cobb was wide awake thinking of Din and the game.

Would they still be together when the game ended? Were they together even now? Pairs can make it to the final two, but lovers can only go so far in this game before they have to decide if a potential relationship is worth a million dollars. But Cobb also knew that neither of them were in it for the money. Cobb just wanted an adventure and Din just wanted to make his son happy. Cobb supposed that was going to be something they would have to talk about sooner or later.

For now, he supposed, he could just be content knowing that he was in Din's arms and cared for in the moment.

But what Cobb didn't know was that Din was also awake, and thinking of Cobb, but not the game.

He was picturing loading Grogu into the car for a road trip to go see Cobb once the game was over. He was sure that Grogu was going to love him and not because Grogu loves everyone. Cobb was funny and smart and Grogu was going to adore that. He knew his son would hear him talk and ask him if he's a cowboy which will likely make Cobb laugh. Cobb would probably say yes just to amuse him.

He knew they hadn't talked about what would happen after the game. But he knew that he cared for Cobb so much that there was no way he was letting this relationship be just during the game, even if it meant not winning. He didn't really care about the money anyways, but he knew Cobb did, even though he wouldn't admit it even to himself. Din saw the way he talked about wanting to open up a photography studio and he knew the money would help him with that.

In the cold air of the night on a nearly deserted island, his arm tightly wrapped around Cobb while the other man traced soft patterns on his shoulder, Din made his decision on two accounts. He wasn't letting Cobb go so easily. And he would take the fall if it meant Cobb had a chance of winning this game.

---------------

Four tribal councils later, they were down to the final four. Boba had won immunity and, as a group, they had decided they would tie the vote between Cobb and Din. Or, that's what was discussed in the open. Before the day was over, Din pulled Fennec aside and told her what was really going to happen.

"So you're screwing me," Fennec nearly yelled. She was furious. "I don't have a chance in Hell if you quit."

"I'm not quitting, Fennec! Don't you think I've thought this through?" Din ran a hand through his hair and sighed when Fennec didn't answer.

"They're gonna kill me when we get back to camp," she whispered. "I'm the next one to go."

"No, I'm a sympathy vote. Tell them that, it’s the truth. You three have pissed off a lot of people these last few weeks. A teacher who's a single dad with a young kid sounds like a better winner of a million dollars, if you ask me." Fennec stayed silent. "Hey," Din whispered, placing a hand on her shoulder. "If we tie, and we draw rocks, there's a chance it’s you going home tonight too. This way, you have a third of a chance of winning rather than a third of a chance of going home."

She scoffed. "I still have a third of a chance of going home."

"Then win immunity." He sighed deeply. "Look, you’re my friend, and me and Cobb, we’re- well, I’m not exactly sure what we are. If you win, if Cobb wins- I'll be happy. I just want to see people I feel deserve to be up there winning the prize."

“If we make it to the final two, you’d have to choose between me and him,” Fennec pointed out.

Din sighed. “I know, and it will be the hardest decision I’ve ever made.”

She pulled him into a tight hug. “You’re gonna vote for him,” she whispered.

“Fennec let’s just-”

“Din.” She pulled back and looked him in the eyes. “If you end up on the jury and he doesn’t. Regardless of who is sitting next to him, you are going to vote for him, do you understand?” 

Din could just nod and give her another hug before they broke apart and headed back for camp. They had to prepare for tribal council. 

That night, Cobb and Boba voted for Din, Din voted for Cobb, like they had planned. And-

"Eleventh person voted out, and the sixth member of our jury: Din. That's three, that's enough, you need to bring me your torch."

Din grabbed his bag and shook Boba's hand. He kissed Fennec on the cheek and finally turned to Cobb who stood. The betrayal was written clear on his face and it broke Din's heart. He was expecting a cold shoulder and was surprised to tears when Cobb threw his arms around him.

"I love you," Din whispered in his ear before pulling away quickly and grabbing his touch before Cobb had the chance to reply or even process what he’d said.

"Din," Jeff said sadly. "The tribe has spoken." Din watched his torch be snuffed and nodded. "Time for you to go."

Din turned and waved. His heart broke impossibly more when he saw Cobb wipe his eyes with his scarf. Din blew him a kiss and his eyes watered as Cobb blew one back.

He turned and walked down the steps. At least he would get to see him in the next evening where, for as much as he liked Boba, he hoped Cobb or Fennec would be the one wearing the immunity necklace.

[harryskalechips]

Will we ever be more than friends? Part 3

A/N this is crazy! Here is part 3 that many were asking for! This is a continuation of one the first pieces I wrote on here. Tysm for the support xxx

It’s been four years since Y/N broke her friendship off with Harry. How is she going to react after seeing him at their high school reunion and finding out he’s still in love with her?

Word count 2135

Part 1, Part 2

4 years later...

“Y/N, you made it!” Sarah hugs me as she greets me at the front door. It’s been 4 years since I’ve seen her and truthfully, I wouldn't be here tonight if it wasn’t our little mini high school reunion. I never knew this party was happening well, not until Kacey, my only friend I still talk to from high school reached out and convinced me.

“Your apartment looks lovely!” I smile as she lets me in. I take my jacket off and rest it on one of her hooks as I step further inside.

“Thank you!” Sarah’s eyes light up with excitement as she takes my hand.“ I didn’t invite everyone from our year.,just to let you know! I only invited our friend group.” she rambles while she drags me where most of the people are.

Sarah. I liked her in high school. We had a couple classes together and we did hang out at the mall a couple times but things got awkward when she started dating Harry. After they broke up, she never reached out to me again and that's when I realized she was just using me.

People say high school is the most memorable time of their life but for me, I was traded the wrong deck of cards.

“Y/N!” Kacey stands up from the couch to hug me. I almost fell over from the amount of force she had. “I knew you would come!”

“Well, you did present a good case.” I smirk as Tyler opens a can of smirnoff ice and passes it to me. “Thanks, Ty! You look good.” I pull away from Kacey and hug him. Alice, and Joseph were there too as they greeted me with a hello and sat back down on the couch.

“Okay, we’re missing one more person from our lil friend group.” Sarah pouts and texts someone on her phone. I knew she was talking about Harry but for some reason, I was hoping it was someone else.

“H. Man! Where is that guy?” Joseph takes a handful of chips from the bowl presented in front of us.

“Wait, didn’t you and Harry date?” Alice calls me out as I take a sip from my drink. I just shake my head and lean on Kacey beside me. She knew what happened between us that night but no one else heard a thing.

But it’s simple really, if I were to tell them the story. Harry and I were best friends. I was in love with him and he knew. He continued to string me along for years and that’s when I decided we should stop being friends. I’m not gonna lie though, it was pretty rough to see him during graduation and not even get a picture with him.  

“That’s crazy! Everyone at least had a date with him.” Alice laughs as Joseph puts his arm around her.

“Well, what’s also crazy is that you’re dating me.” Alice kisses him on the cheek. I never expected them to get together. Alice hated him since he was such a class clown. It’s nice to see him more mature and finally dating her though.

“Ah he’s here! I heard he got more cuter!” Sarah puts on a playful face as she hops off the couch to open her door. The rest of our friends cheered for Harry’s entrance while I stayed quiet just looking at Kacey. My heart was beating way too fast and my fingers were gripping my drink a little bit too hard. But as much as I tried to ignore my anxiety, Sarah appeared right in front of us.“Ladies and gentlemen let me announce the heartthrob of our year... Harry Styles!” Alice  and Kacey cheer excitedly as the boys playfully cat whistle. Sarah moves aside, and that’s when my eyes catch his figure.. there he is. He’s finally here.

He’s wearing a simple white button up and black jeans. As he looks up, he has a little smirk on his face as he bows his head to everyone as a playful gesture of appreciation. “Heard everyone’s been looking for me.” He glances at me and looks away. He doesn’t even seem affected that I’m here! He goes around kissing the girls on the cheeks and giving some hugs to the guys. I knew he was purposely ignoring me, since he wanted to greet me last.

“Hey.” He murmurs against my cheek as he leans down to kiss me.

“Hey. Long time no see.” I lean over to give him a hug.

“Are you two seriously going to act like that?” Tyler teases us. “You guys were best friends for 10 years!” Sarah laughs at Tyler’s joke as she comes with pizza in her arms.

“Kace, can you clear the table?” She asks politely as she puts the pizza down. “Wow, I haven’t seen you guys in 4 years. Time passes by so quickly.”

“I know right!” Alice cheers excitedly. “Now, we’re all about to graduate university!”

~

The night went by in a breeze. After dinner, we played some board games and caught up with each other. Now it was only Harry and I left to share what we’ve been up to.

“I’ve been good. I don’t think there’s anything new with me.” Harry casually laughs as he sits across from me beside Tyler.

“Come on man! Look at what you’re wearing! You’re a new guy!” Tyler elbows him which makes Harry look up at me. Fuck, he just caught me staring.

“I’ve been working at my dad’s company that’s all. Trust me nothing new!”

“No new girlfriend?” Sarah teases him. He just shakes his head and takes a sip from his bottle of beer. “What? No, come on you aren’t fooling anyone here!” Sarah tries to pull the truth out of him. It seemed to me she was a little bit too interested in what he had to say which made me just roll my eyes.

“I dated a few girls but no nothing serious.” Tyler cheers him on as he puts his arm around him and smiles.

“See! Too young to settle down!” Kacey just laughs while Joseph shakes his head.

“Tyler, you just haven’t been in love yet!” He tries to reason. “Harry, you probably haven’t been in love too huh?”

“Oh, no I have been.”

“What!” Tyler chokes as Joseph louds out loud. Alice and Sarah are shocked while Kacey and I just smile at their reaction and quietly listen.

“Who was it?” Tyler questions. “Some girl from your uni?”

“No, she went to high school with us.” Harry avoids my eye contact and laughs at Tyler’s curiosity.

“That better not be me, Styles.” Sarah takes another slice of our leftover pizza. Kacey looks at me while I just look down. Why does everything have to be so weird?

“I bet it’s Y/N. Remember how they would cuddle all the time!” Alice speaks out as if she just solved the puzzle. Which she did. Everyone looks at me which makes my little invisible bubble pop.

“No, it’s not me.” I shake my head. I don’t wanna think of it. I don’t want to think of this.

For the rest of the night, the guys try to make Harry tell the truth but he keeps his mouth shut. I tried to have fun despite all the attention on him but, now that our hangout is over, it’s time to go home.

“I’ll see you guys four years from now!” I joke as I put on my jacket.

“Y/N seriously, keep in touch. We miss you.” Alice hugs me.

“I miss you guys too. It’s nice catching up with you guys.” I genuinely reply back. Although I stopped talking to everyone here, I do miss them. It's nostalgic.

“How are you getting home?” Joseph asks me as he puts on his jacket too.

“Just taking an uber, my car’s in the shop.”

“I can ask Josh to drop you off?” Kacey suggests but I rather be on my own than let her fiancé go out of his way for me.

“I can drive you home.” Harry opens the front door.

“No, guys it’s okay.” I try to brush them off but Harry softly grabs my hand as he bids everyone goodbye.

“Okay, Y/N and I are going to go, goodnight guys!” He waves at our friends as he pulls me to his car. I give everyone a confused look and let Harry pull me away.

“Harry, you don’t have to drop me off.” I try to convince him but he doesn’t let my hand go until he opens my door and helps me into his car. I finally give up and put my seatbelt on as he gets into his seat too.

“Where do you live?” He asks as he zooms out of Sarah’s driveway.

“In Richmond.”

“Can you put the address on my GPS?” He turns it on and points it at me. It was weird between us. There’s this big elephant between us but we’re acting like we’re over it. I just nod my head and do it.

As we drive to my place, I just watch the street lights pass by and listen to his music. Harry seemed like something was bothering him since he kept his jaw clenched. “You okay?” I try to ask him.

“Fine. What about you?”

“I’m okay.”

“Look Y/N...I’ve just been thinking and I’m wondering when we get to your place... could we maybe I don’t know...talk?”

“About us?” There was no point of acting oblivious to this. What happened between us years ago still plays in my mind.  

“Yeah.” He stutters as he looks at me.

~

“Lovely townhouse you got here.” He walks in with me as I open my door.

“Thanks, I got a few roommates but they’re probably in bed. Um, You can sit in the living room.” I gesture him to the room as I take my jacket off. “Would you like some tea?”

“No, thanks.” He sits down while I sit next to him.

“Okay, let’s talk. What’s up?” “How have you been?”

“Good, what about you?”

“Thanks. I’ve been doing well too. Are you um...seeing anyone?” He asks out of the blue. “It’s just everyone spoke up about their love lives and you didn’t really say anything.” I awkwardly laugh at his question. I mean I’m not surprised he asked out of the blue. We used to be so close.  

“No, I broke up with my boyfriend a couple months ago.”

“Long term?” “Yeah, we dated for 2 years.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear about that.” He just shakes his head while I laugh at his awkwardness.

“Harry, it’s fine. It’s nice to see you through and catch up.”

“Y/N I have- I have to tell you something.”

“Okay.” I try to brace myself. I may have known him for years but I have no idea what he’s going to say.

“I miss you.”

“Harry.”

“Please, Y/N. Just give me another chance.” He turns towards me. “I’ve been trying to talk to you after our fight but you just completely cut me off.”

“You used me!” I exclaim.

“You don’t understand. I didn’t want to lose you!” He rubs his face in stress. “And I did. I did lose you!”

“Why do you even still want me? It’s been four years Harry maybe, it’s better if we just let the past go.” I stand up and try to walk away but Harry grabs my hands and keeps me in between his legs.

“You don’t mean that, Y/N.” his sad eyes look at me. “I miss you. Didn’t you miss me too?” he whispers as he tries to shake my hands. He was desperate for me to say the words he missed coming from my mouth. “Of course I did!”

“I don’t care if you don’t love me anymore or if you don’t want to be best friends. I just need you in my life again.”

“I’m scared to be you again.”

“I love you.” He leans down and rests his head on my stomach as he tries to pull me in closer. My hands fall into his hair and play with the curly strands just like I used to high school. “I was stupid and immature in high school but I’m ready to be the man you deserve. I just want you with me again.” “I love you Harry.” I pull his face up and lean down to kiss him. His hands urgently grasps my face as he helps me straddle him on the couch.

“I always knew we were going to be more than friends, baby.” He whispers to me as he pulls away and smiles at me.

[starstwinkleplanetsshine]

The Call of Resistance Chapter 7

Read on AO3 

Chapter 7: The Question 

Mos Eisley was busier than it had been when I was there just weeks before. I remembered the heavy feeling in the air, as if the whole town was straining under an unbearable weight. But now it was as if that weight had been lifted. Beings were bustling about, moving from market stall to stall, shuffling in and out of the cantinas, and even though I knew many here lived a less than savory lifestyle, it was good to see them smiling. Smiles on Tatooine were often as scarce as rain clouds.

I led them to the shop where I always got replacement parts for the machinery at Lux’s farm, and where I knew we had the best chance of finding what we needed.

“If we’re gonna find a motivator anywhere in Mos Eisley, it’s here.”

“What makes you so sure?” Poe was giving the shop a distasteful stare as he got off the speeder.

“People will often sell speeders, droids, and sometimes even old starships here if they’re too broken or…” I trailed off, remembering a moment in my life I usually tried to forget.

“Or?” Poe’s question pulled me out of my past and I shook my head slightly, as if that would shake the memory away.

“Or if they need the money. Come on, let's just go in.” He could tell there was something I wasn’t telling him, but I pretended like I didn’t see him raise his eyebrow at me.

I let Chewbacca and Poe walk in before me, and just as I was about to follow them I heard my name. I turned to see Kaligo, our youngest Resistance member at just 15, running across the street towards me.

“Nova!”

“Kaligo!” She practically jumped into my arms, giving me a hug as soon as she was close enough. She hadn’t been able to come to the last few Resistance meetings since they were too far away from town for her to travel alone, so I hadn’t seen her in weeks. She asked about the meetings and I filled her in on what she missed before the conversation shifted.

“What are you doing in Mos Eisley? Don’t you live pretty far from town?”

“Yeah, I do. But I needed to come in to get a new part for a starship.” Kaligos eyes widened.

“A starship? Did you finally get a starship?” Practically everyone I had ever had any conversation with knew about my dreams of seeing the galaxy. I couldn’t help but chuckle at her excitement for me.

“No, some pilots crashed in the Dune Sea and I was able to help them. They have a busted motivator, so I showed them into town.”

“Wow, that’s kind of you. If my sister saw a crashed starship, I think she would leave them out there until she could rummage through the it for parts!” Kaligo often talked about her older sister, who was around my age, but was just about the opposite of me in everything. I couldn’t think of how to respond to that other than by laughing along with her.

“Well, I should probably go inside and help them out actually, but it was good to see you!” I gave her another hug before watching her scamper back across the street and disappear into the crowd. I wasn’t sure how long I talked to her, probably only a few minutes, but I rushed inside the shop anyway. And as I did, the first sound I heard was an unhappy Wookiee.

“That is the price! Take or leave!” I heard the shop owner say in broken Basic. I had been trading with this particular being for years now and I had a good relationship with them. But most importantly, I knew how they played the game.

“Achuta, Timisa! My friends here need a new motivator, and I told them this is the best place in all of Mos Eisley where they could get one .” I was speaking in Huttese, and I could see Poe and Chewbacca share a look between each other.

“You know these two?” Timisa eyed them warily.

“Oh yes. They’re some of my best friends, I’ve known them for years. I told them this is the best place to find starship parts for the best price.” He considered me for a moment before replying.

“I have the part they want, but at a price they don't like. Motivators aren’t cheap, you know.”

“Of course not, Timisa. But I thought since we go way back…” I smiled at him widely, hoping my years of patronage would pay off.

“Hmm.” I couldn’t tell what he was thinking, but I could feel Poe and Chewbacca staring holes through my head from behind me. I hoped to the suns that I would be able to deliver on my promise to them. Without warning, Timisa looked up at me. “For you, I will give it to them for cheaper. Because of what you did for Mos Eisley.”

“Thank you, Timisa.”

“No, thank you.”

I smiled warmly at him before he turned to Poe and Chewbacca. “Because you friends with Nova, I give you a less price. Because she saved Mos Eisley. Its my thank you.” I saw the confusion flash over Poe’s face, but he quickly replaced it with a smile.

“Thank you. I appreciate that.” Timisa named his new reduced price, which Chewbacca still protested to, and Poe handed over the correct amount in exchange for the new motivator.

“I told you I would get you a good price.” I said with a smirk as we walked out of the shop and onto the busy dirt road. Poe’s smile was genuine as he looked down at the motivator.

“Looks like you were right. Thank you, Nova.” As we neared the speeders, Chewbacca spoke and Poe translated. “Chewie says we should head back to The Falcon. He thinks we’ll be able to put the new motivator in by nightfall and then we can be on our way.” I had to ignore the sinking feeling in my stomach as he mentioned them leaving.

“It looks like we still have a couple of hours until the suns set, so I think Chewbacca’s right.” The Wookiee said something at that which made Poe laugh, and I almost wasn’t expecting a translation when Poe spoke again,

“He says you can call him Chewie if you want. You’ve done so much for us,” he gave me a curious smirk, “we’re friends now.” I couldn’t help but smile in return.

“Chewie,” I said as I looked at my, apparently, new friend, “I can do that.”

We hopped on the speeders and, as I braced myself for the feeling of Poe’s hands around my waist, I thought of how lucky I was to have seen the Millennium Falcon crash in the dead of night.

Poe jumped off the speeder almost before it came to a full stop, marching straight into the Falcon with the motivator in his hand. It was as if he was on a mission, and he wouldn’t stop until he had repaired what was broken.

Chewbacca parked his speeder next to mine and followed after Poe, leaving me in the desert. I only stayed back a few moments to ensure the speeders were off and locked, and to take in the ship for another time. My heart sank as I thought this may be my last time laying eyes on it.

No, I thought, the next time The Falcon takes off I’ll be on it. I had no reason to actually believe that, but there was a small but persistent feeling that whispered to me, and I decided to hold onto that hope.

-----

I followed them inside the ship, struggling to remember the way. But it was as if my feet knew even when my head didn’t, and soon I had joined Poe and Chewie.

“How long do you think the repair will take?” I knew how long it would take me, approximately, and I knew it was not a simple repair job, but I wanted to hear Poe’s thoughts. The motivator is in a location that's difficult to access, and it's connected to the hyperdrive. One wrong coupling and any number of bad things could happen, the least being a broken hyperdrive, and the worst being an explosion that would rip the ship apart in seconds. The tension radiating off of Poe was palpable, and it was a delicate situation.

“I’m not sure,” he said through gritted teeth as he worked on a particularly stubborn screw, “an hour or two. Maybe three.” As the screw finally popped off, he wiped away some hair that had begun to stick to his forehead, leaving a trail of grease on his skin. He looked up at me from where he was laying on the ground and sighed. “You wouldn’t mind lending a hand, would you?”

I was taken back by this. Not a rotation ago he was disagreeing with me about my knowledge of starships, and now he wanted my help? I fought against the smile that wanted to work its way onto my face.

“What about Chewie? Wouldn’t he be better suited to help you?”

“Chewie has some repairs he wants to make on the exterior of the ship, the shields have been unstable lately and he thinks he finally figured out how to fix it.”

Chewie nodded in agreement and made a small, untranslated comment.

“Well as long as I’m not stepping on any toes,” I sat on the floor next to him, waiting for instructions, “I would love to help.” Poe gave me a smirk,

“You didn’t seem to be worried about stepping on toes last night.” I rolled my eyes dramatically as I let out a small chuckle.

“Well, that’s because you were wrong and you weren’t listening to me.” He raised his eyebrows in a playful challenge.

“And what if you think I’m wrong again? Will you still worry about ‘stepping on toes’.” I was beginning to regret my choice of words.

“I know we’ve only known each other for about a day, but I think you know me a little better than that by now.” Poe let out a genuine laugh, vibrant and golden, as he shifted his attention back to the task at hand.

“Ya, I think I do.” He glanced over at me, our eyes meeting for a brief second, before looking back at the ship. Finally removing the last bolt to open the hatch that led down to the Motivator, Poe effortlessly lowered himself down into the hole that was now in the ship's floor. “Could you hand me that hydrospanner?” I looked around before spotting the tool, picking it up and handing it down to him. I tried to ignore the feeling of his fingers brushing against mine as we made the transfer.

“So, you haven’t gotten the old motivator out yet?” A hydrospanner was used for fastening, and unfastening, so it wasn’t a hard deduction. Even so, Poe let out another small chuckle as I sat on the edge of the open hatch, my legs dangling in the space next to him.

“You really do know your way around a starship, don’t you?” He began to use the hydrospanner to take out the old motivator, his hair falling loosely in his face as he worked. “Are you a mechanic whenever you’re not, um, farming?”

“I guess, in a way, I’ve had to be over the years. On Tatooine you don’t have much choice about what you do. You do whatever it takes to survive, and if you need to learn a skill in order to do that, you learn it.”

“But I’m guessing your heart lies somewhere beyond the realm of mechanics?”

“Gods yes...I’m a pilot.”

“A pilot?” He didn’t take his eyes off the stubborn bolt he was working on, but his voice sounded genuine, and I couldn’t help but pick up on the hint of surprise as well.

“I like to think of myself as a pilot. My parents taught me how to fly when I was young, and ever since then I’ve been more comfortable in the sky than on the ground.” Poe set the hydrospanner down next to him and began to take off the panel that hid the motivator. Instinctively I grabbed the next tool I knew he would need out of the toolkit and held it out to him.

“Could you hand me the,” but as he moved his head to look up at me, he saw the exact tool he was about to ask for staring back at him, “oh, thanks.” He gave me another curious look, his eyes kind and twinkling and his smile small, before turning his attention back to the motivator.

“So what do you fly, Pilot?” He said the last word as if he were teasing, but the way a friend would tease. I didn’t know if we were on the level yet, and so I was unsure about how his tone made me feel.

“I fly anything I can get my hands on. When I was young we had a Skyhopper that my dad taught me how to fly, and I would race it through Beggars Canyon. Sometimes if I repaired someone's starship they would let me take a quick trip offworld as part of my payment, sometimes they would even let me fly to one of the moons and back.” I watched as Poe worked on getting the old motivator out, wondering how much he was actually listening. He seemed very focused on the task at hand.

“My favorite thing to fly is an X-Wing, though.”

“An X-Wing?” Poe stopped what he was doing mid-task, nearly dropping his tool, as his head whipped up to look at me. “Where’d you learn to fly an X-Wing?” I couldn’t stop myself from smiling, partly because seeing the grease and sweat on Poe’s forehead gave me that fluttery feeling in my stomach, but mostly because I was remembering the woman who made me fall in love with flying, the one who taught me everything I know.

“My mom taught me,” I could feel a warm smile spread across my face, softening my eyes. “My parents were both pilots in the Rebellion, but my mom was the better flyer by far. Her last battle was in the Battle of Endor, and as a reward for her bravery she got to keep her ship.” Poe hadn’t turned back to look at the motivator once, his focus fixed on me. “Once I had mastered our skyhopper, she taught me how to fly her X-Wing. I would sit on her lap with my hands on the controls and her hands over mine, guiding my movements until I got the hang of it. I still remember the first time I flew the ship all by myself, it was one of the best days of my life.” Sitting next to Poe, remembering my mother, I felt that sensation of flying like it was yesterday.

I remembered the feeling in my stomach as I ascended, not too different from the feeling that catching a glimpse of gold in Poe’s brown eyes gave me, the cool controls in my hands shifting slightly as I guided them, and the ground growing smaller and smaller, the horizon expanding, as I lifted higher and higher into the sky. But most of all, I remembered the smile on my mothers face, wide and vibrant and beautiful. And so proud. Seeing that smile was even better than the first time I left orbit and hung among the stars.

“My mom was a pilot, too.” Poe brought me back down to the ground with those words, and when I looked at him he had already turned his full attention back to the motivator. I couldn’t stop the small smile that spread across my face, not that I even needed to since he was no longer looking at me. I let his words hang in the air, waiting to see if he would continue. He pulled his brow together as he worked on the wire couplings with the tool I handed him. Watching him work, I felt like I was intruding on an intimate moment. I was entranced by the way his hands knew exactly what needed to be done, and by the little beads of sweat that were beginning to collect on his furrowed brow. His eyes seemed to glow in the dim light of the ship, and I didn’t think I had ever seen such determination before. And then there were his lips, and it only took a moment of me seeing him slightly biting his bottom lip in concentration before I felt a hot blush rush over my face. I was thankful he was so focused on the motivator.

“Oh really?” I couldn’t sit in that silence any longer. He smiled widely, genuinely, and his eyes softened. He finished unscrewing the bolt he was working on before setting his tool down and turning his attention back to me.

“Yeah, both of my parents fought in the Rebellion too.” I didn’t try to stop the smile that spread across my face, and I couldn’t help but notice his grow as well. “But my mom was the pilot, not my dad, and she taught me everything I know.” I held his gaze, entranced by his eyes, a moment longer than I probably should’ve. If I weren’t looking so intently though I would've never noticed the smallest bit of sadness that crept in and made him look down.

I would recognize that look of loss anywhere, gods knew how many times I had that same look in my own eyes.

“I’m sorry for your loss.” My voice was low and kind, and yet I don’t know why I said it. He hadn’t even told me his mom had died, and as soon as the words left my mouth I wished I could take them back. He instantly reacted, but not in the way I thought he would. Instead of anger or offense, there was confusion in his eyes.

“How did you know?” For the second time, I felt like I was seeing Poe with his guard down. I felt like I was seeing who he really was.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have assumed.”

“No, it’s okay. You were right, I lost my mother when I was eight.”

“So young.” My voice was barely a whisper, more of an exhale. I wasn’t even sure I had spoken my thoughts out loud until I saw Poe nod slightly and stare intently at one spot on the floor. He began to fidget with his hands, something I hadn’t seen him do before. “I was fourteen when I lost my parents.” This made Poe look up from the floor and lock eyes with me once again.

“I’m sorry.”

“There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t miss them.”

“I know how you feel.”

There was another long silence while the two of us just looked at each other, taking comfort in knowing we each shared one another's pain. There was something healing about knowing someone else had gone through what I had, even though I barely knew him.

It was Poe’s turn to break the silence as he cleared his throat and looked back at the repairs he was making.

“Can you hand me the--”

“--Harris Wrench?” I held out the tool I knew he would need. A small smile crept across his face as he took it from my hand.

“How do you do that?”

“Do what?” I returned his smile.

“Know exactly what I’m about to say?”

“I know starships, that’s all. I’ve repaired more ships than I can count, so I guess I just know what you’ll need to do the job.”

“Still, it’s...impressive.” The glint in his eye and the way he was smiling at me sent the butterflies in my stomach into a whirlwind and I prayed to all the gods I could think of that the blush I felt on my face wasn’t noticeable. Oh it was easy to get lost in those deep brown eyes.

He once again was the one to break eye contact, taking the tool I gave him and shifting his focus back to the motivator. I knew this next part of the repair would be more difficult and extremely crucial, so I didn’t say anything in response, instead letting him work in silence. I didn’t know how long had passed, maybe ten or twenty minutes, until Poe’s voice broke the silence.

“Loth-cat got your tongue?” He didn’t look up but I could tell he was smirking.

“I figured you would want to concentrate for this part, if you don’t sever the coupling connections correctly you could flood this whole ship with poisonous gas.” He chuckled and shook his head slightly.

“I’m impressed again. But I actually work better when it’s not silent, it feels like there’s too much pressure.”

“Not to alarm you, but this is pretty high stakes.”

“Eh, I’ve been in more tense situations.”

I knew he was just giving a lighthearted response, but I was captivated by his words. After a few moments of me not responding, he could tell that something had shifted, and the air felt heavier. I realized that he was living the life I had always dreamed of, the life a part of me always knew I would have. To say I was jealous would be the wrong word, it wasn’t jealousy, it was more like...longing.

“Is something wrong?” Poe had turned his attention to me, and I wasn’t prepared to meet his piercing eyes as I turned my head towards him.

“Oh, no, nothing’s wrong. I just...it's silly.”

“Tell me.” It wasn’t a command, but an invitation. His voice was gentle and soft, and he had taken a break from the repairs.

“Don’t laugh.”

“No promises.” There was a wicked, playful grin on his face. I took a deep breath as I thought about how to phrase what I wanted to say.

“Well, what you said made me realize how stuck I am on Tatooine. You’re living this exciting, adventurous, noble life fighting for what's right on the frontlines and I’m just...going to meetings on the least important desert planet in the galaxy.” I didn’t know when I had stopped looking at him and begun focusing on a spot of grease on the floor. He was silent for a moment, a long moment, before I added, “you’re living the life I’ve always wanted.”

“What you’re doing isn’t unimportant, Nova. It’s people like you who keep the Resistance going. If we didn’t have bands like yours all across the galaxy, especially on planets like Tatooine, everything we’re fighting for would fall apart.” I looked up to find his gaze still squarely on me, and I had to push down the thought that he had been intent on me the whole time.

“You’re just saying that.” The glint in my eyes gave away my pout as playful.

“I never just say things.” His eyes were serious, through and through.

“Well then, thank you.” I gave him a genuine smile, holding his gaze unapologetically, until I began to feel my face go hot. I quickly cleared my throat and spoke in a lighter tone, “how’s the motivator coming along?”

I wasn’t used to opening up to anyone except for Lux, and definitely not to a stranger this soon after meeting them. I didn’t like to feel vulnerable, and so I wondered why I had been so quick to bare my soul. But even more, I wondered why it felt so natural. Nothing ever came naturally to me except flying.

“About as difficult as I expected. But I almost have the old one out, just a few more turns…” his voice reflected the effort he was putting into unscrewing the last bolts and disconnecting the last wires. With a pop, the old motivator came out of its place and he carefully pulled it out and put it on the ground next to where he was working. I was already holding out the new motivator and the exact tool he would need to begin putting it in.

“You’re becoming predictable.” He said with a smile as he took the items out of my hand.

“Don’t get used to that.” I shot back with just as much playfulness. He let out a small chuckle in return as he set his focus on the ship in front of him. I noticed his eyebrows pull together ever so slightly and his lip part just enough for the tip of his tongue to be visible. He was lost in his own mind, and I could practically see the gears turning as he thought about what his first step should be.

“Need help?” I asked gently. As my words left my mouth he tensed up slightly, and I was preparing myself for the overconfident bravado I had seen in him the night before, and as his mouth opened for him to speak I was ready to hear himself defensively say he could do it on his own. However those words, to my surprise, never came, and instead his mouth hung open and his expression softened.

“I think I might, yes.”

My surprise showed in my momentary speechlessness before I could pull myself together and respond.

"Watch out." I hesitated for a moment before I lowered myself into the hatch in the floor where he was already standing. It must've been a farther drop than I was anticipating, because as soon as I landed I lost my footing and nearly fell right into Poe's chest. He reacted quickly, steadying me by grabbing onto my waist with one hand and holding my shoulder with the other. The hatch was small, definitely not made for two people, and the feeling of Poe's hand on my waist made the space feel ten times smaller. I felt my face go hot instantly as I looked up at him, our bodies inches apart, and my breathing hitched as I saw his eyes dart down to look at my lips. For a split second I thought about leaning in, indulging in my impulsive desires. But as soon as I thought it, I my body tensed, and, feeling my unease, Poe let go. I cleared my throat and tried to turn so that I was facing the motivator and not the handsome pilot, but our sides were still brushing against one another.

“Not sure how to start?” I tried to keep my tone even as I willed my blush to go away.

“Kind of the opposite, I can think of about one hundred ways to start but I’m not sure which one would be the fastest.” His tone gave no indication of awkwardness, and I wondered if he felt the same electricity I had moments ago. I nodded as I began to think about all the options. We were both silent for a while before I had an idea.

“If you connect the wires before inserting the new motivator in place then it may be easier to screw the bolts in and ensure a secure connection with the power couplings.” Poe nodded, his gaze still in front of him.

“That's not the usual way to go about this.”

“No, but I think it’ll be the fastest.”

“It’ll be difficult to keep it cool enough to handle after we make those initial power couplings.”

“Not if you override the module power and redirect it to the auxiliary power until we have the new motivator in place.” At this Poe turned his head to me. His responses had been coming back at me quickly, but now he went silent. I wasn’t sure if he was impressed or skeptical. But after a few long moments, he spoke.

“That is a brilliant idea, Nova...why didn’t I think about that?” I smiled slightly at him.

“Sometimes you just need a new perspective.” He returned my smile and, after a few moments too long, took his eyes off of mine and looked at the motivator.

-----

We spent the better part of the next two hours installing the new motivator. There were long stretches of comfortable silence in between conversations of small talk as different parts of the task required more or less effort. I knew this part of the repair would take longer than taking the old motivator out. This part had less room for error, one incorrect coupling and the ship could be flooded with poisonous gas in moments, one loose bolt and the whole module could explode mid-flight, and about a hundred other potentially disastrous outcomes. But for all the high stakes, Poe was considerably relaxed. He seemed more than comfortable getting his hands covered in grease to make repairs, and the only indication of the severity of the repair could be seen by the sweat occasionally rolling down his face. He surprised me in more ways than one, but the thing about him that perplexed me the most was his habit of starting conversations right as an extremely difficult part of the repair began and staying silent during the easy parts. He did most of the work, to my annoyance, but he would occasionally ask me for my opinions and ask me to help him with certain tasks.

To my happy surprise, he was more pleasant than I thought he would be.

I wasn't aware of how much time had passed until Chewbacca reappeared, his face peering into the hatch.

“We’re almost done, Chewie.” Poe responded to the Wookiee’s annoyed remark. There was another comment made that was not translated, but Poe just shook his head.

“How were the exterior repairs?” I couldn’t tell if this was a response or Poe changing the subject.

Another response from Chewie, and I didn’t need Poe’s translation to guess what he had said. But thankfully this time Poe did lean in closer to me and said in a low tone,

“Chewie said they went alright, but there’s more damage to the underbelly of the hull than he thought. Probably from the crash.” He turned his focus back to the Wookiee and changed his tone, “Do you think we’ll be able to make it back to Base and finish the repairs there? Because we don’t have the tools necessary for those repairs with us.” Chewie was quiet for a moment before nodding and replying what I could only assume was,

“Yes.”

Poe visibly relaxed and the smallest bit of a smile crept onto his face.

“Thank gods, because I’m almost done here and then we can be on our way! Don’t want to spend any more time on this dustball than we need to.” By the sudden look of terror on his face, I knew that the words tumbled out of Poe’s mouth before he thought about what he was saying. I couldn’t stop myself from bursting out in laughter, though, and the small smile that had started on Poe’s face grew into a wide grin.

“I am so sorry, I didn’t mean--”

“Don’t worry about it, Poe. I understand completely, you guys are the lucky ones though.”

“And why’s that?”

“Because you actually get to leave, fly into the stars and be a part of the Resistance, the real Resistance. And I'm just...stuck.”

Poe’s face fell slightly and he shared a curious look with Chewie before he turned back to the motivator which was nearly finished. He began to work on the final steps of the repair and I could feel a shift in the room. I was about to make a comment about the motivator, anything to break the palpable tension that I could feel swirling about me, but Poe beat me to it.

“Well, Chewie and I had actually been thinking and…”

My heart began to race as if it knew what the pilot with deep brown eyes and curly hair was about to say,

“How would you like to come with us?”

[tirednotflirting]

haunting me forever from the start

some spooky season Cake for @ashesonthefloor‘s halloween fic event :) 

so so much thanks to ainslee for organizing such a fun event !! i feel so fortunate to have the opportunity to take part in something with some of my favorite writers and people and if you haven’t dug through everyone else’s posts i recommend checking out the event masterlist here !!

alright you’re gonna have to forgive me because i have never been to a haunted house and i wrote most of this in the middle of the night after work and I was always too scared to find haunted house pov videos at that hour. so i took some creative liberties on some of this.

also this is likely pushing the limits of how much fluff i should be allowed to fit into something but i promised miss meg Cake fluff after the other piece i posted of them earlier this week sjdflksdj

soooooo my prompt was: “We’re part of the same group in this haunted house, and you won’t stop clinging to me every time we get spooked.” Or, one person is really clingy with someone else in their group. It’s a good thing they’re cute. They can either know each other or not.

okay enjoy the silly fun and happy halloween !!!

{read on ao3 here}

Genuinely, Calum should have expected this when he told Michael he could pick out their Friday night activity.

Or well, Calum really hadn’t gotten the choice in picking what they did since he only got out of his calculus midterm probably forty-five minutes earlier and Michael picked him up, and rather than driving back to their shared apartment for another movie night, they’re now somewhere on the north side of town in a parking lot. It’s the parking lot at the fairgrounds which at first had Calum confused because Michael hasn’t been a fan of this fair since the trouble he had with the corn dogs here about a year ago. But then Michael asks him to grab the folded papers out of the glovebox and after just a bit of inspection, Calum learns the real reason they’re here.

“No. No way.” Calum shakes his head, his arms folding across his chest, defensively.

“Come one, Cal,” Michael whines. “You’ve barely left campus or the apartment in weeks because of midterms. You can’t tell me that you really wanted to spend another night watching superhero movies in the living room.”

“That’s literally exactly what I wanted to do tonight. Mikey, my brain basically melted during that exam.”

“Great,” Michael starts as he swipes the papers from Calum’s hand and moves to open his car door. “Then this haunt probably won’t even scare you too bad like the ones we tried last year.”

Calum huffs out a breath as he opens his own door, slamming it closed a bit harder than probably necessary and joins Michael in front of the car. It’s early October so the air in their college town is cool but not yet cold. Either way, he’s thankful for the hoodie he had decided to bring to campus that morning. They head up in the direction of the fairgrounds and Calum lets Michael lead since he obviously has a bit more of an idea about where they’re headed.

“Or that’ll just make it even worse.” Calum tries to argue. “I’m barely a functioning human right now. My head is filled with integrals and fear, Michael.”

“You’ll be fine. I’ll be right there with you the whole time and if it really is that bad, I’ll owe you a hot chocolate and funnel cake once we get out, okay?”

Calum purses his lips in thought for a moment because that is a pretty good deal, all things considered. Plus he hasn’t had anything to eat since the late lunch he had a few hours before his exam and his stomach is yelling at the mere mention of junk food. “Fine.” he concedes. “But you aren’t allowed to make fun of me like last year if I get freaked out in there, okay?”

“You got it.”

They continue through the fair, the bright lights around the food and game booths starting to light up all colors of the rainbow as the sun makes its final descent below the horizon. It’s an awfully cheery prelude to a haunted house, Calum thinks, and he’s kinda surprised Michael somehow found a haunted house nestled into the middle of a fall fair. Around them, families and groups of high school kids wander with bright eyes and smiles from booth to booth. Kids clutch sugary treats and oversized stuffed animals while parents follow closely behind. Young couples wait in line for the ferris wheel and share clouds of cotton candy. It’s all such a rosy picture of an autumn evening and Calum wishes he were taking part in this rather than heading up toward the nightmare factory Michael is leading him towards.

Eventually, they reach a barricade where some kid in a neon t-shirt with the name of the haunted house printed across the front scans the printed tickets that Michael has and they’re pointed toward a line forming outside of the metal building that’s likely has some other not-so-spooky purpose outside of the month of October. In front of Michael and Calum are a group of boys probably around middle school age, if Calum had to guess. He’s considering how mortifying it’s going to be when a bunch of actual children hear him scream when Michael chimes in, as though hearing Calum’s thoughts.

“See, Cal,” Michael lets his elbow drop to lean on Calum’s shoulder. “These kids aren’t even scared of this. You’ll be totally fine.”

Calum is moments away from giving a snarky response when he catches a glimpse of the people in line behind them as he turns in Michael’s direction.

And of course the most beautiful boy he has ever laid his eyes on is just steps behind him and also about to witness Calum shriek like a baby at the sight of a clown or something.

The boy is accompanied by another (though their body language seems to be mimicking Calum and Michael as they laugh at something on a phone screen so for the time being he decides they are not on a date) and he’s tall, taller than Calum by a few inches probably. He’s got curly blonde hair tied up back into a little bun though the cool evening breeze has some of the hair around his face blowing into his blue eyes. Calum is trying not to be overdramatic but he thinks he might be looking at an angel. (Or a really pretty demon. He is like, seconds away from walking into one of his greater fears, after all.)

He shakes his head before abruptly turning back toward the front of the line to avoid staring when Michael, of course, decides to take a look at what Calum had been glancing towards. His face lights up and Calum assumes he’s about to be teased until they head into the haunt when Michael himself blushes just slightly across his nose before speaking. “Ashton! Is that you?”

The boy walking up with the angel pulls the hood from his sweatshirt off from around his head and smiles brightly. “Michael, funny seeing you here. How’s it going?”

“Doing well. Finally got the roommate out for an evening on the town since he’s been studying like it’s his full time job for the last three weeks.”

“Michael, we’re sophomores. Studying actually is my full time job,” Calum pouts. Great, he thinks, now the cute boy is going to think he’s a total nerd. Which he absolutely is but that’s not the point.

Ashton laughs at the exchange. “He’s got you there,” he starts while extending a hand out toward Calum. “I’m Ashton. Michael and I took developmental psychology together during summer session. This is my roommate, Luke.”

Calum accepts Ashton’s hand and smiles shyly first at him and then Luke, who holds his hand up in a short wave as Ashton introduces him. “I’m Calum. It’s nice to meet you guys.”

Similar greetings are exchanged among the four of them as they go through obligatory What’s your major? Where are you from? undergrad small talk as the line inches toward the entrance.

Michael and Ashton eventually pull the conversation toward what they’re taking in their psychology classes this semester (Ashton is a year ahead of the rest of them and Michael very obviously wants the low down on the finals he’ll be taking at the end of the semester but also Ashton’s number if Calum is reading the signs correctly). Luke laughs and turns his eyes toward Calum's as they’re shut out of the conversation.

Suddenly Luke is leaning in toward Calum's ear and he swears his heart skips a beat because Luke is very cute and smells very nice. Luke giggles softly before speaking quietly enough that it’s obvious he’s trying to avoid the other two hearing him. “Ash used to come home from that class with heart eyes, I swear. If he doesn’t get the guts to ask Michael out before the end of the night, we may need to take matters into our hands.”

Calum grins, feeling accomplished that he read the situation correctly. “You like playing matchmaker then?”

“Only when it’s for people being that dumb.” Luke gestures over to the blushing pair standing a couple feet away from them. He’s got a point, Calum admits silently. He’s been friends with Michael since they were kids and he knows that flirty face anywhere.

“Alright so if we get to the other side of this and they’re not exchanging numbers, how subtle do we go about suggesting they get together again to geek out about psych theories?”

Luke shakes his head, a playful grin playing at his lips. “Oh no, I’ve always found greater success with a more direct approach. It’s the engineering major in me. We like to face our problems head on.”

Calum is opening his mouth to make another comment back (though he will admit, trying to fit flirting into an exchange about setting up his best friend is a bit of a challenge he’s realizing) when the line starts moving again, bringing them just about to the front of the line. And of course, Calum was too distracted by the short banter the line allowed to pay attention to how much time had passed and now he’s just about to step into this mess of an idea of Michael’s.

The group of kids that had been in front of Michael and Calum are let in with the family that had been just before them, and the person running the door lets the four of them along with the couple behind Ashton and Luke know they’ll go through the haunt as a group. Ashton lets out a short laugh once the kids head off into the darkened doorway. “Honestly, glad we’re not going through with them. Love a haunted house but I swear kids will just scream so loud for fun in these things.”

Calum watches the three of them agree and he finds himself nodding but also silently preparing himself for being the annoying kid screaming. Though in his case it’s more because he’s a bit of a wimp and not just doing it for fun.

He chats back and forth with Luke for a few more minutes while they wait for their turn to head inside. Luke’s telling him about some ridiculous thing that happened in one of his labs the week before and Calum finds himself a little shocked at how quickly their conversation has become so comfortable. He’s not used to feeling so at ease with people so quickly that aren’t Michael or maybe his sister. He would sit with the feeling for longer, really let himself think on why he might be feeling that way, but then the kid at the door is telling them to head on inside.

The haunt starts basically in Calum’s least favorite kind of way. (Though given his disdain for these things, it’s not like he has a favorite but that doesn’t change how this is his least favorite.) It’s nearly pitch black as the group of six step inside and it’s just a little bit too quiet, the only sound in the room being the wind blowing against the metal roof of the building. He hears some snickering coming from the group that he tries to focus on as he squeezes his eyes shut and wills them to adjust to the lack of light.

Soon enough though there’s some scratching noises coming from the corners of the room and a couple actors in dark, obscure costumes pop out in the direction of their group. Calum contains most noises of panic, really just gasping as his feet stop short. The chest of the person walking behind him collides with his back while a gentle hand grabs onto his shoulder as the person steadies. Automatically, Calum assumes the person to be Michael since he’s typically the one jumping to comfort Calum with such little hesitation.

But then just in front of him he hears a giggle that he knows belongs to his best friend and he feels his forehead scrunching up in confusion until a voice speaks quietly near his ear. “You good?” Luke asks him, his hand still placed comfortingly against his shoulder. Calum feels his face relax then, his mind just a bit more at ease knowing that it’s not that other couple with them stuck behind his panicked body.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m good.” Calum whispers back to Luke after clearing his throat. Luke’s hand drops from his arm after what feels like a gentle squeeze and they continue on ahead. Calum takes a deep breath both in an effort to calm himself and in annoyance. Not only is he going to have nightmares for weeks after this but there’s also no way in hell he’ll be able to make eye contact with Luke once they’re out of this thing.

The scary noises drift in and out and Calum finds that those aren’t too bad. The hissing of a smoke machine lets him anticipate the floor of the next room being covered in a fog and he feels pretty proud of himself when he gets it right. The room isn’t too bad; the actors in there are obviously meant to be some brand of zombie and it was only about a week earlier that Michael and Calum did a rewatch of Zombieland for movie night so the memory leaves him giggling along with everyone else for once.

Calum is just starting to believe that maybe he’s got a grip of things this time around in terms of containing his fear at the whole situation when suddenly the room is filled with strobe lights and loud noises (chainsaws, maybe?) and Luke’s chest is once again colliding with Calum’s back as he shoots back some at the noise. This time around Calum feels gentle hands moving to hold onto his arms, the touch instantly one that calms him and gets his feet to start moving in the direction of the rest of the group again. Calum focuses on the feel of Luke’s warm hands tapping out a beat against the fabric of his sweatshirt and his view of the back of Michael’s head as they move down the path set out in the room to avoid looking at his surroundings too much.

The haunt isn’t a long one and according to what Calum had heard Michael saying about this place on their walk into the fairgrounds earlier in the night, there should only be a couple more rooms before their group reaches the end. Calum continues to jump at most of what is set up throughout them but he feels a lot more grounded and at ease than he typically would since about 75% of his attention is laser focused on the hand that Luke eventually moves to rest between Calum’s shoulders.

Soon enough though they’re back outside in the cool fall air and under the colorful lights of the fair. The settings oppose each other quite extremely, Calum thinks while he makes a little huddle with the other three boys. He can’t help but notice how Luke’s hand has yet to drop from his back and he leans just slightly back into his touch. Michael and Ashton are babbling along together and don’t notice the silent actions of the other two but when Calum turns toward Luke, their eyes meet and Luke’s already blushy cheeks go just a bit more pink.

Luke’s hand drops away from Calum’s back then and a confused look drops to his face. Luke looks toward the ground, a nervous smile playing at his lips. “Sorry I didn’t like, ask before trying to comfort you in there. Not exactly appropriate of an almost stranger, I guess.”

Calum shrugs. “It was welcomed, honestly,” he starts, his grin growing as Luke looks up at him a bit shocked. “I mean, I was very obviously ready to run out of there like two minutes in. You’re basically the only reason I didn’t turn and immediately head out. So, thank you.”

“Any time.” Luke smiles brightly.

They continue to just stare at one another for a few moments, neither really knowing what to say next, when Ashton clearing his throat pulls them out of it. Calum turns his face toward the other two and tries to control his shock when he sees Michael’s lazy grin and strong grip on Ashton’s hand. Ashton gives them a knowing smile.

“We’re gonna go grab some snacks and maybe try out some of the games. Meet back at the entrance to the fairgrounds in an hour?” he coordinates, already starting to walk backwards away from the two of them.

“Sounds like a plan,” Luke answers for them. “Have fun, boys.

Ashton raises his free hand to give a short salute before turning and pulling Michael toward the row of food booths. “So they figured things out then?” Calum says as they watch their friends walk off.

“Apparently.”

Calum laughs quietly and moves to step in front of Luke. He’s not that great at being bold (especially after being terrified for twenty minutes straight) but he figures he could at least give it a shot. “Guess it’s our turn?”

Luke’s gaze pulls away from their friends to meet Calum’s eyes again. “What?”

“Let me buy you a hot chocolate as a thank you for protecting me in there?”

Luke smirks and replies quickly with his own request. “Only if you’ll let me take you out for coffee next week.”

Calum sticks his hand out between the two of them. “Deal.”

They giggle as they shake on it and then start off in the direction that their friends went just a few moments before them. Luke is quick to reach for Calum’s hand and weave their fingers together as he starts a rundown of questions that should feel like small talk but for some reason they don’t. Calum figures it has to do something with the attentive look in Luke’s eyes or the smile pulling across his face as Calum speaks about something as mundane as the calculus exam he took earlier in the night. Though it also again feels like it could be something more, something bigger than that.

But Calum’s mind is a crazy mix of adrenaline from the haunted house and endless thanks to Michael for bringing them out tonight and trying to pick out the perfect way to describe the blue of Luke’s eyes. For now, he decides, it’s enough to squeeze his palm against Luke’s to pull him in the direction of the hot chocolate with sprinkles and worry about the bigger stuff another day.

*

It’s a year later when Calum is sitting at the kitchen counter, staring at his statistics homework like it’s in another language and Luke is laying on the couch scrolling through his phone, his homework already finished. The university was closed that day due to the snow so Luke had decided it wasn’t worth it to go back to his own apartment after reading the email notification that morning.

Calum is too focused on the problems on the page in front of him to hear Luke pad over into the kitchen so he jumps just the slightest bit when he feels a pair of warm arms wrap around his middle. Even on the coldest days Luke is warm like sunshine, Calum has come to know and love in the last year. He lets his pen drop against the counter as he lifts a hand to play with the curls around Luke’s ear when he leans down and lets his chin rest against Calum’s shoulder. “What’s up, love? I’m almost done with this and then we can watch a movie or something while we get dinner going.”

Luke hums in agreement with the plan, his face turning a bit to press a kiss against Calum’s cheek. “I was thinking about date night next week. And I think we should do that haunted house at the fair again.”

Calum sighs and turns his head then. “Luke, I love you but despite the incredibly cute, horror loving boy that guided me through half of that thing, I still really don’t like haunted houses.”

Luke pouts then and huffs out a little sigh. “Fine,” he starts, his arms wrapping a bit tighter around Calum. “We should do something special though. Think anniversaries are supposed to be celebrated, right?”

“We could still go to the fair if you want?” Calum suggests with a shrug. “I’ve always wanted to be kissed at the top of a ferris wheel.”

“I think that could be arranged,” Luke smiles before pressing another quick kiss against Calum’s hair.

Luke stands up straight then, not giving Calum more than a moment to respond to the sweet words, and heads into the kitchen. Calum lifts his arm to rest against the countertop and lets his chin fall into his hand as he watches while Luke starts pulling things out of the fridge to make dinner. (It’s my night to cook, Cal, don’t you dare try getting up.) He decides then that he’ll probably go ahead and buy a couple tickets to the haunted house as a surprise for when they go to the fair the following week. Because if there’s anything Calum has learned in the last year, it’s that nothing can ever feel too scary or unsafe with Luke at his side.

*

[bapyess1r]

Sunny Daze

WARNINGS: cursing

Pairings: Sam x OC, Rafe x OC

Author’s Note: sorry if I don’t get all the details correct but I’m really excited to be writing this XD I have such plans for Sam and Sunny and it deserves to take some time 😭💖 pls enjoy!

Chapter 4

Sunny’s POV

I sat in the bathroom stall, pulling up the blueprints of the estate and pointed out the ventilation system. “The vents’ll only take you but so far, Natey. You’re gonna have to figure some shit out. Maybe climb a little on the outside to get in.” I noted in a hushed tone.

‘Of course. Because easy would be too cliche.’ I heard him joke.

“You’ll have to cut through the cellar. Ten minutes on the clock, bub. Get goin’.” I smiled as I tucked my handheld back into my clutch.

‘You’re the best.’

“Yeah, Yeah…” I smirked before flushing the toilet to make some noise and exiting the stall.

I looked in the bathroom mirror, touching up my makeup and holding small talk with the other women present. I got many compliments on my dress and all I could do was thank them, bragging about how Rafe Adler bought the dress for me to appease their ears. As I left, satisfied with the way I looked, I bumped into what I thought was a wall. The soft pair of hands told me otherwise. When I looked up my eyes met with a beautiful woman. ‘Aaand I’m gay…’ I thought as a blush spread across my cheeks. She had soft curly hair, brown skin, light eyes and high cheekbones with a sophisticated mole just above her curved lips. She had a few scars but it didn’t take away from her beauty one bit. As I grabbed onto her shoulders to steady myself, I was shaken by the structure of her arms. ‘I’m really gay…’. And when she smiled politely, I truly thought that I would just die. “Are you alright?” She asked me with an accent I couldn’t place. Whatever it was, it sat right in my spirit and sounded like music. I felt my face heat up as I pulled away from her.

“Yes! I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to bump into you like that.” I said, clutching the life out of my purse, truly taken aback by this wonderful lady and her athletic build behind a red blouse and dress pants with a simple pair of sensible heels. She shot me a heart wrenching smile and I couldn’t stop grinning like an idiot. To avoid further embarrassment, I continued my way to Rafe. “Enjoy the rest of your evening!” I called to her in a voice very unnatural to my own. “Holy shit…” I mumbled as I made my way to the ice sculpture, surrounded by glasses of champagne. I knew things were about to go down so I opted to make it my last glass. I sipped it slowly.

‘Dammit! It’s locked…’ I heard Sully say in my ear.

“What’s locked?” I asked, changing my course and heading to the emptiest balcony. I heard Nate sigh.

‘I thought you propped it open! Can we pick it?’ I heard Sam say. And like a bunch of children, the three began to bicker. I rolled my eyes, listening as they did when they abruptly stopped conversation.

“Boys?” I asked, looking around briefly.

‘Did you see that? Back left pocket.’ Sully murmured.

“What’s happening?” I asked, sipping my champagne.

‘Doors locked electronically, we’re gonna lift a key card. Standby.’ Sam informed me. I huffed as I crept back into the ballroom to watch their backs, stealthily avoiding Rafe as best as I could. I listened to the Drake brothers bicker in my ear about who was gonna do the lift when they decided to “run it like the old days.” Yet even with Sam’s distraction, the waiter they tailed kept moving. I rolled my eyes as I watched them struggle and decided to get it done myself. I scanned the room for a waiter and one just happened to exit from a room down the hall. I watched as she put the key card in her front pocket and smirked as I made my way towards her. I succeeded in one try with a classic bump and lift technique, quickly tucking the key under the back of my wig with a slick smirk. I weaved my way through the people to meet Nathan and Sam as they watched the waiter again for another try as they continued to mock each other.

“Oh boys. You take entirely too long.” I mumbled to them as I walked by, pulling the key from my wig to flash it to them on the low and slipped it into Nathan’s breast pocket. Sam caught my gaze and raised an eyebrow, flexing his lower lip with impression as I walked to the bar to join Rafe.

‘I could’ve handled it…’ Nathan mumbled.

‘Right. Of course you could.’ Sam replied. I reached the bar and placed a hand on his shoulder with a smile. He slipped his arm around my waist, resting a hand on my hip and pulling me close.

“I was wondering where you’d run off to.” He whispered to me.

“Just touching up my makeup! Girl stuff!” I told him. I gave him a lot of half truths all night and he believed every word.

‘Alright we’re in.’ I heard Nathan say.

‘Make it quick, boys.’ Sully told them. And so the plan started. ‘I’ll grab ya when it goes dark, Sunny.’ I couldn’t respond but I got the message.

I stayed with Rafe as he entertained a bunch of rich old white men, their wives absolutely enchanted by his handsome looks and charisma. All the while he kept his hands on me. I would hook my arm with his, daintily caressing his arm as I sipped my drink while he talked. After a while it got old. He began to sound like a game show host. I stood for about two or three minutes listening to him make terrible jokes in his stories. And because of his status, everyone laughed to validate him. ‘Hurry the hell up, boys. This man is literally killing me…’ I thought as Rafe looked behind me. I shot my glance to where he did and my stomach flipped. He had spotted Sully, chatting to a familiar looking figure. “See someone you know?” I asked, playing off my slight nervousness.

“Yeah. An old friend…” he replied, gritting his teeth. “If he’s around, trouble isn’t far behind… Let’s go give him a little greeting, shall we?” Something didn’t sit right with me when he said that. But I smiled and followed him anyway. As we made our way over, I noticed Sam had already secured a uniform and was slowly making his way through the crowd with a platter of champagne. When he caught my eyes he winked at me. ‘Thank God…’ I thought. This would all be over soon. I could hear Sully’s conversation with the woman he called Nadine. She asked about Nathan and he sighed, feigning ignorance.

“I’ve been flying solo for a while now. Drake’s out!” He said, taking a sip of his scotch.

“Oh! You mean like… ‘dead’ out?” I heard the woman’s voice and as we approached I noticed it was that woman I ran into earlier. My chest tightened as Rafe put on a smile.

“Nah, no! Last I heard he settled down and got married.” He took a puff of his cigar and his expression faltered a bit when he noticed me. And Rafe rolled straight into the conversation.

“Well then he might as well be dead, right?” He chuckled. “Victor Sullivan! How the hell are you?” He stuck his hand out and they shared a strong handshake.

“Rafe.” He said, with a polite smile.

“How long has it been? Ten years? Twelve?”

“Fifteen.” Sully grumbled.

“It’s amazing. Here we are, all these years gone by and we’re still haggling over dead people’s junk.” Rafe said with a chuckle.

“Really? Aren’t you running your parents business?” He asked. I fought off a snicker at his petty comment. I could tell it irritated Rafe and he immediately began to act like a baby about it. Complete contrast from how he’d been all night. The woman Nadine and I shared a similar expression of annoyance.

“It’s my business now.” He said darkly before changing his tone. “But yes that is my day job.”

“Well that’s one helluva day job. You could probably afford everything on the block tonight.” Sully continued.

“Well sure… but what would be the point in that? Nowadays I’m only looking for the uh….good stuff… The big score.” He nodded. The way he looked at him, I could tell he was already getting suspicious. “Any advice on what I should be picking up tonight?” He asked, taking a sip of his champagne.

“Yeah. Like I wanna bid against him.” He said sarcastically in both Nadine and I’s direction. We both chuckled. Sully was still charming as ever even in the face of adversity. Then he leaned in towards Rafe. “Just between you and me, I did notice they changed the order. I think somebody may be trying to rig this auction.”

“Hmm. Well remember where we are. This crowd didn’t get rich by playing fair.” He responded, his thumb steadily rubbing against my waist.

“Which is why you really need someone watching your back in a place like this…” Nadine chimed in, slowly making her way to Rafe’s side. I tried not to be offended but I was definitely getting some weird vibes between them as he looked at her with the same charming smile he’d been giving me. Sully was also putting two and two together.

“Ah, well I do hate to break it to ya, but you are working for an American.” He commented.

“With. We’ve partnered up on this one.” She responded, taking a sip of her scotch. I downed the rest of my champagne to hide my facial expressions. I knew they were showing plain as day.

“I see. Talk about a power couple.” He chuckled.

“Hey now! Not in front of my date- which my apologies, sweetheart, how rude of me.” He finally brought attention to me in all of this. “Victor Sullivan. Meet Sunny Spurrs. One of the brightest young ladies I’ve come across.” He said with what seemed like a genuine compliment. ‘When in doubt, act like we don’t know each other.’ Words of advice from him long ago began to ring and I smiled brightly, sticking my hand out to shake and he kissed my knuckles.

“Pleasure. Where’d you pick up a girl like this, Rafe?” He joked.

“I have my ways.” He smirked, looking at me with those green eyes and pulling me close. Just as Sully fixed his mouth to reply with what I’m sure would’ve been another hilariously shady comment, the auctioneer’s accented voice came through the speakers.

“In a few moments, we will begin bidding for the next item… an inlaid wooden crucifix from the Trott estate.” She announced. As we locked eyes briefly, Sully took a deep breath, knowing it was time to make himself scarce.

“Welp! I know when I’m third wheel- or fourth in your case. You kids have fun tonight-” he began to turn and walk away but Rafe let go of me and halted him, grabbing onto his elbow.

“Just hold on, Sully…” He said darkly. ‘Shit.’ I thought, internally panicking. “How’d you find out about it?”

“‘It’? And what ‘It’ is that, Rafe?” Sully retorted with a similar level of seriousness. I pursued my lips together and took a single step back from their brewing altercation. “Nadine, I think your partner here has had one too many Bloody Marys-”

“Cut the bullshit, old man!” Rafe exclaimed, slapping Sully’s glass from his hands. I jumped a bit as I watched it shatter on the marbled floor, people nearby turning their attention to our little group to watch the scene play out. He eased up to him, poking an accusatory finger in his chest. “Now I don’t know how you scammed your way in here, but if you even so much as think about bidding on Avery’s cross, I can tell you how you’re gonna be leaving here. In a god damn body bag-”

“Rafe!” Nadine snapped, bringing his attention to the gazing eyes of those around us. I carefully approached him and placed a comforting hand on his back, hoping it would calm him some. He took a deep breath and squeezed Sully’s shoulder with a nervous chuckle before brushing off the wrinkles on the old man’s suit.

“Well… you get the gist.” Rafe said with a hint of warning, wrapping his arm around me. He tapped his fingers on my hip like a nervous twitch and I placed my hand over his own. He brought his gaze to me and took a deep breath, trying to get over being so worked up. Sully just just grunted and took a puff of his cigar.

“Lovely seeing you both. Ms. Spurrs, you enjoy your evening.” He said to me with a hint of warning, only detected by me and we split off into our respective parties. I was beginning to worry. Had something happened to him? The clock was ticking now and we still hadn’t heard a word from Nathan.

‘Nate… Nate?! Goddamn it, kid, where the hell are you?’ I heard Sully say in my ears. I waited to hear his voice but got nothing.

‘We’re running outta time, little brother…’ I heard Sam add hastily after a few minutes of his silence.

I followed Rafe to the table where bidders received their panels and he kissed my hand. “I’m sorry you had to see that. Why don’t you head over to the bar and relax. I’ll meet you once I’m done here.” He told me. And I gave him a hug. Bro seemed like he needed one. “You know… I’ve been trying to behave all night. Trying to resist the urge to kiss those beautiful lips of yours…” he said lowly, caressing my cheek. I wanted to throw up. But the expression in my eyes never faltered as I looked at him. I kissed him on his cheek and wiped off the stain with my thumb.

“Perhaps later… Mr. Adler. When there aren’t so many eyes.” I whispered suggestively and his grip tightened on my waist.

“Absolutely…” he growled. And I slipped away to the back of the ballroom, out of sight. My job was done. I could finally cringe in peace.

“Jesus H, it’s a fucking miracle he let me go anywhere.” I grumbled. I could hear Sam’s faint chuckle on the coms.

‘Where are you now, Sunny?’ I heard Sully ask.

“By the bar.” I replied.

‘Get as close as you can to the exit without being suspicious.’ He ordered and I confirmed his order, walking to the extravagantly large doorway and leaning into its frame. Suddenly, Nathan’s voice came through the coms and I felt a massive wave of relief.

‘Sam? Sully? Sunny? You guys still there?’ I heard him say. ‘I made it to the breaker room.’

“Oh, thank god. The sooner this is over, the better.” I exclaimed in a hushed tone.

‘God damn, kid! What took you so long?’ Sully hissed.

‘Yes, I’m fine and I’m alive. Thanks for asking.’ Nate began sarcastically. ‘I had a few close calls but I made it.’

‘Yeah, well if you’re gonna cut the power, now would be a good time to do it.’ Sully replied.

‘Yeah well I’m gonna need a minute to get into the breaker panel, it’s locked.’ He said with a grunt.

“You don’t have a minute, Natey. Rafe is about to walk outta here with that cross.” I said.

‘He’s the highest bidder so far.’ Sam’s voice came through the coms in a rough tone.

‘Then outbid him!’ Nate said as I heard him rumble through some things.

‘With what? I don’t have that kinda scratch!’ Sully was beginning to sound as worried as me.

‘You do realize we’re stealing this cross right?’ Nathan told him.

‘What if he calls my bluff?’ I watched Sully from a distance as he scratched his mustache nervously.

“I don’t think he will.” I said, making what could’ve been a bad judgement call but we needed to buy my best friend some time to get into that panel.

“We have an offer at 90,000 euros. Is there another offer in the room?” I heard the auctioneer say.

‘Guys, if we do not get this cross, I am as good as dead.’ Sam muttered.

‘And if I end up with the highest bid, then we’re all dead!’ Sully rebuttals.

‘Sully, I need you to buy me more time.’ Nathan said with the utmost urgency.

‘You kids better be right about this…’ he grumbled as the auctioneer started to finalize the bid.

“Do it, Sully.” I said, covering my mouth with my fist as intently watched the bid take place.

‘Ah, screw it.’ I looked over at Sully as he raised his panel and the auctioneer stopped the finalization.

“Benè! We are now at 100,000 euros. Do I hear another offer in the room?” Just before the auctioneer could finish her sentence, Rafe’s panel was raised. He stared at the old man brimming with annoyance. I watched them battle it out to 190,000 euros. I underestimated just how wealthy Rafe actually was.

‘Hey man, I’m starting’ to sweat bullets here-’ Sam rushed in a panicky voice.

‘I’m in! You guys ready?’ Nathan asked.

‘As I’ll ever be. Sunny?’ Sam asked.

“We got one chance guys, let’s get this done.” I said with a small smirk as the adrenaline began to surge in me. “Sully?”

‘One second.’ He chuckled before raising the panel again, just to piss Rafe off a little more. I chuckled to myself as I watched Rafe ball his fists like a child on punishment.

“500,000! Let’s get this show on the road!” He shouted impatiently.

“Um… very well. We have 500,000 euros in the room. Does the gentleman wish to bid again?” The auctioneer asked and the entire room looked in his direction. I tried my best to fight off the laughter at Rafe’s expression, all tuned up like a burnt weenie. Sully gestured to him that the bid was all his.

“You had me worried there for a minute, Victor. I thought I was gonna have to kill ya!” He remarked and the room around them laughed. Sully gave a fake chuckle and put his cigar to his lips.

‘Okay… Let’s ruin this asshole’s evening.’ He said.

“Let’s.” I smiled, ready to go.

“500,000 going once….. going twice…. and the crucifix has been sold for 500,000 euros-” and just like that the lights went out. By the time the backup generator came on, the crucifix was gone from the stand and Sam was out of sight.

I stood in my corner as Sully made his way over to me, swiftly grabbing my arm to leave a Rafe made a scene.

“They’re gonna need a getaway. Let’s get to the car.” He told me as we picked up the pace and left the estate.

[tipsyylove]

real

➵ part two

➵ genre: zombie apocalypse au, angst, dreamies x reader

➵ warnings: language, gore(?)

➵ a/n: im genuinely so sorry it took so long, but here it finally is. it’s kinda beefy, so get ready for a long ride. also i used truth or dare again, oops.

“what do you mean ‘we have to go’?” you asked the taller man. “it’s not safe here anymore.” jaemin said. “what’s that supposed to mean?” you asked. “gather what you need. we’re leaving tomorrow.” jaemin shooed you off.

the confusion that the situation caused was empowering. what’s ‘it’s not safe here anymore’ supposed to mean? where is a safer area? what was the plan? all you did was wake up, and now you have less than 24 hours to be here. it was kind of stressful if you were being completely honest with yourself.

you didn’t want to question him, cause he was kind of intimidating. you knew he was a good person, but he can be scary at times, like when he was yelling at jeno the other night. you didn’t have a lot to pack, so you decided to go help the others in the kitchen who were packing up the food and everything else they needed for the road.

“what can i do to help?” you asked the three other men. they turned around, and looked at you, then looked all looked at jeno. you’re not sure why. maybe he was the second in line for leader or something. “get some stuff out of the pantry, and put it in some of these bags.” jeno said, pointing to some bags that they laid out. “okay, thanks!” you smiled. you walked over to the pantry, and started grabbing some food, and then putting into bags. “that’s the first time i’ve ever seen him be actually nice to you.” renjun whispered to you. “yeah. i guess you’re right, aha.” you whispered back.

you guys packed for a while, and made sure to leave some food out for later tonight. it was just a couple of cans and spoons. you were sort of scared of going outside. you haven’t been outside since jaemin brought you here, and you’re scared to see what the world has become. the zombie apocalypse was one of your greatest fears when you were a kid. so having it come true a decade later was terrifying to you. you still couldn’t completely process everything happening. it’s been quiet outside the house. no bangs, knocks, anything. it had you worried.

»»——  ☠  ——««

jaemin had gotten you all to sit down in the living room to somewhat explain the plan. he seemed not too quite sure about it either. “okay, so. i know it’s been quiet around here, but it’s not exactly safe. we’re lucky to even be alive at this point. the windows aren’t quite secure. sure, they have wood on them, but anyone and anything can probably break through. it’s dangerous. i have no idea where we’re going. but we can figure it out. we need somewhere big, secure, and close to a supermarket. we might have to make our own farm when we get there. i want the next place to be for a while, maybe even permanent. so we’re gonna need to modify. any questions?” jaemin asked like a teacher. everyone looked at each other, but no one asked or said anything. “pack what you need, we’re leaving super early tomorrow. go to sleep early. maybe even soon.” jaemin demanded. it was 4:56 pm. how fucking early would you guys be leaving?

but, you didn’t really want to go to bed right now. and neither did anyone else, it seemed. “why don’t we all play truth or dare or something?” you asked everyone. “yeah, sure. why not? you’re playing too, jeno.” jaemin said. “fine.” jeno said, sighing. everyone sat down in a circle. chenle to your left, renjun to your right. “chenle, truth or dare?” jaemin started the game. “truth.” he said, clearly nervous. “what is your opinion on (y/n)?” jaemin asked the younger man. “well, she’s really nice, first of all. and she’s really fun to have around. im glad you found her.” he said smiling at jaemin, then you. it warmed your heart to hear that.

»»——  ☠  ——««

the game was pretty boring, but it’s always a nice time spender. you guys had played for quite a while before some of the younger members went to bed. then, jeno and you decided to go to bed, as well. you didn’t say a word to one another within the time that night, besides in the kitchen. renjun and you had become pretty good friends at this point. you made some jokes today, and bonded during truth or dare. he always made you laugh. but, if you had to be completely honest, you were kind of falling for jaemin. sure, there isn’t really space in the world now for love, but, he kind of stole your heart.

the room was silent. it was jeno, you, and your thoughts. it was a quiet world. the only noise you ever heard was laughter amongst the house. you guys were leaving tomorrow. that’s stressful. this was the only place you knew of since the world ended. it’s terrifying to think about. someone could die. you don’t wanna think about that. you love them all way too much, even if they’re mean to you.

»»——  ☠  ——««

it’s the day. you’re leaving. you woke up, stretched, and grabbed your stuff. jeno hadn’t woken up yet, so you walked over to wake him. the sun hadn’t risen, so you assumed it was close to leaving time, since jaemin said you would be leaving super early. “jeno, wake up, we’re leaving soon.” you shook him. “go away.” he said. you assumed he was just half asleep, so you shook him again. “i said go away! i’ll wake up when jaemin says!” he yelled at you. you just stepped back, and went downstairs, only to find renjun. “what’s up best friend? ready to go?” he asked you, way too much enthusiasm for this early. “yeah, i guess i am. i’m just scared someone might get bit or maybe even die.” you confessed. “don’t be scared. we’ve all been friends since forever, and have been planning. sure, it’s childish, but look at us now.” he smiled, shrugging.

you heard stomping from upstairs, followed by light yelling. “jaemin is screaming at them. calm down. they’ll get up.” renjun said. this made you laugh. it wasn’t actually that funny, but the way he said it was funny. jaemin came downstairs shortly after. “you guys ready?” he asked, rubbing his eyes. “yeah.” renjun and you said in unison. “do you actually have a plan?” you heard someone ask from behind jaemin. you looked behind him to see jeno, finally awake. “yeah, of course i do, dumbass. i wouldn’t just tell everyone to leave without a plan.” he spoke back to the clearly angry man. the other three came down, all with backpacks on, weapons in hand. “good morning, y’all!” you said to them, smiling. “is everyone ready to leave?” jaemin asked all of you. “yeah.” you all said, together, yawning after. “then, let’s go. grab the food.” jaemin commanded. you saw haechan, jisung, and chenle go into the kitchen to grab food, and you other four started to make your way to the door. “so long, house. you’ve done us all good.” jaemin said, saluting. the rest of you saluted as well, walking out.

when walking out, you saw nothing on the streets. no people, no zombies, nothing. it was trashed, but it was a ghost town. you guys were standing in a horizontal line walking, and you looked back every once in a while, because you never know. “so, where are we going?” chenle asked the leader. “it’s a surprise. you guys will love it. plenty of space and security.” he said, smiling. you’re so glad that even in the apocalypse, you can still have fun. sure, there’s limits to the fun you can have, but you still can do so, cautiously.

»»——  ☠  ——««

you guys had been walking for about two hours, when you finally stumbled upon some zombies. jaemin, being the wonderful leader he was, bashed their heads in with a bat. as if he couldn’t get any better. the zombies were beyond ugly. they were fucking atrocious. their eyes had been white, and sometimes they were even gone. they had rotten teeth, covered in human remains. it was disgusting. but, with a couple zombies, came more. chenle screamed a lot. pretty loud and high pitched, too. so, that lead more over. “chenle. you gotta stop screaming.” jaemin said to him. you were all running away from the zombies at this point. “guys! there’s a ladder right there we can climb to get up to that roof! looks like we can take it down after we’re done, too.” jeno spoke up. “that’s a good idea. everyone towards the ladder!” jaemin demanded. “for once, he’s actually useful.” renjun joked to you.

when making it to the ladder, jaemin made you go first, then renjun, haechan, jisung, chenle, jeno, then him. when jaemin was climbing up, a zombie grabbed his leg. “HOLY SHIT! JAEMIN KICK IT WITH YOUR OTHER LEG!!” haechan screamed at him. jaemin then quickly jumped off the ladder with his legs, still holding on with his hands, then kicked the zombie’s hand off. he made it up the ladder, and easily took the ladder up. everyone took a second to breathe, when jeno asked, “are you okay, jaem?” the nickname shocked you. “yeah im good, thanks, jen.” they smiled at each other. jeno has emotions? weird. 

»»——  ☠  ——««

you guys had used your ladder or a bridge in between buildings, and made it to your supposed destination. jaemin wasn’t fucking kidding when he said it was big. it was a fucking mansion. it looked like it would suit everyone in the pack. it was a huge off-white house, a ten foot wall surrounding it, and had a huge gate. “what the fuck? how did you know about this huge ass house?” you asked him. “it was a friend’s. he uh, disappeared without a trace when this all started.” he looked at the ground. “i’m so sorry. i didn’t mean to-” you were interrupted. “it’s fine. let’s just go.” he led you guys back down with the ladder, and took you inside.

the interior was clean. you were assuming the family either died or fled, since it was so quiet. you all split up to get adjusted to the surroundings, when you heard a high pitched scream. chenle. you walked to where the sound came from, seeing the cause of chenle’s scream. a half alive, half dead man chained up in a room. the man was extremely skinny. he was dirty, and struggling to  breathe. jeno walked in shortly after you, and immediately shut the door behind him. “shit.” he said. “what?” you questioned. “that’s mark. his friend that disappeared. we can’t let him see.” he had pure terror in his eyes. “ill kill him, just don’t let him i-” just then, jaemin walked in. he just stared at mark. he looked into mark’s almost white eyes, clearly trying to see something. “jaemin, ill just kill him, you can le-” you cut jeno off. “no, let jaemin do it. it’s his friend. let him say one last goodbye.” you said, putting your hand on jeno’s shoulder. jaemin still wasn’t saying anything, just staring at his undead friend. “jaemin. what do you want to do?” you asked him. chenle walked out of the room at this point. “i- jeno. can you please kill him? but first, let me say one last goodbye.” jaemin finally spoke up. “yes, go ahead.” jeno moved his arm so he could get through. “please be careful, jaem. he could turn any second.” jaemin just nodded in response to you. he squatted a couple feet in front of mark. “hey, bud. it’s been a while. we all thought you died. i’m sorry it had to be like this. i won’t ever forget about you. just know that you lived a good one. see ya up there, buddy.” jaemin spoke, tears rolling down his face. mark had been groaning, skin getting whiter by the second. it was time. “okay, jaemin. leave now please.” jeno said to him. jaemin left right after jeno said that. you stayed in the room with jeno. “uh, you sure you wanna see this?” jeno asked you, getting his baton out. “yeah, you’re probably not dealing with this too well either.” you said, patting his shoulder. jeno walked over to mark, stood there for a couple of seconds, then finally put him out of his misery. it was emotional. this was supposed to be newcomings and fun. but, that’s not how it actually went. 

you and jeno walked out of the room together, trying to find everyone else. they were all sitting in the living room, comforting jaemin. you haven’t seen him this weak or quiet since you met him. you feel so bad for him. he just saw one of his friends turn to the undead in front of him. absolutely traumatic. renjun saw you two walk in the room, and walked over to you and jeno, pushing you into the kitchen. ���what happened up there?” he asked. “did jaem not tell you?” jeno asked. “no, he hasn’t said a word. chenle explained that mark was in there half alive and half dead. that’s all we know.” renjun whispered. “well, yeah. mark is up there. but, he was left to die. he was clearly bitten earlier today, it seems. poor guy. i put him out of his misery.” jeno admitted. “what did you do with the body?” renjun asked. “it’s still up there.” you added. “hey, dipshits, we have to take it out. it will smell rotten in here if we don’t.” renjun told you two. you all walked upstairs back to mark’s room, and opened the door. he was still there, flopped over. “god, it already smells awful in here.” renjun pointed out, wofting the air. jeno did a quick check to actually see if he was dead, then nodded. renjun and you walked over to his dead body, and picked him up. jeno led you down the stairs, out the door, and to the backyard. you guys set the body down, and grabbed a conveniently placed nearby shovel. jeno started to dig a hole big enough for mark’s body to fit in. “can you two go in the shed and see if there’s any wood to make a headstone?” jeno asked, wiping sweat off of his head. “yeah, no problem.” renjun said. you walked into the tiny shed, and searched for a while until you found some wood, nails, and a hammer. there was a family portrait in the shed. you stared at it for a while, seeing how happy of a family they looked to be. it’s so awful what happened to them.

renjun and you walked out of the shed, and made your way over to jeno. “can you also assemble it? we don’t need to label it, we all know who it’s for.” jeno asked. you quickly arranged the two pieces of wood into a cross, and nailed it together. you three once again picked up the body, and placed it in the grave. jeno put the dirt back over the body. you placed the “headstone” you had made at the top of the hole. you three made your way back in, to see everyone unpacking. “did everyone find their rooms?” renjun asked. haechan looked up from the soup can he was holding, and shook his head. “it’s probably best if everyone shares rooms again. since it would be safer. you never know what could happen.” jeno said, looking directly at you. “it just depends on how many beds are in a room.” renjun said. “who said there had to be multiple? there isn’t that many rooms in here. it’s a three member family. is it such a big deal to share beds?” jeno questioned. “okay, then (y/n) gets her own room. she’s a girl. master bedroom.” chenle spoke. “no, i don’t need the master, give it to jaemin. he deserves it more than me.” you declared. “agreed.” jeno said. “okay, fine. but im calling jisung as my roomate!” chenle spoke. “ill take renjun.” haechan said. “guess we’re roomies again.” you looked up at jeno, to see him smiling at them. “yeah, i guess we are.” he looked back down on you.

»»——  ☠  ——««

after getting all of the food unpacked and put away, everyone started to move into their now assigned rooms. no one used mark’s room. you all mutually agreed to never step foot in there again. you and jeno walked up to your room, and took it in. it looked like the master bedroom, but it wasn’t. the bed was absolutely ginormous and seemed to give you two enough space to breathe from one another, even though he had been fairly nice to you today. “wow.” was all you could say. “yeah. i’ve never seen a room this nice in my life.” jeno said. you laid on the bed, feeling how comfortable it was, almost falling asleep right there, until you felt a pressure next to you. jeno plopped down on the bed so hard. “today has been a long day. i hope jaemin is okay.” you spoke to him. “yeah, it has been. he could’ve died and then he had to see his friend like that. i hope he doesn’t go mute.” jeno blurted out. “i don’t think he’ll go mute. he’s the leader of our pack, he can’t go mute. none of us would be able to run this whole thing like he does.” you said. “yeah, you have a fair point. also, i’m sorry for being such a dick to you the past few days. it was just hard to accept someone new into the pack that quickly.” jeno owned up to. “no, it’s fine. i totally get it. its hard for change to occur when you’re so used to something being a certain way. i 100% get where you’re coming from.” you responded. “i hope we can be better friends now. we’re together in the apocalypse for god’s sake.” jeno said. “yeah, i’d like that.”

»»——  ☠  ——««

to be continued….

[minhoinator-writes]

One to a Hundred (~2900 words) read on AO3 // AFF

A/N: Sorta inspired by the Friends episode where Chandler kept accidentally kissing Monica after they get back from London....so I'm sure you can guess where this is gonna go lol I swear I'm working on the next BMS chapter, but it's just been a super stressful week for me and I needed a quick one-shot to get me back in the writing mood lol 

"It's gonna be weird, isn't it?"

"Hm?"

"Going home."

Minho sighed as he pressed his forehead into Kibum's shoulder, closing his eyes tightly. Right, their managers for Surprise Vacation would be coming to pick them up to go to the airport soon. Which, that was why Kibum was at his rented flat in the first place, so they wouldn't have to take two separate cars to the airports.

That was the only reason, as far as their managers were aware.

But, in reality, they were spending their last night together before they would have to return to Korea and the close-quarters of the dorm. This…development in their relationship was quite new, but the feelings behind it definitely were not.

After the cameras were off and they left the pizza place off of the ice rink, Kibum grabbed his hand and stole him away from the crew, and together they explored London for themselves. Truth be told, it was the best part of the entire trip, blessedly undocumented by the crew.

Some things were best kept to themselves.

Minho kissed along the plane of Kibum's bare shoulder, smiling when Kibum snuggled closer to his warmth.

"Isn't it?"

"What?"

Kibum scoffed. "Of course you weren't fucking listening to me."

"When do I ever?" Minho sniffed a laugh, his fingers toying with the waistband of Kibum's boxers. When did he put those on?

"All the time. You're really attentive, actually."

Minho blinked, his hand stilling on Kibum's stomach. This was part of the new development...more genuine compliments thrown into their usual banter. It was taking some getting used to, but he wasn't complaining. "Sorry, baby, I'm still tired."

He could hear the soft smile in Kibum's sigh. Another new thing...Kibum liked it when he called him baby. Minho relaxed on his pillow when Kibum started to turn around, doing his best to stay in Minho's arms. "You're not planning on telling the others, right?"

Minho shook his head. They had already discussed this, after their first kiss on the bridge overlooking the Thames that night they had snuck away. This would be their secret for as long as they could keep it. "Are you sure?"

Kibum searched his expression, his eyes dazzlingly beautiful for this early in the morning. "About?"

"That...that you want us to be together after we leave?"

His expression softened and he took Minho's hand in his, looking down at it as he started to fiddle with his hand. "Of course. I…" he shook his head, pursing his lips.

"What?"

Kibum grimaced. "It's stupid and cheesy." Minho grinned, shifting a bit closer to him. Kibum speared him with an exasperated look that melted into a shy smile. "Now that...we're together -- "

"Finally."

"Yes, finally, shut up, Min." Minho laughed and Kibum closed his eyes, shaking his head. "Now that we're together, I can't, like, imagine facing the world without you, you know, beside me." Kibum glanced up at him only to suppress his smile and immediately look back down at their hands between them. "Stop looking at me like that."

"Like what?" Kibum shook his head and Minho smiled, slipping his hand out of Kibum's limp grasp to raise his chin with an extended finger until their eyes met. "You're so cute when you get shy. I've always thought so."

"Shut up."

"Make me."

The mischievous glint in Kibum's eyes was Minho's only warning before he surged forward to silence him with a kiss. Minho smiled into it, holding Kibum close as he relaxed further into his pillow.

Honestly, if every morning began like this, he might be more of a morning person.

But, unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. The knocking of one of their managers pushed them apart, both hurrying to get pajamas on so their managers would be none the wiser.

And, so, it began.

The flight back to Korea was long and arduous. In between sleeping and eating, they both decided to work on the lyrics for their upcoming comeback. During the ManU game, Jeon Gandi emailed him the draft of Dream Girl, their next title song. He was supposed to write his rap for it, and after he finished eating his lunch, he got out his phone to start brainstorming ideas.

"Do you want my help?"

Minho glanced over at Kibum, noting the bags under his eyes and how sleepy he looked. He was a light sleeper, usually, so getting restful sleep on planes was more than a little difficult for him.

"It's okay, go ahead and try to sleep."

Kibum fought it, focusing instead on the lyrics Minho was starting to type...and backspace...and retype. He mumbled his ideas until he finally rested his head on Minho's shoulder, letting sleep claim him.

Minho smiled when he heard the first of Kibum's snores, and glanced down at the top of his head. After a furtive glance around, he placed a quick kiss on the crown of Kibum's head and refocused on writing.

It was a good song, really cute, in his opinion. He could already almost hear the upbeat tempo and the tune of it in his head. He read the lyrics again, and, maybe it was because their relationship was so new, but Minho couldn't help but think of Kibum.

"My heart makes me go after you in secret," he whispered aloud, glancing down at Kibum again. He read up to the point where his rap would come in, then reread it once more before he started to write his lyrics with Kibum fully in mind. The words flowed easily and once he was finished, he read over it again, making a few edits before he sent it back to Gandi.

Kibum stirred when Minho set his phone down. "Did you finish?"

"Mhm."

"Can I see?" Minho unlocked his phone and opened the email before passing it to Kibum. He watched his profile as he read over the rap, releasing a huff of a sigh when Kibum started to smile. "I like it."

"It's about you," Minho started to say but was cut off by the arrival of their manager bringing them a snack.

The comeback was a whirlwind of preparation that started almost as soon as they stepped off the plane. It swept them all up -- with regular meetings with him, Kibum, Jonghyun, and the other songwriters so they could finalize the tracks for the album, perfecting the choreography for the title track, photoshoots and the filming of the music video...it was a wonder they had any time to themselves to sleep or eat.

It wasn't a surprise that they had yet to be able to spend any time, alone, together, since their return to Korea. They did, however, tend to gravitate toward each other, no matter what they were doing, maintaining their connection through subtle glances and fleeting touches.

It was quite easy to hide their affection for each other from the others during a comeback. Everyone was too tired to focus on anything besides sleeping and how nice of a concept that was.

"Good night," Jinki mumbled as he pulled himself up from where he was nodding off on the couch. Minho glanced away from the television to watch him go before his attention shifted to Kibum, who was curled up in the chair by the hallway, reading a book.

"Night," Kibum said absently, and Minho went back to mindlessly playing his video game. Until Kibum's book snapped closed. He looked back, smiling as Kibum stretched in his seat. "I thought he'd never leave."

"Oh?"

Kibum smirked. "Mhm."

"We should probably go to sleep. Long day tomorrow."

"Today, technically."

Minho looked over at the clock. It was a little past midnight. "Yeah."

"Let's go to bed, huh?"

Minho nodded, turning off the TV and following Kibum down the hallway, turning sideways to move past him once Kibum stopped at his door. He grabbed Minho's hand before he got too far away. "What?"

"Aren't you coming?"

Minho blinked. "Where?"

"To bed." Minho blinked rapidly, his tired confusion clouding his mind. He pointed to his and Jonghyun's bedroom in answer. "I meant with me."

Minho's eyes widened. "What about Taemin?"

"He's with his parents tonight." Kibum cracked the door open and looked back at Minho with the same twinkle in his eye that had been there all those weeks ago in London.

Minho couldn't help but follow him inside.

* * * * * * * * * *

"So how'd you sleep?"

Kibum paused and glanced at Jonghyun before he took a tentative sip of his coffee. The question seemed innocuous enough, but there was something in his tone that made him slightly suspicious. "Fine. You?"

"Oh, you know me. Up later than I should be."

Jonghyun smirked, almost devilishly. Kibum squinted at him, the checked down the hallway when he heard footsteps. It was only Jinki. If Minho wasn't up in five minutes he'd have to go wake him up so they wouldn't be late for their schedules today.

They murmured good morning to each other as Jinki sat down beside him, grabbing the mug Jonghyun set down for him and staring at it blearily. A door opened and Kibum leaned back in his chair, smiling at Minho as he walked down to the bathroom at the far end of the hall.

"Hey, Jinki," Jonghyun said, glaring at the box of cereal on the top shelf of the cupboard. His favorite cereal. "Could you reach this for me?"

"I wonder who moved that," Kibum said, trying not to smile.

"Some tall asshole."

The door to the bathroom opened again, and Minho emerged in his running gear. He smiled sleepily at Kibum as he made his way toward him, and once he reached him, he said, "Good morning!" as he bent down to kiss him.

If this were any other situation, it would have been a sweet gesture. Kibum would have definitely kissed him back. But, instead, he just sat there in shock as Minho pulled away from him. His eyes were blown wide, and Minho's soon was too when he heard the clatter of a spoon in a bowl.

Both Jonghyun and Jinki were watching them, equally wide-eyed -- though Jonghyun was sporting a growing smile. Any possible excuse for Minho to be kissing Kibum that wasn't the fact that they were a couple completely left his brain. He would have stammered something, though, if Minho hadn't walked over to where they were, shaking his head slightly as he wrapped Jonghyun up in his arms.

"Good morning!" he said with strained cheer as he kissed him, and then again with Jinki. None of them moved after Minho left them, and Minho didn't turn around as he made his way toward the door. If his ears were anywhere near the color of his face, he was visibly embarrassed. "I'll be back! Taking a quick run!"

He took off before the door closed behind him, and Kibum's gaze immediately darted back to Jinki and Jonghyun.

"Well," Jinki said, picking up his bowl of cereal. "If I wasn't awake before, I certainly am now."

Before Jonghyun could comment, Kibum sprang from his seat and muttered something about going to get ready to leave.

As soon as he got into his room, his phone chimed. Kibum closed the door behind himself and went over to where it had been charging, unsurprised to find a flurry of texts from Minho.

Mino 5:13 // omg i'm so sorry 5:14 // i don't know what i was thinking i didn't even notice they were there at first 5:14 // were they mad at me? 5:15 // are you mad at me?? 5:15 // did they figure it out???

Kibum smiled at his screen as he started to type.

5:16 // Jjong might have but i don't know for sure 5:16 // and no, i'm not mad at you

He paused, internally debating before he sent hurry back.

5:18 // thank god 5:18 // wait why is there something wrong?

He could picture him clearly, standing there on the sidewalk, his phone in hand and his brow furrowed with concern as he stared at his screen, waiting for Kibum's reply. And, before Kibum could second guess himself or talk himself out of it…

5:18 // i miss you

He tossed his phone away immediately, and it landed with a soft thump on his bed. A moment later, it chimed twice then fell silent. Kibum watched it, waiting for several minutes for another notification. When none came, he slowly made his way over to his bed, picking it up to peek at the texts.

5:19 // awwww~ 5:19 // okay hold on

Kibum could feel the heat coloring his face as he tossed his phone back on his bed. He smiled as he sorted through his closet, picking an outfit that would be passable as fashionable enough for a radio show and a fan meet afterward. As he was fiddling with his beret in the mirror, figuring out its placement on his head, there came a knock on his door.

"Yeah."

The door opened, and a slightly breathless Minho poked his head in. "Hey, can you help me pick out an outfit?"

Kibum stared at him, then blink. "That was a really quick run."

"Someone asked me to hurry, so I did." He gave Kibum a cheeky wink and grin as he slipped away, probably heading for his bedroom next door. Kibum placed the beret without another thought and followed him. By the time he reached Minho's room, his shirt was discarded and he was sifting through his clothes. He smiled as Kibum stared, a little too smugly for Kibum's liking, but he couldn't tear his eyes away long enough to snap at him.

Sure, he had seen Minho shirtless before. Many times. They'd lived together as a group far too long for him not to. But, it was different now. Before, he wouldn't have been caught staring at him, not this blatantly. He didn't want to freak Minho out with his feelings for him, but now that he knew, and they were alone…

"Hey, my eyes are up here," Minho said, a smile in his voice.

"Yeah, I've seen them before." Minho snorted and Kibum finally looked up, sighing involuntarily. "Sorry."

"I don't mind. Come here." Kibum stepped further into the closet, his attention shifting from Minho to the clothes. "What about these?"

He held up two options that were clearly not designed to go together and he knew it, and Kibum sucked his teeth before playfully slapping Minho's shoulder. "Stop it."

"These?" Another terrible choice.

He rolled his eyes as Minho just laughed. "Fuck, just let me do it."

As Kibum stepped up to seriously inspect Minho's clothes, Minho slipped behind him and wrapped his arms around him before resting his head against his. Kibum hummed in appreciation at the warmth and closeness, but as he started to pick out some outfits, Minho started to distract him by kissing down his neck.

As much as Kibum would have liked to allow himself to get lost in the moment, in the security of being wrapped up in Minho's arms, in the way each time Minho's lips brushed against his skin made his heart flutter… They had places to be, and soon. He pulled a pair of skinny jeans, a black t-shirt, and a jacket off the rack and slipped out of his arms.

"You have to go shower or else we'll be late," he said.

"Okay."

Kibum searched Minho's expression, smiling softly at the affection radiating from his gaze. Before he could stop himself, he cupped Minho's face with both hands and pulled him into a kiss that was soon cut short by someone clearing their throat. They broke apart, both looking at a half-amused, half-confused Jonghyun.

"What the fuck is up with you two?"

"Nothing," they said at the same time.

"He's gonna go shower before the van gets here," Kibum said, hastily leaving the closet. "I'm gonna go finish my breakfast. What about you?"

"I was...gonna change out of my pajamas?"

"Good luck!" he said, slipping away from Minho, he patted Jonghyun on the shoulder, and after steeling himself, cupped his face much like he had just done with Minho and gave Jonghyun a firm kiss. "Okay, see you guys out...there…"

He hurried out the door, smacking his palm over his eyes after the door closed behind him. Yes, today was their first slip up since coming back from London, but there were bound to be more. Lots more… Something had to happen...change...if they were going to continue to be together.

And Kibum very much wanted that.

Maybe they should move out of the dorm. No, that would be way too suspicious, especially now. He started down the hallway toward the kitchen when he heard the jiggle of the knob behind him and he didn't look back when someone -- probably Minho -- walked out into the hallway.

If not one of them, then himself. It would be nice to have his own space. More room to fit his clothes, and all that. He stirred his now soggy cereal, grimacing at it. That was something to think about, but for now, he pushed the thought away.

It'd have to wait until the end of their comeback.

[softbookboi]

Spin The Bottle (a snowbaz fanfic) Chapter 1

Summary: The Eighth Years are playing Spin The Bottle at a party. When Simon sees that his ex-girlfriend Agatha cheated to kiss Baz, he decides to get revenge. During the next game, Seven Minutes In Heaven, Simon cheats and gets himself and Baz in the closet together. Oh my, what could they possibly do in the closet?

Simon

This is stupid. I'm in a huge house full of drunkards stumbling around, falling on top of each other, making out, and dancing like animals solely because I couldn't resist Penny's puppy eyes. Oh, this is so stupid.

I push through the bodies intoxicated with alcohol and wander around, trying to look for Penny, anyone. At this point, I'm even looking for Agatha-no. No, I'm not. Anyone, but not Agatha. As I whip my head around several times, trying to look past the towering dancers, I sigh and make my way towards the stairs. I'll just go upstairs, maybe there's not much of a crowd there and I can relax and find Penny and get the hell out of here.

Agatha broke up with me a week ago, and I've been a bit miserable since then. I was so confused and agitated and angry as to why she would want to break up. We're the perfect couple, her family loves me and we've been together for years now, and then she decides to call it off in the 8th year. I knew part of the reason she decided to call it off was that she liked Baz, and that made me more angry, more upset. So much so that I started eating less and Penny became genuinely concerned about me. So while I talked crap about stupid Baz, she had made a plan to take me to this party. Of course, at first I said no, but then she gave me her puppy eyes and emotionally blackmailed me, so I had to accept. I already regretted it the moment I entered, and she left me and told me to 'get another girlfriend'. It's been an hour now and I haven't seen her anywhere. I want to go home and if I don't find her upstairs, I'll go back by myself.

I finally make my way up the stairs and rest for a minute, leaning on the railing. I was right, there is barely a crowd here, the hall is completely empty except for a few people here and there. I start walking again and check a few of the bedrooms up here. Empty. No one's in them. As I make my way to the last door and reach for the doorknob, someone bursts out and bumps into me, our foreheads smashing together.

"Ahh," I let out. I look up to see the perpetrator is the devil herself, Penny.

"Penny," I start, "why did you bring me here? I wanna go back, I don't like it and it's certainly not helping me feel any better-"

"Merlin's beard, Simon. I'd been looking for you everywhere and was just about to come to get you right now. Where were you?"

"Where was I? Where were you? You left me downstairs all alone with those bloody drunks, I've been miserable! Well, at least we're leaving now-"

"We're not leaving."

"-so it's fin-what? Yes, we are. I've had enough, Penny."

"Come on, just give it another try, we're just about to play Spin The Bottle and it'll be really fun and the people inside aren't even that drunk as that downstairs so you can try a real convo with them."

"Oh, Penny, please, Spin The Bottle? What are you, in middle school?"

"Oh just come, it'll be great. I promise you won't regret it." She said as she grabbed my arm and dragged me in. Inside, everyone was scattered and they were all 8th years. Most of them I was quite friendly with, and others who I'd passed in halls before when I was going to my classes. As my eyes went over everyone in the room, they landed on Baz, talking to his minions, Niall and Dev. Baz.

Baz was here? And he was playing Spin The Bottle? I would've expected him to snide some stupid remark about us 8th years being too mature to play these types of games and then say he wasn't interested, but I guess not? And I hadn't even known he was coming to this party.

As if reading my mind, Penny says, "Every 8th year was invited to this party, we had decided to play these games beforehand, as kind of reminiscing old memories. Surprisingly, Baz agreed to this game without a remark. Guess he wanted to reminisce too, or just wanted to kiss someone. After this, it's Seven Minutes In Heaven. And, uhh...Agatha's here too."

She said the last bit in a really small voice as if apologizing. My eyes soared around the room once again, and I spotted her sitting in the half-made circle, excited. I quickly looked away, not wanting to meet her eyes after what she sent me through. Instead, I glanced at Baz.

He was now making his way towards the circle, sitting down a few feet away from Agatha. Upon watching him arrive, she blushed, and he smiled. Then, he looked my way and smirked. I felt a wave of anger rush over me from this. That prick always liked my girlfriend, and now that we've broken up, of course, he's going to make a move on her. That's probably why he even said yes to this game. She's probably the someone he wants to kiss. That bastard.

Baz

I had heard the door open a bit after Bunce had gone looking for Snow, and spared a tiny glance. It was Snow, he was here.

I felt my stomach drop to the floor and my spirit lift out of my body with hope all at once.

Snow is here, so there's a chance that I could get to kiss him, but I don't think I'll be able to handle that. And there's a huge chance that someone else would get picked. But still.

I only agreed to this game because I thought it was a bit childish, and it's been a while since I felt like a child again so I agreed. But now Snow is here, and I'm sweating with nervousness. I know he won't get picked, I just know, but I can't help but fidget.

I look at Snow as he takes in all the people here but look away before he gets to me and then look back after. I watch as he looks at Wellbelove and for a brief second, pain flashes in his expression, and is gone after because he looks away. I pity him, Wellbelove was his girlfriend for years and now she dumped him. It almost makes me want to stop toying with him by flirting with her. Actually, I do want to stop. I don't want him thinking that I want his ex-girlfriend. I want him, but he can't ever know that, no matter how much I want it.

I make my way towards the circle with Niall and Dev behind me and know he's watching. As I sit down, Wellbelove blushes and I smile at her, pitying her too as I'm not interested. I look over to Snow and smirk and watch as anger overcomes him. He's really too easy to mess with, I bet he thinks I fancy Wellbelove. The poor boy.

I talk with others while the circle fills and everyone's sitting now with the bottle in the center, and finally turn towards the people to see who's here. I see quite a lot of 8th years and but not all, guess some people decided to stay in the dorms tonight. Snow's sitting across from me, looking miserable as ever. I keep stealing small glances at him but making sure he can't see me. As I'm in the fourth one, I feel Dev nudge me from the side. I look over at him with a confused expression and he's smirking at me, obviously having caught me staring at Snow. I look away quickly, not wanting him to see the pink dusting my cheeks (I had just drained a deer before arriving at this party).

"Alright everyone, let's start the game." One of the girls says.

We play a few rounds, sometimes people of the same gender kiss, and everyone oohs and ahhs a lot, enjoying the show. Snow doesn't play, nor does Bunce, Wellbelove and me. When finally it's Wellbelove's turn to spin the bottle, Snow looks troubled, anxious to see who it would point to. I can already tell he's going to hate whoever this lands on, whether it be a girl or boy. And God forbid if it lands on him, that would be really fucking awkward.

My wish comes true, it doesn't land on him. Instead, it lands on...me. Me.

I hear the hooting of the boys and girls, but I'm so shocked that they just seem like white noise to me. This isn't right, I was just flirting with Agatha for fun. Now if we kiss, she'll definitely take that as a sign for us to get together. I don't like her, I never did. I knew she liked me and that she was gonna propose the idea of us soon, and had been preparing to turn her down. But this bottle has made things so much harder now.

I feel another nudge, and look up from the bottle to see Snow glaring at me. I can practically see the air bursting out of his ears, and his face is red with anger. Snow also knew Wellbelove liked me, he saw us holding hands the other day in the woods. I can see he's very near to going off, his magic is prickling at my skin, but he's also holding back somehow so that he doesn't make a racket. If he was angry with me then, he's livid now.

I look at Wellbelove and she's popping with victory, pride clear on her face. I think she spelled the bottle to turn to me, it's obvious she had something to do with it by the look she has on. I don't think she's even fazed that her ex-boyfriend is in the room, I think she's even more ecstatic that he'll watch her kiss someone else.

I've taken too long to think, and now everyone's chanting kiss kiss kiss like a bunch of 11-year-olds. This was a bad idea, such a bad idea. The talk with Wellbelove is going to be even harder and Snow hates me even more now. The boy I love despises me more now. But I know I can't back down, I have to do this. I mean it's just a kiss, I'll just give her a peck and pull away fast. I move forward toward her and she does too. We're on all fours, knees and hands, and she's so eager that she pulls me in from the back of my neck. I move to pull away after a second but she doesn't let go, instead, she pulls me closer and slips her tongue in my throat. The cheering grows louder. I don't like kissing her and I don't want to.

I forcefully move away this time, and as I am, I accidentally meet eyes with Snow. His face hardens and he looks like a psycho overcome by rage, his blue eyes glinting with anger. For a moment, he scares me, and I move faster. I pull away and she looks shocked, but then moves back to her side.

That was my first kiss. I've never kissed anyone before and she stole it, the witch. I didn't like the feeling at all.

We play a few more rounds, but I'm far off in my mind to pay attention. I won't even bother flirting with Wellbelove now. I'll just be blunt, serves her right for doing a despicable thing.

I'm regretting my life choices as the game finally finishes, and then we're about to start Seven Minutes In Heaven. I won't play this time, and if Wellbelove pulls something again, I'll just refuse to go in the goddamn closet with her. I won't be forced to play this bloody game with her.

Simon

I'm livid.

When the bottle landed on Baz, I was terrifyingly mad. When I looked at his face, he didn't sneer or smirk, instead, he looked a bit...upset...that it landed on him. But then I looked at Agatha, and she was overflowing with smugness. I knew. She had spelled this bottle to make it land on Baz and get me back for whatever reason. She knew I hated Baz and she didn't even care that I was in the same room, instead she spelled it to make sure that it lands on him out of all people. I'm not mad at Baz anymore, I'm mad at Agatha. I don't want her back now and I'm going to get revenge. I have the perfect way to do that too.

As we're getting ready for Seven Minutes In Heaven, the girls are writing everyone's names on slips of paper and putting them inside a hat. This game will be like that last one, meaning people of the same gender can go in the closet together. I know Agatha is gonna cheat again, so why don't I just do it?

I sneakily pick up a piece of paper when no one's looking and write Baz's name on it, and then keep it in my hand, and put my hand in my pocket. Let's see how she feels when I go in there with Baz, the guy she left me for and even cheated to get with.

As I step back, I look over at Baz again. He seems quite different now, almost bored like he wants to go home as soon as he can. I think about his expression when the bottle landed on him. He truly didn't look like he wanted to kiss her, and the rest of the game, he didn't pay attention to anything at all. Is it possible that he doesn't fancy Agatha and didn't want to kiss her?

Nah, he's probably plotting something, trying to catch me off guard. The bastard.

The game starts and Baz looks just as distant. Looks like he doesn't want to play, and keeps glancing over at Agatha and shows the tiniest hint of a glare. Does he know she pulled something? I wouldn't be surprised if he did, he's really fucking smart.

After about three rounds of the game, I can see Agatha's about to go next so I cut her off. Before she can let out a single word, I go, "I'm next" and she looks shocked, just as she did when Baz pulled away from her when they were kissing. She puts the I don't care at all, you know mask on once again but I know she's bit wary. I look at Baz and he's still not in this world. As I step forward and dip my hand (the one with the chit of paper, I made sure no one could see I was holding something) and act as if I'm pulling out a piece of paper, I have a cool look on my face. I know the paper in my hand has Baz's name on it and when I open it and say Baz, I look over to Agatha to see her reaction.

She looks stupefied, just standing still as the crowd erupts in a huge roar of hooting and cheering. She looks at me and I put on an expression of innocence. She's still horrified when people start pushing Baz my way. He finally snaps out of his dream and looks around with a confuzzled look on his face.

"What? What's happening?" he says, and I say, "I got your name in Seven Minutes In Heaven." I watch as his face contorts from one of confusion to one of bewilderment. Now, he's also stupefied, just like Agatha. He even starts stammering. Baz never stammers. He's always the one yelling at me to 'spit it out'.

The crowd takes notice of this and starts pushing us towards the walk-in closet, whilst ooh and ahh-ing their arses off. I look back at Agatha and the shocked expression has been replaced with a loathing one. She knows I cheated. But who said I cared? I throw her a smug look before getting shoved in the closet. They turn the lights off before closing the door and heading back.

We both stand there awkwardly in the dark for about 20 seconds, silence blanketing over us. Then Baz clears his voice and starts, "Listen, Snow," his tone indicates that he's gotten over his moment of shock and is now back to his senses, "Let's just wait the minutes out, they can't see us so they won't know."

I smirk in the dark. Even though Baz has seemed to found his cool again, he still seems a bit shaky and nervous.

"Well, I don't know about that that," I say as I move closer. I can just make out Baz's figure in the dark and as I take steps forward, he takes steps backward. "I mean, that would be cheating, and that's not right. Shouldn't we follow the game's rules?" I say smugly. I actually have no idea what I'm doing. My plan only intended for us to go into the closet together, but not do anything further. I just wanted Agatha to think we were doing something, to get back at her. But now, my feet and mouth are out of my control. They seem to be saying and doing the things they want, instead of listening to me.

Baz keeps moving further away until his back hits the wall. I smile triumphantly and lean over to his face until we're so close that I can feel his breath on me.

"Snow, what are you d-doing?" I chuckle darkly as I feel him shiver as I move closer to him, and by the look of his face in the dark, he doesn't seem too happy about that either.

Baz

I mentally slap myself for shivering and stuttering in front of Snow. When I was shoved in here, I had some time to comprehend this and figured that despite my shock, we wouldn't be doing anything. I mean, c'mon, Snow's a git, I'm a wanker and we both hate each other. Well, he thinks that I hate him.

I found my voice and told him to just sit it out but then he had this smirk on his face and started moving closer while saying things like we would be cheating if we did that. He has me cornered now, and once again I've lost the ability to think straight or speak. I don't dare open my mouth for fear of accidentally blurting out that I want to do something.

I still can't figure out what he means. Is he saying we should be doing this for the game? Is he toying with me? Does he want to do this? It's definitely not the last one, I know for sure. Then what's he doing?

I'm so wound up in my own thoughts and concerns that I don't notice him sneaking to my ear.

He whispers, "What needs to be done.

Then he kisses me.

I'm absolutely flabbergasted. Snow is kissing me. Snow is kissing me. Simon Snow, the boy I'm in love with, is kissing me! My eyes go back to their normal size as I push at his mouth, kissing him back with as much want as I can muster. He groans, and moves his hands to my hair, lightly tugging on a few strands near my scalp. I practically purr into his mouth at the touch and feel a light smile playing on his lips at my satisfying reaction.

Two can play at this game, I think, and move my hands to his small (A.N: smol) waist and grip it tightly, and feel content when a sigh escapes the confining walls of his mouth. We're full-on snogging now, and I'm still not in my right mind. He's doing this because of the game, isn't he? He definitely is. I mentally shrug as I decide that since this is a one-time thing, I better soak up all the Simon Snow I can. I push harder, turning him over so that he's trapped in the wall, and when he gasps because of the surprise, I slip my tongue in his mouth. He lets out a small mmh and I smile, moving my hands up to cup his cheeks and grab a portion of his bronze locks in each hand. He starts rubbing my stomach and I lean into the touch because it feels so good until-

Bam! The door flies open and suddenly I'm being ripped apart from Snow and the lights are on. I open my eyes, adjusting to the light and realize what we'd just done, eyes widening in shock and cheeks reddening in the embarrassment of being caught. I look up at Snow and see that he's the same, does eyes sparkling wide and cheeks turning an adorable shade of crimson, his freckles being flaunted and lips swollen. The hair is tousled because of when I pulled at it slightly and ran my fingers through it. In this lighting, Snow looks absolutely fucking gorgeous.

I look to the side and see a girl I passed in the hallway sometimes, and Niall and Bunce by her side, and behind them, standing at the door, everyone who was playing this stupid game gaping at us with their mouths half open. I look back and it's Dev who ripped me apart from Snow, his and Niall's face contorting into one of surprise and smugness, smirks decorating their features and a hint of mischief in their eyes. Bunce and everyone else just looks stunned by what they just witnessed the two boys who pick fights all the time in school doing.

Just as suddenly, the blanket of stunned silence is lifted and before I know it, everyone's dragging me out, howling and whistling and saying things like, "You took more than seven minutes so we got curious", "Never knew you had a thing for him, Baz", or "Someone was a bit eager there". I look over at Snow and he's also being bombarded by the people, being teased relentlessly.

We get carried out and people start the game again, but reiteratively, I can't concentrate and this time it seems like Snow can't either. I want to snog him again. I want to do all that again. And more. I want to be with him. But I can't. My chest fills with pain as I remind myself that what we did was just for the game, at least he did it for the game, even if I didn't.

Oh my God, I was probably coming off so strong on him and he probably was just messing with me. Oh no, what if he just wanted to peck me? I completely went overboard if that was the case. Oh Crowley, it's gonna be so awkward with him if that's the case. I can't face him now. I'm despicable in Snow's eyes and he hates me, he obviously just wanted a tiny kiss and I went and snogged him senseless. Aleister Crowley, he probably knows I'm in love with him now. Well, he might think I like him, but not that I'm in love with him. That's good. Oh, I was here thinking Wellbelove was going to cheat and pick me and I was going to have to humiliate myself and her in front of all these people by saying no and this is actually what happened.

Wellbelove. Wellbelove

I look around and my eyes find her. She looks as if she might kill someone. Not someone; Snow. She looks as if she might kill Snow. I was too distracted to notice her in the doorway with the other people, but now that she has my attention, I have to say I'm kind of scared. She looks terrifying like she might join forces with the Humdrum to kill Snow. I can't help but feel a twinge of amusement. She was so desperate to get me but instead, I got Snow. Ha, suck it, Wellbelove.

At the thought of him, I look around some more to find him. My eyes sweep over everyone in the bundle of 8th Years here, yet I can't seem to place him or Bunce. Did they leave already? If they're gone then why the fuck am I staying?

"Looking for your Chosen One, are you?" Dev snickers and Niall joins in from beside me. I feel myself blush, shake it off, look over at them and glare. "No, I'm not, and he's not my Chosen One. That was just a one-time thing, just for this game. And I'd rather not do it again."

"Baz, we know you're in love with him and we know you're looking for him. It's painfully obvious. But anyhow, Bunce dragged him away after you both came out. Probably asked him if he liked it and was fazed by it or not, like you." Niall retorts with a snort.

I feel myself blush harder than before, skin warming. "I was not fazed by it and didn't like it, it was just a bit enjoyable and I got carried away."

"Your burning cheeks say otherwise. Crowley, Baz, you must really like him a lot to be this red. When we tore you both apart, it looked as if you were about to explode. Never seen you like this before, and I have to say, I really like it."

I sneer at them both, but since I'm blushing, it comes out soft and they both coo. Ugh, bloody gits basking in my misery.

I spend the rest of the game pondering over Snow, whether he liked it or not. In the end, I'm sure he was traumatized by my animalistic jump on him and decide that since I've lost face in front of so many people who'll probably send this news to everyone else in school, I may as well start trying to get it back. From tomorrow on, I'll do my best to ignore Snow and this will just go back to normal. Even though I don't want it to.

After the game, I throw a tantrum and say that I want to go back. Dev and Niall just nod and keep making retorts about me and Snow, calling us Snowbaz. I tell them that I hate it and they say that I secretly love it, just like Snow. They're right. But they don't have to know that.

When I'm standing in front of my dorm, about to go in, I wonder if Snow's there and if he's asleep. He has to be, its past midnight and we have classes tomorrow (honestly these people's timings for parties are horrible). I take a deep breath, prepare myself and walk in.

Snow is awake.

He's tucked in bed, feigning sleep but the rhythm of his breathing tells otherwise. Why is he awake? Is he thinking about what happened earlier? If he is, is it bad or good in his mind? I'm too tired to stress over what he's thinking now, so I just get changed, brush my teeth and lay in bed. When I do, he's still awake. I face my back towards him and can feel his gaze burning holes through my skin, not allowing me to fall asleep peacefully.

I softly bring my hand up to my mouth, and finally, it hits. It hits hard.

I snogged Simon Snow.

Simon

Baz just came back from the party. It's kind of surprisingly really, because I figured he'd be too embarrassed to stay there after looking like he did when we got caught. Even though he's a vampire, his cheeks turned shade of red dark enough to spot from a mile away. I don't really know whether I should be saying this or not since I'm pretty sure I was even worse. And ugh everyone saw us. Now this is gonna be the talk of the whole campus and it'll be so awkward with Baz. They'll think that we fancy each other.

I don't fancy Baz.

Or...do I?

I kinda did just spend the evening snogging him, and enjoyed every bit of it. I loved how soft his hair was when I ran my fingers through it; how firm yet tender his lips were; how he gripped my waist and (probably unconsciously) rubbed circles onto it; how he loved it when I started rubbing his tummy and leaned into the touch; how he casually took dominance; how every reaction he got out of me made him grin against my lips; how soft his skin was; how he was incredibly good and knew exactly how to make me drunk off his lips even though I'm sure it was only his second time.

Aleister Crowley, do I like Baz?

I think I do. Why else would I be thinking about all this?

Although I don't think this is the first time I've thought about this. I've definitely thought about running my hands through his hair and gently caressing his face. About how his eyes are a stormy grey, a little green from the edges and contorting into a soft wet pavement colour as you go towards the center. About how he runs his hand through his hair when he's just come back from practice, and his shirt's sticking to him from the sweat, outlining every curve of his abs. About how he looks cute when he's really focused on something like homework or spells. About how his scent of cedar and bergamot makes wherever I currently am feel like home.

Fuck, I have feelings for Baz.

How did I not figure this out earlier? It explains everything now, how his presence kinda felt comfortable and how I followed him around so much in Fifth Year.

This is bad. I like Baz so now I won't be able to kill him. And he hates me.

Maybe I can get over the fact that I can't kill him. But I have feelings for Baz. According to how much I've been obsessed with him over the years and how much I loved snogging him today, I think these feelings are pretty strong, and if Baz finds out about them, he could use it against me.

Of course Baz doesn't like me, I'm his nemesis. But he was snogging me ruthlessly earlier, and—it might just be my imagination—looked a bit disappointed when we were pulled apart. But it was Seven Minutes In Heaven. It was a game. And I, myself, had suggested that we actually do something other than just cheat and wait around. He doesn't like me, he was just doing what I told him to

This is gonna end up really bad. I have tendency to wear my heart out on my sleeve but I can't let Baz find out about this. But...I'm still hesitant. No one kisses like that just for a game. Maybe I should talk to him. I should talk to Penny first though. What would I tell her? Yeah Penny, so remember the vampire that I've been obsessing over for 8 years and keep trying to get him expelled, yeah turns out I have a humongous crush on him.

Whatever, I'll just talk to her tomorrow at breakfast and ask if I should talk to Baz or not about this. That's gonna be so awkward, dear god.

But I don't have to think about that now. I can just revel in the fact that Baz is a few yards away from me, sleeping. Well, at least I think he's sleeping. I dare to open my eyes a bit, hoping to get a peek at Baz's face, but to my dismay he's turned away from me. Instead, I open my eyes fully and let them roam over his back, taking in every muscle pressing against the fabric of his shirt.

I have broader shoulders than him, but he's taller. Taller by 3 inches, the bastard. I had to purposely stand on my tiptoes when I was arguing with him.

I quietly, as not to let Baz know I'm awake, bring my hand up and lightly caress my lips. I kissed Baz. Merlin and Morgana, I kissed Baz. Wow. And I loved it. And I want to do it again, although I really doubt he would let me.

I let my sleepiness overcome my body and drift off to sleep while thinking of Baz.

chap 2, chap 3 (last chap)

[logans-chestnuts]

As You Are, Part 8*

A/N: Finally posting this replacement part that the Nipple Police deemed too naughty for Tumblr. 

I am also replacing my awful banner with this gorgeous art by @giggleberts. Thank you, dearest!!!!!

Logan had sneaked away and called you just before your alarm was set to go off again. You only spoke for a few minutes but it reassured you that he was taking whatever you had seriously. This would have been the perfect time to cool things off and reconsider the cons of being together without the incredible heat that existed between you distracting you, but if he was weighing his options, apparently there were more pros than cons at this point.

And you were as infatuated as ever, but now with a little more knowledge of who he was and genuine affection added in to the mix. Logan was unlike any man you had ever met. He was funny, smart, sexy and so inappropriate. You should probably be offended by some of the things he had said to you but he was so damned cute about it. He could charm the panties off a nun with that mischievous smile, and if he added a wink the Mother Superior would probably join in for a threesome.

Yeah, you were in deep and getting deeper.

The morning flew by. You were busy with work and that was how you liked it. You had sent a few texts to Logan throughout the day but for the most part you had been buried in your cube with headphones on, researching and writing.

You had no plans for the weekend because you hadn’t returned calls or texts all week as you had been completely engrossed in Logan. That would need to change, of course. You had good friends and your life couldn’t be put on hold for a man, he would need to fit in with your friends and…oh my, your family. Could Logan behave around family?

You decided to do some grocery shopping and laundry that night. You couldn’t live on Chinese leftovers forever, though statistically they would spoil before they ran out.

Logan had said he would probably have to go out drinking after meetings as it was a cultural thing, so you figured you either wouldn’t talk to him much or he’d drunk dial you. You were kind of hoping for the drunk dial as you had a feeling Logan was hilarious when plowed.

Your phone rang as you had settled in on the couch with a book and you grabbed it and saw Future Husband. Why hadn’t you changed that yet?

“Hi Logan,” you answered happily.

“Hey, what’re you doing?”

“Reading and doing laundry. How’d you sleep?”

“Lousy. Weird dreams. You doing anything this weekend?”

“Nope.”

“Too bad you’re not doing me.”

“That is too bad. But there’s plenty of time for that when you get back,” you said cheerfully.

“I don’t have to be anywhere for a couple hours. Video chat?”

“I am not having video sex with you, Logan,” you answered matter-of-factly.

Logan laughed. “You know me so well. And we’ve only been together a couple months.”

“Four days.”

“Like I said, couple months and we still haven’t had sex.”

“I bet we have in your mind.”

“Like we haven’t in yours. Remember, I know what a dirty girl you are, now.”

“This is true. You do inspire some pretty lewd thoughts. In fact, I’m guessing that you’re doing one of my lewd thoughts even as we speak.”

“And what do you think I’m doing?”

“Hmmm whatever could you be doing?” you said as if you didn’t know perfectly well what his long, sexy fingers were doing.

“Oh no, gotta say it if you wanna see it.”

“Well, this isn’t video chat. And I wanna see it in person. So I can see up close and personal. And taste.”

“Y/N,” he groaned. “That is so hot. Your mouth has been driving me crazy. I keep picturing your lips wrapped around my cock and I get a hard-on wherever I am. And the way you rubbed your tongue…ughh it felt so fucking perfect.”

“That was just a quickie. Not my best work, to be honest.”

“Then I might die with my cock in your mouth.”

“Like hell. I have a lot of other plans for you, babe.”

“Oh God please tell me,” he said, his voice getting breathless.

“Rather show you.”

“I can’t believe I’m fucking stuck on another continent. Hop a plane. Seriously, I’ll buy you a ticket.”

“Do you know when you’ll be home yet?” you asked hopefully.

“No. Hopefully Tuesday or Wednesday. I need to play fucking etiquette games and they haven’t even told me what the problem is yet. I am so fucking frustrated.”

“I can’t imagine. So you should relax now. Talk to me. About anything.”

“Anything?”

“Yup.”

“Tell me what you’re wearing.”

You laughed and said, “Baggy t-shirt and gym shorts.”

“Panties?”

“Yes.”

“Describe.”

“Logan…”

“Youuuuu said anything. I wanna talk about your panties.”

“Fine. White cotton granny panties.”

“Bullshit, I didn’t see a single pair of white cotton in your underwear drawer.”

“Logan Delos! You went through my underwear drawer?”

“Y/N Y/L/N you thought I wouldn’t?”

“Eh. OK, good point. They’re purple boyshorts.”

“Nice.”

“And you, darling? What panties are you wearing?”

“Ha! I’m not.”

“OK underwear.”

“Still not. I don’t wear them to bed.”

“You did at my house.”

“What would you have done if I slept naked?”

“Run screaming.”

“So I kept ‘em on.”

“That was very considerate of you.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Show me your tits.”

“Not that considerate.”

“It’s almost like you don’t care that I have my hand on my hard cock, stroking it and –”

“Logan!”

“Hmmmm?” he asked innocently.

“Did I mention that you have the biggest cock I’ve seen in person?”

“Noooo,” he groaned. “Good to know.”

“Yeah. You are going to stretch me out, baby.”

“Fuck yeah, you’re gonna be so tight.”

“I’m going to lick, kiss and bite every inch of your body.”

“I can’t wait to eat that pussy of yours. I’m gonna make you beg for my cock.”

“Mmmm how about I beg now?”

“Yeah lemme hear that, baby,” he groaned.

“Please, Logan, please fuck me with your big, hard cock. I wanna feel you inside me deeper than I’ve ever been fucked.”

“Aaahhh fuck Y/N baby gonna fuck you so hard,” Logan moaned, panting.

“I’m going to wrap my legs around you and hold you in me until I cum all over your cock.”

“Oh yeah baby, I wanna feel you cum while I pound that pussy.”

“Then I wanna feel all that hot cum inside me when you can’t take it anymore and you shoot your load in my wet pussy.”

Logan came then with a shout of your name and a series of loud groans.

“Goddamn Logan, you are so fucking hot. I have never wanted a man like I want you.”

“Fuck. There’s a load of cum all over me that says you’re the hot one.”

“I want it.”

“You’re going to get more than you can handle.”

“Now I wish it had been video chat. I want to see. What are you doing to me, Logan?”

“Hopefully making you as fucking horny as you make me,” he said, still a little short of breath.

“Well that goes without saying.”

“I didn’t hear you get off.”

“No, I want you to feel me get off the first time.”

“You trying to get me hard again?”

“You said you had a couple hours,” you answered mischievously. “And I do have this fantasy of riding your cock…”

“Scratch that, I don’t think I’m going to get soft to need you to get me hard again.”

“Mmmmm yummy,” you sighed. You listened to his breathing even out, could feel him relax after his orgasm.

“Was that true? About me being the biggest?”

“Oh God yes.”

“I’ll also be the best,” he said arrogantly.

“Of that I have no doubt.” you replied. “So we’re in bed together, you just came, I’m sure I did…what are we doing?”

“Shower. Possibly shower sex.”

“Then what?”

“I’m not a cuddler, Y/N.”

“You aren’t?” you asked in complete surprise.

“Nope.”

“Thennnnn…what was watching TV on the sofa with my head on your chest? And what was sleeping together without sex?”

Logan didn’t respond for a moment. “Huh. You turned me into a cuddler.”

“Really,” you said skeptically. “You seemed pre-loaded with a cuddle mod when I got you.”

“Nerd.”

“Cuddler.”

“I will cuddle with you after sex, but if you tell anyone I’ll deny it.”

“I can live with that. Nobody else has to know that you’re sweet.”

“Sweet?? Fuck that, I am not sweet. I’m a cold-hearted manwhore,” Logan said, sounding offended. “If you think we’re gonna sync up our periods or something, you got the wrong guy.”

“Um, OK.”

“I gotta go clean up. Call ya back.”

“Ok –”

When your phone rang a bit later you let it go to voicemail. You weren’t in the mood for Logan’s constant resistance to any kind of feelings.

You texted a couple friends and found that they were out at a club celebrating a promotion. You quickly tossed your phone on the table to charge while you went and got dressed for clubbing.

You chose a skin-tight black mini skirt and red draped backless top with criss-crossed spaghetti straps in back and sky high red heels. Your makeup was perfect with winged eyeliner and bright red lippy. Your hair you left down in soft waves.

And just to be a bitch you took a full length selfie in front of your mirror and texted it to Logan with the message, Going out with friends. TTYL.

Logan’s first instinct when he got the text was to throw his phone across the room. Controlling that urge, he looked at you making a kissy face at the mirror and drew the conclusion that you were done with his bullshit. So much for ‘probably.’

Were you going to go find someone and bring him home to fuck because Logan had hung up on you? Logan’s next instinct was to go find someone to fuck and send you a pic. Two can play the selfie game.

Except…he didn’t want to go fuck someone else. You were in his blood, he wanted you. And he definitely didn’t want you fucking anyone else.

L: I’m sorry I was a dick and now you’re going out with your friends instead of talking to me. I deserve it. Have fun. You look beautiful.

You got the text in the back of the taxi on the way to the club. You would rather be home with Logan, or at least talking to him. But you knew that Logan would trample any woman who didn’t stand up to him once in a while. You refused to be a doormat no matter how crazy you were about him.

Y: Not here to serve you. I will have fun. Thanks for the compliment.

L: Babe…I don’t know what kind of temper you have yet, but I know what I’d do here and I’m gonna ask you not to.

Y: I know exactly what you’d do. And you’d send me a selfie while you did it. Right?

L: Yeah

Y: I’m not you.

L: I know

Y: TTYL

“Fuck!” Logan screamed in frustration. Why was this shit happening when he was 10 time zones away? He looked at the time and realized he had to get ready for a barbecue at the Aoki CEO’s home. He wanted to get on a plane and go grab you and drag you off to a deserted island so no other man could touch you or look at you.

He decided he needed to move the etiquette bullshit along. He needed to get home to his life now that he had a chance at one.

You didn’t have fun. You tried to dance with your friends and had a few too many drinks, even danced with a guy for a minute when he started dancing with you, but when he put his hands on your hips you pulled away and sat back down. His hands were wrong. You only wanted Logan’s hands on you.

You only wanted Logan.

Which was completely impractical and just begging for a broken heart. Why would you fall for the least suitable human on the planet to give you what you dreamed of: someone who would love you and think of you first thing when he wakes up and last thing before he goes to sleep, and all the rest of that romantic crap? He would never settle down with one woman.

It might be time to accept that and put him in the past.

“Hey,” your friend Kate said. “You’ve been quiet tonight. Who’s the guy?”

You smiled a little. Kate had known you since high school. You had roomed together at college and you were as close as sisters. Needless to say, Kate had been through every relationship you’d ever had with you and she could read you.

“I met him earlier this week.”

“And you’re already this sad? Honey, that doesn’t sound good.”

“I know.”

“Who is he? Where’d you meet him.”

You walked outside together so you could hear each other talk and you told her everything, ending with Logan’s diatribe of being a cold-hearted manwhore when you called him sweet, followed by his subsequent request that you not go fuck someone else for revenge.

“Well he sounds like a hot mess,” Kate said after a moment of silence.

You laughed way harder than the joke called for, letting out some of your pent up emotions. Then you walked over to another girl and paid her $10 for a cigarette and came back to a disapproving Kate.

“I’m completely, head over heels mad about him, Kate. I look at him and I see forever. And it’s ridiculous! I’m not like this!”

“No, you aren’t,” Kate said speculatively. “You don’t do impulsive. You never have. But this guy got to you.”

You nodded and said, “I have no idea what he sees in me. I am nothing like any of the women he usually dates. And he says that’s part of what attracted him. And I’m as mean to him as everyone else, so he knows I’m a smartass. He’s gorgeous and smart and funny and sexy and his smile is just perfection. He could get any woman he wanted. And he told me he’s been an asshole to women in the past. What about me would make him change that?”

“What about you wouldn’t? Maybe he sees what I do. You’re beautiful and smart and funny and brave and real! Plus I’m guessing he sees a few things I don’t. Coz I don’t want to have sex with you.”

You laughed a little at her joke.

“Sweetie, you’re more than enough for any man. Any issues that he has are his, not yours.”

“Thanks, but if I want to be with him and he pushes me away, pretty sure that’s about me.”

“No, not really. I mean, you said his family is messed up right?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, we all know boys with Mama issues are nightmares.”

“Ha. Yeah we’ve both had our share of Mama’s boys.”

“But this is the opposite. He’s not running because nobody can love him like Mommy…he’s running before you can leave him, like Mommy did.”

You shrugged, “The results are the same. He runs and bangs any of the dozens of women that are available to him at any given time and I wind up with my heart in a million pieces because I actually care for the jackass.”

Kate put her arm around you and you laid your head on her shoulder. You still didn’t have a clue but at least you weren’t alone.

You decided to head home. Kate stayed outside with you until your Uber got there and hugged you and put you in the car with a promise to come by for coffee tomorrow.

You looked at you phone for the first time since you had arrived at the bar. There were a couple texts from Logan and one had an attachment. You opened the text and saw a selfie of Logan pouting with his lower lip stuck out

that had the caption, “I’m sorry :(“ and the body of the text said Unsolicited dick pic.

And you laughed.

L: Don’t give up on me yet

Y: Let me know when I should, OK?

Logan grabbed his phone from his pocket when he felt your text and relief flooded his body. Despite the faux pas of looking at his phone at a social event, he tapped out an answer.

L: Can’t say that I will. I think you’re too good for me.

Y: Don’t be a dumbass. I might love you some day.

L: I got downgraded from pretty sure, huh?

Y: When you get home I’ll let you make it up to me.

L: I plan to. You’ve been upgraded to pretty sure.

Y: Damn, shitty timing for you.

L: I’m sorry. I don’t mean to push you away.

Y: You do a fucking dead-on impression of it.

L: Are you still out?

Y: On my way home.

L: Already?

Y: This guy I really like hurt my feelings and put me in a shitty mood. Didn’t feel like dancing.

L: My girlfriend had a similar issue earlier.

Girlfriend?

Y:  WTF Logan you have a girlfriend??? You fucking asshole. I swear to Christ you keep finding new ways to destroy me. If you can tear me up this much in less than a week then your girlfriend has all my sympathy. Go fuck yourself. I am so done with you.

You powered your phone down and put it in your bag, utterly disgusted with the tears streaming down your cheeks.

L: Jesus Christ Y/N I meant YOU!! You are my girlfriend!!!!

Your Uber pulled up in front of your building and you climbed out and stormed into your apartment. You left your phone on the charger in the living room and then got ready for bed.

Your pillow smelled like Logan. You flung it across the room and slept fitfully without it.