#I’ve had the new car for a few months now and haven’t come up with anything I like enough for it to stick

[monoschatterbox]

I need to name my car right fucking meow.

[likeumeanit9497]

the re-do | m.s. |

matt sturniolo x fem!reader

summary: y/n participates in the triplets' "dirty q&a" video, where she accidentally infers that her experience losing her virginity to matt back in high school had been mediocre. instead of taking offence, matt makes it his mission to show her just how much he has improved since then.

warnings: SMUT; established friendship; m/f oral; unprotected p in v; dirty talk; 18+

notes: hi guys! this is my first ever one shot so pls be gentle with me (i'm genuinely so terrified to post this). it has absolutely NOT been proof read forgive me, but i hope you all enjoy <333

“Guys why am I actually nervous to film this?” Nick proclaimed from his place in the backseat of the car beside me. “No I am genuinely so scared right now.” Replied Chris from the seat in front of me as he began passing out our respective orders from McDonalds.

“We can’t act nervous or else the fans are gonna go even crazier than they already will.” Added Nick as Matt adjusted the camera on the dash. “You’re sure you’re gonna be able to handle the inevitable shit talking that’s gonna come from all this?” Matt asked as he turned to face me in the back. I took a deep breath but nodded. “The more they see me the more desensitized they’ll be. They’ll have to eventually get over it.”

As one of the triplet’s closest girl friends, I had been on the receiving end of a fair amount of hate from their fangirls on the internet. Because I had known them since elementary school, I had been a part of many of their earlier videos when their fans had still been pretty chill about our friendship. But over the past year, a new wave of younger fans had found the videos and had made it their life mission to publicly bash me any chance that they could. It became too much when, a few months ago, one of them decided to spread a rumour that Chris and I had slept together based on nothing other than strategically edited clips of us smiling at each other. It was then that the guys and I had made the decision to keep me as out of the public eye as possible.

However, the guys had sat me down last week to explain how fed up they were with how restricted they felt they had been in their content. They wanted to make an attempt at reclaiming a fandom built primarily of viewers closer to our age, and they thought that the best way to try that was to ignore the petty complaints and make content that they wanted to make. So, since I had been staying with them in Los Angeles for the month, I had agreed to not only be in one of their regular videos, but I had agreed to be in their ‘dirty q&a’ video. I couldn’t lie, I was a bit nervous, but mostly I was excited that my friends were finally confident enough to make videos with more extreme topics.

“Alright guys, ya’ll ready?” Chris asked, intaking a sharp breath while his hand hovered over the record button on the camera. We all responded with a falsely enthusiastic “ready!”, and the camera was turned on.

“Alright, first question,” Nick began after his long-winded introduction filled with disclaimers and explanations for their change in content. “How many people have you slept with?” Already with the first question, it was obvious that the guys were tentative about answering. “Bro I don’t know, next question.” Chris responded, rubbing his eyes with the heel of his hands. “What do you mean by ‘I don’t know’ Chris?” Asked Matt tauntingly. “I mean I haven’t fucking kept track of everyone I’ve slept with.” He responded bluntly, before realizing how bad that had sounded. We all, however, erupted into laughter immediately. “Okay okay it’s not that bad guys I swear, I just have a bad memory is all.” He attempted to remedy his previous answer, but all three of us continued to laugh.

“Matt, how about you?” Asked Nick, to which Matt simply held up five fingers to the camera. “Same with me.” Nick agreed before turning to me. “Y/n? Spill it.” I rolled my eyes before answering truthfully. “Seven.” I shrugged, and I caught Matt’s smiley eyes through the rear view mirror.

“Alright next question is…” Chris was scrolling through the responses to their Instagram threads. “How old were you when you lost your virginity?”

“Sixteen” We all responded in unison, and immediately buckled over in laughter. “Not all at once though ya’ll.” Nick explained through his laughter, while mine and Matt’s eyes flew open and Chris’ laugh turned into hysterics. “Well…” Chris began before he was cut short by the three of us telling him to shut up. “I’m definitely gonna have to cut that one out. Sorry you two fools, I kind of set him up there.” Nick rolled his eyes as he looked between Matt and I.

Ironically enough, the fans had been half right in their rumour about Chris and I sleeping together. I had slept with one of the triplets before, but it wasn’t Chris.

When we were sixteen, Matt and I had decided that we wanted to lose our virginities to each other. It had been a no-strings-attached decision, and our friendship thankfully never wavered after it was done. Both Nick and Chris had already lost theirs that same year, and we had both just kind of wanted to get it over with. Obviously, this piece of information was known only by Matt and I, and of course Chris and Nick since they had barged into the room while we were in bed together. Even though the vindictive side of me would love to have the fans know this piece of information and shatter their dreams, I knew that the fallout would be an absolute nightmare.

“Okay let’s see…” I had been handed Nick’s phone to choose a question to answer and was scrolling through my options. “Here’s a simple one. Favourite position? Mine’s speed bump for sure.” I placed the phone down, satisfied with my confident answer, only to be met with multiple pairs of confused eyes. “I beg your pardon? The fuck is speed bump?” Asked Nick as he took his phone back. “The one where you’re kinda just lying flat on your stomach with the guy behind you. Trust me it’s chef’s kiss.” I responded simply. Chris’ facial expression turned from confusion to one of understanding. “Ohhh yeah that’s a good one.” He replied as he dapped me up. “Great, gonna have to edit that out too unless you want the rumours to get really bad again.” Nick said as he rolled his eyes. “Shit, sorry Nick.” Chris said, giggling slightly.

“Let’s just move on.” Matt said as he began scrolling on his own phone. “Best and worst sexual experiences.” He read off of his screen. There was a moment of silence while we all thought of our answers. “I had a girl throw up on my dick once. The problem is I don’t know if that makes it the worst or the best though.” Said Chris, earning a loud groan from each of us. “You’re sick.” Replied Matt, giving his brother a disgusted look.

“I mean I guess the worst sex would probably be my first time right? Like that makes sense right?” Asked Nick in an attempt to steer the conversation away from Chris’ confession, to which I nodded in agreed response without thinking. I caught Matt’s eyes in the rearview mirror again, this time seeing them filled with a pleading expression. Realizing what I had done, I silently prayed to the universe that my action would go unnoticed by the others. Unfortunately and unsurprisingly, my head nod didn’t make it past Chris, which was made incredibly clear when he mumbled to Nick behind his hand that was hiding his smiling mouth from the camera.

“Did you see that?” He asked, and Nick looked confused so he continued, “Y/n agreed with you about her first time.” He managed to get out before erupting into laughter at the expense of his brother. Matt threw his hands up in the air once Nick joined Chris in his giggling, and I winced from my place in the backseat; also mouthing an apology to Matt’s reflection in the mirror.

“Bro come on it was my first time! I guarantee you were trash your first time too.” Matt said in an attempt to repair his ego as he threw his empty cup at Chris. “Maybe so, but I don’t have the girl who I lost it to here in the car to confirm it.” Chris snarked back, playfully nudging Matt’s shoulder. “We all gotta start somewhere dude.” He added when Matt didn’t respond. As Nick continued choking on his own laughter, Matt crossed his arms and stared out the window, very clearly wishing he was anywhere but there in that moment.

“Okay okay,” Nick began catching his breath. “We need to cool it because 90% of that what we just filmed is completely unusable. Let’s please just try to make it through this video without exposing Matt and Y/n’s bumpy sexual history again.” He pleaded as he began scrolling through his phone to find new questions.

─ ⊹ ⊱ ☆ ⊰ ⊹ ─

“God, that was rough.” Said Chris as we all climbed out of the parked car. We had finally finished the video. It took us an hour to film, and would still be edited down to just twenty minutes of content where we weren’t exposing big secrets or directly fuelling past rumours.

“At least it’s done. It might be a while before I ever want to do that again.” Nick responded as he opened the garage door leading into their house. “Agreed.” Added Matt from behind me as we climbed the stairs to the main level. We all walked over to the fridge to grab drinks, as if the beverages would clean our dirty mouths.

“Alright,” Chris began after a hefty chug from his Pepsi, “I’m going to my room. Matt, Nick, get on Fortnite with me.” He began descending the stairs. “I’ll get on once I shower Chris. I have a desperate need to scrub this FILTH off of my body.” Replied Nick, and he began walking towards the stairs leading to his bedroom. “Y/n, come upstairs whenever you want to go to sleep and I’ll get off the game.” He called over his shoulder as he disappeared at the top of the stairs.

Matt and I were left alone in the kitchen, him sitting at the table and me sitting on top of the counter in between the stove and the fridge. Swinging my legs carelessly, I decided to break the silence first. “I’m really sorry about all of that in the car Matt. I didn’t mean it.” He looked up at me and chuckled. “Yes you did, and it’s not a big deal. I know I wasn’t great back then.” He responded before taking a drink from his can. I smiled softly at his response but decided to leave it be. There was no use in trying to deny it. The sex was just boring, short, and awkward; the way that most first times are. At least he didn’t take any offence to it.

“You know,” He began after a few moments of silence, his eyes shooting to mine as he stood up from his place at the kitchen table. “I’ve gotten much better.” A playful smirk travelled to his lips as he began walking towards my frozen figure on the counter. He stopped just a few short centimetres away from me, so close that I could reach out and touch any part of him that I wanted. I couldn’t tell if he was fucking with me, until I felt his early signs of arousal press lightly against my knee.

My throat was dry, and I felt like a deer in headlights. Even though Matt and I had slept together when we were younger, the dynamic was much different than now. The proposition came about awkwardly, and we were a fumbling mess with very little understanding of how it felt to be aroused. But in this moment, I was very very aroused just from this conversation.

In my silence, he placed a firm hand on my hip, rubbing his thumb across it gently. “I can do just about anything. Just let me know how you want it and I can give it to you.” My stomach did a somersault at his words, and I felt my panties dampen. He used his free hand to push my legs apart so that he could stand in between them, and my limp hands subconsciously moved up to grab onto his shoulders. At the first sign of my willingness, Matt quickly leaned forward and peppered soft, teasingly slow kisses along my neck. His lips travelled up to my ear, where he bit the lobe playfully before whispering, “Well, tell me. How do you want me Y/n?”

His words caused me to clench on nothing and I nearly moaned from the anticipation. With him still waiting on my response I whispered back, “You can do anything you want to me, Matty.”

Without missing a beat, he attacked my lips with his own and I melted from the immediate relief. I moved my hands from his shoulders up to the base of his head, and as his tongue danced along with mine I pulled gently at his messy hair; my own mouth filling with a moan falling from his lips. His right hand traveled up my grey hoodie to find that I had nothing on underneath, and he lightly brushed the bottom of my left tit with his thumb. Suddenly his hands moved from under my shirt and gripped my ass as he effortlessly lifted me off the counter and into his arms. I wrapped my legs around his waist and he stumbled towards his bedroom.

Once inside the undisturbed room, he placed me down on his desk, my ass hitting the mouse and causing the computer to turn on; casting a light on the otherwise dark room. He wasted no time in removing my hoodie, leaning me back slightly so he could easily twirl his tongue along each nipple. I hummed in pleasure from the warm, wet sensation of his mouth connecting to my skin, and brought my hand down in between our bodies to softly run my hand up and down his clothed hardness. After a few moments, he pushed my hand away and dropped to his knees in between my legs.

Pulling my grey sweats off my body and pushing my thong to the side in one quick motion, Matt took a moment to relish in my swollen, dripping hole. “I don’t remember you being this wet for me last time.” He smirked as he looked up at me with blown out pupils. “Let’s see if you taste the same.” My eyes rolled to the back of my head at his filthy words, and a moan slipped from between my lips as his mouth made sloppy contact with my sensitive bud. I subconsciously grabbed onto the back of his head, suffocating him with my heat as he continued to suck and kiss my clit. As his tongue worked on my nerves, he released a guttural moan that vibrated against my heat, causing my back to arch at the intense feeling.

When we had done this all of those years before, Matt’s movements were lacking in confidence. He had fumbled around my clit blindly, and had ate me out cautiously as if he was afraid of hurting me. Now, this Matt had clearly gained experience, as my stomach was already beginning to fill with the familiar pressure from the build up of an orgasm once I watched him find all of my most sensitive spots; his eyes blissfully closed.

Suddenly, he pulled his mouth away from my heat and I groaned at the loss of contact. He straightened his body back up to my level and brought his face so close to mine that our noses were touching. “Kiss me. I want you to know how good you taste.” He whispered through his glistening bright red lips. More on fire than I had ever been in my life, I immediately attached my open mouth to his, moaning at the distinct taste of my sweet arousal on his tongue. As we deepened the kiss, his fingers found my heat and he ran two of them up and down my folds to collect my wetness before slamming them into my cunt; finding my spongey g-spot on the first pump with his curled fingers.

My head rolled back, lost in the euphoric feeling of his fingers filling me up, and he watched my facial expressions intently as the wet sounds of my upcoming orgasm filled the space between us. “Holy fuck, Matt.” I slurred, my voice coming out choppy as his fingers continued to relentlessly pound into me; never losing contact with that one spot that drove me crazy. “I-I’m gonna-” I squeezed my eyes shut, feeling the very beginning of my orgasm roll over my body.

Suddenly, all of his movements stopped and my eyes shot open out of frustration. In the time since my eyes had screwed shut, his own had darkened in arousal. My body trembled from the sudden halt in its pleasure, and he smirked at me. “You want to cum, sweetheart?” He asked, his kind words a harsh paradox to his sinister expression. Still, I nodded eagerly to which he pulled his fingers out of me completely before leaning up and placing his wet mouth right against my ear.

“You’re gonna fucking wait for me.”

I attempted to squeeze my legs together to take some pressure off of my throbbing, unsatisfied core as his vulgar words scrambled my brain, before he pulled me off the desk and pushed my head down so that I was now the one on my knees. Confused, I looked up to find him gazing down at me. He gestured towards his clothed member. “Go ahead.” I grinned slyly.

My turn.

I had made an attempt at giving him head the first time we had sex. Just like him, I had struggled with confidence due to the sole fact that I had no clue what I was doing. Since then, I had had plenty of practice, and I was excited to now be the one to show him my improvements.

I grabbed onto the waist band of his pyjama pants and pulled them down to his knees. With only his tight red boxer shorts covering it now, the outline of his thick cock and the small wet spot at its tip from his pre-cum made my mouth water. I brought my mouth up to the skin on his lower stomach, right above the Calvin Klein logo on his boxers, and began peppering excruciatingly slow kisses along the light sprinkling of hair there. I glanced up at him through my eyelashes to find him peering down at me with curious lust, his mouth open slightly and his chest rising and falling with heavy breaths.

After a short while, I grabbed his boxers and pulled them down to meet his pants at his knees. His hardened cock smacked his stomach on its release from the tight material, where it left a wet patch from his pre-cum. Grabbing it with my left hand, I collected a pool of saliva in my mouth and stared up at him as I let it all drip down his swollen member. After pumping my hand for a few strokes, I placed only the tip in my mouth as I watched his eyes dilate. I swirled my tongue teasingly along the swollen tip, tasting the the saltiness of his fluid. Eventually, I began pumping my hand up and down his shaft in rhythm with my head bobbing along the top half of his cock. He shifted on his feet at the new sensation and let his head fall back. I kept my pace agonizingly lazy, knowing that it would drive him crazy.

With my tongue, I licked a strip from the base of his ball sack, up his shaft, and to his tip, earning a hushed whimper from his lethargic mouth before he grabbed my hair and shifted his hips. Looking down at me and holding my head firmly in place, he began thrusting his hips as he kept me still. He started slow, but when he realized that I could take more his pace began to pick up and his cock began to hit deep in my throat. I looked up at him through my tear-filled eyes, and saliva began to drip down my chin. “Fuck you look so good with my cock in your mouth.” He grunted out through each thrust. I lifted my hand to cup his balls, giving them gentle squeezes that seemed to send him towards his climax.

As a moan fell from his lips, he pulled my head back so that his dripping cock sprung free before he got the chance to fill my mouth with his cum. He stood there for a moment with his eyes closed taking deep breaths as if he was fighting the urge to finish right then, before he opened his eyes and gazed down at me. “Get on the bed.”

I pulled myself up off the ground and, on shaky legs, walked over to his bed with him following close behind. Once I reached the edge of the bed he stopped me, turning me around to face him and pushing me down so I would sit. “Put your feet on the bed and pull your knees up to your chest.�� He commanded, and I did as I was told, albeit I was a bit confused. “Good girl.” He praised me as he pulled me right up to the edge of the bed before pushing my legs further apart.

Placing one of his knees on the bed beside me, he lined his cock up with my entrance; rubbing it tantalizingly along my wetness. Placing one arm around my waist to brace my body, he slowly pushed his cock inside of me right there on the edge of the bed. His trusts were slow but harsh, and the position he had placed us in made it so that my cervix was barrelled into each time his hips met mine. He placed his sweat-coated forehead against my collar bone and released small breathless grunts with each deep thrust. “So fucking good Matt. Oh god.” I whined as his pace began to increase in speed. He planted his teeth into my shoulder as we fell back onto the bed; his body now completely on top of mine as he continued to drive into me.

He lifted his head and looked fixedly at my fucked out face, his eyes glossed over in erotic pleasure. With this visual, I was brought back to the first time we had fucked, in a position so similar to this one. His rhythm was slower and much more tentative, and we were both certainly much less pleasing to the other, but still I suddenly got hit with a wave of recognition in how much we had both grown since then.

I was pulled out of my trance by Matt’s commanding voice. “Move back real quick and get on your stomach.” I did as I was told, feeling the emptiness that came from his dick sliding out of my soaking wet pussy. Assuming he wanted me in doggy, I got on my knees and arched my back; my head and shoulders pressed firmly against the soft mattress. I felt the bed move as he climbed on all the way, and in a moment of animalistic desperation I pushed my needy cunt subconsciously back to meet heat of his cock.

“No.” He stated simply, his veiny hands massaging my ass. Confused, I looked over my shoulder as I waited for him to explain. He had an ominous smile as he moved his gaze from my fully exposed cunt to my face. “I wanna see if your favourite position is really worth the hype.” He used his hands on my ass to push it down flat to the bed before adjusting himself so that he could line up correctly. Still looking over my shoulder with glazed eyes, I watched his expression as his cock sunk into my core once again. His jaw was clenched tightly and his eyelashes fluttered slightly from the new sensation that the position gave him as he bottomed out. “Oh fuck.” His eyes were fully shut now as he stayed still for a moment. Small beads of sweat traveled down his stomach as I took in the beauty of the man who was making me feel so so good.

Getting turned on even more just from Matt’s visual pleasure, my walls clenched subconsciously and I whined, “Please keep going Matty.” His eyes snapped open and landed on mine, before he leaned forward — one hand beside my head and the other planted firmly to the small of my back — and began pounding into me relentlessly.

The depth of this position allowed me to feel every inch of his cock, and it became impossible to keep the moans and strings of profanity from escaping my lips. This seemed to be the case for Matt too, as over the sounds of my own moans and the wet sounds of our bodies connecting, I could hear the gruff throaty moans of his own pleasure. “Fuck. You’re so fucking tight Y/n.” Even though I was aware that we were both making far too much noise that Chris and Nick would definitely hear, I couldn’t get myself to bring it to Matt’s attention, as the animalistic vocalization of his indulgence was bringing me closer and closer to my climax.

“I-I need to cum Matty.” I managed to vocalize as my nerves began to unravel. “Hold it. Want you to cum with me.” He responded, leaning even further forward so that his body was practically lying on top of mine. He took a free hand and wrapped it around my throat, lightly squeezing the sides as my pleasure became dangerously close to bubbling over.

“P-Please cum for me. I can’t hold it anymore.” I begged, digging my nails into his silk bedsheets and feeling my walls quiver each time he drove his cock into my cervix. His breathing became hitched in my ear and his movements became sloppier. Biting my ear, he asked, “Where do you want me to cum, Y/n?”

Without wasting time, I moaned my response. “Cum in me please. Want you to fill me with it.” At that, Matt slammed his twitching cock into me a few more times before finally telling me what I so desperately needed him to.

“Okay sweetheart. Go ahead and make a mess for me.” Even before his words fully left his dirty mouth, I gave into the overbearing pressure in my stomach and felt my intense orgasm over-take me. Practically screaming his name, my pussy convulsed uncontrollably. I felt the immediate relief and heard the gush as I squirted along his cock and down his legs. “Jesus.” He moaned out as his body suddenly stilled. As my legs shook, I could feel his cock twitching inside of me; painting my walls with his cum.

After we both came down from our highs, catching our breath and reconnecting with our minds, Matt slowly pulled his dick — freshly bathed in my own juices — out of my swollen core. With a satisfied sigh, he threw his body onto the bed beside mine. Both of us laid there for a moment, facing one another with glazed over expressions, before a shameless smile crept onto Matt’s face.

“Well you definitely didn’t squirt the last time we slept together.” He chuckled proudly, and I knew his ego had been inflated. I rolled my eyes. “Well, you didn’t whimper the last time we fucked either.” It was my turn to smile as he covered his face bashfully. We laid there in silence for a moment, both of us lethargic and fucked out.

“If that was anything like when ya’ll lost your virginities then I am extremely impressed.”

Matt and I both shot our heads up and looked around the room for the origin of that familiar voice. We were alone, but my eyes focused on the lit-up computer. On the screen, Matt’s Discord was open to the group with Nick and Chris. I turned to look at Matt, who had also clearly made the same discovery that I had, and whispered, “Did you for real leave the channel unmuted?” He tucked his lips together and shrugged apprehensively, before climbing off the bed and over to the computer.

“Chris, how much of that did you hear?” He asked into his headset. I heard a laugh through the mic. “Oh Matt, I heard it all. Good work. I’m a proud brother.” I covered my face in embarrassment as Matt rolled his eyes. “Fuck off. You’re a perv.” He mumbled to his brother, but I caught the small smile that tried to creep to his lips.

“I’m gonna need a fucking lobotomy to get over the trauma that I was just put through.” I heard Nick’s voice now through the mic and I couldn’t help but laugh. “Bro you could have just left the server, you act like I forced you to listen to the entire thing.” Matt argued with his older brother. “You think I stayed and listened to the ENTIRE thing? What are you crazy?” I was full out laughing now, despite the embarrassment. “I left as soon as I figured out what was happening, but I still heard waaaay too much.” Matt laughed now and muted his mic — perhaps a bit too late — then walked back to where I was on the bed, propped up on my forearms.

“Whoops.” He simply said as he pulled his boxers back up. I shook my head and smiled shyly. “We are literally never going to be able to live that down.” I replied as he draped his body along the bed beside me again. Rubbing his eyes awkwardly, he shrugged softly. “Well, at least they’re gonna have to stop teasing me about my skills.” I smacked his arm playfully and he responded by grabbing me swiftly and pulling me to his side.

“You were impressed, weren’t you?” He asked teasingly, as he held me close. I closed my eyes and sighed, “I was, Matt. Really, really, impressed.” He giggled into my neck at my truthful response and I swatted him once again.

“I’m glad we got our re-do. I’d been wanting that for a while.” He said after a moment. I looked at him with a smile and ruffled his hair. “Me too, honestly. I always knew you had some potential in you.” I teased.

“Well, if you don’t want to have to face Nick right now, you’re welcome to sleep in here tonight.” He offered and I sighed in relief. “That would be great, actually.” I said as I began to sit up. “Let’s get cleaned up first though.” He began as he got up and grabbed us both towels from his closet, “You’re not allowed to get under my sheets until you wash my children off your thighs.” My eyes shot open at his disgusting choice of words and I quickly covered myself with my towel. “Matthew Bernard you are sick!” I exclaimed as we both headed towards his bathroom. “Sure am. But so are you.”

He pulled me into a hug while we stood in the bathroom waiting for the shower to warm up. As he rubbed circles on my back with his hand, I sighed. “I think this is the secret to good friendship.” He chuckled before asking, “What is?” Playfully, I smacked his ass over his boxers. “Fucking the shit out of each other once in a while.” He laughed and pulled away from the hug before getting into the shower; leaving the glass door open so that I could follow him. “Shut your weird ass up and get in the shower with me, friend.”

[lunajay33]

Precious🩵

Summary: Reader gets separated from Daryl at the start and finds a farm with a wonderful family, she finds out she’s pregnant and one thing leads to another and a new group settles onto the farm

•Masterlist•

I waited for Daryl at our little house in the small town we grew up in, I had been gone to the city for the day when everything happened, I was able to find a car and drive back home praying that Daryl would be there waiting for me but I knew it would be a long shot, I waited for a few days until the food ran out and decided if I was ever going to find him again then I’ll have to go find him myself

So I pack up my bag with essentials, clothes, water, snacks that were left over and weapons for Daryl’s hunting collection, I drove for what felt like forever no signs of human life only blood and rotting corpses who some how took over the earth

I came to the interstate seeing the cars upon cars piled up blocking my way so I turned around hoping to find a back road to get around when I spotted a sign “Greene’s Farm” if the farm was still standing maybe it could have some food or more water, as I pulled up the drive way to a large white farm house people filtered out, it felt surreal to see people, live people

I got out of the car as the came down the stairs, it was an older man a girl around my age and a younger blonde, then what seemed to be an older couple and a younger boy

“How’d you find this place?” The man with the white hair asked

“I’ve been on the road looking for my husband, I got turned around in the road and saw your farm sign, I just need some rest” I say as I run my hand down my belly

When I went to the city when everything happened I found out I was pregnant and I was over the moon about finally starting a family with Daryl but now I’m scared, scared about delivery, this baby never meeting their wonderful father

The man noticed my movement and his harsher demeanor changed to one of pity

“Come dear we’ll get something set up for you”

They let me settle in the spare room after feeding me some eggs and fresh fruit, the house was cozy and they are lovely people but I can’t help that feeling in the pit of my stomach, the feeling I always got when Daryl would be gone too long, he always soothed me even if he didn’t talk much he showed me comfort with actions of love and care

Whenever he scrounged up enough money he’d buy me little gifts, he got me a silver necklace with a bow on it which I never take off, I never got a wedding ring because I refused and said we should keep the money for the future and that I don’t need some diamond to show my love for him

“Knock knock” I look up to the doorway and see Maggie standing there with a wide smile

“Daddy wanted me to check on you, well both of you”

“Oh yes I think we’re okay, I only found out about two weeks ago”

“That’s when you first had symptoms?” She asked as she sat next to me on the bed

“Yeah, the nausea and a little bump”

“I’d say you’re about two months pregnant then, signs only show up later, does the father know?” I shock my head feeling my heart clench in pain

“I never got the chance, I don’t even know where he is but somehow in my heart I believe we will find our ways back to each other” she ran a comforting hand up my back and smiled

“You’ll find him sweetheart you never know what might happen!” She said before she left the room giving me space to finally rest

It’s been 2 months now on the farm and it was peaceful for some reason this farm has gone untouched from the world that’s filled with death, I haven’t stopped looking for Daryl, every other day I’d search farther and farther out but there was no sign, as I was walking back to the farm I saw two men and Otis running through the field, I got back to the house and Maggie told me of everything that was happening, Otis accidentally shot the boy who Hershel was working on now

I sat outside on the steps as the young boys father came out obviously in shock covered in blood, he sat next to me completely disheveled, I took a rag I had in my pocket and wiped some blood he smeared on his face

“Hershel is a good surgeon and a great man, your son is in good hands” my words seemed to calm him down and what he needed right now was a distraction it seems

“I remember when my wife found out she was pregnant with Carl, we were young but I was excited this little life was gonna be born, so how far along are you?”

“About 4 months now, I’m not sure if it’s a boy or girl, I got separated from the father when I found out but I’ve kept looking, I know he’s out there, he’s a stubborn man but god is he strong and pretty smart too”

“Yeah I know the type, got a man like that back in our group, we lost a little girl and he’s been looking for her day and night”

“Maggie should be back soon she must have found your group by now, it’ll be okay” almost as if she heard me I see her horse ride up the field with cars following, then I hear the rumble of a motorcycle and it brought back so many memories I had with Daryl, when he’d work on his bike I’d sit with him, when we’d go for a drive at night together, moments I kept dear to my heart, zoned out in nostalgic thought I didn’t notice the group coming to the steps

“Y/n?” The grumble to the voice that I fell in love with, I look up to see him standing there just as the day I last saw him still as handsome, I couldn’t stand up fast enough before I was pulled off the stairs and into his arms

“I can’t believe it’s you, I looked everywhere, I missed you so much Daryl” I cried into his shoulder as his group was most likely watching this moment unwind

“It’s me sunshine, I found ya” he pulled back and we just looked into each others eyes for some time before he looked me over stopping abruptly on my belly

He opened his mouth but he seemed to be at a lose for words

“It’s yours if that’s what you’re wondering?”

“My baby?” He asked placing his hands on either side of my bump

“Yeah our lil baby Dixon”

After everything settled down and people set up tents I decided to stay with Daryl since they were using my room for Carl, I was sitting across from him on my sleeping bag and he couldn’t take his eyes off my bump

“Do you want to feel?” He thought for a moment before he nodded, I lifted my ivory dress just above my belly feeling his warm hands caress my bare skin

“How did this happen?”

“Well remember that night you came back from the bar with Merle and I was wearing my pink sundress you love” realization dawned as a blush crossed his face

“Yeah that’s how it happened” I laugh missing how easily it is to embarrass him

“Where have you been?” I asked as we laid next to each other

“Found a camp outside of Atlanta with Merle, idiot went and got himself stuck on a roof don’t know where he is now, then we went to the CDC and that was a bust then that leads to now finally some sanity with ya”

“I’m just glad you didn’t get bite, the farms been secure so I haven’t had any troubles”

“And ya never have to with me ‘round”

It’s been 6 months and Daryl and I had a beautiful 1 month old baby girl, it was painful giving birth but with Daryl by my side it made it a bit easier, hopeful

She was a wonderful little thing, barely fussy, brown hair light blue eyes just like Daryl, and he was over the moon about her he praised me over and over for giving him such a gift he treasured

We were able to move into the house to make it more comfortable for the three of us, we named her Lily because Carl thought it suited her perfectly so we just went with it

I walked into the room seeing Daryl sat on the bed with her in his arms her little hands reaching to pull on his now grown out hair, I sat beside them curling up to Daryl’s side

“She loves you so much D”

“Not as much as I love her”

“You know I think she’s your favourite”

“Nah she loves us both sunshine, I love ya”

“I love you too Daryl, forever”

[thyme-in-a-bubble]

the downpour

lilac, chapter seven

a/n: everybody, calm down! deep breath! because it's happening!!!

summary: “man, I can’t for the life of me remember the last time it thundered, nevertheless this much,” not glancing back at the silent figure leaning against the kitchen counter, you asked him, “can you?”

warnings: lumberjack!frank castle x reader, lumberjack AU, pete castiglione era, past domestic violence, crazy ex trope, slow burn, renovating an inn, real name reveal, kissing, only one bed, rain and thunder

word count: 2400

∼ gentle reminder that feedback, but especially reblogs are the way you support writers on here ∽

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Gently clamping down on the break, your bike slowly rolled to a stop.

“Pete!” you hopped off before the bicycle had come to a complete standstill, “hi!”

Craning his head out from under the hood of his truck, a faint smile appeared upon the burly man’s lips as he greeted, “hey,” seemingly taken aback by your arrival, riding through the forest just as the sun had nearly set completely.

Glancing to the twisted innards of his vehicle, you exhaled, “oh no, what’s wrong with your car?”

Seizing a dirtied rag that hung over the top, Pete then wiped his grease-covered hands with it, “I haven’t gotten to the bottom of it quite yet,” blinking down at his broad palms as he cleaned the viscous substance off them. 

“Is there like some car illness going around here or something?” you joked as your heel popped out the stand on your bicycle, balancing it before you stepped closer to the lumberjack. 

“What, is yours still at the shop? It’s been months!”

“It’s something about a specific part not being in production anymore so they had a really hard time finding it,” you grumbled, “and then they finally did but it’s coming all the way from Germany and it’s just a whole thing…”

Sliding your fingers into your pockets, exhaling slowly as you let the infuriating car trouble simmer back down, you heard Pete ask, “so, did you just come over here, late at night, to talk about cars?”

“Well, it is my absolute favourite subject ever,” you joked, adding sarcastically, “I know just so much about cars…” blinking up into his dark eyes, you then let the antic fade away, “no, I just finally measured those rooms and it turns out they are both big enough for double beds.”

“Oh, great,” his eyebrows rose softly in recognition. 

“I’m really sorry it took this long,” you averted your gaze, looking to the grass below as your fingers found an old and crumbled shopping list at the very bottom of your jacket’s pocket, “it was so kind of you to offer to make some new furniture for the place, I should have given you all the information needed so much earlier.”

“It's fine, it’s just a few bedframes, some shelves and such, nothing fancy,” he calmed your edgy nervous system, “I’ve gotten plenty done already without knowing all the information, but now that I do, I can finish, so thank you,” dipping his head a little lover to catch your gaze, he then offered graciously, “you wanna take a look? It’s not done yet, but it might give you an idea.” 

“Yeah, sure,” the smile that blossomed on your lips was impossible to hide, following his long stride as he marched into the open shed-like structure just behind where the car was parked. To the immediate right, tall stacks of firewood laid to cure, a dark tarp draped over one of the piles, but the earthy scent your nose picked up on was heavenly and caused a bit of tenseness, you hadn’t noticed haunted your shoulders, to fade away. 

“So, I cut out the side panels, legs and such for the beds since I didn’t know how wide they needed to be,” your vision flickered away from the various tools that hung up on peg boards on one of the walls, and fixated instead on the planks of well-carved wood that Pete presented, lifting one of them a few inches off the work table for you to take a look, “but this is kinda what’s going on so far, still need to sand it a bit more, put a stain on it, of course assemble it, but yeah, I hope this can work.”

“Wow, wait,” you craned down, pushing your wide eyes closer to the unfinished yet beautifully crafted pieces, “you made this?”

“Well, yeah,” he shrugged softly, “I mean, I can change it if you don’t like it–”

“I was fully expecting you just slap a few two-by-fours together and call it a bed,” you interrupted, momentarily tearing your eyes away from the timber to stress, “happily so might I add, but this is like actual furniture…” your fingers ghosted over the smoothed surface, “you’re really good at this.”

“Well, I do work with wood for a living,” he joked, head cocking to the side. 

“Do you sell these kinds of things?”

“No, no,” he glanced down at the way the fingernail on his thumb was absentmindedly digging into the opposing palm, “stuff like this is just a way to keep my hands busy.” 

“Well,” you glanced up into his eyes, “if you wanted to then you could easily make a pretty penny…” a gentle smile accompanied your genuine compliment, his own lips swiftly mirroring the same curve as he let out a wispy exhale. 

Just then, a crack of thunder echoed from somewhere in the distance. Whipping your head around to glance out the wide-open door, it took mere seconds for the abrupt rain to go from a gentle drizzle to a violent downpour. 

“Oh my god,” your feet carried you a few meters, shoulders jumping faintly as another bolt of lightning shot out from the dark clouds above. 

Eyes too glued to the skies, you felt Pete’s touch find your shoulder as he uttered, “we should probably head inside.”

“Yeah,” you nodded slowly, “good idea,” before your feet practically sprinted all the way up to the cabin’s humble porch, like a small child in the middle of the night, scared of whatever shadow monsters you thought to be real. Heading in first, Pete was right on your tail as you held the front door open a moment for him, swiftly slamming it shut behind him as giddiness coursed through your veins, “oh my goodness,” you squealed, curling your toes in your wet shoes, “I had no idea it was gonna rain!” casting your vision out the window, you let out an enchanted gasp as you spotted another thunderous bolt appear, “oh, Pete, look! That was such a close one,” your fingers found the windowsill as you muttered in amazement, “man, I can’t for the life of me remember the last time it thundered, nevertheless this much,” not glancing back at the silent figure leaning against the kitchen counter, you asked him, “can you?”

Not truly present, you then heard him utter, “…Frank.”

“Huh?” you finally glanced back at him, noticing how sombre his features suddenly were. 

“My name,” he breathed, noticeably having trouble looking you in the eye, “it’s not Pete, it’s Frank.”

“What?” you blinked, the thrilling weather abruptly forgotten, “what do you mean your name is Frank?”

As you gently inched closer, perplexity muddling your features, he hesitantly shared, “I did some shit, things that some people high up doesn’t want the public to know about, so I get to be Pete while they get to not be humiliated by their own actions.”

Lips slightly parted, a dazed breath escaped your lungs, “I–…” utterly stunned, your eyes fluttered shut as you tried to comprehend the bomb he’d just dropped, “alright… alright…” a headache nearly plagued your cranium from how tensely your eyebrows were knitted together, “I-I don’t know what say,” you squinted back at the man before you, “no one’s ever–… wow… your name is Frank?” he hesitantly offered you a light nod in confirmation, “Frank… Frank…” you heard yourself hazily repeat, tasting the new, and oddly fitting, name on your tongue. 

He didn’t utter a single word as you just stood there, doing your best to digest the staggering information. 

It took a long time for you to hear the rumbling rain again, your whole body frozen as you tried to relearn what was up and what was down. 

You had no idea how long the deafening silence drew out. Could have been a whole week for all you knew. But when your lips eventually parted once more, the breathless words that then spilt out couldn’t help but come straight from your heart. 

“You–… you scare me…” catching his weary gaze, you uttered with glossy eyes, “the way that you make me feel, that scares me so much…” your tainted track record caused your body to feel as if you could faint at any moment, “I didn’t expect–, I certainly didn’t plan for this, any of this, you. I didn’t expect you to–…” the rest of your confession then faded away as the boldness of what soon fluttered out of you took even you by surprise, “can–… can I kiss you?” scarcely drawing breath as you glanced back at him in apprehension, “because I really can’t tell if it’s okay or not, if you–” 

Seizing your fretful face in his hands, Frank promptly drew you in and drowned out the paralyzing worries that fluttered your system as his lips pressed against your own. 

You heard him draw in a deep breath through his nose, as if it was the very first oxygen he had let his lungs have in a whole lifetime. Your shoulders swiftly relaxed, noticeably dropping beneath where his rough palms gently cupped your flush cheeks, not only handling you, but kissing you as if you were made out of glass. 

As you eventually felt him gently draw back, you couldn’t help but dive back in, clutching his shirt and crashing your lips back against his in a kiss so fierce you nearly lost your footing. 

When you finally did part ways, you felt Frank��s broad thumb trace your bottom lip, staring at it a moment before his enchanted eye flicked up to meet yours.

Breathless and absolutely spellbound, gazing back at him, you eventually heard yourself utter barely above a whisper, “…the–, the rain…” you felt his heavy breath fan across your blush, “I should probably wait it out…” the undertaking of letting go of the soft cotton of his shirt seemed an impossible task, “might be dangerous riding home in this weather, especially on the tiny paths I’d have to take, they get so muddy, and it gets too easy to just slip and fall and if it happens at some of the areas that are kind of cliffy, then it could quickly turn into something bad…” you rambled as it felt like his gaze pierced directly into your soul, “and also the lightning? I don’t know about you, but I don’t wanna get stuck, that doesn’t sound very nice…”

“Might not be over till morning, though…” he pointed out, “you’re welcome to just sleep here if you want, I mean, nothing like that,” he reeled back a bit, wincing at the unintentional innuendo, “I wasn’t insinuating–,” but the end of his sentence didn’t get a chance to see the light of day as you raised yourself up onto your tip toes and planted a kiss of not only gratitude against his soft lips. 

The low groan that then rumbled deep within his throat sent a dizzying flutter down your abdomen, all collecting right between your thighs. As your lips consequently parted to let out a foggy whimper, you felt his nature instinctively seize the opportunity and sneak his tongue in to explore your own, intoxicatingly dancing, savouring your taste, as his hands began to wander, attempting to pull your form as close to him as physically possible.

At first, you thought you’d fallen, but then when you felt the cool counter beneath your bottom, you realized that he’d hoisted you up there, slotting himself in between your parted limbs as you held onto the sides of his face, fingers weaving into his scraggly beard. 

Panting, your chin abruptly tilted to the side, denying yourself of anymore before you got too far to be able to stop yourself. Eyes only half open, you felt his bulbous nose stay pressed against your cheek, lingering in your warmth for as long as he could.

“It’s getting late,” you breathed heavily, steadying yourself with a hand on either side of his broad shoulders, “we should probably go to sleep…”

As your neck began to straighten back out, his answer washed over you, sounding just as hazy as you had, “right,” one of his palms absentmindedly brushed the wild hair out of your face as you parted ways, “yeah…” pupils eclipsing the warmth of his eyes, you watched as he drew in on last breath before enclosing his grasp around your waist, helping you back down onto the floor, “you go on and take the bed, I’ll sleep on the couch.”

“No way,” a breathless chuckle bubbled out of you as you shook your head, “I’ll take the couch, I insist, I can’t put you out like that. I’m shorter than you anyway, so I’ll fit better,” you reached back to grasp the table behind you just in case the room decided to spin out from under you, “and if you give me your bed then I’ll just purposely stay up all night, not even sleep a second. So, if you want me to get some rest, then let me take the couch.”

Gazing back at you, a faint smile then warmed his features, “alright,” the vision not helping in the slightest at settling the butterflies in your stomach. 

“Do you maybe have a shirt or something I could borrow? Just so that I don’t sleep in damp clothes…” 

“Oh yeah,” the tiny task seemingly helped to take the edge off of Frank’s own fuzzy high, “I’ll, uhm…” he turned his back to you and wandered a few paces before he entered the far room, stopping before the tall wooden wardrobe visible from the doorway. Like his shadow, you slowly followed him, stopping just in the opening as you watched him pull out a black, folded-up item of clothing, “here,” he turned and handed the worn t-shirt to you, his touch lingering just a second, fingertips ghosting against the back for your palm. 

“Thank you, Frank,” you smiled, wrapping your arms around it and hugging it close to your chest like a teddy bear. 

“No problem,” your eyes briefly flickered to the bed in the corner of the room, juxtaposing crumbled linen sprawled atop the twisted iron frame made for quite the inviting image, even if you didn’t account for the actual dream that slumbered there every night, “the, uh, the bathroom is right through there, so you can just–, while I find you some blankets and such.”

© 2023 thyme-in-a-bubble 

[sturniozo]

Tutor Part Two

AN: You guys seemed to like the first one so here’s a part two!

Masterlist

NOT PROOFREAD

I haven’t been this nervous driving since my dad was first teaching me to drive. I pull into the parking lot of the Subway restaurant and shut off my car. The pit in my stomach deepens and I wipe my damp hands on my jeans.

Chris unbuckles his seatbelt and opens the passenger side door, but stops and looks at me, concerned. “You good?” He asks.

“Y-Yeah.” I say although I’m sure even Chris can hear my heart beating a million times a second.

“You don’t look good.”

“Wow, thanks.” I say sarcastically.

“No I mean, you always look good, but right now you just look like you’re about to throw up.” He closes the passenger side door and situates himself back into the passenger seat.

I blush deeply when he says I always look good. I try to brush it off and think about something else.

“I’m fine. Let’s just get this over with so we can get back to studying.”

“Get this over with?”

“Yeah.”

“You don’t want to get food?”

“I’m fine with the food part it’s just… talking to the workers in there…”

“But… don’t you work part time as a waitress?” Chris asks me.

That is true. Almost as soon as I turned 16 I got a job as a waitress at a restaurant near my house. I’ve only had the job for a few months and it’s already helped with my anxiety so much. But I still get anxious when shopping or ordering food in any form.

“It’s alright, I got you. My brother Matt has anxiety too. I can just order for you if you’d like. Tell me what you want and I’ll be right back with it.” Chris smiles at me and puts his hand over mine. My heart races. His hand is on mine. Oh god I bet he can feel how damp my hands are. He probably thinks I’m weird and gross now.

“Are you listening to me?” He asks and I snap out of my thought.

“Y-yes. Thank you.” I say while a soft blush creeps up my cheeks. I tell Chris my usual order and he leaves to go get it for me.

While I’m alone in my car, I get a text from Nick.

Little Nicky 😈 - How’s studying going?

Me - We took a little detour. Chris swears he’ll study if we went and got food so that’s what we’re doing now.

Little Nicky 😈 - he’s tricking you. He’s not gonna study.

Me - I could have guessed that.

Chris returns with bag in hand with our subs. He sets them down in the backseat and places our drinks in the cup holders.

“Well, they were out of doctor pepper so it’s not a full ‘graveyard’ but I did the best I could.” He buckles his seatbelt.

“Thank you.” I smile softly at him.

“No problem. Not let’s get back to your house, eat, then study.”

“Yes, let’s do that.” I say as I start the car.

“Of course, it’s a nice day out. We could fine a park or find some parking lot and eat there instead.” Chris suggests not-so-slyly.

“You’re just going to come up with new ways to not study aren’t you?” I ask.

“You got me. Now let’s go, the back parking lot of the mall is almost always empty.”

“We’re going back to my house to eat and study, Chris. That was the deal.”

“New deal?”

“No new deal.”

“You’re pretty demanding. Why do you want me to study so bad anyways?” He asks and sips on his drink.

“It’s a favor for Nick.” I shrug.

“Is that all?”

“Yeah. That’s all.”

“Wow. So it’s got nothing to do with me at all? I thought we were friends.” Chris puts on an exaggerated pot with puppy eyes.

“Well. I guess we are. We’ve known each other for four years so I’d say we’re at least a little bit friends.”

Chris smiles. “Then as my friend, will you drive to the malls back parking lot and park there so we can eat?”

I blink. I take a deep breath and look at him. “That was manipulative as fuck.”

Chris shrugs. “I promise we’ll study after we go eat.”

I sigh and lean my head down and press my forehead against the steering wheel.

“The longer you stall the soggier the bread on your sub will be from your mayo.” Chris says. I laugh softly and roll my eyes. I put the car in gear and start driving out of the Subway parking lot.

“Are you going to the mall?” Chris asks.

“Yeah.”

“See? I knew you couldn’t resist me.” Chris laughs.

And the butterflies are back.

Tags: @rac00ns-are-c00l4

[fluentmoviequoter]

Driver’s Seat

Pairing: Dominique Luca x fem!reader

Summary: At a classic car show, you meet the only gentleman in attendance and bond over a mutual love for cars.

Warnings: fluff! 1.2k+ words

A/N: This is completely self-indulgent (it’s about me and my car) but I figured I could share it anyway. Happy daydreaming about Luca!😊

“Nice car.”

You bristle, prepared for some variant of nicer driver or bet you look good in it.

“What year? ‘76 or ‘77?”

At the continued discussion of the car, you turn. You’ve seen Dom Luca around car shows before, but haven’t had the chance or a reason to talk to him yet. His kind smile helps you relax and you offer a smile in return. Being a woman at a car show is like travelling back in time to when the cars were new; you’re treated differently here than anywhere else.

“1977,” you answer. “Good eye. You’re Dom Luca, right? You brought a gorgeous 1956 Buick Special a few months ago.”

“Yeah, yeah, that’s me. Friends just call me Luca. I’m stuck with a ‘68 Charger this month. But your car is a beauty.”

“Thanks! I still have a ton of work to do before she’s finished, but I’m proud of everything I’ve managed to do.”

“You should be. Sorry, I didn’t ask your name.”

You smile as you extend your hand and say your name. Luca’s handshake is firm, and you appreciate the respect he shows you. It’s refreshing, and you’re glad your mental image of him from past shows holds up. He’s a gentlemen in a world where there aren’t many left.

“Any chance you have before pictures? I haven’t gotten my hands on a Nova yet but I know good work when I see it. Do it all yourself?”

You pull your phone from your pocket and navigate to your photo albums as you nod. “I did as much as I could. Had a lot of amazing people to help too.”

As you turn your phone to scroll through the before pictures, Luca moves to stand closer. His shoulder presses against yours, and you freeze momentarily before swiping to the next picture.

“Is that you?” Luca asks excitedly.

The picture of you smiling in the driver’s seat after the first test drive is one of your favorites. It was such a special moment, and having it immortalized in a photo is priceless. Luca’s attention, however, makes you a bit shy and you nod before swiping away quickly.

“There’s no shame in being excited. First drives are a special kind of rush,” he assures. “It’s a good picture, too.”

“Thank you,” you whisper.

“Everything original?”

You appreciate the change of subject, happier to focus on the car rather than its owner.

“Yeah, it is. Straight 6, automatic transmission, even the color is the same.”

“Now that takes real talent. Anyone can cover a classic in aftermarket parts, but original? That’s impressive.”

As you turn to face Luca, you realize how close he’s standing. Face-to-face, eye-to-eye, lip-to-lip… you know you should step back but you don’t want to. Luca smiles like he feels the same before his eyes drop to your phone.

“Care for another picture?” he asks. “It’s your first entry into a car show right?”

Someone whistles behind you and shatters the moment. Luca looks over your shoulder as he steps back. You can tell he wants to say something, but you shake your head. It’s always like this, you communicate with a shrug.

“Can I see the Charger you’re stuck with? Though I’d love to get my hands on a ‘69, so I don’t see it as the unfortunate situation you do,” you say with a smile.

Luca’s shoulders drop as he relaxes and steps to the side. He leads you down the row and around a booth at the end. The black Charger is beautiful, and your eyes widen as you walk the length of it.

“Luca,” you murmur. “It’s perfect.”

Luca presses his lips together to hide his smile. He said his friends call him Luca, and it sounds right coming from your lips. After thanking you, Luca pops the trunk open and points to a nearly invisible metallic L welded to the side.

“For Luca?” you ask, once again standing directly at Luca’s side.

“My brother and I work on these cars together. We, uh, didn’t talk for a while, so now that we’re close again, we like putting something in every car.”

“That’s amazing. I- do you have one more minute to spare?”

“If you compliment the car again, maybe I’ll give you two.”

“The body work on this is impeccable. Better than original. Like always,” you compliment.

“Lead the way.”

You unlock the passenger door and open the glovebox of your car. A laminated piece of paper and a photo are in your hands, and you pass them to Luca.

“1987,” he reads. “You have an old title registration for this car? Do you know how rare that is? Was it in the car?”

“Look at the picture,” you answer.

“I take it back. The first drive photo isn’t your best.”

You chuckle at the idea that the photo he’s holding is your best. In it, you’re less than 10 years old, sitting in the driver’s seat like you belong, and it’s proof that you’ve loved this car for nearly your entire life.

“Took me a while to get started on it, but it was worth the wait,” you muse. “Most good things are.”

“So, when you came to shows before, were you looking for inspiration or people to hire?” Luca asks as he passes the papers back.

With the memories of your family’s history with the car secure in the glovebox, you return your attention to Luca.

“You’re different than I thought you’d be,” you say. His face drops, and you add, “I knew you’d be a gentleman, but I didn’t think you’d let me talk to your ear off about my car. And yours.”

“You’d be surprised how long I’d listen to you.”

You playfully roll your eyes before someone yells Luca’s name.

“What are you planning to do next?” Luca asks, pointing to your car.

“Dom!” the man repeats, louder.

“Do you need to go?” you ask.

“My brother,” Luca says. “He can wait. Tell me what’s next. Finish this one and call it good, or are you going to be around with more cars?”

“I’d love to restore another car. Actually, a truck. An old boxy one that needs the love, or a Harvester.”

“1950s Harvester is my dream project,” Luca agrees.

“Finding one that isn’t in a scrap heap seems…”

“Impossible,” you and Luca say together.

“If you ever get your hands on one, send me lots of pictures?” you request as Luca’s brother approaches.

“What if I ask for your help instead?” Luca suggests.

“Why me?”

Luca smiles like he knows something you don’t. He introduces you to his brother, Terry, and shakes your hand again before leaving to talk to a salesman. A paper is transferred to your palm during the shake, and when he’s gone, you look at it. Luca’s phone number accompanies a short message, and your smile grows until your cheeks hurt.

Talk my ear off before the next show? I’d love to learn more about the girl in the car.

When he had time to write this, you don’t know. But you do know your answer. You text Luca that you’d love that, and he turns to wink at you before asking the men around him if anyone knows of a Harvester still on the market.

[ilwonuu]

Hey, OMG! I actually wanted to send my thoughts about your latest post on Jungwoo, but I don't know how to do it. When I clicked the 'request' button you created, it took me to something that I didn't understand. I am new to this platform and just figured out how to use some things here. Anyway, if you're looking for feedback, you don't need to ask because your writing about him is good, really good! I love how you portrayed him for his affectionate side You should write more about him and do more parts!

oh my gosh,,,no worries!! this platform is still very new to me i’ve been slowly figuring it out the few months i’ve been on here. thank you so much:( im so happy you liked!! here’s a random little fic i wrote for him!!! he is the biggest sweetheart <3

𝗅𝗈𝗏𝖾 𝗈𝖿 𝗆𝗒 𝗅𝗂𝖿𝖾

⇝ 𝗄𝗂𝗆 𝗃𝗎𝗇𝗀𝗐𝗈𝗈

ఌ 𝗉𝖺𝗂𝗋𝗂𝗇𝗀－ 𝖾𝗌𝗍𝖺𝖻𝗅𝗂𝗌𝗁𝖾𝖽 𝗋𝖾𝗅𝖺𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇𝗌𝗁𝗂𝗉， 𝗇𝗈𝗇𝗂𝖽𝗈𝗅！𝗃𝗎𝗇𝗀𝗐𝗈𝗈 𝗑 𝖿𝖾𝗆！𝗋𝖾𝖺𝖽𝖾𝗋 ， 𝗌𝗐𝗂𝗍𝖼𝗁！𝗃𝗎𝗇𝗀𝗐𝗈𝗈 𝗑 𝗌𝗐𝗂𝗍𝖼𝗁！𝗋𝖾𝖺𝖽𝖾𝗋

ఌ 𝗌𝗒𝗇𝗈𝗉𝗌𝗂𝗌－ 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗒𝗈𝗎𝗋 𝖻𝗈𝗒𝖿𝗋𝗂𝖾𝗇𝖽 𝖼𝖺𝗇'𝗍 𝗄𝖾𝖾𝗉 𝗒𝗈𝗎𝗋 𝗁𝖺𝗇𝖽𝗌 𝗈𝖿𝖿 𝖾𝖺𝖼𝗁 𝗈𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗋， 𝖾𝗏𝖾𝗋．

ఌ 𝗐𝖺𝗋𝗇𝗂𝗇𝗀𝗌－𝖼𝗎𝗍𝖾 𝖿𝗅𝗎𝖿𝖿，𝗉𝗎𝗋𝖾 𝗌𝗆𝗎𝗍， 𝗆𝖾𝗇𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇𝗌／𝗂𝗆𝗉𝗅𝗂𝖾𝖽 𝗌𝗆𝗎𝗍， 𝖼𝖺𝗋 𝗌𝖾𝗑， 𝗃𝗎𝗇𝗀𝗐𝗈𝗈 𝗂𝗌 𝗄𝗂𝗇𝖽𝖺 𝗐𝗁𝗂𝗇𝗒<𝟥 ， 𝗄𝗂𝗌𝗌𝗂𝗇𝗀， 𝗋𝖾𝖺𝖽𝖾𝗋 𝗂𝗌 𝖺 𝗍𝖾𝖺𝗌𝖾， 𝗃𝗎𝗇𝗀𝗐𝗈𝗈 𝗂𝗌 𝗇𝖾𝖾𝖽𝗒， 𝗃𝗎𝗇𝗀𝗐𝗈𝗈 𝗂𝗌 𝖺 𝖼𝗎𝗍𝗂𝖾<𝟥， 𝗃𝗎𝗇𝗀𝗐𝗈𝗈 𝗍𝖺𝗄𝖾𝗌 𝗉𝗁𝗈𝗍𝗈𝗌 ��𝖿 𝗋𝖾𝖺𝖽𝖾𝗋，𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗒 𝗀𝗈 𝗈𝗇 𝖺 𝗅𝖺𝗄𝖾 𝗍𝗋𝗂𝗉！！！， 𝗅𝗆𝗄 𝗐𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝖾𝗅𝗌𝖾 <𝟥

ఌ 𝖺／𝗇－ 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝗂𝗌 𝗅𝗂𝗍𝖾𝗋𝖺𝗅𝗅𝗒 𝗋𝖺𝗇𝖽𝗈𝗆 𝖻𝗎𝗍 𝗉𝗅𝗌 𝗌𝖾𝗇𝖽 𝗂𝗇 𝗆𝗈𝗋𝖾 𝗃𝗎𝗇𝗀𝗐𝗈𝗈 𝗋𝖾𝗊𝗌 𝗂 𝗅𝗎𝗏 𝗁𝗂𝗆，，， 𝗅𝗆𝗄 𝗐𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝗎 𝗍𝗁𝗈𝗍 <𝟥 𝗇𝗈𝗍 𝗉𝗋𝗈𝗈𝖿𝗋𝖾𝖺𝖽 ，，，

your boyfriend gently helps you out of the car. he pulls you over to where you guys decided to sit.

“come here love.” he smiles at you as he pulls you close to him. you two seated two chairs at the lake. hes grabbing for your hands with a cheesy smile.

“i’m so happy to be here with you.” he says to you with a smile.

“you look so pretty.” he adds kissing your shoulder. you have just woke up from a car nap. you haven’t looked at yourself but you’re such it’s not great.

“hmm? thank you. i’m happy to be here with you too.” you smile at his touch.

“it’s so quiet out here.” he nods at your words.

“it’s kinda cold- are you warm?” he rubs your sides in hopes to warm you up.

“yea i’m all warm now.” you smile at him. you two stay holding each other as you enjoy the fresh air. he hands you a couple snacks he had packed for the two of you. you hum in relief, it’s like he read your mind. you got hungry at that very moment.

“how’d you know?” you grab some snacks from him and your water bottle.

“i knew you would be hungry after you slept.” he smiles at you as he pulls out his phone.

“look at the camera love.” he taps your shoulder as you look at him mid chew. he takes a couple pictures of you with a smile.

“jungwoo- i had food in my mouth.” you roll your eyes at him playfully and he just shrugs at you.

“you still look very beautiful to me.” he leans closer to you holding up his phone to take pictures of the two of you. he smiles in the photos and leans over to kiss your cheek for some. he makes you form a heart with him. he smiles at the photos before leaning to kiss you.

“gotta document the memories.” you smile at him, blushing at his words a little. you continue you to eat your snacks with peaceful sensation. jungwoo just quietly watches you. he smiles to himself as you stay distracted by something around you.

“we can get back in the car for a bit if you want?” he says car very loosely. you two have rented a van with a bed so you can stay overnight.

“yea- i’m kinda tired.” you sigh after gathering your trash from the snacks.

“let’s go lay down for bit then and come back when the sun is out more.” he smiles at you gathering your things back to the van. you nod helping him as you two get back in the car. he climbs to the back quickly locking it as he lays back.

“come hereee.” he pouts at you after not even 10 seconds.

“i’m coming- let me take off my shoes.” he just pouts more at your words. you finally get your shoes off as you crawl into his arms.

“finally i missed you.” he runs his hands all over your body slowly as he pulls you into a kiss.

“jung-woo.” you say in between kisses and he smiles into the kiss. “mm what s’just kissing.” he whispers into the kiss knowing how easily he can make you needy. you start to lean over him to kiss him at a better angle. he moans softly into the kiss.

“f-fuck baby.” he feels you run your hand down his torso. he feels his dick twitching in his pants.

“you’re easily hard, jungwoo.” you point out to your boyfriend with a smirk. his cheeks darkening at that.

“well- you’re so pretty i’m sorry.” he smiles at you as your hand moves down to palm him. he groans quietly as you unzip his jeans. he watches you closely. his gaze is piercing your soul. you feel a little intimidated but you continue. you pull his boxers down enough to pull his dick out. you kiss the head of his cock giving it a couple strokes.

“oh- s-shit.” he sighs into your touch. you spit at the head with an innocent smile. you give it a couple more strokes while watching him slightly squirm.

“you’re so cute.” you coo at him as you play with his cock.

“please- need you so bad.” he starts to fuck your hand biting back a moan.

“you’re so needy.” you laugh at him a little but he doesn’t find it funny.

“fuck me please.” he begs you as he fucks your hand.

“you’re so cute when you beg me.” you rub your hand over him painfully slow.

“shut up-“ he can’t help but try to defend himself but he quickly gets lost in the pleasure.

[notaplaceofhonour]

🚨 URGENT HELP / DONATIONS NEEDED 🚨

I recently moved to get away from FL’s anti-trans laws, and haven’t been able to find a stable job in the few months I’ve been living here; I’ve just had to stick to working for delivery apps, but this week I lost that job.

I was already behind on bills, and now I have rent & a car payment coming up in 2 weeks with no income. Even if I can find a new job fast, I have no idea how I’m going to make enough money to be able to pay either.

If anyone can help out by sending a few dollars or reblogging this while I’m look for a new job, it would mean a lot. Anything helps.

Venmo

Cashapp

$0/900

[jocelynscrazyideas]

Summer lakehouse- Arrival | Quinn Hughes x Reader

Summary: this episode reads… Zoey, Trevor’s twin sister and Trevor Zegras go on a roadtrip to Michigan to the Hughes Home. Summer is calling!! And so is love.

Warnings: language? Not proof read.

A:N- this is the kickoff to the series!!! Also sorry to mention but Trevor’s actual sibling don’t exist in this story (sorry!)

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

“Zoey!” Trevor calls for me from my kitchen. Trevor and I are at my house in Minnesota. I’m currently upstairs getting packed for our trip to Michigan. Normally, Trevor would fly out to Michigan and I would be left at home.

Trevor, my older brother, only by 7 minutes has been super successful in his hockey career. He had just suffered in an injury so lately, Trevor has had time to check up on me, especially since I had just went through a breakup with a relationship that lasted about three years. I live in Minnesota, Trevor is in Anaheim, and our parents moved back into New York. I feel so special being able to literally be going to Michigan with The HUGHES brothers. I’ve known Jack for a long time, but I have never really considered us friends. I only talk to Jack because he’s Trevor’s bestfriend.

“Are you coming?” Trev bellows out for me again.

“Yes! Just calm down and eat an apple.” I yell back from upstairs in my room.

“Incoming!” I exclaim cautiously chucking my bags down the stairs. Trevor runs under the botttom of the stairs and catches my bags. I packed about three bags knowing I’ll be in Michigan for half the summer.

“Okay give me your keys.” Trevor motions for my pocket. “Um.. now.” Trevor barks back at my nasty stare.

“No! I’m driving.” I look him up and down, I pick up one of three bags and throw it at his chest.

“ZEGRAS IS DOWN!! ZEGRAS IS DOWN!!” Trevor screams out flailing his arms as if he’s trappped under my bags. I grab one and throw it into my car. I run inside and grab my other two and throw those into the car. I hurry to my side of the car and notice that Trevor isn’t outside. I unlock the car, knowing he may be tricking me and he could steal the drivers seat.

“Fine.” Trevor murmured in defeat as he walks out f the house. He gets in the passenger seat and he turns in the radio.

Perfect.

Umbrella by Queen Rihanna is on.

I open our windows as we are still driving in to town towards the nearest highway.

“Can we stop for some drinks and food?” Trevor, being a former big back asks.

“Yeah sure, you’re paying.” I say as I’m still locked in into one of the best songs ever.

We pull into Starbucks as he orders for me and him. We wait for 15 minutes, and my dragon fruit lemonade refresher comes out followed by Trevor’s black coffee and his cake pops.

“You know this song is going to be your summer.” Trev indicates as we approach the freeway.

“No, I’m going to have fun thi summer, and having fun is being single.” I say trying to get rid of the conversation.

“Well yeah never mind you’re still a virgin.”

“Trevor shut the fuck up. You can’t keep your girlfriends! You scare them off!” I say yelling back at him. Yes, I have lost my virginity, but I haven’t had sex in like 8 months. Which is normal.

We make it to Wisconsin and we stop at a rest place, I use the bathroom, Trevor goes to throw our trash away. “You know I’m serious. You could get a boyfriend this summer. Quinn throws seriously cool parties.” Trevor still not letting this go.

“No, I just got out of a healthy relationship, and I’m still hurt.” I explain, trying to give him signals.

“Good. You can get a rebound. I mean You’ve met Jack. Michigan men are hot.” Trevor goes on and on about me and the idea of “hot men”.

I drive for another four hours and we stop at another rest place. I get out of the car and stretch my legs and start to walk into the buildings for the bathrooms. I get some water, grab a few snacks and head back to the car. Trevor and I switch seats, and he drives really scary.

Trevor swerved in front of a deer. I punched Trevor in his right bicep, and he winced. He looks over at me and he drives off. He throws his phone at me telling me to turn on some music.

“Why do you get aux?” I reply in a snap.

“Well you get to pick the playlist that’s on MY Spotify.” Trevor sassed back.

Whatever.

I press on his “lover girl/wedding vibes” playlist. Interesting.

“What’s this?” I say as I laugh. I know Trevor was hurt when I told him he’s the reason he can’t keep a girlfriend. I felt terrible.

“WHAT IF HES WRITING MINE ON MY UPPER THIGH.. ONLY IN MY MINDD!” Trevor breaks out into song. And I follow.

“Taylor the woman you are.” I say as I hold trevs hand. We make it to Michigan. We both pulled all jighters.

“10 hour drives aren’t for the weak.” Trevor says as he pulls over into a parking lot. We switch seats once more. Trevor puts the Hughes address in my google maps. I turn in the aux and play Lovers by Anna of the North. So teenage girl coded. I back into the driveway, and I knock on Trevor’s head.

“Wake up.” I whisper trying to get him up but still he quiet for those around us in the block.

“Mhm” Trevor moans out in a sleeping bliss.

“Zegras?” Quinn says as he walks out of the newly renovated home.

“Oh yeah! Hey buddy!” Trevor instantly gets up and opens the trunk. Quinn helps us bring our stuff into the house. I get my own room, for now.

“So Trevor I didn’t know your twin sister was like super hot.” Quinn mumbles to Trevor.

“Uh, yeah she’s hot.” Trevor looks over at me and winks.

“Yeah she is! And she’s mine!” Jack says as he run into me and grabs my bags before I get the chance to.

“Hurry up! It’s cold.” Luke says. Luke’s hanging half way in the door way and half way out. He held the door for us and he walks me to my room.

“So you jack know eachother?” Luke mentions. Luke is 6”3, really tall, like taller than Trevor. I’m 5”2 and on a good day I’m 7”.

“Yeah, but only through Trev.” I respond, Luke seems so chill. I think out of all of the Hughes, I’d get along with Luke the best.

“Chill. I’m glad you could come this summer!” Jack says. I’ve never thought me and Jack were so buddy buddy, but I guess we are.

“So I’ll wake you up in the morning, so we can go down to the beach, and buy some avacodoes from the store. I know you like avocado toast!” Jack hypes up. We past their parents rooms and I settled into my bed.

Now that I mention it. Jack and I are actually best friends. Trevor met jacks through me when I told Trevor to tryout for USNTDP U18 because I knew the captain. It’s been years since me and Jack talked, I mean Jack and Trevor hang out, but it’s not me and Jack going on walks everyday.

I can’t believe I forgot Jack and I’s friendship. I feel terrible. Jack was the only person who really knew me for me.

~

I go to bed and I dream about nothing. Mind is empty. Except…

I’m thinking of how Wuinn called me hot. Maybe Trevor was right, maybe I could find a love this summer.

~

I wake up to knocking on my door, last night before I fell asleep I put all of my clothes and shoes away, I unpacked my hygiene stuff into my bathroom.

“Hey? Are you wake?” I hear from behind my door. I can’t decipher the voice but I know it’s not Trevor.

I get out of my bed and unwrinkls my bed sheets. I slide my slippers on and walk over to the door. “Hello?” I whisper. “What time is it?” I ask as I look up to the owner of the mysterious voice.

“Yeah. Sorry for waking you up.” Quinn apologizes to me, he grabs my wrist and pulls me out of my room. My door shuts behind me, Quinn pulls me down the stairs and I’m following the tall man all the way to his car.

“Jack told me to take you to get avacidos.” Quinn told me as he opens his car door for me. “It’s like 5:30.” I told Quinn. Just making sure he knows it’s way too early to buy avocados for breakfast. Especially in the summer.

“I’m aware. But if you wanted to go sneak out like Jack and Z told me, then this is the time. Besides, I know a sport downtown.” Quinn backs out of the neighborhood and he drives off to a small shop. Some farmers markets are open so we buy organic avocados, four of them.

~

“You like the ocean?” Quinn asks me. He places a blanket on the sandy stone. We sit on a cliff on top of a lake.

“Yeah, you?” I respond. I wonder if Jack and Trevor put him up to this. Or if Quinn genuinely thought of taking me.

“Uh- yeah no I love the lakes here in Michigan. I hear you’re from Minnesota, the place of 10,000 lakes.” Quinn mocks the Minnesotan accent.

“Yeah I mean it’s nice, especially during the summer because of the weather, but during the winter there the lakes are fun to skate on, and I have friends who ice fish- it’s really easy to have fun in Minnesota.” I explained, I look at Quinn and he’s staring into my eyes. It’s like he’s reading me.

“Yeah? Maybe I should drive back with you and Z.”

“You should, Trevor loves to annoy me.”

“Well he told me most of the stuff you’ve been through before this.”

“Like what? My breakup?” I say as I turn my head towards the lake instead.

“Maybe we should head home, it’s been a couple of hours since we left.” Quinn excused out conversation, knowing I was offended.

We got home around 8:41- about three hours since we left to get avocados. I bring in my favorite ingredient, and Quinn opens the door for me.

I set the avocados on the counter and I head to my room. “Zoey!” Quinn runs up the stairs after me.

“Sorry for getting in your biz.” Quinn apologized to me, he must truly care.

Jack comes down from his room and makes us our avocado toast that he promised us.

We went boating and I tanned on the deck while the guys barbecued and grilled some burgers.

[internet-ink]

Would you write a fic where LW and reader have been best friends for years, both play for arsenal. They’ve both been in relationships until this year. Reader thinks she’s straight until she realises she’s in love with her best friend

Confessions

Thank you for the request anon!

I haven’t wrote anything like this before but I hope you enjoy it :)

This past year had been a difficult one. It started out great - I was with a wonderful guy, I was doing well at Arsenal, and I had my best friends surrounding me.

Then it all went to shit.

In the space of a week I had caught my boyfriend in his bed with another girl and my childhood dog had passed away.

This was ten months ago and now there was another issue arising. My landlord had decided that now would be a great time to evict me. One night I had a few people round and apparently someone had complained about the noise. He said that he had past complaints about the noise from my flat which just wasn’t true but I really couldn’t be bothered to argue with him.

I had nine days to find a new place to live. Originally I had planned to just find another place to rent, however with the days going by and having no luck finding anything I was beginning to worry.

“Y/N! Pass the fucking ball!” Katie shouted, interrupting my thoughts. I snapped out of my day dream and quickly passed the ball to her.

“Sorry.” I replied.

She ran over to me and put her hands on her hips in a sort of ‘you better tell me what’s going on’ way.

With a sigh, my shoulders deflated as my mind went back to all the issues in my life. “I’m just stressing about this whole finding a place to live thing. You’d think in a big city like London there’d be at least somewhere that was available. But no…anything that is available is just ridiculously expensive and out of my budget. Like what am I meant to do? Live on the streets? If my stu-”

“You could stay with me?” A voice from behind me interrupted my rambling, and a smile took over my face as I saw it was Leah.

Leah and I had been close friends since I joined Arsenal three years ago, I mean we were literally inseparable from the first day of training. She was there for me through everything that had happened this year and I was there for her while she was going through her break up with Jordan.

Up until a couple of months ago everything was normal between us but then I started to get butterflies whenever she gave me a hug which then turned into feeling awkward whenever she’d hold my hand - everything that felt normal before now turned me into a complete mess. I had come to the realisation last month that I was in love with her…with Leah.

“Uhh…em. Do you have the room?” I stuttered, mentally kicking myself for acting so awkward around her.

“Yeah, Jordan moved out a couple of months ago so I’ve got a spare room.” She shrugged although I could still see that the mention of her ex-girlfriend’s name hurt her.

I scratched the back of my neck out of awkwardness before replying. “Only if you’re sure.” I said while scrunching my face up.

“Y/N we’ve been best friends for years, of course I’m sure.” She smiled. My heart sunk at the words ‘best friends’. That was all we would ever be and it hurt to think of that.

“Okay well if you insist.” I giggled.

———

“Is that all you’ve got?” Leah asked after I brought all the boxes with my stuff from my car and into my new house. There was a significantly smaller amount of things with me now than what Leah was used to seeing at my old place.

“Uh yeah, I donated some stuff. Decided to start over.” I laughed. Leah took a box and carried it into my new room, which was across the hall from hers.

“Well this is you. Feel free to decorate obviously…just don’t go knocking down any walls.” She deadpanned making me uncomfortable before she started to laugh at me. Leah was always like this.

With a roll of my eyes, I started to unpack the first of my boxes. As I turned to place my fake bonsai tree on the bedside table I noticed Leah staring at me with a small smile on her face, snapping out of it when she noticed I was looking at her.

“Takeaway pizza for dinner?” She asked.

“Yup. Plain cheese?” I replied. She nodded with a chuckle before turning to leave the room.

I spent the next hour or so unpacking everything and decorating the once plain room. It felt weird knowing that this room once belonged to her ex, I wasn’t entirely sure if they did sleep in the same bed while they were together, but I did know that this room was Jordan’s from the previous times I had come over. It just never once occurred to me that I would be living here with the girl that I had a fat crush on. How was I going to survive this? How would I manage if Leah ever brought home another girl or guy? I didn’t know how to feel.

“Y/N! Pizza’s here!” Leah called up to me from downstairs. I sighed to shake the doubts from my head before walking down to where Leah was waiting in the living room with one big box of pizza.

With a confused look on my face I opened the box, my confusion only growing as I confirmed that there was indeed only one pizza. “Where’s the other one?” I asked.

“Oh, I only ordered one. I thought we could share.” She shrugged as she sat on the couch and patted the cushion next to her, telling me to sit down.

My heart fluttered at the idea of sharing a pizza with her. “Cool. Sounds good.” I smiled, internally groaning at how weird I sounded. Leah returned a small smile before reaching over to take a slice.

Pull yourself together, it’s a pizza for Gods sake.

“You okay?” She asked with her hand covering her mouth to prevent the food from showing. I nodded before taking the seat that she had previously pointed at.

“Sorry, just in my own head.” I giggled as I grabbed a smaller slice than the one Leah had, letting out a small moan at the taste of it. Leah whipped her head to look at me with wide eyes as I blushed at the thought that I had actually done that out loud. “I’m so sorry, but holy shit where do you get this? This tastes better than most pizzas I’ve ate.” I exclaimed.

Leah laughed before shaking her head and wiping her hands with a napkin. “This chippy down the road. Discovered it when I was drunk and I’ve been loyal ever since. I can’t say I’ve ever moaned at the taste though.” She spoke, still laughing her head off. I rolled my eyes before taking another slice.

“Shut uppp.” I groaned. “It just slipped out.” I sighed, still feeling rather embarrassed about the whole situation. “Wait…you kept this delicacy from me this whole time?” I questioned, my mood now going from extreme embarrassment to confusion and slight betrayal.

“Guilty.” She put her hands up like she had been caught red handed before the both of us folded into each other in laughter. During our antics, Leah’s hand made its way onto the top of my thigh, making my breath hitch and my laughter halt. As her laughter stopped too, I looked up to see that she was already staring at me with a nervous look on her face and her eyes half closed, focusing on my lips.

“Leah?” I whispered. The tension in the room grew as the distance between us shrunk until I could feel her warm breath on my lips. My heart rate rapidly increasing as her eyes fully closed and her lips moved closer so that they were millimetres away from my own, my chest finally felt like it exploded as I finally felt the weight of Leah’s lips on mine.

I wrapped my arms around her waist and she wrapped hers around the back of my neck as her tongue licked my bottom lip, sighing as I opened my mouth wider and felt her consume me. We broke apart as the need for oxygen overcame us.

“Wow.”

“Yeah.”

I panted as Leah looked intensely into my eyes, making me feel more nervous than I had ever felt. “Are you alright?” I finally asked as she had been quiet for quite some time.

She leant forward so that her elbows were resting on her knees and her head was in her hands. Feeling immediately off, I reached forward with her and placed a comforting hand on the back of her shoulder.

In all honesty I thought it would’ve been me that was like this if we ever kissed.

“What was that?” She finally asked, leaning back into the couch and staring at me again. I felt my heart sink as she asked that. She sounded annoyed.

“A kiss.” I deadpanned.

“Obviously.” She rolled her eyes. I let out a breath as I mentally prepared myself for the possible rejection that could come from my next statement.

“I like you.” I replied, now looking anywhere but Leah as I didn’t want to see the current look on her face. “No…I love you. I have for awhile - well, a couple of months anyway.” I continued.

“Really?”

I frowned as I stared into the wall behind Leah. “Yeah. I’m sorry.” I said.

As I was getting up, a hand on my knee prevented me from moving anywhere. I took a deep breath as I looked at Leah, not seeing the disgusted face I though I would, in fact she had a huge grin on her face.

“I love you too.” She stated, making my world feel like it crumbled. She actually liked me back? I sat back down next to her and looked at her with wide eyes.

“Really?” I replied.

She laughed and leant in closer to me. “Of course I do, I thought I made it obvious but maybe not? Ever since that night when you held me while I was drunk crying, not complaining once about the snot that I had gotten on your favourite jumper. I love you, Y/N.”

“I think that’s the most romantic thing someone has ever said to me.” I smiled, noticing the crinkles on her nose as she smiled and the small freckles that dotted her nose.

“Shut up and kiss me.”

[heymeowmao]

2024.08.13 - https://weibo.com/l/wblive/p/show/1022:2321325067017437970567

LYN: Long time no see, long time. Wait for me a sec- I want to turn on the AC. It’s a little warm. LYN: Long time no see. It’s been quite some time since I last streamed. I happened upon a video today- they were saying that I- hold on, let me adjust the sound settings- I haven’t streamed for 46 days? Or something? I heard you calling me, so I couldn’t resist. LYN: There’s a saying, isn’t there? “If missing you had a sound…” I heard that friend- they were howling. It’s been forty-some days since I’ve streamed, so they couldn’t stand it any longer. So here I am. I’ve got to get my month’s quota down quickly. LYN: Let me welcome you in again.

C: I almost stopped being your fan. LYN: Is that warranted? It was only a few days, and you want to stop being my fan? If you’re going to be like that, then let me be arrogant as well: Do you need me to call you a car? If you do, contact my studio and they’ll give you 10RMB for the car service. Goodbye.

C: Lao-da, do you know how loudly I cried? LYN: It’s 9pm, be quiet and don’t disturb your neighbors. I’m only streaming, it’s not like I died. Why are you crying? C: I missed you so much I had insomnia for the past 46 days. LYN: ??? Your sleep schedule is probably not that great to begin with. Try to get some more regular exercise. Adjust your body’s circadian rhythm and it will help with your sleep. Don’t blame your lack of sleep on me. There are so many recorded livestreams, if you have time you should just watch those. You can pretend they’re “live” streams. How can you blame your poor sleep on me??

C: What’s up with the hair down the middle? LYN: It’s for ~the look~. I really can’t talk about anything too fashionable with you. It’s the look. Can’t you see that my top has all these shiny sequins? That’s so I can look cool. And you dare to ask me why I have hair down the middle?? It’s fashionable! C: You’ve been wearing a hat to stream for so many times now. LYN: It’s like this- most of the time I had a whole day of filming earlier in the day and I come straight home to stream. Because I have to apply the wig, it makes my hair really flat. Because if you want to apply the wig, your natural hair needs to be combed very smoothly, and to get clean edges they will use lots of hair wax/gel. By the time I get home my hair is flat and full of wax, so there’s no shape or style. I can only cover it. If I wear a hat, I won’t have to wash my hair. I don’t wash my hair, because if I do then I also have to remove my makeup. … If I wash and remove my makeup, when I start streaming you won’t recognize me anymore. It’s like Painted Skin- you’ll discover a new person underneath. So because I don’t want to remove my makeup, I don’t wash my hair either. Please be understanding and let me wear a hat. I look warm/gentle, don’t I? 

C: The weather is so hot but you’re wearing long sleeves. Are you not hot? LYN: There is an electronic in this world, it’s called an “air conditioner.” LYN: You always see this, though. For example- all artists. Think about Hengdian- these days it’s been around 40C. When I look at the weather forecast, it says that the real-time temperature is 40C. Let me tell you- it definitely isn’t only 40C. When you open your phone there’s a weather app, and it will tell you the temperature of the day/time. It might be telling you it’s 39C right now, but it’s not. I don’t know why they can’t report that it’s hotter. Are they afraid of scaring me to death? C: They’re afraid to scare you to death. LYN: Like for artists- and for me who is currently filming- it’s currently 40C in Hengdian. Often, we’ll have to act out scenes when it’s “snowing.” Sometimes it’s at night, but even then it’s 30-35C. And it needs to snow. We have to pretend it’s cold, while wearing a big fur coat. “Wow, how cold. 35C…” There’s just no helping it- because it’s our job. I’ve gotten used to it, for the most part. It’s the same for female artists- in the winter they have to attend awards ceremonies and similar events but no matter how cold it is, they’ll wear a gown. It’s a show of respect towards the event or sponsoring platform. Likewise, I’m wearing long sleeves in my house right now as a show of respect to you. Of course, I hope there is mutual respect here.

C: What’s drama snow made out of? LYN: Usually there are two- three types. What happens if we want snow in the drama when the actual season doesn’t allow for it? There are three things. The first- it’s not actively snowing, but we can place it on the ground. So, for scenes where you see the “snow” has already fallen and gathered on the ground. But we can’t have it fall because this stuff it’s toxic if it enters the eyes/mouth. It can’t all, but we can put it on the floor. Someone told me once, what it was, but I can’t say. It’s not bubbles/foam… more like salt? I don’t know what it is. [instant snow polymer (sodium polyacrylate)] You put this type on the floor. If it can fall from the sky, it’s one of two types. C: Styrofoam. LYN: No, we don’t usually use that. Because once it gets on you, it’s all over. LYN: It’s more like what you would use to wash with- shower gel. Like when you blow on and scatter a mound of bubbles. That’s the first kind- shower gel. They make a thick foam of bubbles and then blow it with the wind machine. The second kind is- C: Made with dandruff. LYN: 去你的! LYN: The second kind is made with sticky rice- it’s kind of like rice paper? They’ll shred it and then blow it through the air; it looks like snow. Why do I think it’s made with sticky rice? Because one time it fell on my lips and I ate it. I didn’t swallow it- I may look dumb, but I’m not ACTUALLY- but I tried to push it out of my mouth and I discovered that it was sticky. They told me it was made with sticky rice, and that it was ok- I wouldn’t die from it.

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LYN: A while ago I went to record for Our Songs, and I’m sure you’re enjoying watching it. I sang… a few songs. - /plays the video for 恋爱画板 and sings along/ LYN: Honestly, friends, I had to sing this with quite a pinched tone. From a performance perspective, it’s not a particularly difficult song or very high key. But the difficulty for me was that I had to use a pinched tone. Normally when I sing, you all know the type of song that I suit- /starts singing 就在江湖之上/- they’re all this type of song. But for this song, I couldn’t just- /sings it powerfully/. That’s not good. So I had to “pinch”- /sings cutely/. There was just no helping it. How else was I supposed to sing it? I had to match the mood of the song. LYN: I had fun filming these couple of episodes, as they’re all people I’m more familiar with. So I felt a lot more reassured during the recording process. I was happy. C: Are you going later, too? LYN: WMDG? I think I’ll go? But I don’t know- I’ll have to see if I have time. I think there’s some sort of finale that I will attend. If I’m remembering correctly, I should be going to it.

C: What’s Music Fate Plan (音乐缘计划) like? LYN: /rolls his eyes around his head to show he’s thinking of what to say/ LYN: I went and recorded… half. It should be four episodes total. I went to be a guest member, for four episodes. But I only recorded for half. You’ll probably see it later. I had fun because I was with people I know. Honestly, I know fewer people as an actor; since I was a singer to start with, I have more singer friends. In my group chats, sometimes they will ask me, “Do you know this actor?” and give a name. I reply, “... Who is it? What do they do?” They tell me what that person has acted in, and I… still don’t know them. Most of the time I’ve heard their name before, but I don’t know them. But as for singers, I think I’m not bad. Let’s not tak about whether I’m close with them or not, but for the most part I know them all. At the very least, I’ve worked with them before. [t/n: not sure, but I think this is in reference specifically to the Music Fate Plan singers?] LYN: I was quite happy to go, but I don’t know- it gave me the feeling that the longer I recorded, the more afraid I got. The longer it went, the more terror I felt. Because I’m a person who likes to joke, but during recording I discovered something. The terror I felt made me think to myself, “Is this okay?? Is it alright to talk to each other like this?? When this show airs, would we not all be cursed to death by the viewers? We must all be crazy.” I can’t believe we said some things we did without filtering it through our brains first. I don’t know! I don’t know what they’ll put on air. It’s possible that if we went overboard, they would cut it out when editing. The more I recorded, the more afraid I got. I would ask the person next to me- Zhou Shen- “Isn’t this a program that airs on tv? Jiangsu Satellite TV, right?” If it were just shown online, it could be more lenient. But this is an official television broadcast. “Are we allowed to do it this way??” I’m not afraid- because I would never say anything terribly bad about others- but just because we played it big with some of the jokes we were making. It’s only because we’re close with each other, so we feel comfortable enough to make these types of jokes. But I can’t help but wonder if it’s… allowable? If it airs just like that I’m sure we’ll be cursed to death by the netizens. I think we were a little bit too much in our natural states.

LYN: Am I trending? Don’t try to trick me! I’m… not worthy. I don’t think I have what it takes to be trending. You’re not lying to me, are you? -- 我不配 (I’m Not Worthy Enough) by Jay Chou LYN: Let me take a look. LYN: 19! 🙂 C: Ning-ge, you’re at 20. LYN: … I was just at 19 but sang a little and now I’m at 20? I can feel your rejection of my music. /sigh/ Fine. I won’t sing. I just won’t sing, ok?

LYN: You can check out Music Fate Plan. I should have gone to record… episodes 7, 8, 9, 10? 4 episodes. I was abe to choose some songs that I liked, and will be performing them on stage.

C: Ning-ge, why are you wearing a hat when you’re home. LYN: I already explained when I started the stream. You probably just came in. When I stop streaming, you can go watch the playback. There’s about 5 minutes where I explain why I’m wearing a hat. If you really want to know why, I can use a short two-word explanation. “Cold Body. (体寒)” “Please understand.”

LYN: I’m quite familiar with the Music Fate Plan guests. What can I say… let me go in order: - Liu Duanduan- We’ve worked together before; we shot a drama together. He was… my brother? …Right. He wasmy brother. So I’ve worked with him before. - Shan Yichun- I’ve met her on WMDG before, and we did a song together. We also released a song for Honor of Kings. It counts as having worked with her before, so we’re close. - Zhou Shen- We’ve been in a lot of variety shows together including one season on WMDG and KSTLB. He’s a close friend. - Xue Zhiqian- I often see him, always on music programs. - Xiao Gui (Wang Linkai)- We’ve also worked together before. I think people enjoyed our collaboration (on WMDG). (烟花易冷) - Zhou Bicang- Actually we… also recorded WMDG together. Why is it that now that I’m thinking about it, it’s the same group of people doing music variety shows?? The group of us have all been on WMDG. I’ve worked with her before, and once for a New Year’s event we sang together. - Huangzi Hongfan- this is a new friend that I’ve met. He’s quite a good kid. LYN: We had fun recording. Because we all know each other, so it was a relaxed mood and we were able to speak without reserve.

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C: Ning-ge, people say you’re an Introvert. LYN: You must not be on the internet very much, because I can see that when some people type comments, they don’t have the “super fan” tag stuck to the back of their user ID. Some IDs are made up of a string of English numbers and letters, too. But I don’t quite know what it means- what’s an I-person and an E-person? I-people are more… “i”? Lol, nonsense. I-people are more... introverted? They don’t like to talk much or make friends, and pretty much keep to themselves. E-people are (extroverts)- people who go anywhere and can get along well, make friends, and have fun. LYN: Actually, a lot of people think that I am an E. “I saw online that Ning-ge accompanies people for drinks.” “He must be good at networking, and can talk himself into projects smoothly.” “He looks so social.” You might think I’m that way, but in reality I… really don’t talk at all. I’m very “i”, and I don’t like gatherings. But right now I’m streaming, so I have to get myself into a “performing state” and stream for you. If I were to be this crazy in my personal life then I’d really be insane. C: Aren’t you pretending to be cool and composed? LYN: I’m not pretending to be cool and composed, I just think that most things aren’t my concern. I’ll keep my distance.

C: Your coworkers say that when you sing Rang Jiu you drink wine. LYN: /lol/ Huh?? Who said that? Who’s spreading these rumors?? After I drink I can neither sing nor act. If I drink, my voice turns hoarse. So I can’t sing. LYN: Also- who’s going around drinking first, then singing? You should really be careful- Do you think this is a KTV?? You could go with your friends to a KTV, eat guazi, pistachios, duck tongues and have a few beers, sure. When you sing after that you’ll probably be thinking you’re the best, and you’re one of the Four Great Heavenly Kings. It feels like you’re singing amazingly. But singing happily and singing for singers, for recordings- is two different things. If you’re recording, you have to be very detailed, and record very many times. It’s not like performing live- that’s actually okay. But in a studio you have to be really detailed and focused. There’s no way I would drink a little before I sing Rang Jiu. Woud it make me appear more carefree?? -- 让酒 (Let the Wine) LYN: This is water! Don’t really think that I’m consuming alcohol. This is pure water.

C: I want to watch your concert. LYN: You have a chance.

LYN: This song is also very good. I wasn’t able to recommend it to you because around that time I hadn’t streamed.  -- 作者 (Author) - Interlaced Scenes OST

C: Trending topic is #32 now. LYN: It’s okay. With my level of status and fame, being on the list in the first place is already a great blessing to me. Be it #32 or #89, it’s all good.

LYN: This song from 颜心记 (Follow Your Heart) is also very nice. - /pulls up the wrong song from the OST/ LYN: Oh- it’s called 心悠悠 (Longing Heart). Hold on… - /tries to pull it up but can’t find it (?) so switches track/ LYN: I have to find it and I don’t want to type anymore.

LYN: There’s also another song I sang recently, for A Lonely Hero’s Journey - 孤舟. It’s a good watch, and features one of my good friends. Xiao Zeng-tongxue (Little Student Zeng). If you have the time you can check it out. I really did watch it. A little. I found the time to watch some.

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C: How long do you usually stream for? LYN: I find the time to stream a little, and I’ll only do it for 10 minutes. I finish up in 10-20 minutes. Because I don’t really know how to do a livestream. Normally, I’m not someone who is very good at communicating, so I’ll stream for 10-20 minutes and then leave. So when I stop streaming you should… rest early. 

C: Did ZSX give you money yet? LYN: It’s not worth it! I don’t need money for EVERYTHING. I also sang a song for the OST, so- do I really need to say more?

LYN: There are some friends here who keep bringing up the names of other artists, and asking me for my opinion of them. The thing is- what right do I have to judge others?? That’s the first thing. Secondly- I have no right! Even if I say something good, what right do I have to comment? I don’t. LYN: It’s actually really easy to reply to these types of comments, though. If they ask me about anyone I can say, “They’re very nice. Such a good person! Really, not bad.” That’s normal, isn’t it? They ARE all quite good. C: Lao-da, what do you think about Liu Yuning? LYN: Oh, him? You know, I really can say a lot about him. I think that Liu Yuning is just... average. Yeah. Average.

C: Ning-ge, do you have any dramas that will air soon? LYN: Um…. /laughs at himself/ It looks like I’m crazy. LYN: I don’t know. C: The system has a bug? LYN: There’s no bug. There’s a bug in ME. Sorry. LYN: I don’t know. Honestly. As an actor, it’s really hard for us to say when our own dramas will air. The platform doesn’t even know most of the time, let alone the actors. A lot of dramas are released on the fly- they’ll air without any promotion.

LYN: TXJ- you know the drama, I acted as Zuo Bufan- that drama already aired, and I hadn’t finished the recording for the OST yet. Usually I’ll sing an OST for the dramas that I’ve acted in. But it was released so suddenly that I hadn’t yet found the time to record the OST yet! After a week of airing, I finally finished the song and then it was added in. It was really that rough. There wasn’t any promotion prior to the drama airing. C: TXJ was a good drama. LYN: Really, it wasn’t bad. TXJ is a genre that I quite like. When you’re watching it, you’ll feel like it’s different than most other dramas. It might not be a mainstream drama, like most people are into these days. That’s not the style. But… I thought it was an enjoyable watch. If you have the time, you can go check it out.

C: The voice-acting for Cicada Girl is done, right? LYN: Voice-acting is done. I don’t think I’ll be singing for it, though. The demos they gave me… didn’t really suit me. So I won’t be singing, but voice-acting is all done. It’s real-time sound, so I only had to make-up for some parts. Honestly, I don’t have very many scenes in it, either. The whole drama is 24 episodes, so I don’t have many scenes. I forgot how many, but not more than 200. C: I like how you look as Xiao Bei. LYN: It’s just short hair, isn’t it. At the time I was putting on wigs to stream. I’ve also not had much experience shooting moden dramas, so- /doesn’t finish the thought/

C: When will SJYM wrap? LYN: Mid-September or so? I still have less than a month left. C: What are your plans for after wrap? LYN: After drama wrap I’ll… what’s it to you? Why do you have to ask about everything? Don’t ask. LY: After wrap I’ll stay home and idle. No- I have a bunch to do. On the music side, there are many things that I have yet to record. I tend to just do things when I think about them. I was thinking before that I would create an EP of collaborations. I had collected a bunch of songs, but I haven’t even released my album yet and I’m thinking about releasing this EP. I need to find people to collab with, and also work on my album.

LYN: I was planning to go to an awards ceremony, but they require you to report what song you’ll be performing at the event ahead of time. And what a coincidence that it’s been five years after my debut- that’s right, isn’t it? Has it been 6 or 5 years? Six years? Ok, well- It’s been six years since my debut, so wouldn’t it be meaningful if I sang 讲真的? -- 讲真的 LYN: I was thinking, if I sang this song, wouldn’t it be particularly meaningful? I can say,” Look at me then- I was just someone who sang songs at the side of a road. And now I can sing them on this stage.” I don’t know. That’s what I was thinking of doing, but I didn’t end up doing it. I switched the song. But I’ll find an opportunity later to rearrange this song and perform it on a stage.

LYN: (about Fall in Love) At the time this song was supposed to be the first one on my new album. But now it’s been three years since I released it. I was thinking this could be the first song on my second album, and I sang it at the Jiangsu New Year’s event. Then later that same year, I would release the rest of the album. And then? I didn’t release anything else. LYN: I was thinking this was the year to finally release the album, but I don’t know. I just feel like it’s about time and I should do everything it takes to release it. As long as I return to Beijing and record the last few songs, everything will be ready. But because Fall in Love was released so long ago, it is no longer considered part of the album, but as a regular single instead. I can start releasing the rest of it. I’ll send it out of nowhere, straight to your front door.

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LYN: There are a lot of new people watching my stream today- have you only started liking me recently? Huh? I haven’t been on anything lately, why would you start liking me now? It’s unbelievable.  C: Centipede fan. LYN: 蜈蚣粉 (wúgōng fěn = centipede fan)? I’ve heard of 酸辣粉 (suānlà fěn = hot and sour noodle). I’ve heard of 螺螄粉 (luósī fěn = river snail noodles). What is an “wúgōng fěn”?? Is it some place’s specialty dish? /laughs/ I’m kidding. I know what you’re talking about. The leaked video about the centipede, right? LYN: Honestly, that was nothing and didn’t have much to do with me. It’s all thanks to the far away paparazzi. I didn’t grab it, it was just a coincidence that I maybe happened to brush against it and knock it off her skirt. This was no main hero saving the fair maiden situation. I just happened to be able to knock it off. Don’t push that on me and make me out to be a hero. I’m not. - LYN: It was a pretty interesting day. LYT and I were filming up on the rooftop. It was a pretty complicated scene, overall. And then after a while, about ten minutes into the scene, I started hearing shouts from across the way. /unintelligible screaming/ But from that far away, the only thing I could make out was “Li Yitong”! That was the only thing I could hear. I was joking with her too, saying, “Hey! Your fans are out to support you. You’re too amazing. You even have fans hiding out in the mountains to support you. Thanks for letting me “fly” (be in the photos) with you.” I was thinking, “There are fans who would hide out in the mountains just to provide support?? That’s amazing.” But then I saw them start to point. I was looking around, thinking we had unknowing bared ourselves? But we didn’t- everything was covered. I hadn’t seen it yet. I had no idea what was going on. Then, from the video you saw what happened.  - LYN: It was so strange! I’m sure of one thing- after everything, when we knew it was a big centipede- I had told her, “The events of this night are worthy of more than one hot topic. We’re going to have at least one.” Just like I predicted, the next morning there was a trending topic at #1. That bug’s size was just too great. The length was worth it. The more amazing thing is that I’m sure one day many friends will watch this drama, and when you see that scene you will say, “This is it! The centipede scene!” I’m sure that’s all the comments will be talking about. C: Does the centipede get any screentime? LYN: I don’t think we recorded it. LYN: The centipede that day reached the height of its popularity.

LYN: Someone asked me earlier when I expect my new dramas to air, and I really don’t know. Honestly, I also don’t have anything in stock. All of the previous drama that I’ve filmed for- the ones where I have fewer scenes- have all finished airing already. I’m not sure when the rest will air. I haven’t even done the voice-acting for a lot of them yet. So I don’t know when they’ll air, but we’ll just wait.

C: Lao-da, I’m almost celebrating my birthday. LYN: ? What does that mean- “almost”? Is it coming soon or is it today? LYN: To everyone who is celebrating their birthday today- I wish you a Happy Birthday.

C: Ning-ge, will you act as a dominating CEO? I think your breathy croak is not bad. LYN: What breathy croak? I can’t tell if you’re trying to compliment me or imply something else.

- /Talking about some art that a fan had made? A mosaic? I don’t get the reference, but Ning-ge thinks it’s romantic./ - /I also don’t know what they talk about next. Something about putting on/taking off his clothes?/ C: Ning-ge, when you say it like that it sounds shameful. LYN: Isn’t it, though?? What are you girls thinking about all the time? You got happy even seeing a mosaic??

C: Do you die at the end of SJYM? LYN: … Uh… This is… /gulps/. I can’t spoil it. You’ll know if you watch it! Who knows if I’ll die or not??

C: Lao-da, will there be a music festival 4.0? LYN: Of course, as long as I have the time. This drama had been difficult to shoot. I don’t know why, but I feel especially tired. Oh- uh, of course, I am not complaining. I’m not trying to say that my work is tiring- there’s none of that. Acting as a profession is not a tiring thing. I’m just trying to say that personally, because I am in bad health- I either have the chills or diarrhea- because I am a weak person, that I find shooting this drama is tiring. I feel tired because am in bad health, not because the work is hard. I’m getting older and can’t hold out anymore. /coughs/

------ break #1 - /laughs at the video of himself he put up/ LYN: I’ve just discovered that maybe I used to be a lunatic. 

LYN: I was scrolling across weibo today and I saw something. My friend Yizhe, went to CMBF, right? Wang Yizhe. I think their first public performances are done already. If I’m not seeing incorrectly, I think he’s ranked last. LYN: Brother… LYN: If you (are eliminated)- Please don’t blame gege. I didn’t do it on purpose. I was just joking. I didn’t REALLY shoot the support video for you that way. That’s also not was I was thinking in my heart. LYN: You have to take care of yourself! Jiayou! Next time you’re working on a song, could you ask me? You have this friend who does music, don’t you. I’m considered a singer. You can ask me- not that I’m trying to tell you how to do things, but we can communicate and think about a good way to execute your performance. I can provide some ideas. Don’t just try to do it quietly and on your own. Don’t do it by yourself. LYN: I have two friends on this show- one was Fang Yilun, and he left after one round. This one is called Wang Yizhe and I’m really afraid that he’s going to fold after one round too. I’m afraid for these two friends. Yilun really did leave after one round the last time. Next time when you’re choosing the song you can talk to me about it. I can break it down for you.

LYN: I watched your stage! I watched your performance of 问风. I watched it. Let me tell you, you can’t change the song like that! /laughs/ You could have asked me!! Oh wait- what if I know the person who rearranged it? No- I was joking! That performance was amazing! But the voting is really unpredictable. The song is great, and the arrangement was the best! Amazing! Luxurious! Friends- let’s appreciate this performance of 问风 together. You can experience it. Listen to this- -- /analyzes Yizhe’s perf of 问风 on CMBF/ - /thinks the adlibbing was unnecessary and surprised himself by guessing the direction the melody would flow, lol/ - /turns into a drummer/ LYN: That’s it?!

LYN: This is… let me check who the arranger was, first. Ok, well. If it were me, I wouldn’t- I would probably also do it sort of like this. I feel like the arrangement was great. - /tries to get his “thumbs up” filter to work/ LYN: Overall, the song is not bad. LYN: /to WYZ/ But the next time you’re choosing a song, you can communicate with me. I might not be the most professional out of all the people you know, but I can brainstorm with you. - /plays the song again/ LYN: See? It’s really got me. I can’t help but want to hear it again. LYN: Just- If it had entered into the chorus (without the adlibbing), that would have been really satisfying. Keep the momentum going. But I know that they probably had a time limit of at least 1m30s- a performance within 100 seconds at least. His performance was 1m25s, so 95 (85) seconds. Relatively short. So you could have cut the adlib, and just come back to it at the end instead. That would have been enough. If it were me, that’s how I would have done it.

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LYN: The other day someone told me that this song 当遇见你 (The Moment I Met You) is coming back around again. - /goes around thanking people for using his songs, and tells his fans to do the same instead of trying to start fights because of it./

C: Lao-da, how much longer will you stream for? I’m going to sleep. LYN: What time is it? 10:40p. Okay. If you’re sleepy, then go to sleep. You don’t need to tell me. Just listen to a song before you go. - /plays a loud/raucous song to wake people up/ LYN: I’ll stream for a little while longer before I stop. It won’t be too late since I’ve got to get an early start tomorrow morning. If you want to sleep first, then go ahead. C: You don’t have any secrets to tell? LYN: I can’t use the jokes I make in my stream every time! If you’re wondering why this friend would ask this, it’s because the last time someone wanted to leave to go sleep, I said, “You go to sleep. Now I’m going to tell the biggest secret in the entertainment industry. If you’re not here, you won’t be able to hear it.” I hooked them, so they didn’t want to go to sleep anymore. But this time, if they want to sleep I should just let them. It’s a Tuesday. Last time was a Saturday or Sunday, I don’t remember. But on a Tuesday people have work or school the next morning, so let’s not disrupt their sleep. Right? Rest well.

C: Are you still working out? LYN: No. I gave up. There was a day I felt I was getting fat and thought about losing weight, but after a whole day of filming I’m tired and don’t really have the energy to work out. So I thought I would try to control my eating, so I was on a diet for about 20 days. Now I’ve lost about… from my heaviest (most recently) until now, I’ve lost about almost 10, maybe 9kg.

C: Ning-ge, I lost my dog. Could I borrow Daimi for two days? LYN: You must be crazy. You can’t borrow her.

C: Ning-ge, can you recreate Hei Xiazi’s look? LYN: There’s nothing really special about his look. Rather- not that there’s not anything special, but it’s not difficult to do like a guzhuang look would be. Xiazi is just shades and some unkempt hair, and a leather jacket. Cargo pants. Gloves. That’s about it. C: Hurry. Change. LYN: What do you think I am? You think you can just change my clothes: “This hat isnt good. Take it off. The hair color doesn’t work. Lets dye it pink. Add glasses!” Is that what you mean? You’re thinking of me as an Yuning-nuan nuan? After picking on my profession, now you’re starting to micro-manage my look? You’re playing with me?? - /puts on some shades/ LYN: Wow~ /laughs/ This one doesn’t work. The shape isn’t right.

C: Can’t I use technology? [t/n: ??] LYN: That’s what I was trying to say earlier!! If you’re playing that game that lets you change the avatar’s clothing, you still buy the outfits with real money or by buying the lottery tickets. I’m letting you watch my stream for free, and you want me to change clothes too? LYN: I used to change, remember? I changed into the baby cabbage shirt. I changed into a green/yellow shirt, and as soon as people saw me they started telling me, “Ning-ge, you kind of look like a cabbage.” It was demoralizing, because I had just bought that shirt. It was a few thousand dollars. I was planning to wear it on a variety show, but then you all started snidely remarking that it made me look like a cabbage. I never touched that shirt again. My studio found it one day and asked if I wanted to wear it and I told them, “No! Get rid of it. Give it to my makeup artist. I never want to see this cabbage shirt again in my life. I will also never EAT cabbage again.” C: It’s not worth it. LYN: /villain laugh/ How is it not worth it?? It’s very worth it. You don’t know how much pain that experience gave me. For the first time I felt like I was very “菜” (cai = poor/weak). - C: Raffle it. LYN: I won’t be. /sigh/ Friends, what can I say? My fans, honestly, are very much different from everyone else’s fans. My fans are slightly more mature- they’re not particularly agitated. But for example, sometimes I buy these beads and after I buy them I don’t like them as much anymore. After you buy something, you might see something that’s even better and then not want the one you already have. I was thinking I would take one strand and separate it into three, then raffle them. I had really thought about it before, because I didn’t particularly like them and it wasn’t worth it to sell them to other people. But the thing about raffling that makes me worried is that the people who are not able to win a bracelet would then become disappointed in me. They’d get angry. LYN: Before, there was the vinyl. I forget how many copies there were- 8,000? And I said, “If you can’t get one, it’s okay.” It was a limited number- only 8,000. Then, because they were unable to attain a copy, some people stopped being my fan. The reason was because they weren’t able to get one of my vinyls, were unhappy, so they stopped being my fan. C: 8170. LYN: Yeah, 8,000 copies. C: The master skill of the jianghu- “quit being a fan and trash everything on their way out”. LYN: No, this fan didn’t trash things on their way out, they were just too expectant to get a vinyl. Later I saw that scalpers were also selling them. They didn’t have the number, but I think you could still buy them. C: Ning-ge, if someone did “quit being a fan and trash everything on their way out”, what would you do? LYN: I can’t find the words. I’m speechless.

C: Ning-ge, I’ve been admitted into high school! LYN: Congrats! LYN: You’ve been ADMITTED into high school? Oh- it must be a better-off school. I don’t know too much about it. You didn’t provide context. If you had said, “Ning-ge, I’ve been admitted to the best high school in my area”, then I would be happy for you. But I… went to a technical school. I learned how to be a cook. After middle school I went directly into a technical high school to learn how to be a cook. - LYN: But the other day I saw someone say something quite apt. They said, “Just because LYN has learned to be a cook, doesn’t mean you can throw all your pies at him and have him heat them and just wait to eat.”I thought about it and suddenly realized that yeah, they have a point. There used to be all sorts of dramas that would announce “Female Lead: ABC, Male Lead: Liu Yuning.” As soon as those three syllables popped up (LYN) people would start to furiously curse me out. “Is he worthy?!” “Why him??” Sometimes when I saw that happening I would sit there dazed. Then I would ask my studio- “Did I receive this script?” And they tell me, “We’ve never heard of it. D:” So what can I do? Get yelled at for nothing! LYN: It’s like this- first, they throw out a “Liu Yuning”- treat me as a skillet. Heat me up to 3000° and then throw the pie (the drama) on me. The want me to heat it for them. Then, they’ll say, “Oh, the male lead ISN’T Liu Yuning.” So people respond, “Oh, thank goodness. That’s fine, then.” They’re playing this trick! They’ve done this to me before. C: Ning-ge, it’s called a “dian bing ceng” LYN: “Dian bing dang”! Am I the cook, or are you the cook?! We’re different. We’re not talking about the same thing~

LYN: What’s happening- what are you people trying to sell under my weibo livestream?? Friends- please be aware- never buy anything claiming to sell you illegal videos on weibo. I won’t get into specifics, but PLEASE don’t. Other than female viewers, I’m sure there are many male viewers in my stream. If you see an advertisement on weibo claiming to sell you a video of something that you might be interested in, it’s a scam. They’ll use this method to steal your personal information to do some bad things. LYN: For example, if they claim to sell you a bunch of videos on a USB, you’ll open it and find Journey to the West instead. Or the Calabash Brothers. Tom & Jerry, etc. Just wait and see. That’s the first thing. The second thing is, there might be a lot of you in the stream who aren’t my fan. You might see, especially on weibo, people claiming to sell concert tickets. These types of scammers are common. I have a friend who was tricked. - /explains the whole process of how a scammer would set up the bait, get your info, then steal your money/ LYN: As soon as they’re done scamming you, they’ll block you. You won’t be able to find them again, nor will you be able to get your money back. LYN: If there’s one thing to remember: never give anyone online ANY of your personal information. C: I don’t have money. LYN: If you don’t HAVE money, then they wouldn’t be able to scam you, because you wouldn’t be looking to buy concert tickets (you can’t afford) in the first place. If you don’t have money, you won’t be tricked. C: I don’t have a bank card. LYN: You won’t be tricked either. It’s funny that you even put that out there. No money, no bank card. Why are you telling me this? If you don’t have money, then they’ll use your personal info to apply for a loan. XD

-----

C: Ning-ge, how do I hide my phone in high school? LYN: /laughs/ Huh?? Do you think I’m an AI, or what? You’re asking me just anything now?? LYN: You’re in school, but they don’t allow phones, so how should you hide yours? Well, most people hide it- How would I know?? I JUST told you that I attended a technical school. I didn’t go to high school. First off- I want to tell you that I don’t know how you should hide it, because I never attended high school. Forget about cell phones, I had to bring knives to school! We went to school with two knives in our backpack. Do you think phones would have been a problem? They weren’t. Two knives, a box of carving knives, pointed knives, u-shaped, v-shaped- I carried knives to school with me. If you ask me about how to hide a phone, I really don’t know. Secondly, if you’re going to school what do you need your phone for? You should be focused on learning. Don’t bring your phone. Just play at home. C: Ning-ge, you carry more knives to work than [character]. LYN: No! I was learning how to bea cook. It’s reasonable that I had to carry knives. C: What about the pot? LYN: When we went to school we had to carry the knives, but we didn’t have to carry the pot. The school has pots. We (the students) didn’t need to carry them. LYN: Also when we were first starting school, they wanted us to buy our knives- the very long kind. /measures with his hands/ The blade was this long, and the hilt was here. This knife is called a “sanhulu”. It was a very thick and heavy knife, because when we’re training with it, we had to strengthen our wrists. C: You really had to buy your own knives? LYN: Yeah, if you’re learning of course you’ll buy your own knives.  - LYN: But! I know as we’re learning we had to carry our knives everywhere, but it’s not like any of us would have had the guts to take them out. It’s not like we were walking around with knives in our hands- that’s illegal. They had to be in the backpack and we could only take them out at school. Also- to that friend who asked if we had to carry our pots to school, no- /sarcastic/ I carried a tank of propane with me. I carried two tanks of propane, in case I’d be cooking and there’d be no more fire. I’d go to school with two  knives in my backpack, a chopping board on my head, and two propane tanks. I look like Iron Man.

C: Ning-ge, praise me. I am 170 in my whole prefecture. LYN: Amazing. Jiayou. I’m sure you’ll be a pillar of the nation in the future. Learn well. Improve every day.

C: Ning-ge, did you do military education? LYN: Yeah, we did. Why not? A technical school is also an official school. It’s just that you learned math and language, so you can go anywhere without fear. While we carried two knives, and also could go anywhere without fear. It’s the same. The content we learned was different, but they are both official schools.

C: Did you have homework? LYN: Yes, of course. For example, if you learned carving in the morning- we had a lot of different courses: batters, frying, carving, knife skills, theory- safety and sanitation. Those are all the things we had to learn. So for example if we learned how to carve flowers in the daytime, we would go home and practice to turn something in the next day. It’s not something we can apply a formula to and calculate an answer for. It takes practice, so you’d buy a whole sack of radishes home to practice on. After ten or twenty times, you’ve finally got a complete on that you could turn it in. We would often have carving competitions, too. At the time, I held second place for my cohort. But that was only one time.

C: Wasting food. LYN: If you’re going to say it like that- you’ve lost the point. First of all, I think “wasting food” is a little bit exaggerated. Secondly, after I finished carving the radishes, we took the bits and to make soup. Are you trying to say that letting me eat it was a waste of food? LYN: We weren’t carving and throwing away the pieces. It’s not as if I was in the middle of the street and letting the shavings drop to the ground before returning home. Think about it- would a well-off family let their kid go learn to be a cook? Of course we weren’t well off, so when I finished carving we would dice the leftovers and make fried radish balls or radish dumplings. I would never throw it away and my grandparents would beat me to death if I tried. It wasn’t a waste of food. But if you think letting me eat it was a waste, that’s true. Because I eat a lot.

------

C: Ning-ge, if I’m under the sun a lot during the day, how can I not get tan? LYN: If you have any methods, you can tell me too. I also get tan. No one can avoid the sun. A huge sun at 40C is like… an oven. It’s an oven.

C: OMG! A living Ning-ge! LYN: ?__? What do you mean a “living” Ning-ge?

C: Ning-ge, will you stream on 8/17? LYN: I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to, so that’s why I’m streaming in advance. 8/17 is a meaningful day for us. It’s a holiday for my fans. I was thinking of streaming but I don’t know if I’ll be able to. That’s why I came today, just in case.

C: I want to watch The Truth S3! Will you still record for it? LYN: Probably. We just finished this year, so next year… we’ll probably start shooting in Q1. Variety shows are separated into quarters- Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4. I think we will record a S3, because this year the ratings were pretty decent. I don’t want to self-praise and say we did very well, but I think we did decently at least. With all things, if there’s an interest then there’s a higher chance of continuation.

C: Ning-ge, your “cold body” (体寒) is trending. LYN: My “cold body” is trending?? I was only making a joke. Don’t tell me there are a bunch of doctors and TCM practitioners lining up to check on me our of curiosity? They’d like to cure me? For a cold body, I suppose they’d put danggui (female ginseng) and goji berries in a tub and tell me to soak my feet in it? To restabilize my body temperature? Are the people who made this trending studying traditional medicine? You’ve made me a case, and won’t stop until you’ve cured me? Such is the responsibility of a healer. C: Ning-ge, stick out your tongue and let me see it. LYN: I… will not let you see it. I don’t want you to actually see something if I show you. What if I really am weak and you can prove it? How do you expect me to continue on in this business? What if I’m actually sick and I don’t know it? Even if you can see that I tend to get diarrhea, that would be bad if the news got out.

C: The middle hair is really so distracting. LYN: You’ve seen it all night already. But my studio even sent me a message telling me to move it, because they say it makes me look crosseyed. - /glares into the camera/ LYN: Even my studio is on me about it. - /moves the hair to the side/ C: This looks much more comfortable. LYN: Yeah, but don’t you think this makes me look a lot more naive/foolish? - /starts referencing a douyin: Hello, I have a hoodie. I want to ask online, if I wear it, does it make me look loyal. Like a big-eared dwarf?/ LYN: Who do I look so loyal after moving my bangs? LYN: This won’t do. I still need to make it look decent. /moves it a little/ Okay. This does not make me look as loyal.

LYN: I’ll stream for a little longer. I need to wrap up before 12a today because tomorrow I’m in hair and makeup at 6:30a. That means I have to wake up before 6a. So I’ll stop streaming, wash my face, sleep for five hours, then get back to work. Okay? I’ll stop streaming at around 12a. But first I’ll use the restroom.

------ break #2 

C: Ning-ge, the clothes that you wore the last stream have all been sold out. LYN: Oh, the T-Shirt? The fox one? (Nick Wilde, Zootopia)

LYN: !! There are still people spamming, “Ning-ge, stick out your tongue for me to see.” You must be sick! I don’t need your services! Thank you, Doctor!! Doctor, please rest early! C: Ning-ge, what should I do if I have rhinitis? LYN: Why don’t you get in contact with that person from earlier, who wanted me to stick my tongue out? They’re a doctor. They can check you out. See if they can cure your rhinitis for you, or tell you what type of medicine to use. Go ahead and direct message each other, I won’t be needing their services. LYN: Look at this, friends! It may look like you’re in my livestream, but actually this is just a huge public discussion board. Just now, there was a patient and doctor who were able to connect with each other because of it. I am just a platform. It’s possible that just by streaming today, we have cured someone who is suffering from rhinitis. Let’s congratulate this friend. 

C: /announcing that they got admitted into college/ LYN: Congratulations. You’re amazing.

C: Ning-ge, do celebrities drink water. LYN: You must be sick! I can’t stand you being weird like this. What “celebrity” am I? Friends, I’m just an internet celebrity. (网红 // internet famous) LYN: Everything has to drink water. Even horses and cows drink water.

LYN: Before, when I first debuted, people would fall over themselves cursing me out. “LYN, what “singer” are you? You’re just internet famous.” The fans at the time- the ones who have been with me from the start- felt bad for me and would rebuke. “LYN is not internet famous, because he has never accepted business proposals or done influencer marketing.” They would try to prove me worthy. “LYN has this song, we welcome you to listen to it.” etc. My fans would try to back me up. But now when I hear the words “internet famous”, I think that it’s a really funny thing. My friends probably aren’t as sensitive about it anymore. To me, it’s just an… an experience that I won’t deny having had. Right now I’m streaming- so what does that make me? A lot of celebrities have also started streaming- what are they? C: 轻舟已过万重山. (starts quoting Li Bai; describes the poet’s pleasure of going through all hardships and entering a smooth journey) (x) LYN: It’s not that serious! Its just that a lot of the time- - /trying to set up for an ~emotional~ moment, but is having trouble finding the track/ LYN: Where did it go? Where is it?! - /found it/ LYN: ~ Honestly, most times it’s like this- In your life you will encounter many moments that you think you cannot overcome. You’ll feel like you’re suffering, conflicted, and helpless. But in truth you’ll discover that when it all passes, it was nothing. ~ LYN: I’ll need to download this bgm to somewhere easily accessible, so I can find it faster the next time. Ok. I’ll open it quickly the next time.

C: Blogger, I would like to hear 寻一个你 (Looking for You). LYN: They called me “Blogger”! /laughs/ Oh- wei-BO, so “blogger”. I understand. Of course, I count as a blogger. So... if you want to hear 寻一个你, then I suggest you go on a music platform like QQ and search for it. You may listen to it then. Ok, Netizen? If you call me a Blogger, then I can only call you a passionate Netizen.

C: I got into the best university in Lanzhou. LYN: That’s great! Wow. I’m jealous. Good luck. Do well in school.

C: Ning-ge, in KSTLB which snack tasted the best. LYN: I can’t remember the brand anymore. Also, we don’t have any business collaboration, so I won’t be recommending anything. When they find me to work with me, at that time I will fiercely recommend their products to you. The problem now is that if I recommend them… there’s no collaboration. Forget it. Also, it wasn’t the best thing I ever ate- it was okay. I was just hungry after a day of shooting.

C: Give me a hint when the next time you’ll stream will be. LYN: I don’t know when the next time I can stream is. There’s really no saying. Sometimes if I wrap up with work early, I’ll come to stream. But other times if I wrap early I’ll go to record songs or do some other work. But know that as long as I don’t have something else to do, I will come to stream.

LYN: Our Director Guo is here? Guo Hu? Welcome. [SJYM Director] LYN: We’re almost done with shooting SJYM and it was really great working together. I’m sure that you all are looking forward to and will like this drama. I’m really looking forward to it.

C: Ge, is your English good? LYN: My English? It’s great. Amazing. Really. My old friends all know that my English is great. I can communicate with a native speaker with no problems. Absolutely none. Because I… don’t talk to any. I don’t want to talk to them. But I was the English class representative in my school. We were all learning to be cooks, but in my class my English was the best. Everything you’re typing in the comments, I can for the most part understand. Things like, “Marry Me” and “Kiss Me”. How shallow. LYN: Look at the English you’re typing- it’s also just so-so! “Baby” and “Can you kiss me?” It’s all this type of comment! Can’t you say anything more high class and professional?? Give me a challenge. Don’t just come here and “Honey, honey”- /starts singing/ - who wouldn’t be able to understand that? LYN: What is “go to sleep with me”? You want me to go die with you?? I won’t be going, thanks. ��Sleep” is a state of sleeping, right? But once it reaches a certain extent, it can become “dead”. So “go to “die” with me”- thanks, but I won’t be. - LYN: Don’t type anything too long because… the comments move too fast for me to read it all. LYN: “I will only…” what? Some of you are also typing in Korean. 😐/sigh/ Korean… I know! -- If You LYN: See, I can. I know a little of everything.

C: Speak some Korean. LYN: What do you know!? Come on, someone who knows Korean, come rate me. What do you mean “speak some Korean”? You must be kidding me. Friends, let me play the original track. I’ll sing, then you can hear if I sing it exactly the same- then you’ll know. LYN: This English reads, “G-Dragon/P.K/Dee.P” [t/n: he’s actually doing really well… for the parts he can keep up with XD] LYN: That’s about enough. Isn’t it (his Korean) good, though? Someone asked, “Speak some Korean” but I sing exactly the same, so how can I be “plastic” (fake)? At the very least I’m made of carved glass, which is pretty amazing. C: You were just matching the shape of the words. LYN: /whines/ That’s not it! - /tries without the backing and sings terribly XD/

C: Taiwanese Minnan. LYN: For this, I have to break out the song- LYN: For any Minnan friends in the stream, I request that you please leave and come back after five minutes. Please leave, and after five minutes I will give you a call to let you know to come back. Now all that’s left is people who can’t understand Minnan. -- 无言花 (Silent Flower)  LYN: That’s about enough.

-- 爱拼才会赢 (Fight to Win) LYN: Maybe another Cantonese song, and that’s about it. If it’s Cantonese, then I have to take out the one I’m best at and most familiar with. My Cantonese is pretty perfect. Very standard. Let’s start with a slow song. -- 月半小夜曲 (Half Moon Serenade) LYN: Okay, let’s not play around anymore. I should sing a song well to end the stream. This is a Cantonese song that I like very much. Man yof you have already heard me sing it before. But my favorite- no, I can’t say that. It’s a song I really like. -- 无赖 (Rascal)

LYN: I’d like to thank you for tuning in to my stream tonight. Thank you for your support and for keeping me company tonight. It was great to have you, and I hope you had fun. Let’s meet again in the next stream. Goodnight everyone!

[solbach-colbrock]

Up Top! - Seth Borden X Reader

SUMMARY - You and Seth have developed a… unique high five

WARNINGS - none

WORDS - 1k

NOTES - This is actually something I used to do with a friend of mine. I thought it would be cute to write. Also Chase is in this one

~*~*~*~

Neither of you were sure how long you had been doing it, but by now it was practically automatic. Every time you and Seth got excited, you would… well, it wasn’t quite a high-five, but that was the closest approximation you could make. You got a few odd looks and laughs the first couple of times, but at this point you got looked at funny if Seth’s palm didn’t collide with your forehead when you two were hyped up about something.

At least part of it was due to your height difference. Being shorter than him, you had already become his designated armrest, so it was no real surprise when he started joking about your height by holding out his hand to high five you right at your face height and you just… smacked it with your forehead in spite. It was goofy, and the fans definitely loved it. 

You, Seth, and Chase were filming a video for Chase’s channel. It was a quiz challenge thing, all the questions coming from Twitter fans asking you about details of your past videos that you were likely to get wrong. The two losers of the challenge had to dye a strip of their hair whatever color the winner decided. Two of you were gonna end up matching, and as funny as the concept was, you’d rather not let either of them decide what colors your hair was. 

“I fucking knew it, too! My first fucking thought was, ‘oh it was definitely my green hoodie’, but then you started talking and I started doubting myself! Motherfucker,” you exclaimed, sinking into the backseat of the car. You put your head in your hands, annoyed by the laughter coming from the brothers in the front seats. 

“Haha! I messed with your mind!” Seth laughed.

Y: “Guys, this man in gaslighting me! I have it here.”

S: “Alright Chase, your turn.”

C: “Damn, alright. Hit me.”

S: “What was the name of the man who was rumored to have hung himself at the Shanley Hotel?”

C: “Ah, fuck. How am I supposed to remember that? We filmed that a couple months ago.”

Y: “Even I know the answer to this, and I haven’t even been there yet.”

S: “How the fuck do you know then?”

Y: “I watched the video! I was interested in the lore! It was new information!”

S: “Fuckin’ nerd, alright. What’re you a fan or something?”

Y: “Oh, I’m so sorry for supporting you and your career, Jesus.”

S: “Ok Chase you’ve had plenty of time to come up with an answer. What do you think his name was? Like, honestly, if I didn’t have the answer right in front of me, I don’t think I'd be able to answer this one.”

C: “Fuck, um… David or somethin’? I don’t know!”

S: “Final answer?”

C: “I guess? I really don’t know.”

The smirk on your face grew to a grin as he answered.

S: “Wrong, it was William.”

Y: “Get fucked! Oh, I knew you weren’t getting that one.”

S: “Now you two are tied.”

C: “One of us is gonna lose.”

Y: “Seth is already losing this one.”

S: “Yea, there’s no way I’m wining. I’ve only got two questions right.”

Y: “Should we do a tiebreaker? One question, and whoever gets the answer right first wins?”

C: “Oh, yea. We gotta find a question both of us could answer, though.”

S: “Alright, I’ll look. Give me a second.”

You and Chase relaxed for a moment, avoiding opening your phones in case you came across the same question that Seth could ask you. Chase turned around in his seat when he heard you chuckle to yourself.

“What’s funny?” he asked.

“Oh, nothing. Just deciding what color would look best on you two.” He rolled his eyes at you, his competitive side coming out full force now that it was down to the wire.

“What makes you think you’re winnin’?” You folded your arms over your chest in defiance.

“I’ve watched the videos multiple times. I know what the fans have seen.”

S: “Okay, shut up. I’ve got the question. At the Hatfield Estate, what did the ghost of Arnold whisper in Josh’s ear?”

Y: “Oh, shit! Fuck, I know this!”

C: “God, what was it? I was standin’ right next to him when it happened, too. Damn it…”

S: “You guys get thirty more seconds before I need an answer, right or wrong. Whoever gets closest, I'll take it.”

C: “God, was it ‘come find me’? I remember it was a little kid sayin’ it.”

S: “That-“

Y: “No! It was ‘over here’ because after we started freaking out about it the REM pod started going off in the other room! Like it was trying to show us where it was!”

S: “Yea, that’s correct, actually. Chase, you lost.”

You were practically jumping in the back seat from excitement, cheering at Chase’s distraught state. Your hyper reaction was infectious, and Seth stuck his arm towards the back seat for a high five. You threw your head forward, your forehead making contact with his open palm.

S: “Let’s go! Good job.”

Y: “I fuckin’ knew it! Now I have to decide on a color.”

S: “Wait fuck I forgot I have to do that. What the hell am I celebrating for?”

The three of you wrapped up the video, opting to post pictures of you dying their hair as well as the final result on instagram later. 

“How many edits do you think we’re gonna get out of the high five this time?” Seth asked, knowing full well there would be some made within an hour of posting the video. There were always at least a couple when you two did that. The fans loved your silly little habit. They thought it was really cute and endearing, and frankly, so did you.

“Oh, plenty. It’s been at least two months since we did that on camera. They’re gonna eat that shit up.”

“Will you two just fuckin’ date already?”

“Chase!”

“Shut up, bro!’

[em-prentiss]

I didn’t know if you’d care if I came back (I have a lot of regrets about that)

------

“You didn’t call. You didn’t text.” Her voice cracks and she shuts up, swallows until the shakiness in her throat disappears. Her whole body is jittery, trembling as she looks at him. Her pulse roars in her ears, drowning out the soft justifications that try to fall from his lips.

Aaron wets his dry lips. “I’m so sorry,” he whispers. He steps forward to close the distance between them. Emily looks away. Step back, she tells herself, but she can’t. She’s spent so long craving his presence, and now that he’s here her feet are frozen in place.

Scratch is finally down, but Aaron doesn't come home. Not until Emily runs into him by accident.

Word count: 6.8k

------

He doesn’t call, doesn’t reach out. She tries to be understanding as the days pass by, weeks blurring into months and until it’s almost half a year of radio silence. His old phone number blinks up at her accusingly, but even if it worked she knows she wouldn’t have called. Her dignity wouldn’t allow her that, at least.

It doesn’t stop her from poking around. 

One day the question bubbles out of her throat before she can stop it. “Have you heard from Hotch?” She asks Dave in what she hopes is a casual manner.

Dave looks up. She’s looking down at her case file, bitten lip held hostage between her teeth. Emily feels his gaze on her and reluctantly looks up. “It just—seems weird that he wouldn’t reach out,” she shrugs carelessly, feeling unusually pinned down by his gaze.

She looks back down. “You would think at least he’d tell us he’s okay,” she mumbles softly, and if he didn’t know her as long as he had, he never would’ve heard the bitterness in it.

He feels something in his heart crack at her forcefully nonchalant manner. “Not since Scratch was down.” He had been the one to call and be the bearer of good news, let Aaron know that he could come home now. But he never did. Not to them, anyway.

Emily almost laughs. At least you had that.

“I can give you his phone number,” Dave ventures cautiously.

She scoffs, though her heart races. “No, thanks.” I’ve run after him enough times. If he wants to get back in touch, that’s on him.

****

It’s so hard to stay away. 

He watches her pop up on tv, head high and shoulders back as she delivers profiles to the press. He scours the news for mentions of the BAU and frequents the places around her apartment in hopes that he would see her, even though he knows he doesn’t deserve it. Not after everything she went through for his sake. But he can’t help it, so slinking around like a stalker is his only choice.

So really, it shouldn’t have been surprising when she sees him in the parking lot of the grocery store.

Emily blinks at the silhouette of a large man loading groceries in his trunk. His hair is dark, strong muscles moving easily under his thin gray shirt. Her mind immediately jumps to Aaron, though she’s seen nothing but his back. 

Her heart starts to pound.

It’s not him, she tells herself, desperately trying to ease her racing heart. Move. Go home. You haven’t slept properly in days.

So she tightens her grip on the few bags in her hand—some milk and eggs, just enough for the week because she’ll probably be gone by the end of it—and walks to her car, just a few paces from the man’s.

Her eyes are still drawn to him as she walks closer. She tries to ignore him, but the line of his shoulders is unmistakable; she’s stood behind him so many times, offering backup and protection without second thought. He closes the trunk, turns his head slightly in her direction as he moves to open the door, and Emily could swear her heart stops in her chest. 

She bypasses her car without feeling it. “Aaron?”

He freezes. Her voice is sharp, louder than it should be at this time of night. There’s no hesitation in it, only anger he can hear a mile away.

Aaron turns around. “Em,” he tries to smile but the sight of her makes his heart clench painfully in his chest. It starts to race as she looks at him.

At first she’s shocked, her face frozen and her mouth dropped open as she stares at him, still not quite believing he’s here. He’s close enough to touch; if she’d just extend her hand she’d feel the soft fabric of his t-shirt beneath her fingers, the harder feel of his chest underneath. The shock disappears in an instant, her brows knotting together as the hope climbing her throat is replaced with anger.

“Don’t you Em me,” she hisses, tightly fisting the bags in her hand. She feels her nails cut through the plastic. “Where the hell were you?” She demands, hot tears rising in her eyes. She breathes in deeply and shoves them down, swallows the lump in her throat as her eyes take him in.

He’s the same but he’s not. Gray hairs shine at his temple and fine lines mar his cheeks, the delicate skin next to his eyes. The line of his shoulders is slumped, relaxed, as if in six months he could’ve erased the tension decades on the job had cost him.

“You didn’t call. You didn’t text.” Her voice cracks and she shuts up, swallows until the shakiness in her throat disappears. Her whole body is jittery, trembling as she looks at him. Her pulse roars in her ears, drowning out the soft justifications that try to fall from his lips. 

Aaron wets his dry lips. “I’m so sorry,” he whispers. He steps forward to close the distance between them. Emily looks away. Step back, she tells herself, but she can’t. She’s spent so long craving his presence, and now that he’s here her feet are frozen in place.

“You’re sorry,” she scoffs at the lamppost ahead of her. She shakes her head as he inhales sharply. His chest just barely brushes hers; a quick touch, there one second and gone the next.

Aaron swallows. He never liked it when she was angry with him. Her rage is a tangible, physical thing he knows all too well, laying waste to anything that comes near. It blocks him from her, keeps him on the edge until she eventually calms down enough to talk to him again. Or he faces it head on and risks getting singed in the process.

Either way, he can’t back down now.

Her jaw is tight as she looks away from him, lashes fluttering as she blinks rapidly to dispel the tears from her eyes. His heart twists.

“Look at me, please?”

Emily closes her eyes. If it were any other day he’d have found it funny, how she immediately did the opposite of what he had asked. But a tear rolls down beneath her closed lid and instead he wants to punch himself. It catches the street light as it travels down her cheek, drips off her chin. 

Aaron’s throat goes dry. “Please, Emily.” He begs, his voice ragged and torn. 

She opens her eyes and tilts her head back to face him. Brown eyes meet hazel, both of them shiny. “I can explain.”

He really can’t, not in a way that will make her less angry, but he has to say something. He can’t stand it, the accusation in her gaze, the hurt, and knowing he caused it is a hot knife straight through his heart. It makes him wonder if staying away meant anything in the end.

He reaches forward to take the bags from her fist. Emily stares at him as he tugs on the plastic, the warmth of his finger touching hers enough to jolt her into letting go. “Come home with me and I’ll explain,” he whispers.

She wants to rage and scream and pound her fists against his chest. She’s got work tomorrow, she hasn’t slept properly in days, her car is still in the lot. But he’s right there, and she knows if she goes home she won’t sleep anyway, her head clouded with thoughts of him. She shouldn’t drop everything and follow him wherever he asked. But the truth is she’s always done it; it’s instinct by this point. She can’t stop herself even now.

“Fine.” Emily says hoarsely, as if she wasn’t doing this for herself as much as him. She turns on her heel and gets in the car, slamming the passenger door shut behind her. She can hear her loud breaths in the quiet space, Aaron still standing frozen near the trunk. 

He stuffs her bags with his and gets into the car, turning it on and quickly pulling out of the parking lot before Emily can change her mind. As if he can’t reach her if she does, as if she was the one hiding from him this whole time.

It’s silent and awkward and everything they haven’t been in years—a decade, really. The air between them is thick with tension, buzzing with her rage and his anxiety. She can smell his cologne, hear his nervous breaths. Emily picks at her cuticles, her nail instinctively catching on the skin at the tip of her finger. Her heart is jittery, racing, and she wonders if Aaron can hear it. 

Aaron. Is he really here or is this just another one of her dreams? 

But no, he always embraced her tightly in those, held her in his arms as he pressed his lips to her skin, profusely apologizing for his absence. He came to her office, her apartment, peonies in hand and a desperate look in his eye. They always left her aching when she woke up, her heart longing for the comfort he could no longer provide.

She tilts her head the slightest bit and looks at him from the corner of her eye. One of his hands is on the wheel, the other on his thigh as he repeatedly rubs his thumb over his index finger; his tick.

She finds herself talking before she can stop herself. “Did you ever even think of calling?”

Aaron stifles a humorless laugh. “Every goddamn day.” He turns to look at her, her hard stare making his skin itch. He wants it to soften, wants to see the familiar warmth back in her eyes. “You can’t think I’d just want to cut you off, Emily.”

“Well that’s exactly what you did,” she snaps. “I don’t know what to think anymore, Aaron. You..” She shakes her head, still in disbelief even now, “You didn’t even bother to tell us you were okay. Didn’t it occur to you that we’d want to know? That maybe we’d have liked to hear from you, see how Jack’s doing?” Her voice cracks as she says his son’s name.

His breath catches. Aaron digs his nails into his thighs and forces a deep breath through his nose. Now that he’s seen her, seen her hurt right in front of him, he can’t help but wonder if he did more harm than good by staying away.

Emily turns away. She looks out the window, fixes her gaze firmly on the passing streets and digs her nails into her palms. She feels his gaze on her, warm and familiar, but she doesn’t turn back, not wanting him to see the tears in her eyes.

“He’s doing good,” Aaron says quietly. He misses you, he doesn’t tell her. He doesn’t understand why he can’t see you anymore and I think he resents me for it.

Emily doesn’t reply. Aaron pulls into the parking lot of an apartment building a few minutes later. The roads are still familiar, places she recognizes just a few blocks from her own home. She waits for him to unbuckle his seatbelt before she finally turns to him, her body jittery with the shock of it all. “All this time,” she grits out slowly, “you were living ten minutes away?”

She shakes her head as she climbs out of the car. “God fucking damn it, Aaron.” She looks around at his building, at the street around them. She passes this road every day on the way to work, and for all she knows he could’ve seen her one day while she was driving past, her head in the clouds as she wondered why he still hasn’t come back home.

This time she can’t stop them. Emily presses her palms into her eyes, feels the hot tears soak her cheeks as she finally lets go. Her body shudders as she tucks her elbows into her chest, trying to make herself smaller, trying to disappear.

Fuck. His heart drops to his feet when he sees her. “Hey, hey,” he shushes as he pulls her into his chest, wraps his arms tightly around her back. His stomach roils with nausea at the sound of her sniffles, her breathless gasps.

“Why?” She cries hoarsely into his neck, her body trembling as he holds her to him. “Why would you do this? I waited for you. God, I waited months and you didn’t even bother-” She cuts off as sobs rack her body.

“I’m sorry,” he rasps. Aaron tightens his grip on her, desperately presses his lips to her hair. “I’m so sorry, Emily.” 

It’s all he can say. He repeats it like a mantra, desperate and pleading against her ear. She doesn’t even hear him, only feels his hand through her hair as she shakes against him, her tears overflowing like a broken dam. He holds her so hard it hurts, as if forcibly trying to press his apology into her skin.

Time blurs as they stand there, outside his apartment building in the dead of night. Her tears slow, her body stiffens, and for a moment he thinks she’ll shove him off her. 

“I waited for you to come home,” Emily clutches his shirt in her fist, briefly worrying she’d tear the fabric from her grip. “Why didn’t you, Aaron?”

God, he wishes someone would just kill him. He takes a shaky breath and swallows against the lump in his throat. “Let’s go inside, Em,” he rubs her back and gently pulls away.

She ducks her head as she wipes her cheeks, as if her tears aren’t staining his shirt. As if she hadn’t cried countless times in his arms after she came back to them, guilt twisting her gut because nothing feels the same.

He tentatively places his hand on her shoulder as he leads her into the building. Emily hates herself for not pulling away. She crosses her arms and looks around at the hallways they pass, taking note of the 206 on his door as he pulls out his key. He opens the door and walks in, turning around and holding it open for her.

Emily forces her feet across the step and into the threshold of his apartment, her eyes instinctively flitting over the space and cataloging it in her memory. It’s similar to his old apartment; plain and basic, Jack’s chaotic presence known in his schoolbag dumped next to the couch, his shoes haphazardly toed off at the edge of the carpet. Schoolwork litters the coffee table, instead of the colorful toys he’d scatter everywhere. Her heart squeezes at this tiny, insignificant difference in his life, the passage of time making her press her palm against her eyes again.

Aaron stands uncertainly, watching her take in the details of his new life. The life he excluded them from. 

She sniffles and he jolts into action, moving to the kitchen to grab her a glass of water. His hands shake as he fills it, his heart racing as he hears her quiet footsteps on the hardwood floor. Aaron sets the glass on the counter and clenches his hands into fists. He exhales roughly and tries to steel himself for the inevitable conversation they’ll have, a conversation he hid himself so he wouldn’t have to confront.

Get it together. She’s here and she’s not going away, not until she gets some answers. He owes it to her, he knows he does; it’s the least he could do for all the pain he’d caused. So he picks up the glass and walks back to the living room.

Her back is turned to him as she observes the pictures on his shelves. Pictures of them; Reid’s birthday, Henry’s baby shower. Her. Her and him and Jack, on Saturdays in the aquarium and afternoons in the park, ice cream in one of her hands and Jack’s jacket slung over her arm. There’s no pictures of him on his own, only in group settings with Rossi's arm around his shoulders, her cheek pressed to his. She tries not to profile what that says about him.

She doesn’t turn around when he stands next to her, keeping her eyes on the pictures. Haley holding a tiny Jack, a serious looking game of chess between Reid and Garcia.

“Here,” he extends the glass to her. Emily doesn’t take it. 

“So you keep our pictures on your shelves, but you don’t call,” she muses, her voice raspy. She raises her brows as she turns to face him. “Even as a profiler I don’t know what that means.” Her bloodshot eyes bore into his, sharp and demanding. 

Aaron sighs. “It means that even though I stayed away, I missed you. But I can’t go back to the BAU. I can’t go back to the way it was.” It’s a half assed answer and he knows it. He shrugs as he sets the glass down. “I…I deserve this.” He whispers. 

The quiet life, the normalcy. Being home for dinner and bidding his son sweet dreams every night. He does deserve it, more than anyone.

“I know you do.” Emily hisses. “No one’s asking you to come back to the BAU. Just come back to us,” her voice breaks and she looks away, refusing to let more tears fall. 

She clears her throat. “You don’t work with us anymore, so what, we’re nothing to you now? We don’t deserve a ‘Hey, I’m doing alright, how about we meet up for dinner?’”

Aaron looks away when she glares at him. His skin feels hot, itchy, as if he were one of the suspects she interrogated. “I couldn’t stay, either,” she reminds him sharply. His gaze snaps to hers. “But I didn’t cut everyone off. I called, I visited when I could. And you? Radio silence.” 

The silence is deafening as she waits for him to say something. He runs a hand through his hair as he blows out a breath, his eyes dropping to the floor. His hair falls into his face softly, hanging over his eyes, no longer neatly parted and held down with gel. Her heart twists again.

His mouth opens and closes, the words stuck in his throat. He tries to force them out, say I couldn’t. I wanted to but I couldn’t live with what he did because of me, but when he opens his mouth again a choked sound leaves him. 

Emily speaks instead. “Do we just…” she shrugs and licks her lips, “mean nothing?”

No. Aaron meets her gaze. The desperate look in his eyes takes her aback. “You mean everything,” he says quietly.

Emily throws her hands out in frustration, “Then why? Explain it to me, Aaron.” She walks closer to him until they’re close enough to touch. “I would’ve understood it for a few weeks, hell even a month. But six months? And it would’ve been longer if I hadn’t seen you tonight,” she crosses her arms.

His tongue darts out to wet his dry lips. His heart starts to slam against his ribcage, so forcefully his ribs ache. Aaron knows this is it; he can’t hide it from her any longer. He heaves a shaky breath. “It was all because of me.” He says, his voice low.

Her brows lift in confusion. “What was?”

“What he did to you.”

Shit. Her whole body freezes, her muscles locking tight with tension. She doesn’t even need to ask to know what he’s talking about. 

Emily swallows hard. “You know about that?” She whispers. Her voice is strangled, desperate. 

Aaron huffs out a pained laugh. “Yes, Emily, I know about that.” He watches her eyes widen, panic settling over her as her shoulders stiffen.

No, no, no. She never wanted him to know. Emily runs a frantic hand through her hair, bile rising in her throat. “How?” She chokes out.

Aaron remembers all too clearly the way his stomach had dropped when Dave called, his relief at Scratch being gone short lived when he told him Emily was in the hospital. When he told him why she was there to begin with.

“I saw you.”

Emily heaves in a breath. “No.” She shakes her head, her lip trembling. “No you didn’t. You didn’t.” She rambles as she steps away from him, her thumb between her teeth as she paces.

Aaron nods even though she’s not looking at him. “I came to visit you in the hospital. I saw you lying there in that bed, bruised and drugged,” his voice shakes as tears finally roll down his face. He can still see her, spidery lashes casting shadows on her bruised cheeks as she slept, her skin gray from dehydration.

“I know that even though they gave you stuff to sleep, you woke up hours later, still thinking you were caught up in the hallucinations,” he chokes out, his hands clenched into fists at his sides.

Emily stops moving. She sees the splatter of his tears on the floor, so minuscule they could have been rain drops. She looks up at him, her eyes burning as she tries to hold back tears of her own.

“I know that every time you tried to sleep you’d hear his voice in your ear. I know the scent of sage wouldn’t come out of your hair no matter how many times you washed it.”

Sometimes she still hears him. Low and raspy in her head, making a shiver go down her spine. The glint of the mallet when she closes her eyes, the white hot pain that rushed through her whole body. The poles sticking out of her legs.

Aaron watches as her eyes grow shiny again. God, how many times is he going to make her cry in one night? His gut lurches but he knows he can’t stop now, he’ll never say it otherwise. “I know you pretended you were okay, but it took days for the self doubt to fade. You couldn’t tell what was real and what wasn’t.”

He knows. He knows exactly how she felt because he felt it too. And she only went through it because of him.

“Stop.” She whispers, pressing her palms into her eyes. “Stop it, Aaron.”

“I was going to see you, I swear I was, Emily,” Aaron pleads. “But I couldn’t do it.” His voice breaks and he looks away from her. “How…how could I sit there next to you knowing I’d done this?”

Emily licks her dry lips. “You didn’t,” she croaks out. 

He shakes his head and she lurches forward, her hands naturally cupping his face as if she’d done it a hundred times before. “Look at me, Aaron,” she begs. She gently tilts his face toward hers. “Please.”

He can’t. He’s the sole reason it happened; why else would Scratch have kidnapped her, strapped her to a table and drugged her until she was delirious and hallucinating? He knows the pain of it, knows exactly what she went through, and the thought of her going through it after everything she survived makes him want to scream into the void.

He closes his eyes and drops his head on her shoulder, his hot tears soaking her neck. “It’s all my fault, Emily.” He sobs. “I’m so sorry,” he gasps breathlessly, his hands tightly gripping her shirt in his fists. 

“Don’t say that,” she whispers. Her hands are tangled in his hair, holding him close to her just as he’d done for her outside, not even an hour ago. The sobs coming out of him make tears of her own rise in her throat. They spill out of her quietly as she holds him, trying to provide comfort for the both of them. Emily swallows thickly. “It’s not your fault, Aaron, stop saying that. Please.”

“I couldn’t come back,” he garbles, the words flowing from him now that the dam broke. He’d caused her so much pain. The best thing he could do was stay away from her, even if it killed him. “I couldn’t look at you knowing I was the reason it happened.” He gasps into her neck, her skin shiny with his tears. 

“I’m sorry, Emily, I didn’t mean to hurt you-”

She pulls back and holds his face in her palms. “Hey. Stop it,” she says firmly as she wipes the wetness off his cheeks. It’s replaced immediately, his hot tears soaking his skin, all the guilt he’d bottled up overflowing from him now. “You didn’t do this.” She meets his gaze and tries to smile. “Unless your name is Peter and you didn’t tell me.”

“Don’t fucking joke about this, Emily,” he says hoarsely. Aaron closes his eyes. “He did this because of me,” he whispers.

Emily shakes her head as she pulls his face back into her neck, his chin snug on her shoulder. “No, Aaron,” she soothes, rubbing her palm over his back. “He did this because he’s a psychopath. I set up the bait, I knew the risks. And I’d do it again.”

“You and Jack are safe. That makes it all worth it,” she says as she leans back, wiping away more of his tears. I’d do anything for you, she thinks as she gently combs her fingers through his hair. 

Aaron stiffens. “Don’t say that, please.” He rasps, his hands tightening on her back. 

“Sorry,” she whispers as she rises on her tiptoes and loops her arms around his neck. Her head falls on his shoulder, his arms wrapping around her waist. They both breathe a little easier, tension leaking out of Aaron’s shoulders because he finally told her and Emily’s slumping in relief because she finally saw him. 

He breathes her in, feels her relax against him as they slowly rock back and forth. His tears start to slow as she soothingly rubs between his shoulder blades. “I’m sorry you had to go through that,” Aaron mumbles into her skin. He tightens his hold on her to remind himself she’s safe, Scratch is gone.

Emily smiles sadly. “Yeah. I’m sorry you had to go through it, too. Guess we’re even now.”

Aaron pulls back to look at her, “Can you stop joking about this?” He scolds quietly.

“Sorry,” Emily huffs. “Coping mechanism, force of habit.” She lets go of him and grabs the glass of water he’d poured for her.

“Drink.” She presses it into his hands. Aaron obliges as she grabs him by the arm and pulls him to the couch. Emily sinks into it with a sigh, accepting the glass when Aaron hands it back half full. She drinks greedily, the water soothing her throat, parched from all her crying.

She places it on the coffee table when she’s done, turning back to find Aaron looking at her. “I didn’t want to stay away,” he whispers. “But I had to, Em.”

“No more of that now,” Emily grabs his hand. “It didn’t happen because of you, okay? It happened because of a deranged psychopath.” She says softly. “You’re not going to put us in danger by coming back and you’re not going to cause us any ‘hurt’,” she tells him, all too familiar with the way his mind works. The corner of his lip tilts upward.

“We just want you back,” Emily runs her fingers over the back of his hand. She squeezes lightly, smiling when he squeezes back.

“I missed you,” he admits softly. He links their fingers together and rubs his thumb over the back of her hand, her skin silky beneath his touch.

“I missed you too,” she whispers. 

He reaches out to tuck some of her hair behind her ear and gently brush the bangs away from her eyes. His gaze travels over her face, taking her in properly for the first time in forever. He looks at her still wet lashes and her reddened eyes, his eyes slipping down her cheeks and lingering too long on her lips. 

Emily stops breathing for a second. 

His hand is still in her hair, tangled loosely in the dark strands. He leans forward and she thinks he’s going to do it, her heart racing as his hand gently cups the curve of her neck. Aaron leans in closer and presses his lips to her forehead.

Emily exhales slowly, shakily as she wraps her arms around his waist, her head slotting into his neck. Her heart still beats wildly in her chest as he kisses her hair again and tightens his hold on her.

“Where’s Jack?” She asks softly, pretending to be unaffected though she’s almost sure he can feel her heart racing.

Aaron says something about Jessica, how Jack spends more nights there than usual, but Emily’s not listening. She’s lost in her thoughts, Aaron’s close proximity and the scent of his cologne trudging up an old—definitely not forgotten—memory. 

He kissed her, once. Before it all went to shit. Before Foyet tore through their lives and Doyle came back to haunt her. 

It was a soft, sweet thing outside his office door, hesitant until she kissed him back. She had dug her hands into his hair, felt his large palms encircle her waist. It held the promise of more, made her smooth her thumb over her lips when she was back in her car, her head still clouded with thoughts of him. She had smiled at him the next day, her cheeks blush pink before he got a call about a strange situation in Canada.

She suddenly aches for it; the feeling of his lips against hers, his hand tangled in her hair as she presses herself into his skin, as close as she possibly could. 

Emily leans back. His hands fall from her body as she shifts away and nervously tucks her legs beneath her. “What?” Aaron asks when she lets out a deep, slow breath, steeling herself. Emily smiles slightly; apparently that’s her tell.

She holds his cheek in one hand and feels the slight stubble under her skin. Aaron swallows as she leans closer to him, her fingers warm on his jaw. “I think we owe it to ourselves to finally do this right,” she whispers. He only sees a sparkle in her eyes before she presses her lips to his.

He immediately slides a hand into her hair, the other gripping her waist tightly. Her lips are just as soft as he remembers, slotting against his and tasting of salt. Emily hums as she feels the warmth of his palm through her shirt, the heat of it traveling to her cheeks. She feels him gently nudge her into his lap, pulling her into him until her knees are on either side of his waist, trapping him.

Aaron pulls back slightly so he can breathe. He settles his hands on Emily’s waist, smiling when her own reach up to play with his hair. “That was bold of you,” he murmurs as he kisses the hard line of her jaw. Her skin is warm and smooth under his lips, smelling faintly of her familiar perfume.

Emily smiles and shrugs nonchalantly. “Not like you haven’t done it before.” She grabs his face and kisses him again, feeling him sigh when she gently grazes his bottom lip with her teeth. In a lot of ways it’s similar to their first; slow and unhurried, only it’s missing the hesitance from both of them. She kisses him until she’s breathless, only pulling back when the need for oxygen overwhelms them both. Emily bites her lip as she cups his jaw, his familiar hazel eyes making heat race through her veins. Her thumb digs into his dimple when he smiles softly at her, a gentle thing that makes her heart beat faster. She inhales sharply. Here goes nothing.

“I love you.”

Whatever he expected her to say, it wasn’t that. His breath hitches. Emily chews on her lip, her hands warm on his chest as she looks at him tentatively, as if he could do anything but reciprocate his love for her. 

Aaron eases her lip from the tight grip of her teeth. He smooths his thumb over her bottom lip, pink and slightly swollen from his kisses. “Again?” He whispers, the sound rough and thick as it leaves him.

Emily relaxes. She smiles at him softly, takes one of his hands off her waist to link their fingers together. “I love you, Aaron.”

He thinks his heart stops. That warm, soft look is finally back in her eyes, her hard glares nowhere to be found. Aaron huffs out a laugh and hugs her tightly. He feels her giggle lightly into his neck, the sound muffled into his skin. 

“I love you too, Em. So much,” he kisses her forehead and closes his eyes, just taking in this moment with her. He feels his heart racing, the weight of her body on top of him. Her hair tickles his cheek and her knees dig into the sides of his waist.

“Promise me you won’t leave again,” she says quietly. 

He laughs lightly. “I think you’ll have to promise that first, Emily,” he squeezes her waist as she looks up at him. “Are you leaving again?”

“No,” she shakes her head. “After all, you’re not coming back to the BAU, who else would run it?” She shrugs lightly, as if that’s the whole reason, as if she hadn’t been aching to come back anyway.

“Well then, I can promise I won’t leave,” he kisses her forehead and pulls her back into him. He can’t get enough of her, the feeling of her skin like a drug to him. He doesn’t think she minds, what with the way she tangles herself around him like a vine, curling into his chest as if she belongs there. She does, he thinks as she burrows into his neck and plays with his fingers idly, listening to him breathe until her eyes start to droop.

“I have to get home,” she sighs heavily, dreading leaving his arms. He wants to protest, but something in his gut tells him they should take it slow.

“Come on, I’ll drive you to your car.”

Emily gets off his lap with a hum, tucking her hair behind her ear as he stands up and holds her hand. “You agreed to that far too quickly,” she arches her brow as he opens the door for her.

The street is deserted when they leave the building, the deep silence of the night permeated by the sounds of their footsteps. Emily doesn’t even know what time it is, doesn’t know how long they spent inside his apartment.

“I just want to do this right.” Aaron kisses her lightly before opening the car door. He places his hands on her waist, lightly thumbs at her skin over her shirt. “After all, you’re not leaving and I’m not leaving, so we should take this slow, right?” He murmurs.

Emily smiles, feeling her heart race as he looks at her tenderly, his dimple casting a shadow on his cheek. “As long as it’s not too slow.” She agrees as she gets into the car.

Aaron laughs. The ride back to the grocery store couldn’t have been more different than the ride from it. His hand is on her thigh, their fingers linked as they catch up softly; she asks about Jack, he asks about the team. She makes him promise to visit the BAU and he readily agrees, not just because he wants to see her name plate on his desk. 

He programs his new number into her phone and hands her the grocery bags he’d stuffed into his trunk.

“Drive safe, sweetheart,” he murmurs against her lips, the edge of her car door digging into his skin as he leans in through the open window. Emily blushes and nods. “You too.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow?” He asks hopefully.

Emily smiles regretfully. “If we don’t have a case. But we just came back from one, so,” she shrugs.

Aaron nods. “I’ll call you anyway,” he says, his heart squeezing when she smiles brightly at him. Her smile morphs into a yawn and he laughs. “Bedtime, I think,” he teases. Emily swats at his hand and he grabs it, pulling her close to kiss her again. It still feels surreal, something warm and golden fluttering in his chest when she sighs into his mouth.

“I love you.” He whispers. It’s new on his tongue—for her, at least—and they’re both intoxicated by the sound of it.

“Love you too.” She pecks him lightly before leaning back. Aaron steps back and she pulls out of the parking lot, giving her a small wave as she drives away.

****

It’s no surprise that he doesn’t sleep well. This time, though, it’s because he’s thinking of her like some lovesick teenager while she probably sleeps soundly in her bed—like he should’ve been doing.

She’s awake when he texts her at 8:30—the privileges of walking into work ten minutes before briefings are nonexistent now that she’s Unit Chief—so he gets out of bed and into the shower, agonizing for more than he’d like about what to wear.

He’s never been more glad for Jack being at Jess’ as he picks up coffee for the both of them, snagging a cinnamon roll on instinct because he knows she won’t have eaten breakfast. 

The bullpen is quiet when he walks into the BAU, the team still not there because of the early hour. He sees her through the large window of his former office, affection burning in his chest at the sight of her bent over a stack of files. Only a few agents mill around, none of them paying him any attention as he walks up the stairs. 

He knocks on her door, a grin breaking out on his face when he sees her name on it. “Come in,” she says softly.

Aaron walks in and shuts the door. Emily looks up and beams at him, her eyes sparkling when she sees the coffee in his hands. “Hi.”

“Hi,” he says as he sets the coffee and the cinnamon roll down on her desk, leaning forward to give her a slow kiss. She smiles into it and places her hand over his, unconcerned with anyone seeing them through the window.

Aaron pulls away with a quick kiss to her cheek and sits down, sliding the treats into her hands. “For me?” She asks coyly as she leans forward on her elbows, resting her chin on her hands.

“Ah, no actually, these are for Unit Chief Prentiss, have you seen her?” He teases, jokingly reaching for her cinnamon roll. Emily swats his hand away and rolls her eyes.

She splits half of her roll with him and they talk as they drink their coffee, Emily’s paperwork long forgotten. It feels abnormal, that he’s the one distracting her from her work for a change. He can think of so many nights spent just like this, with her curled in the chairs or the couch, talking on about something that would steal his attention, leaving his paperwork unfinished.

Neither of them notice when the team starts walking into the bullpen, both of them occupied with each other as they make plans for her to see Jack again.

Penelope gasps when she sees the two of them. “Is that Hotch?” She grasps JJ’s shoulder with a tight grip. Tara turns to her curiously, looking around for her previous boss at Penelope’s words.

“About time,” Rossi mutters as he walks past them.

Penelope and JJ shoot off to Emily’s office, grinning when they see Emily laugh. “I don’t think this is their first time getting reacquainted,” JJ nudges her friend with a smirk.

“Sir!” The door to Emily’s office slams open. 

Emily laughs as Aaron grimaces. “You don’t have to call me sir anymore, Garcia.”

She envelops him in a hug, a flutter of blonde hair and sweet smelling perfume. “Oh, we missed you so much, sir, how’s the little Hotchner doing? Are you coming back to us, is the-”

JJ hangs back, instead approaching Emily and not so subtly eyeing the coffee cups and empty bakery box on her desk. She blushes furiously when JJ raises a blonde brow.

Not a word, Emily mouths to her.

JJ mimes zipping her mouth shut. But Emily knows better.

“Hey, is that Hotch?” Reid sticks his head in, quickly followed by Rossi and Luke, Tara trailing in behind them.

Emily stifles a smile into her palm. For the first time in months her heart beats contentedly, and when she meets Aaron’s alarmed gaze over Penelope’s pink cardigan, she gives him a wink.

[all-the-things-2020]

Late Night Talking - Chapter Four

Summary: Things are moving along. The G word is used. Emily spends the night at Dieter’s place.

Rating: PG-13 (implied sex but nothing graphic)

Tagging @rhoorl @gwendibleywrites @avastrasposts

Notes: The Cheech is a real art museum in Riverside.

Dieter and I had been seeing each other for about a month. We’d managed to go out at least once a week and talked on the phone almost every night. Things were still low key. We’d visited the Cheech (Dieter was really into art; his mother had been an artist and he dabbled in painting now and then), gone for a hike in the Santa Monica Mountains, had a picnic at the Citrus Park. Nothing fancy, nothing that would attract attention.

Tonight, we were hanging out at his place, snuggling on the couch and watching random shows on Netflix. I had to go back to work in a few weeks, and I hoped that once I wasn’t available on weekdays, we wouldn’t drift apart. His schedule was different all the time, and I knew he had a project coming up that would require him to be out of town for several weeks.

We hadn’t slept together yet. I was wary of taking that step when I wasn’t sure exactly how things were going to work out, and he hadn’t put any pressure on me, even though he’d made more than a few hints. For now, I was content to keep things as they were. We’d had a few heavy make out sessions, one in the back seat of his car that had led to an embarrassing incident with a police officer who seemed surprised to find two middle-aged people steaming up a car’s windows.

I wasn’t even sure what we were watching anymore, since I was so comfortable in Dieter’s arms that I was ready to doze off. I jumped when his phone rang on the coffee table. He chuckled and rubbed his hands up and down my arms. “Easy there,” he said, leaning forward to look at the phone screen. “Oh, it’s my agent. I’ve got to take this.” He snatched up the phone and answered the call.

“Hey,” he said. “No, no, it’s fine. Just hanging out with my girlfriend. So what’s up?”

He wriggled out from under me and walked into the other room, away from the noise of the television. I sat on the couch, stunned. Had he just referred to me as his girlfriend? We hadn’t talked about where this thing was going, hadn’t discussed whether we were exclusive or how serious either of us was.

He disappeared for a while, leaving me to stare at the TV until Netflix asked “Are you still there?” I stirred enough to press the button on the remote, and it started playing the next episode of whatever we’d been watching. Dieter came back in and tossed his phone back on the table. He flopped down on the couch and pulled me into his lap.

“He’s got me an audition for a rom-com,” he said. “Finally, something that isn’t an action flick. Keep your fingers crossed.”

“That’s great news,” I said. I wasn’t sure how to bring it up, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to relax until I knew for sure. “Um, did you mean what you said?”

“What did I say?,” he asked distractedly, busy with the remote looking through the Netflix menu.

“You … you told him you were hanging out with your girlfriend,” I said carefully. “Did you mean that? Am I your girlfriend?”

He dropped the remote. “Shit,” he said. He ran one hand through his hair, making it even messier than usual. “Um, yeah, I know we haven’t really talked about things, but … yeah, I do think of you as my girlfriend.”

I turned around in his lap to face him. “So does that make you my boyfriend?” I asked, cupping his face with one hand.

He smiled. “I guess it does,” he said. I leaned forward and kissed him. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me closer. “Oh, yeah, definitely your boyfriend,” he said between kisses.

I sat back. “We should probably talk about this,” I said. “I mean, I’m going back to work soon, and I don’t know how often we’ll be able to see each other. This is kind of going to be a long-distance relationship, you know.”

He nodded. “Yeah, I know, but I’m cool with that. It’s not ideal, but we’ll make it work. We can spend the weekends together, maybe I can come out during the week sometimes … we’ll manage.”

“About that,” I said. “If we’re going to be spending the weekends together, maybe it’s time we … um, take the next step? I mean, if we’re serious about each other.”

“Oh, I’m very serious,” he said, his hands sliding down to my hips. “So very, very serious about you.” He kissed me fiercely and I wrapped my arms around his neck, running my fingers through his hair, messing it up even more. After a few minutes, he reached onto the coffee table for the remote and clicked the television off.

“Let’s move this into the bedroom,” he murmured.

“Sounds good to me,” I replied, feeling giddy. He stood up and held out his hand. I took it and he led me off to bed.

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

I woke up long before the sun came up. As I crawled out of bed, Dieter stirred. “Where you goin’?” He mumbled.

“Have to pee,” I whispered back. He grunted and buried his face in the pillow. I stumbled through the darkened house to the bathroom, still half asleep myself. I flicked on the light and immediately regretted it. I had to screw my eyes shut against the blinding glare, and fumbled for the switch. Of course, that meant I was effectively blind until my eyes readjusted and I nearly missed the toilet.

I was laughing as I made my way back to the bedroom. “What's so funny?” Dieter said, his voice muffled through the pillow. “Are you looking at my ass?”

“No,” I said, slipping back under the covers. “I just blinded myself with the bathroom light and almost killed myself.”

“Oh, okay, then,” he said. He pulled me close and pressed a kiss against my forehead. “Now shut up and let me sleep.”

“You’re grumpy when you’re sleepy,” I replied.

“Less talk, more sleep,” he said, pulling his pillow over his head.

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

The sun was high by the time we finally got up the next morning. Dieter was definitely not a morning person. He was not talkative at all, pulling on an old t-shirt and a pair of shorts before stumbling to the kitchen to turn on the coffee maker. I picked my clothes up off the bedroom floor, got dressed, and followed him.

“Want some breakfast?” I asked, opening the refrigerator to see what he had. I always wake up starving, for some reason.

“Um,” he grunted, slumped on a stool at the kitchen island.

“Is that a yes or a no?,” I laughed. I smoothed his messy hair back from his face and kissed his forehead.

“Yes,” he said. “Coffee first, though.”

I found some eggs, butter, and a loaf of bread on the counter. “How do you like your eggs?” I asked, not expecting much of an answer. He was busy preparing his coffee and didn’t hear me at first. “I said … how do you like your eggs?”

“Hmm, oh, runny, please,” he said before taking a deep gulp of coffee. He sighed and sank back down onto his seat.

“Sunny side up, coming right up,” I said brightly, as I put the frying pan on the stove. He flipped me off.

“Gee, I’d think you’d be nicer to me after what I let you do to me last night,” I teased.

“You loved it,” he retorted, clearly starting to react to the caffeine.

“Yeah, I did,” I admitted. I tossed a pat of butter into the hot frying pan. “How many eggs?”

“Two,” he said, standing up, carrying his coffee mug with him. He stood right behind me, putting his chin on my shoulder.

“Back off,” I said. “I can’t cook if you’re on top of me like that.”

“Oh, sorry, thought you liked that,” he teased. I elbowed him in the stomach and he stepped back with an “oof.”

I cracked a couple of eggs into the pan, then popped some toast into the toaster while they started to fry. “Make yourself useful and get some plates,” I told him.

“I’d think you’d be nicer to me after what I did to you last night,” he replied. I flipped him off and he laughed. He was definitely responding to the caffeine.

I finished his eggs, plated them, and started on my own. His toast popped up and I slathered it with butter for him. “Go ahead,” I said. “Don’t let it get cold.”

He broke the yolks on his eggs, dipped in his toast and took a big bite. “Mmm, you’re definitely a keeper,” he said after he’d swallowed.

“Eggs and toast aren’t that difficult,” I said. “Don’t get any grand ideas about me being a good cook or anything.” I pointed the spatula at him.

He held his hands up. “I would never assume,” he said. “Traditional gender roles have no place in this house.” He took another bite and pointed at the stove with his fork. “Your eggs are burning.”

“Oh, shit,” I said, quickly pulling the pan off the burner, narrowly saving my breakfast from ruin. Fortunately, my toast came out perfectly.

After breakfast (and two more cups of coffee for Dieter), he did the dishes and retired to the shower. When he returned, he was dressed in a nicer t-shirt and a clean pair of shorts. “You actually look alive now,” I told him.

“It takes me a while,” he admitted. “Hope that’s not going to be a problem.”

“No,” I said. “Lazy mornings are just fine by me, when I can get away with it.” I pulled him down onto the couch next to me. “During the week, I’m in such a rush … this is nice.” I snuggled up next to him.

“So, what do you want to do today?,” he asked. “Go to the movies, take a hike, hit a museum?”

“Just hang out with my boyfriend,” I replied.

“Sounds good to me.”

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

As I drove home that afternoon, it hit me. I’d slept with a movie star. It hadn’t felt like that at the time. It was just me and Dieter, the guy I was crazy about, who called me every night and talked about stupid stuff until we were both tired enough to call it a night. It had felt natural, easy. But as I steered through traffic on the 10 I realized the implications of our actions.

I was Dieter’s girlfriend. He’d said it. That meant we were exclusive. Things were serious. And now I was part of his story. A story that was plastered all over the Internet and social media and magazines any time he did anything remotely news worthy. A story I would be featured in if we went somewhere public, if he mentioned me in an interview. Part of me — the part that had always told herself it didn’t matter that she hadn’t been asked to the dance because she didn’t want to go anyway — wanted to flaunt it to the world.

A bigger part of me was scared shitless. I hated having my picture taken. I always volunteered to be the photographer on outings, feeling safer behind the camera than in front of it. I offered to help in the kitchen at parties, help clear up after meetings. I liked being in the background, part of something but never the focus. Dieter lived in a huge spotlight. He was the main character of not only his own life, but most events around him. I wasn’t sure I could handle that amount of attention.

But then I thought of him when we were alone, just the two of us together. He felt right. We felt right. My head fit against his shoulder like we were two puzzle pieces. He’d told me bits and pieces about his life, things I suspected he hadn’t told anyone else besides his therapist. I told him stuff, too, surprising myself with my candor. It wasn’t just physical intimacy between us. It was emotional, mental, intellectual.

I tried to concentrate on the traffic. I knew Sam would tell me I was still in the infatuation stage, and tease me that the man must be good in bed if I was so discombobulated by being dicked down for the first time. But I knew it wasn’t that. Or at least not just that.

It scared me. Because for the first time in my life, I felt like the main character of my own story, and I wasn’t sure if I was ready to be a star.

By the time I got home, I had a raging tension headache from driving. I flipped through my mail, took some ibuprofen and settled down on the couch to text Sam.

ME: Hey

SAM: Oh, you’re still alive. Starting to wonder.

ME: Ha ha very funny. I just got home.

SAM: From yesterday’s date? No way. I want details!

ME: It was good.

SAM: You fucked a celebrity and all you tell me is it was good? That’s bs.

ME: I slept with my boyfriend for the first time. It was good but awkward. You know how it is.

SAM: Excuse me, BOYFRIEND? When did this go from ‘we’re kind of seeing each other’ to ‘he’s my BOYFRIEND’? You skipped a big chunk.

ME: Last night. Look, are you going to be serious about this?

SAM: Of course. Sorry. Go on.

I wasn’t sure what to tell her. What had happened between me and Dieter was private. I wanted to keep it that way, but at the same time, Sam had always been my safe person, the one I could tell just about anything to because she lived so far away and wasn’t part of my day to day life.

ME: He got a phone call from his agent. He told the guy he was just ‘hanging out with his girlfriend.’ I asked him if he meant it. He said yes.

SAM: So this is serious.

ME: Very serious. Sam, I don’t know what I’m doing! Dieter is amazing. He’s funny and smart and he just gets me.

SAM: And he’s hot.

ME: Yeah, and he’s hot. But it’s summer and I have all this free time and I feel like a kid on vacation. What’s going to happen once I’m back at work and we’re both busy and he’s off filming something and we hardly see each other? How long can we keep this up?

SAM: If it’s meant to be, you’ll figure it out. But you won’t know unless you try. And sweetie, even if it doesn’t work out, you’ll have a hell of a story to tell when we’re in the retirement community knitting socks.

(We had a long standing joke that even though we lived so far apart, we’d eventually end up living in the same senior center and spend our days knitting socks and drinking mimosas between bingo games.)

ME: It doesn’t feel like a fling. But it can’t be the real thing, can it? I mean, he’s got a fucking Oscar on his bookshelf, Sam. I saw it. Just sitting there like a knickknack.

SAM: So what? Thom’s got a degree from Harvard hanging on the wall. Doesn’t make him better than me. Look, Em, loosen up. Enjoy yourself. You always look for the crash that might be coming instead of enjoying the ride. Maybe he’s the One. Maybe he isn’t. But right now, he’s yours. No one else’s. Just yours.

ME: You’re right. You’re always right. I should let you go. Give Thom and the kids a hug from me.

SAM: Only if you give Dieter one from me! Can’t wait to let that name drop next time I have to see that bitch Lana, ha ha!

I always felt better after chatting with Sam. She had a way of taking the blinders off of me, letting me see more than just the narrow path ahead that I imagined, strewn with rocks and danger. She’d helped me through losing both my parents, layoffs and furlough days at work, and various other bumps in the road, keeping me focused on the silver lining of even the darkest cloud.

Dieter wasn’t a dark cloud. He was sunlight and moonbeams and starshine. All I had to do was step out into the light.

[summaryscar]

I am pleased to announce (to those who care and take the time to read this post) that I’ve officially posted Chapter 5 of this fic:

So far this is one of my favorite works, and I’m really proud with how it’s going so far (although I still think I could do a better job at writing, but that’s not quite my strong suit. Music is.)

For those who are interested and haven’t already taken a look at it, here’s the summary:

It’s been a few months since Twilight had to enter the foster care system and was placed with Time and Malon, and he’s beginning to like living with them. One day, another kid needs to be fostered by them, and slowly but surely, they somehow end up becoming a family of ten.

And a snippet from Chapter 1:

Twilight was running out of patience. He’d been standing outside his school for the past twenty minutes waiting for his foster dad to come pick him up. In the few months that he had lived with him, Time wasn’t normally late, and while Twilight had been told that something had come up and he’d be picked up later than usual, he had been expecting maybe ten minutes at most.

Right as he was debating whether he should just start walking, a car pulled up. Upon further inspection, Twilight realized it was Malon’s car. Malon was Time’s wife, and she’d honestly begun to grow on Twilight with her cheery personality and amazing cooking skills. Seriously, he’d never knew how much flavor certain meals could have before meeting her.

As he walked up to the car and opened the door to get in, he couldn’t help but wonder what exactly had come up that meant Malon needed to be the one to pick him up. After all, she was normally quite busy working at the ranch that she and Time owned. And she wasn’t in her work clothes, so she must’ve gone home to change, and since they didn’t live that far from the ranch, Malon never changed unless she wasn’t going back to work.

“Hey, Twi, how’s it going?” Malon asked once he’d gotten into the car. Twilight shut the door and put his seatbelt on before answering.

“Not entirely awful now that I don’t have to stand out in the sun anymore. What’s up with that anyway?”

Malon sighed as she began to pull away from the curb. “Well, Time got a call asking if he’d be able to stop by the police station. They found a kid around your age wandering the streets without any sort of supervision, and it looked like they’d been out there for quite a while.”

Twilight hummed in acknowledgment. He supposed that did justify Time being unable to pick him up, but now something new piqued his interest. “Are you two going to foster the kid if necessary?”

[dittodon]

ᶻz﹒sherlock holmes

— 012﹕family dinner

‘im fucked,’ you thought to yourself while preparing to go to your family’s house. you lost your necklace and your family is most likely going to notice you not wearing it. welp, it is what it is. you’re just going to accept it and hopefully, you can get out of the situation.

you went out of the room to see your roommate on the couch. he looked up from the noise you made and asked: “where are you going?”

“family dinner, so im gonna be out for a few hours.”

he nodded at your response, looking back and whatever he was doing as you opened your apartment door and walked outside.

you reach your parents' house, stealing xiao’s car while he drives to the destinated location.

you went inside and you looked around, missing the atmosphere you hadn’t felt for a long time.

“[name], xiao,” you heard your name being called as you looked at the signified person. there you saw a male around his thirties with long brown hair, he had his hair tied in a ponytail with eyes emerald gold looking towards both of you.

“dad, long time no see,” you smiled at him, genuinely missing his presence. 

your dad is revealed to be zhongli, yes that zhongli, the zhongli from genshin impact.

“come in, someone is already waiting inside for you.”

that sentence made you confused, but both you and xiao went into the dining room anyways. you took a peak inside to see who he was mentioning and to your surprise you see…

“[name], xiao, long time no see!”

“ganyu, i haven’t seen you in ages!” 

you both initiate a hug, both sharing the same emotion of nostalgia while ganyu patted xiao’s head, knowing he wasn’t big in affection.

“i thought you wouldn’t be here since you were busy?” you asked the blue-haired female.

“my boss gave me a month off since i’ve been overworking too much to her liking, something about health and all that,” she rambled on about how her boss wouldn’t let her work, to which both you and xiao sweatdropped to her rambling.

ganyu worked overseas so the possibility of not seeing her was low, so it was quite a surprise to see her at a family dinner where all of you had met up for months.

“alright, sit down and eat, talk later,” your dad commented after your chats were done, to which everyone sat down to eat.

“[name], where did your necklace go?” zhongli asked, realizing that something was missing about your appearance.

“oh, shoot, i was in a rush to school yesterday i forgot to put it on after showering, sorry dad,” you apologized while sweatdropping, putting both your hands in a praying motion and asking for forgiveness. 

“i see, no worries, you’re forgiven,” he smiled at you, eyes soft with his wrinkles showing.

‘fuck, i have to get it back now, i can’t let him down after this.”

welp, your life is fucked now because of a certain someone.

Extra﹕

— masterlist || next

smau﹒scaramouche x gn!reader

sypnosis﹕not looking forward to your new roommate after the school finding out you've been living by yourself, you were greeted by an arrogant short man at the door. furthermore, he's been accompanied by his infuriating girlfriend. but from having him as a roommate, you find out secrets you'd wish to see, and secrets you feel guilty about knowing.

— note﹕super by svt!!!

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