#Im annoyed but i’ll recover

[obliviouskara]

me? being flustered by a man? in this economy?? my therapist will be hearing about this

[hawkebop]

:3c

[slut4slytherinss]

Labyrinth

Pt. 1 - Gold Rush

SEND REQUESTS!!

Summary: reader finds herself falling in love, hard, for Mattheo not long after she broke her own heart over him. Initially convinced that she will never recover from her pain that he caused, she marvels at how she finds comfort in the boy that hurt her.

1,470 words

Warnings: cursing, basically the same as pt.1 minus the angst, so much cheesiness it’s gross, lovey dovey!mattheo bc I’m extremely soft, sort of angsty but in a beautiful way, these aren’t even warnings atp, the other students being jealous cunts, possible references to books or movies, Regulus is STILL dead (wdym he’s literally in bed beside me rn), Dorothea being kind of rude (dw my girl is still your bestie), Drastoria(to all you Drarry shippers I’m sorry), mention of ronmione, slight rush and basically no plot, SUPER FUCKING SHORT IM SORRY😞

2nd person pov

Hufflepuff prefect reader

Female reader

“It only hurts this much right now.” Was what I was thinking the whole time.

You walk down the hallway aside Mattheo, fingers intertwined. You agreed to try it out and it’s lasted a month, but that doesn’t stop everyone in the castle from starting rumors. He traces circles on the back of your hand with his thumbnail, in a comforting manner, he leans in to whisper in your ear “Let’s go back to my dorm, okay?” You nod. You two go to his dorm a lot, not to hook up, you haven’t had sex since the party, his dorm is like a safe space — and his friends are fucking awesome. You’ve barely even told Dorothea what your relationship has been like, becoming closer and closer with the Slytherins.

-

When you get into his dorm you take your robe off, leaving you in your white button-up, skirt that rests appropriately at your knees, calf high socks and black Doc Martens. Mattheo places your robe gently atop a chair next to his desk before taking his own robe off and kicking his shoes off. “Lay with me, love?” He asks sweetly which causes you to roll your eyes, but oblige. You lie next to him in the bed, just talking. That’s all you two ever do lately, though, it gives you a fair bit of anxiety — trusting him with your secrets. It terrifies you, actually. You need to just—

Breathe in, breathe through, breathe deep, breathe out. I’ll be getting over you, my whole life.

Seriously. He’s unforgettable. You close your eyes and take a deep breath, trying to ease your nerves. Mattheo must feel how tense you are because he begins to trace stars on your back, it’s his little form of comfort. I’ve never been good at that, he’d told you once. Which seems like total bullshit because he always manages to calm you, or at least make you forget about your issues for a while. That also scares you, the fact he can make you want to cry, strangle him, and yourself, but also smile, laugh, hug him. Terrifies you. No one has ever impacted you this much. Everything is moving so fast, but Mattheo is there with you, along for the ride.

You know how scared I am of elevators. Never trust it if it rises fast, it can’t last.

-

You walk into your dorm, laying down on your bed and dropping your bag on the floor. You quickly turn over when you hear Dorothea’s voice “Look who’s finally home.” She says in an annoyed tone. “Dor? What are you doing in here?” You sit up, she looks at you with raised brows and crossed arms. “Really? You start dating Mattheo Riddle, leave me alone for weeks, get new friends and you’re asking me why I’m here?” You swallow, “You told me you’d get over him, you lied to me.” “Dorothea, c’mon, this is like—like a trial, to see if we’re good together, he’s really sweet.” You try to justify your actions “He’s Mattheo Riddle!” She whispers aggressively, shaking her head. “He’s my boyfriend!” You spit out, the word feeling foreign on your tongue. Dorothea visibly flinches, “What?” “He’s—he’s my boyfriend,” you repeat, more confidently. “You just said that the relationship was a trial.” “Well it is, but he’s still my boyfriend. Mine. So stop trying to criticize him and me simply because I care for him.” You breathe out that last part “You care for him?” She asks with a raised eyebrow. “Yes, I care for him. It’s not like—I’m in love with him or something, I just care.” You say quickly. You’re not in love with him. You can’t be, right?

Uh oh, I’m falling in love again. Oh no, I’m falling in love again. Oh, I’m falling in love. I thought the plane was going down how’d you turn it right around?

-

The day after your interaction with Dorothea is, odd, to say the least. You sit outside in the courtyard, leaning against a tree, you’ve been avoiding Mattheo like the plague ever since your revelation. This whole things just feels so—raw. But of course he found you.

It only feels this raw right now, lost in the labyrinth of my mind.

“Hey,” he gives you a small smile. “Hi.” You reply, he sits down next to you. “I haven’t seen you all day, you avoiding me?” That causes you to laugh—and also tell the truth with a few nods. “Yeah, yeah I have.” He tilts his head but doesn’t seem upset in the slightest. “Why’s that?” “Well—um,” you try to get the words out but they seem a little stuck. “It’s okay, take your time.” He brings his hand down to hold yours, tracing gentle circles on your palm. You smile and lean your head on his shoulder. “I care about you, Mattheo.” You admit. He grins, really grins. “I care about you too.” The boy says, “Really?” He nods “Always have,” he leans down so his lips are right next to your ear, “always will.” His whisper is like a secret for only you to hear, a promise that will never be broke, a sacred oath.

Break up, break free, break through, break down. You would break your back to make me break a smile.

-

“Boys!” You call out in a sing-song voice, “I’ve brought sweets!” They got in trouble for talking too loudly during class and were removed from this weeks Hogsmeade weekend, you decided to buy them some sweets. Blaise is the first to you, “Thank Merlin, Y/n!” He snatches a bag from you as you giggle. You toss some sweets onto Draco’s bed as all the boys thank you, Mattheo stands up and wraps his arms around you from behind, kissing your cheek. That action causes all the others to groan and tell you to “Get a room.” Pansy and Astoria walk into the room, talking animatedly, Astoria sits on Draco’s bed beside him, tossing bags of clothes at him, “I’ve got you a new suit.” He grins and kisses the side of her neck in thanks. “Y/n! You totally missed it,” Pansy exclaims, practically shoving Mattheo off of you to lock her arm onto yours. “We caught Weasley and Granger snogging in the bathrooms at Three Broomsticks!” You giggle at her words and sit down on Mattheo’s bed with her, “Seriously? You steal my girlfriend and now my bed?” He asks Pansy, in a mock-offended way, she sticks her tongue out at him. “C’est la vie.” Blaise shrugs with a smirk playing at his lips as he eats the chocolate you gave him. “Speaking of that,” Theodore begins “how’s the sex Matt?” He teases, which causes you to blush and Mattheo to shove Theodore. “Shut it man, that’s so gross.” “Oh c’mon!” Astoria exclaims, “Y/n never tells us anything about it.” She shakes her head. “Maybe she doesn’t want to.” Mattheo defends you, you just stay silent. You tune them out, you just hate how everyone already wants you to be sleeping together. Why would you? It’s taken you long enough to call him your boyfriend, let alone touch him (approximately three weeks). Sure, you’ve hooked up before, but never as a couple. That act is supposed to be intimate with a person you care about. So why do it so soon? You’re taken away from your thoughts by the feel of Mattheo’s hand gripping yours.

You know how much I hate that everybody just expects me to bounce back. Just like that.

-

It’s now been around two months, officially dating, Dorothea has apologized and became friends with the Slytherin’s, it’s all perfect. Except, you and Mattheo still haven’t kissed nor done anything but cuddle and hold hands. You’re not sure why but the act feels too intimate, too scary for you. You’ve kissed lots of guys before—granted none were your boyfriend—but still. You can’t seriously be falling for him, right?

“Hey love,” Mattheo murmurs, dropping a kiss on the top of your head. “Did Dorothea let you in?” You question with a yawn, he just hums and nods, sitting next to you on your bed. “How’s my girl doing?” He asks, “Stressed and exhausted.” You reply as you trace your quill along the parchment “You’re seriously doing that extra credit essay?” “Yes, Mattheo, I am. I’m totally failing Slughorn’s class and he never lets us do shit like this for extra credit, I’m savoring it.” He chuckles and pulls you closer to him by your waist. “Just take a little break. For me?” You groan but end up giving in, leaning back against his chest. “You’re so lucky I lo—“ you cut yourself off quickly, immediately looking away from him. He stiffens, “You what?” He murmurs, you swallow. “Nothing, nothing important.” You say quickly. Mattheo desperately wants to change the subject so he just nods and looks forward.

Uh oh, I’m falling in love again. Oh no, I’m falling in love again. Oh, I’m falling in love. I thought the plane was going down how’d you turn it right around?

After a few minutes of silence, Mattheo speaks again “What were you going to say?” He asks in a whisper, his thumb tracing gentle circles on your hip bone. “It doesn’t matter.” You murmur, but Mattheo is quite persistent and asks again, you finally give in and mutter “I love you.” Which causes his breath to catch, I love you, those words shouldn’t be a big deal—you aren’t asking him to marry you or anything—but they are. He swallows before murmuring “Really?” To which you reply with a timid “Yes.” A slow smile creeps up on his face. “Well, I love you too.” You grin like an idiot, love, a silly thing to be obsessing over—but alas, you are.

Uh oh, I’m falling in love again. Oh no, I’m falling in love again. Oh, I’m falling in love. I thought the plane was going down how’d you turn it right around?

-

A/N: sorry this one was so short, I just wanted to end this on a sweet note.. sooooo yeah. And sorry for the wait lol🙈🙈

[happeehippie]

instagram j.b

summary: follow along with joe and his fiance evie as they go through his football career.

*face claim is Yasmin Quintana*

series masterlist

evie

liked by bengals, millyg, joeyb_9, and 679,735 others

evie: and so it all begins again.. first GAME DEY of year 3. let’s go jb. 🧡🤍

view all 16,279 comments

user: i love your boyfriend.. im sorry.

> evie: what’s not to love?

user: i am green with envy

joeyb_9: i lack the vocabulary to describe you..

> evie: i freaking love you joey.

user: here we go again, get ready for ev’s feed to be football for the next 6 months 🙄

> user: i don’t know how people are still annoyed by this just unfollow

user: i personally love football season with ev

joeyb_9

liked by bengals, evie, and 952,920 others

joeyb_9: Party in the end zone

view all 4,839 comments…

user: MARRY ME

bengals: 🕺🕺🕺

user: attaboy joey!

user: bad mf bro

evie: okay, hear me out.. let’s work on spinning the ball before you do it again yeah?

> user: 🤣🤣🤣

> user: that’s okay! we still love you joey.

> user: HAHAHA you tell him

> joeyb_9: it’s all in the flick of the wrist baby! i’ll get em next time.

> user: 😭😭😭 A for effort lol

evie

liked by bengals, joeyb_9, and 38,829 others

evie: screaming. crying. and obsessing over this shirt. Happy GAME DEY my little bengies!

view all 7,388 comments…

user: I loved your post about leading with love! we are so lucky to have you as our AFC QUEEN!

> evie: sending you my love sweet girl, thank you so much.

user: watch out for all those girls after your man or you won’t need that shirt anymore

user: big fan of this

joeyb_9: if you wanted an autographed tee you could’ve just asked

> evie: i’m literally just a girl

user: the first lady of cincinnati

> evie: i think it should be you. 🤪

millyg: it should be illegal to look this good at a sporting event.

> evie: spoiler.. it is. 🤪

joeyb_9

liked by bengals, lahjay10_, and 627,937 others

joeyb_9: heating up

view all 2,785 comments…

evie: this looks exactly like a dream i had the other day

> joeyb_9: can you tell me how it ended? 😉

> user: NOT JOE GETTING SPICY IN THE COMMENTS

> user: who allowed him to use the wink emoji

> user: i’ll never recover from this

user: so overrated

user: that’s literally my boyfriend

> evie: are we sharing?

user: badass

user: JOKE

evie

liked by joeyb_9, millyg, and 984,001 others

evie: todays fit check is courtesy of @lahjay10_ for giving me the most wicked game day kicks ever! hbd to me. 🤪

view all 6,839 comments…

bengals: Happy Birthday Mrs. B!

> evie: yall tryna start trouble! 🤣

user: happy birthday ev! queen in the north!

lahjay10_: hbd ev, you ain’t no regular pigeon!

> evie: thanks jay! you ain’t no regular cat!

> user: i live for the uno x ev interactions

user: Happy Birthdey!

user: @joeyb_9 better get that dub for your birthday

> evie: i’m counting on it!

millyg: happy birthday sister! i love you more than life.

> evie: ugh, ilysm!

user: bday fit goes hard

joeyb_9: happy birthday to the best thing that happened to me. you’re older, wiser, and hot as ever!

> evie: i want to celebrate by drowning in cake and pasta.

joeyb_9

liked by millyg, bengals, and 859,512 others

joeyb_9: winning=happy

view all 2,041 comments…

user: the smile 😍😍

user: are you real?

user: no post for evies birthday?

> user: he doesn’t usually post her, it’s no big deal

> user: no one made posts for her birthday! there was a game!

> user: she also doesn’t post him on her feed for his bday

bengals: Yes it does Joey

user: DM me joe

evie: ugh!!! that smile makes me wanna die!

> joeyb_9: me and you=forever

> evie: that’s the plan big guy 🤍

user: my boy

evie

liked by joeyb_9, millyg, and 653,827 others

evie: and that’s MY MAN!!! JB

view all 8,628 comments…

user: the most beautiful

user: SHEEEEESH 🥵

user: so iconic

joeyb_9: my favorite part of every game is knowing you’re out there cheering for me.

> evie: i’ll spend the rest of my life cheering for you joey.

user: joe fuckin burrow is the 🐐

user: are we all just forgetting that we don’t like her?

> user: not everyone doesn’t like her, and if you don’t then unfollow her. easy.

user: oh to be evie..

millyg: mrs. joe fuckin burrow

> evie: coming soon..

> user: QUIT! WHEN?

> user: are we getting an off season wedding?

joeyb_9

liked by bengals, evie, and 963,739 others

joeyb_9: 🥶🥶

view all 15,738 comments…

user: i like what you do

user: you didn’t even give ev a birthday shoutout

> user: you obviously didn’t see her stories from that day, he doesn’t have to post her to celebrate

> user: i adore how she calls him “my joey” like yes queen! he is YOURS!

> user: he’s not an object

user: marry me

user: i’m rooting for you!

evie: it’s just too easy baby..

> joeyb_9: 🥱 light work

user: joe brrrrrr

user: he’s cooooold

evies instagram stories

[to6ge]

CAUGHT A COLD . . . !

★ Megumi Fushiguro x gn!reader.

★ IN WHICH ! Megumi got sick and you have to take care of him. ( In the end, you get sick too )

★ WARNINGS ?? SFW. Nothing.

★ AUTHORS NOTE : Changed my theme again, I <3 Toro.

Your boyfriend, Megumi hated being taken care of. But when it came to you, he loved it. Even though he looks like he was annoyed that you took care of him, deep down he loves it.

And thats why he shared a hate-love relationship with getting sick. Currently, he is sick. Youre in his dorm preparing his medicine while he was laying in his bed.

Coughs and groans could be heard from him, and whenever he talked you couldnt help but laugh because of how raspy it was. You shouldnt laugh but it was hilarious to you.

You were done preparing his medicine, and you decided to spoon-feed him so you could tease him about it later on when he got better. You stood by his bed and you have a spoonful of medicine. “Open, wide. Quick, or else its gonna spill” you said

“I am not getting spoonfed by yo-” you quickly shut him off by shoving in the spoon. His face was red from embarrassment, did he really just get spoonfed like a three-year-old? You giggled to yourself “Just let me take care of you, ’Gumi!”

“You're gonna get infected if you keep on coming near m-” he couldnt finish his sentence, he coughed and sneezed after that. “Its better than seeing you so miserable like this, Megumi. I’ll be fine!” You quickly kissed him on the cheek after that, leaving him flustered. “[name] if you get sic-” another kiss, on the lips this time. The kiss was short, but really passionate and loving.

“I can take care of myself, no worries Megumi.” you reassured him. “Don’t blame me if you get sick. I wont be taking care of you” he obviously was sarcastic, ofcourse he’d take care of you. “Sure Megumi,, sure. I just know that youll take care of me when Im sick no matter what” You teased him.

Although he refused, you knew what you said was true. He loved you with every single atom of his and he wouldn't let you take care of yourself when youre sick. He’ll always be there for you.

At the end of the day, you ended up cuddling, kissing and sleeping together. “At this rate, you're gonna get sick” megumi said tiredly “I dont care” You kiss him on the cheek once more “I hope I dream about you” Megumi whispered. “I love your hugs, theyre so comfortable..” You murmured.

Megumi gave you a weak but warm, small smile. Your heart fluttered as he smiled. He snuggled into your shoulders. It was a comforting silence, it was so warm. “Im so happy when youre around” you mumbled tiredly but you still smiled “and I am too, my love.”

Your hand went through his hair, gently playing with it as he soon dozed off. He looked so calm and cute when he was asleep, and he felt that your hands felt so perfect when it was in his hair. He’d never be this happy with anyone else.

Days pass by as you continue to take care of him, he soon recovered. But shortly after he recovered, you got sick too.

[claiestve]

some isaac fluff/comfort to recover from your last one? 😭

maybe when lover has a really long day with their cases and isaac takes care of them? 🥹

(also love you and your amazing writings 💗)

𝐘𝐨𝐮 & 𝐌𝐞 ꨄ Isaac

˜”* ❝𝙅𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙖 𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙤𝙪𝙘𝙝, 𝙢𝙮 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙥𝙨.❞

⎯⎯ ୨ ୧ ⎯⎯

ꜱʏɴᴏᴘꜱɪꜱ: ɪꜱᴀᴀᴄ ʜᴇʟᴘꜱ ʏᴏᴜ ᴜɴᴡɪɴᴅ.

⎯୨⎯ " " ⎯୧⎯

“Pickle, I’m gonna go somewhere later, wanna come?” You hear from the other room. It doesn’t ring any bells though because you were so engrossed in your work. Not even looking anywhere that wasn't your laptop. The case you were working on was extremely stressful because there were so many possibilities and you couldn’t afford to make any mistakes. 

The problem with this was, you didn’t have much time for Isaac. He wasn’t too clingy because he knew fully well how much the job takes over the brain. However, he found himself being more… eager. Eager to see you, to hear you, to finally be near you while you guys sleep, all of it. You guessed he was just feeling affectionate but it never crossed your mind that it would be because of your absence. 

“Pickle?”

You still didn’t answer. It’s not like you didn’t hear it. Your body was just so numb to any vocal cues because of how dangerously long you’ve been on this case. 

The door knob rattles a bit before the door opens. Standing in the doorframe is Isaac with a frown on his face. You saw him but it didn’t alarm you like it normally would’ve. On a normal day, you would’ve been very quick to ask what was wrong even if it was something tiny. Not today though.

Isaac approaches you reaching for your hand. 

“You’re doing it again.” He says with a frown. 

“Doing what?” You ask without looking away from your work. 

“You know what. You’re being unresponsive.”

Ironically, you didn’t answer to that. Isaac sighs and sits down next to you. At first, he waited for some kind of acknowledgment from you but after a while, he realized you wouldn’t give any. He sighs a little louder but it’s ignored by you. He tries going for your hand but you didn’t even flinch at that. 

As you're staring at the screen, you can only wonder if you would be able to finish this case with the right information. You seem so lost in the case but your chaotic thoughts are quickly silenced once your screen goes black.

“Hi, Pickle, this is the real world.” Isaac sarcastically greets you but you’re not too fond of it. Of course, Isaac doesn’t care. He wants you to relax, at least for a minute. 

“You’re so annoying.”

“You weren’t answering me! Plus, I missed you.”

“We’re being clingy now, Isaac?” You smile at him. He laughs a little and leans his head on yours. 

“Come to bed, Pickle.”

He gently drags you out of the study by your hand.

“I thought you were going somewhere?”

“It can wait for tomorrow. I’d rather go with you tomorrow than leave you like this but unsupervised.”

He proceeds to take you into the bedroom where you immediately feel at ease even being in there. You could feel a huge weight coming off your shoulders being replaced with excitement to lay down and sleep. Isaac helped you into bed, making you lean on him. 

“How do you feel about oatmeal for breakfast tomorrow, Pickle?”

“Don’t tell me you are planning on making breakfast. I’ll do it.”

“Nope. Tomorrow, you’re going to lay here until it’s time for you to eat.”

You two share some laughter along with other banter. You appreciated Isaac and his efforts. He was always willing to do stuff for you. He’d be unserious, for you. He’d be ‘clingy’, for you. He’d do anything for you. You looked at him and sighed. 

“Thank you, Isaac. It’s been really exhausting these past few days and I’ve missed you a lot.”

“Of course. I noticed how bad it was getting and I had to step in.”

“I love you, Isaac.”

“I love you too, Pickle. Sleep well.”

He kissed your forehead before pulling you in closer. 

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈

so my dumbass asked for requests a while ago and i realized that half of them i didn't do so im making up for it now

thank u 4 requesting, ily

[crazylittlejester]

currently standing outside and waiting for my bus to take me home but I thought I'd send in another annoying ask cuz I'm just worried... ahaisk

I hope you're doing okay! things seem really shitty with you lately and I absolutely hate it, you do not deserve the crap that life is throwing at you, it's cruel and you can't be put down like that!!!!!

I am wishing that you'll be able to get through everything alright, you don't need to feel pressured to answer things or to strain yourself, your mental health matters and we all appreciate you. greatly.

sorry for this im just concerned (/srs) and I really really am wishing you all the best, be sure to take breaks if you are able and do what you can. idk what else to say but I LOVE YOU and I am missing you sm, sending you lots of love and hugs <3 /gen

You’re never annoying, I get excited to hear from you every time you pop up in my inbox :) 💜 /gen

I’m doing a bit better than I was earlier, and now I’m just kinda hoping I can sleep off the nausea and feel less dizzy because I have a little roadtrip that’s very important to me planned for tomorrow and I will be absolutely destroyed if I have to cancel that :( But I am stubborn and so I live on alskkdld!!

I will definitely be alright, and I think I’ve already gotten over the worst this is gonna get (fingers fuckin CROSSED-) so now I just gotta recover from the exhaustion of it all alskdkdl

I hope you had a good day at school! If I’m not too tired tomorrow after my adventures I’ll have tales for you >:)

Remember to get water, food, rest, and take care of yourself!! mwah /p stay silly

[loversj0y]

'tis the damn season

chapter two - you could call me babe for the weekend

alcohol-induced decisions snowball into conversations about the future, family tensions, poetry, and a serious discussion on the bitchiness of orca whales.

'tis the damn season masterlist

pairing: cc!wilbur soot x gn!reader

this part is primarily fluff! im keeping the list of tws in each part just for the sake of clarity

trigger warnings: reader's mother is abusive (not physically) and father is emotionally absent. this will be talked about in extensive detail. alcohol, some suggestive themes, and a lot of anxiety, slut-shaming

author's note: part two baby lets fcking go!!!! this part is insanely sweet but also there are some.... tenser moments due to families being shit tbh (it also becomes abundantly clear here why i consider dialogue my strong suit and not anything else bc i am Not the best at being Descriptive! ao3 version!

word count: 9.6k

You and Wilbur spent the next four days developing a routine. It always started with butting heads with your family and running to Wilbur’s for solace. You two would spend hours talking before falling asleep together on his bed. In the morning, you would walk back to your house, and the cycle would repeat. On the fifth day of this routine, drinks got involved. 

“You brought a whole bottle of vodka?” Wilbur deadpanned. 

“Yep,” you replied, “I’m not sure about you, but I’d like to get at least mostly drunk.” 

He shrugged, “Can’t say I’m doing anything tomorrow that would stop me from wanting to. Plus, we haven’t drank together in years. Got to carry on a tradition.” You mindlessly wondered if he was thinking of the same night you were. “I’ll grab some cups. Want to drink it straight or with a mixer?”

“Both. Start with two shots and then maybe cranberry juice mixer?” 

He nodded, “Alright, to the kitchen we go.” 

You both walked to the kitchen, and he grabbed two shot glasses. You poured one into each, setting the bottle down and grabbing your shot. 

“Ready?”

He picked his shot up and nodded, the both of you throwing your heads back in moments to take the first one. You coughed a bit after swallowing it. You weren’t really used to drinking much anymore, but from the looks of it, neither was Wilbur. He coughed as well, groaning lightly. After you recovered, you started pouring the second shots, and the cycle repeats once more. 

“Fucking hell, man, I forgot how annoying shots are,” you chuckled. 

He laughed, “Yeah, though, to be fair, we completely forgot a chaser.” 

You shrugged, “True, but we have to stay true to our traditions.” 

“Good point,” he grabbed the cranberry juice from the fridge, pouring it into two empty glasses while you washed the shot glasses. He added the ice and the vodka, grabbing both cups when he was done. We headed upstairs, sitting on his bed and putting some random show on the TV. 

“Man, this really does feel like school all over again,” he laughed. 

“You know what they say, ‘when in Rome’,” you chuckled. 

“I suppose,” he hummed, both of you taking sips of your drinks. 

After a moment, you leaned against him wordlessly. He gave you a confused look and you just shrugged. 

“You know,” you started, “for as shit as it is, being with my parents and all, I’m glad I showed up this year.”

“Oh, really? Why’s that?” He snickered. 

You looked up at him, holding your tongue. You were thankful for the vodka giving you an excuse for the redness on your cheeks, but you knew it wasn’t the drinks making you notice just how gorgeous he looked right now. His hair was tousled, probably from the amount of times he would adjust his hair while he spoke. His sleeves were pushed up to his elbows, drawing attention to the carefully crafted veins that followed from his hands up his arms. There was a slight pink tinge to his cheeks, but you couldn’t tell if it was the alcohol or your staring that made him blush. You were only tipsy, but he made you feel completely intoxicated.

In a moment of boldness, you leaned up and kissed his cheek.“Because if I didn’t, I’d never have seen a certain handsome guy again. And even worse, I never would’ve gotten to do that.”

Almost immediately, he blushed furiously, “You get a drop of alcohol in you and get all kissy, huh?” 

You shrugged, and the sober part of your brain was yelling at you to shut up before you did something stupid. “Only with you.” 

His breath hitched, obviously unsure of what to say. His mind was in overload. The person he loves is actively flirting it seems, and he had no clue what to do. He thought about kissing you every day since that first kiss. Truthfully, he thought about it every day since you’d met. In the past, it was only the alcohol that gave him courage to ask. Now, his courage lays less in the alcohol and more in the fact that you were flirting with him, and he knew there would not likely be another chance like this. He turned to face you, gently reaching down to hold your hand. 

“Can I… can I kiss you?” 

You nodded. He cautiously pulled you forward, and after a moment of breathlessness, pining, and anticipation, you closed the gap. The entire world came to a stop as your lips pressed together. The only thing you could focus on was his lips on yours, shaky hands pulling each other closer, and the intense beating of your heart. 

One kiss turned to two, which then turned to three, which then turned to cups on nightstands, a forgotten show, and a lost count of how many kisses had been shared. You had no clue how much time had passed, the only indication of time was the “Are you still watching?” screen proudly displayed on the TV, bathing you and Wilbur in muted light. You pulled away first, completely breathless and admiring the goofy smile on his face as he panted lightly. He reached a hand up, gently brushing his thumb over a small hickey he’d left near your collarbone. 

“Sorry,” he hummed, “got a bit enthusiastic.”

"You're not sorry. I can see how proud you look," You snorted, "But I don’t mind, I just may need to steal one of your jumpers to make up for it.” 

He tapped his chin in contemplation, “I like the terms of that deal.” He stood, grabbing a light blue jumper from his closet and handing it to you. 

You pulled it on over your shirt before looking down at it, “Will, is this your merch?” 

“It may be,” he hummed, “it looks good on you, though, babe.”

You tensed, and it seemed to be more visible than you’d intended as he asked, “Oh, I’m sorry, is that not alright? I can call you something else, or just forego the pet names thing entirely, if that- if that makes you more comfortable.”

You shook your head a bit, “No, it’s… it’s alright. Just not used to it.” 

He nodded with a sweet smile, “Alright,” he sat down again, holding his hand out for yours. 

You smiled, placing your hand in his. He pulled you forward until you were pressed against his chest again.

“Hi,” he chuckled. 

“Hey,” you snorted in response, grinning up at him. 

“You’re very pretty,” he hummed. 

“So are you.” 

“I have a proposition, okay, hear me out, ready?”

You nodded as he continued. “You’re pretty, and you say I’m pretty. And I think, if we’re both pretty, it’d be absolutely beautiful if we kissed some more.” 

You burst out into laughter, nodding. “Yeah, okay. I’d love to make something beautiful with you.” 

He grinned widely, pulling you in for another kiss. At this point, the alcohol had mostly faded from both your system and his. You two were just drunk off each other, becoming a mess of lips, arms tangled around each other, hands in hair, and matching grins. You never felt more thankful for throwing caution out the wind. When you two eventually tired of kissing, you laid your head on his chest, and he wrapped his arms tightly around you, keeping you as close as possible. 

“We should probably talk about this,” he said, staring up at his ceiling. 

You sighed, burying your face against his chest, “Probably should. Or, we could wait ‘til morning and just be all cozy and relaxed right now.” 

He chuckled, pressing a kiss into your forehead, “Alright. I am a bit tired, anyway.” 

You nodded in agreement and let your eyes slip shut. Upon noticing, Wilbur started humming softly until you’d fully fallen into the arms of sleep. 

The morning did not end up as peaceful as you’d hoped it would be. You did not wake up in Wilbur’s arms, but rather to the sounds of him frantically moving across his room, clearly panicking about something. 

“Will?” 

His head whipped over to you, “Hi, darling, good morning, or- afternoon, rather, I guess.” 

“Is everything alright?”

He nodded rapidly, “Yep, yes. Yes. I just- I forgot I have an event for stream today and it starts in like five minutes.” 

At that, you grabbed your phone to check the time, startled by how late it was. You were even more startled by the missed call and subsequent text from your mother, informing you of the family holiday dinner that your presence was mandatory for. You groaned, burying your face into the mattress for a moment. The idea of spending another night surrounded by your extended family felt less like a chore and more like court sentencing. Not to mention, you could sense your mother’s kindness was a fallacy she created to convince you to visit. Every moment you were around her you got the sense of her old habits refusing to die. 

“I have to go, too,” You sighed, pulling yourself to the edge of the mattress. 

He frowned, “Family stuff?” 

You nodded. 

“Well, maybe after, if you’re not too tired, we can see each other again. If not, there’s always tomorrow, so,” he walked over, gently kissing your forehead, “we got time.” 

You were acutely aware of the fact that, realistically, you two did not have time. But that point was irrelevant in this context, so instead, you just nodded. 

Wilbur helped you to your feet, gently wrapping his arms around you. You did the same, hugging him tightly for a moment. After a moment, you pulled away and you two stood at arm's length. 

He leaned down, giving you a gentle kiss, “I’ll text you after the stream, alright? Hopefully, then I can give you some escape from your family.” 

You kissed him back, chuckling, “Please, do. I’ll take all the help I could get against them.” 

The walk back home was filled with uneventful dread. You had a few hours to decompress and get ready, but you just didn’t want to go to this dinner. You just wanted to be with Wilbur or to be alone. You opened your front door to see your mother standing in the foyer, and she whipped her head around once you walked in. 

“My God, Y/N, I had half a mind to assume you’d died! You don’t even bother to text me when you’ve gone out, or when you’ve woken up, let alone answer my calls, I-“ She stopped herself mid-sentence, taking in your appearance with disdain: the oversized sweater, the messy hair, and the slight red on your cheeks that hadn’t quite gone away since you kissed Wilbur goodbye. 

“Where were you?” She demanded, “So help me God, you’d better tell me the truth because, I will not have my child being a whore under my roof.” 

You groaned knuckles going white as your hands turned to fists, “For fuck’s sake, Mum, I’m an adult, alright? I’m allowed to have my own life and do my own things, and I am in no way obligated to tell you where I’ve been.” 

“Are you on drugs? Have you been going off and getting high?”

“I wish I was, Mum, because maybe then your accusations would actually fucking make sense.” 

Your mother scoffed, and you watched with horrid familiarity as her facade returned. Her voice took on a new edge when she spoke, one that brought you back to being a scared child, helpless in defending yourself, “Darling, everything I do is for your sake-“

“Don’t give me that bullshit, mum. You did things for me because it was your job when I was growing up, but you haven’t done shit for me except treat me like an obligation since I left to live in London.”

She let out a sigh, clearly trying to invoke your sympathy, “Well, maybe I just miss knowing what my child is doing.”  

You wouldn’t give her an ounce of your pity. “Yeah? Well, maybe if you were a better mother, you’d know.” 

You left her standing there in shock as you stormed back to your room. Maybe that was mean, but you couldn’t care less. She made your life a living hell, and still apparently attempts to, and at least now you didn’t have to cower around her anymore. You could stand up for yourself. You got ready for the hellish evening that awaited you, popping on Wilbur’s stream in the meantime. Thankfully, you were able to find an outfit that covered the physical evidence of Wilbur on you, given his apparent love for hickeys. You finished getting ready and just hid out in your room for as long as you reasonably could. Wilbur texted you once his stream ended, and the two of you continued to text throughout the night, which provided a nice distraction from the politics of a family holiday dinner. Your mother refused to make eye contact with you, clearly still upset about our argument. You paid no mind to her pointed remarks and snarky comments throughout the night. The highlight of the evening, however, was your younger cousin. He was a small lad, just recently turned eight, and was frankly a major iPad kid. The joy came from passing behind him to see Wilbur on his screen. He was watching a Minecraft video by someone named Tommy, and lo and behold, there was Wilbur. You brought up Tommy to Wilbur, and he seemed fond of him, happily considering Tommy his “favorite nuisance”. 

Once enough people had left – and anyone who was still there was too drunk to notice one less person –  you took the opportunity to leave. Once you were out in the light snow, you trekked over to Wilbur’s, shooting him a quick text to let him know you’d be there soon. You were freezing by the time you’d arrived, having left your jacket back in your room. 

He opened the door, pulling you into his arms, “Darling, you’re shaking, come here.” 

You hugged him back tightly, leaning your head into his shoulder, “You don’t know how happy I am to be here with you.”

“It was that bad?”

“Yeah,” you sighed, closing your eyes, “God, I feel stupid”

“What do you mean?” 

“I just- they changed! Or at least, they seemed like they did. Every phone call, they seemed pleasant. I only agreed to even come back because it- it genuinely seemed like they’d changed. But fuck man, they’re exactly the fucking same, if not worse now. I can’t even fathom how I let them get my hopes up again.”

Wilbur didn’t seem to know what to say, instead just rubbing your back soothingly. He spoke up after a moment, “‘m sorry. That sounds like shit.”

“It is,” you pulled away, “I’d rather not think about it anymore, honestly. Not much I can do about it right now, anyway.”  

He nodded, “Well, c’mon. You remember how you asked about Tommy?” 

You nodded. 

“I may have told him about you a bit, and he’s insistent on talking to you. Granted, I told him that wouldn’t be happening, but given the bad night that you’ve had? Trust me, he can make anyone laugh, and you’ll love him, I promise.” 

“Okay, sure,” you chuckled, “If you say so.” 

He took your hand, pulling you upstairs. You chuckled as you followed him. You sat down in the office chair next to him, and he pulled your chair closer to his own, both popping a headphone in. 

“Don’t say anything yet, alright?”

You nodded as he rang Tommy. 

“Wilbur!” Tommy spoke loudly, which immediately made you cringe from the noise. Wilbur turned down the volume.

“Hey, Tommy! Listen, remember that childhood friend I told you I was reconnecting with?” 

“You mean snogging? Yes.” 

Wilbur blushed and you stifled a laugh. “Sure, right. You remember how I said you wouldn’t be meeting them?”

“Why, yes, Wilbur, you said it quite rudely.”

“Right, well,” he gestured for you to say hello. 

“Hi, Tommy. It’s nice to meet you.”

A beat passed. Then two. 

“WILL, YOU BASTARD, I-” Tommy yelled. You were thankful Wilbur had turned the volumn down. He then took a deep breath clearing his throat, “Hello, Wilbur’s friend. Wilbur, I knew you would introduce me, you prick.” 

From there, you and Wilbur spoke to Tommy for a while. He and Wilbur seemed to have this odd dynamic that consisted mostly of just poking fun at each other, but you’d be dammed if you didn’t admit how funny the kid was. Even if a good amount of his comedy was just yelling at Wilbur, it did bring a smile onto your face and even made you laugh quite a bit. Wilbur was right, he did strongly improve your mood after your day. 

You and Wilbur ended up laying on his bed afterward, your head on his chest. His hands carded through your hair, taking care to make sure he didn’t tug at any knots. He spoke up softly, “I know you’ve had a shit day, but we should still probably talk.” 

You groaned softly, sighing, “I hate when you’re right, you know that?” 

“I know,” He chuckled, “I don’t love it either, you’re usually the one in the right.” He took a deep breath before moving on to the actual heart of the topic at hand, “You know, I do really, genuinely like you in a romantic sense.” 

“I really like you too.” You didn’t like him, you fucking love him. But if you knew where this was going, you didn’t want to make this harder for the both of you.

He smiled at this, squeezing your hand gently, “Suppose we should discuss if we’re official then.”

You sighed, a frown adorning your features, “In the sake of honesty, I don’t know if we can be.” His face dropped, frown matching your own as you continued.

“In a few days, I’m going back to London, and I barely have time to focus on anything other than studying. I’m worried that I’d be neglectful as a partner, and you don’t deserve that. Even more so, thinking about the future scares the shit out of me. I’m scared of everything, Wilbur. Don’t get me wrong, I want nothing more than to be here with you and forget about the world. I want nothing more than the ability to have a happy relationship with you. But- but, Will, I’m scared of deciding to go through with this, and ending up losing you because of it.” 

You buried your head against his chest, letting out a shaky sigh. He was silent for a while before he spoke again. 

“I understand. So, how about this?” You looked up at him and he brushed a strand of hair behind your ear, “We have this week. These last few days of holding onto each other and calling each other babe. Then, once you leave, and you get settled in, we see what we can do. We’ll see if you can have the time, or if I can do something, or whatever we can do. And if we figure it out, we figure it out. If we don’t, we wait until you finish this final year, and we pick up from there.”

“You’d be willing to do that?”

“Love, I waited fifteen years to kiss you, and another four just to have you in my life again. A year is nothing in comparison.” 

You didn’t quite know when you’d started crying. You sniffled a bit, wiping your eyes as you nodded rapidly. “Yeah. Yeah, okay. We can do that.”

He smiled at you, wiping your eyes gently, “Okay.” 

You leaned up, placing a hand on his cheek as you kissed him. Your heart felt so warm, but your stomach still felt sick at the idea that so much remained uncertain. Part of you hated the idea that he’d be waiting for you, but a band aid solution felt better than simmering in bubbling anxiety, so you would accept it for now at least. 

He held you close, smiling softly. He pressed a kiss to your forehead gently, “Don’t worry, love. This time, regardless of what happens, I’m not losing you again. You’re stuck with me, honestly, so you’d better hope you don’t get sick of me. Because I am going to be a thorn in your side.”

You laughed, burying your face against his shoulder, “I’ll gladly accept that. I think I could get quite used to the feeling of being prodded by a thorn all the time.” 

He immediately burst out laughing, and you chuckled yourself, lightly hitting him. “I did not mean it like that.” 

He laughed, “Mean it like what, darling? Like this?” He turned, sitting on your hips as he started to tickle you. You squealed, squirming under him and laughing. 

“Will! I- I swear to God, mate, I will- I will piss myself, stop it!” 

He laughed at what could only be described as your suffering, stopping after a moment and just placing his hands on your sides. He leaned down and kissed you, and you wrapped your arms around him, gently playing with the ends of his hair. He hummed softly, one hand coming to cradle your head, his thumb rubbing your cheek. You were both breathless when he pulled away. A lopsided grin stretched across his face, still panting as he spoke, “Do you think orcas make fun of other whales for not having cool designs?” 

You burst out laughing, groaning as you threw your head back, “Wilbur Soot, what the hell?”

“I’m serious!” He laughed, “Do you think they’re mean about it?” 

You laughed, adoring just how bizarre this beautiful man could be, “I think some are. I like to think most are kind, though. Why is this important?” You laughed through your words. 

His eyes crinkled at the edges as he grinned widely, “Everything has some importance to it. In this case, your opinion on if orca whales are assholes or not. I just like hearing your worldview.” 

You flushed softly, “Really? And of all the things you’d ask about, why the bitchiness of orcas?” 

He hummed, “Well, one, whales are fucking amazing. They’re gigantic and insane looking, I fucking love them. Two, it’s serious to me, but it's not serious. I know your politics, and you know mine. But silly stuff still reflects you, so I’m curious. Now that I can, I want to know all of you in every tiny detail, I want to absorb everything that I’ve missed in the past few years or all the things I just may have forgotten to time. I want to know the parts of you that you have never shown before, and I want to know the parts of you that don’t exist yet. Hence, asking a question you’ve probably never thought of before. I want to learn you as you learn yourself and show you the beauty that lies in each detail.” 

You blushed darkly, left speechless. The word, love, was not strong enough, didn’t feel quite right, to fully define just how much you felt for this man. Telling him “I love you” would never fit how much you truly felt for him. You refrained from saying it for now, eventually just grabbing onto him and pulling him into a tight hug. 

“You have no idea just how much you mean to me,” you whispered against his ear. 

He kissed the side of your head, whispering back, “Darling, I know more than anyone just exactly what you mean.” 

You held him, tighter, as if he’d leave you the same way you left him if you’d let go. After a moment, tears began welling up in your eyes. Not bad or good ones, but ones that signified just how loved you felt and how much you felt for him. 

“Darling, you’re shaking, is everything alright?” He pulled away, frowning, “You’re crying, love, what’s going on?” 

You shook your head, smiling through the tears, “No, it’s not bad, I’m just- sorry,” you spoke in a light sob, and he shook his head. 

“Don’t apologize! I’m just worried, did something happen?” 

You smiled widely up at him, “No, I’m just overwhelmed,” you said, and when his expression fell, you quickly tacked on, “Not because of you! You just, um, you make me feel… seen, I guess.” 

He smiled, wiping tears away, “I’m glad, then. You deserve to be seen. You’re beautiful, and amazing, and… everything. Even if I am the only one who sees you, at least then, someone knows how grand your existence is.” 

You groaned, blushing again, “You can’t just say things like that, you twat,” you sniffled a bit. “It’s too nice.”

“It’s true,” he shrugged, “simply deal with it.” 

You laughed, pulling him in for another hug, “I’ll learn to, I guess.” 

He buried his face against your neck, nodding, “Good.” He pressed a few gentle kisses along your neck. The kisses started delicately, as if he was worried that kissing you too hard would hurt. As you relaxed further and further into each kiss, you could feel him grin softly against your neck. His kisses slowly became more heated. They became languid and rougher, but never painful. He eventually escalated to covering your neck with hickeys, your hands carding through his hair. You fully relaxed in his arms. You kissed the top of his head, and he looked up at you, grinning softly. 

“Sorry,” he hummed, “May have gotten a bit carried away.”

“It’s alright, I quite like them.”

“Oh, really?” He went to add more to the mosaic on you, but you held him back. 

“Yes, but I’d much rather kiss you myself.” 

He pulled himself up, grinning down at you, “Gladly.” 

Things were still and quiet in the morning. You rested your head against Wilbur’s chest, his arms securely wrapped around you. Overnight, it appeared that the snow had gotten stronger, so there was a slight chill in the room that had you moving further into Wilbur’s arms. 

Wilbur pressed a gentle kiss to your head, “Morning.”

You hummed, looking up at him, “Morning.” 

The room settled into a comfortable silence, both of your brains still stirring awake. His head shifted towards the window, calling your attention to the snowflakes gathering on the sill.

“You know I’m not letting you walk home like this?”

“What, in the cold?”

“Yep. And not to mention you look… a little wild.” 

“Coming from you that’s a compliment. I’d argue you probably look worse.” 

“I could make you look worse.”

You snorted and laughed, laying your head on his chest again, “You’re in a mood this morning.” 

“I’m just happy that you’re here.”

“This isn’t the first time I’ve woken up here recently though.”

“No. But it’s the first time we’re able to kiss and relax when we wake up together.” 

You smiled, “True. A nice contrast to yesterday.” 

He hummed, “Today will be a better day.” 

You chuckled in agreement, holding tightly to him. 

He gently rubbed your back, kissing the top of your head. 

After a moment, you looked up at him. “We have to get up at some point, you know.”

He hummed, turning you both over to splay his body weight on top of you. “‘m sorry, what was that?” 

You laughed, “Okay, okay, don’t crush me, we can just sleep in. At least until like midday.” 

He cheered, getting up on his elbows and covering your face in kisses, “Yes! Good! Rest time!” 

You laughed, wrapping your arms around his neck. “You’re good at convincing. Helps when there’s something in it for me.” 

“Like what?” 

“A kiss, hopefully.”

“Gladly,” He chuckled. He leaned down, lips meeting yours in a quick motion. You kissed him back, your hands playing with his hair gently. When you pulled away, he wrapped his arms around you, pulling you on top of him and squeezing you tightly. 

“Will! Are you trying to kill me?” You laughed as you asked him breathlessly. 

He lightened up a bit, chuckling, “Nope. Just trying to keep you here forever.” 

You hummed, sitting up on his lap once he gave you the space. “It’d be an honor to be here forever.”

“In our secret oasis.” His hands came to your sides, lightly rubbing up and down. 

“It’s your childhood bedroom, but yes, if you want to give it the dramatic name. Our secret oasis.” 

“It’s secret because no one knows we’re here.” 

“What about Tommy? Or the thousands of people on your stream?” 

“Tommy doesn’t know my exact location. And I’d fucking hope my chat doesn’t either.” He laughed.

You laughed, “Okay, okay, I get it. It’s our secret place. Though I’d argue the back field where we had our first kiss is probably more of our secret place.”

“Oh, god, don’t remind me of that kiss. I was so nervous to kiss you. I practically chugged half the vodka to try and calm down.” 

“I was nervous too! My cute, dorky, best friend who I’d secretly been crushing on, wanted to kiss me? Yeah, I freaked out a little bit.”

“It didn’t seem like it! You seemed so composed!” 

“Only because I was so nervous.” You leaned down, pecking his lips. “We should try and go back there one of these days. Maybe recreate that kiss with fewer nerves?”

“Would you put your prom outfit back on?”

You lightly slapped his chest, gasping at the implications, “You gremlin.”

“I’m serious! You looked really good.”

“Would you wear yours?”

“Mine still vaguely smells like vomit, so, no.”

“Then I won’t be wearing mine.” You stuck your tongue out at him. 

He pouted, “Fine. To be fair, you could be wearing anything and I’d find you gorgeous.” 

You flushed, “Even in a dinosaur costume?”

“Oh, especially in a dinosaur costume.” 

You laughed, “Okay, Soot. I’ll wear that if we ever go on a date.”

“You mean when. We will be going on a date without a doubt.” 

“Oh? And what would we do?” 

He hummed, “Well, we couldn’t be out in public. For your safety and privacy. Plus, I know you don’t like fancy places much anyway. So, probably a picnic. But, with some takeout from a good restaurant since my cooking isn’t fantastic. And then, just coming back to my place, or yours, and watching a movie.” 

“That… sounds lovely, actually.”

“Actually? Rude.” 

You chuckled, “Sorry, I’ve just become used to the idea of a date being ‘come by my place so we can drink surrounded by shitty roommates and trash.’”

Wilbur looked horrified, “Darling, I am going to change that. No more gross college boys. You deserve to be treated so much better.”

You blushed, “Thank you, Will. I’ll be holding you to that, though.”

“You don’t even have to worry. I can’t believe you had to even deal with people like that, Christ. I’m going to raise your standards.”

You hummed, “You already have.” 

Pink rose on Wilbur’s face, and he reached a hand up to your cheek, “I’m glad then.” 

You smiled, leaning forward and playing with his hair. 

“We should go,” you spoke up, “Back to the field, I mean. Might be a nice way to just get out of the house a bit.” 

You nodded with a hum. “When?” 

He wrapped his arms tightly around you, “Later after we’ve taken a nap.”

“Wilbur, we’ve just woken up.”

“Yeah, but you make me comfortable. Plus we had a lot of fun last night.” 

You lightly hit him, “Get your mind out of the gutter, Soot. A nap does sound nice though.”

He grinned, “Doesn’t it?”

You leaned down, placing your head on his shoulder and landing a soft kiss on his cheek. He turned his head to grin lovingly at you, parting the curtain of your hair with one hand while the other held you close to him. 

By the time you woke up again, it was well past three. Wilbur was already awake, his hand gently carding through your hair. It was a bit warmer now than when you’d woken up initially. You yawned, stretching as you woke up. 

“Morning, darling,” he smiled as he looked down at you. 

“Morning, again,” you chuckled softly, sitting up properly and rubbing your eyes. 

He chuckled, leaning forward to kiss your forehead. “You hungry?” 

You nodded. 

“Want to go to the cafe? It’s probably pretty empty right now.” 

You chuckled, nodding again, “Yeah, that sounds nice. Mind if I borrow a jumper?” 

He hummed, “Go ahead. Take your pick.”

You stood slowly, grabbing a big yellow jumper from his closet. You changed quickly, trying to conserve enough warmth while Wilbur changed as well. 

You finished getting dressed, turning to him, “Are we walking there?” 

He hummed, peering out the window, “We could, but it might be safer if we don’t. It’s not snowing anymore, but it could start up again.”

“I could drive us then. We’d just have to walk to my place.”

He nodded, “Alright.”

Taking his hand in yours, you walked downstairs and outside into the cold icy streets. 

The walk to your house was peaceful, breaths visible in the air, as you and Wilbur walked hand in hand. When you reached your front door, the serene air surrounding your walk shattered upon realizing you had to face your family. You just had to go in and grab your keys. You repeated it like a mantra in your mind. You considered telling Wilbur to wait outside, but before you could, he squeezed your hand. 

“It’s alright, I’ll be with you the whole time, okay?” 

You nodded, looking up at him as he pressed a kiss to your forehead. You let out a breath, letting go of his hand to open your front door. You tried to make a B-line for your room, but the sound of the door opening seemed to have alerted the home, as your aunt swooped into the foyer.

“Oh, my goodness! Little Wilby! My, how you’ve grown!” She squealed out, the rest of your family coming up quickly. Everyone was quick to dote on Wilbur, having known him for just about as long as you had. 

“Sweetheart, is that where you’ve been sneaking off to? You should’ve told me you were hanging out with Wilbur, we could’ve invited him for dinner!” Your mother seemed innately pleased in the notion that you were with Wilbur. It only made you want to get out of there faster. Wilbur didn’t seem too overwhelmed speaking to your family, but you knew that it was starting to get to him slightly so you took charge. 

“Right, well, we’re planning to head to the café, so we’d best get going. I just need to grab my keys,” you grabbed Wilbur’s arm, pulling him quickly to your room, and ignoring the calls of protest from behind you. 

You let out a breath once you got in, looking up at him, “Sorry if they were kind of all over you.” 

He smiled softly, “It’s alright,” he pulled you forward, kissing the top of your head. He was quiet for a moment before a frown replaced his smile. “They haven’t changed,” he hummed, “I thought you told me before you left that they were getting better” 

You sighed, “I thought they were,” you leaned your head against his chest, “They only got better because I was there to mediate. Now, they’re just as toxic again.”

“Well, you should grab a bag and put some clothes and stuff in it. That way you can spend the majority of your time not here.” Wilbur suggested, gently rubbing your back.

You looked up at him, a soft grin adorning his face. You smiled back, “That sounds like a great idea.”

You pulled away to start grabbing stuff, Wilbur sitting down on your bed. You wondered what he was thinking about. Vaguely you wondered if he was getting that same feeling you did the night you went back to his room to listen to him play music. You wondered if his eyes roaming around meant that he was also reliving the memories you two had here, the number of times you had snuck out of your window, him showing you random videos to drown out the fighting of your family, complaining over schoolwork or professors, and just existing hip to hip. 

Once you’d packed up, you walked over to him, grabbing his hands. “You’re thinking about something.”

He chuckled, “Yeah, I am.”

“What’s in that head of yours, Soot?”

“Thinking about the future.”

Oh. 

“Oh?”

“Yeah. I mean, neither of us live here anymore. And you’ll be leaving London eventually. So, I’m thinking about where we go from there.” 

“Well, depends on where I get a job, I suppose.” 

“Lots of jobs in Brighton.”

“Will,” you laughed, “That doesn’t mean I’ll be able to find one there. I’m studying fucking English. Not much I can do anywhere I want.”

“You could work for me.”

“Will-“

“No, I’m serious. You used to help me with DnD campaigns. You could edit scripts or lyrics. You used to write poetry, don’t think I’ve forgotten.”

You sighed, “Will, I’m not sure that would work. I’m not sure dating my employer is truly the best solution here.” 

“For Tommy, then, he probably needs more help with his scripts than I do anyway.” 

“That could cause problems with you and Tommy if something happens, and I don’t want that.” 

“I’m just saying, there are options. You could do remote work and just live in Brighton.”

“Brighton is expensive.” 

“It’s cheaper than London.”

“Not by much. Rent is still insane in Brighton, trust me, I’ve looked.” 

“Not if you split a place with me.”

Your breath hitched. 

“Wilbur…”

“Just hear me out, okay, we’ve known each other long enough to know how we’d work together. I’m not losing you again. We could find a nice three-bedroom, so we could both have our own rooms and office space, and we could make it work. Then, once we’ve saved enough, we could move to fuckin’ America or something, wherever we want to go, we could do.”

“America?”

“Anywhere you’d like to go, I’d follow you. America’s just my pipe dream.” 

You sighed. It could be a good option, honestly. 

“I’m just not quite sure yet.”

“And you don’t have to be! You’ve still got a year til graduation. I could find a place in that time, so by the time you’re ready, we can do it.” 

You squeezed his hands, hanging your head, “Maybe I’ll think about it.” 

He seemed to let out a breath of relief, “That’s all I ask.” 

You nodded, placing your forehead against his gently. You and he shared a silent moment, just breathing together. His hands slowly moved to wrap around your waist, pulling you in to tight hug. You hugged him back just as tightly. And though he would never say it, you knew exactly what fear ran through his mind. You knew exactly what he was afraid of. That you refused to be as dedicated to this commitment between the two of you as he was. Because there remained a lingering fear in you that this would not last. This pocket of bliss would rip a seam at the bottom and fall into another void of unforgiving remnants of time where your promises went to die. 

You both managed to sneak out without too much disruption from your family. A snarky comment about keeping it clean from your uncle as you shut the door to your house would not deter you, as most things they could say now couldn’t. You two sat in the car for a moment, waiting for it to heat up. He connected his phone, putting on some music to hopefully put the both of you in a better mood. 

The drive was short, with little words being shared beside Wilbur singing along to the music. Neither of you wanted to leave the car, despite the slightly tense atmosphere. After parking, you reached over and grabbed his hand, holding it tightly. 

You scrambled to think of something to say to break the tension. 

Thankfully, Wilbur had you beat, “You used to like filming things.” 

“I- yeah. I still do, I guess. Just don’t have time for it anymore.”

“Would you ever want to do it?”

You thought for a moment. “I mean, yeah, maybe. I’d still love to make a music video or something one day.” 

He nodded, “You could do it. Youtube and stuff, I mean.” 

You sighed, “Will, I just don’t have the time to start. And by the time I can make money from it, it’ll be way too late.”

“I know you want to think about this more, but, all of my Youtube friends need help with people that film that they can trust. If you want to go that route, there are options. Even if it’s not for me or Tommy, I know people. And then it’ll give you time to start your own account, and I can help you with that! I can promote you, even,”

“Not that. If I do it, I don’t want to blow up completely out of nowhere. I’d want to be used to it first.”

“But you’re thinking about it.” 

You laughed, “I’m thinking about it.” 

He raised his other hand in cheers, “That is a win for me. I’ll take it.” 

You laughed, tugging his hand, “C’mon. Let’s go eat.”

You turned the car off, and he quickly bolted out of the car and went to your side to open the door, “Hurry, hurry, it’s freezing out here.”

You laughed, taking his outstretched hand and standing, “You chose to be chivalrous, take your punishment.” 

He let out a whine, tugging you into his arms, “Come here, I need warmth.”

You locked the car, letting out a loud laugh, “Okay, okay,” you wrapped your arms around him, rubbing his back, “Let’s go inside, it’ll be warm in there.”

He nodded, letting go of the hug to pull the both of you inside. You both went to order, and he turned to you while you waited, “What do you think you’ll get?” 

You shrugged, “Probably just a coffee and a muffin. Just something small.”

“Do you still get them the same way?”

You nodded. 

“Alright. Could you do me something then?”

“Uh, depends.” 

The person in front of us moved, making us up at the register. 

“Could you go grab me a napkin? I think I touched some ice or something.” He held his hand up, thumb swiping over his fingers and palm. You knew how he was when it came to weird sensations, so you quickly replied. 

“Oh, sure,” you turned, walking to the sidebar to grab him a napkin. You walked back over to him as he was paying, handing him the napkin.

“Thanks! Also, I ordered and paid for you.” 

You stared at him, shocked for a moment. After a moment, you spoke, “Did you even need a napkin?”

He shook his head quickly, “Just needed you to walk away so I could pay for you.” 

You blinked at him, lightly hitting his arm, “You ass. Don’t do that.”

“What? Pay for you?”

“Yeah.”

“You simply cannot stop me, love.”

You groaned, “I swear to god. I’ll start paying for your shit too.” 

“I’m taller than you, therefore faster. Good luck trying.”

“I hate you so much.”

“Yeah? I don’t think you do,” Wilbur snickered, before lifting a hand to the collar of his sweater. You flushed when he daintily pulled the fabric back to reveal the hickeys you had left on him the night before. You switched your gaze to meet his and he winked, only flustering you further. You pressed your head against his shoulder while he just laughed at you.  

You sighed after you’d calmed a bit, “I’ll find a way to pay you back.”

“You do pay me back. Just by being with me.” 

You hid the way you blushed, “Sappy.”

“Only for you.” 

“Hush. I’ll make you flustered right back.”

“I’d like to see you try.”

“Well, I c-“

“Order for Wilbur!”

The barista called out, saving Wilbur just in time for the not-exactly publicly appropriate thing preparing to leave your mouth. Wilbur walked forward, grabbing the order for you both and walking to a booth in the far corner by a window. You both sat down, and he passed you your coffee. 

“Light roast latte with caramel?” 

“How do you even remember that?” 

He chuckled, “I just do. I said earlier, I want to memorize you, and that includes all the tiny details. Like your coffee order. And the fact that you prefer regular chocolate chip muffins to the double chocolate chip muffins because you think it’s too much chocolate.” He handed you your muffin after, and you flushed once again. 

“It is too much chocolate.” You spoke simply, not quite sure how to respond. Part of you felt guilty that you didn’t remember these small details about him, so you continued with, “I’ll have to relearn anything I’ve forgotten about you.”

That caused him to flush slightly, “Really?”

“Yeah. Can’t be sharing the pieces of me to a stranger, after all.”

“I’d argue we’re much closer than strangers.”

“True. But I need to have you memorized as you have me.”

He smiled, a gentle smile that told you he was grateful, “That’s true.”

You bit into your muffin. There was a soft smile on your face that you tried to hide by lowering your head. He saw it, though. You knew he did. 

After you finished eating, you took your drinks and returned to the car. You duetting him for the songs you remembered, the old Los Campesinos! he taught you back when Aleksandra was still in the band. You were going to turn to his home but stopped when you saw the street your school resided on. You turned down the street, parking in the old lot between the school and the old church. They were both covered in holiday decorations, a grave reminder of the short time you and Will had together. But you tried not to think of it. 

Instead, you looked at the school, thinking of the day you chose to leave. 

When Wilbur caught sight of you, he spoke up, “Memories?”

You nodded, letting out a sigh, “Thinking of our last day there.”

He nodded, “That was… a day to say the least.”

“It was a good day, for the most part. We were so excited. I just…”

“What is it?” 

“I knew for two weeks that I’d be leaving… I don’t know why I waited until that day to tell you. I spent all day knowing that it was the last day I’d probably see you. I keep thinking that maybe I should’ve told you earlier. Maybe I should’ve done something so that you’d beg me to stay. And things may have gone differently.”

“To be fair, I didn’t exactly take the news well.”

“Well, yeah, but-“

“Do you really think I would’ve let you go? I would’ve been so angry that we wouldn’t have had a good last few weeks or days. I was a petty person, so at least by waiting, we had a good day before the fight.” 

You sighed softly, “I guess so.”

He took your hand, going quiet for a moment before speaking again, “I should have asked you to stay. Instead, I just forced you away because of how angry I was. I should’ve tried harder.” 

“You know I wouldn’t have stayed. I wouldn’t ask you to wait for me after all. I just… wish you could’ve been happy for me. I know we were both yelling a lot, but it did hurt. It was my only way out of the house. I wish you could’ve at least been happy about that.” 

He sighed, “I am, now. Despite the hell hole that London is, it’s better comparatively. I’m just happy for you a bit too late.” He gently reached a hand up, brushing some hair out of your face. 

You took a deep breath, leaning into his hand. “We could talk about should’ve-beens and would’ve-dones until we’re blue. Maybe we should just talk about now.” 

“You think so?”

You nodded, pulling the lever at your seat to recline back. Wilbur did the same, and you turned to face him, getting comfortable. 

“Do you think bees dance to communicate because they find it fun?” He asked after a moment. 

“Sadly, no,” you hummed, “I think because they do it for work, they don’t find dancing fun. They probably find things like conference calls fun. Or paperwork.”

“Do you think they operate on a capitalist or communist type system?”

“They don’t have currency, so neither technically, but closer to communism. If they were capitalists, the bees would’ve gone extinct long ago.”

“Do you think they’re going extinct now because they tried to switch to capitalism?”

You laughed, “That I know is not true. I saw the Bee Movie, they’re dying because humans aren’t getting into weird relationships with them anymore.”

That led Wilbur to burst out laughing, hitting the seat of the car as he laughed. You laughed as well, mostly due to how happy his genuine laugh made you. 

You glance at him between your own laughter, a fond look taking over your features. Once he’d calmed a bit, he made eye contact and smiled, giving you an odd look, “What is it?”

“Hm?”

“Something’s going on in your brain, you’ve never looked at me like that before.”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“I’m not sure yet. Could be a dangerous thing.”

“Oh, really? Dangerous how?”

“Well, it could make me do this,” he placed a hand on your jaw, gently pulling you in for a kiss. It was a bit awkward, given the lack of support brought on by the gap between your car seats. However, it was warmer than the cold that seeped into the car and that still resided in your chest just by being home. 

He grinned when he pulled back, thumb gently stroking your cheek, “You know, since you’re staying at mine for at least two days, you could be on a stream.”

You chuckled, “At least?”

He nodded, “At least. It’s the bare minimum. My actual estimate is for the next five days,” you only had seven left, “you’re ignoring the point though.”

You thought about it for a moment, “Would I have to be seen?”

“Not if you don’t want to.”

“And what would they know about us?”

“Just that you’re my friend.”

You hummed, “Maybe. Will Tommy be there?”

“Do you want Tommy to be there?”

You snorted, “Not necessarily. Plus, you mentioned that he has a bit of an issue with spilling information.”

“Oh, yes, he does.”

“Well then, we’d better make sure that if I do, he’s not there. Don’t need him making another joke about us snogging.” 

He laughed, “That’s a good point.” 

You smiled softly, “Is your chat nice?”

“To me? No. To guests? Always.”

“Good, I’ll like them then.”

He gasped, “Fuckin’ rude. You’d better side with me. They will try to side with you, so you’d better only side with me.”

“I will do as I so please, Mr. Soot.”

“Oh, is that so?”

“It is.”

“Well, it just so happens that I, too, will do as I please. Which includes this,” he leaned forward, kissing you again. 

You kissed him back lovingly, pulling away with your hand on his cheek this time, “Well, it just so happens then that our interests aligned at that moment.”

“Oh? So you’re saying kissing me pleases you?”

He was trying to make you flustered, but it wouldn’t work this time, “Yes. It does.”

He flushed instead, leaning forward, “Well, if it does, then I’m sure you wouldn’t mind doing it again.”

“Not at all,” You kissed him once again. 

After a routine of kissing and Wilbur breaking to ask his weird questions for about two hours, you two eventually decided to leave the parking lot. However, you took the long route home, the two of you just driving around to see your old hometown. 

“You remembered my love of poetry earlier,” you commented after a moment.

He nodded, “It’s always been big for you, even if it’s something you don’t like to talk about.”

You nodded pensively before continuing, “Have I told you one of my favorite poems?”

“You have a lot so you’d have to be more specific.”

You chuckled softly, “It’s The Road Not Taken by Frost. Have I told it to you before?”

He shook his head, “No, you haven’t.”

You hummed, “It’s much more of a recent favorite. Anyways, I really recommend it. I’d recite it, but-”

“No, do.”

“But I don’t have it perfectly memorized anymore. I used to. I have the last stanza memorized still, but you need the context of the rest of the poem to understand.”

“Let me find it, hold on,” he pulled out his phone and found the poem, beginning to recite it out loud to the both of you. When he reached the final stanza, you joined in:

“I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-

I took the one less traveled by, 

And that has made all the difference.”

He was quiet for a moment as he processed the poem. “So what does it mean?”

“Well,” you started, “it's become a recent favorite because of us. There’s irony throughout the poem. The subject is the road he did not take, the choice he did not make, to the point where he says that instead of telling us he took the common path, he should be telling a story years later about how he took the road less traveled by and it changed his life. I keep thinking about how the road less traveled for us would’ve been me staying, and how different everything may have been. Things could’ve been completely different for us.”

“That’s interesting. I like the poem. But, I really like the path you took.”

“Really?”

He nodded, “think about it. We never talked about the prom kiss until recently. If you’d stayed, we probably never would have. We might’ve just been stuck pining for each other til the end of time.”

“So you wouldn’t change anything? Even the fight?”

“No.”

“Really?”

“I wouldn’t, at least not without some sort of guarantee that we’d still end up together. I think we’d always be in each other's lives in some way. But with the way things worked out, we got together, rather than just staying friends,” He sighed appreciatively, “Not to say I wouldn’t be alright with if we’d stayed friends, but at least this way, we have a shot at this. And maybe we would’ve eventually found each other again and got together, and all the hurt wouldn’t have been necessary, but I know I wouldn’t take the chance of changing anything without knowing we’d reach this point again.” 

You stopped at a light, turning to look at him, “It was worth it then? All the loneliness and upset and anger?”

He nodded, smiling softly, “Absolutely, if it meant getting us where we are.” 

You blushed, looking back at the road. You didn’t think he could still make you shy at this point, yet in nearly every conversation he seemed to one-up himself. “I’m glad,” you spoke quietly. He gently squeezed your hand.

You pulled into his driveway, parking quickly and grabbing your bag from the backseat. 

“Let’s go in. I want to get cozy.” You hummed.

He nodded, “Of course. Did you pack your laptop?”

You nodded.

“Want to play Minecraft?” 

The two of you rushed inside from the cold and quickly made a matter of getting as comfortable as possible. You snagged one of his hoodies this time, pulling on a pair of nice sweatpants as well. While he went to get dressed, you snuck downstairs to the kitchen to make hot chocolate for you both. He seemed to be a bit distracted with getting his computer turned on and making space for your laptop, but after a few minutes, you heard his footsteps coming down the stairs. 

“Darling?” 

“In here,” you called out, stirring the milk you’d heated to combine with the chocolate.

He stepped in, wrapping his arms around you gently, “Hot chocolate?

You nodded, leaning your head back against him, “Figured it’d be nice to have a treat while we game. Just like the olden days,” You chuckled.

He grinned, leaning down to place a kiss on your cheek, “Thank you.”

You turned in his arms, smiling up at him, “Of course, Wil. You feelin’ all cozy?”

He nodded, smiling back at you, “Very much so. I got you whitelisted on my server, so we can play together. And if any of my friends join, you could meet them, as well.”

“Oh, yeah? Like who?”

“You could meet my bandmates. Sometimes they’re on around this time. Tommy probably won’t be on, but my friend Quackity might, you’d like him I think. There are some others as well, but some of them I can wait to introduce you to when you visit me in Brighton for the first time, a lot of them live around there. Plus, then you won’t have to see my friend James’s embarrassing Minecraft username.”

“What’s his username?” You laughed.

“JamesDoesMining.”

You burst out laughing, and he did as well. “Don’t even bring it up to him, he will try to defend himself.” 

You leaned up and pecked his lips, “I won’t. Can you grab the mugs?” 

He nodded, leaving the hug to grab two mugs while you turned off the stove, taking the ladle and pouring you and Wilbur’s cups of hot chocolate. 

You both headed upstairs, getting cozy and preparing for a calm night of gaming and being together. 

taglist: @shubblelive / @superioritycomplexes / @your-shifting-gurl (send an ask/dm me if you want to be added)

[iheartmalewives]

HI WELCOME BACK (Iheartmalewives give me a Trey x Sick reader, AND MY LIFE, IS YOURS [asking nicely :3])

Fever Episode

In every 12-24 episode romance anime, there's always a fever episode.

HEKLO HELLOO!!!!<33 IM SO GLAD TO BE BACK AGAIN!! also like sorry if this is a few days late or something,, (idk how recent this req is) since i had been busy with certain stuff. ANYWAY WE BACK AT IT AGAIN WITH TREY!!!

You had unfortunately caught a fever after getting drenched in the rain yesterday near the NRC. Forgetting your umbrella had left you facing the consequences, confined to your bed in your dilapidated dormitory, with a damp towel resting on your forehead.

Grim being Grim, he wasn't providing much help to you and it annoyed you even more, knowing you couldn't rely on him to purchase the proper medication. With that, you decided to reach out to Trey for help.

Treyyy help. If you aren’t too busy, could you buy me some meds for fevers? Pls I can't rely on Grim..

Got it. I’ll be there in a bit!

After receiving a response from Trey, you settled back onto your bed, gazing up at the ceiling and hoping that you hadn't made any spelling mistakes in your text due to your slightly confused state.

It didn't take long for Trey to arrive, carrying a paper bag, a concerned expression on his face. "The rain got to you, huh?" he remarked, pulling up a chair and placing the medicine on your bedside table.

He grabbed the thermometer and proceeded to check your temperature. "38°C. It's a mild fever, so you should be able to recover soon enough," he informed you, adjusting his glasses. When he noticed you attempting to sit up, he gently stopped you, placing a hand on your arm. "Let me take care of you, Prefect. You're not in a good state to handle things by yourself."

"But what about your responsibilities? Doesn't Riddle have tasks for you?" you asked, a little worried at the thought of Trey getting into trouble. He shook his head, replying, "I told him about your fever, and he insisted that I help you out."

You smiled at the thought, appreciating Riddle's concern. "I'm okay, really—I can fetch a glass myself."

"Stay," he insisted, rising from his chair and leaving the room to grab a glass of water for you. You blinked in surprise but ultimately settled back down, unable to argue with him.

A short while later, he returned with a glass of water in hand. He then handed it to you along with your pills. From the paper bag, he grabbed a cooling gel strip specifically designed for fevers then carefully, he removed the damp towel from your forehead and replaced it with the gel strip.

"How does that feel?" he asked.

"It feels nice," you replied, swallowing your medicine and placing the cup back down. "Thank you for taking care of me, Trey."

"It's not a big deal," he responded with a smile, gently tucking you in. "I'll stay right here beside you for the rest of the day.”

[almondmlkbtch]

05/09

- 1085-1385 cals

- 10k steps

- no weigh in

1st day back in states. No weigh in cuz im terrified still. Didn’t go to the gym either just feeling like shit kinda. Adjusting to new sleep schedule / recovering from over a week from binging.

I can tell it’s already helping using high restriction to get over binges. I’m having way less urges. Might still take a while cuz I’m having some still as u can see 🙄

Sugar binges r the worst I have how sick I feel 😭 I think soon I’ll get to the point where I’m not binging to sickness. Having less of the urge to do it & feeling rly annoyed when I do lol 😭

I wanna get back to where I was & I’m trying so hard to be patient. Ik I’m gonna get there, it’s just gonna take time. Time & hard work..

[antis0cial23]

The Pride of the Navy

Chapter 6: Familial Ties

Summary: going home has its ups… and its downs

Warnings: Mentions of deteriorating health, swearing

Maverick sat at the bar, cool beer in hand. Some aviators chittered around him, back by the pool table, some by the dart boards Penny kept having to replace, and some just scattered throughout. His phone was cool in his hands, not being used and most certainly not on Penny’s bar top, never in a million years would he forget about that, nor would his savings recover.

“Long day, pilot?” Penny asked, already knowing what happened during todays class. Maverick gave her a tired look, all telling. “Word travels fast in the Navy, Mav.” She offered him a smile, then got back to tending to her patrons at the bar. Maverick’s phone buzzed, the screen lighting his palm. After a sigh and some contemplation, he looked at the glowing screen. Lo and behold, it was none other than Admiral Kazansky, or outside of work, Ice.

‘I need to see you.’ Of course he did. After the burnout today during training, what higher up wouldn’t want to see him.

‘Not a good time.’ Because of-fucking-course it wasn’t. All Maverick, in his self-proclaimed old-age-but-let’s-not-act-like-it, wanted to do was go home and sleep like the old man he kept getting told he was.

‘I wasn’t asking.’ One thing Maverick had learned in his lifetime, is that Tom ‘Iceman’ Kazansky was absolute shit at asking people nicely. Maybe that’s why he had climbed the ranks of the Navy as quickly as he did, but boy did it get beyond annoying. Maverick wanted to slam his head on the bar top, but he had a feeling if he did so it would be against one of Penny’s not explicitly written rules, and he did not want to risk spending his savings on Navy-men’s beer. Again. So, it looked like he would have to make the nearly three hour drive to Ice’s abode. His phone dinged again, so he looked at it with a sigh full of annoyance, but it wasn’t Admiral Kazansky, it was Quinlan.

‘Srry 2 bother, u heard anythn frm Roo’ The way kids typed always confused Maverick, full words were not that difficult.

‘Im driving, don judge me, I can feel the old mn judgmnt frm hre’ Adding to his annoyance, Quinn was texting while driving. ‘Oh joy, how did one of the pilots under your supervision die? Not mission related? Crazy.’ Maverick could already see the headline. To keep her off her phone, Mav decided to call.

“Sup, Mav.” Quin tried to sound less tired than she felt, not wanting her mentor to know the real strain the training was having on everyone, or more so not wanting him to ask her about it.

“Cas, don’t text and drive.” Mav sighed, “So you think calling me, when I drive a 1972 Impala, is any better?” The sarcasm her voice held was immense.

“Just keep your eyes on the road.” Maverick put his hand on his head, slightly massaging his temples. These kids were going to be the death of him. “Why do you think Bradley would talk to me, Casper.” By now, Maverick had made his way to the back deck of the bar, everything less loud, also leaving money on the bar for Penny.

“Long-shot guess to see if he’s contacted anyone… Mav he isn’t home and isn’t returning anyone’s calls.” She had a worried edge to her voice, which Mav completely understood because he had felt just like she sounded.

“So you text me, because you are worried?” He honestly felt a little bit of joy, knowing at least one of the aviators he taught didn’t hate him in totality after today.

“Shut up.” Quinlan grumbled, barely audible over the noise from her driving and from the bar behind Maverick.

“If I hear anything, I’ll let you know, kid. Where are you even driving to at…” He looked at the time, his phone displaying 9:47 shining in pale bolded numbers. “Jesus, at nine forty at night.”

“Headed home to see some family…” Quin was never very forthcoming with personal information, but this was indeed a start. At least to Maverick it was. “Thanks for the day off, Mav.” And with that, Quin hung up and continued her drive.

 She was about two and a half hours in, about thirty minutes to go, and Quinlan couldn’t be more ready to get out of her car. The rumbling of the old engine was making her hands numb, all her muscles already sore and tense from training. The drive to Santa Monica was one she had only ever made with Emmelyn. Although Quin and Emmelyn didn’t share the same dad, Quin’s always treated Emmelyn as his, well, that being after he found out about Quin. A DNA test right before entering the Navy found Quinlan’s still very alive dad, contrary to what her mother had told her.

“Did ya get the results yet?” Emmelyn called through the kitchen. Quin, not knowing much about her lineage, or anything about her father for that matter, had decided to complete a DNA test that included health risks along with the family tree. Every time she had brought it up to her mom, she got told no, but now she was eighteen and had her own money from working at the local supply store.

“Just came in the mail, Em. Where’s momma?” Quinlan did buy the kit with her mother’s knowledge, but she still felt guilty opening her results if she were home.

“She’s out at the Cody’s. Think Diane invited her.” Quin nodded, if her mom was at Diane’s house, she’d most certainly be gone for a while. Oh, how mothers could talk.

Quinlan peeled open the envelope, Emmelyn over her shoulder the whole time. First on the paper was the list of genetically predisposed illnesses and her likelihood of getting them. Mostly everything Quin was low risk for, thankfully. Further down was her mothers relatives, which she slightly knew, at least by name, each having a ‘living’ or ‘deceased’ label next to them. And on the back? Her father. Looking down the list from double great grandparents and down, apparently her grandfather was alive. Quinlan paused, eyes hovering over the name of her father. She had known his first name, one night when her mom had a little too much Rye Whiskey and slipped up, but never his last. Next to his name was the label ‘Living’.

“Wait, didn’t momma say Daddy died?” Quin took a minute to respond, Emmelyn still hovering as closely as ever, unsure of the true weight of her statement. “Yeah, she did.” Quin read the name at least five times. Well this was going to be a fun conversation.

And that was the first time Quinlan learned her father was actually living and breathing. The following conversation with her mother, while her mother was unfortunately a bit tipsy on whiskey, went just as well as one would’ve hoped, full of tears and misspoken words. That fight, words never being able to be taken back, is was led Quin to reach out to her dad. Maybe he didn’t know about her beforehand and was slow to warm up, but Quin was beyond glad she had found him.

“Uh… Hi. My name is, uh, is Quinlan Emai. I received some results from a DNA test, and it uh, it told me you’re my dad? Shit, this is so weird. Jesus this could have been an email, I’m one of those people. Um, I don’t really know what the fuck else to say, soo… Call me back when you get a chance? Maybe? Jesus- sorry” After that voicemail to one Navy man, Quin honestly thought about throwing herself off a bridge. This guy was stationed in Cali, Quin living in a small Texan town near the coast. She was hoping, at the least, the man would not return her call. But alas, a few days later, a call from an unknown number.

“Hello?” Quinn held her phone, expecting whoever called to be spam.

“Hi, this is Tom Kazansky…” Quinlan froze at the name, “You, uh, you called about a week ago?” “Oh, shit. Uh, hi?” Quin responded after a moment of phone static. Both sat in silence for a few moments, neither knowing what to say.

“Fuck, sorry. You’re probably wondering who my mom is. She’s uh, her name is Cecilla Emai. We’re, um, We’re in Texas.” Another few moments of silence followed, Quin could hear the gears in his head turning.

“Oh, beginning of ‘86?” Quin assumed that was when they met. “Well, would make sense. Was born October 1986.” Quinlan honestly didn’t want to talk about her conception date.

“I… wow. Sorry, I uh didn’t expect to have a kid.” Quin chuckled,

 “Yeah, and I didn’t expect to have an alive dad. Momma always said you were dead.” A small noise of surprise escaped Tom.

“She told you I was dead?” the surprise was as clear as day.

 “yeah, said you died so I shouldn’t go lookin’. Guess she was ashamed to have a kid without a dad so she told everyone he was dead.”

“She never even tried to tell me, if she told me…” Tom trailed off, “You’re in the Navy, and I don’t think there is anything that would get momma to leave.” Quinlan did truly wonder what life would be like if her dad was around.

“I at least would’ve given her money… How is she?” Quin gave a disappointed laugh, “usually drunk or not at home. Two kids take a toll, especially when the father of the second is a known felon.” At that, Tom Kazansky was officially speechless.

“Hey, I guess wanting to be a pilot runs in the blood. I just got my naval academy acceptance letter…” Quin trailed off, not knowing why she was telling a man she just honestly met.

“What’re you going in for?” A new form of excitement filled his tone.

“Pilot. Air Force wouldn’t accept the condition of me being my sister’s caretaker.” They proceeded to talk for at least thirty minutes about Tom’s declassified missions and tips from him.

“Who’re you runnin’ up that phone bill with, Q.” Cecilla asked, more of a way as telling her to get off the phone.

“Take a wild, guess momma.” Quin’s voice was edging towards sharp, her mom narrowing her eyes. “Who is it?” Cecilla’s tone matched Quinlan’s.

“My dad. Would you like to say hi? Since, ya know, he isn’t dead.” Quin still held fire from their earlier argument, Tom sat on the other line awkward and unsure of what to do.

“Quinlan Daliah Emai, get off the damn phone right now.” Cecilla’s tone was final, but Quin always had a rebuttal. Afterall, she was the daughter of a stubborn Texan and The famous Iceman.

“You haven’t paid the phone bill since you spent all the cash you got, which wasn’t hardly any, on liquor. Can’t tell me to end a phone call when I pay the price.” Quin sounded nonchalant, her voice matter of fact. Her mother only stared, Tom Kazansky awkwardly trying to find an out from the call.

“If you don’t hang up that damn phone, I will find a way to pull your application.” Cecilla’s voice held the same calmness, which Tom could only guess was terrifying in person.

“If you weren’t so drunk off your ass, Ma, you would know I’ve already been accepted. Now if you’d excuse me, I have a previously absentee father to get to know.” Quinlan shut the pocket door to the kitchen, done with the soon to be argument with her mother.

“I… is that, is that normal?” Tom’s voice sounded incredibly unsure, unaware if that was even appropriate to ask.

“The truth? Yeah. As song as Em isn’t home.” Quinlan did everything in her power to not fight in front of her little sister, even if her mother provoked the living hell out of her.

“I assume Em is your sister?” Tom questioned lightly, gently.

“Yeah, her name is Emmelyn Rose Emai. Momma has a thing for flower middle names. She is eight. Thinks we have the same Dad.” Quin’s tone edged towards sadness at the last statement, wishing Em was her full-blood sister, but she still treated the kid with every intent that she was.

“Well… I would say I’m slightly better than a convicted felon.” Tom huffed a laugh, and so did Quin, “Honestly, I’d love to get to know you more, and Emmelyn for the matter, she’s young enough to still have a childhood with a Dad.” To say the least, Quin was shocked. She expected him to either say nothing, or say hello and move on, but she certainly wasn’t ready for this.

“Shit, you’re serious?” She was dumbfounded.

“I mean if you are open to that. In my family, we take kin very seriously. I’ve missed eighteen years, why should I miss any more?” Tom sounded very sure, which calmed Quin’s mind a little bit.

“Quinlan Emai, I’ve given you five minutes, now get off the damn phone and go get your sister.” Cecilla’s voice yelled through the shut door, muffled and barely recognizable over the phone.

“Fuck, uh sorry, I have to go get Em, mom’s had too much to drive. Bye!” Quin quickly hung up, ending her first ever conversation with her very much alive father.

            As far as first meetings go, Quin’s very much could’ve gone better. But, it led to having a relationship with her Dad, and Emmelyn having one too. That phone call turned into summer visits, and a place to stay for them both once their mother passed two years later. Quin pulled up to the personal housing of Admiral Tom “Iceman” Kazansky, the place she called home even despite her rural accent. She turned off the trembling engine, hands finally free of the incessant buzzing sensation. Quin decided to park around the back of the house, opting to surprise her siblings in the morning, having seen their cars in the driveway. Quin got out of her car, grabbing her back up travel bag from her trunk as quietly as possible.

            She walked up to the back door, unlocking it with her spare key she kept on her keychain escribed with her callsign. A gift from Rooster, no less. She had texted Ice previous to her arrival, not wanting to scare him by showing up at random. The light shown through the door of his office, surprising Quin that he was still awake. At 61, being awake after 9:30 was definitely a large feat. She padded lightly to the office, knocking on the door lightly before stepping in.

            “Hey, Dad.” He turned his head at her voice, meeting her soft, but nonetheless tired, smile. He returned it with his own, although not quite reaching his eyes like it did just a few years before. Ice was bad about voicing his problems, something Quin learned was hereditary and compounded from his years in the Navy. They stared at each other for a few minutes, then she realized he wasn’t speaking, the white cursor on his monitor blinking as the black screen remained bare.

            “Fuck.” Quin’s whispered curse was the only sound in the air. Ice turned to type and with her increasingly watery eyes, quin watched the screen.

            ‘I’m fine, you have other things to worry about.’ The white words stared back like little knives picking her tear ducts.

            “You say that as you are, quite literally, my dad.” Quin huffed a laugh, although pained by the fact of his health.

            ‘Come sit.’ Quin pulled up a chair, facing him as he cleared his screen.

            ‘How’s Bradley.’ Quin just looked down at her clasped hands, shaking her head.

            “Haven’t heard from him since before I left. Didn’t even see him after Seresin outed his death wish.” Quin looked up from her hands, Ice looking at her expectantly. He knew the hurt and the issues they had faced, firsthand for that matter, but he also knew she miraculously still cared.

            ‘Just talk to him.’ Ice kept the same stare. “Really Dad, how am I supposed to talk to someone who doesn’t acknowledge my existence?” Her face was tired, not wanting to have that conversation at the current moment in time. Ice didn’t type anything new, nor did he delete his previous words. A low cough left his being, hurting Quin to hear.

            “Go to bed, kid.” His voice was gravel-filled and quiet, displaying his pain. Quin looked at him for a few more moments before standing up and leaving his office, but not before throwing in a small ‘goodnight’. As she made her way up to her bedroom, quietly passing her siblings rooms, she couldn’t wait to lay down and knock out. The days problems would just have to wait till tomorrow.

———————————————————

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@aki-ham

@florencediet

[lanalanalanasworld]

this is yap 101

i don’t think some of yall understand how disgusting and icky it feels being the biggest girl in the room or in my friendgroup, i constantly feel like a pig who doesn’t fit the narrative. every single friend of mine is thinner than 4n4 th1nspo pics here and it’s jarring to see how big i look irl. even though i have lost w£1ght, i still like a 300 pound burger who was forced to fit in. i can’t share clothes with them, i take up more space in the car, i have to hide in the back for pics cuss god forbid i let my f4t be seen!!! it’s honestly the most horrendous situation to be in. i grew up with 4n4 and i miss being th1n, i still look like im a body builder with no sense of food control. and tbh i don’t really care about boys but its so annoying when all of the guys i have ever liked don’t even pay a single penny of attention towards me JUST cuss im f4t and being around my girls make me look even more so. the worst part? my boyfriend ( now ex) broke up with me cuz he thought i would never fit his lap let alone his arms…my entire body shook in disbelief when i heard that FROM ANOTHER MAN. my 4n4 runs back to 2015 and it has never gotten “fixed” as per say, and the last time i recovered i gained so much i genuinely thought i would never be thin. all day long i have to lisn to my MOM complaining how fat i have become… does she think i DONT KNOW???? my entire goal in LIFE has become to lose this f4t even if it means going insane, i’ll do it.

because one you are th1n, no one can touch you.

[n7punk]

Hope this isn’t an annoying ask. I was really impacted by Floppy (what a hilarious sentence), particularly because of the idea that something that was healing for Adora was damaging to Catra. It made me think of your line “progress is slow and non-linear” (I think from and I’ll be home). I was curious if you think there are other things that could be good for one of the girls and not the other? Just really compelled by that dynamic; how they are both recovering but not in the same ways. 💕

not annoying at all! thank you for reading <3 i initially held off given the subject matter, but im glad i could explore that dynamic a little. i have a lot of thoughts related to the fic lol. as far as other things, honestly protection & cages is another example. it's not exactly healthy to drink and it's not exactly healthy to hide away for a day, but sometimes being away from people is what catra needs to not lash out. that's less healing and more anger management, though.

their personal flavors of damage are different, and even with the same trauma, things that help some people are damaging to others, so i feel like they have a lot of things that don't line up, and as a result some could be bad for the other. another thing, off the top of my head: for catra, people relying on her shows that they trust her, don't hate her, consider her capable, etc and thus is healing, whereas adora needs people to tell her to take it easy so she can unlearn her sacrifice habits. which you think would work great, let catra handle those things adora needs to let go and they both win, right? except wrong, adora has extra guilt about catra having to deal with her shit, or just that she has a lot of work and adora isn't "pulling her weight". the work around there is adora is a simp so if catra being competent and handling things makes her go 🤩 she can be occupied with making heart eyes instead of feeling guilty.

[leonsliga]

A tour through Leon’s Facebook:

Thank you, FC Bayern München! Mona Lisa will be jealous. 😂😎

#derPokalhatseineganzeigenengesetze #puh — #thecuphasitsownlaws #puh

Ein Bild sagt mehr als 1000 Worte. — A picture says more than 1000 words.

The eagle has landed. 🚁🙏👊

🕶️ -gefunden ! 😜 — 🕶️ -found! 😜

Wer weiß wofür es im billard ne blaue nase gibt ? 😜 — Who knows what a blue nose is for in billiards?

Hexenkessel abgekühlt und eine gute Ausgangslage geschaffen 💪🏼😊 jetzt gilt es sich gut zu erholen, um Sonntag in der Bundesliga wieder mit vollen Akkus starten zu können ! — Witches cauldron cooled down and created a good starting position 💪🏼😊 Now it's time to recover well so that we can start Sunday in the Bundesliga again with full batteries!

Zu viel Kuchen gegessen ?! 🎂 Ate too much cake?! 🎂

Die nächste Aufgabe wartet schon 😊 — The next task is already waiting 😊

Max Meyer & Ich sind sowas von bereit 😉😜 — Max Meyer and I are so ready 😉😜

Grüße von da, wo die Sonne scheint 😉☀️ —Greetings from where the sun shines 😉☀️

Die Vorbereitung auf Samstag hat heute begonnen ! 💪🏼⚽️🔵⚪️ Benedikt Höwedes will weider drängeln bei den Koordinationsübungen 😅🙈 — Preparation for Saturday started today! 💪🏼⚽️🔵⚪️ Benedikt Höwedes wants to keep pushing during the coordination exercises 😅🙈

#seidihralleaufdemweg #wieisteuertipp — #areyouallonyourway #whatisyourtip

Ich: Kein Tor gemacht 😡//Er: 2 Tore gemacht 😀🎉🎉🎉 — me: no goal scored 😡//him: 2 goals scored 😀🎉🎉🎉

#schnippschnappnewcut 😛

Überragendes Konzert von Beyonce 🙏🏼✌🏼— Outstanding concert by Beyonce 🙏🏼✌🏼

Bei über 30 Grad und einer Luftfeuchtig von 89% - viel trinken !! ☝🏼😜 — At over 30 degrees and a humidity of 89% - drink a lot!! ☝🏼😜

Ich fahre nächste Saison den Mannschaftsbus ?! 🙈✌🏼😜 🚐💨…🚓🚓🚓 — I’ll drive the team bus next season?! 🙈✌🏼😜 🚐💨…🚓🚓🚓

Der neue Wachlöwehund 🙉😳😍🦁🐶 — the new guard lion dog 🙉😳😍🦁🐶

Cooler Typ, cooles Bild 👉🏼👈🏼🙉🙈 — Cool guy, cool picture 👉🏼👈🏼🙉🙈

Kreditkarte glüht 💸 — Credit card glows 💸

Kleines Käffchen nach dem obligatorischen Vapianobesuch ! 🤓😉 — A little coffee after the obligatory Vapiano visit! 🤓😉

Mussten wir was gegen die juckenden Füße tun 😍⚽️ — We had to do something about the itchy feet 😍⚽️

Auch hier nochmal. ab sofort bin ich für euch auch bei snapchat unterwegs 😉✌🏼 — Here again. From now on I’m on Snapchat for you too 😉✌🏼

Germany’s next top model 😂

Erst Training gehabt und jetzt in der Sonne entspannen. ☀️ Was macht ihr? — First had training and now relaxing in the sun. ☀️ What are you doing?

Kleinen Lauf um den Ümminger #catchmeifyoucan — Small run around the Ümminger #catchmeifyoucan

Ich habe heute die Gelegenheit genutzt um mal wieder die alte Schule zu besuchen 🤓😂📝 — I took the opportunity today to visit the old school again 🤓😂📝

Hatten einen schönen Abend mit den Jungs in Hamburg ! 😊 super Musical, sehr empfehlenswert! — Had a nice evening with the guys in Hamburg! 😊 Great musical, highly recommended!

✌🏼 Leute ! 😊 Ab sofort werde ich diese Facebook-Seite selbst führen und euch persönlich mit Neuigkeiten aus meinem Leben nerven ! 😁 — ✌🏼 People! 😊 from now on, I will run this Facebook page myself and annoy you personally with news from my life! 😁

[virginsuicides99]

hi i’m lissie :)

(i make stuff too which you can check out here and buy here)

i’m a 26 27 year old recovering teenager and im like not sure what im doing in any situation

i’m disabled & queer & autistic

i’m going thru life trying to figure out who i am but also i hope i never quite get there bc that would be boring ⁉️even tho it’s really annoying to be unsure

i like to post and share my poetry and collages on my insta and also my other insta

i love my bf and i’m monogamous 🤠

i’m pretty fond of pretty things i’m a very blind visual person. i’ll probably mostly reblog pretty things. anyway thanks for coming and hanging out with me let’s be best friends forever

yaaaay!

[izzyeffinhands]

Ever feel like you’re that one writer that kinda gets left out of the fun of the ofmd fandom on tumblr? Cuz I do. I deleted a depression post this morning, but sigh.

I’m glad that I recovered from surgery, I’m glad that I’m back and for those that I wrote with before that actually stuck around as a lot of the fandom died I appreciate you. I seriously love that you still wanted to write with me, despite the fact I was gone for five months.

I tend to jump into peoples IMs, just to say hi, and I feel like I just annoy people. I just like getting to know people and chatting who I write with, whether a reply is incoming from me or them. I know everyone has threads n stuff just like I do, and gods I’ll never pressure for a reply as that’s annoying and stupid as we all have lives, but the inbox and messages go quiet, you see other things and think maybe I’m not a good writer, maybe I am annoying.

Just I’ve had it happen so many times, it’s why I let people know I’m neurodivergent, and it’s in my rules to just tell me if I’m bothering you as I might not pick up on subtle queues other people would.

sorry, I’ll prob delete this one too just sigh. My mind is in a dark place today :/