#Kinda wanna watch Firefly now

[ashleybenlove]

The absolute fucking irony of Hiccup "Drowns A Lot" Haddock of getting this loves water quirk.

Also, not the element I would associate him with, actually. You can't take the sky from him.

[reputationmunson]

The Stars Align | Eddie Munson x Fem!reader

Summary: Your hopeless crush on Eddie Munson might not be so hopeless after all thanks to a trip to family video

Content: fluff, Steve has a little crush on you but you’re into eddie, swearing, making out, mentions of bullying, she/her pronouns, reader is a year younger than Eddie

Word Count: 3.1K

a/n: i haven’t posted a fic in so long i’m so happy i was actually able to finish something! i hope you all enjoy :)

divider by @firefly-in-darkness

_

“Oh my god, Robin, she’s here! How does my hair look?” Steve asks frantically as he sees your car pull into family video. “Who is it this week?” She sighs, growing tired of seeing Steve strike out again and again.

“You already know who it is. I’ve been using my best work for weeks and…nothing” he groans. “Really? Telling her about the time you had a dental emergency due to milk duds is your best work?” 

Before Steve can respond, the bell above the door rings and you walk in, looking as pretty as ever.

“H-hey! Haven’t seen you in a while. I hope you aren’t cheating on us with blockbuster” Steve says when you approach the counter and Robin cringes so much that she has to walk away. 

“Nope” you say with a laugh “I’ve just been busy, but I finally have a night to myself. Can you check if you have a movie for me?” 

“yeah, anything for you- I mean, um anything for a loyal customer not like I’d do anything for you. Well, I might, but not in a weird way-” 

“Steve” you chuckle “I didn’t think it was anything weird. Until now” 

“Right, yeah. Sorry. Anyways, what movie are ya lookin’ for?” He sits at the computer to pull up the movies on file. “Nightmare on Elm Street”

“Actually, my friend, Eddie, rented that yesterday, but I can see if he’s watched it yet so he can bring it back for you?” he suggests

“Eddie munson? You’re friends with him?” 

“Oh, yeah, but don’t worry he doesn’t actually worship the devil he’s just like this huge nerd with a weird taste in music”

“No, I know. I just, uh, think he’s really cute”

“Oh” he says in a bit of disbelief. he’s been trying to ask you out for weeks and this whole time you’ve had the hots for Eddie. “You think he’s cute?” Robin asks, appearing out of nowhere with a big smile on her face. 

“y-yeah. there’s something about the big brown eyes and long hair, i guess” you sigh, dreamily while Steve thinks hey, i’m a guy with brown eyes and a lot of hair.

“Ya know what, feel free to look around and we’ll take care of something real quick” Robin says and you wander off to the horror section. 

“Call Eddie” She tells Steve. 

“What? Why?”

“This is fate, Steve. She wants to rent the same movie Eddie just rented and she also happens to be, like, totally in love with him” She states and he rolls his eyes. “In love, Robin? She said he was cute because he has eyes and hair.”

“Aw, you’re jealous.” she teases. “Well, kinda. I wanted to ask her out and I haven’t had any luck in months with anyone.” Steve whines

“Think about it. Do you really wanna ask a girl out who’s into one of your closest friends? That’s obviously a recipe for disaster, so call him” Robin says and Steve groans. He hates when she’s right, but he picks up the phone and dials anyway. 

“Hey, munson. Have you watched Nightmare on Elm Street yet?”

“I got it yesterday, Steve, what’s the rush?”

“There’s a pretty girl here who wants to rent it”

“And what do I have to do with that?” Eddie asks, thinking Steve is just trying to use his ‘position of power’ (Steve’s words, literally no one else's) to try and impress any cute girl that walks through the door. 

“Well, somehow the universe keeps finding ways to laugh at me because when I told her my friend Eddie has it she said you were cute or something” you can overhear Steve and you could die of embarrassment. You had flashbacks to middle school when your best friend told your crush that you liked him and he made fun of you for the rest of the school year. 

“I am cute, Harrington and you know it. Who is she?” 

Steve tells him your name and Eddie's heart practically stops for a second. He can’t believe the pretty girl he’s had a crush on for years thinks he’s cute. 

“I’ll be right there” Eddie says before hanging up and sprinting out the door with Nightmare on Elm Street in hand. 

“Welcome to Fam- Oh, it’s just you. She’s in the horror section” Steve grumbles when Eddie walks in. “Why do you have that look on your face?” Eddie asks Robin. Her eyes are big, smile even bigger with a hint of her ‘I just came up with a master plan’ look. “No reason, just go find your girl”

Eddie strolls over to find you and you look as gorgeous as always. You’re wearing a dress that stops halfway down your thighs, leaving your beautiful legs exposed, your lips shimmer from the gloss you put on, and you have an adorable look of concentration on your face as you look through the movie selection.

“Hey, you must be the pretty girl who’s just dying to watch this movie” He finally speaks up after admiring you. You turn to him and smile “you brought this back for me? you didn’t have to do that. did you at least get a chance to watch it?” You walk closer to him and the smell of your perfume makes him crazy. Everything about you just gets better and better.

“No, but it’s alright. I saw it in theaters, so it’s no biggie” 

“Now I feel bad. You obviously wanted to watch it again and i’m only renting it because I’m like the only person who hasn’t seen it yet” 

“You haven’t seen this masterpiece yet? It came out four years ago” he gasps and holds up the movie, making you giggle. Music to his ears.“I know. I’m lame” 

There’s a beat of silence and if anyone were to look at Eddie, they could practically see the wheels turning in his head. For years, he’s been trying to find a way to work up the courage to just talk to you and now it feels like he’s been presented with the opportunity of a lifetime. 

“Maybe we could watch it together” he suggests and feels like he’s stopped breathing until you give him an answer. You look up at him with your captivating eyes and nervously fiddle with your hands. “Yeah, I’d really like that” you respond and Eddie feels like he could do ten cartwheels right here in the middle of the isle. Little does he know you feel the same way. 

“Yeah? Are you free tonight around eight?’’ He asks and you nod. “Can I get your address?” 

Luckily, you had a scrap piece of paper and a pen in your purse and you write down his address with shaky hands due to the nerves from being asked on by the guy you’ve been hopelessly pining after for years. 

“So, I’ll see you tonight?” He asks as you both walk over to the door. Steve and Robin are watching you both like hawks, but quickly act like they are working when Eddie shoots them a glare. 

“Yeah, I’ll be there.” you promise and he flashes his million dollar smile. “Me too. I mean, of course I will, it’s my house so why wouldn’t I be there, um, anyways I’m gonna go before I say something stupid again” He chuckles, nervously.

“I should go too. Thank you for bringing that movie back” You touch his arm in appreciation and his head spins at the feeling of your touch. “No problem. Plus, this movie might be too scary for you to watch alone”

“Yeah? Are you gonna protect me?’’ you step closer to him, hand still on his arm. 

“With my life, sweetheart” 

Ten minutes before eight, you park outside of Eddie’s trailer. You couldn’t believe this was finally happening after wanting this for as long as you can remember.

You had transferred to Hawkins High your junior year, which was Eddie’s first senior year and you’d been smitten since. On your first day, he had one of his infamous outbursts in the cafeteria, and while everyone else was mortified, you couldn’t help but be intrigued at his passion. He was always loud and never let anyone’s opinions of him change who he was. It was admirable

The two of you never had many interactions besides when you’d let him borrow a pen in science class. You were always too afraid to ever say anything to him about the way you felt, and when you graduated while he stayed behind, you’d thought your chance had passed you by. Now, three years after you graduated, you’re standing outside his front door about to watch a movie with him. Life is funny like that. 

“Hey- fuck, you look good” Eddie’s words slip out before he can process that he said it out loud and you chuckle “Really? I just threw on some comfy clothes, but thank you” 

“You always look good. Anyways, welcome to my humble abode” He bows and motions for you to come inside. You look around once you're inside, taking in your surroundings. You’re in Eddie Munson’s living room and you know it’s silly, but it feels like things are finally falling into place. 

“Make yourself at home, I’m gonna get the popcorn. Do you want anything to drink? I got some coke it you want one” 

“Yeah, that’d be great” you answer as you sit on the couch. He puts the popcorn in a bowl and pours you both a drink. You take note of the Garfield mug he’s put his drink in and you smile at how adorable he is. 

“Lights on or off?” he asks after he puts the movie in. “Off, obviously. Gotta have the whole experience, right” He nods in agreement, turning off all the lights until the tv is the only illuminations. When he sits on the couch, he sits right next to you leaving no space and you couldn’t be happier about it. 

Eddie’s confidence seems to grow in the dark.  He does that cheesy thing where he pretends to yawn and stretch so he can put his arm around you. It’s cliche, but it makes both of you smile, nonetheless. 

As you sense a jumpscare approaching, you nestle closer to his side and hide your face in his neck. He can feel your breath fanning on his skin and he can’t seem to think straight. When you hear a scream from the television, you jump a little and he chuckles. “This coming from the girl who wanted to turn the lights off” he jokes

“Hey, don’t make fun of me. I was promised protection and that’s supposed to come without torment” You move your head to look at him and when he looks back at you, your faces are so close together your noses are almost touching. You’re about to put your lips on his until another scream comes from the movie, causing you to jump again. 

“Can I tell you something?” he asks in a whisper. “yeah, anything” you move to position yourself more comfortably, but still close to him. 

“I’ve had the biggest, most embarrassing crush on you since high school” he confesses and your eyes widen in surprise. “you have not” 

“Cross my heart. You were the only person to smile at me when I’d pass you in the halls. You weren’t afraid of me like everyone else.” 

“Why would I be afraid of you? You’ve always seemed like a teddy bear wrapped in leather to me.” You think it sounds too cheesy when you hear it out loud, but Eddie thinks it makes you even sweeter. 

“Teddy bear, huh? I didn’t work this hard for my bad boy image to be compared to a stuffed animal” he jokes. “Bad boy image?” you scoff “You’re drinking out of a garfield mug”

“Alright, you got me there, but Garfield is a total badass” 

“If you say so. Can I tell you something now?” you ask and he lets out an mhmm before you continue. “I’ve had a crush on you since highschool, too.”

“No shit? I mean Steve told me you thought I was cute but I thought he was just fucking with me” Eddie seems to be playing it cool at your confession, but he’s screaming on the inside.

“It was my first day at Hawkins and you were hard to not take notice of after one your cafeteria spiels. I remember everyone thinking you were obnoxious or a freak, but I was just enamored with you.”

“You never thought I was some satanist sacrificing children? I think you were the only one” he huffs out a laugh. Eddie’s life has been easier since high school. He still gets some weird looks every now and then, but things have calmed down. Although he always put on a brave face, some of those days were harder than others. It’s nice to know that you never thought he could be capable of doing those things he was accused of. 

“I always felt guilty that I never stood up for you. I hated watching them berate you and what I hated even more is that I was too scared to ever say anything to them” you say, looking down at your lap to avoid eye contact.

“Don’t feel guilty about that. They wouldn’t have stopped anyways” he places his hand on your thigh and you turn your head to look at him. He has a look of appreciation in his eyes, like he’s trying to let you know that you didn’t need to say anything to those assholes. Just you being thoughtful for him is enough. 

“I even left a note in your locker one day. It was when one of those idiots tore pages out of your campaign notebook and I guess I just wanted you to know that there was someone on your side” 

“That was you? It’s been driving me crazy for years trying to figure out who that was!” 

“you got it?” your eyes light up.

“I did. Still have it, too. This is probably embarrassing, but I’d read it whenever I had a bad day. I guess I didn’t want anyone to know that anything ever got to me and that I was above it all” He sighs. Eddie likes that he can be vulnerable with you. He hardly ever opens up to anyone about anything, but there’s just something about you that makes him comfortable. He feels like he could tell you anything and you wouldn’t judge him for a second. 

“Do you still have it? The note?” you ask and he scurries to his room to rummage through his nightstand where he keeps it. 

“Closest thing I’ve ever gotten to a love letter” he says before handing you the piece of paper that reads:

Eddie,

Sorry if this is weird, but I just wanted to say I’m sorry for how they treat you. I think you’re awesome and I hope you think that too. This town is a little less shitty with you in it. Never change

P.s. you look really good with long hair please don’t cut it

You chuckle when you read the last line. “I can’t believe you kept it. I knew I was right when I called you a teddy bear. You’re secretly a big softie, huh?” 

“The softest. But only for you, yeah?” 

“So that crush on me you had in high school… do you still have it?”

“It never went away, but now it’s even bigger than some teenage puppy dog shit” 

Everything around you seems to drown out. You’re too focused on how close Eddie’s face is to your own. His lips look so soft and pillowy, the perfect shade of pink. You scan over the rest of his face, entranced with his beauty. His eyes are even prettier up close. You could count his eyelashes with how little distance there is between the two of you and you think that one day you will.

Right now, the one thing you’ve wanted the most is quite literally staring you right in the face. Not a loud sound from the movie, or even if the end of the world was happening right outside could take you away from this moment. 

“Can I kiss you?” he whispers, hand coming up to cradle your face. “Please” you barely get out.

Eddie gently places his lips on yours and it feels like this weight you’d be carrying around had been lifted from your body. Nothing in your life has felt more right than this kiss. 

You’re kissing Eddie Munson. The boy from the hallway that always gave you a kind smile and made you weak in the knees. The boy from your science class who never had a pen. The boy who you’ve wanted since you were 17. You always criticized yourself for never getting over what you thought was just a silly little crush, but it’s always been more than that. Every moment leading up to this has been worth it and you’d do it all over again if it meant you got to kiss him. 

You instantly miss his lips on yours when he pulls away and you can barely stand it, so you pull him back in. This kiss is more intense. You melt when his tongue glides into your mouth and his hand moves to hold your waist. You both put all of your feelings and passion into this kiss. It’s pure electricity. 

You wish you didn’t need oxygen to breathe. You wish you could live forever in this position, but unfortunately that isn’t the case, so you both slowly break apart but not without him giving you a few pecks before fully pulling back. 

His pupils are blown wide and his cheeks are flushed. His hair is a little messy due to you threading your hands through his soft curls. He’s never looked more beautiful. 

“So, I know this was only our first time hanging out, but- uh- do you want to be my girlfriend?” he asks, nervously and you smile so big that it causes your eyes to wrinkle. 

“I’d love to” you simply answer. 

“Yeah? You wanna be mine?’’ he smiles as relief washes over him. 

“I’ve always been yours” 

Nightmare on Elm Street has been long forgotten. Eddie restarted it twice, but each time you both end up in deep conversation and he’s kissed you more times than you can count. Maybe one day you’ll watch it, but today isn’t that day. Not when you’re sitting next to the most kissable person on earth. 

_

The End

_

[wqxianwriting]

how to make a golden retriever happy.

SLIGHTLY proofread | f!reader | poly relationship with nick & charlie though reader isn’t dating charlie | pretty damn long i got ahead of myself, sorry :,) | they’re so cute but im so bad at details fr | lunch date, walks, stargazing w fireflies & movie night! (you got headbands to wear… guess what movie charlie is having y’all watch rn) | what is stargazing | author questioning what color sonic’s eyes are | theres some crying at the end and a mention of breaking up but its just those negative thoughts actin up, theyre all okay :) | angst/comfort? | not many kisses unfortunately but THERE ARE SOME, like three scenes… two? | there is cussing, not much | nick & reader flashbacks

#%a/n%#;; first request done! thanks for it, they mean so much to me. i didn’t wanna make it too long but here we are lolol, hope it’s enjoyable though 🥹💜 also ntm on your family details but your mom does appear and she has a “set” personality! no one else appears though so you can imagine the reader’s family how you want, though it is mentioned your mom is married. also note, since reader is a lady she goes to the same school as like, elle darcy tara (and probably imogen too, right?). meant to post this yesterday but i wanted to add some stuff at the end haha, sorry sorry this is a whole ass wattpad book fr, feel like i wrote so much and nothing at the same time. hope you enjoy if you give it a read thought fhdhdj

OH YEAH last thing, the emotions in this story is kind of a whiplash 💀 one minute they’re happy the next theyre kinda sad or bittersweet so- hopefully the pacing doesnt seem bad… BE WARNED. shouldn’t be too crazy. okay thats it this time do enjoy

character(s):

nick & charlie (heartstopper)

elle & tao cameo

reader’s mom omg she’s a sweetheart, charlie’s parents are mentioned/super small cameo, nick’s mom also has a small cameo/is mentioned

darcy, imogen and sahar are very briefly mentioned!

The sweet sound of the school bell rings throughout and the school and every single student sighs in relief of the noise. You glance up at the clock on the wall before looking around the classroom where students are packing up their bags while talking noisily to one another.

You allow yourself to recline in your chair, left arm reaching back to where your backpack dangles off the seat and slide your hands into the side pocket, grabbing your phone.

Nicky Ricky Dicky: I’m alive!

Char: you live! i live too :) wanna walk together today or are you both busy? (gonna pick you up bestie)

Y/N: i’ll meet you outside (ty loveliest)

Char: awesome!!! nick?

Nicky Ricky Dicky: Sorry aha, I need to go home quickly today but I’ll be sure to join tomorrow!

This makes you pout and you can imagine your bestfriend having the same expression because the sad emoji he wrote in the group-chat even makes you sadder.

Char: ☹️

Y/N: don’f worry charlie

Y/N: Don’t*

Nicky Ricky Dicky: Sorry :,)

Char: It’s fine! Do what you have to do… we gonna facetime tonight though?

Char hearts your message ‘don’f worry charlie’.

Nicky Ricky Dicky: No promises but I’ll do my best. 😠❤️

Nicky Ricky Dicky: i gtg now, love you both <3

Y/N: lym! ❤️

Char: love you! ❤️❤️❤️

Y/N: three hearts 🥹

Char: y/n. STOP. come outside before i die

Y/N: omg… such a drama king like okay

You write and yet, you’re quick to jump from your chair and snatch your bag before sliding it on your shoulder. You push in your chair and skip out into the hallways where you see Elle. “Heya, Elle!”

She smiles warmly and waves goodbye to her friends before stepping in sync with you. “Hey there, Miss, didn’t catch your name.” You bump her shoulder and she bumps you back. “What’re you up to?”

“Charlie’s gonna come pick me up, hopefully via bike… mines broke the other day.” You sigh and she gives you a look of pity while trying to bite back a grin. Then she perks up.

“Not Nick?”

You shake your head, rubbing a hand against your temple. “Mm-mm, you ever just get a feeling something is off?”

Elle nods, turning her face away from you and her hands grip onto the handle of her bag that bounces against her legs. “Yeah, just putting it out there… graduation may be on his mind, I know its on mine and it’s been kicking my ass to be honest,” You wrap an arm around her in comfort and she hums in appreciation. “Just all that weird stuff, weird thoughts and anxiety…” Then she pauses, raising a hand and flicking her wrist. “Okay- not weird, but you know.”

That makes you snort, “Yeah, I get’cha… maybe, but we’ve always been open about that kind of stuff, I just don’t understand why it’d be a issue… I mean, we’ve talked about it many times before so it’s kind of odd, I guess?” You and Elle share a look of confusion before shrugging.

“Maybe it’s been having more of an impact y’know? You can speak easily about something when you’re not there yet but… graduation is coming up and everyone is worried about the future. You know how things don’t hit you till it’s happening literally next week or something? Maybe its hitting harder.”

Your heart clenches in pain at those words. She’s not wrong, there is a high chance it’s staring to affect him more… hitting harder than you’d know. You nibble on your bottom lip in concern and furrow your eyebrows,

“Well. If he’s being an idiot and isn’t gonna come to us about it then I’ll beat him up.” You place your hands on your hips, lightly joking to disperse the tense air between the two of you. Of course he isn’t being an idiot but you refuse to let him stress on his own. Elle chokes out a laugh in surprise.

“Oh god, he better run, she’s scary when she’s angry.” One of her hands let go of her bag and she hold her stomach while laughing a bit more. “Wouldn’t that be a sight?”

You scoff, “Like we haven’t argued before.”

“You argue about literal video games.”

“Stop.” You laugh and push at her shoulder. “Oh, and Elle, you know I’m your friend and if you ever need an ear to lend about college talk or need help to get your mind off of it to just relax, you got me.” She stares at you for a few beats before cracking into a grin.

“Thank you, Y/N. You know you got me too.”

Outside the school building you’re quick to spot two familiar figures by the gate. “Yes, he’s here!” Your arms raise in celebration then instantly flop down, “There’s no bike…!”

Elle calls out which makes the two boys stiff in seconds.

“Get your butts over here, Mr. Xu and Mr. Spring!” They awkwardly crane their necks to your direction and simultaneously sigh in relief – probably thinking you were teachers.

“You nearly gave me a heart attack!” Tao exclaims as you and Elle once you’re right infront of the two, gesturing to his heart. Elle is quick to place a hand over his chest – Tao’s cheeks lowkey reddening but you decide not to point it out for his sake – and her eyes widen a bit.

“Tao, your chest is gonna shoot out your chest.”

“See?”

“That is the goal, sire.” You finger gun at him and he smacks your hand away lightly with an exasperated look. It makes you giggle. “Elle is just feeling a little silly today.”

“It’s my agenda.” She grins before engulfing Charlie into a hug and he squeaks in surprise before squeezing her back. “Hello, Charlie!”

“Are you sure your heart isn’t pounding because you’ve gotten your daily dose of Elle?” You whisper while stepping in line next to Tao, facing your head to your other friends but you can see him tense at the corner of your eye.

He pinches his nose bridge, mumbling and you catch some of the words, suspiciously sounding like him saying he’s gonna fight you. His cheeks bloom a rosy rose so you take the win either way and smugly smirk at him.

“Hi, Elle!” His muffled laugh catches your attention, making you and Tao smile at the interaction before you wrap an arm around the latter, making him eyeroll, of course he does, but he wraps an arm around your shoulder and gives you a light squeeze in response.

“We best be off on our merry way,” You speak up, checking the time as the two friends let go of eachother. “I wanna stop by that new shop that opened a few weeks ago… Is that fine, Char?”

He gives you a thumbs up and Elle speaks, “Let me know how their desserts taste, I’ve been wondering but honestly they don’t look that good so…” She stares at you with a grimace before shrugging.

“Noted~” You say in a singsong voice before wrapping your arms around Charlie. “I’ll call you later, enjoy your afternoon date.” You and Charlie give the couple teasing grins and they take the bait, looking away in shyness but Tao takes the initiative and connects their hands together. It makes you melt.

“Shut up.” He groans, snapping but tone very much unthreatening adding on the fact he’s trying to cover his flustered face with his free hand.

“Yes, yes grumpy old man, we’ll see you later.” You and Charlie waist no time to start down the road with waves.

“Bye!” He shouts.

“I’m not a grumpy old man!” Tao stomps his foot, comedically. Right. How could you make that mistake?

“Bye, Y/N and Charlie!” Elle laughs with a wave and tugs her totally-not-grumpy boyfriend off in the other direction. You watch their hands tighten around eachother, squinting in amusement when Tao’s scowl instantly softens into a lovestruck gaze.

“Ahhh, young love.”

“You’re starting to sound like the old one here.” Charlie snickers, hands coming up to hold onto your forearms that are still bounded around him.

“You wound me, Char.” You squeeze him and he huffs. “I literally think the same when you and Nick are interacting, it’s so,” You make weird noises, fingers wiggling. “Y’know? Very sweet. Very cute, I even have some photos of you latching onto eachother while sleeping. Wanna see-?”

His brain feels like it’s shutting down, lightly smacking your arm when you lift it as to grab your phone. “Stop it.” You could practically see those animated stars swirling around his head and laugh.

You relent and unwrap your arms with a cheeky smile. He glances at you before hiding his face in his hands. “Ughh, whatever. You act like you don’t jump Nick the minute you see him.” Yeah, that’s crazy. You feel your own cheeks flaring up.

“You must be blind.”

“No, no, no. Don’t do that.”

“Do what?”

“Lie!” He exclaims in a joking tone, uncovering his face and poking you in accusation. You lean away, losing your balance and forcing yourself to lean on your tippy toe. Your other foot comes down onto pavement with a stomp and you twirl like you’re dancing. Charlie definitely notices this misstep, doesn’t say anything but you see his shoulders shaking in silence. He’s laughing.

“I never lie?” You pick off the conversation.

“Was that a question?” He tilts his head back at you.

“No?”

He stares at you, eyebrow twitching and you puff out your cheeks like a frog, looking anywhere but in his direction. “You’re awfully cheeky today.”

“How am I being cheeky?” He gives you a look like you’re being ridiculous.

“Charlie Spring is a little cheeky today, my oh my, what have I done to deserve this.” Then you raise your voice in a slight yell, “Ahhh! Who is this?! This isn’t my Charlieeee…!” Your arms reach for the sky.

“You’re an idiot.” He takes the chance and poke you again which makes you yelp. You narrow your eyes. He runs off, you chase.

That was last week. You haven’t seen your boyfriend in a couple of days and it’s concerning. He responds hours late to your messages, doesn’t even respond in your group chat with Charlie, his calls barely last ten minutes and you literally haven’t seen this man in person. Charlie tells you he still shows up at school but his eye-bags are pretty bad.

“Is he avoiding me? I’m confused.” You frown, balled up on Charlie’s bed and feeling very mixed. A little annoyed, a little sad, and alot of worried. Charlie sets down two mugs on his bedside table and sits next to you on the bed. His rests a hand atop of your head and lightly taps it.

“No… I don’t think so. I see him at school and he tries to act normal but even he doesn’t respond to me like that outside of school.” The scowl his face makes has deepened and you’re quick to wrap an arm around his leg in comfort. He lets out a weak smile but it’s quick to fall off his face. “I’m confused too…”

You both stay silent, it’s nearly deafening. “I don’t wanna force him to tell us anything – I mean, he knows he can come to us if he needs it but if he’s really stressed about school maybe we can help give him some space to not think about it. Even if its only for a bit, you know?” Charlie listens to you mumble while tugging at a loose thread on his sweater and nods slowly, eyes lost in thought.

“Should we go somewhere?” He tilts his head back to look at the ceiling before his gaze travels around his room’s walls, hoping to find an inkling of inspection.

“That sounds fine.” The somber feeling in the room lifts a bit when you start to grin. You shift onto your back, raising your right arm in the air and sprawl out your fingers. “We could go out, do something and eat… I kinda wanna stargaze, is that weird?”

He lets out a chuckle, glancing down at you with a teasing glint in his eyes, “Wow, you’re such a romantic, Y/N. I’m shocked.” To which you scoff.

“Well, duh. Who makes all the date plans?”

“Okay, no, that’s because you say we’re bad at planning dates – you refuse us to even be involved.”

“Charlie, Nick brought you to a dog park as a date.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“You both stayed there till nine.”

He full on laughs now, bumping you with his knee and you smack it back in retort. “No judgement though, I would do the same but that was for the whole day! Who stays at a dog park from Eleven to Nine?” He continues to laugh until they turn into giggles.

“Maybe… we’re unique.”

“True that. You didn’t even bring baby Nells, shaking my head.” To put emphasis, you shake your head and your friend has to gasp out for air. “Don’t die, now.”

“Whatever whatever.” He brings his hands to his face and rubs his cheeks in circular motion to calm himself. His face is flushed and he exhales slowly before reaching for his phone. “Do you want your drink?”

You remove your arm from his leg and sit up properly, holding on your hands and he complies, placing the mug between them. “Thank you~” You lean on the wall, flopping your legs onto Charlie’s before crossing them at the ankles – to which he sighs in annoyance and it makes you grin. “What’re you doing?”

“I’m gonna search for places to go that is nearby but not too close… you have a place in mind for stargazing?” He grabs his own mug that is black and littered with yellow stars, how ironic. You nod sleepily, slowly sipping your preferred drink and tap at the cup absentmindedly.

“Yeah, it’s near my house.”

He flicks his eyes towards you for a second.

Then goes back to typing on his phone.

“You mean it is your home.”

“Maybe.”

You smirk, he sighs and you both go back to planning. Nick honestly better be willing to get his ass dragged out of the house by his lovely girlfriend and boyfriend because money is involved and you both would be damned if he just wallows in self despair, alone.

So, that’s what happens, you fill Charlie’s parents in on needing to steal your bestfriend during the weekend and some of the plans involved like a movie night. They agreed to let him stay over for the night but he must call every few hours or atleast text.

Your parents love the boys and were completely down with the idea. Of course you also secretly called Nick’s mum and she had filled you in on a couple things that made you a tad bit more nervous to see your boyfriend.

Seems like your assumption was correct (more like Elle’s). “Lately he’s been talking about colleges, right… he’s planning to go on a trip sometime this month to check them out but he seems stressed, it’s been worrying me. You know though, kids probably don’t want their parents all in their business, haha,” She laughs softly and you can hear running water cut off on her end – probably washing something – “He knows he can come to me so I’m just letting him have his space. It’s lovely you and Charlie want to ease his mind! Glad he’s with and friends with two sweethearts,” This makes your face flare up in embarrassment but your chest puffs with pride.

“Of course, and I know he appreciates you being patient and understanding with him. The thing we don’t wanna do is pressure him… I just hope this can help take his mind off of the stress and you know… relax?” You grimace a bit, tugging at the end of your sleeve as the phone sits between your ear and shoulder.

“I get it, mhm. Thank you, Y/N.” Her voice is still soft but gets even more sincere with a hint of emotion. Had you feeling emotional too.

Saturday is quick to arrive and you stare at your reflection with determination. Brushing down your outfit, you admire your date look a bit more before turning around slowly and snatch your bag off the bed which is filled with random necessities that you may or may not need along with your wallet.

“Alright, Nick Nelson, prepare yourself for the best date you’ll ever be on.” You puff out your cheeks, grab you phone of the charger and exit your room. “I’ll be off, Mother~” You hum once you reach the end of the staircase and spot your Mom on the couch with a paper in hand.

“What is with the formal address?” She chuckles behind her hand, standing up and following you towards the front door. “I’ll see you later tonight with Nick and Charlie, right? Enjoy yourselves.” She smiles, wrapping her arms around your head and you hug her back with a gentle squeeze.

“Oh! Wait.”

She quickly unravels herself from you and speeds down the hall to the kitchen. Your eyes stare down the direction she went for a few seconds before deciding to slip on your shoes.

“Okay, here you go.” You’re standing with the door open by the time she comes back and she gives you a picnic basket. It’s not super big but you have to grab it with two hands. Less from the size, more from the weight.

“Mom. What did you pack in here?” You huff out a laugh, going to open the lid but she stops you.

“No, do not open it. It’s like… a wedding. You can’t see your spouse or it’ll be bad luck!” She speaks with a finger raised and you cock an eyebrow up. Whatever you say, Mom is basically your expression and she seems to notice because she places her hands on her hips with an exasperated look. “Just trust me, I’ve done it before and it was bad luck all day.”

“Mhm, mhm, right.” You nod, half listening and backing up on your porch. She follows, hand on the doorknob with a soft smile and she pinches your cheek with her other hand. “Thanks, I love you.”

“Love you too, honey.” She full on grins now and waves. After your ‘see you later’ promises, you’re quick to dart down the street and across the roads to a nearby park where Charlie said he’d meet you after picking up Nick. It gives you enough time to unload the nice lunch packed for the three of you and hopefully buy some refreshing popsicles or ice creams before they arrive.

Seems like luck is on your side though – maybe your Mom was right – because the minute you finish laying out the huge blanket in a nice shaded area you hear the sound of someone ringing a familiar bell sound. You turn your head so quick it nearly gave you whiplash and your eyes widen at the person walking along the park’s path, pushing a white squared cart decorated with photos of different types of cold treats.

You take your bag and phone, dialing Charlie’s number while speedwalking across the grassy field. It takes two rings before you hear his voice.

“Yes, partner in crime?” His voice comes off as staticky for a moment.

“What the hell are you doin’, your mic is scuffed as hell…”

“I’m walking!” You could imagine the eyeroll Charlie would do and bite your cheek to not laugh.

“Are you with Nick?” You continue to talk but smile in greeting when the ice cream seller stops at you coming over. He says hello and you wave before looking over all the choices on the cart.

“Yes. We’re grabbing drinks right now, you okay?”

“Yeah! I’m at the park, set up the picnic – though the food is still in the basket,” You glance back at your spot and after making sure nothing seems out of the ordinary you look back at the cart. “You remember those ice cream cart things? You want something?”

It’s silent between the two of you as Charlie ponders, in the meantime you point to your desired choice and the guy nods with a smile, opening the ice cream cart before digging around in the pile of cold desserts until he finds the one you want.

“Do they-“ He cuts himself off with a chuckle and you perk up at his voice, “Do they um,” He snorts this time then sighs to calm himself, “The ones with the bubblegum eyes. I wanna try one.”

You laugh a little, thanking the ice cream man as he sets the packaged treat in your hand. “Do you want the sonic one or something?”

“Whatever you spot first or whichever is given. Oh wait- Nick-“ You zone out a bit as he speaks to the blond and point to the blue hedgehog. The ice cream man continues his search. “He said he wants the crybaby ice cream.”

“Oh god.” You sigh in adoration, tilting your head back to the clear blue sky. “Weren’t they, like, terrible the last time we tried them?”

This time you hear Nick’s cheerful voice and he scoffs, “Okay, no. That was because for some weird reason you and Darcy wanted to put warheads into the mix.”

“Thank you,” You say to the nice man, grabbing a ten and a five dollar bill as a tip out of your wallet with a smile. You then put all the treats into your bag along with the wallet, waving the man bye which he returns and goes on his merry way. Your focus goes back to the two boys. “Ah yes, I remember the part where your face went sooo red. Hilarious, I have videos I think.”

He groans in prospect and you hear muffled giggles erupt from Charlie. “Why do you do this to me?”

“What are you talking about?” You tease and he groans again.

Charlie then speaks up, sounding way closer to the phone. “Alright! We’ll see you in two-point-five seconds.” You hum in response and say your goodbyes before hanging up the phone.

You reach the blanket again, flopping on your tush and take the ice creams out, aligning them with precision on top of the picnic basket. Charlie doesn’t disappoint because not two minutes later you see two familiar figures walking down the park path, one of them pointing towards your general direction and ditching the path to the grass.

You could feel your heart pound from… nervousness or excitement? Maybe both and it makes you grin, waving at the two. They get closer and Charlie waves awkwardly with a hand that has a drink in it, to which you notice his other hand also had a drink… and one of Nick’s. The blond’s other hand is carrying headbands of some sort and a bag is hanging off his arm.

“Char told me to get these while we were in the grocery store.” Nick speaks first when they get to you, he lifts the hand with headbands. “I decided not to question it.” You raise your hands and he carefully sets the accessories in them. Ah. Barbie headbands.

“Charlie…” Your brows pinch in amusement but also bewilderment. “What have you decided?”

He chuckles mysteriously, lifting a foot off the ground to point at your hand. “Put those down and take your drink, please. My hands are freezing.”

“Oops.” You comply and take the cup. The two eventual settle down with Nick in the middle and you quietly take a nice sip of the beverages. “Thank you.”

The boys nod and you glance at Nick, noticing the shadows of bags under his eyes. It makes you frown for a second, “So, what am I doing here on this lovely day.” Before you could inquire, Nick speaks up first, eyes shutting in contentment and a pretty smile adoring his face.

You lean back on the palm of your hand, eyeing Charlie and he meets your gaze. “Can we not want to hang out with the one and only, Mr. Nick Nelson?” You speak with a teasing tone, leaning into his side. His smile goes wider and he opens his eyes to meet yours.

“You make me sound like some big shot.”

Your eyes narrow.

“Well it was hard to reach you… so…” His gaze falters along with his smile, nervously tapping the top of his cup. “Not to pressure you, you know that but Charlie and I will always be there to listen if you need it.” You poke his arm gently and you spot Charlie’s hand sliding into Nick’s.

“Yeah.” Charlie nods, squeezing their hands, “But if not, that’s fine too. Y/N and I wanted to just, relax with you. Spend some time together.”

That makes Nick let out a shaky laugh and a wobbly smile. “Thanks.” He pauses. “Really. It’s just been, crazy?” He nibbles at his bottom lip before sighing and flops on his back, leaving his cup between his crossed legs and dragging the two of you down with him – which makes you all share a laugh.

Charlie rests against his boyfriend’s chest – facing his direction and you flip onto your stomach to play with both of their soft locks. “What has?” You ask softly.

He’s silent for a bit, tapping his fingers on your back with his free hand. “I’m not sure, school? Life? …Me? There’s no exact reason, everything just seems to be crashing down in my brain and it’s annoying to say the least.” He sighs heavily, “I’m probably just having that kind of month where everything is just feels like alot.” He frowns and you move the hand in his hair down under his chin, gently squeezing his cheeks and he chuckles.

“That’s perfectly fine, it happens.” You move the hand to trail up the left side of his face and place your palm over his forehead like you’re checking his temperature and it makes Charlie join in, prodding at Nick’s neck gently.

“There’s a lot going through your life right now, perfectly understandable why it feels overwhelming and such. Thank you for talking to us about it.” Charlie speaks softly.

“Of course. I don’t,” Nick pauses, opening his eyes with a flash of worry, “I don’t want it to feel like I’m shutting you both out or anything, or if it feels like you’ve done something wrong. I feel less weird thinking I’m overreacting, haha…” The laugh comes off flat but from the reassuring smiles from his lovers, he feels at ease.

“You’re not.”

“Nuh-uh.” You and Charlie speak simultaneously, denying such thoughts. It makes Nick laugh which sounds less forceful.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to talk about everything right now since I don’t even think I’m done… accessing everything but really, thank you. You both are my anchors.” If you didn’t tear up from that, your heart definitely did. Charlie gets up off Nick, letting go of the blond’s hand and tilts his head back with his hands over his face.

“Same, Charlie.” You cover your own face and lay flat against the blanket.

“I…” Nick trails off with another laugh and he sits back up which catches both of your attention. “Can we eat though, I’m getting a little hungry.” He gives a shy smile and you also sit up.

“Oh shit, what if the ice cream melted?!” This realization has the three of you shooting towards the basket, grabbing the packaged delights and simultaneously sigh in relief. They’re not melted… yet.

“Should we just eat these first and then eat the actual lunch next?” Charlie bites back a laugh, already opening up the plastic and pulling out the bubblegum eye Sonic, wasting no time to put it in his mouth with wide adorning eyes.

You and Nick watch him in amusement before opening your own. “I wanted this lime popsicle they usually sell but there were none.” You sigh before eyeing Nick’s container of airhead ice cream. He opens the top and it reveals the swirls of… red? Or pink and green.

“That’s funny, we saw those while we were at the store. There were these coconut flavors too.” Nick reminisces, plucking the taped but wrapped in it’s own plastic wooden spoon off the side of the ice cream container.

Charlie hums before looking down at the bitten into Sonic, “Why does Sonic have green eyes? Are they actually green?”

You all stay silent.

“I thought they were black or brown?” You speak in confusion.

“Right? Even blue….” Charlie tilts his head.

“Technically all of those are correct though they turn red as well… It’s the different franchises, I guess?” Nick furrows his brows in thought, scooping into his sour treat after freeing the wooden stick and eats away, wincing here and there. You watch with amusement.

The lunch date you can say with absolute certainty was very successful. You all catch up on things that have been going on and different shows you’ve been watching. Sharing ice cream, stuffing yourselves full with your Mom’s cooking – there was even a drink war? All you knew was one minute you were nearly done with your beverage and the next it’s being tossed in Nick’s direction as you try and run away from Charlie’s retort from you getting him seconds before. Ah, can’t forget the classic kisses shared under one of the many trees at the park and the newest photos stored in your ‘Nick & Char ❤️’ album, like the picture of Charlie ‘painting’ Nick’s face with whip cream. Where the fuck did you get whip cream from? Ask your mother.

Around the time you were all packing up, a teenager around your age ran up with their four other friends and inform you there is a nice walking trail – pointing towards the area where the park path splits, one continuing into a circle around the whole field and the other going into an area with rows of trees.

“Y’think we’ll get jumpscared? Like a haunted path or something.” You joked.

“They said there’s a nice stream down the path.” Nick smirks at your joking, placing a hand on your head and you puff out your cheeks, feeling them heat up a bit.

“Ah yes, you can take a nice swim in it when I push you in there, Y/N.” Charlie hums, quick to dart his eyes away when you flip your head in his direction.

“You’re so evil to me?” You watch him with wild eyes, mouth agape and he laughs.

“Do you think we’ll actually able to get in?” Nick ponders and you flip the wild gaze to him now.

“With us three, I’m sure we can pull it off.” Charlie responds with a menacing grin, mischief all up in his eyes and you’re playing ping pong with your eyes, flitting back and forth between them.

“I’m gonna be arrested today, huh…” Your boyfriend and bestfriend just giggle like evil people.

In the end, you three didn’t get in the stream’s water but there were some fishes so you decided to feel them the crust that Charlie didn’t eat from his sandwich and take some more photos. Nick had picked Charlie up bridal-style, getting dangerously close to the water and you record it all.

“Don’t drop me!” Charlie tightens his hold around Nick, fear and excitement in his tone.

“This takes me back to the beach…” Nick ignores his boyfriend’s pleas and spins around carefully.

“Do not reminisce while I’m in your arms, please and thank you?!” He exclaims and it makes you full on laugh, an arm over your stomach while watching the whole exchange happen.

It’s not long before it turns from afternoon to evening, you three return back from the area with Nick and Charlie debating on if they saw a deer or not. Charlie saying it was definitely there and Nick saying it wasn’t there.

“Carl Grimes flashbacks…” You hum and Charlie puts you in a headlock.

“Do not. I will cry right here.” He pouts and pulls at your cheeks, ignoring your protests. Nick watches with a soft gleam in his eyes, rocking the picnic basket back and forth with a hand.

You all walk down the sidewalk side by side once Charlie lets you go, talking about random things before Nick realizes the direction you’re going.

“Are we dropping Y/N off?” He frowns.

It catches you and Charlie off guard. “What? What makes you think that?” You raise an eyebrow. Nick points ahead and your house in slowly coming up in view. Ah.

“Ah.” Charlie speaks your thought and you both share a laugh. “No, we’re not dropping her off.” Charlie stretches his arms with a grunt before eyeing the bag strapped around Nick. “You brought pajamas and clothes for tomorrow, right?”

Nick nods, pursing his lips. “Still confused about that.”

You scoff in amusement and place a hand on your forehead with an endearing smile. “Nick…”

“Don’t worry, you’ll understand soon.” Charlie gives him a thumbs up, paired with a wink before darting ahead of the two of you. Nick flicks his gaze to you in question but you put on an act and shrug.

“What he said,” You pause for a moment, eyes burning into Nick’s, “Do you like stargazing?”

He moves closer to you, closing the gap and tugs your hand in his. The question makes him look up at the sky for a moment. “Mmm. Never tried it before? What counts as stargazing? I’ve… been in the car on trips and looked out the window…?” You give him a perplexed look which he returns.

“Alright, well-“ You chuckle, “That can… technically count? I guess? Just… Yeah.” You give up midway, tugging Nick along when you get closer to the front of your house where Charlie awaits. “You’re on your phone while you’re on a date? Tsk tsk.” You tut your lips in disapproval and Charlie startles.

He rolls his eyes, flipping his phone to the two of you bounding up the steps. “I was texting Saha- oops, hold on-“ He cuts himself off, flipping the phone back around with a nervous smile.

You glance at Nick before moving your hand to cover his eyes with your other hand. He gasps in surprise but doesn’t question it any further, grinning a bit. Facing back to Charlie you mouth the word, ‘Barbie?’ and tilt your head in confusion. He nods.

“You’re silly.” You remove your hand from Nick’s face and flatten your hand, tapping Charlie’s forehead in a chopping motion. He rubs the area with a laugh and you knock on your front door.

“Did you forget your keys?” Nick giggles when you give him a look of shame.

“Maybe.”

Your Mom is quick to open the door, grinning widely. “Welcome back. Hello, Charlie and Nick.” They wave in shyness and she scoots back to let the three of you in. “What’s the plan next, soldier?” She bumps the door closed with her hip and loosely crosses her arms, raising an eyebrow at you specifically.

“Gonna go in the back for about an hour…” You trail off, taking your shoes off in the most complicated way. With your feet, or the heels per-say. When you finish you take the basket from Nick and walk to the kitchen with your mom as the boys finish taking off their own shoes. “To stargaze.” You finally finish when Nick’s ears are out of reach.

She pats you on the back with approval, “Attagirl. How was lunch?”

“It was fun! We spoke a bit, ate and went down a trail.” You bounce your head to the side while listening the activities before pausing. “He seems more… energized?” Your lips purse.

“Was that a question?” She leans against the counter, one arm coming out of the self-hug and she combs her hand through your hair. You give her an awkward look and she breathes out a laugh. Tapping the crown of your forehead, she moves away to the fridge with a soft smile. “Well, if he seems to be uplifted,” She eyes you before taking out three water bottles. “That’s great news, no?” Then sets them infront of you on counter.

“You’re right but… I don’t know. I just feel like I can do more,” You huff. “But that’s dumb because of course I can’t, this has to be something Nick figures out and all I can do is support him.”

“Honey, that is doing more for him. Supporting him is the biggest help you can five someone, along with what you’re already doing. Taking him out, letting him have space to clear his mind and being a safe net. Same thing with Charlie, no?“ Her hands latch onto your shoulders and give the muscles a gentle squeeze. “I know it feels like you want to do so much more but, there’s only so much.” You tilt your head back and look up at her with a half-smile before relenting.

“You’re right.”

“A mother is always right.” She lets go and moves towards the stove, giving you a smug side eye… which you return with an unamused eyeroll.

“Yes, yes. My mother is always right. Sometimes.”

“About ninety-nine percent.”

“Ninety-five…” You lift an eyebrow and give her pointed look. She has a spoon in her hand when she looks over you and points it to her chin in thought, it’s just a bit though.

“Ninety-seven. Take it or leave it.”

You scoff in amusement before scooping up the bottles, “Whatever you say, ma’am. We’ll be outside.” She hums in understanding and you exit out the kitchen, walking into the dining room before reaching the living room where the duo waits.

“Pleasure for you to join us.” Charlie smirks and takes two of the bottles from your arms with a nod of thanks.

“Be welcomed.” Nick muses with a grin and cracks open the bottle, taking a quick refreshing sip.

“What is this speech? I hate it.” Your face scrunches up in disgust before gesturing to the sliding glass door. “Shall we?”

“Look who’s doing it now…” Charlie stares at you cheekily. You give him the finger, he returns it.

There are slides in a shoe rack near the door and you three take a pair before stepping out. Nick’s eyes widen in wonder. Your backyard has a big blanket – similar to the one from the picnic – sitting in the middle of the area that has a plot of grass and lanterns that hang off metal rods sit nicely around in the grass that have curves at the end, doing nicely as handles. What surprises you are the little bugs that fly and flicker with a yellow-green gleam in the air.

“Since when do we get fireflies?” You speak first.

“Since forever, Y/N.” Charlie poked your back and you jump, flipping around to get him back but he’s already slipped behind Nick.

“You little…”

“Ah, ah ah, you have to be nice to me.”

“Says who?” He’s being ridiculous.

“Says me. Your bestfriend.” He peaks around Nick’s side – who, mind you, is still focusing on the backyard’s look – with a teasing grin.

“I’mma beat you up.”

“No!” He lets out a laugh when you lunge towards him, twirling out of your reach and running around with you flailing behind.

It felt special to Nick. The orange-red sky turning into it’s pitch dark blue color, stars twinkling down on you three with a full moon bright. His eyes are stuck on his two partners, the fireflies swirling around them out of disturbance but still they still decorate the backyard with green-yellow hues, not ready to leave. He remembers this conversation you had in this backyard a year ago…

“Do you think fireflies come around this area?” You were sitting on a bean bag, legs tucked beneath yourself and were practically sunken into the ‘seat.’ Charlie had insisted you to put it on the concrete side of the backyard so you did and now your face is hidden behind Nick’s switch in your hands.

Speaking of who, Nick is currently soaked wet, wringing out the ends of his shirt and Charlie wraps himself up in a towel. It’s late night, pitch dark but they wanted to play with water balloons and your Mom happened to be out of the house to pick up dinner.

“Maybe…” He leans back to look at the sky. “Why? Do you like fireflies or something?” He looks back down at you. The question has you silent for a couple of beats before you set down the console. He watches you with an amused twinkle in his gaze, puffing out his chest in pride at seeing you in his sweater. Charlie had been wearing it earlier and you both traded before they brought out the balloons.

“I mean, I have never seen any so, maybe, maybe not.” You shrug, unfolding your legs and stretching them out with a groan. Your socked feet slap down against the concrete and you sit up a bit. “Don’t you think they’re kinda special though? My Mom said it’s like they’re glowing up your night, dancing around you and stuff.” You eye the floor. “Appearing on specials occasions like they know,” You lean back into the seat with a sigh, “Said that’s how she got married. Isn’t that crazy?”

Charlie purses his lips, tilting his head to the side before smiling, “Sounds magical. They’re the ‘true love’ bugs.” His smile widens into a grin.

“Exactly!” You snap your fingers with a nod, bumping your heel against the stone pavement.

“I’m sure they do appear out here though, don’t they come out at Midnight?” Charlie shivers while speaking, hugging the towel around himself tighter. You sympathize with a playful grin.

“Maybe. But well, you boys should get inside and warm up. We’ll try next time.”

“Nick! Are you gonna come and lay down?” He snaps out of his head, eyes darting to you and Charlie lying on the blanket though Charlie is trying to tap out from a leg lock you have him in.

He snorts in surprise, not missing a beat and closing the distance. “How the hell did this happen?”

“Nick! Help me~” Charlie wails before pinching your thigh, making you yelp and quickly let go.

“That is cheating!” You exclaim, rubbing your leg with a wince.

“All’s fair in war.” He snickers, reaching a hand out to Nick who takes it and sits down between you two.

It’s a nice silence between the three of you, you’re not sure who laid down first but you eventually followed. Nick has his arms wrapped around the two of you and you’ve glanced up at his face which shows contentment. You even met his gaze while peeking and it caught you off guard with how much his brown orbs were filled with much love and affection.

You reach a hand out towards Charlie and tussle at curls, making him whine in protest but lets you continue anyway. “I’m not good with constellations so you’re not gonna be getting that during this stargaze adventure.” You mumble against Nick with a laugh and it makes the other two chuckle.

“Nah, that’s alright… I’m happy with this…” You and Charlie freeze at how soft Nick’s voice sounds. Serene. Content. More than happy but not quite ecstatic. Filled with much love directed towards the two of you and it has your heart pounding.

You sit up on your elbow, making Nick’s arm slip off of you and he eyes you with suspicion. “Actually…” This would be way more comfortable on your knees so you sit up, tuck your calves beneath you and cuff Charlie’s face into your hands. It’s nearly laugh worthy of how quick his face turns a deep red and how you felt it happen under your touch.

You lean forward, careful not to face-plant into him – that would be awkward… and painful – pressing your lips against him. You both move into a soft but passionate rhythm. Your thumb brushes against his dusted cheeks, pressing hard against his lips one final time before moving back with a dazed grin.

He returns it, chuckling shyly before meeting Charlie’s intense gaze. You choke back a laugh with the swiftness of your friend sliding up a bit, hand softly cupping the side of Nick’s face and sharing their own kiss. Also very slow, and passionate. Your tilt your head up towards your house, eyeing the sliding door and sigh in relief to not see your Mom near it. By the time your gaze returns you’re meeting with the two boys staring at you with flushed faces.

“Oh my god, you’re so red.” You laugh.

“Shut up?” Charlie hands an arm over his face, probably burning up a bit more from the teasing.

The fireflies have died down, some still hanging around but you notice most are gone and a smile tugs at your lips. “Wanna go inside now?”

Charlie removes his arm with a sharp inhale and the two nod. “Do you need to bring the blanket in?” He points to the cloth when you all stand and you’re quick to shake your head.

“Nah. I’ll grab and wash it tomorrow,” You stretch your limbs, hearing some pop. “I need new bones…”

Nick sticks his tongue out in playful disgust, “That sounds horrific.”

“Wouldn’t that be crazy though? If we needed to trade in new bones when we’re old and seniors.”

“Y/N.” Charlie’s eyebrows bend and he grimaces, “Why do you come up with the most freaky scenarios.” It’s not a question.

“Yeah, like the apocalypse one from before.” Nick pitches in with a frown that falters into a smile.

You all step into the living room after you’re done turning off the lanterns and have grabbed your bottles, “Because my brain is so amazing that I just think of things you would never think of.” You make a gesture to your brain before wiggling your fingers like you’ve done a magic trick.

“Or so you say…” Charlie glances somewhere else before meeting your eyes, “Less would never think of more, shouldn’t think of.” He flicks his hand towards you, thumb and index finger out in a finger gun.

“Hey, these could be real life events soon to happen.”

“Yeah the bones theory would happen when we all become immortal.” He chuckles and you roll your eyes.

Then boom, jumpscare. Your Mom appears just as you’re settling on the couch. A screech leaves all of your mouths and she stares in shock with mild confusion and amusement.

“Hello to you three, too.” She giggles, walking over to the glass door, tugging the lock between the handle down and pulls the thick curtains down. “Enjoy stargazing?” She turns back around with a soft smile.

You three shift your gazes away. Apparently it wasn’t just you that still had the intimate moment in the back of your brain, huh? “Yeah, thanks Mom.”

If she noticed the slight awkwardness building up, she doesn’t mention it nor show it and instead clasps her hands together, “That’s wonderful! Dinner is finished so feel free to grab whatever you want. I’ll be upstairs if you need me.” She fills you in on her own plan for the night which is pretty much staying in her room so you all have your own time. She then tilts her head, eyes spacing out until she perks up, “And then there’s brownies that are baking, should be finished soon. I set a timer so when you hear it please take it our for me, Y/N.”

You nod before frowning, “Why does it have to be me?” Apparently she didn’t understand from the confusion crossing her face. You then point to Charlie and Nick.

Charlie looks offended, “We are a guest?” but his tone is light.

“You practically live here? Your clothes are in my closet, mind you.” Nick and your Mom choke out a laugh while Charlie flares up, flustered.

“Nick’s are too?!”

“Which is why I included him in my pointing?!”

Two people are bickering, two people laughing at the scene. It doesn’t take long for you Mom to calm you both down, “It doesn’t matter who, it doesn’t matter if it’s all three of you. Please just don’t let them burn.” She chuckles a bit more before rubbing her hand against her collarbone to calm herself, “Have a great time. I’ll be in my room.” You all wave her ‘goodnight’ and she retreats upstairs.

You three share a silence. Then Nick speaks,

“…So what exactly are we doing? It seems you both are full of surprises today,” He wears a teasing look which makes you and Charlie look away.

“Don’t worry about it, mister. You enjoy the ride.” You talk first before nudging Charlie with your leg. “You put the movie on, I’ll go make our plates and...” You eye Nick for a moment not knowing what he should do.

“Nick, I put the backpack in Y/N’s room, could you go get it while we set up? Oh! The headbands too.” Charlie pitches in and grins at the mention of the headbands. You and Nick blink at him before standing up to dart down your own paths.

While you’re making the plates the oven timer does go off. You take a toothpick from one of the drawers, flick on the oven light, open the oven – making you flinch back from the heat – then poke the dark chocolate fudge goodness. It has baked all the way so you grab oven mitts and drag the pan of brownies out of it’s cooker, sets it on the stove and flick turn the oven off.

After making sure everything was set in the kitchen you grab two plates and exit the kitchen, back into the living room where the movie is paused on the TV right before it begins. Charlie stands up and helps grab the two plates, letting you dart back into the kitchen again for the last one just in time for Nick to return.

“Do you want drinks? We got juices, sodas, water, you name it.” You peak your head out behind the dining room wall and the two boys pause midway in putting on the barbie headbands. You bite your lip to hold back a laugh.

“Do you have that tropical mix?” Nick speaks and you nod, he points at you in affirmation of the drink then finishes adjusting the plastic accessory around his hair.

“Root beer, please.” Charlie speaks next before his eyes shine open and wide, “Do you think we can have floats…”

Your eyebrows perk up, “I think we have vanilla? But you’re not getting that till the brownies cool down.”

“Oh, they’re out? Thank Barbie.” He holds his hands up in a prayer.

You stare at him, very much unamused and he gives you a cheeky grin.

“I’ll have tropical juice for now then.”

With a thumbs up you return to the kitchen once more, grabbing three tall glass cups from the cabinet and grab the carton juice out the fridge. You fill up two cups before staring at your own. After deciding your choice of drink, you put everything away and startle while turning around and seeing Nick in the doorway.

“Sorry,” He smiles apologetically, walking up to you and grabbing the cups filled with juice that is his and Charlie’s. He catches you off guard once again, planting a soft kiss on your cheek before bounding off to the living room again.

“What the fuck.” You stand in oblivion, feeling your face heat up. You decide you won’t unpack that tonight, flicking off the kitchen light and rejoining your movie mates.

Nick and Charlie had switched spots to where the blond was in the middle like he had been all day and your boyfriend pats the free spot next to him. You comply, setting your cup on the table while sitting and you lean into Nick with a soft smile.

“You forgot this, kind ma’am.” Charlie grabs the plastic pink band and you lean forward. He puts it on carefully and leans back with a self-satisfied expression, grabbing the remote with a quite cheer. “Are we ready for the best movie night ever?”

You and Nick watch him with amusement, “Yes, Charles, we are.”

“Not Charles, I will fight you.” He shivers at the name.

“You call me Nicholas?” Nick speaks. It makes you laugh.

“It’s your real name.” He grins.

“Is Charles not your real name, Char?” You lift an eyebrow and he rolls his eyes, still wearing the grin.

“No, it is ‘Charlie “Char” Spring’.”

You let out an insufferable sigh.

“Y’know, Y/N has called me ‘Luke’ before.” Nick leans his head back with a scoff. This makes you have a full on belly laugh which makes Charlie react the same way. “Yes, yes laugh it away.” He sighs like he’s in pain.

It takes five minutes to calm down. You wipe a precious tear away, “It was on call too and he hung up. Would not answer for like, an hour.” You inhale deeply at the memory before laughing again.

“Should we start calling him Luke as a nickname?”

“Please, please don’t.” Nick squeezes the arm wrapped around Charlie’s waist with a pleading look.

“Awwe you can’t do that.” He pouts, reaching up to pinch Nick’s face.

“Dho wha?” He sounds funny with Charlie tugging at his face.

“The puppy eyed look. The doe eyes.” You bat your eyelashes at Nick when he eyes you from the corner of his eyes before rolling them.

“We’ve gone all dahy withosut this, nowh yuu wanna shtart?” Now he’s the one doing the insufferable sighing.

“It’s a daily mission.” Charlie nods, a serious expression crossing his looks – putting on an act. He then lets go and grabs the remote again, “Movie time!”

“Movie time!” You cheer afterwards.

You three are silent for a bit as the movie plays, you and Charlie cuddling into Nick. He plants soft kisses down your face and you flush a bit. Then he moves to Charlie, repeating the action, who giggles quietly and eyes Nick with a shy look. It makes you laugh under your breath and Charlie doesn’t miss it, pointing to you with a brow raised and expression saying, ‘Don’t laugh at me when you’re acting the same.’ You look away.

“Hey,” Nick suddenly speaks up and the two of you look over. “Thanks for today. It really helped calm me down…” He continues to train his eyes on the TV but his ears burn from you and Charlie giving him your undivided attention. “And reassured me about a few things…” He purses his lips.

“Reassured?” Charlie asks quietly, as if afraid to make Nick snap his mouth shut and not speak again.

Nick sucks in a breath and you shiver from his fingers crawling up your arm. You watch Charlie lift his own hand and hold the arm wrapped around him.

“Yeah. Since everything felt like it was crashing down, I don’t know. It kinda made me feel… negative? About certain stuff. Between us. Not that I’m not happy, I’m more than thankful to be with you two but just like, how you both felt towards me…” His pursed lips flatten and your brows bend at the way his eyes dim.

“Breaking up with me for example because maybe you felt neglected or such. It made me so scared to think about I stopped responding to both of your messages most of the time and barely wanted to call because you know, what if one day you just went, ‘Yeah I don’t think we should be together,’ such and such.” You both stay quiet to let him speak his mind and you hate that he ever thought such things.

When Nick stays silent you take a sharp inhale, meeting eyes with Charlie’s glossed ones. The sight breaks your heart. “Nick…” You start off carefully and he looks over to you with so much exhaust. Slowly, you cuff his face – the same way you did outside – brushing your thumbs against him cheeks. Your right hand moves down, playfully you press your thumb against his bottom lip and smile gently.

“I’m sorry that you ever felt that way. It’s far from the truth, sweetheart.” He lets out an airy chuckle and you watch with adoration. “Y’know brains come up with the craziest scenarios when you’re stressed and it’s annoying, and stupid.” You huff, left hand moving against his cheek and he leans into the touch. Your thumb and index finger latch onto his ear and you pinch it lightly. “Do you know that, that would never happen unless you came to me asking for such a thing?” You pucker out your lips.

He watches you in a daze before laughing. “Do you know that would never happen?” Then he turns to Charlie with a soft look. “And you, Char?”

Charlie rubs at his reddening eyes and inhales. He then nods, opening his mouth before faltering. You both give him and moment and he closes his eyes in frustration before heaving out a sigh. Concern is evident in both of your expressions but Charlie opens his eyes with a new look of determination, straight at Nick.

He smacks his hands against Nick’s shoulders which makes the latter’s mouth hang open in surprise. “Nick. I love you. A lot. It hurts to know that you were dealing with these emotions, but know I’m not blaming you. How could I? It’s not your fault. Never feel bad for needing to take your time to sort out your own feelings and what’s going on with yourself. We’d never blame you for that because in the end, you know we have you, right?”

Nick nods and you can see his own eyes get glossy as well. Charlie then looks at you, “I love you too, Y/N, don’t tell Tao but you’re my bestfriend.” He chuckles, wiping at his eye again and you wipe at your owns.

“Hey, he can be your guy bestfriend and we wouldn’t have to fight over titles.” You wink, before leaning to Nick and kissing him softly. “I love you both, very much so. I’m glad you were able to talk to us, Nick.”

“Was that your goal today?” He grins in a joking manner, tilting his head in the crook of Charlie’s neck while entangling his fingers with yours.

“Did it work?” Charlie sniffles a bit before laughing. You laugh as well, “This is ridiculous we’re supposed to be watching Barbie and now we’re sobbing.”

“I give up.” You throw your head back, side eyeing the TV.

“Nooo, don’t give up.” Nicks chuckles before sitting upright. “We can still watch… we should probably eat too.” He points to the lonely plates on the table.

“True.” You and Charlie agree. You three take a moment to collect yourselves with a few embarrassed laughs here and there before settling back down.

“What’s in the bag, by the way?” You gesture to the backpack under the coffee table as Charlie rewinds the movie back to the beginning. He glances down.

“Snacks.”

“It’s good.” You hum in approval, taking a bite of your food. The three of you enjoy the movie and dinner, later on making those root beer floats paired with the brownies. Charlie had explained to Nick that he was texting Sahar about the Barbie Movie and she told him she went with Imogen. Apparently, Imogen gives the movie a 2/10 because she messed up her outfit at the theaters.

“That’s terrible.” Nick stares at Charlie in shock but it doesn’t last long with the way his lips curve into a smirk, “That’s not her real rating though, is it?”

“Of course not, she loved it.” Charlie laughs.

You’ve been quiet this whole time but suddenly loll your head to face them. Nick already giving you an exasperated look when you got their attention. “Nick. Your new name in my phone is Ken Nelson.”

[secretswiftymarvelfan]

Run Free - Alpha!Ari Levinson x Omega!Reader (Part 5: Out Of The Woods)

Summary: With the full moon you and Ari spend time together in your wolf forms.

Word Count: 5.7k

Warnings: Angst! Fluff! Mention of Captive Situation! A/B/O dynamics!

Dividers by @firefly-graphics

Series Masterlist / Masterlist

Chapter 5: Out Of The Woods

You were in your room making your bed when you happened to glance outside to see the night sky. You stopped what you were doing and walked over to the window to admire the view. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky allowing you to see every star in brilliant detail.

Not satisfied with the restricted view your window gave you, you made your way down the stairs and onto the back porch. A smile grew on your face as you looked up at the endless sky, watching the stars twinkle and listening to the sounds of the forest around you. 

You sat down on the steps wrapping your arms around your knees as you just stargazed. You were so lost in the stars that you barely noticed Ari coming out to join you. Your only sign was the feeling of warmth that you always felt when he was nearby.

“This is the most beautiful sky I’ve ever seen,” you said as he sat down beside you.

“It is amazing, I don’t think I could ever live in a big city, the light pollution would ruin it all” Ari agreed nodding his head “Did you used to live in the city?”

“No, just close to one, I never really was allowed out much after dark anyway” you admitted with a shrug of your shoulders.

Ari looked over at you sadly, you didn’t speak much of your time before you were taken but whenever you did it was rarely positive. Your parents seemed controlling and psychologically abusive. They kept you so sheltered that you barely knew your own biology. The fact that in the years you were gone they didn’t look for you didn’t sit well with Ari at all. It did spur him on to make sure the life you lived now was full of freedoms and everything else you deserved.

“You know it’ll be a full moon in a couple of days and Sammy said you're more than strong enough to shift now so why don’t you join all of us for a run” Ari suggested as he glanced up at the moon.

“People still do that?” You asked surprised. 

“Yeah it's not as common nowadays, like a lot of things where the world has grown more modern, people have less time to do what our ancestors did. Not everyone is free to do it, like emergency services and other essential businesses” Ari explained “If the full moon falls on a weekend then I can’t go on a run because of the bar”

“Guess that makes sense, kinda like the pack thing, people rely on it less because the world is more open,” you said making Ari smile as he nodded his head.

“Exactly like that, so you up for joining us?” Ari smiled nudging your shoulder.

“Yeah sounds like fun, it’ll be nice to stretch my legs and get out, feels like i’m only ever here or at the bar but even that’s rare,” you said as you looked back up at the stars.

“Do you wanna get out more?” Ari asked as he watched your eyes search the stars.

“I dunno, maybe, I feel like getting out and I dunno having a job or something seems like the next logical step but then I know I still get nervous around unknown alphas which is kinda stupid” you sighed shaking your head.

“It's not stupid” Ari interrupted putting his hand on your shoulder getting you to look at him.

“After everything you’ve been through no one would blame you for being wary around Alphas and not wanting to put yourself in an uncomfortable situation. Maybe we can find you a job in admin or something where the only people you’ll have to interact with are people you know and then go from there?” Ari suggested squeezing your shoulder reassuringly making a small smile pull at your lips “And I know for a fact that it’s absolutely something you can do, in the past couple of months I’ve watched as you’ve come out of your shell into this much more confident and amazing woman, the fact that you now so openly trust me when before you ran at the sight of me shows how much you’ve grown” Ari continued, when he looks back over at you he sees tears collecting in the corner of your eyes.

“Shit, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to make you cry, fuck” Ari apologised scolding himself for bringing up your past.

“No, no,” you said grabbing his hand and squeezing it “These are happy tears I promise” 

Ari looked back over at you uncertainly “I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you, yeah alphas still kinda make me nervous but you’ve made me feel safer than I ever have before in my entire life, you’ve given me freedom and a second chance of life, none of this growth would have been possible without you” you told him a couple of tears rolling down your cheek.

Ari reached out to cup your cheek gently wiping away your tears. The both of you smiled gently when you leaned into his touch. Ari wanted nothing more than to close the distance and kiss you, and unbeknownst to him you wanted the same. Instead, he cleared his throat and let his hand drop from your cheek.

“It’s late we should probably head inside” he said, not really wanting to.

“I know but just another few minutes? Please?” You asked with a small hopeful smile and puppy dog eyes that made Ari want to bend over backwards for you.

“Of course ‘Mega” he smiled.

You smiled back over at him, the pet name he used making your insides feel all warm and mushy. You shuffled closer to him resting your head against his shoulder as you looked up at the sky. 

Ari kept his eyes on you the entire time, the stars were pretty but you were spectacular. The feeling of your head resting on his shoulder made his heart skip a beat. Unable to stop himself he nuzzled his nose into your hair breathing in your scent. He felt every worry he had about you, the bar and everything in between melt away and a sense of calm washed over him. 

Much more than a few minutes later you lifted your head from Ari’s shoulder. You nodded sleepily as he asked if you were ready to head inside. Ari stood he offered you his hand expecting you to drop it once stood up but you didn’t. You held onto him as you both walked inside and up the stairs. Only dropping your hand once outside your room, just to lean up and kiss his cheek as you said goodnight and slipped into your room.

Ari stood outside your room unsure as to what to do. Part of him wanted to knock on your door, even going as far as raising his hand to do so. The other part of him held him back, reminding him to let you make all the decisions. Flexing the hand you held he turned and walked back to his own room. 

A couple of days later was the full moon you’d been waiting for. You could feel the excited energy in the air as everyone arrived. Rachel who normally gave a playful roll of the eyes at the boy's antics was even laughing along with them.

“You ready for the run?” Sammy asked walking over to you.

“I think so, just a little nervous it's been forever since I last shifted” you admitted fiddling with your shirt.

“You’ll be fine it’s like riding a bike you never truly forget” Jake reassured you with a smile.

“It's been years since I’ve done that too” you pointed out with a chuckle.

“Hey, maybe Ari should take you on a little bike ride date through the park” Max grinned earning a slap around the back of the head from Ari.

“What these boneheads are trying to say is that it's a natural part of you, nobody can take it away permanently” Rachel assured you.

“We’ll all head out and shift and give you time and space to do it when you’re ready” Jake offered, everyone nodding in agreement.

You watched as they all headed towards the back door that led out to the porch. As Ari passed you to also leave you reached out and took his hand halting him.

“Do you mind staying?” You asked nervously.

“Yeah of course” he agreed waiting with you as everyone else headed out.

Once they were gone you could hear the howls of your friends outside as they shifted. Looking in their direction Ari could see the hesitancy in your eyes.

“You’ll be fine, just gotta take a couple of deep breaths and let it happen, don’t overthink it” Ari reassured you.

“What if I can’t?” You asked quietly, voice barely above a whisper.

“Then it’s something we’ll work on, you don’t have to come with us tonight and if you want I’ll stay back here with you too” Ari said but you shook your head.

“No, no you go it's fine,” you told him with a smile.

Ari nodded “Okay, but look if it helps I’ll show you” he offered as he took a step back from you dropping your hand.

You watched as he closed his eyes and took a couple of deep breaths. His body begins to change, his shirt melting away and being replaced by dark brown fur. Once fully in his wolf form, he sat down in front of you allowing you to get a good look. 

His fur was the same dark brown as his hair, as well as being slightly longer and thicker than the usual wolf. He was already immensely big and muscular but his fun only added to that. Your favourite part though was his eyes, the strikingly light blue a direct contrast to his dark fur. 

He stood back up and walked over to you. Brushing his head against your leg making you chuckle. Your hand fell to the top of his head, fingers running through his thick, soft fur. You couldn't help but smile at the blissed-out look on his face as you stroked his head. He went as far as thumping his hind leg when you scratched behind his ear. He nuzzled up into your hand before pulling away slightly to give it a gentle lick.

You watched as he padded out of the cabin to join his friends who you could all hear playing outside. You could feel the pull to go join them, join him so you leant into it. Closing your eyes you took a couple of deep breaths, stretching out your back as you felt something shift. 

When you opened your eyes you were no longer at the same height as you were before. You were much lower to the ground, glancing over your shoulder you saw your tail wagging back and forth and you realised you had done it. You let out a victorious yip before stretching out your back and shaking out your fur.

Ari was sat on the back porch watching his friends play with one another. Tackling each other to the ground or chasing each other. The sound of a playful yip behind him made him turn, standing when he saw you in your wolf form trot out of the house.

Ari’s ears instantly perked up and his tail started wagging as he admired your wolf. You were much smaller and skinnier than him, but perfectly streamlined. He could already tell he would struggle to keep up with you when you hit full speed. Your fur looked silky smooth, almost like the moonlight was bouncing off of it.

As you walked over to him you lowered your head bowing in submission to him. Ari tilted his head slightly before walking over and nudging his snout against yours making you raise your head. He could see the surprise in your eyes so he nuzzled against you to reassure you. There was no need for submission here/

You began to wag your tail before jumping away down the stairs to go join his friends. Ari remained stood on the porch watching you run rings around Jake and Max, at one point using Max as a springboard to tackle Jake. 

As much as Ari wanted to watch you play and interact with his friends he knew they should start the run soon. Throwing his head back he let out a long howl that made everyone stop and join with him. The sound of your howl perfectly harmonised with the group like it had always been there. 

Once he stopped he shook out his fur before jumping down the stairs and beginning the run. You and his friends followed closely behind. He had expected you to stay near the back of the pack but instead, you closely flanked him.

You couldn’t believe how free you felt. Even the moment you escaped didn’t feel like this. You weaved in and out of trees, feeling the wind whip through your fur, whistling past your ears. 

You easily matched pace with the rest of the pack but you wanted to go faster. See just what speed you could get up to, but you could feel the unspoken rule to stay behind Ari. You knew that Ari wouldn’t mind if you pushed ahead, he wasn’t like other Alphas. This pack wasn’t like other packs, while they all saw Ari as their unofficial leader, they didn’t care about hierarchy. So you waited until Ari signalled for the pack to break.

Ari glanced over his shoulder and could see you were itching to break away. Wanting to run just with you he let out a short bark and broke away from the pack. He turned to the side you were on nudging you to run faster. He could see the sparkle in your eyes before you darted off.

Ari could tell you were gonna be fast but he was surprised at how quickly you had gotten away from him. He could barely keep up, every time he felt like he was gaining you’d dart between trees making him slam on the breaks so he wouldn’t crash into them. 

At one point you had completely disappeared from sight and Ari had no clue where you were or what direction you’d gone in. He slowed down to a trot and lifted his nose into the air to try and track your scent. However he could smell you in every direction he turned, he tried to listen for you, his ear twitching in different directions but he couldn’t work it out. 

You were crouched close to the ground as you circled him, making sure to stay out of his line of sight. You slowly began to stalk towards him, keeping yourself low, carefully placing your paws so as not to disturb the leaves. You had to fight the urge to wag your tail as you got closer and closer. 

Once you were close enough you pounced using your speed and the element of surprise to tackle Ari to the floor. He let out a huff of surprise at the impact before the two of you play fought on the ground. You stood over Ari playfully snapping at him as he twisted underneath you. He managed to get his paw on your chest pushing you off. 

You bounced backwards as he got back to his feet. Your tail was wagging furiously back and forth as you performed a play bow. Ari mirrored you watching happily as you bounced side to side enticing him to play. You were like a like a coiled spring waiting to snap, Ari was just waiting for the perfect moment. 

You circled him barking and whining for him to play but he was just watching you. You were mid-bounce when he finally pounced hoping to tackle you, however, your reaction speed was much better than he anticipated and you’d dodged his attack and had taken off again.

This time however you allowed Ari to match pace with you. The two of you nudging each other as you ran. As you broke into a clearing in the woods Ari made his move finally tackling you to the ground. You twisted underneath him but he kept you pinned standing tall over you. 

Once you had stopped wiggling underneath him, submitting to him, he dropped his snout down to yours gently nuzzling it against yours. A sentiment you quietly reciprocated, even going as far as licking his face. 

He gave you one last nudge before moving off you so you could stand up. As you stood you moved to stand side by side nuzzling your head into the thick fur of his neck. You then let out a large yawn and Ari could tell you were clearly ready for bed. He could hear the sounds of his friends still playing and enjoying the full moon, but he didn’t want to leave your side. 

The two of you slowly made your way through the woods back to his cabin. You walked side by side brushing shoulders as you walked. You however slowed down as you approached the cabin. Ari stopped on the porch turning round to see you stood a few meters away. He tilted his head not sure why you had stopped. It was only when you let out a low whine, one he always heard pups give out, one he used to do when he was a pup. 

You didn’t want to shift back yet. 

So instead of heading inside the cabin Ari moved to the corner of the porch and settled down. He then called you over watching as you pad over and settle down beside him.

Ari watched over you as you fell asleep. He kept watch as his friends came back, growling quietly at them so they wouldn’t wake you. Once they were gone he allowed himself to relax. Especially when you moved in your sleep to lie closer to him. He let out a quiet yawn before gently resting his head on your shoulders and allowing himself to fall asleep. 

The first couple of days after the full moon run you could feel the relaxed atmosphere in the cabin. However, a few days later you could feel Ari’s stress levels rising. If he was at home he’d spend the majority of the day in the office, where you could hear him pace back and forth. If he went to the bar he’d come home visibly tired. 

Whenever you could sense his stress you felt the urge to do something to help him relax. So you’d make him dinner, leaving the leftovers in the fridge for when he returned late at night. If you woke before him, or before he was back from his morning run you’d make sure there was a cup of coffee waiting for him. 

Today he was working away upstairs in his office, he’d been there all day. Not even going out for his morning run. It had gone lunchtime and Ari had yet to come downstairs for lunch. All you could hear was him occasionally pacing back and forth.

Not wanting him to go hungry you made him some lunch and a fresh cup of coffee. When you opened the door you found Ari sat at his desk, elbows resting on the desk hands running through his hair.

“Hey I thought you might be hungry” you said grabbing his attention.

He quickly looked up having not heard you walk in, he looked down at his watch eyebrows raising slightly.

“I didn’t realise the time, thank you” Ari smiled as you put the plate down on his desk.

“Everything okay you looked really stressed when I walked in” you asked him as he started eating.

“Just work stuff, it's fine,” Ari said shaking his head.

“Is it the same work stuff that’s been stressing you out the last few days?” You asked making him raise a brow at you.

“Yeah, just got a problem I’m trying to solve” Ari sighed glancing down at the paperwork on his desk.

“What kind of problem?” You asked him.

“The bar isn’t making enough money, if I don’t find a way to reduce costs and boost sales I’ll have to sell” he explained sitting back in his chair as he looked up at you.

“You can’t sell, you worked so hard on getting that bar,” you said shaking your head at the idea.

Ari gave you a small smile before shrugging his shoulders “I don’t want to but if I don’t do something quick then it might be my only option” He explained.

“Let me help, look over this see if I can find something, you’ve been looking at it for so long that you might be overlooking something” you suggested pointing to the paperwork.

“You don’t have to,” Ari said shaking his head.

“Please Ari, we spoke out finding me something to do maybe this could be it? I’m good at maths too, my parents didn’t let me go out much so I spent a lot of my time doing extra school work” You told him.

Ari sighed sadly at your admission. You were slowly telling him more and more about your past. The more you did the more he hated the way you used to live. The more he wanted to make sure you had the best life possible now.

“Okay, but I won’t blame you if you get bored” Ari said with a lopsided grin making you chuckle.

“Oh I won’t” you smiled grabbing a pencil from the pot on his desk and the paperwork.

Ari smiled as he watched you go sit down on the couch in the corner and start reading through it all. Almost instantly you started circling stuff and making annotations.

Ari continued eating taking a small break as you worked before returning to his work. Doing the things he hadn’t been able to get to yet.

“Have you thought about doing themed nights?” You asked grabbing his attention.

“Themed nights?” He asked as he looked over at you.

“Yeah I can remember my parents telling me how they met at an open mic night, you could do something like that getting local musicians in, or maybe even an omega only night” you suggested.

Ari hummed in thought as he leant back in his chair, rolling his pen between his fingers.

“Is that something you’d be interested in, an Omega only night?” He asked.

“Yeah, I mean I know not all Alpha’s are bad, you, Max and Rachel have shown me that, but I think there’s still a guard that goes up, and to be able to have a safe space to do that and have fun would be appealing to the Omegas in town” you explained making a smile grow on Ari’s face.

“That’s a good idea, i’ll do it, on one condition though” he smiled making your head tilt in question.

“You have to help me organise it,” he said.

“Oh no, I don’t think I’d be good at all that, you’re the expert with all the bar stuff,” you said shaking your head as he stood up from his chair.

“Yeah, but I’m not an omega” he pointed out as he walked over to sit beside you on the couch.

“I can guess at what an omega wants but I wouldn’t know from experience, so getting your insight would be valuable” he explained as you turned to face him “You tell me what needs to happen to make omegas completely comfortable and safe while also having fun, whatever you feel is right because if you feel safe after everything you’ve gone through,” Ari said reaching out to take your hand in his “then other omegas will too” 

You bit your lower lip slightly as you gazed down at your hand in his. It looked so tiny compared to his large strong hands, it felt comforting and safe being held by him. Your heart fluttering at his touch. Your gaze meets his, his bright blue eyes shining with reassurance.

“Okay” you agreed.

“So we have a deal?” Ari asked with a lopsided grin.

“We have a deal” you smiled nodding in agreement. 

“Great, now I saw you scribbling away so tell me how screwed I am,” Ari said nodding down to the paperwork.

You chuckled gently and shook your head as you grabbed the paperwork “You’re not screwed, I think if the themed nights go well and a couple easy changes are made you’ll be rolling in it in no time” you told him.

“You sound very optimistic” Ari grinned.

“I am” you smiled.

You started explaining all the different things you noticed. Where the margin could be increased and what supplies could be swapped out for cheaper ones. You’d even found deals he could take advantage of so he could get some of the more expensive alcohol for a fraction of the price.

“Wow” Ari muttered sitting back “I have been scouring that for solutions for weeks and you’ve come in and solved it in less than an hour” he said shaking his head in disbelief.

A bashful smile appeared on your face as you looked down at your lap shaking your head.

“Seriously, you’re amazing at this sort of stuff, I hate this side of owning and running a bar, I’d much rather spend my time actually working behind the bar than in the office, if you want you could help me out full time, work at the bar doing this sort of stuff” Ari suggested.

“Really?” You asked glancing over at him.

“Yeah of course, only if you want to though don’t feel like you have to,” Ari said.

“Yeah I want to, you’ll have to show me how to do all of it but yeah I’d love to” you smiled nodding your head.

“Great, I’ll add you onto the payroll” Ari smiled standing back up.

“Oh you don’t have to do that,” you said shaking your head.

“I wouldn’t be a very good boss if I didn’t pay my employees, especially one as important as you” he grinned as he walked back over to his desk.

“I don’t need the money though,” you said shaking your head, Ari’s reminder that you didn’t need to pay rent or anything while you stayed with him fresh in your mind.

“Use it for stuff you want then, treat yourself” Ari smiled as he scribbled something down.

“I haven’t even got a bank account and you should be saving not adding costs” you pointed out.

“We’ll sort that, if you’re working for me then you’re getting paid for it especially when you’re saving my business,” Ari told you.

“Fine but will you let me pay rent or something?” You offered as Ari walked back over to you.

“We can discuss that at a later date” he smirked making you roll your eyes.

“It really is your way or the highway isn’t it” you sighed smiling up at him.

“You know me so well omega” Ari grinned “Now let's go take a break we’ve done some good work and we deserve to relax” he said offering you his hand.

“What are you thinking?” You asked taking his hand and allowing him to pull you to your feet.

“Why don’t we go on little run just the two of us?” Ari suggested a wide grin growing on your face.

“I’d like that a lot” you smiled.

Ari led you down the stairs and out onto the back porch only dropping your hand as he shifted into his wolf form. You chuckled as he leapt down the steps, turning to face you wagging his tail encouraging you to join him. You smile as you shift jumping down the stairs, nuzzling your snout into his scruff.

Ari then trotted away a short distance and called for you to follow. You trotted after him the both of you heading deeper into the forest. Unlike the full moon run, you and Ari took your time strolling through the forest. Your shoulders occasionally brushed each other.

Eventually, Ari led you to a stream that ran through the forest. You wagged your tail in excitement quickly running towards it splashing through the stream. Ari smiled as he watched you play in the stream chasing the splashing water. 

You turned spotting Ari watching you on the side of the shore not stepping into the stream. Deciding that wasn’t good enough you turn your back to him kicking your hind legs out towards him, splashing him with water.

He huffed in annoyance giving you a playful snarl as you looked back over at him. You do a play bow inviting him to come play with you. He charged into the stream after you, chasing you through the water. 

The two of you continued to play, splashing each other, trying to tackling each other into the water. When you stepped out of the stream you shook your fur out causing water to spray over Ari. He playfully snarls at you before shaking his own fur out and spraying you back. 

You huffed in annoyance barging Ari with your shoulder before dashing further into the forest. You heard Ari howl before running after you. You could hear his paws hitting the ground behind you, never getting close enough to actually catch you. 

You find a small cave darting inside hoping Ari hadn’t spotted you run inside. You crouch down to keep a low profile, staying silent waiting to see him.  You heard leaves rustling and twigs snapping as he approached. He appeared near the entrance of the cave, snout pointed upwards as he tried to sense where you were. 

Excitement got the better of you and your tail began to wag, it didn’t create much noise but Ari instantly looked over in your direction. You saw the excitement on his face as he stalked closer to you. 

He blocked your escape his tail wagging victoriously as you rolled onto your back. He stood over you as you submitted pawing at his chest. He lowers his head brushing his snout against you.

He then stepped back enough for you to stand up, as you do so a clap of thunder rips through the air. You instantly cowered further into the cave. Ari walked closer to the entrance seeing the heavy rainfall and lightning flash through the sky. As he glanced back at you he saw you pushed as far back into the cave as possible, shaking with fear, tail between your legs. 

He padded back over to you nuzzling his snout against you soothingly. He felt you relax slightly but you flinched once more when another clap of thunder rumbles through the air. As you whimpered he rests his head on top of you, gently licking your face to calm you.

Knowing that you’d have to wait the storm out Ari got you to lie down. Once you were settled he lay down beside you resting his head over your shoulders. You shift besides him move closer into his side, feeling his calming woodsy scent wash over you.

As the storm rolled on Ari kept comforting you. Nuzzling his snout against you whenever you’d flinch. Gently licking your fur like his mother would do when he was a pup. As the sky grew darker and the night drew in Ari encouraged you to fall asleep and curled up next to him, his head resting on top of you as you slowly dozed off. 

Ari tried to keep himself awake until the storm passed so he could comfort you if and when he needed to. But as he lay so close to you all he could smell was your lavender scent. He felt his entire body completely relaxing as he too fell asleep inside the cave.

When morning broke the storm had passed. Ari was the first to wake, gently getting up and stretching out his back with a wide yawn. He then padded over to the entrance of the cave, looking up to see the bright blue sky, no cloud in sight.

He glanced back over at you, seeing you curled up still fast asleep. He didn’t want to disturb you but he knew you’d most likely be hungry and would be far more comfortable back in the cabin. Walking over he nudged his snout against yours, gently waking you with the occasional lick. 

You blinked a couple of times as you woke lifting your head tiredly looking up at Ari. He nudged you again but you dropped your head, rubbing your paws over your face as you tried to get comfortable and fall back asleep. Ari gave you a light warning growl as he nudged you again getting you to stand, you huffed in annoyance snarling slightly to show your displeasure at being woken up.

The two of you slowly made your way back to the cabin. You tiredly leaned against Ari as you walked, Ari didn’t mind though knowing you didn’t sleep well last night. He would just gently encourage you onwards, choosing the easiest route home possible.

Once you got back to the cabin you both shifted back to your human forms. You let out a large yawn as you stretched upwards.

“Are you hungry, we haven’t eaten since lunch yesterday?” Ari asked as he walked into the kitchen.

“No, just tired, I think I should just go lie down,” you said shaking your head.

“You should try and eat something it’ll get your energy levels back up, just toast or something?” Ari pressed gently.

“You can go lie down afterwards I promise” he added when he saw your hesitancy.

“Okay” you yawned moving to sit down at the kitchen table.

“Thank you” Ari smiled as he set about making the both of you some toast.

Once you’d eaten you trudged upstairs to your room to go lie down. Ari cleaned up the plates, making himself a cup of coffee before heading upstairs to his office. Planning on setting in motion some of the changes you suggested. 

After a couple hours Ari had yet to hear you resurface. So he carefully and quietly poked his head into your room. He smiled when he sae you fast asleep, hands curled around his shirt that he’d given you on your first day. He doubted it smelt much like him anymore so he made a mental note to leave another out for you.

Sharing is caring so please reblog and leave a comment to really make my day!

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Series Masterlist / Masterlist

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[late-to-the-party-81]

Who vibes for Vibranium?

AN: Have a little short and sweet, sort of cracky Stucky sexual shenanigans story. Enjoy!

Beta’d by @metalbvcky but all errors are my fault.

Likes are loved, reblogs are golden

Mood board by me and dividers by @firefly-graphics

Join my tag list here

Master list | Stucky Bingo Master List

Summary: Steve likes to be indulged. It's a good thing Bucky likes to indulge him. Even if he's a thieving little big brat sometimes.

Relationships: Bucky Barnes x Steve Rogers

WC: <1k

CW: AU: Not Canon Compliant, teasing, suggestive dialogue, Super-Soldier sexy shenanigans, discussion of impact play, discussion of bondage, Steve Rogers is a little shit, Soft Top Bucky Barnes, Bratty Bottom Steve Rogers, Fade to Black.

Bingo Fills and Challenges:

@stuckybingo I4 - Vibranium

“Come on, Buck. It’ll be fun.” Bucky pulled a face at Steve’s wheedling tone. He wasn’t convinced.

“Fun? Just sounds like a recipe for disaster to me.”

Steve sidled up to him, wrapping his arms around Bucky’s waist, looking into his eyes and doing his best Little Shit ™ pout. “Don’t you miss being able to hold me down. Like really stop me from moving.” Steve nuzzled into Bucky’s neck and Bucky let out a huff. 

“I miss it,” Steve continued, letting his teeth scrape over Bucky’s throat. Bucky closed his eyes and tried to think of the Presidents of the United States. “I miss feeling all helpless under you.” Steve’s fingers slipped up under the back of Bucky’s shirt and started to draw light patterns over his skin, making him shiver. “One vibranium arm can only do so much and I can’t work out a way for you to use my shield to help.”

“Steve,” Bucky cautioned. “This isn’t really a conversation about informed consent if you’re trying to get my dick to make the decision and not my brain. It’s cheating.”

Steve raised his head with a grin. “Is it working though?”

Bucky rolled his eyes, knowing he’d already lost the fight. “You’re such a punk, you know that?”

“But I’m your punk, and you love me.”

“Unfortunately so,” Bucky agreed. “Now, if you wanna do this, first you gotta hand ‘em over.”

Steve let go of him and practically skipped across their apartment. How a 6”2’ supersoldier could move like that Bucky didn’t know, but he couldn’t say it wasn’t stimulating to watch. It was also kinda cute, the way that Steve was getting giddy at the thought of doing something ‘kinky’. 

As two queer guys who’d grown up in the 30’s, neither were strangers to things that were nowadays termed as kinky, but no matter how long they’d been together, and how many different things they’d done, Steve was always enthusiastic, as though it was his first time, every time. 

When Steve returned from his little sojourn into his study, he was practically vibrating - ha! - with energy and he passed over his new toy with a grin.

“Do I even wanna know where you got these from?” Bucky asked. Of course this was the question that made Steve look a little embarrassed. His neck flushed pink and his left hand came up to brush over the hair at the back of his head. 

“I - uh - may have found them in the cache of recovered HYDRA hardware that Fury keeps in the upstate warehouse.”

“Steve Rogers,” Bucky let out, teasingly. “Are you telling me that you - the great and righteous Captain America - stole these Vibranium handcuffs?”

Steve startled “No! Not stole. Just - umm - borrowed.”

Bucky raised an eyebrow and Steve had the good grace to look slightly cowed. “I mean - we might give them back?”

“If they help me beat your ass without struggling to keep you still they are definitely not going back,” Bucky retorted, failing to get the right tone of authority into his voice.

“You promise?” Steve asked slyly and Bucky shook his head in mild disbelief at his bratty boyfriend.

“The fucking audacity,” he said to no-one in particular, and then “Get in that bedroom, Rogers and strip. You’re getting ten for your cheek, and if you aren’t ready when I get in there, then it’s an extra ten.” 

“Oh no,” cried Steve with faux despair. “Whatever shall I do?”

“Nothing, if these work.” Bucky took a step closer, drawing himself up to his full height, despite that being two inches less than Steve’s. It had the desired effect though - science might have taken Steve out of his little body, but it hadn’t taken the memory of being in that little body out of Steve. Steve shrank down, now reacting to Bucky’s domineering aura. “You’ll do nothing except cry those sweet tears as I turn your ass red because you won’t be able to get away from me. You won’t be able to stop me. Now - do I have to tell you again? Get in there and strip.”

Steve turned, scurrying into the bedroom as fast as he could with his cock doing its best impression of a flagpole between his legs. 

Smiling to himself, Bucky looked at the cuffs, inspecting them and working out how they opened and closed. The last thing he wanted was for them to get stuck, even if the thought  of Stark being mentally scarred for life having to come and help remove them was amusing as hell.

“Time to see if these work,” he muttered to himself, before calling out “Ready or not, here I come.”

Over an hour later

“Yup,” Bucky said with a smile as he stretched out. “Those definitely work.”

Steve groaned and buried his head into Bucky’s side, while lying on his stomach. “My ass is on fire,” he complained.

Bucky sniggered. “Quit your whining, you big baby. You only have yourself to blame. And you’ll be all healed up in an hour. Two, tops.”

As Steve huffed against him and threw an arm across his stomach, Bucky picked up the cuffs from where he’d deposited them after removing them from Steve’s wrists. He turned them over in his hands, pondering.

“I wonder,” he said, “if we got a metal footboard whether these would magnetise strongly enough to it that I could use them to keep your legs apart…”

Steve let out a moan that wasn’t entirely one of despair. “Buck, let me recover before you start trying to turn me on again.”

With a smile still on his lips, Bucky leant over and places a kiss to the top of Steve’s sweaty head.

“Love you, punk.”

“Love you too, jerk.”

Tag list: @christywrites, @alexakeyloveloki, @doasyoudesireandlive, @galactusdevourerofworlds, @crayongirl-linz, @mightstill, @nicoline1998enilocin, @km-ffluv, @wheezy-stucky, @kmc1989, @kombatfather1796

[rozzi-splatter]

ME FIRST

rolling eyes and say something smart x reader for arthur <3

Well, not what I was expecting but sure I'll give it a go for you whoever the fuck you are

Shit Day - Arthur Morgan x GNS!Reader because you didn't specify a gender

"God damn... I'm burning up, what kinda plan was this?" You removed your hat and stood up straight beginning to fan yourself as you looked around the yellow hued swamp. "He ain't been quite right since Blackwater, why are we followin' him again, mister Morgan?" you turned to your partner in crime, watching him drop down from his horse.

Arthur as man as ever, held an unlit cigarette between gloved fingers. "Quit ya' talkin' and pass me the binoculars" he slipped it between his lips and snapped a match across his glove. It lift up like a firefly. A dying one.

"What good is going to look at a little town? Its got like four houses" You stood next to him, yanking your foot from the sludge. You held up your binoculars and let out a heavy sigh continuing to fan yourself as much as possible.

"God knows, bud, he ain't been righ' since Blackwater"

You paused your fanning and slowly turned your head. "Didn't I just say that?" you questioned, raising a brow. You fought the shiver threatening to run down your spin when sweat dripped unexpectedly on your neck.

"Didn't I tell you to quit talkin'?" Arthur replied, eyes pressed to the binoculars. He could practically hear you rolling your eyes. "Keep rollin' ya' eyes at me, maybe you'll find a brain back there... Highly unlikely though but at least ya' tryin'" he spoke loudly then slowly broke into a murmur as he leaned forward slightly to look at a specific target.

"Excuse me? You wanna say that again?" you glared at him and then looked back to the little village, smacking his chest with the back of your hand. "What are we even here for besides giving Dutch more time to think of a new plan speech?" you grumbled.

"Not any longer so yer can stop complainin' now" Arthur smacked the binoculars into your chest.

"Oof!" you grunted, grabbing the equipment. "Damn meat head, we coulda' gone for a drink, ya' know, Morgan,, eaten something other than blown to bits rabbit or left over stew..." you grumbled, stomping lightly in the swampy sludge as you walked back to your horse. "Sweatin' like a sinner in church too"

"Keep talkin', ya'll say something smart eventually" Arthur replied, hoisting himself up on to the saddle. "There's my good boah"

"I will shit in your cot, Arthur, I swear to God" You tapped your ankle against your horse's side, turning it and followed after Arthur in a light trot. Both of you soon broke into a canter down the now more dusty, dry road into the trees.

"Makes a change from Micah spouting shit"

"One drink!"

"No"

"But you drank with Lenny!"

"You ain't Lenny"

"I don't face plant in a pig pen tryin' to out run the law..."

"Don't make me come back there!"

[emithecharmer]

Lilac

Mentions of a car accident (not really?), Swearing, kissing, Seungmin is kinda a simp ngl 🫢🫣, friends-to-lovers

Sorry for any mistakes!! I haven't been sleeping much lately.

"Woah, the purple's back!" You cheered as you walked into your best friend's dorm.

"You like it?" Seungmin asked, running his hand through it.

"Yeah, it's makes you look even cuter." You cooed, smushing his cheeks in, resulting in him pushing you away with an eye roll.

"Where's everyone else?"

"Went out for dinner, they said they'll bring us back some." You frowned.

"Did you want to go out with them..? I hope I didn't keep you home."

"I live with those bafoons, I hardly ever get to see you." He said, making you chuckle.

"What should we do?" You asked.

"Wanna go watch the sunset? We could go to that little beach you like, we'll get there just in time if we go now." Seungmin said.

"Wah! You're so smart!" You said, bouncing in excitement.

"Let's go! We'll take my car." You said, practically bolting out the door, leaving Seungmin to silently watch you with a fond smile, regretfully turning away to lock the door.

.

"Thanks for driving." You said.

"It's only fair, you did drive almost 3 hours to come here today." Seungmin stated.

"Chivalrous as ev-"

"Shit-" Seungmin slammed on the breaks as a car darted out infront of you two. He put his arm on your chest, trying to shield you from hitting the dash, but that only resulted in him hitting the steering wheel with his forehead.

"Min, are you okay?" You asked quietly and he nodded.

"There's no one behind you, let me drive." You said, about to unbuckle, but froze when he grabbed onto your hand.

"We're almost there, I'm fine." He said, moving his hand down to your thigh, gripping it tightly.

It was almost too tight, but you let him hold you anyway, even if he wouldn't admit it, he must've been scared.

.

"Let me.." You rushed out of the car and to his side, checking to see if he was hurt.

"Minnie, you're gonna have a bruise, and there's a small scratch." You said, running you fingers slightly over his hair, moving it up so you could see the bruise starting to form under the small cut.

"..Are you okay?" He asked, standing up and shutting the door.

"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks to you." You giggled nervously and scanned his movements as he walked, trying to see if there was any sign of more damage.

"Hey, I'm fine okay? I promise that it probably looks worse than it feels."

"Should you call someone? Like your manager, maybe Chris..?" He shook his head.

"They're stressed as it is, this will only add to it."

"Minnie, you hit your head pretty hard-"

"Y/n, I'm fine, stop worrying!" He laughed, pulling you closer by your shoulder and rubbing it softly.

"Look at the sunset." He continued.

"It looks like your hair. This has to be the prettiest thing I've ever seen." You said, looking at the sky.

"Yeah, it really is." Seungmin said, smiling at you.

.

"I know this is getting annoying, but are you sure you're okay?" You asked quietly, turning to look at your best friend, who was flopped on the sand beside you. He smiled as he opened his eyes and squinted at you.

"I'm fine. Promise."

"It's getting pretty late, should we head back soon?" He hummed softly before nodding.

"Few more minutes."

"Min...Look at all the fireflies!" You squealed.

"There are a lot out here." He said, sitting up and looking around.

"Now you see why I love this beach so much." You said, looking out into the water, which was pitch black now, due to it being well past 10pm, but you always had a wild imagination.

"Yeah..me too." Seungmin said, making you turn to him and raise a brow.

"You're not even looking at the beach." You laughed, rolling your eyes at him, but he only smiled softly, making you freeze.

"Uh.." You trailed off as your gaze went down to the ground.

"I'm sorry, I completely understand if you don't think that way about me." He said.

"What way exactly would that be..?" You asked quietly, your eyes still on the sand, and your hands now running through it.

"I'm in love with you, Y/n. I have been for a while.."

"How long is a while?" You pressed, smiling ever so slightly as you looked up at him.

"Since the day I met you and you walked in and fell right on your ass." You gasped as you slapped his forearm, making him laugh loudly, falling back onto the sand.

"Nevermind!" You exclaimed, throwing your hands into the air. Seungmin caught onto your hand as you let them down, holding it softly.

It was silent for a few seconds before you turned your body to his, scooting closer.

"I do feel the same way."

"And what way would that be?" He relayed your question back to you.

"I'm in love with you, Kim Seungmin." You said, leaning over his face and kissing his bruise softly.

"And thank you for keeping me safe." He smiled as he let go of your hand, only to bring his up to the back of your head, pulling you back to his lips, stopping right before they came together.

"Always." He said, leaning up slightly to kiss you, smiling sweetly when you sighed into it.

I would like to take a moment to remember Moonbin. Please pray for the family and that he's in a better, pain free, place. I never really listened to Astro, but I can't imagine how hard this must be for the family, his members, and the fans. I would like all of you to really reflect on what you post on the internet, take a moment to stop and think 'Would -blank- be proud of what I'm posting?' You have to realize that these are real people, with real emotions and feelings, you would never say that to someone in person, so saying it behind a screen is just cowardly, and might cost someone their life. I realize that not everyone on here is like that, but there's enough out there. Please, please, think before you post.

[acesbelovedwife]

"Stop looking at me with those eyes"

Portgas D Ace x fem reader fluff

2,4k characters

Masterlist

"Y-NNNNNN!" you head yelling on the deck from your freckled friend "I think he wants something from you" Izo stated "who knows" you smiled as you saw Ace run on the deck trying to find you "why don't you just go to him?" He asked "it's more interesting that way, don't you think? It's kinda cute seeing him all worked up about not being able to find me~" you smirked watching the man struggle "ah young love" Izo looked away and stared at the sea. "Marcoooooooo" Ace whined clinging to his phoenix friend "what do you want Ace, don't you have anything better to do than bother me?" Marco said annoyed trying to get Ace off of him "but I can't find y-n anywhereee" Ace pouted sitting on the floor "maybe she's busy or she just doesn't wanna hangout with a whining baby like you" Marco replied going back to his work "c'mon Marco help me out here!" "Just what's so important that you need to find her right here right now?" Marco sighed, Ace thought for a moment "I want to take y/n on a date..." He finally blurted out "finally, took you long enough" Marco sighed while kicking him out of the room "huh, what do you mean 'finally'?!" Ace yelled as he banged on the door. "Looking for someone?" a certain voice spoke as he stopped his actions "y/n!" He picked you up hugging you "hey, hey calm down it's just me!" You laughed at his actions "I finally found you, I wanted to ask you something" he started "oh? What is it firefly, it's sounds quite important~" you smirked, enjoying seeing him turn red "w-well I wanted to ask would you wanna look at the stars with me" my scratched the back of his head looking away embarrassed "are you asking me out on a date?" You asked shocked "I guess you can call that yeah" he whispered, you didn't expect him to ask that out of all things. He started looking worried at your silence so you quickly said "I'd love to Ace, I'll see you in the evening then?" He nodded as you walked away

When the evening came you found Ace already waiting for you in the back of Moby Dick staring at the sky lost in thought. As you came closer he heard your footsteps and smiled brightly at you making you feel butterflies in your stomach. You sat down next to him enjoying the silence watching the stars. You looked to the side and saw Ace staring at you with so much love behind his eyes "stop staring at me with those eyes" you looked away flustered "what eyes?" He smirked seeing you getting all shy because of him. "You supposed to look at the stars y'know..." "I am, at the ones in your eyes" you started laughing "you're so cheesy sometimes, you know" you kept on laughing "is that bad?" He chuckled bringing his arms around you giving you a gentle hug "not at all, I actually like it a lot" you looked up at him giving him a kiss surprising him for a second but after the small surprise he kissed you back laying you on the floor burying himself in your chest as the kiss ended.

For this one I got inspired by this video I found on twitter!

I'd also like to thank my friend Romi for giving me some ideas for this one. I'm sorry if there are any mistakes, english is my second language. Sorry if seems rushed! I hope you enjoyed reading, I'll try to make the next one longer (⁠´⁠ ⁠.⁠ ⁠.̫⁠ ⁠.⁠ ⁠`⁠)

[pridelessdaydreamer]

[ Fireflies ]

"Lin, check it out!"

Caspar raises his clasped hands above his chest, watching the dark gaps between his fingers. It takes just long enough for him to open his mouth and explain, but then it finally happens—a buttery yellow light flashes from inside the cavern created by his palms.

"It feels like it's been forever since I've seen one of these guys. One of my old tutors told me that if you catch one and release them, they'll grant you a small wish."

He opens his palms, allowing the beetle to freely crawl up his fingers.

"I always thought it was just a story, but then again, they already glow and all. Maybe there really is some kinda magic involved?"

The bug lets out another little flash of light, almost as if in response to Caspar's suggestion. (Probably not, though.) Then there's another flicker, this time of wings spreading out from beneath its shell.

"Oop—it's about to leave. If you wanna add a wish, you'd better make it quick!"

“Hm?”

A lazy gaze casts itself towards Caspar, hands clasped as though holding something precious to his chest. It is spoken of vaguely at first, but then the treasure is revealed—

—a firefly, carefully cupped.

“I highly doubt it,” the mage remarks, but they know that isn’t really the point now, is it? The bug crawls about, both eyes following its path, lights flickering by its own will: no other. It is just the same that a wish may be granted—perhaps now, someday, or never at all.

Eyes furrow—“Am I meant to say it alou– oh, nevermind.” (Her eyes flutter shut, a concentration rarely seen forming.)

(A wish, so it is, as silly as it sounds. Even though an insect could never enact the whimsy of a human; its glow is akin to the stars at night, and maybe that is tie enough to the goddess–)

His eyes open, the little bug flying away shortly after. “Seems I finished making my wish just in time.” With a sly smile, knowing of superstitions, he then adds, “What did you wish for, Caspar?”

[gentlylily11]

"So...what did you do while in that pijamada that you were invited? Ask the fae with a sulk in his eyes

"Aww Tsunotaro don't get angry" said the prefect stroking his shoulder to console him "I honestly went to it because Grim wanted to go and I do not trust much Ace and Deuce to take care of him..."

Says the human with a worried smile

"I didn't do much actually, i just sit around watching everyone else go wild and helping Jamil by time to time" explain Yu "also it was more of a party than a pijamada at the end haha"

"You didn't have fun?"

"Its just...partys aren't really my cup of tea, i like more quiet places, I only took part on the truth or dare game because the other kinda push me" said Yu with a shy smile

"What is truth dare?"

"Haha I was expecting you to ask that and the best way is to put an example, Tsunotaro what do you want truth or dare?"

The fae seem puzzle by her words

"Why do you ask that?"

"Just choose one!" said Yu with pout

"Umm...dare"

"Ok when you choose dare you have to do what ever the other tells you to...so as a dare I dare you to let me touch your horns" said Yu trying to sound cute so the fae would agree

Malleus seem puzzle by the humans request but bow down anyways

Yu gasp of happiness and pat one of the fae's horns with a big smile, Malleus couldn’t evoid to chuckle

"And thats all? Such a weird human game" said Malleus going back to his normal position

"Well its a way to get people to do or say what you want, all in fun and games of course" said Yu "now you can ask me one"

"Child of man truth"

said Malleus surprising the human

"Ah! Haha" Yu chuckle lightly "thats not how its suppose to be, you have to ask truth or dare and the other person choose but i'll take it anyways, what do you want to know?"

"What was your choice in the game?"

"Oh haha, what a peculiar request" Yu chuckle again "Well I choose truth in the game"

"And what was your truth?" ask malleus curious

"Now its my turn, truth or dare?"

The excitement in her eyes told Malleus that the human wanted to ask for something else

"Dare"

"Yes!" Yu said happy "can you appear some fireflies?

Malleus click his fingers and numerous fireflies appear around them

"Thanks!"

said Yu looking at the fireflies, the fae smiled watching how this human was so easy to please

"So child of man, truth or dare?"

"Truth and since I know what you wanna know...i was ask, who was my favorite in the school"

The fae waited for the human to ask him for something again

"And I said...Tsunotaro" she says looking at the fireflies "I said that Tsunotaro is the most lovely person ive meet, i'll never forget the day I meet Tsunotaro"

The human never face the fae while saying that, but her ears where red

[atmosghoul]

43, SWISS/DEW- PLZZZZ OMG I LOVE UR WORK!!!!

ANON THANK U SO MUCH YOU HAVE ACTIVATED MY TRAP CARD SWISSDEW IS MY LIIFFEEEE

This uh,,,,kinda got away from me soooo ENJOOYYYY

Minors go away this isnt for you

Dew has a problem. A great big beautiful, charismatic, problem called Swiss. What a stupid name. 

Ever since Swiss was summoned, he and the rambunctious fire ghoul have butted heads. Aether says that they're just too similar. Both assholes in their own right, both flirtatious to a fault and both very aware of their talents and their effect on those around them. All of the ghouls try to get them to play nice, breaking up arguments and sometimes even physical fights that the two get into. 

If you ask Mountain though, he’ll say they just need to fuck already. 

The sexual tension of Swiss and Dewdrop in a room together can be cut with a child’s toy butter knife. Dew knows it, Swiss knows it. But both are too stubborn to admit it to anyone, especially each other or themselves. And while it is a bit more of Dew having a problem with Swiss than the other way around, Swiss has too much fun lighting a fuse under the little firecracker and watching him explode.

“Firefly, I said I’m sorry, okay? ! didn't know those wings were yours. I thought they were fair game!,” Swiss says, for once genuinely apologetic for inadvertently stealing the fire ghoul's food from the fridge.

“Satanas, knock it OFF with that annoying nickname! No one else called me that until you showed up! Where did you ev- It doesn’t matter. DON’T steal my fucking food again.” Dew drop says stomping closer to Swiss hoping to intimidate the larger ghoul by crowding his space. 

Needless to say, it isn’t working. 

Swiss humours the smaller ghoul stalking towards him though and matches each of Dew’s steps forward with a step back, back, back, until he hits a wall and puts his hands up in mock surrender.

“Look, if it’s any consolation, those wings were so hot I think I started blowing smoke out of my nose like you do when you get angry.”

Dew stops and exhales, smoke pouring out his nose just as Swiss said as the tips of his ears turn an angry red

“Yeah! See? Just like that!” Swiss says pointing excitedly. Like a kid pointing out his favourite animal at the zoo. 

“It really did hurt so, in a way, I’ve kind of already paid penance for my crimes, if you think about it, firecracker,” Swiss says with a shit eating grin and a chuckle.

“Fucking hell, ANOTHER stupid nickname! Why do you INSIST on pissing me off every damn time I see you what the fuck did I ever do to you?” Dew is starting to shout now, exasperated.

Swiss puts on a clearly fake sympathetic look and places his hands on Dew’s shoulders and bends down slightly to get to eye level. “Aw, fire lily, you didn’t do anything! I guess I’m just a little addicted to getting you all riled up like this,” he says, punctuating his statement with a quick scrunch of his nose in the fire ghoul’s direction.

Dew freezes at that nickname. It hits too close to home. Bringing back memories of his past. Back when he was a water ghoul and Mountain would call him waterlily. 

Dew growls, throwing his arms up and shrugging Swiss’ hands off his shoulders before poking Swiss in the chest hard, encroaching even further into the multi ghoul's personal space.

“You should be addicted to shutting the fuck up,” Dew growls and Swiss can hear the anger in his voice is real and something in Swiss snaps. 

He grabs Dew by his arms and spins them around, pinning Dew to the wall with an arm across his chest and presses his hips into Dew to keep his full body pinned almost effortlessly. He watches Dew’s reaction and smirks at the blush that creeps up Dew’s neck and into his cheeks, the ashen skin becoming tinged with a reddish orange. Swiss’ gaze drops to Dew drops small mouth that’s now hanging open slightly.

“Aw little firecracker, you wanna kiss me so bad it makes you looks stupid,” 

And with that comment, it’s Dew’s turn to snap. He growls and dips his head down to spit sparks onto Swiss’ forearm and kicks him in the shin before delivering a punch to the multi ghoul’s gut. 

Swiss doubles over and Dew takes advantage of the situation. He grabs Swiss by the shoulders and pins him against the wall in the same way. 

Swiss outright laughs at the size difference between the two of them. It's not too drastic but it's enough to be comical. 

“Oh boy, little firecracker’s about to explode aren’t y-”

“SHUT UP” Dew all but screams in Swiss’ face. 

Something in Dew’s voice, probably the way it cracked slightly, and in his face makes Swiss pause and really take him in. Dew is properly angry. More angry than Swiss has ever seen him at least that he’s been the cause of. 

His face softens and he reaches a hand up to gently grip Dew’s arm. 

“Dewdrop, I-” “I SAID SHUT. UP.” 

Swiss obeys and gives the fire ghoul a moment.

After a beat Dew’s eyes leave Swiss’ face and looks up to the ceiling.

“What if I did?” Dew says after a few seconds.

Swiss tilts his head in confusion. “What if you did…what?”

“Wanted to…” Dew trails off and growls in frustration.

Realisation dawns on Swiss and he gently grabs Dewdrop's arm and removes it from his collar bone. 

“All you had to do was ask.”

He doesn't even give the fire ghoul time to think before his lips crash into Dew’s quickly. 

Dew freezes for a second before reciprocating and Swiss snakes a hand into Dew’s gorgeous long hair and gives a small tug to adjust the angle and deepen the kiss. Dew wraps his arms around Swiss’ neck and the larger ghoul reaches down to grip Dew’s thighs and hoist him up to wrap small legs around his own waist. He walks them to Dew’s room, kicking the door closed once inside and breaks the kiss depositing Dew on the bed. They stare at each other for a moment. 

“You sure you wanna do this? Word is you haven't yet since you were summoned. I’m not exactly gentle,” Dew says, not trying to get out of it, just a warning. 

“You’re right, I haven’t,” Swiss confirms as he sheds his clothes. “But I want this as much as you do, firelily.”

Dew bites at his lip in contemplation, staring unabashedly as Swiss’ unfairly attractive body. 

“Ok just, do me a favour and do NOT call me that.” Swiss nods at the request, receiving a nod from Dew in return.

“Good. Now get back here,” Dew says as he shucks off his shirt and trousers before reaching for Swiss, beckoning him onto the bed.

Their lips meet again, gentler this time but just as heated. Dew snakes a hand down between them to palm Swiss through his boxers earning a whimper from the multi ghoul above him. Dew smirks into the kiss. 

“Didn't peg you for a whimpering kinda guy,” Dew chuckles, teasingly.

Swiss props himself up on his hands and knees and moves to kiss down Dew’s neck and torso. “Oh baby the pegging comes later,” He says trailing kisses and bites down the small torso underneath him. “Right now I want that cute cock in my mouth,”

Dew shudders at Swiss’ words, his mouth going a bit dry.  

“Y-you don’t want it the other way round? It is your first time after all,” Dew says shakily as Swiss pulls the fire ghoul's cock out of his underwear and begins long and slow strokes.

“Oh I'll have that pretty mouth of yours too. But I want to taste you first,” 

And before Dew can protest, Swiss' mouth is on him. Taking him all the way to the hilt on the first go. 

Dew makes a sound as if he’d gotten a swift punch to the gut, letting out a shaky groan as his hand flies to Swiss’ hair and grips tight. Gently guiding his head up and down to feel every bit of that talented tongue along his cock. Swiss moans around Dew's cock and it feels so good, almost too good.

Dew mumbles something in ghoulish, almost coming out as a whimper. 

“Wait wait wait,” Dew says, pulling Swiss off his leaking cock before he loses himself.

 “Are you sure this is your first time?” He asks incredulously. 

Swiss wipes his mouth with the back of his hand and smirks, his tongue lolling out to lick at his lips. It makes Dew’s cock twitch yearning for that tongue again.

“First time topside, first time with these…human-ish bodies, yeah,” Swiss chuckles.

They hold each other's gaze for a moment, both panting heavily. Dew takes in Swiss’ appearance, mouth and chin already shining with spit, his eyes heavily lidded with lust. Dewdrop nods quickly.

“More,” He breathes out as he grips Swiss’ hair again and pushes him back down to his cock.

Swiss runs his tongue up from the base of Dew’s cock up to the tip earning a loud moan, before taking him in again and bobbing up and down. He thinks he must be doing something right because suddenly Dew has both hands on Swiss' horns and starts thrusting into his mouth letting out whimpering pained noises to match Swiss' own moans that only add to Dew's pleasure.

Suddenly Dew swears under his breath and stops, holding  Swiss’ head still and pulls out of his mouth.

“Sorry, got carried aw-”

“No keep going,” Swiss says, his voice gravely in a way that makes Dew's cock twitch.

Dew hesitates, not really wanting to ruin Swiss’ first time sucking cock by damaging his throat. Copia and Imperator would never let him hear the end of it. But the decision is made for him when Swiss uses one hand to start slowly stroking Dew’s cock again, using the other to grab his hands one by one placing them on his head and moving to hold his mouth open over the head of Dew’s cock sticking his tongue out to flick over the head teasingly. 

And how could he say no? He tightens his grip in Swiss’ hair and starts fucking his mouth at an easy pace, relishing in the feel of Swiss’ mouth hot and wet on his already leaking cock. He speeds up, unable to resist chasing his bliss in the multi ghoul’s mouth, gasping for air between every whimper and moan Swiss rings out of him. Dew feels like he might explode. Maybe firecracker is an apt nickname for him after all. 

He won’t last much longer and Swiss seems to get the hint when Dew slows down and pulls out reluctantly. 

Swiss shakes his head, “Nuh-uh. Give it to me. I want it,” he says, hands moving under Dew's legs to grip his small thighs. He doesn't even care how desperate he sounds, all he can think about is Dewdrop's perfect cock and how his cum will taste on his tongue.

Dew is panting, staring at Swiss like he’s the most beautiful creature on earth or in hell and just nods. 

Swiss gets his mouth back on Dew in a flash bobbing up and down, Dew’s hands fly to grab onto Swiss’ horns, using them as leverage to pull him down onto his cock over and over again until he feels his release getting closer and closer. He tries to warn Swiss, not wanting to catch him off guard on his first time but the sensation is too good, too much. His words fail him and all that comes out is desperate whimpers, gasps and moans.

“Please, please, please,” is all Dew can get out before his orgasm crashes through him in waves. He thrusts all the way into Swiss’ mouth and holds him there with a hand firmly on the back of Swiss’ head. Dew feels the back of the multi ghoul’s throat hit the head of his cock, and Swiss swallows. A sensation that causes another orgasm to crash through him before the first one has even subsided. Dew’s hips grind into Swiss' mouth once, twice more before he lets him up for air and the debauched look on the ghoul’s face is to die for. 

Swiss sits up on his knees and they both catch their breath for a moment before Dew lets out a low shaky groan throwing his arm over his face. “Satanas…again, you're sure this was your first time?” he asks again.

Swiss nods with a chuckle and crawls up the bed to lay next to Dew.

“I’m just naturally that good I guess,” he says with a smirk and a shrug. Dew rolls his eyes. 

“Shut up and kiss me,” 

Swiss obliges and Dew tastes his own release on Swiss’ tongue making his head spin a little. 

The rest of the ghouls and ghoulettes notice Swiss and Dew fighting a lot less often and even if they don't know for sure what happened to get them to get along, they’re happy that they've learned to coexist.

Mountain knows though. He smelled it on them the very next day. That was none of his business though.

[revserrayyu]

Thoughts regarding the ending of Penacony’s 2.0 story

Starting off with a heartbreaking scene so if you haven’t encountered any sadness yet during your playthrough, time to look away because spoilers ahead:

Now then, starting off with that scene, I can’t say I was too surprised to see it happen. Not only did I catch a clip of Firefly’s unfortunate end before I personally made it to the cutscene myself, but red death flags were already sprouting up everywhere before the update even released and trailers mentioned how Penacony would be a “heartwarming and uplifting story” and that we’ll be having a “fun vacation.” Ha, lies! Knowing that this death was coming didn’t make the scene any easier to watch of course. This poor girl. I really want to hope she’s okay since this happened during a dream and no actual body was left behind, but aahh. (disappear among a sea of my own tears)

With the way Black Swan & Acheron were chatting afterwards along with Trailblazer’s completely heartbroken reaction however, it makes the loss seem even more believable. Seeing Black Swan try and comfort us was something that I’d expect from her character, but from Acheron? I was pleasantly surprised. I know next to nothing about her HI3 & Genshin lookalikes or how they act, so based solely on appearances I thought Acheron was going to be the quiet and reserved type. While she does seem reasonable chill at times, learning about how poor she is with her directions and memory was fun and seeing her comfort us after this moment was really sweet of her, even to go so far as telling us it’s okay if we’re mad at her for not acting quick enough to stop the attack and how she paid tribute to Firefly in the real brief cutscene (^cover photo. also, she’s so pretty)

Seeing the selfie left behind afterwards is just another critical hit on all our hearts, especially with Robin’s song playing softly in the background once more. (we ain’t smiling anymore now are we??)

I don’t remember too many details about the hotel journey we go on afterwards aside from seeing those echos of Firefly (I forget what they were called, but it reminded me of the Cocolia & Bronya we saw on our way up to Everwinter Hill for the first time) but hearing that Firefly was speaking to someone else while wandering through the dream was suspicious, especially with the mention of “Mecha.” Speaking of which, I didn’t expect us to fight Sam so soon. He was a bit of a pain but thankfully none of my team fell. Also gotta admit his theme was good. (bro I’m already heartbroken, what more do you want from me?)

I am kinda bummed that we don’t know the outcome of the fight between Sam & Acheron. The short cutscene we got of it was pretty nice, so it was bittersweet that Black Swan saved from that. Didn’t get a moment to relax though because we encounter this shady man right after.. (darn him for being so handsome)

The difference between the Aventurine we saw letting loose during the “White Night” trailer and the conniving fruit loop we have the pleasure of chatting with in game is insane and I love it. As if I wasn’t already wary of this man, now he’s getting different colored text! First Acheron with red, now him with yellow. Sure the color choice itself doesn’t seem that threatening, especially since it’s the same whenever we see Kafka’s spirit whisper, but there’s gotta be some meaning behind the colors and I’m irked we didn’t get a clear answer for it during this part of the story, but that’s just something else to look forward to with upcoming versions. Also, what he’s hinting at, with Acheron being the cause of all this? Bro I don’t wanna believe that! I really like her! (and if he knows then why is he letting things happen like this??)

The Acheron stuff is hard for me to believe at the moment, but the news about Duke Inferno and his followers? That’s a bit easier on my mind. I’m not the biggest fan of the Ever Flame Mansion, as we don’t know too much about them and haven’t officially met them yet, but hearing that Duke actually died offscreen before we even got the chance? Wow. (oops)

Black Swan, honey, I’m not sure who to trust anymore okay? I came here for a fun time and I’ll I’m getting is creepy vibes and tears. We should really stay away from hotels. People are always trying to hurt us; first Belobog, now Penacony. But again with the colored text! If yellow means truth, does that mean Acheron’s red were all lies? Or are they trying to trick us and it’s the other way around? Or perhaps their meanings are something complete different. Regardless, the colors are giving me anxiety. I do love how something so simple as a change in color can grab our attention so effectively though. (they're both lucky they're attractive)

And the danger keeps on coming because we got not one, not two, but three deaths! This time of the lovely Robin. (what managed to hurt her like that I wonder? “Death” again?)

I think one of the worst things about this scene is that Aventurine presents us this sight so proudly, saying that there’s no way for us to deny his offer, less we want this to happen to us as well. He’s just so calm about the entire situation and makes me want to slap his pretty face. (someone warn Ratio to stay out of his bathtub)

The other horrible thing about that scene is that it ends! The game smacks us with a “To be continued” and all we’re left with are many concerns and questions! Fortunately (or unfortunately), we get another quick scene soon after with Sunday and.. Robin. Of course the ??? was a bit strange to see, considering we did meet her previously, but given what we just witnessed, it’s odd nonetheless. For a moment, I believed that maybe this was the real Robin, since her voice didn’t sound distorted and broken like it was before, or perhaps Robin was just her artist name and we don’t know her real name. (“again” huh? how common is death here?)

As it turns out, I’m just stupid and didn’t even think for it to be Sparkle impersonating the singer until Sunday mentioned the fool herself. If I ever crossed paths with her, she’d end me effortlessly. (“chicken wing boy” is a brilliant name)

With how popular Robin is, it’s gotta be tough for Sunday to walk anywhere in Penacony now without seeing her face or hearing her music. This man might go insane. (we don’t need the reminder that she’s “gone,” thank you)

At least she’s willing to help keep up Robin’s appearance so there’s not a massive panic before the festival? She sounds a bit too happy though. I can’t tell what she’s up to but she seems to enjoy all the chaos. (I do agree; his pierced wing looks great)

Sunday stays relatively calm throughout the conversation, but there are moments when you can hear how frustrated he’s becoming, along with that last laugh of his, and honestly it’s getting me kinda worried. I feel like he’s got some crazy plan to set things right, like Cocolia level crazy. (do explain how a funeral is “good news” sir)

And that’s where we truly end for now. Let the waiting game begin. In the meantime, someone let Hoyo know that they managed to break many hearts. (the song really is beautiful though)

All that’s left are the several little missions and the new Black Swan/Sparkle companion quest that I have to get through.

[teddybeartoji]

you made me wanna rewatch (can't play) both of tlou games,,

i really loved the vibes of both games mainly, since you can only follow as the story unfolds - i have to admit that while your favorite is the second, mine was the first. i am weak to selfish people, i love selfishness, not necessarily as a default but more as a proof of pure individuality and i am obsessed with the ideas associated with individualism

so when joel made that choice against everything? against the entire world? against himself?? hell, even against ellie herself???? went a bit insane with that

i read the whole thing u just wrote, have to admit it has been a long while since i watched, so there's stuff i didn't get at first because i needed time to remember the names... anyways if i do go through and watch it i'll have to read your commentary again

side note but i love people that really like something and can talk about it in extended detail, i find it fascinating and there's always a new element i can learn

i also have to admit i didn't like abby because well.. an antagonist to the previous protagonists... and since i am the type to side with the protagonist no matter what.. (i actually some bojack analysis videos this afternoon and ig that's the only media for now that challenged that)

well anyways i do remember still siding with her, admiring how strong she was - and when she got close with lev?? say less good lord (i get attached to characters who are trans/have trans implications in media VERY quickly, esp when i watched tlou2 at a time where i was heavily struggling w gender (still am but repressing so it's not as bad))

overall the writing is truly impeccable, i love me some good characterization

i remember watching videos criticizing tlou2, especially its pacing - i think i agreed back then even though to me it wasn't a problem at all while i was watching. as a last info, i'll just say i havent gotten around to watch the series adaptation... i am very scared it'll disappoint and i just loved the games too much it doesn't feel necessary (even though i am the type to want to go through ALL of a media's content usually otherwise it stresses me out)

saw you were having some trouble sleeping, know that you are not alone 🥲 i feel like i'm going insane

~ ☀️

HIII SUNNYYY HIIIIII:333 I OFTEN WATCH GAMES TOO BTWW!!!!! i actually tend to always watch a playthrough as i play a game lmao,, like i'll watch it as far as i've played bc i love to see how somebody else solves the puzzles and the encounters and stuff!!!!!!!!!!

i do still really love the first one too don't get my wrong!!! i think it's fucking revolutionary like it's an incredible fucking game!!!!!!! the choice that joel makes... insane really. i absolutely love it. it does kill me just a little just knowing how much the choice he makes will bear down on ellie........

AHHH I KNOWW I KINDA JUST SPITBALLED i thought abt giving more context to some of the thoughts but i figured then it really would get a little bit too confusing with all the information lmao BUTTT I'M SO HAPPY YOU STILL DECIDED TO READ IT!!!!!! I MEANS SO MUCH ACTUALLY WAHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! ILYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i definitely understand why people would be upset with abby, i think that's very very normal and i mean.. i was very upset too lmao but i've just seen so many ppl blatantly hating on her and for what she's done and i think that's the stupidest thing ever honestly. like even if you're mad and sad about joel... you should still be able to look at the whole thing from her perspective right??

like imagine if we never saw ellie's and joel's side; ofc the vaccine is one thing - joel took away even the mere POSSIBILITY of a vaccine and no matter how much ppl wanna bash on the idea of developing one, i think that hope really is something that dies last okay. i don't think the fireflies are wrong about believing in that. idk how much i personally would've been willing to do for the cause but yeah i really don't blame them. so when a mf comes in with the immune kid, only to then kill the ONE person who'd be able to make the vaccine and like a million other fireflies alongside with him..... yeah i mean that just makes him sound like a psycho doesn't it lmao

i think it is enough of a reason to go after him AND AGAIN I DO LOVE JOEL I'M BASHING HIM (lol) BUT I'M JUST TRYING TO LOOK AT THE WHOLE THING FROM BOTH SIDES YK? so i really do hate when ppl don't even TRY to see it from her angle...

TLOU2 IS SOOOOOO WELL-WRITTEENNNN!!!!!!!! like so fucking well!!!!!! it hurts so much and it just keeps punching you in the face but that doesn't make it bad yk? i feel like it's all very very realistic. it's fucked up, but that's just how the world is.

AND LEVV!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOOOOVEEE HIMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! genuinely love the fact that they have a lesbian and a trans character as the main characters (and abby with her physique bc that's just not smth you see all the time either)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and i absolutely fucking adored how they handled his storyline. with how abby handled it when the other seraphites called him by his deadname and all that. and when yara told the entire story and then the whole thing with the mom... ahh that really broke my heart he really is my son i love him sm:((((((

i would definitely disagree with the pacing thing actually!!!!! to me it really fit the way the story was progressing yk?? like obviously the start is slow bc ellie and dina are only getting into the city and they have nothing to worry abt other than the few infected as they're looting and tooting around. and then right after they do meet them it all starts getting faster and that too just felt very fitting. bc it was all chaotic!!!!!!!!!!!!! i felt like that kept me on my toes even more!!!!

mmm the show.... it had some cool moments. i did really like how they did the bloater scene buuuut overall it was a bit meh actually. i think for me it was too just bc i'm such a big fan of the games. like my hopes might've been too high. and i just hated that they changed so much; like the fact that they don't have spores in that??? that's such a cool detail so idk why they decided to leave it out. i do think that the actors were good though!!!!

but uh i won't be watching the second season. 1. they casted a bunch of zionists as the main ppl so yeah fuck that shit 2. they casted a little like 5'3 skinny actress as abby😐😐like be so fucking serious rn. i think her being jacked as shit is a very important part,, i think it's good to have that kind of a rep but ohh no they just casted the little twig. it's a hard no from me.

OMFG THIS TURNED INTO ANOTHER WORDVOMIT AGAIN HGSAFAGHSHAGSA DAMN ANYWAYY I HOPE I ANSWERED EVERYTHING I FEEL LIKE I'M ON A ROLL SO IT'S A BIT HARD TO ACTUALLY FOCUS LMAO BUT WAAHHH IT'S SO GOOD TO HAVE PPL TO TALK ABT TLOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MWAH MWAH MWAHH ILYY!!!!!!!

[secretswiftymarvelfan]

Burnin’ Up - Firefighter!Chris AU (Part 15: Calm Waters)

Summary: You and Chris head down to Cape Cod for Jamie and Emma’s wedding, giving you the best chance to fully unwind

Word Count: 11.4k (holy shit....)

Warnings: Fluff! SO MUCH FLUFF! Smut! SO MUCH SMUT! 18+ ONLY! Language!

Dividers by @firefly-graphics​​

Meet the Characters!

Series Masterlist / Masterlist

A/N: I have included a moodboard at the bottom to show off the general vibe of this chapter!

Chapter 15: Calm Waters

Standing in your bedroom you were staring at your open suitcase going over the list in your head trying to make sure you had everything you needed. It had been so long since you’d gone away on any form of break that you were struggling to remember what kind of stuff you needed to bring. Especially since you and Chris were staying in a rented beach house instead of a hotel, what if they didn’t have a hairdryer? Should you bring food or would you sort that once you were there?

You were so lost in your mental checklist that you completely lost track of time, only snapping back into reality when you heard your buzzer buzz. Glancing at your watch you curse to yourself knowing it was Chris arriving to pick you up and you weren’t ready yet.

Rushing over you pick up the receiver to let him in “Hey c’mon up” you tell him before moving to open the door ready for him.

Despite how frazzled you felt you couldn’t stop the smile that naturally formed on your face when Chris walked up the stairs towards you. He greeted you with a soft hey as he kissed you, resting one hand on your hip.

“Hey, sorry I’m not quite ready to go yet, just finishing up packing now,” you tell him as you shut the door and start walking back towards your bedroom “I’m just not sure what I should or need to bring and I don’t wanna forget something important” you sigh shaking your head as you start checking the contents of your suitcase again.

“Hey, it's okay” Chris reassures you as he stands behind you, wrapping his arms around your waist “We aren’t in any hurry” he reminds you as he presses a kiss to your temple.

You let out a long sigh, relaxing back into his embrace your arms moving to rest atop of his “I know, I just- it’s stupid” you mutter shaking your head.

Chris' arms tighten around you “Hey when it comes to you, nothing is stupid” he tells you softly.

“It's just been so long I’ve kinda forgotten what kinda stuff I’ll need, heck I’ve never even stayed in a rental property before, it just seems like a completely different rule book” you explain shaking your head, fingers tracing shapes on the exposed skin on his arm.

“Okay, let's simplify it,” Chris says pressing a kiss to your shoulder “Have you got your dress for the wedding?” He asks.

“Yeah it’s hanging in a bag on the back of my door,” you say nodding to your bedroom door “And no you can’t look,” you say when you hear him draw in a breath already knowing what he was gonna say.

“You’re no fun” Chris pouts as he rests his chin on your shoulder.

“I want it to be a surprise,” you tell him.

“Fine” Chris sighs dramatically making you chuckle “What about everything else for the wedding? Makeup and hair stuff and whatever else it is you use to turn yourself into a Greek goddess,” he asks.

You scoff quietly, shaking your head at his compliment “Yeah got that” you nod.

“And what about clothes for Sunday and Monday morning?” Chris asks “Toothbrush and toiletries?”

“Yep got all that sorted” you confirm.

“Got your charger?” Chris asks making you curse when you realise that was what you’d forgotten.

“No I haven’t,” you say as you reluctantly step out of his embrace to grab your charger from your bedside table “Should I bring my hairdryer or will they provide one?” You ask as you pack away your charger.

“They’ll provide one, but it might be cheap and crappy so might be worth bringing your own” Chris explains as he moves to sit on the edge of your bed.

“Good point” you hum as you go grab your hairdryer “What about food? Should we bring something?”

“I’ve got snacks for the road, but we’ll be eating out most of the time so we’ll only need breakfast stuff which we can grab once we’re there” Chris explains.

“Cool, I think that’s everything then,” you say moving to zip your suitcase closed but Chris stops you.

“Have you packed bikinis?” He asks his brow arched in question.

“No, I didn’t think we’d have enough time,” you say with a small shake of the head.

“Pack a couple just in case, you never know,” he says with a small smirk “better to have it and not need it”

You study him for a moment, his smirk saying he knew more than he was letting on. You nearly questioned it before deciding to just let whatever he was planning play out “Okay I’ll grab a couple” you say walking over to your closest and grabbing a couple of bikinis and packing them away before shutting your suitcase “Right I think that’s everything”

“Awesome, you grab your bag and I’ll carry these down to the car,” Chris says standing back up and grabbing your suitcase and dress from the back of your door.

“You better not sneak a peak otherwise you’ll be in serious trouble” you warn as you follow him out of your bedroom, grabbing your handbag and keys.

“What kind of trouble? Because if it’s the fun kind” Chris smirks wiggling his eyebrows looking over his shoulder as he walks out of the front door.

“The kinda that means you won’t get to do what you want to do this weekend,” you say with a pointed look as you follow him out and lock your door behind you.

Chris gasps dramatically “You wouldn’t be so cruel”

“You know better than to test me” you wink as you walk past him and start walking down the stairs.

“You could say that again” Chris mutters under his breath as he follows after you making you laugh loudly, smiling over your shoulder at him.

Once down onto the street, Chris unlocked the car and put your suitcase in the truck, laying the bag holding your dress on too so it wouldn’t get wrinkled. He then moved to open up the passenger door for you, sneaking a kiss to your cheek as you climbed in.

“Do we need to pick up Scott and Steve?” You ask as he climbs in and turns the engine on.

“No, they’re making their way up later on in the day, their hotel has a later check-in and I wanted it to be just us for our inaugural road trip,” Chris says smiling over at you.

“I like it, so what exactly does this road trip entail?” You ask him.

“Well, it's my job to keep us safe,” Chris says putting his hand on his chest “And you are DJ and snack distributor,” he says passing you his phone.

“It’s not just gonna be Disney songs on here is it?” You smirk knowingly.

“No there’s ACDC as well,” he says with a lopsided smile.

You chuckle shaking your head at him before looking down at his phone. A wide warm smile forms on your face when you see his new lock screen photo. It was a picture of you and Dodger at the backdoor, you crouching down beside Dodger and kissing his cheek. You find a good playlist before settling back ready to enjoy your long weekend with Chris.

The drive down to Cape Cod was perfect, so perfect that you were a little disappointed that you had arrived. You had talked, laughed and sang along to the music the entire time. Every opportunity he had, Chris’ hand would find yours and he’d lift it to his lips so he could kiss your knuckles. You even played a couple of games like the name game and word association game.

“This is us,” Chris says as pulls up outside the beach house, putting the car in park.

“Oh wow, it's stunning” you mutter in amazement as you look up at the house.

“It’ll do” Chris jokes as he climbs out of the car “The key should be in the plant pot by the door, why don’t you go explore while I unload the car?” He suggests.

“You don’t want a hand?” You ask him as he walks around the car to you.

“No it's okay” he assures you “And I promise I won’t peek,” he says before you get a chance to say anything, leaning down to kiss you.

“Thank you” You grin up at him before making your way up the path to the door.

You easily find the key in the plant pot and unlocked the door, your breath catching as you lay eyes on the interior. It was absolutely stunning. The living area was all open plan with a colour scheme of white, cream and light blues making it feel light and airy.

Walking into the kitchen you smile when you saw a wicker basket full of goodies, including a bottle of champagne. You continue to explore the kitchen, your fingers running over the marble surface.

You then walk over to the patio doors, unlock them and push them open and breathe in the sea breeze. Walking out onto the back deck you came to a stop at the railing, closing your eyes and just listening to the sound of the waves crashing onto the beach.

You had only been here for a few minutes and you already felt so at peace. If this was how you felt after only a few minutes away, how relaxed would you feel after the weekend.

You were so relaxed that you didn’t even flinch when Chris walked up behind you and wrapped his arms around your waist and kissed your shoulder “What do you think?” He hums.

“It's heaven” you whispered, leaning your head back his chest eyes still closed “Thank you for finding this place Chris”

“I’d give you the world if I could” he murmured he says pressing a kiss to your forehead, you opened your eyes and smiled lazily up at him as he leaned down to kiss you softly.

When he pulled away you looked back out at the view, but not before you spotted the hot tub off to the side “I’m guessing that’s why you suggested I brought bikinis” you say nodding over to the hot tub.

“I plead the fifth” he smirks “but we can take a dip later tonight if you want”

“Sounds amazing” You grin up at him.

“Great” he smiles kissing your temple “so I was thinking that we could head into town, explore a bit, pick up some groceries, then I’ve got a reservation for us at a local seafood restaurant and then when we get back we can relax in the hot tub” he suggests.

“I can’t wait, it all sounds amazing” You smile turning in his arms and wrapping your arms around his shoulders.

Your afternoon with Chris couldn’t have been more perfect. You spent hours walking around town exploring, finding places that if you weren’t too tired and hungover come Sunday you would check out. You got ice creams and walked hand in hand on the beaches enjoying the sea view.

Once you were done exploring you found a local grocery store and picked up anything you would need for the weekend and it was perfectly domestic. Chris would push the cart while you wandered and picked out stuff you wanted or needed, him grabbing the things that were out of reach and using it as an opportunity to sneak a kiss on your cheek.

“Should we get something to cook for dinner on Sunday?” you ask turning to face him.

He tilts his head side to side as he thought “I dunno, do you think we’re gonna wanna cook on Sunday? We might be too tired and just wanna order something in”

“True, depends on how much we drink on Saturday” you hum nodding your head.

“which considering we’re all in the emergency services and we don’t get the opportunity very often I think everyone is going to go a bit crazy” Chris points out reaching out to hook his finger in the belt loop of your shorts to pull your closer “and I know I can’t wait to spend the night dancing with you” he whispers as he leans down to kiss you softly.

“true” you murmur, eyes still shut from the kiss “We’ll just see how we feel, we can always door-dash ingredients”

“sounds like a plan, now shall we pick up a bottle of wine or two,” he asks his large hand running up and down your back slowly.

“The owners left us a bottle of champagne for us,” you tell him as you tuck yourself into his side, your arm wrapped around his waist.

“Fancy, one for Sunday would be nice though, they say alcohol is the best hangover cure,” he says making you snort with laughter.

“I wouldn’t say delaying the inevitable could be classed as a cure but sure one bottle wouldn’t hurt” You grin up at him.

Once the groceries had been brought and put away ready for when you needed them the both of you had some time to kill before your dinner reservations so you spent your time relaxing on the back deck together. Chris lounging back on a sun lounger, you laying between his legs with his arms wrapped securely around you. Your fingers would run over his arms and hands exploring every inch like you had done thousands of times before now.

When it was time to get ready you were reluctant to leave Chris’ warm and comforting embrace. So much so that to get up he picked you up and carried you with him making you laugh and giggle especially when he dropped you onto the bed with the simple instruction to get ready.

A short while later you had changed out of your shorts and vest into a white maxi dress that had cherry blossom and flowers over it and a pair of white heeled espadrilles. You were just tying the straps of your shoes when Chris stepped out of the bathroom wearing a blush short-sleeved shirt which fitted him perfectly, with the exception of around his biceps. You swore if he flexed anymore as he put on his watch the sleeves would rip.

“ready to go?” you ask standing up from the bed and grabbing the small handbag you were using.

Chris nodded before looking up and over at you, smiling softly as his eyes roamed up and down your body “Sweetheart you look gorgeous” he says as he walks closer.

You tilt your head slightly as you smirk up at him “This is nothing, just you wait until you see my dress tomorrow” you say knowing exactly what kind of reaction you would get.

Chris lets out a low groan, shaking his head and closing his eyes as if he was trying to picture what could be better “I’m gonna really struggle keeping my hands to myself, might just have to sneak you off somewhere”

“and kill the anticipation?” you point out “Just picture it,” you say resting your hands on his pecks and looking up at him through your lashes “We finally get back here, finally are completely alone after spending hours dancing, teasing, testing to see who would give in first… I’m not sure we’ll even make it into the bedroom”

“fahk” Chris groaned leaning down to press his forehead against yours “I don’t know what the hell I did to deserve you” he muttered.

You smile softly reaching up to cup his cheek, your thumb running over his beard “I could say the same thing” you say reaching up to capture his lips in yours.

Chris instantly responds his hand cupping your jaw and tilting your head so he could deepen the kiss. His free arm wrapped around your waist pulling you closer so there was no space left between you and even then he gripped you like it wasn’t close enough “We’re gonna be late if we don’t go now” he sighs.

“guess we’ll just have to pick this up later on then” you smirk your hand sliding down into his “C’mon handsome,” you say leading him out of the bedroom.

It was only a short drive to the restaurant meaning you only got there a couple of minutes late. Chris’ choice of restaurant was perfect, it was right on the beach meaning you could hear the sound of the waves crashing on the shore alongside the gentle music. The décor was beautiful and you could only describe it as romantic nautical. Everything looked like it had been made out of reclaimed wood from the ocean and nautical themes items dotted around the place. The overhead lighting was kept low, the main source of light being the fairy lights that were hanging across the ceiling and the candles on the tables.

You couldn’t help but look around in amazement as the hostess lead you through the restaurant to your table which was by a large window that allowed you to look out at the ocean. Chris pulled out your chair for you, his hand running over your shoulder as he moved to sit down.

“Chris this place is so beautiful,” you say shaking your head as you looked around. “it really is,” he says but his eyes never strayed from you, “I asked Jamie for a recommendation since this is our first time actually going out for a dinner date I wanted it to be perfect”

You blink a couple of times in surprise “Oh wow I hadn’t realised we hadn’t gone out on a date like this yet” you admit.

“I know, and as lovely as this is,” he says reaching out to take your hand “I’m glad we can have just as much fun having a cosy night in”

“me too” you smile softly, your thumb rushing over his knuckles.

When the waiter arrived at the table Chris ordered a bottle of wine for the both of you before asking what the waiter suggested. The waiter was very helpful pointing out dishes that were the best at this time of year and a couple that were good all year round and were his personal favourites.

“what are you thinking?” Chris asks as you look over at the menu trying to decide. “I don’t know they all sound incredible it’s impossible to choose” you admit with a small shake of your head.

“happens to everyone, I’ll give you both a few minutes” the waiter smiles before leaving the both of you to decide.

“Which ones are you stuck between?” Chris asks leaning forward so his arms rest across the table.

“well the tuna steak sounds amazing and you know that it going to be so fresh considering the tuna industry around here, but then the seafood paella sounds amazing too and you get a wide variety of different seafood,” you tell him with a small shake of the head “sorry I’ve not been anywhere fancy like this before so the choices are a bit overwhelming”

“Really?” Chris asks tilting his head slightly, his brows pinching together “Not even an ex-boyfriend?”

“no, I mean I do have a vague memory of my grandparents taking me somewhere that was pretty nice but I was only 6 or 7, my father was so busy we didn’t go out much and on the rare occasions we did it was to diners that he would go to while on shift” you explain with a small shrug of your shoulders looking down and fiddling with the edge of the table “and all my ex’s never liked going places like this, it would be chain restaurants on the occasions we managed to get out nothing like this”

Chris lets out a long sigh that has you looking back over at him and seeing the sadness in his eyes “Well none of them deserved you” he told you and you got the idea he wasn’t talking about just your ex’s but you didn’t bother arguing about it with him. He then put on a soft smile “Well food wise have an easy solution because I like the sound of the Tuna steak so if you let me try some of your paella I’ll let you try some of the steak” he suggests with a warm smile.

“sounds great, thank you Chris” You smile gratefully.

It didn’t take long for your meals to come out once you ordered them, and like promised Chris let you have some of his Tuna steak and he tried some of your paella. The both of you agreed that you couldn’t actually decide what meal was better. You both finished up your meal with a light dessert before Chris paid the bill, you had tried to get the waiter to at least split the bill but Chris was having none of it. The waiter chuckling warmly at the two of you as Chris paid.

“I’ll let you get it next time, I promise” Chris smiles as he puts his wallet away.

“I will hold you to that Evans” you warn pointing over at him and making him laugh.

“I don’t doubt that, now c’mon let's head back there a hot tub and bottle of champagne calling our names” He smirks holding out his hand.

Once you got back to the beach house Chris made his way out onto the back deck to make sure the hot tub was all ready while you went to go get changed into your bikini. Grabbing the one you wanted, which was a modest piece, the colour was one that compliment your skin tone perfectly, the fabric was slightly ribbed and the bottoms high-waisted. The bikini was triangle shaped with thick straps that gave you full coverage but showed enough skin and cleavage which you knew Chris would appreciate. You removed any make-up you were wearing since you didn’t want it melting off or into your skin due to the steam, and tied your hair up into a bun to avoid it getting too wet.

You then grabbed a bathrobe and towel and made your way out to find Chris was already changed into his swim trunks and had grabbed the bottle of champagne and set it in a cooler ready to be poured out. He was stood with his back to you as he finished playing with the settings to make it perfect as you stepped out.

“how’s the water?” you ask stripping off the robe and hanging onto a nearby hook. “perfect, they should call me the hot tub connois-“ he smirks his words dying out as he turned and saw you “Oh shit” he muttered his lips parted in shock.

“I hope that’s a good ‘oh shit’” you smirk walking over to him, his eyes following you the entire way especially your swaying hips.

“It’s a very, very good oh shit,” he says once he finally recovered “I’m definitely glad I told you to bring this” he adds with a lopsided smile as he reaches out to run his finger under the strap.

“yeah, if you hadn’t I would have had to of worn my birthday suit” you smirk slipping past him to climb into the hot tub.

The groan Chris let out was anything but quiet and you smirked victoriously as he adjusted his shorts before climbing in after you. He moved to sit beside you, wrapping his arm around you and pulling you closer so he could kiss you. you smile into the kiss, resisting the urge to climb onto his lap, that would have to wait until a bit later. Instead, you rest your hand on his chest, feeling his strong beating heart beneath your fingers tips.

“so what shall we toast to?” you ask once he finally pulled away, nodding over to the champagne.

Chris smiles softly as he moves to grab the champagne, popping the top and beginning to pour it into the two flutes “There are many things I think we could toast to” he says as he passes you your flute “But how about to our first getaway?” he suggests.

“and hopefully not our last” you agree, smiling over at him.

“oh no this definitely isn’t our last, now I’ve had a taste of it I’m going to be finding every opportunity to whisk you away somewhere,” he says with a lazy smile as he leans in and nuzzles his head into the crook of your neck “we could go to Italy, Disneyworld, skiing in Vermont, anywhere you want,” he says punctuating each suggestion with a kiss to your neck.

“Is this a bad time to say I don’t know how to ski?” you tell him and you feel him huff out a laugh on your shoulder.

“I’ll teach you” he promises pressing one last kiss to your shoulder before lifting his head “To our first of many getaways” he toasts holding up his champagne flute.

“cheers” you smile softly as you gently tap your glass against his, still smiling as you both took your first sip, you then settled in close to him and looked up at the sky “So what stars and planets are out tonight?” you ask him.

He smiles softly over at you as he takes another sip of his champagne before looking up at the sky and starting to point out all the different constellations and planets he could see. You listen with a smile on your face as he tells you all the different facts he knew about each constellation. Only moving to refill your glasses when they got low, the both of you easily work your way through the bottle.

Once the bottle was empty you took Chris’ empty glass from him and moved to put them on the side out of the way, shifting onto Chris’ lap to do so. Chris smiled appreciatively up at you, his hands moving to rest on your hips as you rested yours on his chest.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you this, but we’ve always gotten distracted,” you tell him as you run your hands over his chest.

“what is it sweetheart,” he asks softly, his hands squeezing your hips.

“what do your tattoos mean? Some of them I can guess like this one” you say running your finger down his Dodger tattoo “But what about the others?” you ask.

“Well, why don’t you tell me which one you want to know about and I’ll tell you the story” Chris offers as he leans forward to press a kiss to your collarbone.

You took a deep breath, shaking your head slightly to clear your mind “What about this one ‘when you lose touch with your inner stillness, you lose touch with yourself, when you lose touch of yourself, you lose yourself in the world’” you say reading out the quote that was across his collar bone even though you already had it memorised.

“it’s a quote by Eckhart Tolle from the book Stillness Speaks” Chris explains his hands running up and down your sides slowly “A few years ago the fire department organised this mental wellness workshop and they talked about different kinds of mental well-being practices and I really connected with the Buddhism and the notion of being present in the moment, I read the book and it resonated enough to permanently ink it on my body, it’s a good reminder when the job gets hard”

“that’s beautiful,” you say softly “This one is for Lisa isn’t it? ‘cause she’s a Taurus?” you ask your fingers running over the tattoo on his left shoulder.

“That’s right and I have SCS for Scott, Carly and Shanna on my ankle” He nods.

You continue to point out all the different tattoos he had, many of them relating to loyalty and his family “Who’s Bardsley?” you ask your hand resting over the tattoo in question.

Chris lets out a long sigh, his gaze drifting off for a moment before settling back on yours “He was one of my best friends from my childhood, when we were teens we both decided we wanted to go into the fire department but he died in an accident before he got the chance, so when I finished my training I got this tattoo so he was always on the job with me” he tells you quietly.

You blinked a couple of times to stop the tears that collected in your eyes hearing that story, you gently cup his cheeks and lean in to softly kiss him “You are the greatest man I have ever met” you tell him, he lets out a small huff and shakes his head with disagreement but he doesn’t argue “you are” you tell him pulling back enough to look him in the eyes and drive your point home earning a soft smile in response “and what about this one” you say pointing to the last tattoo which was the large chest piece of an eagle.

“I just like eagles” he jokes making you laugh loudly, his hands squeezing your sides as you threw your head back.

“no seriously, what does it mean?” you ask him with a smile.

“eagles mean strength, courage and freedom which are the qualities you need to do what I do” he explains with a soft smile.

“I love how they all have really sweet and deep meanings,” you tell him looking down at his chest, running your hands over the different tattoos “Do you have any more you wanna get?” you ask.

“I’m considering getting one for you” he admits making your eyes widen slightly in surprise.

“Really?” you ask shocked.

“of course and I’m thinking of getting a little doughnut” he smirks making your roll your eyes and you push yourself off his lap, but he doesn’t let you move, his arms wrapping around your waist to keep you there.

“I’m joking” he chuckles “At least about the doughnut part, I’m not sure what to get for you so far everything I’ve thought of hasn’t felt perfect” he admits “but as soon as I figure it out I’m heading straight to my tattoo artist so I always have you right with me,” he says taking your hand and resting it over his heart.

You smile softly shaking your head as you lean down and kiss him “I love you” you murmur against his lips.

“I love you too” he whispers, cupping your jaw and tilting your head so he could deepen the kiss.

You moan softly, your fingers gripping his St Christopher chain as his tongue slipped past your lips, flicking against yours teasingly. You shifted your hips closer to him, grinding down onto his erection.

“Fuck babe if you keep wiggling like that this is going to end much sooner than we want” Chris groans gripping your hips tightly.

“Okay, I’ll stop” you smirk pushing back away from him, moving to the opposite seat.

Chris watched you intensely, licking his lips as you lifted your bikini up over your head. You kept hold of it as you shimmied your bottoms off as well, letting the both of them float over to Chris. A wolfish grin grew on his face when he saw it wasn’t just your top that you removed.

His eyes darkened with lust as he moved over to you, his hands hooking behind your knees and wrapping your legs around his waist. You wrapped your arms around his shoulders, fingers running up into his hair and tugging at the strands as you kiss him deeply dragging his lower lip through your teeth.

He groaned gripping your hip tightly, pulling your closer, discovering that he also had removed his bottoms. You push on his shoulder and he instantly moves to sit on the bench, you straddling his hips once more.

Chris grabs your ass, squeezing it as he lifted you enough to line himself up with your core. You tilted your head back with a moan as you sunk down onto him, giving him perfect access to your neck and chest.

Your back arched as you rotated your hips, a moan fell from your lips as Chris pressed wet kisses in the valley of your chest. He kept one of his hands on your hip, guiding you as you ground down onto him. The other moved to your chest, massaging one breast, his thumb running circles over your sensitive peak. He gave your other breast equal attention but with his mouth, making you gasp when he pulled your peak through his teeth only to soothe it with his tongue.

“Fuck what I’d give to live in this moment forever” Chris moaned as your fingers scratched through his beard and tugged on his hair.

“You feel so good, make me feel good” you whine rolling your hips more so you could feel him deeper inside you, feel the delicious burn as he stretched you open and hit that golden spot within you every time “Only you” you gasp your head lolling forward.

“Only I make you feel good” Chris mutters nudging his nose under your chin to make you look up, capturing your lips once you did you.

You nod “No one else” you manage to say between kisses.

“Good” he murmurs as he nips at your lower lip “I wanna ruin you for anyone else,” he says as his lips travel down your jawline, to your neck and collarbone. “You ruined me on that very first night” you admit, your head rolled back.

That practically makes Chris growl as he snaps his hips up to meet yours, punching the air out of your lungs as he thrust deep inside you.

“You ruined me too, even when I thought I hated you I was jacking off at the thought of you” Chris grunted “slapping your pretty ass and shutting you up with my cock”

“You should have, might have aimed elsewhere at the softball game” You pant, your nails digging into his shoulder and back.

Chris’ chest rumbled as he chuckled “You are trouble” he muttered as he captured your lips once more.

He thrust up into you a few more times before your legs began to tremble as your peak drew near. You didn’t have to say anything and Chris just knew, guiding you over the edge, following soon after painting your wall with his spend.

“Fuck” you breathed out heavily “you might have to get a hot tub if it leads to that kinda sex”

Chris chuckled as he tucks strands of hair that had come loose from your bun, behind your ear “I’ll start saving, but I promise you this, it’s only you… not the location” he says with a lopsided smile.

You give him a lazy grin as you leaned in to nuzzle your nose against his “Glad to hear it” you whisper before softly kissing him.

Chris smiles into the kiss, his fingertips tracing up and down your spine “We should probably get out before we shrivel away to nothing” he says.

You hum in agreement nodding your head “You’re right, but I honestly don’t think I can stand after that” you admit making Chris smile proudly.

“Don’t worry, I’ll carry you” he promises “Just hold on tight”

You nod wrapping your arms around him securely, resting your head on his shoulder. As he stood the cold nighttime air hit you making you shiver but Chris quickly grabbed a towel with one hand and draped it over you to keep you warm. He quickly turned the hot tub off before carrying you indoors to carry on the fun inside.

It had been a pretty quiet morning, Chris managed to wake before you and after he took the opportunity to just watch you for a moment he decided to treat you to breakfast in bed. He fried up some bacon and eggs and cut up some fresh fruit. He also made some coffee since you both were up pretty late last night.

When he carried the tray through into the bedroom he smiled softly when he saw you had rolled onto your stomach, head resting on your arms. What he loved the most though was that the covers had fallen giving him the best view of your bare back.

Setting the tray down on the side he gently climbed into bed, holding himself up over you as he began to press soft kisses down your spine. You let out a quiet high pitched hum as you began to stir, rolling over once Chris reached the base of your spine. Glancing up at you he could see the sleepy look and smile on your face, eyes still shut. Chris then began to work his way back up your body, pressing kisses the entire way. When he reached your neck he ran his nose underneath your chin to tilt your head back and kiss him better access to your neck.

“Mornin’” he mumbled before finally pressing a soft kiss to your lips.

“Mornin’,” you say with a lazy grin, hand coming up to cup his cheek, fingers scratching through his beard “Something smells nice”

“I made you breakfast in bed,” Chris says pecking your lips once more “And as much as I don’t want to stop this, I don’t want it to get cold,” he says climbing back out of bed.

He first passes you one of the hoodies he packed to keep you warm before grabbing the tray and setting it down on your lap.

“Looks amazing, thank you babe” You smile up at him.

“Anything for you sweetheart” Chris grins as he moves to sit beside you, snatching a strip of bacon from the plate.

Once breakfast had been eaten the both of you started getting ready for the day. Chris changed into a light sky blue button-down, creamy white trousers and a matching jacket. By the time he was ready, you were still in your bathrobe applying makeup so he left you to it, going to relax in the living area.

He was standing fixing the cuff of his sleeves when he heard the clicking of your heel’s behind him as you approached. He naturally glanced over his shoulder before doing a double take and spinning around to face you. His mouth went dry and his jaw was practically on the floor you looked that amazing and he was so glad he didn’t sneak a peak before because fuck, seeing you now was like seeing an angel. Your light blue dress matched his shirt perfectly, it flowed perfectly around your body, loose and tight in all the right areas. If someone told him he was actually looking at Aphrodite right now he’d agree with them, you looked that beautiful. It only got better when you did a little twirl and Chris could see how far the dress dipped in the back, showing off the fact you weren’t wearing a bra, making him groan.

You then smirked as you walked over to him “Have I actually rendered you speechless Evans?”

Chris could only nod, closing his mouth and swallowing deeply “fuck sweetheart… you look stunning” he finally managed to say his voice gravelly.

“Worth the wait?” You ask tilting your head to the side as you straighten the lapels of his jacket.

“So, so worth the wait” Chris grins as he rests his hands on your hips, thumbs brushing over the fabric of your dress “I just wanna carry you straight back into the bedroom and show you just how much I love it”

You chuckle softly, patting his chest “Save that for later, the Uber will be here soon and we don’t want to be late” you reason.

Chris lets out a sigh “I don’t like it… but you’re right” he muttered “Got everything you need?”

“Yep, even got my emergency flats in case I need them” You nod patting your bag.

“Very smart” Chris smiles just as he feels his phone vibrate in his pocket “That’ll be our Uber” he says pulling out his phone.

“Great, well lead the way handsome” You grin linking your arm in his.

It was only a short drive from the beach house to the venue which was a gorgeous country club with views out onto the ocean. Climbing out of the car Chris turned and held out his hand to help you out of the car. It was a simple thing holding your hand as you walked into the venue, but it meant everything to Chris. This was the first real time that he got to show the world that he was yours and you were his, no hiding.

“Damn! You two are looking good” Paul whistled as you stepped onto the lawn where the ceremony would be held.

“What this old thing?” Chris smirked holding his jacket out.

“I take back what I said, only Y/N looks good” Paul retorts and Chris didn’t disagree one bit.

“Thank you, Paulie, you look great too” you smile.

“I do polish up well” Paul smirks “Come sit down we saved you both seats” he smiles gesturing for you to follow him over to the rest of the crew.

Everyone greeted the both of you with bright smiles, Chris smiling proudly when everyone complimented you. Watching as you laughed when Scott took your hand and twirled you around.

“If I was a straight man, Chris would have some serious competition” Scott smirked.

“I’ll try not to be offended by that” Steve scoffed playfully.

Scott instantly turned around and threw his arms around Steve “Don’t worry you’re the only one who owns my heart… and Tobi” he grins as he kisses Steve on the cheek.

“So has anyone seen or heard from either of the blushing brides?” Chris asks as he sits down, smiling when you sat down next to him positioning yourself closer into his side, resting one hand on his knee.

“No, but we know that they’re so eager that as soon as everyone gets here the ceremony’s gonna start” Jimmy explains.

“I don’t blame them” Chris smiles as he wraps his arm around your shoulder and looks over at you, fingers running circles on your shoulder.

The crew all caught up and chatted while waiting for the ceremony to start. Exchanging stories of what they got up to yesterday, Chris smiling when you told them about your trip to the seafood restaurant.

It wasn’t long until the ceremony started. It was beautiful, both Emma and Jamie looking beautiful in their respective dresses. However, throughout the entire ceremony, Chris’ mind was elsewhere. Because all he could think about was what his wedding to you would be like. He pictured what you’d look like as you walked down the aisle towards him, what his vows to you would be.

And the surprising thing about it all was that he found the whole prospect exciting. Whenever he thought about getting married before he met you the prospect was terrifying, living in fear that no matter what vows he made he was doomed to break them. Heck for a whole period of his life he was certain he wasn’t gonna find anyone.

But looking over at you and seeing the smile on your face as you watched Jamie and Emma, there was no fear in his body at all. He knew that getting married wasn’t something in your near shared future, but Chris knew that there was no one else for him and when the time came he would be straight down on one knee and might even drive you straight down to city hall to make it official right then and there.

Chris couldn’t stop himself from resting his hand on top of yours and leaning in to press a soft, lingering kiss to your temple. As he pulled away you looked over at him with a soft smile before returning your attention back to the ceremony. As you did so Chris caught sight of Scott a few seats down the row who had seen the whole thing and had a knowing smirk.

‘The one’ Scott mouthed over to Chris, who just glanced back at you before looking back at his brother and nodding.

When everyone stood at the end of the ceremony to watch Jamie and Emma walk back down the aisle, Chris noticed you wipe a sly tear from your eyes so he wrapped his arm around your waist and pressed a gentle kiss to your temple. You smiled up at him warmly and tucked yourself into his side, where you remained as everyone started making their way over to the marquee for the reception.

When everyone sat down the meal was soon served and Chris wasn’t ashamed to admit that he grabbed your chair and tugged you closer at the earliest opportunity. Everyone was still talking and laughing once the meal was done, Chris’ arm slung over the back of your chair as he talked to Jimmy. The conversations only stopped when Emma and Jamie came over to greet everyone.

“oh, you both look so beautiful! The ceremony was lovely thank you so much for inviting me” You smile as you stand up to hug the both of them.

“oh stop it! it’s lovely to have you here even if you and Chris are currently stealing our limelight as the most loved-up couple” Jamie scolds playfully.

“we’ll tune it down” Chris promises with a laugh.

“Please don’t! it's so lovely to see you guys happy especially since it took you guys so long!” Jamie laughs shaking her head “but look we have like hundreds of other people we need to say hello to but we’ll be back to party as soon as we can” she promises looking out at everyone.

“we’ll have the shots ready when you do” Paul winks.

“That’s my man” Jamie cheers pointing over at him “See you guys later,” she says before taking Emma’s hand and walking off to the next table.

Soon enough the party really got going and everyone was either at the bar or on the dance floor. Chris couldn’t remember the last time he felt so light, his cheeks hurt he was smiling so much as he danced with you. His favourite thing was to spin you around before pulling you back towards him, hearing your laughter as clear as day over the music. Every time he’d pull you in, your hand would rest on his chest or cup his cheek. On the most recent spin through you up’d the anty by turning your back to him, hips swaying side to side against his. his hands gripped and ran down your sides to your hips to keep them there, mostly because he was absolutely loving it, but also because if you stepped away it would become very clear how tight his trousers now were.

He leans down to press a kiss to your neck before whispering in your ear “I’m gonna have to find a closet or something if you keep this up” he warns with a quiet growl.

You glance over your shoulder at him “Let go of my hips then” you smirk.

“not a chance” Chris muttered nipping at your earlobe, tugging your hips back towards him, smirking when he heard the small gasp that escaped your lips when his erection poked into your backside.

A couple more songs played before the lights dimmed slightly and the music turned slow. A large group of people made their way off the dance floor but Chris wrapped his arm around your waist, turning you to face him and pulling you closer. You smiled warmly up at him as you wrapped your arms around his shoulders.

“thank you for inviting me on this weekend away,” you say quietly as the both of you sway to the beat “It's been the best weekend ever, and we’re not even halfway through”

“I’m glad you’re enjoying it, thank you for coming with me, I would have been moping in the corner wishing you were here otherwise” Chris chuckles lightly “might have even left early and driven back to Boston to you”

“Really?” you ask your eyebrows rising in disbelief.

“Yeah” Chris scoffs lightly nodding his head “The only reason I’ve had any fun today was because of you”

“what about your crew? And Scott? you would of have fun with them” you point out.

“yeah but nowhere near as much fun, I would have just been missing you” Chris tells you, his thumb brushing over your hip.

“I would have been missing you too,” you say softly fingers running up over the nape of his neck and up into his hair.

Chris smiled warmly down at you, cupping his cheek before gently capturing your lips with his. He felt you smile into the kiss which just made him kiss you deeper, his mind wandering as he wonder whether he’d be doing the same if this was your first dance together. He could picture his crew cheering from the sidelines, but he wouldn’t care, nothing would take his attention away from you.

When you finally pulled away your eyes narrowed slightly as you looked up at him “What?” you ask quietly.

Chris shakes his head gently “Nothing… just enjoying the moment” He smiles before kissing you once more.

As the evening drew on, you and Chris gradually grew more handsy with each other. There was never a moment when you weren’t leaving lingering teasing touches on each other. By the time you got back to the beach house the both of you were so hot under the collar that Chris believed it was a miracle that you even made it inside.

He was just locking the door behind him when he turned to see you putting your bag down on the side. His eyes roamed your body hungrily, his tongue poking out to wet his lips when he saw the heels that he was very grateful that you had kept on all evening.

He was already closing the distance when you were turning back around to face him, you let out a surprised noise as he crashed his lips against yours before completely melting into his touch. The only thing that kept you standing was his strong arms wrapping around your waist.

Your hands found his cheeks as the kiss deepened, his tongue claiming dominance over yours making you moan into his mouth. He held onto you tightly as he began walking you back towards the bedroom. His fingers were already pulling at the strings that held your dress up, your hands already working to push his jacket off his shoulders and unbutton his shirt leaving a trail of clothes towards the bedroom.

By the time the back of your knees hit the bed, Chris had gotten you down to just your lacy underwear and heels, him now only in his trousers. He hooked his hands behind your knees, wrapping your legs around his waist as he gently lay you down on the bed. A lopsided grin grew on his face as he looked down at you, looked at this goddess that was staring back up at him, your hair spread out like a halo making you look even more ethereal.

This wasn’t the first time he had taken you to bed, and it certainly would not be the last. But at that moment Chris decided that despite being teased and worked up all evening, he wanted nothing more than to just worship you. He kissed your lips softly before he began exploring the rest of your body with his lips, making sure no area was left untouched.

He smirked when he heard your breath hitch the further down he got, when he reached your hips he began to tug down your underwear, slowly pulling them down your legs before discarding them over his shoulder. He then worked to remove your heels, earning a moan when he massaged the soles of your feet, he then worked his way back up your leg pressing soft kisses as he went.

You let out a pleading whimper when his lips ghosted over your core, it took all his willpower to not dive in like a man starved. Chris heard you gasp a curse when he finally ran his tongue up your folds, collecting the sweet juices of your arousal until he reached your sensitive bud and flicked it with the tip of your tongue.

Your hand flew to his hair and your hips ground down against his face as he wrapped his lips around your clit and began to suck. Glancing up at you he could see you playing with your breast with your free hand, not wanting the other to miss out Chris reached up his fingers pinching and twisting the sensitive peak making you cry out in pleasure.

Your thighs squeezed around Chris’ head when he completely dove in, his beard scratching against your inner thighs as thrust his tongue as deep as he could into your channel. He had to use his free hand to stop your hips from moving too much and it wasn’t long until he made you come, flooding his mouth with your arousal.

Chris didn’t let up until he felt your muscle relax, he pressed one last kiss to your core before climbing back to his feet. He admired you basking in the afterglow of your orgasm, your chest rising and falling deeply as you caught your breath. Licking his lips he finished undressing before climbing back onto the bed.

As soon as you could you grabbed his cheek and pulled his lips down onto yours, humming in appreciation as you tasted yourself on his lips. Your hand then trailed down his chest, making his hiss when your fingers wrapped around his erection. Your thumb spreading the beads of precum around the swollen head.

“I need you Chris” you plead looking up at him through your lashes.

“I need you too sweetheart so, so much” Chris mutters as he presses another kiss to your lips.

His hand reaches down to remove yours, moving it to above your head his fingers weaving with yours. He then lines himself up and begins to slowly press up into you, your fingers squeezing his hand with every inch he gave you. Once he was fully seated inside you he stopped to just savour the moment, trying to commit every sensation to memory. He was in no hurry tonight and it seemed like you weren’t in any hurry too, you just smiled as he pressed lazy kisses to your lips.

Eventually, he did begin to move, setting a slow, steady but deep pace. He wanted to worship you all night, make love to you, take his time to draw you to your peak. His lips barely strayed from yours, only moving as far as your neck as he slowly thrust into you, your moans like music to his ears.

“fuck yes Chris right there” you moaned head thrown back after a particularly deep thrust., The hand that held yours squeezed tightly as Chris repeats the same movement, pulling more and more moans from you.

Chris managed to draw two more orgasms from you over the course of the evening, he could feel another drawing in but he could also tell you were holding yourself back.

“let go sweetheart, just let go” he grunted as he continued his slow thrusts.

“only if you do too” you gasp out “I want- I want you to come with me” you plead your half-lidded eyes meeting his.

Chris nods dipping down to kiss you deeply “I will, I promise” he swears before giving you another deep thrust.

It wasn’t long after that Chris felt you hit your peak with much more vigour than before, your walls clenching around him making it impossible for him not to follow after you. He came with a loud moan, unloading himself into you, painting your walls with his spend.

His vision was gone momentarily, replaced with what he could only describe as stars as he came down from his high. He didn’t need his vision though as he dipped down to capture your lips in a deep and languid kiss.

When Chris pulled back and looked down at you, his vision cleared he knew nothing had really changed, but it was like he was having an epiphany. He was seeing you in a completely different light, it was like he’d never seen you before and now it was like seeing heaven.

His heart was pounding in his chest but he felt an overwhelming feeling of calm. He felt at peace but also like he had this unbridled energy that he just needed to do something with. He felt lighter than air but also a comforting weight surrounded him.

What he was feeling was strange, unfamiliar and alien but he knew without a doubt what it was. He knew deep down that he’d loved you from the moment he saw you in that bar. You had captured his attention like no one else could and all you were doing was sitting there, picking at the label of your beer. Yet he could remember the magnetic pull that drew him towards you, it might have been the same magnetic pull that guided him to that bar that night.

He had always loved you. But right now, he Loved you. It was this whole new level of love that he didn’t know existed until this moment. Yet despite that he knew everything about it, he knew exactly how it felt like and that he would only ever feel it for you. It made him want to run out onto the back deck and shout it for the whole world to hear.

But his whole world was right here in front of him “I love you” he whispered, his fingertips brushing over your cheekbone as he tucked some hair behind your ear before cupping your jaw and tracing the outline of your lips with his thumb.

You smiled softly back at him “I love you too” but Chris knew you hadn’t understood the weight of his words and he was desperate for you to know just how much he loved you, he would repeat himself until he lost his voice and then write it down for miles until you understood him.

“No, no” he muttered shaking his head “I really love you, I know I’ve told you before and I meant it every time but now… I really really love you, with every atom of my being and I will never stop not in this life or the next”

Your lips parted and your eyes widened slightly as they searched his. You blinked and the look in your eyes changed, even if you didn’t realise it yet Chris knew you felt the exact same way as he did. He could see it in your eyes, a direct reflection of what he was feeling in his soul, connecting the both of you in a way that not even the fates could break.

“I really love you too Chris” you whispered, your voice barely audible but Chris heard it loud and clear.

A wide smile broke out on his face as he crashed his lips down onto yours. Allowing every feeling he had to spill through as he saw to himself and the universe that you were it for him and there was absolutely nothing that could break the bond that had been created tonight.

When you woke the following morning you let out a long groan, your head pounding as you rolled over and curled up closer to Chris, your head buried in his chest. He let out a deep chuckle, his chest rumbling against your forehead making your headache even worse.

“babe, I love you… but please stop laughing it's hurting my head” you mumble pulling the covers up over your head.

That made Chris laugh even more but this time he shifted slightly so it didn’t hurt your head “I’m sorry, do you want some painkillers?” he offers his hand running up your arm.

You tilt your head to look up at his, barely opening your eyes “Yes please” you plead.

Chris presses a kiss to the top of your head before sitting up and grabbing the painkillers and large glass of water that he’d clearly set aside earlier. You go to sit up but let out a small cry of pain when you felt the ache in your core. Chris looks over his shoulder his brows furrowed in concern, you bit your lip and Chris’ eyes dipped lower before a smirk grew on his face when he realised why you cried out.

“sounds like you need these more than I did” He smirks as he passes you the painkillers and water.

You poke your tongue out at him before tossing back a couple of painkillers and downing half of the water in a few large gulps. You then slumped back against the headboard and looked up at Chris.

“I know we found all those places to explore today, but I just don’t think I have the energy” you admit.

Chris wraps his arm around your shoulders and presses a kiss to the top of your head “That’s alright, gives us a good reason to come back” Chris says “We can just relax and recover today and maybe have a walk along the beach if we fancy it later”

You snuggle up closer into his side “Sounds amazing, and a good fry up too” you say making Chris chuckle.

“Coming right up,” Chris says making a move to climb out of bed but you stop him.

“not yet, cuddles first” you mumbled, Chris chuckled shifting back closer to you and kissing the top of your head.

“don’t have to tell me twice” Chris grins as he gets comfortable beside you.

It was gone midday when you and Chris finally got out of bed and made your way into the kitchen for a very late breakfast. You sat at the kitchen island, chin resting in your hand as you watched Chris cooked up some food for the both of you. You smiled to yourself as you watched him hum to himself as he cooked.

Once he was done cooking he set the plates down in front of you, sitting beside you scooting his stool closer to you as he sat down. The both of you ate in comfortable silence, Chris’ hand moving to rest on the small of your back whenever he could.

You spent the rest of the afternoon on the beach house deck just relaxing in the sun before deciding to go on a walk along the beach together.

Holding your flip-flops in one hand you start walking into the ocean, the water halfway up your calves when you turn around to see Chris still standing on dry land.

“Are you not gonna join me?” You ask.

“Nope, I’m perfectly happy and safe here on dry land,” Chris says shaking his head.

“Oh c’mon there’s nothing to worry about, we won’t go far out enough to get caught in a riptide or anything” you reason.

“I know, but there’s just so much stuff in there that you can’t see” Chris points out gesturing out to the ocean.

“You told me you’ve swam in the lake, how is this different?” You question.

“Because the worst thing in the lake is fish, oceans have sharks” Chris states.

“Sharks are criminally misunderstood animals, they mean no harm,” you say pointing over to him.

“Tell that to Blake Lively and all the people in Jaws” Chris fires back crossing his arms over his chest.

You roll your eyes at him “Those movies are a bunch of bullshit, sharks just mistake surfers etc for seals and spit them out because we aren’t as tasty as seals, you’re more likely to die from a falling coconut than a shark attack” you explain walking back over to him.

“Coconuts don’t have sharp teeth” Chris points out making you groan in annoyance.

“Chris please? Just paddle with me, no further than our knees, no shark will attack you I promise” you plead, giving him your best puppy dog eyes.

Chris looks down at you unconvinced but you could see his resolve slowly breaking “Will you say I’m a bad boyfriend if I stay on the side closest to the shore?” He asks.

You let out a snort of laughter shaking your head “No I will not, I shall protect you from any ocean beast I promise” you say holding out your hand.

Chris lets out a long sigh before removing his own flip-flops and walking over to take your hand. The both of you waded in so the water was halfway up your calves, glancing up at Chris you could see he was still unconvinced so you squeezed his hand reassuringly earning a warm smile from him.

As the both of you paddled along the beach you felt Chris relax and you thought maybe you might have helped him conquer his fear. That was until a piece of seaweed brushed against his ankle making him squeal and run back to the safety of dry land. You couldn’t help but laugh as you watch him, doubling over you were laughing so hard.

“it was just seaweed” you laugh picking up the offending piece of seaweed.

“I don’t care I’m not getting back in” Chris states shaking his head.

You laugh shaking your head as you throw the seaweed back at into the ocean “Fine suit yourself” you shrug.

You do move more in shore though so that the water was up to your ankles and you were closer to him. You walked a little further before Chris ended up walking beside you his fingers weaving with yours as his hand took yours.

When the sun began to set both you and Chris made your way back up onto the beach, sitting down on the dunes to watch the sunset. You sitting down in between Chris’ legs resting back against his chest. Chris wrapped his arms around your waist and kissed your shoulder.

As you rested your head back against him you closed your eyes and just allowed the weekend to replay back in your mind. It had been perfect, not just because Chris had thoroughly spoilt you but because of how free it had all felt. Your relationship with Chris wasn’t a secret, but whenever you were out and about together you did worry that maybe someone close to your father had seen you, constantly looking over your shoulder, forcing you to be more private than you wanted to be. You had loved the fact that you had none of those worries here and you weren’t sure if you wanted to have those worries back.

“I don’t want this weekend to end” you admitted quietly.

“Me neither” Chris hums pressing a kiss to your shoulder.

“I love my job and my life and friends back in Boston but being here and being able to be so out in the open with you is so freeing and I don’t want to hide it anymore” You continue looking over your shoulder at him.

“What do you mean?” he asks his brows furrowing together.

“It means I’m gonna tell my father about us, I don’t know how I am but I will,” you tell him, his eyebrows rising in surprise.

Chris’ arms wrap around you tighter as he clears his throat “Are you sure because I don’t want you to do this if it's gonna hurt you” he asks.

You let out a long sigh looking back out at the calm ocean, the regular sound of the waves washing up onto the beach calming you “It won’t be nice, and I’ll probably need the biggest hug ever afterwards… but I want to do it, and he’ll see how happy I am and won’t stand in the way of that”

When Chris doesn’t say anything you look back over your shoulder at him and see the conflicted look on his face. You could tell he was clearly conflicted about it, you knew he’d enjoyed the freedom of this weekend as you, but you also knew he didn’t like your father.

“I really hope you’re right…” he finally says closing his eyes as he leant in to kiss your shoulder “I hope he surprises me, but I want you to know that whatever he says won’t change the way I feel about you, I’m not gonna let him get in the way of us, I will go down fighting if I have to” he swears.

You reach up to cup his cheek, thumb brushing over his beard soothingly “It won’t come to that I promise” you promise him.

Chris sighs quietly resting his forehead against yours “I really hope so” he whispers before capturing your lips in his.

A/N: This moodboard is no indication of the readers looks, size, race etc this is just to show off the look and feel of this chapter

Sharing is caring so please reblog if you enjoyed this and maybe even leave a comment to make my day!

Series Masterlist / Masterlist

I don’t have a tag list but follow @secretswiftymarvelfanlibrary​ and turn on post notifications to stay up to date!

[fandom-blackhole]

Ok ok ok The Last of Us episode 1 thoughts below!

• CLIMATE CHANGE?! (Love that honestly)

• Not me sobbing at the intro (I HOPED they'd do something like the games intro so this was a perfect surprise)

• Joels shirt is inside out 😭 (ok noticed this before it was mentioned)

• Let the man have his coffee Sarah

• Gabriel as tommy?! Sounds almost identical omggg

• The neighbors 😭 (oh I understand now.....)(I like how they changed the changing/infected neighbor scene)

• Desert Storm???? 👀

• Sarah fixing the watch instead of getting him a new one 🥺

• Sarah's backpack is so cute omg

• The dog 🥲

• "Drugs. I sell hard-core drugs." Happy screams

• Joel and his shitty movies smh (hope this is ref later with ellie and joels movie nights)

• Dammit Tommy, jail, really??

• Yo wtf grandma. No joke the cordyceps out of her mouth?!?!?

• The truck scene was done so welllllllllll

• Jimmy's place!!!

• The planes (OMFG THE PLANE)

• Ooo the car crash separating them, I approve

• These bitches CREEPY (Love that they have no fine motor control)

• Joel begging 🥲🥲🥲

• That is infact a small child (😭😭😭)(🥲🥲🥲)

• DONT YOU TWENTY YEARS LATER ME YOU BITCHES (both 2014 Hannah and 2023 Hannah)

Sarah's death was sadder here and I stand by that

• The amount of time it takes to change depending on where your bit poster is 👌👌👌

• Joel doing actual work in the QZ is kinda really funny to me (sewer maintenance) (now this is more like it....wait drug dealing??)

• MUSICCCCCCCC

• HANGING?????? IN THE QZ??? BY FEDRA???

• Tess 🥰🥰🥰

• Ooo truck battery and not guns (what about your guy?- He answers to me FUCK YEAH HE DOES....WAIT oh fuck explosion! Well fuck you anyway Robert)

•  ELLIE!! (SHE HAS HER EYEBROW SCAR! And her sense if humor) (veronica?) (unchain my child please)

• Oooo message operator! (TOMMY!) (Slavers 🤔)

• Joel planning a trip already is genius (wtf you doing drinking and doing pills?!)

• The watch 🥲

• Those walls are THIN or that baby is LOUD

• Marleneeeeeee

• I love all the yellow wires, ik in the game it was an obvious way to show you where to go, but u like that its been added to the show

• Oh damn, rip unnamed firefly Marlene talked too, you're dying in the capital (kim) (ope her ear)

• Tell me to look for the light and ill break your jaw 🥰🥰🥰

• Ellie getting water on her face lmao

• The knife 🥺

• Atleast the wrapped the handcuff so it wouldn't hurt her

• Don't talk about Riley bitch, I will fight you

• I like all the water dripping, good touch

• Joel talking construction 🥰🥰🥰

• Ok but that wallpaper in the hallway with the dead Robert, I want

• Well ellie you tried, but Joel is better

• Ellie is in fact feral, love her

• Give ellie her knife dammit (yes ellie I agree that was an asshole move)

• Ope don't mention Tommy

• What are they capable of?- alot ellie, alot

• You all talk it out but please remember I am bleeding out 😭😭😭

• God I love my husband

• Ellies shoes squishing 🤢

• Bill and Frank 🥺

• Your watch us broken 🥲

• Ok but why is all the wallpaper cute in this episode?!

• Ellie figuring out the radio code shes so smart i love her

• That door (or whatever you wanna call it) was hidden perfectly omg

• Worst time to take a piss (hahahahaha honestly fuck that guy)

• Pedro's eyes 😩 (oh fuck wait hes fucking that guy upppp)

• PTSD!!!

• THE RADIOOOOOOOOO

• THE RADIO AS IT PANS OVER THE CITY AND WE HEAR INFECTED?!? so good

• The trailer!

• The city landscapes 😩😩😩

• Frank!!!!

• There's no halfway with this, we finish what we started *indistinct screeching*

If you read all this PLEASE send me Joel thoughts, I wanna talk about my husband! Also if you want me to explain any of these ASK MEEEE!! Also, Also, I'll be doing this for every episode so if wanna be tagged in these just if be down 👉👈

[allwithagrainofsalt]

So I'm watching Princess Weekes' video about confederate vampires (watch it fr) and I wanna expand upon smth they mention about the explicitly White American Confederate storytelling in,

Drumroll please...

Firefly.

Now first: I LOVE Firefly. It's an incredible show and in fact I think it's a beautiful and inspirational piece of political art in many ways, and I'm gonna talk about that part a little bit at the end. But mainly, why did I hear the comparison and immediately start to have 50 puzzle pieces click? Well. This essay got long, and to be honest idk how much I might be repeating others cuz PW mentioned it due to others talking about it too, but I just kinda took a journey of my own off-the-dome observations based on things I've already read about/know. I hope it's an interesting journey for you too.

TW below the Readmore: discussion of colonial / military violence; discussion of Sexual Assault

We are looking at a world of cowboys in the stars, in which there was a recent Civil War. In fact, we're set in a "real life future," where the majority remaining galactic race stems from the great American Empire. We do get influences of Chinese culture with language and clothing, but remember that Spaghetti Westerns of the 1960s - which themselves romanticized the values of independent, libertarian southerners (who massacred Indians and no-good loiterers - we'll talk about that later) - heavily utilized "Oriental" aesthetics and caricatures while dehumanizing the Asian people they were ostensibly in relationship with. After all, Asian Americans were a growing population in the landscape of the Western frontier, often working alongside your storybook railroad workers, gold seekers and, even further east than Pacific coastal industries, working & living alongside cowboys. However, the language of Western-genre films (because of the way it mirrors the language of Confederates) does not respect Asian culture as it is, but rather as a collection of "wisdoms" and aesthetics to pick apart and use the "good parts" of - for use by white people in their white expansion. This idea fits a bit uncomfortably well with Firefly's multiple white characters who are "orientalized" by the camera. Kaylee, Inara, and the Tam siblings fulfill various stereotypes and tropes of Chinese- and other Asian-American diaspora people groups. The show, in this way, offers the "diverse" presence of a Chinese influence... using actors of Italian, Irish, German, and possibly Latine background to fill the roles. This makes the Firefly universe look less of a pacifist future between Western and Asian cultures, and more like a colonized universe where the (white) Western colonialists maintain some practices of those forward-thinking Asians who came before them.

But! You may say! Firefly isn't quite so white as that. What about the POC in the show!? Beyond its treatment of the de/re-Orientalization of a decidedly American/Western future, what about Firefly's real interracial representation, like Zoe Washburne and Shepherd Book? I would argue the inclusion of these unapologetic and kind black activist ideas is part of what begins to bring this show towards something more agreeable, but I also think they are at risk of becoming a bit of an obfuscation of a deeper anti-black racist remnant that remains entrenched in the show's Confederate story influences...

We need to talk about Reavers.

Joss Whedon admitted that Reavers were influenced by the role Native Americans played in traditional Westerns. "Every story needs a monster," he said in an interview. "In the stories of the old west it was the Apaches." It's pretty clear how the Reavers, who rape, murder, skin and cannibalize those of the "civilized world" are constructed from the specific racism against Black and Indigenous groups in America. Depictions of cannibals and savages in media have always been constructed to dehumanize those on the outskirts - whether it's the Apache threat Whedon mentions from the Wild West, or indigenous tribes of Africa or South America in any media, or the "terrifying" blackfaced "black" characters in Birth of a Nation, the horror trope of "uncivilized bands of roving lunatics who self-mutilate and can't communicate with their words" is pretty inseparable from its own racist origins. For centuries Europeans have been making "demons" out of pagans and indigenous people for their battle tactics or necropolitics, while simultaneously working hard to entrench our own atrocities in "necessities of the time." For one example, think of the fear associated with "headhunter" displays versus the still-controversial but more civilized-presenting "harsh peacekeeping" of public hangings. What is the difference between these practices besides a different eagernesses to contextualize the practice? I don't argue in favor of punitive violence for cultural purposes here, but it's important not to lose the contextualization of these tropes' origins in the social messaging of popular media. And in fact, the Reavers show an interesting way that the criminalization of Black and Indigenous Americans ties closely to the way we talk about the incarcerated and the mentally ill. I'm frankly not much more satisfied by the Reavers being an embodiment of "space madness" than I would be if they were straight up just Native Americans, or runaways from enslavement. American culture is great at coming up with "madnesses" which are really just the pushback to dehumanizing and unjust regimes. I'm not saying that the logic of the show would allow Reavers to receive constructive community-based mental health support involving free medicine and good therapy. But in a show that claims to be in favor of the marginalized and their voice for power, it's weird that this doesn't come up, right? Do the monsters in our media need to be irredeemable to work as narrative tropes? I would argue, once again, the inclusion of this Western and frankly genocidal trope (and if you think the Reavers are NOT a genocidal story trope, let me know what paths the narrative offers as a solution besides killing them immediately and indiscriminately when given the chance.) works to build a world-feel that's less "for the people" and more "for the justified, downtrodden warriors who know right from wrong," which is a very confederate line of thought.

Although Firefly highlights some literal black voices in their main cast, the plotline of the show is much the same as a confederate apologist story. Some people are more worthy of life than others in this tale - others who are too animistic and uncivilized; or who are simply left behind by the inevitable march of the white, righteous underdog ideologies. And these bold, brave rebels from the Civil War which recently happened are still around, just waiting to reassert their power and their independent desires from the empire. The Confederacy of the US was a white, ethno-nationalist and fascist state, admittedly so by their own politicians. It provided ideological groundwork for Nazi Germany and preceded much of the pseudoscience of phrenology. The Confederate position was based on white supremacy nearly entirely, and argued for the most racist version of a "globalist" idea possible. As evidence, here's some of the Cornerstone Address presented by Alexander Stephens, the "vice president" of the Confederacy: "Many governments have been founded upon the principle of subordination and serfdom of certain classes of the same race; such were and are in violation of the laws of nature. Our system commits no such violation of nature's laws. With us, all of the white race, however high or low, rich or poor, are equal in the eye of the law. Not so with the negro. Subordination is his place. He, by nature, or by the curse against Canaan, is fitted for that condition which he occupies in our system." But confederate stories and ideas have maintained a long-standing and unyielding influence, as after they lost the Civil War, the ideology of the Confederacy underwent a serious PR rebranding. Rather than "anti-American" racists, they became the noble fighters of a lost cause. They became the "defenders of heritage," and they became the mythologized ancestor of any white people who wanted to claim them. The Civil War "rebels" were painted as noble Southern men and women who, in a political landscape of the South becoming red states and the bible belt, were mythologized as Southern Belles and nobly humble plantation owners who loved Good Black people... just not the "mentally ill" ones who did things like run away or fight bondage.

(By the way, Alexander Stephens had some things to say about mental illness too (same link again)- I'm tying this back to my point about "mentally ill Reavers" being less of a far-cry than you might think from Confederate thinking: "Our new government [the Confederacy] is founded upon [this] idea; its corner-stone rests upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery, subordination to the superior race, is his natural and normal condition. ... Many who hear me, perhaps, can recollect well that this truth was not generally admitted, even within their day. ... Those at the North, who still cling to these errors [of racial equality], with a zeal above knowledge, we justly denominate [call them] fanatics. All fanaticism springs from an aberration of the mind from a defect in reasoning. It is a species of insanity. One of the most striking characteristics of insanity, in many instances, is forming correct conclusions from fancied or erroneous premises; so with the antislavery fanatics. Their conclusions are right if their premises were. They assume that the negro is equal, and hence conclude that he is entitled to equal privileges and rights with the white man. ... [I] told [a gentleman from one of the northern states in the House of Representatives] that it was he, and those acting with him, who were warring against a principle. They were attempting to make things equal which the Creator had made unequal." It's worth wondering what makes us, as viewers, accept that Reavers are inherently incurable of the mental illness which makes them monsters. Of course this trope could be used in a critical way - but we can see the real-language example here which should make us question what kind of reading to take from media which only addresses the single solution of wiping a True Evil demographic from existence.)

So I hope you see the influences now, how Firefly follows Confederate and White Supremacist storylines. It's of course worth talking about though, the ways it can be read as a radical story as well. The cast includes an empowered revolutionary black woman, a black spiritual elder who advocates for pacifism in resistence, a sex worker who consistently values and stands up for herself and her line of work explicitly, a working woman who struggles with misogyny, and a rich man disgracing himself from society to save his mentally ill younger sister who was facing violent abuse at the hands of the state. These are people who orient themselves for one reason or another in at least some form of opposition to the oppressive and violent power of the government, which once again, is an analogous state to the United States. Of course, the difficulty of the anti-governmental Confederate narrative is that anti-governmental sentiment can have incredibly valid origins. If you are facing discrimination you should indeed oppose the oppressive force that monitors and abuses all its citizens in one way or another. But for God's sake, that opposition should come from a perspective of eliminating discrimination for all. Not a perspective like Jayne Cobb's - the explicitly violent and self-serving voice which, through the show and movie, metaphorically pulls our disaffected protagonist, Malcolm Reynolds, toward the direction of his more cynical, militaristic and even fascist internalized values. Firefly wants to simultaneously make a diverse revolutionary text, but also misses the opportunities it presents itself to say something more meaningful through its own medium. We could've addressed the harm of Jayne's willingness to grant "humanity" ONLY to the people he deems as something like family - or who he feels have properly convinced him that they're worth saving. He is the perfect embodiment of the right-wing, misogynist, white-supremacist ideology at the center of Confederate thinking. He's a Nazi who has been pulled into collaborating with real marginalized people through his relationship with Mal. And there's some level of that which could be an interesting story about deradicalization. In fact in some ways I believe the show could be open to some kind of that interpretation, given the almost-betrayal that Jayne goes back against due to his dedication to Mal. But unfortunatly I'd also say that in the execution of the show I got a different perception, which is back to the whole Confederate thesis...

Instead of a fascist who we could watch be deradicalized by his fellow crew, Jayne ends up doing marginal good only ever out of respect for Mal. I would argue in this way, their relationship mirrors the romanticized mythology of the Civil War being a "war between brothers" due to split households in border states. This narrative clearly holds more respect for the Confederacy than continuing to rightfully call the ideology the abhorrent thing that it is, and it is clear that the same ideology rears its head deep into our legal systems through the treatment of oppressed groups to this day. In ways, the influence of pro-Confederate radicals AFTER the war worked to legitimize bigotry of all kinds in a truly unprecedented way in America. If we have to respect the opinions of the Confederates because they were our "brothers" and not our ideological enemies, then who will we feel more and more comfortable throwing by the wayside - them or the people we work together to shamefully dehumanize? Through this contextual lens, with a vision of Mal as a "decent cowboy" compared to Jayne's more blatantly intolerant cowboy persona, it seems glaring that Jayne's bigoted views are just more intense outward versions of similar prejudices to those Mal feels, but by comparing the two characters to one another Mal would of course begin to look more forgivable despite his relative centrism and lack of care for the marginalized beyond his immediate group. Neither Mal nor anyone, for the narrative's sake, ever really, constructively pulls Jayne aside to actually lay down meaningful expectations of respect. And our rebel storylines of outgroup justice in the future should not accept this lack of accountability! By doing so, we leave no room for the revolutionary need for the Paradox of Tolerance...

The one thing we must not tolerate is intolerance.

Oh and P.S., one last thing: Upon an internet search about the paradox of tolerance I learned that Bill Maher has a famous quote about it, and idk the specifics but seeing that dang centrist asshole liberal made me want to clarify that the argument itself could tie very well into stuff like Islamophobic talking points, since the US defends a lot of its military landgrabs as "defending liberal ideals" due to conflating all Muslims with extremist groups. So I just felt the need to add that being "intolerant of intolerance" is NOT equivalent to dehumanizing groups based on stereotypes of them being "more prone to violence" or other dogwhistles like that. I would imagine that comes through, but it's also just worth making explicit. Even me, in this essay, seeing a character who falls into many of the plot points of a Confederate heroism storyline and is a white man - I'm not intolerant OF those things. In the episodes where Mal successfully subverts those ideologies he's mirroring on screen, by interacting with the world differently because he has learned to humanize an increasingly large group of people, I cheer for him! However, I remain intolerant of the intolerance Mal continues to show by virtue of his failure to hold others and himself accountable to the paradox of tolerance, and lets abuse goes unchecked for longer than he, as a man with power and a growing communal mindset, COULD put to rest.